“… the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” [2Thess 1:7-9]
“And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”[Acts 18:24-26]
WHAT THE GOSPEL IS NOT
A helpful way to understand the Gospel is to point out some common misconceptions about salvation. The true Gospel of Jesus Christ is none of the following, no matter how many people may be saying these things:
- God has a wonderful plan for your life.
- God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
- You can be saved anytime you want just by accepting Christ.
- Say some “sinner’s prayer” and if you really mean it, you are saved.
- Anyone who believes in God (according to just about any religion) will get to heaven.
- Anyone who is a “good” person will get to heaven.
- Anyone who believes in Jesus and calls Jesus “Lord” is a Christian.
Let us look in more detail at these things that the Gospel is NOT:
Misconception #1: God has a wonderful plan for your life.
In truth, God might a plan for your life that you may not like in the least – if you are not among those whom Christ came to save. Even true believers are told throughout the Bible that all who live godly lives in Christ can expect to be persecuted, while the unsaved may live lives full of material blessings and other blessings. Ultimately, those who die lost can expect their lives in eternity to be most miserable…
Romans 9:22 – “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:”
Romans 2:5-6 – “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds:”
Prov 29:1 - “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
What is God’s plan for your life? Do you know? Are you seeking the Lord while He may be found?
Misconception #2: God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
In truth, God hates the workers of iniquity AND their wicked works…
Psalm 5:5 – “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.”
Psalm 11:5 – “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.”
Prov 15:9 – “The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.”
Does God love you or are you still spiritually lost and living according to your own standards or your church’s standards instead of according to the Bible?
Misconception #3: You can be saved anytime you want just by accepting Christ.
In truth, salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), not of man. God alone determines who He will save and when He will save them. God is the giver of all life, both physical life and spiritual life. No one is born into His kingdom unless He orchestrates everything necessary for that birth to occur…
1Cor 15:8 – “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”
John 1:13 – “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Eph 1:4-5 – “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”
We don’t accept Christ and His rule in our lives until He first accepts us and converts our rebellious hearts:
Ephesians 1:5 – “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
Has Christ accepted you yet? How do you know?
Misconception #4: Say some “sinner’s prayer” and if you really mean it, you are saved.
In truth, God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. God doe not owe anyone salvation. Nor does a person’s prayer cause God to do something, otherwise that person would be more sovereign than God…
Romans 9:15,18 - “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”
Daniel 4:35 – “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
Your motives for saying some prayer may be entirely selfish. You may have no desire whatsoever to repent and come under the Lordship of Christ – you may only be trying to avoid judgment without having to turn from your sins. In fact, since the human heart is so corrupt and so easily deceived, you may not even know what you are really saying or doing, for as the Bible says:
Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Proverbs 28:9 – “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
When you pray, do you know if God hears you? Your prayers are an abomination to God if you are still living in rebellion to Him.
Misconception #5: Anyone who believes in God (according to just about any religion) will get to heaven.
In truth, you must believe in Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, and Him alone. Believing in a man made Jesus such as the Jesus of Catholicism, Mormonism, or Jehovah’s Witnesses will save no one…
Acts 4:12 – “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
John 14:6 – “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
John 14:9 – “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
Acts 17:2-3 – “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”
Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Col 1:13-19 – “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;”
Gal 1:8 – “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
John 4:24 - “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
When, and only when God converts a sinner, do they have a proper relationship to God and do they accurately understand who Christ is, especially as their Lord, as eternal God, who became their sin-bearer, their substitute and all-sufficient Saviour from the eternal wrath of an infinitely holy God. So, only a converted sinner whom God has put His Spirit in, is capable of believing in God properly – in spirit and in truth.
Which God do you believe in? The God of the Bible or a god invented by you or your church.
Misconception #6: Anyone who is a “good” person will get to heaven.
In truth, no one is good in God’s eyes…
Romans 3:10&23 – “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: … For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Isaiah 64:6 - “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Isaiah 59:1-2 – “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
God’s standards of righteousness and holiness are far higher than man’s standards. According to God’s standard, committing just ONE sin qualifies a person for hell for all eternity:
James 2:10 – “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
God expects perfection, something we are all incapable of:
Matt 5:48 – “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
This puts us in a hopeless situation, unless Christ grants us a complete pardon for all our sins but that pardon cannot be granted without someone paying for our sins. That someone is Christ who paid the complete penalty for all the sins of all of His people:
Matt 1:21 – “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Are you one of His people? How do you know?
Misconception #7: Anyone who believes in Jesus and calls Jesus “Lord” is a Christian.
In truth, if God does not convert the person’s heart, they are none of His. They must have been born spiritually by the Spirit of God, so that they know the One whom they believe in and so that they will be able, willing and anxious to serve Him as their Lord. They must serve Christ according to what the Bible says, not necesssarily according to what their church may teach…
Matt 7:21-23 – “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. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
James 2:19 – “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Do you believe in the Jesus who saves people without the help of anyone else?
To God Be The Glory!
