The Missing Element

Yesterday [May 16, 2010] I had the wonderful privilege of preaching from Galatians 1.6-9 to the body of Sovereign Grace Bible Chapel where I serve as Pastor. As I preached from that passage I shared that there are many so-called gospels that are false, but only one true gospel and that is the Biblical gospel. Any so-called gospel that deviates from the Biblical gospel in any way is a false gospel. If anything is added to the Biblical gospel, the result is a false gospel. If anything is removed from the Biblical gospel, the result is a false gospel. It does not matter how subtle the change may be; any change results in a false gospel. The Galatian churches were being thrown into a state of confusion because of the preaching of a false gospel by the Judiazers. The church today is being thrown into a state of confusion because of the preaching of many false gospels. The preponderance of false gospels is one of the reasons, perhaps the main reason, why so many local churches are in such a sad and sorry state.

At the risk of overgeneralizing the situation, I find that the church today really is in a very sad state of affairs. Consider the following questions.

It certainly seems to be the case that most local churches are characterized more by weakness and worldliness than by the power of the Holy Spirit and holiness. Why is this so?

Why is there such a dearth of commitment in so many local churches today?

Why are there so many professing Christians who have little, if any, enthusiasm for God and the things of God?

Why are there so many people who make the claim to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ who are so miserable and unhappy?

Why are some completely uninterested in church membership?

Why is there so much church hopping and church shopping?

Why is there so little zeal for evangelism and the study of God’s Word and living holy lives?

In short, why is there so much deadness to the things of God?

The reason for all of this  is because there are so many spiritual corpses in local churches. Spiritual corpses are those who are nothing more than names on church rolls and semi-warm bodies in church pews.

Why are they spiritual corpses? The reason they are spiritual corpses is because they are still dead in their trespasses and sins [Ephesians 2.1].

Why are they still dead in their trespasses and sins? The reason they are still dead in their trespasses and sins is because they have believed a false gospel; they have not believed the one and only gospel that saves. These people have heard and believed a gospel, but they gospel they both heard and believed is not the true Biblical gospel, the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation [Romans 1.16], but they believed a false gospel which may give them a false sense of security, but most certainly has not saved them from the wrath to come.

The situation described above is most apparent in the evangelical world when the gospel that is being presented is the false gospel of easy believism. When people are told that all they have to do to be saved is to "ask Jesus into their heart" or "accept Jesus as their personal Savior" or repeat the words to a so-called "sinner’s prayer," they are being told a lie. That lie is the lie of easy believism and that lie is leading untold numbers straight to hell.

Easy believism is a deadly poison that has infected a great many so-called evangelical churches. This pernicious plight is fairly easy to detect by what it removes from the Biblical gospel. Easy believism takes a necessary component of the Biblical gospel and throws it on the theological rubbish heap. What is that element? What is the missing element of easy believism? That element is repentance.

There is a fairly large evangelical church in my community. The church is well-known all around town. A search of their website will not turn up even a single reference to repentance. This sort of thing is not at all uncommon. There are many, many instances in which the matter of repentance has been removed, obscured, or minimized. But the truth of the matter, from a Biblical perspective, is that if you remove the necessity of repentance from the gospel or downplay it in some way, you do not have a gospel that saves. At the same time,  a person may pray to "receive Christ" a thousand times, but if there is no repentance, there is no salvation. It is this truth that makes this matter so serious.

Consider the following passages of Scripture:

Matthew 3.2.

Matthew 4.17.

Luke 13.3, 5.

Acts 2.38.

Acts 11.17-18.

Acts 17.30-31.

Read each of these passages and what you will discover is that repentance is absolutely necessary in order for a person to be saved. Where there is no repentance, there is no salvation.

My hope and prayer is that every local church and every genuine Christian would have the same sort of zeal for evangelism that is seen in Paul [see Romans 9.1-5]. I pray that we would see that we are literally surrounded on every side by unbelievers. I pray that we would understand that the only hope for those unbelievers is the gospel and I pray that we would be faithful to share the gospel with them. I also pray that the gospel that we share is the true and Biblical gospel: "repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ."

I urge you, do not minimize repentance; do not let the call to repentance remain the missing element in so many gospel proclamations. In short, do not embrace a false gospel.

For those who are reading this post who object to the necessity of repentance for salvation, let me encourage you to get and read the wonderful book, Repentance: The First Word of the Gospel by Richard Owen Roberts. You can read my review of that book at this link [or just scroll down to the previous post].