A couple of guys came onto the lot at a local car dealership just before closing. They bought two cars and paid cash for both. The salesman was happy; the sales manager processed the paperwork and took the money. The next day the bank called—the cash was counterfeit. The counterfeiters were so confident in their craft that they gave real names and address on the bills of sale. True story. Police found them at home with the two cars and counterfeiting equipment. The salesman lost two sales, the sales manager lost the trust of the dealership and left shortly thereafter. The counterfeiters lost their freedom. With a counterfeit, someone always loses.
Banks teach their people the best way to spot a counterfeit is to study the genuine article and know it so well that when a counterfeit is presented, they spot it right away. Do Christians know the Gospel as well as bankers know money, or are we predominantly like a sales manager accepting whatever counterfeit gospel currency is presented? A simple query reveals the crisis.
Ask professing Christians if they’re saved, and you’ll get a ready “yes.” Then ask them how they got saved, and in many instances they express uncertainty or offer a false gospel answer. Such confusion is by design. Satan concedes no biblical truth, instead attacking all which God ordains. What more damaging target for corruption than the power and simplicity of the Gospel message? Altering the Gospel in any way turns it into a different gospel, one that cannot save. Likewise, changing the required response to the Gospel forfeits its saving power. This was why the Apostle Paul was so adamant in his condemnation of those preaching a different gospel:
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).
Paul taught an exclusive Gospel: “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). The desired response is faith: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Yet, looking at multiple church “What we believe” statements on salvation reveals another gospel advocacy in many instances. James warned: “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (James 1:3). Amen to that. From the pulpit is where confused pastors excel at Gospel chaos. You might hear: “Come forward, repent of your sins, say the sinner’s prayer, and ask Jesus into your heart.” Call it the shotgun approach to getting saved. Fire off a blast of things to do and hope at least one shot hits the mark. If you’ve been around different churches very long, you’ve likely been shotgunned.
Many Opinions But Only One Truth
So what’s the answer? Are we saved through reciting a sinner’s prayer, making Jesus Lord of our life, or by asking Jesus into our heart? Is eternal life achieved by responding to an altar call, surrendering our lives to Jesus, coming forward at a rally, or repenting of our sins? What about infant baptism, does that count? Does perseverance in works prove that we’re saved? Must I keep the Law, not commit too many sins, go to church, and do good works to keep my salvation? All of this uncertainty makes Christians hesitant in witnessing to the lost as we ourselves are unsure of what to say. Let’s fix that.
The following verses specify one requirement–one correct response to the Gospel–for salvation. One word.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“Then he [Philippian jailer] called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe]’” (Acts 16:29-31).
“Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him” (Acts 8:36-38).
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
Did you catch the word? It is “believe.” The importance of belief is emphasized by biblical repetition: “one will find the New Testament gives belief as the only prerequisite to being saved no less than 160 times.” -Dr. John Clark, The Relationship Between Gospel Clarity & Assurance, (Grace Family Journal, Vol. 20, No. 92, 2018) Believing is a thought process, weighing information about Jesus Christ and coming to a conclusion in the affirmative. The Holy Spirit actively beckons when the Gospel message is presented to unbelievers but will not override their will. Choosing belief is a permanent, eternal choice for salvation. Choosing not to believe is a changeable choice which only becomes permanent at the moment of death. One must believe exclusively in the person of Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God Who is God and His willing crucifixion death on our behalf. Why? Because none of us are good enough in and of ourselves to escape God’s judgment: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). All of us are sinners before a perfect, holy God. Sin is humanity’s inescapable problem: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Someone has to pay the penalty for sin. It cannot be overlooked. The justice we all deserve is to pay for our sins through eternal separation from God in hell. But God, by His unmerited favor— His grace, offers to all the gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus—the perfect, sinless Son of God—came to earth in human form, fully man and fully God, to take onto Himself the sins of the world and the punishment you and I deserve: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Only through belief in Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven: “In whom we have redemption through his [Jesus’] blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). Do not think that your sins are too great or numerous to be forgiven. Rest assured, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Through faith in Jesus, His righteousness is bestowed to the believer:
“For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Your sin debt—no matter what you’ve done—Jesus has paid it all. Great news, because there is nothing you can do to earn your way out of an eternity in hell. Don’t think your good works can save you. Nor are your good works in addition to Christ a factor in your salvation. The only partnership we have with Jesus regarding our salvation is that we provide all the sins, and He provides all the atonement for our sins.
The stubborn theory that Jesus performed His part for your salvation and now you must do yours is akin to a barbell sitting on the deadlift platform at the Heaven or Hell Gym. The massive weight of your sins is loaded onto both ends. 73 tons total, roughly the weight of a US Army Abrams tank, and you can’t even flex the bar. Nobody can. The rule is simple, the task impossible: the bar must be lifted off the platform or you go to hell when you die. 146,000 pounds awaits your best effort. The same rule applies to everyone. For comparison, the world record deadlift is an astonishing 1124 pounds. Everyone is doomed . . . then Jesus walks up.
He’s not wearing a headband like the guy sitting on an exercise bike off to the side and drinking a fifty ounce fountain drink. He’s wearing a crown of thorns. Jesus steps in front of the bar, bends at the knees and drops his hips, gripping the bar in his nail-pierced hands. Blood patters to the platform surface as He squeezes. More blood pools under both feet from gaping nail holes in them. How is He even upright? The muscles in Jesus’ back don’t contract in this low position because they are no longer there, torn away by the cat o’ nine tails scourging He endured on your behalf. A lot of blood, yes, to pay for all of your sins, because “without shedding of blood there is no remission [pardon or forgiveness of sins]” (Hebrews 9:22).
Jesus locks eyes with you, smiles, and stands straight up in perfect deadlift form, the bar tremendously bowed by the weight of your sins, yet He holds. You are saved if you accept His lift on your behalf through faith. Or you can try it yourself. By the way, Jesus was tortured to death just so He could take your place on the platform. What more needs to be done? You lifting ten pound dumbbells for your part? That’s dumbbell thinking. Don’t be a dumbbell.
A Gift Is Paid For By The Giver, Not The Receiver
God’s grace, His unmerited favor, makes salvation possible, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that [salvation] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus died for us as the price for God’s gift. His resurrection from the dead as recounted in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John proves God was satisfied with Jesus’ death on our behalf as propitiation (appeasing God’s wrath, payment) for our sins. We don’t have to ask Jesus into our hearts, say a sinner’s prayer, go to the altar, or dedicate our lives to receive God’s gift. These are the unbiblical ideas of men, not God. Perhaps you’ve done one of these things during your life or maybe several. If you have, realize that only faith and trust in Jesus Christ saves, not these replacement works. Do you believe? Nothing else is relevant.
Of all the faith plus-something-else falsehoods within the church, one of the more popular errors is that you must first repent of your sins to be saved. The idea appeals by making it sound like you’re doing your part, but as explained earlier, you have no part; Jesus did it all for you. You may be thinking, doesn’t the Bible teach repentance? Yes, it does.
Various forms of the word “repent” are mentioned 45 times in the Old Testament and 60 times in the New Testament. In the context of salvation, repentance means a change of mind about Jesus Christ, from unbelief to belief in Him. Nothing more. Some might also confess their sins with tears, but believers must realize it’s belief, not contrition, which saves. Sinners come to Jesus as they are, where they are, in their sins. A synonym for Christian is believer, not repenter.
The Holy Spirit enters the new Christian upon salvation, and the process of being transformed is ready to begin, also known as sanctification. Confession of sin to God is an element of repentance, but confession is not, by itself, repentance. Confession is a personal acknowledgment of doing wrong and taking responsibility for it. Repentance goes further, to include a desired change of mind concerning sin and turning away from it. We can’t achieve this through our own strength of will but only by yielding to the power of God via the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel: Taken or Mistaken?
How can we know if we have believed in the Gospel or fallen for another gospel? Assurance of salvation. When you know you are going to Heaven, you are resting fully on your Savior’s merits. If not, something is lacking. You somehow don’t believe Christ’s death and resurrection are sufficient. Let’s again look at John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Everlasting means forever or eternal. How long is forever? It’s forever. You can’t lose that which God has promised to be everlasting. This is again God’s grace and unbreakable promise. Jesus Himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes [in Jesus] has [from that moment on] eternal life” (John 6:47). Without a doubt, you can know you are saved: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).
There are some who confuse justification (being justified before God by faith in Jesus) with sanctification, the process of growing (in knowledge and understanding) and maturing (wisely applying what’s learned) in faith. The thought that we have to do something after we’re saved to show that we are saved, like producing good works, obeying, and going to church, is just another form of works-added salvation. Now don’t get me wrong—there should be a difference in the saved person—they should do good works as the Holy Spirit leads them, and they should become more obedient as their faith matures. Notice though, there is a difference between “should” and “must.” Not all who are saved live like it. Carnal Christians exist, living restless lives subject to chastisement. Thank God, none of us are kept saved by our behavior.
We can’t be made more deserving before or after salvation by our works because we were and are not deserving in the first place. As to our self-generated “righteous” works, we are told, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
To sin as a believer is to lose fellowship with God; it does not entail losing salvation. When we are out of fellowship with God, we lose His blessings: God does not bless the very sins which He condemns. There are consequences. Our restoration to fellowship comes with confessing our sins which, by the way, He already knows about. Nothing we do or think is hidden from Him. So: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Fellowship restored as we walk by faith.
Once Saved, Maybe Saved?
I recently experienced an individual telling me that we can lose our salvation, citing Revelation 3:5: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” For clarity, the immediate question is what does “overcomes” mean in this context? The fellow I was talking with claimed that “overcomes” equates to doing works. His follow-up point was that “I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life” indicates the possibility of Jesus removing someone’s name from the Book of Life. Putting it together: if the saved don’t do good works, they can lose their salvation. An understandable conclusion by human reasoning.
Who is he who overcomes? Jesus stated: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus is the overcomer. By placing our faith and trust in Him for our salvation, we become overcomers through belief: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5).
Looking at Revelation 3:5 again: “He who overcomes [believes] shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” How does someone get their name written in the Book of Life? Through faith in Christ alone. Once written, a believer’s name will never be blotted out. Once saved, always and forever saved! Exactly the opposite of what the guy I was talking to claimed. Of interest, the same Holy Spirit inspired the three verses examined. The same writer, the Apostle John, wrote the three books they are written in: John, 1 John, and Revelation.
Anything other than Christ’s substitutionary death on our behalf and his subsequent resurrection, proving God’s acceptance of His sacrifice, is a different gospel. Anything other than belief and trust in the Savior is the wrong response to the Gospel. Close is still a miss. Some on the political left and right add activist agendas to the Gospel, claiming their pet projects are part of the Gospel. They aren’t. Don’t fall for this. Don’t believe a lie. Christians should hold biblical positions on a variety of issues, but none are part of the Gospel. The Gospel, or “good news,” has nothing to do with what you do for God; it is solely about what God has done for you.
The Terrible Cost of Deception
The consequences of a church preaching another gospel and its resultant false teachings produce one of two tragic outcomes. The first is people accepting spiritual deception in exchange for emotional and audio/visual experiences. They don’t know any better and certainly won’t be learning any better in this environment. Entertainment and a sense of community are the draws. Feel-good sermonettes for Christianettes are the pulpit fodder, human opinion and self-help lectures being the rule. The whole show focuses on presentation, not substance, with Bible verses shoehorned in here and there to satisfy a low threshold of biblical understanding. Both from the podium and in the congregation. Playing Christian is a learned behavior complete with lingo, conforming to whatever mould church leadership popularizes. Congregants are largely unsaved people taken in by belief in counterfeit gospels or caricatures of Jesus, such as: Marxist Jesus, social justice Jesus, New Age Jesus; charismatic Jesus who takes a backseat to the Holy Spirit, or liberal Jesus who endorses sin.
Outcome number two takes an alternate path to faithlessness. People enter a church which preaches another gospel. They stay there for a while but realize something isn’t right. Desiring to hear the truth, they have the discernment to understand they aren’t getting it. Some try another church or series of churches, each time ending up in a variant of what they left prior. Eventually they stop looking, saddened and resigned to not attending church. Others end up outside of orthodoxy, their search for truth leading them into fringe, cultic movements, each failed attempt taking them farther away from God. Dissatisfied people conclude that either Christianity doesn’t work for them or Christianity is a fraud. Some even become militant atheists. I’ve seen it happen. They never heard the true Gospel: they never sat in a bible-teaching church. The process started with a willingness to believe before false teaching, rooted in another gospel, led to disappointment, frustration, skepticism, criticism, and finally, unbelief.
Outside of the true Gospel, salvation, and even Christianity itself, does not exist. Imitations do. Other gospels produce the same effect as no Gospel at all: a lost soul. There is only one Gospel, the person and finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The only saving response is faith alone in Christ alone. Anything more or less is another gospel, a different gospel. Forget religiosity. No works, rituals, or church sacraments can save you. Just as you can’t buy two cars with fake money, you can’t earn heaven through the workings of a counterfeit gospel. So I ask you: the Gospel or another gospel? Can you spot a counterfeit?