The Gospel, What It Truly Means

A few years ago during the Baptist Youth Congress, I overheard that a young man was being taught about the gospel by a Bible Student. After a few minutes of discussion, they bowed their heads and prayed the ’sinner’s prayer’. When they were finished, the Bible student asked him if he was already saved. The young man was taken aback and answered “Saved? Is that being saved?” In my mind, the young man did not even have an idea of what the Gospel truly means.

Though such a scene shows a very sad state in presenting the Gospel, this scenario, unfortunately, continues to plague evangelical churches including those in the conservative side. The truth behind what the real Gospel is all about has been clouded with the inferior version of “easy-believism”. If present with this inferior type of gospel, people would fail to even grasp the gravity of the commitment that he has to make regarding his salvation.

Despite the countless drawbacks, God still continues to produce men who will stand firm, steadfast and committed in giving forth the real Gospel according to how Jesus Christ taught it. One of the men that I know that God has mightily used is Dr. John MacArthur.

In his book “The Gospel According to Jesus”, John MacArthur illustrates how the Scripture challenges us to reject the so called type of gospel that has gained eminence in so many fundamental churches. “The Gospel According to Jesus” asks evangelical churches to go back to how Jesus presented the Gospel, how the Apostles has educated us, and how the early church fathers and the reformers preached and kept it.

“The Gospel according to Jesus” imparts the basic truth of the real Gospel. It challenges the false idea of accepting Christ yet shuns the sovereignty of God in ones life and asserting to be ‘disciple’ yet denying the command to repentance. John MacArthur also establishes that humility is very important to totally surrender to the authority of Christ; this is the very principle of the Gospel.

This book, “The Gospel according to Jesus” first came out of publication in 1988. After more than 20 years since it was published, this book still brings so much controversy among fundamental churches around the world. It also deals about “Lordship Salvation” and how the Gospel requires this type of salvation. A person can never be saved until he has resolved within himself that Jesus must be both his Lord and Saviour. This truth can be best summarized in our Saviour’s words, which is found in Matthew 10:38. It says “He who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me”.

I was able to get hold of the revised and expanded 20th anniversary edition of “The Gospel According to Jesus” from Grace to You ministries last month. I read the book I while I was having my New Year’s vacation with my wife’s family. I was able to finish it on the first day of 2009. After reading the “The Gospel According to Jesus”, I passed it on to my father-in-law.

Such a great way to begin the New Year! Again I was reminded what the Gospel truly means. The Bible tells us that salvation is by grace and faith alone. When we are truly saved, our good deeds not only testify of that change in us but affirm our salvation as well. The apostle Paul supports this truth when he wrote in Romans 15:4 “Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction that THROUGH PERSEVERANCE and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”

Before I close this book review, allow me to share a quote from one of the greatest preachers in 1800’s, the Prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon about his stand on what the Gospel is all about, “Another proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in A REAL CHANGE OF LIFE. If the man does not life differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance need to be repented of and his conversion is a fiction. Not only action and language, BUT SPIRIT AND TEMPER MUST CHANGE. . . There must be a harmony between the life and the profession. A Christian professes to renounce sin; and if he does not do so, his very name is an imposture. . .

Click here for other interesting articles on gospel presentation and other Christian ministry visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz.

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