Easy Gospel
"There is a certain amount of sorrow involved
in repentance that we don’t see much of today. I don’t mean that we have to
have a great emotional experience, but I do believe that we need some tears of
repentance. We need to be sorry for our sins..." Dr Billy Graham
We
recently had a booklet from a very large and famous ministry in our shop. I say
‘had’ because I have taken it off the display and, as far as I am concerned, it
no longer exists. You see it proposed a ‘Sinners Prayer’ that simply stated a
belief in Jesus, His death and resurrection, and then invited the Lord into the
sinners heart. This was followed by the statement, “You are now born again and
saved.”
Hmmm,
where’s the bit about forgiving me, saying sorry for past sins, and repentance
– turning away from the past towards the new?
I am not saying that the person praying that prayer is not saved, but I
am saying there is a whole vital chunk missed out from the process.
In
our exuberance to share the good news of Jesus Christ, have we cheapened the
Gospel and made it an easy gospel? Have we suddenly made it easy to be saved?
If we have, then we have made it even more difficult to maintain our new found faith
and our new walk with God. “Go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be
saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Which part of
this do we not understand ??? Preach the Gospel – Jesus –
believe - repent – be baptised ???? Why do one or some of them without the
rest?
Nobody has ever meaningfully promised new or even any
Christians an easy ride. I mean, after the introduction to our faith, one of
the first things we are likely to hear is “Pick
up your cross . . . . “ or “Unless an
ear of wheat falls to the ground . . .” Neither is exactly easy is it? We
need to be as honest about the saving Gospel as we are about our continuing
walk.
No more easy gospel, eh ???
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