In Paul’s gospel, our peace depends not upon what we do but what we believe about ourselves. And what we believe about ourselves depends on what we are told about ourselves. In Romans chapter 6, there are only two sources of information along this line: 1) Sin, and 2) Righteousness. Whichever one we listen
to, to that one we become slaves.
Nowhere in Romans 6, 7, or 8 are the recipients of this letter told to do anything besides hear and believe the right teaching. Righteousness does not come by doing righteousness, but by hearing and believing the gospel OF righteousness. (The good news—the gospel of Righteousness—is that Christ’s righteousness is now
ours via faith.)
Righteous acts will follow in the wake of believing a righteous message. Thus, Christianity has everything backwards. According to this religion’s warped “gospel,” one must behave oneself in order to hear a good report concerning oneself. In Paul’s gospel, the good report comes first—in spite of one’s behavior. This is so
counterintuitive to how humanity generally operates that this gospel is generally not believed. Christians want good news—as long as it's not TOO good.
In the Christian “gospel,” there must be room for individual performance (uninfluenced individual performance) and thus the opportunity to out-perform others. Without an opportunity for the flesh, Christians are simply not interested. They do not see the point of a gospel
that is not behavior oriented. They cannot fathom that the gospel of grace is about Christ and not them. It is presently beyond their ability to grasp.
God loves us, not because we first loved Him, but because His essence is love. Paul’s gospel is the greatest expression of this—in words—to ever land upon the earth.
