There are many false gospels circulating in churches today. 1st Corinthians
15:1-4 defines the gospel as the DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION of Jesus
Christ. If any one of these three elements is left out, then you do not have
the gospel.
Religious films have become very popular in
churches today. I say “religious” instead of Christian because they don't
faithfully preach the gospel message. One way or another they butcher the
gospel.
Where's The Resurrection?
One such religious movie is called “IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE” (2000) starring David A.R. White, Andrea Logan White and Eric Roberts. It is an interesting film and they are exceptional actors, but that's not the issue. The issue is that the film presents an incomplete gospel message, and equally as bad, adds to the gospel.
There is absolutely no mention of Christ's resurrection in the movie. What good is Christ's death if He never rose from the dead? Anyone can die, that's not a miracle; but only God can raise the dead, and that is a miracle. Jesus, Who was crucified to death and buried in a dead man's tomb, rose from the dead three days later!!! Amen and amen.
Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” There is MUCH doubt in the world today concerning Christ's resurrection. There are people who think they are trusting in Christ's death, but they DON'T believe that Jesus has risen. Go figure!
The film only presents the death of Christ upon the cross. The burial of Christ is not mentioned, nor is the resurrection of Jesus Christ mentioned even once. To leave out the burial and resurrection of Christ is not acceptable. This is a false gospel. The significance of Christ's death is to officiate that He indeed was dead, lest skeptics and naysayers should claim that Jesus never really died and the resurrection was staged. I was the Pharisee Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathæa who took Jesus' crucified body down from the cross and prepared (embalmed) his body according to Jewish custom. They placed Christ's body into a fresh grave hewn into the stone, where no dead had ever been lain. The burial of Christ is just as important as is His death and resurrection from the dead three days later.
Again, only Christ's death is mentioned in the
movie. I'm sure the actors, writer and producer do believe in Christ's
burial and resurrection, but many of the people watching the film don't. The
viewer is misled into believing a false view of the gospel (good news),
which is no good news at all.
Don't Add To The Gospel
The film “IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE” also teaches that a person must receive Jesus as Savior AND Lord to be saved. The film teaches to give your life to Christ and to surrender your will to the Lord in order to have eternal life. You must be willing to follow the Lord in all He says and does. This is a false gospel, which has spread like wildfires in America's churches today. They are ADDING to the gospel. The film does good to show that good works cannot save a person; but they mess up when they teach that a person cannot be saved without making Christ Lord, committing one's life to Christ, deciding to live for Jesus... these are all acceptable in their proper place, but NOT in the gospel.
Here are the helpful words of Harry A. Ironside (pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago 1930-1948)...
“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …
Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”
SOURCE: Pastor Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon: What Is The Gospel? | Charles Spurgeon on Repentance
Take for example the popular website, www.eyewitness-scriptures.org. Now here they mention the resurrected Christ, but they pervert the gospel by adding self-righteousness to it. In order to be saved this website claims you have to ask Jesus to WORK IN YOU TO FOLLOW HIM. Only then will Christ save you the website claims...
"Turn to the resurrected Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Confess your sins to Jesus, trust in His death on the cross in your place, and pray to Him to work in you to follow Him. He will then forgive you and send His Holy Spirit to indwell you to teach, encourage, guide, strengthen, and help change your character so you can begin to reflect His character to others."
SOURCE: The End Is Near
That's a false gospel! Where in the Bible does it say that I have to pray for Jesus to work in me to be saved? So many people these days mean well, but are woefully ignorant of the plan of salvation. Thus, they corrupt the gospel by either removing from it or adding to it. Jesus died, was buried and rose again for our sins. If you receive Christ's payment for your sins, then you are saved.
Adding anything to the gospel is a road to Hell. We are saved by faith alone in Jesus as the Christ; Who died, was buried and rose again for OUR SINS. If we personally trust upon Jesus Christ, we are saved immediately, instantly and eternally. Salvation can NEVER be lost. If you can't get eternal life by good works, then you can't lose it by bad works.
Roman Catholics ADD the keeping of the seven sacraments to be saved. They add church membership, teaching that the first sacrament of water baptism is the door into the Church. Since the Body of Christ is composed of all believers, Catholics corrupt the truth by teaching that Christ is the Church, thus they say joining the Church means to join to Christ.
The Biblical truth is that Jesus is NOT the
Church. Christ is the Head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). Water baptism is
NOT the door into the Church. That's unbiblical. Ye must be born-again! That
is the only way. In John 10:9 Jesus said, “I AM THE DOOR!” Jesus is the ONLY
way to Heaven!!! Christ is the Door! Not the church.
The Bible Teaches To Receive Christ As 'Savior' To Have Eternal Life
Another false gospel is the claim that receiving Jesus as one's Savior is not good enough to be saved. Such false prophets teach that a sinner must also receive Jesus as their Lord to be saved, meaning that they're surrendering fully to Christ's will and to do everything God wants. This is unbiblical rubbish. Where in the Bible does it say that a person has to serve Christ to be saved? Where does the Bible require anyone to surrender all, or amend one's sinful ways, or make a commitment to Christ to be forgiven of one's sins? Eternal life is a GIFT (Romans 5:15; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).
My friend, Jesus paid the debt that you owed, because you couldn't pay it. Our sin debt was so big that no one could pay it except for Jesus' precious blood. I am leery of all these religious people nowadays speaking of the death without the resurrection, or they speak of the resurrection and require people to submit to Christ's Lordship. If you mean receive Christ “as the Lord” then I agree; but if you mean “making Jesus Lord” so that a person is willing to submit and obey Christ's every command, no way! That's like expecting a newborn baby to run a marathon before even learning to walk. You can't run until you walk, and you can't walk until you first learn to crawl.
1st Peter 2:2 says for new converts to desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. Requiring a sinner to make Jesus Lord to be saved is like requiring a sick person to heal them self before going to the doctor. You come “Just As I Am” to the Lord for salvation. Jesus forgives you as you are. Whatever changes need to be made is God's business and concern. Getting saved is completely separate from living a consecrated holy life unto the Lord.
Just as many Charismatics falsely think they are saved because they speak in tongues, so also do many people falsely think they are saved because they have made Jesus Lord of their life. Proof of what I say is found in Matthew 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. 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? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Just because you have made Christ the Lord of your life does not mean you are saved. You must do the will of the Father, which is found in John 6:40,
“And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
There you have it. The will of the Father is that we see Jesus as presented in the Scriptures and believe on Him! The Scriptures present Jesus as the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus died, was buried and rose again three days later for your sins? If that is your personal hope and trust, then you are saved my friend. If Jesus Christ is your hope for redemption, then you have it!
Salvation is NOT a prayer, although a sinner's prayer is certainly appropriate. Salvation is a new birth, a second birth, a spiritual birth. Ye must be born again! (John 3:7). One's faith in the gospel equals salvation! Some false prophets, such as John MacArthur and Seventh Day Adventists, errantly think of salvation as a process. Even the Salvation Army has it wrong, referring to salvation as “a state” which can be lost in their official doctrinal statement. My friend, being born-again is a new birth that is as irreversible as the physical birth, which is what Jesus tried to explain to Nicodemus in John 3:1-7). You cannot lose salvation. If saved, always saved.
You don't make Jesus Lord, He already is Lord!
The very moment that you get saved, Jesus automatically becomes your Lord
too. The trustworthy King James Bible says, Romans 10:9, “That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” The
modern, corrupt, perverted New
International Version (NIV) horrible changes the phrase “the Lord
Jesus” to “Jesus is Lord.” Modern apostates all use the NIV and teach that
you must declare “Jesus is Lord” to be saved. That's a false gospel. You
just need to receive Jesus as your Savior. John 1:12, “But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name.”
No Surrender, Experience Nor Commitment Required For Salvation
Saul (the Apostle Paul) had a remarkable salvation experience (Acts 9:1-5) which is not the norm. Most people quietly receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and there is no emotional experience. A person may or may not desire to serve God at that time, but it is NOT required to be saved. Isaiah 45:22 says to simply look unto the Savior (all ye ends of the world). If you want to be saved, but are not ready to stop living in a particular sin, or you don't want to serve God, that is ok.
The Bible teaches that all men are sinners,
including the men who try the most not to sin. NO ONE can stop sinning
completely, but getting saved ought to cause us AFTER were saved to want to
depart from sin because of God's Holy Spirit which indwells (lives within)
us. A changed life is the FRUIT of genuine repentance, and NOT a part of the
ROOT of saving-faith.
The change follows true salvation, over time as a person grows in the grace
of God's Word.
The Danger Of Changing The Gospel
Changing even the smallest part of the gospel corrupts it into a false gospel. There is no room for self-righteous at the cross of Calvary. Jesus bore the full weight of our sins upon Himself. Beware of false prophets today who attempt to put the burden of sin upon your shoulders instead of Christ's. Please understand that I don't condemn anybody, for I am the biggest sinner I know (and so are you if you're right with God). I could mention hundreds of names of people who are teaching a false gospel today... Ray Comfort, Pat Robertson, Kirk Cameron, Paul Washer. Paul washer even called Baptists “fools” for teaching the simplicity of salvation. These men are followers of John Calvin's teachings, called Calvinists. Calvin taught a false gospel of works-salvation.
I am simply contending for the faith. Preaching a vague, wishy-washy, gospel to avoid offending others is a false gospel. The gospel MUST include the DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ. The Biblical gospel EXCLUDES all forms of self-righteousness.
