The following comprises Chapter Six of a small Book written by four undergraduates while office-holders in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union in 1971. The Book is entitled "The Grace of God in the Gospel" by John Cheesman, Philip Gardner, Michael Sadgrove and Tom Wright. It is published by The Banner of Truth Trust.
The writers were concerned at the time at the way that the Gospel was being presented in National Crusades etc.. If they were concerned then, how much more concerned should we be today when things have deteriorated to such a point that the vast majority of those who might call themselves "evangelicals" seem to have been deluded into believing "another gospel".
Frederick Serjeant.
The reader is invited to study the
following - carefully comparing the Bible references in footnotes -
numbered in [ ] brackets.
Many who have read thus far may well feel that they do not recognize it, in emphasis or in substance, as the gospel with which they are familiar. It is our contention that this is a real and basic difference and that it is the difference between the Biblical Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and a man-made substitute gospel. To substantiate this claim, we must examine the modern gospel and compare it with Scripture - for our final authority must be the Scriptures alone, which contain many warnings against false gospels. [1] ' If we are to be true to our duty to 'test everything; hold fast what is good" [2], we must test all ' formulations of the gospel against that one true Gospel which is revealed in the Word of God. This is the aim: of this chapter.
If the gospel commonly preached today is indeed found to be
unscriptural, it follows that much of modern evangelicalism has gone
astray on doctrines, which are not just of secondary importance, but
are at the heart of the Christian faith. This is not a welcome
conclusion, but we must not avoid it for that reason. In the last few
years the Lord has laid a desire for the revival of true, deep, vital
and powerful Christianity on the hearts of many; it may well be that
the recovery of the purity of the Gospel will, by the grace of God,
lead to a healing of the many ills and weaknesses of the evangelical
churches, and to a demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power amongst
us both in the growth in grace of believers and in the salvation of
the lost.
We proceed therefore to consider the manner in which the way of
salvation is frequently preached these days. We are reluctant to say
it, yet we are convinced that much modern preaching which purports to
be evangelical falls short of Scriptural teaching, and has little in
common with the example of the Master Evangelist, the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. How would much modern evangelistic preaching and
writing answer the question of the rich young ruler, 'What must I do
to inherit eternal life?'? The following answer (found in one
much-used evangelistic booklet) is probably typical: 'If I am to
benefit from Christ's death I must take three simple steps, of which
the first two are preliminary, and the third so final that it will
make me a Christian ... I must believe that I am, in God's sight, a
helpless sinner, that is, I must admit my need: I must believe that Christ died for me; I must come to him, and claim my personal share in what he did for
everybody.' Under the third and final step is explained how the
willing sinner must 'open the door of his heart to Christ', the
Christ who waits patiently outside the door, until I open it to
him.
It is undeniable that such an answer, or something like it is
frequently presented today, and those who teach such a method
probably justify it by claiming that it includes the central
doctrines of the Gospel - repentance, faith, conversion,
substitutionary atonement, the sinfulness of man, and so on. If
someone 'takes the step', and later questions the validity of his
conversion, he is assured that you
took a simple step; you
committed yourself to Jesus Christ; but then
God performed a stupendous miracle. He gave you new life; you were
born again. . . (our italics). The concluding advice is often given::
'Tell somebody today what you have done.'
This answer bears little resemblance to Jesus' reply to the rich
young ruler. [3] The following is a summary of some of the basic
doctrines or presuppositions of this modern gospel:
The unregenerate man is regarded as capable of repenting and believing.
The demand to believe that Christ died for your sins is based on the doctrine that Christ died for the sins of every, man individually.
Committing oneself to Christ, or deciding for him, or coming to him, is presented as an act which the sinner can do as he wills at any time, i.e. as an act of free-will.
Although God may be said to have taken the initiative in a general sense by sending Christ to die to make salvation possible, in any particular conversion it is the sinner who takes the initiative by coming to Christ, and it is God who responds.
The unregenerate man cannot believe the Gospel, because it is foolishness to him; spiritual truths are spiritually discerned, and he lacks the requisite faculty, being spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. [4]
It therefore follows that he must be born again (which is the sovereign act of God) before he can repent and believe. Faith in Christ is the gift of God. Thus salvation is wholly of the Lord; he takes the initiative. [5]
There is no Gospel command in Scripture to believe that Christ died for your sins. No-one can have legitimate assurance of this until he has been saved, and can make his 'calling and election sure' by wholehearted trust and obedience. Rather, the Gospel command is to repent and believe in Christ as the only Saviour, believing his promises and casting oneself on his mercy. We have already seen that Christ died for the elect (or, for those who believe). [6]
This modern gospel is presented with no hint that God is sovereign, and active in drawing to himself those whom he has chosen. But in Scripture these truths are not hidden lest they should cause offence; they are declared and even emphasized, since God is glorified when man can boast of nothing in himself to which salvation is due. 'I contribute nothing to my salvation except the sin from which I need to be saved.[7]
It is implied that Christ's death merely made salvation possible for all, the salvation becoming actual only on the condition of belief. But the Scriptures without exception speak of Christ's death as actually effective in itself, because of its substitutionary nature, to redeem, reconcile, ransom, and save to the uttermost.[8]
Having examined this new gospel in its essentials, and shown that it is not the true Gospel of the Bible, we shall next show that its subsidiary terms are equally erroneous. We give a few examples of the sorts of points that are often made:
The sinner is appealed to as an honest seeker.'Look into the evidence for yourself,' it is said, 'and you will be convinced. Tell God that you are honestly seeking him, and ask him to show himself to you.' Yet we are told in Scripture that no-one seeks after God; that no-one is honest before him; that the reaction of the unregenerate man is to flee from God's holiness because it shows up his own darkness.[9] It is a common experience that nonChristians who are put in this position, who are perhaps intellectually convinced of the truth of Christianity, will not 'commit themselves', or, if they do, often give no real evidence that there has been a supernatural change in their lives. Before a sinner is born again, he does not want to know the truth; he may show interest, even strong concern, in the Gospel, as his heart is prepared by the Holy Spirit, but he seeks as it were in spite of himself, always trying to hide from God.
Again, the benefits enjoyed by the Christian - joy, peace fulfilment meaning in life, etc. - are often made the ground of an appeal to the unsaved. This is, of course, a motive well-designed to lead the natural man to 'make a decision' for Christ. But it is misleading when divorced from the preaching of the wrath of God against sin, and the need for a complete change of nature, and the demand for true-repentance, all of which are found in the New Testament Gospel.
Jesus is represented as a loving but impotent figure, standing and knocking, although he knows there is only one door-handle - on the inside, where the sinner alone can control it - and the feeling excited is one of pity: 'He' has done so much for you; will you not now open the door to him and allow him to bless you with his salvation?' This leads the hearer to feel that he has done God a favour by agreeing to believe. What could be more against the spirit of the tax-collector in the parable, who dared not approach God, but stood afar off, and cried in humility and repentance, 'God be merciful to me a sinner'?
This is what the modern gospel says; equally important is what it does not say. First, its preaching too often begins with man's problem, and works up to God's remedy, whereas Biblical preaching begins with the character of God - particularly with his holiness as set before us in the Law - and then shows that man's sin is the transgression of God's holy Law, for which God will condemn the sinner if he does not repent.[10] Jesus' answer to the rich young ruler who asked what he must do to inherit eternal life was: 'Thou knowest the commandments', [11] thus pointing him to the holiness of God in order to show him his sinfulness. This failure to preach God's Law, and the depth of man's sinfulness and guilt, is responsible for the evident lack of true conviction of sin in the souls of so many who profess conversion; and, furthermore, it leads sinners to believe that there is no need of a change of nature which it is not within their power to effect. 'To be incessantly telling a sinner to "come to Christ" is of little use unless you tell him why he needs to come, and show him fully his sins' (J. C. Ryle). The modern evangelist often seems to proceed as if unaware of texts like 'Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord'.[12]
Secondly, what the modern gospel does say about sin, repentance and faith, is too often a weakened version of what Scripture says. There is probably hardly a single person, alive who would not be willing to 'admit his need'. But are we convinced that 'admitting one's need' 'is the same thing as the Biblical command: to repent of sin, to flee from it and abhor it? Does the invitation to admit one's need carry with it the urgency of the command of the apostles, prophets, and of the Lord himself, to repent? Does it lead sinners to despair of their natural ability, and to cast themselves on Christ for mercy? Furthermore, is all that is involved in faith, belief that Jesus Christ died for sinners? 'At this rate, the very devils are believers!' It is to be feared that many are taught to believe that they are saved, when in fact they are still in their sins.
Thirdly, is it wise to assert so positively how easy it is to become a Christian? It is doubtless true that the grace of God is free, yet Scripture exhorts men to strive to enter the Kingdom, to lay hold of God while he may be found, to examine their souls and to seek the grace of God to repent of and forsake their sinful ways. Let it never be forgotten, however, that sinners cannot come to repentance and faith unless grace be given them by God; and one of the mischiefs of the modern evangelicalism is that it talks as if conversions could be manufactured at man's pleasure. Accordingly, as man is in full control, and it is all'up to him', the modern system seeks to bring it within the power of all to be born again, merely by sincerely echoing the evangelist's closing prayer. Is not this the Romish doctrine of grace conferred 'ex opere operato', mechanically, by.the works of man? Have we forgotten that 'it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth but of God that hath mercy'? [13] Doubtless the rich young ruler was sincere in desiring eternal life, yet he went away unforgiven, because he was unwilling to turn from his sin.
What then is our conclusion? There is today, as there has been in other periods of history, a gospel which looks plausibly like the Biblical Gospel but which differs from it in several vital respects. We must give no place to this new teaching, but, like Paul, ensure that the truth of the Gospel continue with us." [14]
1. Gal. 1:6-9; 1 Tim. 6:3, 20; 2 Tim. 1..13-14; et at.
5. Jn. 10:17-22 4. 1 Cor. 1:18; 2:14; Eph. 2:1 5. Jn. 3:3-8; Phil. 6, 29; Jonah 2:9; 1 Pet. 1:2.
6. Jn. 10:11-16; 15:13-14; Rom. 5:6-11; Eph. 5:25-27; Heb. 9:15
7. Acts 13:48; Mt. 11:25-30; Jn. 6:63-65; 15:16; Rom. 9:14-24; 1 Pet. 1:2
8. Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:13; 1 Thess. 5:9-10; Heb. 10:10; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; 1 Jn. 4:10; Rev. 1:5
9. Rom. 3:11; Jer. 17:9; Jn. 3:19