Scandal of the Gospel

The Scandal of the Gospel
Alexander LaBrecque In this article Alexander LaBrecque describes the impact of the gospel on the Greek and the Jewish minds, early in the Christian era. He then applies the difficulties people of these cultures encountered with the gospel to those which confront the modern mind.

Introduction
In all human history no figure has stirred so strongly a reaction as Jesus of Nazareth. No other person has evoked so determined a response — either for or against — than this crucified Messiah. Never was this more evident than in apostolic times.

The apostle Paul, foremost herald of the gospel of Christ, declared: ‘We preach Christ Crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called, both the Jews and the Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 1: 23-24). Such were the responses to the gospel in Paul’s day, and it has been the same throughout the history of the Christian Church. The gospel of Christ is the power and the wisdom of God to those who believe it, but is distained as foolishness by worldly unbelievers, and a stumbling block to the religious. It is the last of these responses — the gospel as a stumbling block to the religious — that is here our special concern.

The Greek word for ’stumbling block’ is skandalon, from which we get the English word ’scandal’. What is the ’scandal’ of the gospel? How was the message of Christ and his atoning death a stumbling block, or scandal, to the Jews?

Foolishness to the Greeks
It is a little more apparent how the gospel was foolishness to the Greeks. The Greeks were fascinated with speculative philosophy, and their philosophical systems generally regarded the realm of the spirit and ideas as good, and superior to the inferior material world. To them it was utter nonsense that God would become incarnate in a material human body, suffer and die, and thereby accomplish man’s salvation! Rather, for the Greeks salvation was popularly believed to be found in a mystical reception of knowledge, by which man would be freed from the bondage of the physical world and made a partaker of the spiritual realm. The ‘good news’ of an incarnate, crucified, and physically resurrected Saviour was sheer foolishness to the Greeks; it was utterly contrary to their way of thinking, just as it is to the worldly wise person of today.

A stumbling block to the Jews
But what about the Jews? Why was the message of a crucified Messiah a scandal to them? The Jews expected a spectacular, triumphant Messiah who would militarily vanquish Israel’s national foes and establish Jerusalem as the citadel of the world. The very idea of a crucified Messiah was unthinkable for the Jews! Crucifixion was the Roman instrument for execution of the most hideous and loathsome of criminals. Their Messiah was to be exalted — not humiliated and tortured as a malefactor! Furthermore, the Jews could not admit that their lack of righteousness must be atoned for by the death of Jesus.

So the apostolic gospel of Jesus the Christ and his atoning death on the cross was a stumbling block — a scandal — to the Jews, who became determined in their unbelief. Paul says: ‘Being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.’ (Romans 10:3)

The apostle Peter also speaks of the cleavage created by the message of Jesus Christ and his atoning work. Describing the Christian church as a temple of living stones (individual believers) built upon the Chief cornerstone (Jesus Christ), Peter writes, ‘It stands in Scripture, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in Him will not be put to shame”. To you therefore who believe, He is precious, but to those who don’t believe, “the very cornerstone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner”, and “a stone that will make them fall,” (Greek skandalon) for they stumble because they disobey the word (the gospel – 1:25), as they were destined to do.’ (1 Peter 2:4-8) Whereas Christ is cherished by believers, he is a scandal to those who disbelieve the gospel.

The New Testament speaks of the cross as being a stumbling block, or scandal, not only to unbelieving Jews, but also to many Jews who believed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The Christian community included many Jews who believed the apostolic proclamation that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah who had died for the sins of the people and had been exalted as the risen Lord, enthroned at God’s right hand; there were Jews who had believed all this, who had been baptised in the name of Christ to whom the gospel was nevertheless a scandal, a stumbling block.

Judaizers
Paul’s epistle to the Galatians is about such: Jews who believed that Christ had died for their sins, but that also, in some way, their disobedience to God’s laws contributed to their justification before God. These were the Judaizers spoken of in Acts and Galatians, Jewish Christians who balked at the gospel of justification by faith alone. The cross was a stumbling block, a scandal to these Christians (cf. Galatians 5:11)

Now, while in Galatians 1:8-9 Paul pronounces a curse upon anyone who would thus corrupt or hinder the gospel, let us attempt to empathise with these Judaizers, to see things from their point of view — and it won’t be too difficult! For these Judaizers were conscientious religious people just like you and me. They were zealous for God’s law, opposed to the lowering of standards of moral behaviour, taking seriously the necessity of a life of sanctified obedience. They feared that Paul’s message of justification by faith alone on the basis of Christ’s doing and dying alone would tear down everything Judaism stood for!

Taking their point of view for a moment, let’s muster the evidence against Paul. Look, it’s written right here in Romans 3:28; he even wrote it down! Paul says that on the basis of the righteous life and atoning death of Christ alone ‘we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law’. And again, ‘to one who does not work but trusts Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned unto righteousness.’ (Romans 4:5) Why, he says that God justifies a man totally apart from any righteous quality in his life now or ever! Paul, Paul, much learning has made thee mad! You’re doing away with the necessity of living a holy life! You’re tearing down everything we’ve ever stood for! You’re removing the landmarks!

These Judaizers took a determined stance of opposition to Paul, and sought to dissuade others from believing his gospel. The gospel was a scandal to them. Undaunted, Paul took an even more determined stand for the gospel of justification by faith: ‘even if we or an angel of heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed’ (Galatians 1:18).

Arndt and Gingrich’s edition and translation of W Bauer’s Greek lexicon defines scandalon as ‘that which gives offence or causes revulsion: that which causes opposition; an object of anger, disapproval.’ If what the Bible says about us is true, and if we are like most religious people, we ourselves have found the gospel of justification by faith to be a scandal to us at one time or another, and at least in our hearts, opposed or feared it. This is only natural for fallen man. He knows God requires a religious life, and while he may believe that God forgives sin, fallen man (including the Christian) still attempts to be accepted of God in his own personal righteousness.

A scandal to the religious
By nature, the religious man is afraid of justification by faith. The person who has a high regard for God’s law is uncomfortable with Paul’s gospel —that is, until he believes it! Whenever the gospel is truly proclaimed, it will be suspected or accused of antinomianism — of doing away with obedience to God’s law. Paul was charged with this (cf. Romans 3:8, 6:1); the Protestant reformers were; the gospel is a scandal to religious man.

It is hard for us to believe that we are saved by the doing and dying of Christ alone. And until we do believe it (personally, individually), we will fear that it leads to antinomianism. But the gospel does not do that, rather, as Paul himself teaches, the fruitage of the gospel of justification by faith is a holy life of loving obedience to the gospel’s commands (Romans 6:1-12; 7:4-6, 22). And this is because the gospel itself brings the converting power of God to the believing soul. Paul declared that the gospel is ‘the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16). The entire religion and system of worship in the Bible is one of rehearsal, remembering God’s past saving acts. The gospel is a proclamation and rehearsal of the Christ event, God’s historical, saving act in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As this historical event is rehearsed in faith, the Holy Spirit makes it present in the mind of the believer, with all the power of the historical event (1 Peter 1:12; Acts 10:36-44; Galatians 3:1,2). The rehearsal of the doing and dying of Christ is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes it! As a man hears the proclamation that God justifies and accepts him, because of the satisfaction Christ has rendered to the law on his behalf, the Holy Spirit enables him to believe the gospel and to live accordingly.

Several years ago, as a new believer, I was fortunate enough to have a new pastor who understood and rejoiced in the gospel. In prayer meeting he gave studies from the book of Romans on justification by faith, telling us of the assurance provided in the gospel. However, I was continually raising my hand and challenging him: ‘But what about a holy life?’ For every statement he made about the believer’s assurance, I made two about the necessity of sanctification. The irony of it all was that I had absolutely no assurance of salvation!

Years later the Lord in his mercy gave me other opportunities to hear the gospel. By this time I had learned that my personal righteousness was not sufficient to stand before a holy God, but I feared to trust in the righteousness of Another — Jesus. Two fears beset me: ‘Would that not be presumptuous?’ and ‘What will motivate me to good works?’ But realising that I was lost anyway (since my personal righteousness could not stand in the judegment) I ventured —I dared — to trust in the personal righteousness of Another, Jesus Christ, who wrought that out 2000 years ago as my Substitute and Surety. By the grace of God, today I would not trade or sell this gospel for all the world; no, not for life itself.

This gospel is a scandal to religious man. Until we personally believe the gospel and trust implicitly in the finished work Christ has performed to secure our acceptance with God, we will stumble over it in two ways. Either we will not see its relevance (’Why all the ballyhoo about righteousness by faith?’) or we will fear that it leads to antinomianism. We feel uncomfortable about justification by faith alone. It is a scandal to us. But to those who do believe the gospel know from their own experience that it motivates them to pursue holiness of life. ‘The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV).

Throughout the history of the Christian church religious men have devised numerous ‘theological’ doctrines to avoid the scandal of the gospel. Some deny the all-sufficiency of Christ’s atonement through such beliefs as purgatory or the mass. Attempts to qualify the gospel are legion. The scandal of the gospel is no less evident in the traditional evangelical doctrines of perfectionism and the investigative judgement. Such theories deny the explicit teachings of the book of Hebrews that Christ completed his atonement for sin and perfected forever those who believe and perfected forever those who believe when he died on the cross and was raised to sit at God’s right hand.

Conclusion
Paul’s assessment of the crisis in first century Judaism is particularly relevant to Christianity today: ‘As it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall (skandalom) and he who believes in Him will not be put to shame…for Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified.’ (Romans 9:33; 10:4)

The gospel may challenge our theological beliefs. It will challenge every attempt to be justified by our personal righteousness before God, now or ever. The gospel invites us — it dare us — to trust only in the righteousness of Another, the righteous doing and dying of Jesus Christ which alone can stand, and has already stood, in the righteous judgement of God.