The Modern Gospel Is Not The True Gospel!

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” [Matthew 24:23-24]

The one thing that, in all my years as a twice-born child of God, leaps out at me as being something that could “almost” deceive the “very elect” is the MODERN gospel. Of course you can add other things to that list that are things that young believers don’t always grasp easily such as whether or not you can lose your salvation or whether or not “speaking in tongues” is for today. Yet nothing is quite as deceptive as the MODERN gospel. And what makes it so insidious is the fact that this MODERN gospel is so prevalent and it does such a remarkable job of warping a person’s perception of who God is and what the true condition of fallen mankind is. The MODERN gospel is not something completely brand new this year or this decade. It has been around for a while but it is becoming more and more popular among churches that call themselves evangelical and Bible-believing.

The MODERN Gospel	The TRUE Gospel
Also known as: Arminianism, Free-willism	Also known as: Calvinism, The Doctrines Of Grace
Denominations that preach it: Almost every protestant denomination and some churches within the denominations listed to the right.	Denominations that preach it: Reformed Baptists, Orthodox Presbyterians, Sovereign Grace churches, some Southern Baptist churches and a few others.
How to identify it: Preachers and teachers who believe the MODERN gospel use alter calls and emotional pleas to persuade sinners to “accept Christ”. They use gospel tracts with some kind of salvation formula such as “the Romans Road” or “the Four Spiritual Laws”. They instruct people to recite a sinner’s prayer and then proclaim that if that prayer (like a Christian mantra) is recited (sincerely of course) then the person, by that act of their will, has become saved and is ready for heaven. The modern gospel preachers and teachers tell people indiscriminantly that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life, as if they were God and as if they know who God loves or whom God has chosen to be His people. They like to talk about how many people they led to Christ. They tell people to bow their heads and close their eyes so that sinners will not feel uncomfortable stepping forward in a church to “accept Christ”, as if their comfort is the issue and not the fact that they may be one heartbeat away from eternity in hell.	How to identify it: Preachers and teachers who believe the TRUE gospel do NOT use alter calls or emotional pleas. They use the Word of God to convict sinners of sin. They preach about God’s law, His holiness, His righteousness, His hatred for sin, His wrath towards sinners and the eternal judgment of hell. They warn people to repent or perish. Only then do they preach about God’s grace and mercy. They preach that prior to salvation, man is spiritually dead and incapable of turning to God in that condition. They preach the Gospel because God has commanded them to, not for results or numbers of converts. They know that if people do not get saved by their preaching, God is still glorified, because His opinion of the lostness of man is proven by man’s rejection of the truth and man’s hatred of God’s word concerning man’s total depravity.

What about people who say they are neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian?

Some folks say they are not Arminians and not Calvinists, they are “biblicists”… they just believe the Bible (not realizing there are certain parts of the Bible they may not even know about and that they wouldn’t agree with if you showed them). These people sometimes call themselves 3-point-5 or 4-point Calvinists because they reject one or more points of Calvinism, such as the limited nature of Christ’s atonement or the total depravity of man.. Often they are still free-willers even if they claim to believe in man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty. The truth is, you cannot reject ANY of the doctrines of God’s grace (a.k.a. 5 points of Calvinism) and still have the TRUE gospel. On the other hand, you may have an incomplete understanding of the gospel, but if you are truly “in Christ” you will not find yourself fighting against or preaching against those who preach and teach Calvinism.

Getting back to the verses in Matthew chapter 24 that we quoted at the beginning… what then are the “great signs and wonders” of the MODERN gospel? One thing is the amazing (and untrue) ability for lost sinners to get themselves saved anytime they wish. Because if that were true, it would mean that they have the power to regenerate themselves or that God is at their mercy waiting for the rebellious, spiritually dead sinner to find some good in himself and some power in and of himself to seek God, clearly contradicting Romans 3:11 and Romans 8:7&8.

“There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” [Romans 3:11]
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” [Romans 8:7-8]

Another great sign and wonder of this MODERN gospel is the ability of preachers to get hundreds and even thousands of people to walk down an aisle and “accept Christ”, when all those folks are really doing is buying “fire insurance” (a quick ticket to heaven and a easy way around hell), thinking that the act of their will to come forward and recite a “sinner’s prayer” is all that is needed to enter into the kingdom of God. When in truth, it takes a supernatural act of God to enter His kingdom:

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” [John 3:6-7]

No one gives birth to themselves. Hence no sinner can get himself saved. His salvation is totally and completely dependent upon the mercy of God.

“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: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [John 3:12-13]

And don’t kid yourself into thinking that verse 12 above gives you a leg to stand on regarding man’s involvement in salvation. The ONLY ones who will ever “receive him” (i.e. Christ) are those, who by the will of God, have been brought to spiritual life by God the Holy Spirit.

“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” [Romans 9:13-16]

While it is possible that some people who walk down an aisle or respond to an “altar call” may really be truly converted, it is the fact that they already are saved that makes them want to truly repent and sincerely follow the Christ of the Bible in spirit and in truth. Sooner or later, even with bad teaching and preaching, these folks will be able to discern the difference between the MODERN gospel and the TRUE Gospel.

To those of you who don’t like this article, I refer you to Acts 9:5 [1]. And to those who have been truly redeemed by the blood of the Lamb I refer you to Revelation 5:9 [2]!

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Acts 9:5 – “And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

[2] Revelation 5:9 – “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”