Sabbathought : More on What the Gospel Really Is.

It may seem bold, even presumptuous, to dare to question that we as a people know what the gospel is --- everyone in the Church knows what the gospel is, many of us say. . . . Then when you ask them to define what the gospel is they say, Love. . . . This is why correction is necessary.

Do you recall the story of the battleship on a collision course with another vessel? They sent out a signal, "Advise you change course twenty degrees." The message came back, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." The captain said, "Send, I'm a captain, change course!" The reply came, "I'm a seaman second class, you had better change course twenty degrees!"

The captain was furious. "Send: I'm on the bridge of a battleship, change course!!" Back came the flashing light, "This is a lighthouse, suggest you change course twenty degrees."

If we don't correct our course, we'll end up where we are going.

There is no salvation in diluted doctrine or in half-truths. Salvation lies in knowing and living the bold, clear truths of the restored gospel. Nothing else will work.

Joseph said, "If we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we start wrong, we may go wrong, and it be a hard matter to get right." We are now experiencing this. People in the Church hear the Brethren at general conference and they hear confirmation of what they believe already, screening out the "harder" messages. Or they hear we should "talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ, and prophesy of Christ" and convince themselves that endless echoes on food storage and family-history indexing is fulfilling this message on Christ.

Having detoured, it is indeed a hard matter to get right. We're not used to it.

I have been attacked more than once when I speak of these things with, "You think you are the only one who knows the gospel." I answer meekly, "I hope that isn't so." But the gospel is what it is, we have received it in revelation from heaven, and we cannot make it up as we go along.

So, again, what is it? What is the restored gospel we have through Joseph Smith and which he gave his life to seal? Joseph himself said it this way:

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it. But in connection with these, we believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the power of faith, the enjoyment of the spiritual gifts according to the will of God, the restoration of the house of Israel, and the final triumph of truth."

This is the twentieth, and last, of a series of answers Joseph published "to save myself the trouble of repeating the same a thousand times over and over again."

The third of these answers fits in with last week's Sabbathoughts on repentance. The question was: "Will everybody be damned, but Mormons?" Joseph answered: Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness.

You gotta love a man like that! Even more a prophet as bold and clear as that! So, are you offended yet? Is this too strong? Are you eager for us to get to the love part? Let's do that right now:

Remember our context . . . we want to find what the gospel is, in light of our claim that we have a lot to learn on what it is because we make up our own "expired version".

To the Love part: The best known verse in all Christianity is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Sad to relate, I have noticed many of us stop after the first six words, in the mistaken belief that they define the gospel and we need no more gospel. "For God so loved the world", they quote, and place a period or full stop, even an exclamation point after them, and claim, That is the gospel! (President Monson in priesthood session mocked the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" for its simplistic hollowness.)

"Have they not read the scriptures?" as the Risen Lord asked some confused Nephites about some other confused Nephites (see 3 Nephi 27). . . . I'd say it this way: "That's a nice thought about Love, but no!"

Those first six words in John 3:16 bespeak the Father's motive and reason for the gospel. "For God so loved the world"--- His children. It is a poor father who does not love his children. That is not news, good or otherwise. Of course God loves His children, even in their fallen, natural state.

It is at this point in the verse that the gospel message begins! How much does He love them? To the extent that He gave His Only Begotten Son as a precious sinless sacrifice to die for the guilt and sins of all His other children . . . . Now we are into the gospel message . . . !

A text without a context is a pretext. And people the world over, even in the true Church, wrench pure words out of context to suit their own purpose. John 3:16 is exhibit A in the court case of such dishonest scriptural shenanigans.

In conclusion for this article (we have a lot more to say later on the subject), let's go back to that other form of dishonesty and pretext we mentioned earlier, where people who should know better think they "talk of Christ . . . [and] preach of Christ" whenever they insert a family picture into a scrapbook, or add a heart to a birthday card. Nothing wrong with doing those things, but let's not be deluded that they represent a bold declaration of testimony when it's needed. Consider this from Hugh Nibley:

"A favorite with LDS schoolmen has been Brigham Young's declaration that 'Every art and science known and studied by the children of men is comprised within the Gospel.' But this does not mean, as is commonly assumed, that anything one chooses to teach is the gospel. That would be as silly as arguing that since all things are made of electrons, protons, neutrons, etc, whenever anyone opens his mouth to speak he gives a lecture on physics. It means rather that all things may be studied and taught in the light of the gospel."

So, . . . What is the gospel? Are we getting any closer? Are we being too subtle or too evasive here? Well, we are trying to lay the groundwork and show why the question is important, because mistaken ideas have supplanted the Lord's truth.

Next time we'll look at how the Lord Himself answers the question by saying, "This is my gospel." In the meantime, I'll leave you with this one clue: Doctrine and Covenants 33:8--13. . . . Even though not one in ten of you will even take the trouble to look at it. . . .

There is more. Stay with me on these sacred things.

God bless you.

Steve

P.S. Please feel free to share with others. References and sources available if needed.