How Can We Know The Gospel Is Not Fake News? Series

FAKE NEWS & KNOWING WHAT IS TRUE

Earlier this year the Macquarie Dictionary declared ‘fake news’ to be the word of the year. It’s an interesting commentary on society! So is the runner-up – mainsplain (but I think that’s fake news). Sometimes fake news is deliberately deceptive, but the word is also used when someone doesn’t agree with news that goes against their ideology.

The problem is, it’s really hard to refute fake news because you can usually find some piece of information on the internet that agrees with you. At the risk of igniting a war, COVID vaccinations are a prime example. I shared on Facebook how I was having second thoughts about getting a shot and an acquaintance suggested I shouldn’t believe the official sources and do my own research. In other words, go find some outlier who agrees with me. (By the way, I had second thoughts about my second thoughts and am booked in for the vaccination.) That thinking usually goes along with deep conspiracy theories that, by their nature, are almost impossible to debunk.

How can we possibly know what’s true?

It applies to religion, as well. In fact, that’s even worse because we’re often dealing with spiritual and historical claims that are virtually impossible to prove or disprove.

SCRIPTURE: HOW DO WE KNOW WE’RE IN GOD’S FAMILY?

FAKE NEWS IN GALATIA

Paul was dealing with fake news that had hit the churches in the Roman province of Galatia. They’d been infiltrated by a sect that we now call Judaisers, that claimed that because the Gentiles weren’t circumcised, they were outside of God’s covenant with Abraham and thus they were not his spiritual descendants and not part of the family of faith.

ABRAHAM & CIRCUMCISION

Way back near the beginning of the Bible, God had promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him, and then he gave him the sign of circumcision as a covenant. So, the Judaisers figured that for the Gentiles to reject circumcision was to reject the blessing and covenant of Abraham.

Paul had strong words to say about this, but fake news is very resilient and so mounted a number of arguments.

ABRAHAM & FAITH

One of his arguments was in v.6, where he says it was Abraham’s faith that was credited to him as righteousness, not circumcision.

Read Genesis 15.1-6.

Elsewhere Paul notes that it wasn’t until later (ch.17) that Abraham was given the covenant of circumcision. And it’s even earlier than this, in Genesis 12.3, that God promises Abraham that all the nations will be blessed through him. (The order was promise, faith credited as righteousness, then circumcision.)

So, Abraham’s righteousness before God wasn’t based on circumcision, it was based on faith. It’s not those who are circumcised but those who have faith that are like Abraham.

That was a good biblical argument, but Paul needed more evidence to convince the Galatians and he appealed to their experience of God.

YOU FOOLISH GALATIANS

What really exasperated Paul was that the Galatians knew God had accepted them on the basis of faith because he was so evidently at work among them. In fact, what they were doing so went against the evidence that he called them fools and sarcastically suggested they must be under a magic spell.

“How could you be so stupid!?”

THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS EVIDENT

In the New Testament, wherever we see the gospel preached we often see signs and wonders accompanying. This was Jesus’ way, and this was the Apostles ministry also. So, when Paul and Barnabas visited Galatia, it was natural that miracles were a part of their proclamation. We have one of those on record in Acts.

Read Acts 14.8-11.

And it seems that this work of the Spirit was not just something that had happened in the past. He asks in v.5, “Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you…?” (present tense.)

The tangible presence of the Spirit of God was at work among them, and this was all the evidence they needed that the gospel of grace that they had believed was true, and that the teachings of the Judaising faction were… fake news.

POINT: THE HOLY SPIRIT CONFIRMS THE GOSPEL

In a world of fake news, it’s harder and harder to know the truth. Whether it’s claims that all religions lead to truth or science has disproven truth. Whether it’s claims that I’m in error because I don’t believe a particular doctrine or not. How can I know the truth?

Anyone who knows me know that I am passionate about having a solid intellectual footing for our faith. But the intellect is not enough. Elsewhere, Paul said that the gospel is not about arguments but about power.

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT