Sunday 7 July 2013

The Dangers of Believing a False Gospel


On Thursday and Friday night, a few members from Sola church and I had met with Adelaide Street Preachers to share the gospel openly outside the Hillsong Conference, warning people of heretical teachers who were present at the event. We had received a lot of backlash including one of my brothers having been punched in the face. This was essentially the fruit of what we had experienced and whitnessed. This blog entry is not an attack at Hillsong, I want to make that perfectly clear. I want to look at the gospel that I had a chance to whitness and expose the dangers of believing a false gospel.


After Adelaide street church and Sola church members had gathered to pray together, we made our way down to the entrance of the event. They had a large screen to accommodate for those who were sitting outside. The speaker had given what is known in some circles as "easy believeism." That God loves you (directed at the unbeliever) and that He can forgive your sins. And if you raise your hands right now, pray this prayer and He will welcome you in with open arms. I was shocked to the core of my stomach! I realised that this was the core problem of why exactly we were receiving such hostile behaviour.

So why is this gospel so wrong? Why does this gospel make some so angry? There are common truths in this gospel, but the message itself is not entirely true. In fact, no where in the bible does it mention that if you pray a prayer, God will welcome you in. In making any sense of the error of what this gospel is producing, we need to go to the scriptures on the matter.

As it is written:


There is no one righteous, not even one.
 11There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away;
all alike have become useless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.
13 Their throat is an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues.
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.
14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
17 and the path of peace they have not known.
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Romans 3:10-18


Paul exposes the truth of mankind in this passage. At the essence of what this passage is describing, is the radically depraved state of makind before our Lord! Before we as Christians came to know Christ, we hated Christ and our depravity was proof enough that we needed salvation! In understanding the love of Christ demonstrated on the cross, we need to first understand the depth of how far Christ has gone to redeem such a people for Himself. If we don't first and foremost understand this, than we have begun to adopt a lie. It's not wrong to say that 'God loves the unbeliever', in so much as that He provides the air that they breath and the water that they drink, but He will condemn that which is evil.


When we know who we are before our Lord, knowing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves and knowing the extent of what Christ has done on the cross. Only than can we grasp just a piece of the proverbial 'iceberg' of the love of our Lord. So what else is wrong with this easy believism' gospel? I mentioned also that if a prayer is prayed (that is, the sinners prayer) than you are deemed as saved. But this is far from the truth! It's not wrong to say that conversion should lead us to prayer, but it is wrong to condition fruit of salvation based on prayer. In Romans 9:15 Paul rightly displays how salvation is for the Lord to offer.


For He tells Moses:


I will show mercy
to whom I will show mercy,
and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion Romans 9:15



The fruit of salvation is not conditioned on a prayer but rather a revelation from the Lord Himself. And we know our Lord is not a God of confusion, the fruit of salvation is based on true faith in Christ that results in a turning away from sin and a turning to Christ. So that we as Christians should be able to look back over the times when we we not Christian and praise our Lord for His mercy upon us! The Apostle Paul gives us a clear demonstration as to what it looks like to gaze upon the past and glorify our Lord.

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.16 But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16

Paul is not saying that he is the worst of sinners (in a worldly sense) but in a reflective sense. A sense that all Christians will look back over their lives and 'amen' Paul in thinking the same "I Dan McGurgan am the worst of sinners for the offence I have caused my Lord." But our salvation and knowing the mercy of our Lord should never leave us in a depressive state, but rather a state of thanks giving and an offering up of praise to our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. This is the fruit of a Christian, they essentially become a changed being. It is not enough that someone simply stops taking drugs, stops drinking excessively and stops associating themselves in gangs. No! The fruit of a Christian is seeing if their life is giving glory to God!

If you think you might have been told a false gospel and you want to know more of the true gospel. I would encourage you to read the entire book of Romans. Paul gives a clear uncompromised truth of the gospel in its perfect form from the depravity of mankind, to the depth of the Love of our Lord (Romans 5:8). It is a book that can be measured to any false gospels that are present in some modern day evangelical churches today.

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