Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
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The Gospel Is Offensive
by Robert P. TerryPublished April 20, 2025
"But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished" (Gal. 5:11)
The stumbling block of the cross guarantees that the Gospel will never be popular. This is why Jesus told His apostles that they'd be hated by all nations, and this is why the Apostle Paul said that the preaching of the cross ensures persecution and that it is foolishness to both religious and cultivated persons. In the apostles' day, there were many who tried to remove the stumbling block of the Gospel by requiring circumcision, and we are told in no unclear language that the apostasy from the Gospel had already begun while the apostles were still alive. To be sure, circumcision is no longer a popular adulteration to blunt the offense of the cross, but instead of circumcision, we have water baptism among the Romans Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, and Anabaptists; appropriating acts among the Arminians and Free Grace denominations; and "heart work" fiducia among the Reformed. Try preaching Christ crucified to any zealous member of these groups, you'll be labeled with some pejorative term faster than your head can spin.