WHAT ARE THE DANGERS WE SHOULD AVOID WHEN PRESENTING THE GOSPEL?

 

PROMISE OF A BETTER LIFE

The promise of a better life is NOT an element of the Biblical gospel. The opposite, is in fact, more true. True Christianity has always led to misunderstanding and persecution by the world. This is developed more fully in our "Man-Centred Gospel" page.

 

DECEITFUL INVITATIONS

Inviting a friend or neighbour to a social event which turns out to be a gospel presentation will not endear you to your friends. An invitation to hear the gospel should be given as such, since the Lord does not honour dubious practices.

 

A FALSE GOSPEL

So many gospel messages today are "man-centred" rather than Jesus centred. "God has a wonderful plan for your life" is not the gospel, since this never appears in scripture. Indeed, "God loves you" is not a feature of the gospel either. Can you honestly find any mention in the New Testament of the phrases: "God loves you" or "God has a wonderful plan for your life", or anything remotely similar, on the occasions when the Gospel was being presented to Jews or Gentiles? While it is true that God draws the sinner out of love for His creation, and that Christ died to make it possible for him to be saved, it is not true that God has a wonderful plan for every lost sinner. His plan for lost sinnners who reject Jesus Christ is that they will be cast into Hell. That is not very wonderful!

 

These phrases are "man-centred", consequently when they are used they serve only to "lift up" man as being of value to God, whereas the opposite is in fact the case: GOD IS OF INFINITE VALUE TO MAN.

 

When man is "lifted up" in this way the gospel is being hindered, so be careful how you speak when you give out the gospel!

 

OTHER MISLEADING PHRASES

 

So many unbiblical terms are used today - where do we start?

"Invite Jesus into your heart", "Give your heart to Jesus", "Just say this prayer after me".

 

The proper response to the gospel is none of the above. An invitation to "invite Jesus into your heart" may simply provoke a fleshly emotional response, rather than a step of faith. A lady of my acquaintance, when a child, was asked "give your heart to Jesus". She explained to me: "I thought: if I gave my heart to Jesus, how could I carry on living?". Furthermore, "give your heart to Jesus" is LAW rather than Gospel. Salvation is not my gift to God but His gift to me.

When we use phrases or concepts that are not in scripture, we end up creating a mess of our own making that is dishonouring to the Lord. No-one in the New Testament was ever invited to "just say this little prayer after me and you will be saved". This modern day approach assumes you have full understanding of the Spirit's working in that person's life and that you know the innermost thoughts and intentions of the enquirer. Do you really?

 

SALVATION IS NOT OURS TO BESTOW

We love to think we can mediate salvation to a seeker, as if it were ours to give. Any approach that fails to recognise Jesus as the mediator of salvation is perilous. Salvation is not ours to bestow, in terms such as: "Congratulations, you're now a Christian!" The repentant sinner who truly comes to Christ in simple faith and trust will know soon enough if they are a Christian by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. The witness of the Spirit and His outworking in the believer's life is the only reliable evidence by which a believer (and we!) might know they have entered Christ's Kingdom. An evident love for Jesus and His brethren, a desire to pray and read the Bible and a wish to turn from known sin, are the best evidences for determining what has happened in an enquirer's life. Only then is it really appropriate to say: "Congratulations, you are showing all the signs of being a new Christian!"

 

DON'T OVER-COMPLICATE IT!

Using Christian jargon with an enquirer is liable to confuse them and may end up with them walking away. "Do you want to make a profession of faith?" means nothing to an enquirer and is liable to confuse. Telling them to go to Jesus - to confess their sins and receive forgiveness from Him - is both straightforward and Biblical!

 

KEEP IT SIMPLE!

We want people to come to Christ in simple faith, trusting in His work alone, so keep it simple. Bear in mind Jesus words: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17

 

QUOTES FROM JC RYLE (LEADING VICTORIAN EVANGELICAL BISHOP)

 

“You may spoil the gospel by substitution. You have only to withdraw from the eyes of the sinner the grand object which the Bible proposes to faith--Jesus Christ--and to substitute another object in His place… and the mischief is done."

“You may spoil the gospel by addition. You have only to add to Christ, the grand object of faith, some other objects as equally worthy of honor, and the mischief is done."

“You may spoil the gospel by disproportion. You have only to attach an exaggerated importance to the secondary things of Christianity, and a diminished importance to the first things, and the mischief is done."

“Lastly, but not least, you may completely spoil the gospel by confused and contradictory directions… Confused and disorderly statements about Christianity are almost as bad as no statement at all. Religion of this sort is not evangelical.”