The Whole Gospel

   When the gospel is believed, it redeems sinners from the penalty of their transgressions. Problems arise when we only focus on certain parts of the gospel. It cannot be piecemealed. In other words, you cannot believe part of the gospel message and enjoy its redemptive power. The gospel does not only apply to certain portions of our lives; it applies to each and every part.
   In our hyper-individualistic culture, we like the world to cater to us. To meet our needs as we define them. People are tempted to bring this same mindset to the gospel. We erroneously believe that we only need to accept the parts of God’s truth that we like to be considered faithful. God’s Word, however, is holistic. There is no part of life that it does not apply to, and there is no part of God’s word that can be ignored. All of Scripture is inspired by God and intended to govern every part of our lives. Nonetheless, sinners tend only to allow God’s truth to impact the parts of their lives they are comfortable surrendering to Him. This leads to dangerous distortions of the gospel.
   Let’s briefly consider four common gospel distortions:
1.     Forgiveness only: Of course, the gospel is a message of forgiveness. This is the part of the gospel most people like the most. Those who limit the gospel to mere forgiveness want to simply be forgiven so they can just get on with the rest of their lives. Apart from the forgiveness of sin available through faith in Christ, all of humanity would be lost for eternity and without hope. It is important to remember, however, that God’s forgiveness is not the end of the story. If we stop at forgiveness, we fail to recognize the importance of a changed life. Those who have been redeemed are no longer slaves to sin but rather slaves of righteousness. As Paul asks in Romans 6:1, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Paul quickly answers his own question in the second verse: “By no means!” Forgiveness of sin is not a license to sin; it is the basis of our faithful obedience to our heavenly Father. If the gospel is simply to offer forgiveness so we can go on our merry way, then the New Testament Epistles would never have been needed. In a sense, there would then be no for the church either. Truth is, living out the gospel requires a lot of teaching beyond the forgiveness of sin.
2.     Morality only: Of course, the gospel call should produce a changed life that follows God’s commandments. Practicing a list of moral behaviors without genuine faith in Jesus, however, does not save anyone. There are millions of moral people in the world who have not believed the gospel. There are individuals who staunchly follow the Ten Commandments who have never repented of their sin. A person can be moral and lost. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul explicitly teaches that salvation “is the gift of God, not a result of works.” Because of God’s general revelation, the world is filled with morally upstanding citizens. However, apart from believing in God’s special revelation as revealed in His word, they are destined for an eternity separated from their Creator. The gospel governs not only what people can see but the secret intentions of the heart as well.
 3.     Intellectual only: Of course, the gospel is a message that must be understood intellectually. God tells His people to “rightly handle the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). While there have been movements that have pushed an anti-intellectual perspective, it is difficult to imagine how one can rightly divide the Word of God apart from careful intellectual study. Intellect, however, has never saved a soul from sin. Many people possess an intellectual knowledge of God’s word that have never actually believed the gospel. They have head knowledge but lack a changed heart. People who give intellectual assent to the Bible accumulate a lot of data, but these facts can’t redeem a sinner. Only faith can accomplish that miracle. Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Saving knowledge is the result of fearing God and accepting God’s Son as Savior.
4.     Emotional only: Of course, the gospel impacts our emotions. But salvation is not the result of a mere emotional experience. There are occasions, typically after going through a trial or being caught in a particular sin, when people are simply looking for an emotional release. Perhaps it is the release of pent up emotions after a hardship. Or, more commonly, the emotional emission is the result of accumulating distress and grief over having a sinful addiction, relationship, or habit being discovered. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” Unlike godly grief, worldly grief does not produce eternal salvation. Worldly grief grieves over being found out. Godly grief grieves over sin in a repentant manner that leads to authentic change.
   Have you compartmentalized the gospel or bought into one of these four distortions? Have you fully accepted the authority of Scripture? Have you only accepted the forgiveness part of the gospel and determined to live controlled by your sin nature? Have you taken up Christianity as nothing more than a moral teaching or an academic exercise? Have you merely settled for an emotional experience rather than truly trusting in Jesus? Or has Christ truly taken you up as a redeemed sinner who has been called to serve Him?