The True Jesus and True Gospel Part 1
33As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Rom 9:33
What is offensive about the Jesus you believe in? In both the old and new testaments Jesus is explained as someone who will cause people to stumble and will be offensive to many. So think a little bit about your Jesus and ask “is He offensive”?
In many churches today there is nothing offensive about the Christ that is preached. Churches use coffee shops, fog machines, fancy televisions, comfortable seats, or other luxuries to lure people in. When people do come to church the pastor presents us with a Christ that sees no problem with us the way we are, loves us just how we are, and in fact wants to make your life more comfortable than it is now by giving you all the desires of your sinful heart. You want health, wealth, happiness, and a more comfortable life? You want to be a more “moral” person? The only thing you have to do is bow your head and pray a little prayer with me and invite him into your heart (or come up when we do an altar call)! In fact having a relationship with God and being saved is all based on your own decision! And since it is based on your decision we are going to have to play some very emotional music and work you into an emotional frenzy before we do our “altar call” and we may even plant some people in the crowd to come up first so it encourages you to “make a decision” for Christ.
Sadly, this is not a joke, and it describes most of the churches I see in California today (and hear about around America). Arminianism has infected our churches with a slow rot. It has caused us to think that the salvation of God is based on human decisions and because of this it has neutered the true gospel. We can not present an “offensive” Jesus because people may leave and if they leave they will be lost because we did not help them make a decision for Christ. The salvation of man hangs in the balances and it is all based on us creating the right setting, the right emotions, making the best pitch we can to get people to say yes to “inviting Christ into their heart and life”. God forbid we mention that they are sinners, that would really make them head for the hills!
The question is, “Is this biblical?”. Are most of the churches today presenting us with the biblical Christ, and the biblical gospel, or are we getting a cheap knock off? Does this Christ and gospel glorify God? Let's see what the bible has to say about the “offensive” Christ, and the true gospel, and compare it to what is being taught in many churches today. In this series I will look at what the bible teaches about true Christianity and the true Christ.
#Jesus #Gospel #trueJesus #predestination #reformed #totaldepravity
