In the wake of thousands of unclear Gospel messages today, I felt that
I would write another message proclaiming a clear Gospel and its
correct response. We can NEVER speak of these truths too much, why?
Simple: Because there is only ONE Gospel and the correct response to it
is simple faith. Paul makes it clear in Gal. 1:6-10 that to proclaim a
false gospel causes us to be accursed and declares with certainty that
there is only ONE Gospel that He (Paul) proclaimed:
6 'I am
amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the
grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7which is really not another;
only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the
gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven,
should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you,
he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if
any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he
is to be accursed!
10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of
God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please
men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.'
**********
I
feel it is of dire importance for all of us to make clear what exactly
the Gospel message is. It is not 'Ask Jesus into your heart' it is not
'Surrender your life to Jesus' it is also not 'Make Jesus the Lord of
your life'. Those are unclear messages AT BEST, and ANOTHER Gospel at
worst. Now I'm most certain many people are actually saved through
those messages. I use to say 'Ask Jesus into your life' when I was
telling someone about the Gospel and what we must understand and
believe to be eternally saved.
My error was not that I was
completely off saying that, but I was not clear in what the Gospel
message/response truly is SCRIPTURALLY.
Jesus, in the Gospel of John 98 times tells us to BELIEVE in Him for ETERNAL LIFE.
Paul,
over fifty times in the Book of Romans alone talks about placing FAITH
in Christ, many of those times for the purpose of a new RIGHT Standing
with God (Rom. 3:21-5:1).
So, what exactly is a a much clearer Gospel message and response?
1)
This is the Gospel (GOOD NEWS): Jesus died for all sin, including yours
on the cross and three days later He rose again, defeating sin and
death (1 Cor. 15:3-4) JUST like He said He would. This is the GOOD NEWS
- the news that though we are separated from God because of our sin,
Christ has paid for ALL sin on the Cross and risen again defeating sin
and death.
2) Now, what is the proper response to this absolute truth for the unbeliever???
Faith ALONE in Christ ALONE (simple faith/belief in His already accomplished work).
So, when you've told a person about what Christ has ALREADY accomplished, how do they need to respond?
You
tell them God now commands everyone everywhere to BELIEVE on His Son
for Eternal Life which means many things. One being that they are now
'Made Alive' to God! Thats what the word 'Regeneration means - it means
to be 'Born from Above'. Another truth is that they are now JUSTIFIED
before God. This is a legal term which means 'Declared Righteous'.
So,
when we believe in the already accomplished work of Jesus Christ, done
through the Cross and His resurrection - which paid for all sin (John
1:29) - we are JUSTIFIED (by faith) and forever eternally secure in His
promise, meaning He will NEVER let us go (Jn. 10:28-30, Rom. 8:33-39).
So,
the Good News: Jesus Christ died on the cross (paying for all sin) and
rose again (defeating sin/physical death) forever accomplishing this.
The
Response of the Unbeliever: Simply believe/trust in Christ now to save
you from that penalty of sin and you receive justification before God
(right standing forever), eternal life (new life because of
regeneration - meaning to be 'born-again') and the complete forgiveness
of sins forever.
This is the truth from the Word of God. We need
to be clearer in our Gospel message and what the proper response to it
is. This is of dire importance for us who are saved. We must be clear
about the Gospel and what its response is.
Those who understand
this truth and believe it - they will forever have right-standing
before God, be given a new Eternal/Heavenly life, and their sin has
been forgiven once and for all.
I would like to end this small
little comment with what Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote about the
importance of the CLEAR Gospel and its CORRECT response:
'The
error of imposing Christ's Lordship upon the unsaved is disastrous even
though they are not able intelligently to resent it or to remind the
preacher of the fact that he, in calling upon them to dedicate their
lives, is demanding of them what they have no ability to produce. A
destructive heresy was formerly abroad under the name The Oxford
Movement, which specializes in this blasting error; except that the
promoters of the Movement omit altogether the idea of believing on
Christ for salvation and promote exclusively the obligation of
surrender to God. They substitute consecration for salvation,
faithfulness for faith, and beauty of daily life for believing unto
eternal life. As is easily seen, the plan of this Movement is to ignore
the need of Christ's death as the ground of regeneration and
forgiveness, and to promote the wretched heresy that it matters nothing
what one believes respecting the Saviorhood of Christ if only the daily
life is dedicated to God's service. A pseudo self-dedication to God is
a rare bit of religion with which the unsaved may conjure. The tragedy
is that out of such a delusion those who embrace it are likely never to
be delivered by a true faith in Christ as Savior. No more complete
example could be found today of "the blind leading the blind" than what
this Movement presents.' ("The Terms of Salvation," Bibliotheca Sacra,
Vol. 107 (Oct.-Dec. 1950): 389-416)
Continue to proclaim the clear and absolute truth of the Gospel.
Grace always,
Ross Turner ~ John 5:24
Comments (4)
I like this ! You remember I asked you once before what you would tell someone if the asked you how could they be saved . I think this sums it up well . I know some people from the Church of Christ who declare that yes you must belive but it is not until you are baptized that your sins are forgiven and you are saved . How can you tell them that the work of salvation is of the Lord and not of man's works of baptism ?
Are the plans working out the way you hoped ? Still praying for you brother .
In His love and hope ,
Barry
Rossifert L. Turner,
I will most definitely be able to make it to your wedding. Chee-hoo!
Aloha nui,
John
My response to my dear Brother in Christ Barry ---
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Barry! Thanks for the prayers, the planning is going well, only about 3 more weeks! Can't wait. Thanks for the message on my last post about the Gospel and its correct response.
The truth of the matter for the Church of Christ (denominationally speaking) is that there 'gospel' is a false gospel, not Paul's gospel but a 'gospel' of works. Their 'gospel' is NOT good news. Read any true practicaing CoC member and they will tell you that salvation is a 7-step PROCESS. That is once again - WORKS.
When it comes to their understanding of baptism, they take three main passages (sometimes four, though the fourth might not be actual scripture) to prove their point. Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:18-21 and (sometimes) Mark 16:16. Now it is CLEAR that the Gospel has ONE Conditional human response that is NOT meritorious - Faith. This is EVERYWHERE in the scriptures (John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 8:24, 11:25-27, 20:31; Rom. 3:21-27, 4:4-5, 4:16, 5:1, 10:4; Gal. 2:16, 3:22, Rev. 22:17, Acts 13:38-39, etc.). There is only ONE conditional response to the TRUTH of the Gospel - Faith alone in Christ alone.
Baptism (Water) does not Spiritually save anyone. But Baptism by water does save people in a different sense and context. It DOES save people from God's temporal discipline as it is clear in 1 Peter 3:18-21, Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16. When we are disobedient to God (such as not obeying His command to be water baptized, thus being identified with Him before the world) we receive present discipline. Mark 16:16 clearly refers to a spiritual salvation (if it is indeed authoratative) because it clearly makes the distinction (he who believes ... but he who does not believe); spiritual salvation is given upon the conditional response of FAITH. It reads:
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned."
Clearly the baptism must be the REAL Baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13) where, upon believing in Christ as Savior, the individual is simultaneously placed/identified into the Invisible body of Christ - thus not coming into condemnation as the second half of v. 16 states.
The problem with the CoC is that though it holds to many Orthodox beliefs about the Christian Faith it has allowed its understanding of the Gospel to become ACCURSED by it being JUDIEZED. If one simply reads the Book of Galatians it is clear that Paul states there is only ONE Gospel (the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ for ALL sin 'It is Finished') and the only correct response to that absolute truth for spiritual/eternal salvation is FAITH alone in Christ ALONE.
What you must tell these people is that God has made salvation in SUCH A WAY that no man can EVER boast! If I can boast in something I have merited, such as turning from my sins, cleaning up my life, being water baptized, confessing God before people, walking down an aisle, commiting my entire life to God, serving God daily, joining a church, serving a church, etc., then I can BOAST in myself. The Godhead has set within His own council that salvation is ALWAYS by Grace through Faith in His promise (Gen. 15:6). It is clear that repenting (turning away from a lifestyle of sin), confessing, being water baptized, joining a church, etc. are EXTRA conditions to FAITH alone in Christ ALONE. Daily devotion to God is not to keep salvation, to work for salvation or to earn salvation but merely a response of love towards the graciousness and mercy of the infinite God revealed in Jesus Christ His Son. The Christian life begins not with a full commitance of one's life to service of God - but the simple faith and recognition that Christ the Savior has come to fulfill all that God righteously required of fallen mankind.
The rest of the Christian life is growing in obedience to God through faith, hope and love, with the uncompromising assurance and motivation that one is forever secured in His promise of being justified before Him. This motivates the Christian to the daily consecrating of oneself to the hope of His return (1 Jn. 3:3-4), waiting to hear, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'
There is only one Gospel: The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ who came in human flesh at one moment in human history to live the perfect life, fully obedient to the righteous requirements of God the Father.
Our response to that truth is simply believing that He is our substitute/payment to God for what we owed - YET could never fully accomplish. In that moment of first belief His unwavering promise of eternal life, justification, reconciliation, regeneration, perfect sanctification, identification into His risen Son's invisible body on earth (by His Holy Spirit) is transacted - and these things, this calling, these promises are IRREVOCABLE. The promises of God and the truth of His character is something that we never need to doubt yet is what should lead us on to an ever-increasing desire to know and love Him as well as to let that love overflow to others not only in His Church on earth, but to all people.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel is the Gospel of Grace that teaches us to love God and thank Him for His mercy. We come to Him only by faith and we have a promise that gives us an UNWAVERING Hope. For even if we are faithLESS He IS FAITHFUL for He cannot deny Himself (1 Tim. 2:13).
Grace always,
Ross ~ John 5:24
Thanks for the response Ross , I will put this info to use as I can to help them understand . I know they pressure their family members not to visit other churchs and basicly use fear of the loss of their salvation if they join a church outside of a CoC . There are a few who I think have a real relationship with the Lord and are not sold on the seven points as they mature and listen to nonCoC christians. They claim by faith the grace of the father as the belive on Jesus and the Gosple God has for us in His word . Do you think God can reach through the works based religion and inpart true Faith in the True Gospel of Jesus the Christ ?
I am so happy for God's work in you life my brother , take care not to get to deep in debt . I pray the two of you can live without until you finish your education and take the Job God has waiting for you . 3 weeks ! God bless the both of you . God is so good Ross !
Walking in His love ,John5: 24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
Amen !