The Gospel—Or Not? 7 Ways We Pervert the Gospel

Recently I witnessed several conversations on social media between believers and those who either might be considered “liberals” or out-and-out unbelievers. I was, to be honest, shocked by the behavior and words I saw—mostly from the Christians. I shook my head, and felt as hurt as the Lord must feel. Judging by the words, I find it little wonder why so many people either reject the faith outright or leave the faith. But then I realized that there is more at stake than just whether one is “nice” or not. The issue revolves around our portrayal of the Gospel itself. If you have read much of this blog, you realize that the focus has been on the Gospel of Christ.  Paul tells us that even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:8). To Paul, preaching the correct Gospel was so important that he would rather face condemnation instead of leading others astray.

Preaching the correct Gospel, however, goes far beyond the mere words that we say. There are many ways that we can pervert the Gospel, and not even realize that we are doing so.  Here are seven ways that we pervert the Gospel.

We pervert the Gospel when….

#1: We add anything to faith in Christ as the requirement for salvation. 

This should be fairly obvious to us evangelicals. The Bible teaches that Christ alone is the ground of salvation (Acts 4:12), and faith alone is the requirement of salvation (Eph. 2:8-10). Since salvation is both an initial event and a continuing process, though, both of those statements apply throughout our lives. That means no work that we can do will make us “more holy,” or earn favor with God. Is God pleased when we obey? Absolutely!  We are behaving as He intended us. But the works that we do are not the basis for our salvation; they are the evidence of our salvation.

#2: We teach grace and forgiveness to the exclusion of holiness and sanctification. 

This is becoming quite a trend in many parts of the American church. We teach on God’s love so much and to such an extent that we forget that 1) He calls us to be holy as He is holy; and 2) true salvation imparts a new nature that changes us. In many of Paul’s letters, for example, he addresses the believers as those “sanctified, called to be saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). He means that Christians are to be set apart from the world. Throughout his letters, he gives practical commands on what living as a believer should “look like.” One cannot dismiss these teachings. Finally, even Jesus taught, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15, 21; 1 John 2:3-4).

#3: We teach holiness to the extent that it becomes legalism. 

This is another extreme that is common in many parts of the church. Many teach and preach the Old Testament to the extent that one would think we are still under the Mosaic law, no different than the nation of Israel (of course many pick and choose the commands that we are to follow, not teaching that the whole law is either applicable or not). As we mentioned above, law-keeping or works can never make one holy. Neither is it a measure of spiritual maturity—“not by works, lest anyone should boast.” Let’s repeat that: the Gospel arrangement means that no one has the right to boast. We are all equal at the foot of the cross. Each person’s journey differs from the other. We have nothing to contribute to our salvation.  Now, as with many things in the Bible, grace and holiness are not really at odds with each other, and there’s no “balance.” The Bible teaches both. Therefore, we should believe both.

#4: We make God into our own image. 

What do we mean by this? It means we paint a picture of God that is not biblically accurate. Some examples of this include: “If God is who He says He is, He will heal my child.” “God would never use [fill in the blank] for His purposes.” “I am a child of the King, therefore I deserve [fill in the blank].” “God is to busy to worry with my petty concerns.” God is never obligated to us for anything. It indeed pleases Him to answer prayers, but He is not bound by anything to do so. God can use anything and anyone for His purposes in our lives. Look back at the history of Israel? How many times do we see God using a pagan nation as a rod of correction? So it is with us today? He may use an unbeliever to make us reexamine things that were not carefully considered, or to smooth our rough edges. He may use things are by all rights totally evil, but yet bring good out of them. And, if God knows the very names of the stars and how many hairs are on your head, He is certainly concerned with whatever is in your heart.

#5: We use “stand up for your faith” as an excuse to attack, dismiss, or simply be rude to someone. 

We are the salt and light of the earth. The disciple’s job is not to judge, malign or otherwise abuse those in the world. Whether they know it or not, they already have enough on them. They don’t need our condemnation. The witness’s job to quote Peter and John, is simply to tell what he has seen and heard (Acts 4:20). While it is true that Peter instructs us to always have a defense for the hope within us (1 Pet. 3:15), he wasn’t referring to studying apologetics. He was referring to why you have the hope inside you—that is to say, your personal testimony. If you say, “I have no testimony,” then perhaps you should study the Gospel message again. While we must not be afraid to engage with those who do not believe, we must, in the words of Paul, have a gentle spirit in answering them (2 Tim. 2:24). And we must answer them honestly. God is big enough to handle the hard questions. There is no place in the Gospel for presenting anything other than the absolute love of Christ—even in the hard truths.

#6: We expect the unregenerate to be able to think and behave as Christians. 

Often we in the church expect the unbeliever to just “live right.” We are shocked when the unregenerate person thinks or acts in a way that we would find contrary to the Bible. Especially since, “This is a Christian nation.” (We won’t discuss this here, but just one thought, half of the forefathers of this country were Freemasons and/or Deists.) Let’s examine two facts about the unregenerate person: 1) He is blinded to the things of God, unable to understand spiritual things, fully controlled by the Sinful Heart (1 Cor. 2:14); and 2) He is dead—repeat, dead—spiritually speaking (Eph. 2:1-3). Dead men cannot change their ways. They are dead. We must speak life into them. The life of Christ imparted by the Holy Spirit.

#7: We proclaim either by word or action that Christians are supposed to have it all together. 

Let’s face it. Living life today is hard—whether you are a Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, [fill in any other religion], or atheist. Living for Christ is yet harder still (we say “harder” because as a believer we expect to be persecuted for our faith, in addition to all the “normal” pressures of life).  We in the American church, however, have decided that life actually isn’t that hard—at least we pretend it isn’t. We have our act together. We confess our sins of taking a cookie from the cookie jar and the occasional angry response to someone. Yet, those close to us and the world know differently. If I have my act together, then there’s no room for God’s grace or forgiveness in my life. The fact is, John reminds us that we do not have it all together, and we must not claim to. We must walk in the light. We must be honest with ourselves and others. It’s okay to say, “Hey, you know my life is a struggle right now. But, I am holding onto Christ as tightly as I can.” What freedom might result if we took that attitude! Most of the time, when a fellow believer asks how we are doing, we give the “I’m blessed!” or “I’m doing good” or some variation, and the relief on the other person’s face is often evident. On the other hand, when someone ventures something different and admits a struggle, we are terrified and give the Pentecostal shrug: “I’ll pray for you brother!”

We are all guilty of some or all of these because we are not perfect. Thank the Lord we have His grace to not only forgive our failings but also empower us to repent, forgive ourselves and move forward in change. The world is watching, and needs true, genuine Christians, not those wearing the spiritual masks.