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By Jeff
Watkins
What’s the
most important question facing the world today? Is it finding cures for terrible diseases like AIDS
and cancer? Is it preventing
future armed conflicts with China and North Korea? Perhaps it’s ending the ancient
clashes between the Jewish and Palestinian peoples.
What’s the
most important question facing yourself and your family today? Maybe it’s how your going to pay
for your daughter’s braces or the skyrocketing cost of college tuition. Perhaps it’s how well you’re able
to fund your 401(k) retirement accounts.
Those are all important questions in their own right. However, the greatest
question facing the world and all of us probably will surprise you
because it may be one that you weren’t even thinking of, or maybe you’ve
never given any real thought to it.
The question is this: what is the true Gospel?
I know
what you’re thinking: why is this the most important question facing
mankind? Well friend,
I’ll tell you why. It’s by
far the most important question facing mankind because only the true
Gospel can save us all from our sins and from spending eternity in
Hell. This brief
little study will address the true gospel – what it is; its message and
its mandate for us.
Let’s start at the beginning by examining the word
gospel. What does the word gospel
mean? Literally, it means
“good tidings” or “good news”.
There are various types of gospels -- ideological, political and
religious. Each has its own
message and each has its own recognized authority that defines what that
message is.
Hitler was the recognized authority behind the 3rd
Reich. His gospel was one
that promoted Aryan supremacy.
Karl Marx was the recognized authority behind the Communist
gospel, which touted the welfare of the state over the welfare of
individuals.
In 2000 Al
Gore was the recognized authority behind the Democratic political party;
consequently, he was the one who defined the Democrat’s message.
Today, George Bush is the current leader of the United
States – he defines our nation’s policies.
Similarly, their Divine authorities establish religious
gospels.
Muslims
believe God has established their message through the Koran, which serves
as the written authority determining the Muslim gospel.
Mormons believe that God spoke through the Bible plus
the Book of Mormon – that serves as their authority.
Roman Catholics believe God spoke through the Bible plus
the Apocrypha, plus the visions of Joan of Arc, plus the
visions of Fatima, plus the Pope’s infallible utterances.
Charismatics believe God spoke through the Bible plus
divine revelations through dreams, visions and tongues.
As you can see, each of these gospels has a different divine
authority:
Koran
Bible + Book of Mormon
Bible + Apocrypha + Joan of Arc +
Fatima + Pope
Bible + Dreams + Visions + Tongues
Having different divine authorities means you have different
gospel messages. I hope you
can see this important point.
Latter Day Saints interpret the Bible based upon what they read in
the Book of Mormon.
Catholics interpret the Bible based upon what they read in the
Apocrypha and what they hear from other people such as the Pope. Charismatic denominations
interpret the Bible based upon their dreams and visions and what other
people speak in strange languages.
With all of these different gospels, how are we to know
which one is true? Can they
all be true? If they are not
all true, whose gospel is the true one that alone can save us? How many Gospels can save us from
our sins?
The Bible
makes it crystal clear that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can save us
from our sins. Here are just
some examples of the exclusive claims of the Bible:
Jesus Christ is the only way: 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.
No other name: 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.
Only one Saviour: Isa 43:11
I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and beside me [there is] no
saviour.
Other ways end in death: Prov 14:12
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the
end thereof [are] the ways of death.
All others are thieves & robbers: John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by
the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is
a thief and a robber.
That’s
fine you say, but Mormons, Roman Catholics and Charismatics all believe
in Jesus – so therefore, isn’t it sufficient to simply believe in Christ? Look
carefully at Luke 4:33-34:
And in the
synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he
cried out with a loud voice, Saying, Let [us] alone; what have we to do
with Thee, [thou] Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know
Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God.
From this
passage, we see that Satan and his demons believe as well! That tells us that, by itself,
following a gospel broadly defined only by a belief in Christ is incomplete.
Consequently, we must dig a little deeper to further define the
boundaries of the true gospel.
Let’s look
at Revelation 22:18-19
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of
the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things
which are written in this book.
What is God saying in these verses? Many people claim that this
passage is only referring to the book of Revelation. However, such an argument quickly
crumbles when we examine it closely. Consider our own alphabet: a change in the shape of
one letter of the alphabet (the last letter, Z) changes the entire
alphabet. Or consider
ourselves: cutting off one finger alters the entire human body. In the same way, adding or
deleting from Genesis or Psalms or Ruth or John or Titus or even
Revelation changes the entire Bible.
God tells us that adding another message to His Word or
deleting out portions we’re uncomfortable with results in us receiving
the plagues spoken of in it.
One of the greatest physical plagues throughout Scripture was
leprosy, so is God telling us that Muslims, Mormons, Roman Catholics,
Charismatics and others are going to be stricken with leprosy? No, the physical plagues
mentioned throughout Scripture, as terrible as they were for those on the
receiving end, serve as pictures for us of the greatest plague: falling
under God’s wrath as a result of our sins and spending an eternity
separated from Him in Hell.
That is the horrible consequence of following another gospel that
adds to or takes away from God’s Word.
If judgment and Hell typify the Bible’s plagues, then what
are its “good tidings”? The
answer to that is the thread running throughout all of Scripture from
Genesis to Revelation: God’s mercy and grace poured out upon His people
in the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate blessing for those who by God’s
grace are following the gospel circumscribed by the Bible alone and in
its entirety.
Therefore, we can say that the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing
but the Bible establishes the true Gospel. But what is the central message of the true Gospel of
Jesus Christ? The verse that
best sums it up is the one most often quoted, John 3:16
For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Obviously, God’s love is an integral part of the gospel
message – and we certainly hear a lot about that. However, “should not perish” is
also an integral part of this verse -- yet often we don’t hear enough
about this equally important aspect of the gospel.
What exactly does God mean
when he uses the term perish in this verse? Does He mean annihilation or
ceasing to exist? Because
the Bible is unique among all books having God Himself as its author, we
can let it serve as its own interpreter. Let’s look at Romans 6:16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants
to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death,
or of obedience unto righteousness?
The kind of death God has in view is not physical death, but
eternal death. Perish, as
God uses it, means to be cast away into outer darkness to exist
throughout eternity in Hell.
This picture makes annihilation look very promising, doesn’t it? If we could simply cease to
exist, then we wouldn’t have to suffer endlessly in torment for our
sins.
The Bible
acts as a mirror in telling us the awful truth about ourselves. We are, by nature, sinners. Nevertheless, we are accountable
to God for our actions.
Without the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are all only one breath
away from Hell. No one can
escape by virtue of their upright, moral living or acts of charity and
compassion.
Earthquakes
kill 50,000; war kills 500,000; famines kill tens of thousands – all of
these are dreadful tragedies! But they result only in physical
death. Physical death can’t
hold a candle to greatest horror of all. Everyday 200,000 people die and since the majority
aren’t Christian – and not everyone claiming the title is truly born
again – the majority die unsaved.
What awaits unsaved man after he dies? Is physical death the end for them? Certainly not. They’ll face God’s righteous
judgment and eternity in Hell.
This is the daily trauma facing mankind!
Why do you
suppose we don’t hear a lot about Hell these days? Some might say it’s because we
shouldn’t be scared into believing the Gospel. My response to an argument like that is: if you’re not
saved, you better be frightened!
The fact of the matter is that if we’re not told about Hell’s
reality, then we’re not being presented with the complete Gospel message.
If God wrote Bible only to tell us we’re going to Hell, we
could still praise Him at least for warning us. This knowledge of our predicament still wouldn’t do us
any good however because it wouldn’t change our situation. The true Gospel begins with the
terrible truth facing mankind about our sin condition.
Let’s look now at 2 Cor 5:21
For He hath made Him [to be] sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
There is a way of escape for all who cry out to Christ and
hang their lives on Him. Is
there any other news that compares to this?
The
message of the true gospel of the Bible is two-fold, as we see in John
3:16 with “should not
perish” and “everlasting
life”. That message is the
same whether we live in rural Maryland or suburban California; it’s the
same for someone living under a dictatorship as for someone living in a
democracy; it’s the same for someone living on a remote pacific island as
it is for someone in New York City; and it’s the same message for a
billionaire as it is for a homeless individual. Although we’re all different culturally, economically
and politically, there is the unity of the gospel connecting us. We’ve become one body
spiritually.
Let’s recap where we are. We know the true gospel is comprised by the Bible
alone, and that its central message is that God has provided a means of escape
for mankind from spending eternity in Hell for our sins through the
salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ. Now that we know this, what are to do about it? What’s the mandate or directive
for us?
Look at Mark 16:15
And He said
unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature.
Our mandate, as given to us by Christ Himself, is the Great
Commission. This is a direct
command from sovereign God Himself.
It isn’t an option.
It isn’t something we do only if it’s convenient. We are charged with the wonderful
privilege of proclaiming God’s glorious message of salvation to the whole
earth.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost.
There are people in China He’s come to seek and to
save. There are people in
India He’s come to seek and to save. There are people in Russia He’s come to seek and to
save. There are people all
across the world He’s come to seek and to save. We all have the same spiritual need (to be set
free from sin) and it requires the same spiritual antidote.
Because the true gospel of Christ is common to every nation,
we must be very careful that we’re proclaiming the correct message.
Since the majority of people die unsaved, Hell is getting
its due at the rate of 200,000 each and every day. This is the sad reality all of us
need to see and acknowledge.
After all, unless Christ returns first, none of us is going to
escape death. The truth is
that we will die one day -- maybe today, maybe next year, maybe not for a
long time
Luke 10:27 tells us
And He
answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and
thy neighbour as thyself.
Likewise John 13:34 says
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
We’re to
love our neighbors as ourselves.
We’re to love each other as Christ has loved us. Our all-important concern had
better be “Am I ready to Meet God?
Am I truly saved?”
And our all-important concern for our fellow man is to want to the
same for him.
May God
richly bless you.
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