Why do so many people who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ never leave their sinful ways to walk with the Lord? Dare I suggest it’s because they never were saved in the first place? All too often, the gospel is presented as a way of having peace and happiness in your life here on earth, and acceptance into heaven when you die. That is inadequate at best, and dangerous to both the hearer and the preacher. Not because it’s untrue, but because there is a huge piece missing that makes all the difference.

So what is the gospel?

In his lecture, “What Is the Gospel?” R.C. Sproul said, “It is an announcement that belongs to God, is authored by God, and is owned by God. If we want to play with that, we’re playing with something that is not ours. If we mess with it, tinker with it, improve it, change it, we’re fooling around with a message that originates with God Himself. It is His message, and His announcement.”

In his lecture, “What is the Gospel?” Don Carson said our idea of the gospel is often “so painfully reductionistic, it introduces a major distortion. It collapses human rebellion, God’s wrath, assorted disasters, into one construct – namely, the degradation of human life – and it depersonalizes the wrath of God. Thus it fails to wrestle with the fact that sin is an offense against God.”

Paul Washer reminds us of the greatest problem in the Bible:

“God hates evil. He is a righteous judge. If God is just, how can He simply forgive wicked men?”

What is missing in the gospel message as presented today, is God’s wrath; His absolute hatred of sin. Yes, He wants us to come to Him “just as we are,” for there is not a thing we can do to fix ourselves up in order to be accepted by Him. But we can’t simply waltz into His presence and say, “Here I am, God. Save me.” We come in humble repentance, after He has shown us how utterly depraved and wicked we are, and how desperately we need a Saviour.   

As Don Carson went on to say, “All sin is sin by virtue of the fact that it is sin against God. What makes sin so evil is that it is defiance of God Himself. What makes God angry is idolatry – ‘the de-God-ding of God’ – the replacing of God with something or someone else.”

Melissa Dougherty is an ex-New Ager whom the Lord saved a few years ago. She has an amazing ability to speak the truth clearly and simply. She gets it! She packs so much in this short video, in terms that anyone with ears to hear can understand.