15
THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)
Do an internet search of “non-canonical gospels” and you will find a dozen or so writings with titles like these: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas,” “The Gospel of Bartholomew,” and “The Gospel of Judas.” If you take the extra time to read or skim through one of those “gospels,” you will soon find out why it is categorized as a non-canonical gospel. The writing will reveal itself as a human document and not one written by God. After God brought the apostle Paul to faith, some people charged the former persecutor of Christians with spreading a non-canonical gospel of sorts. The Judaizers accused Paul of watering down the gospel by preaching a salvation through faith in Jesus Christ without any works of the law—ceremonial laws especially. In defense of his message and his ministry, Paul wrote: “The gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Paul did not fabricate the gospel message he preached. He learned it, and he learned it like the other apostles—directly from the Lord, but after the Lord’s public ministry on earth. Fast forward from Paul’s day to the 16th century. The gospel message of Jesus Christ that Martin Luther learned from the church of his day was “something that man made up.” What else can you call a message that says, “God has removed some of the punishment of your sins, but you are responsible for another part”? That is not a message of the Bible. The Bible’s message is that there is full and free forgiveness of sins through faith in the Savior promised by God: Jesus Christ. That has always been the Bible’s message. After God
32