Two Different Gospels

The Churches of Christ have built an entire gospel theology based on the assumption that if we will simply cooperate and be obedient to all the necessary moral and religious commands found in the New Testament, that this is the gospel and that by “doing these things” we can be saved as well.

These commands include hearing, believing, repenting from sin, confession, and being “water” baptized, and that we can keep ourselves saved by continuing to live a moral and religiously good life as found within the pages of the New Testament.

Add to this the dynamic of often believing that they are the "One" true church, and the ONLY church which correctly follows the teachings of the New Testament, and you can begin to understand why it is so difficult for the Church of Christ member to understand and respond to the gospel when hearing it for the very first time.

For when someone tells them how they can be saved by simply placing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, what they hear is that you can be saved by merely ‘accepting as true’ the facts of the Christian faith.

And being well aware that "even the demons believe" and that just believing the facts of the Christian faith does not save, while correctly rejecting “easy believe-ism” salvation, they also unfortunately reject the entire doctrine of salvation by faith Jesus Christ alone.

Thus, they embrace a “works of faith” gospel theology by default and seldom, if ever, come to a biblical understanding of what the doctrine of justification by faith actually teaches.

So what is the difference?

In Romans 10:5 the Apostle Paul reminds us of what Moses wrote in regards to the righteousness that is by the way of the law, “Whoever does these things will live by them.”

And likewise the Churches of Christ believe that whoever does all the necessary moral and religious commands as found in the New Testament, that we can be saved as well.

However, continuing on in the passage, Paul tells us ”But (in contrast) the righteous-ness that is by faith says… if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (verses 6-10)

Paul makes similar contrast with those trying to be made righteous by works versus those who are made righteous on the basis of faith in Romans 9:30-31.

He writes, ”What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.”

Now please consider Paul's message here.

Paul writes that people who were not Jews, people who were not even trying to be made righteous, were made righteous on the basis of faith. But the Jewish people who were earnestly trying to be morally and religiously righteousness by their own efforts, did not succeed.

Why not?

Because they were trying to be made righteous by what they did (i.e. by their own cooperation and obedience to the commands and laws of God), rather than by simply trusting in Jesus Christ, who alone makes people righteous.

Paul tells us they missed the gospel because "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Romans 10:4

Summary

To those in the Churches of Christ, salvation is a 5 step moral and religious process we must do in order to be saved, i.e. justification by works. Evangelical Christianity believes that we are saved by trusting in the One who can save, i.e. justification by faith in Jesus Christ.

Members of the Churches of Christ correctly understand that a belief the facts alone can not save. Unfortunately they have drawn the conclusion that the righteousness of God must then come to us through our own cooperation and obedience to the moral and religious commands of the New Testament, rather than finding out for themselves what salvation by faith in Jesus Christ actually teaches.

The concept of the gift of perfect righteousness that God gives to those who will place faith in Jesus Christ is completely lost and foreign to those in the Churches of Christ; Thus, faith (or believing as true the facts of the Christian faith) is important only because it should be added to the rest of the New Testament commands that 'save', which includes repenting (understood as self-reformation), confessing the name of Christ, and being baptized in water.

Now for those in the Churches of Christ who believe we are saved by our own obedience and cooperation to all the necessary commands of the New Testament, that in heaven- I’ll be the first to come up and shake your hand. By reaching heaven through keeping all the necessary requirements of the New Testament, you certainly will have accomplished an incredible and monumental task!

But there are those who want to share the good news about the righteousness that God provides as a gift to those who will place faith in Jesus Christ, which is far superior to anything we can ever hope to attain on our own.

It is the very righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself, given to all those who will place their faith and trust in Him.

References to consider:

Romans 3:21-31, 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 10:4, 9-10, 11:17-20
Galatians 2:16-17, 3:1-23
Ephesians 2:8-10
Philippians 3:1-9