Half of the Truth is not the Gospel

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:23,

“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness.”

Paul, the author of the epistles—Romans; 1 & 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 & 2 Thessalonians; 1 & 2 Timothy; Titus; and Philemon—was unwavering in the message he proclaimed: Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

With this in mind, it is worth asking: when we read Paul’s letters, should we not read them through the lens of the Finished Work of the Cross? When Paul speaks of faith, belief, righteousness, and life in Christ, is he not pointing us to faith in what Christ accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection? When we return to his writings with Christ crucified as our central focus—and with an understanding of our position in Him—we gain clarity and depth in understanding the message Paul preached. The Word of God takes on fuller meaning when read from this foundation.

This is what the Church is called to proclaim. It is possible to speak words that sound biblical because one is reading the Bible, yet still fall short of the full Truth of God’s Word. Jesus is often preached, but the Cross is frequently mentioned only in passing, reserved for Easter or not at all. When the Cross is removed from the center, we are left with only part of the truth—and partial truth cannot fully set us free.

As the Word of God reminds us,

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

You cannot fully or completely be free when the Truth is incomplete. As I have said before, we cannot separate Christ from the Cross; when we do, it is half of the Truth.

Paul offers a sober warning in 2 Corinthians 11:4:

“For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached (Christ Crucified), or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”

When Jesus is preached without the Cross, what is presented is another gospel, about another Jesus, and it is backed by another “spirit”—and it is not the Holy Spirit. Too often, we tolerate a diluted message—perhaps because we have never truly heard the Message of the Cross, or perhaps because we once heard it and dismissed or rejected it.

The enemy does not object to church attendance when the Truth of the Gospel is absent. What matters is not how often one attends church, or even that one attends church at all, but whether the Gospel Paul preached—the Gospel clearly written in the B-I-B-L-E—is faithfully and fully proclaimed.

True understanding of God’s Word comes from the proper foundation. When teaching or preaching is detached from Christ crucified, misinterpretation follows, and spiritual failure is often the result. Just as misunderstanding instructions leads to error in practice, misunderstanding the foundation of the Gospel leads to confusion in Faith.

I will close with this thought: none of us will have an excuse. Do not sleep on this. Don’t miss this because you are offended because you have been in church all your life and did not know that this is what must be preached and where your faith should be placed. I didn't! Christ without the Cross is half of the Truth which means it is not the Gospel. We are walking around with half of the arm of God. You have a half of the Shield of Faith because you've only been taughted (preached) to have your Faith in Christ and not at all the Cross. This is why the firey darts of the enemy is still hitting us and why all of our armor is weak! The Word of God is clear.

1 Corinthians 1 plainly tells us what we are to preach which is where our Faith is to rest. The Message is not hidden—it is written in the Word of God for all to see:

Christ crucified.

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