>Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man toward his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. (Zechariah 7:9-10) Although this is an Old Testament quotation, these admonitions seem to be repeated throughout the New Testament as well. (Matthew 25:31-46) >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) Is the modern emphasis by Evangelical and Reformed churches on "Salvation by faith alone through grace alone"---and just saying a "sinner's prayer" for salvation---giving a wrong impression as to what the Christian faith is all about? Should the "discipleship decision" include acceptance of the "social gospel" ,as well as, acceptance of the Apostles Creed (or denomination's creed)? And is Zechariah's verses an accurate presentation of what has historically been called "the Social Gospel". ***Is it non-essential in today's presentation of the Gospel of Grace. (A different gospel? Galatians 1:6-7), or is it an essential part of the evangelical Gospel?*** Is what is called "the Social Gospel" legitimate today, if it doesn't surplant the "Gospel of Grace" for salvation? We are basically seeking a critique of the present status of "the Social Gospel idea" in modern Protestantism denominations---and in actual preaching.

There has historically been opposition by Fundamentalists to the "Social Gospel" presented by Liberal churches in the early 20th Century, and an emphasis placed on the "Gospel of Grace" by Conservative denominations in response. Since both the Old Testament and the New Testament spoke of "social activism", and both Testaments spoke of "Faith for pleasing God", are these two Gospels simply ***two sides of the same coin***? [Zechariah 7:9-10, James 1:27] Are they both two different facets of the grand Kingdom of God? Or are they mutually incompatible? One or the other being "a different Gospel" Paul warned about in Galatians 1? If compatible, how do they relate? [And by extension, how then can liberal and conservative churches relate?] Is the word "social" as referring to social reform in the Bible, to be only redefined in modern times, as synonymous with "secular"? Can there be a Christian social reform as well?