27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

vs.

“I wonder what it must have been like to be Abraham’s home teaching companion!”

So what is the gospel? Which programs, doctrines, knowledge and belief is essential and pure and which is transitory?

I think it all comes to looking at what Christ will consider important when we are called home and judged.

Sheep and Goats

Matthew 7:21 21. Not every one that saith

unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter

into the kingdom of heaven; but

he that doeth the will of my

Father which is in heaven

Matthew 25: 31-46 31. When the Son of man

shall come in his glory, and all

the holy angels with him, then

shall he sit upon the throne of

his glory: 32. And before him shall be

gathered all nations: and he

shall separate them one from

another, as a shepherd divideth

his sheep from the goats: 33. And he shall set the sheep

on his right hand, but the goats

on the left. 34. Then shall the King say

unto them on his right hand,

Come, ye blessed of my Father,

inherit the kingdom prepared

for you from the foundation of

the world: 35. For I was an hungred ,and

you gave me meat: I was thirsty

and ye gave me drink: I was a

stranger, and ye took me in: 36. Naked, and ye clothed me:

I was sick and ye visited me:

I was in prison and ye came

unto me. 37. Then shall the righteous

answer him, saying, Lord, when

saw we thee an hungred, and fed

thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38. When saw we thee a stranger,

and took the in? or naked, and

clothed thee? 39. Or when saw we thee sick,

or in prison, and came unto thee? 40. And the King shall answer

and say unto them, Verily I say

unto you, Inasmuch as ye have

done it unto the least of these my

brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41. Then shall he say also unto

them on the left hand, Depart from

me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,

prepared for the devil and his angels: 42. For I was an hungred, and ye

gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and

ye gave me no drink: 43. I was a stranger and ye took

me not in: naked and ye clothed

me not: sick, and in prison, and

ye visited me not. 44. Then shall they also answer

him, saying Lord, when saw we

thee an hungred, or athirst, or a

stranger, or naked, or sick, or in

prison, and did not minister unto

thee? 45. Then shall he answer them,

saying, Verily I say unto you,

Inasmuch as ye did it not to one

of the least of these, ye did it

not to me. 46. And then these shall go away

unto everlasting punishment,

but the righteous into life eternal.

A clear reading of the scriptures is that Christ will judge us not by whether we have recognized him or whether we call upon his correct name, but by whether or not we fed him, gave him drink, clothed him, visited him, came unto him by doing that for others.

Not our doctrine — our calling Lord, Lord — but our love and kindness, our Christlike Charity, reveal whose children we are. Thus “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” not “blessed are the scribes and pharisees, who stand in Moses’ gate.”

Wikimedia Commons excerpt from an old text on “true religion”

That is the gospel. The rest is a program and as transitory as home teaching, designed for our needs in the moment (such as the Sabbath Day which was made for man, not man for the Sabbath). It preserves us, like an iron rod through the fog, but the core of it is the Tree of Life, which is the love of Christ. I know, wordy and dense, but this is my conclusion and the essay is already long.

What do you think the gospel is?

Why do we need anything else (programs) to help us reach the truth?

Why?

What are your thoughts and additions?

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All images from Wikimedia Commons.