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Introduction
Jesus posed the central question regarding orthodox Christianity when He asked,
"What think ye of Christ?" (Mt 22:42).
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Although the issue behind the question was
Christ's deity, the scope of the question should be expanded to include all the issues
concerning Him. The gospel is correctly defined as the good news concerning Christ.
Paul, in Romans 1:1-3, speaks of "the gospel of God . . . concerning His Son Jesus Christ
our Lord" (NKJV). The gospel fits under two broad categories: Christ's person and work.
What one thinks about Christ in these areas provides the means for evangelicals to
identify each other. Observing the attacks upon the Gospel in the New Testament and
Church History enables us to recognize and clarify the Gospel so that evangelicals are
more readily able to detect modern attacks on the Gospel.
Attacks on the Gospel in the New Testament
Attacks on the gospel have always been on the person and/or the work of Christ. For
example, in Colossians, Paul primarily corrects a false view of the person of Christ,
although he is not silent about the work of Christ. In Colossians, he refuted an incipient
form of Gnosticism that denied Christ's deity (Col. 2:8-9). The heresy also contained
Judaic elements. Its Judaic character is seen in its ritualistic element, which involved
circumcision, meats and drinks, feast days, new moons, and sabbaths (2:11-16). The
Gnostic character of error included an ascetic element, which is indicated by Paul's
instruction concerning the commandments and doctrines of men, which included things
not to be handled, tasted, or touched (2:20-23); a philosophical element, which is
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The quotation is from the KJV. All other Scripture references are from the NKJV unless otherwise
indicated.