5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
The authenticity of the message being preached can be validated by the presence over time of these three elements. There must be power, the presence of the Holy Spirit and a full investment of the mind. Without these three present, the Gospel has not done its work. There is no shortcut to living the Gospel. We should be able to look at movements that happen in the church today and over time see if they are bearing this type of fruit. I can think of several popular movements that have come and gone in the last several years. Some attracted international attention, but the fruit of those movements are scarce at best. In fact, I can see much damage done to the cause of Christ because of those ministries. The false hope in a gospel that was so thin even paper looked thick. There was so much hype with so little substance. As I listened to message being proclaimed I heard a lot about particular people, places and phenomenon, but heard little about the Jesus who makes life possible. When the central message of the Gospel is absent, then the Gospel is not present. Remove the person of Jesus, with the perfect life, sacrificial death and resurrection, you have nothing. And a hollow gospel is not good news. It has not power to do anything in anyone’s life. We might as well become a belly-button-fuzz worshiper. So as you look around at ministries examine the fruit. Are they going the work talked about in Scripture? Is there power evident and do the result last? Do the people care enough to be actively, energetically involved? Does it line up with the Scriptures? We can ask these same questions of our own Christian walk. Are we living in line with Scripture, with power evident, with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction? If not, maybe we need to go back to the school of repentance and start a refresher course.
The Arnold Journey 