The Two Gospels - Which one will you believe? By Dr Bruce Logan

In a very succinct but yet very insightful and discerning social media post by renown pastor and author John MacArthur, he points out, "Prior to the 1960's, no one expected a church service to be entertaining. No one for example, wanted to be told things like turn around and touch your neighbor and repeat some trite phrase suggested by the preacher. No one thought of worship being some physical stimulation. No one dreamed of using flashing lights and smoke to set the atmosphere in a worship service. When you went to church expected the service to be ordered in such a way as to make the word of God was the central focus. Where the word of God was read and proclaimed with the aim of leading you to understanding, conviction, and transformation. The structure was deliberate, and the objective was for people to have and encounter with God through the understanding of His truth."

Several years ago, I was making a somewhat similar argument to a minister friend of mine who argued with me by asking the question "what is the gospel?" And of course, I responded with the standard answer which is, the gospel is "good news." My friend then preceded to respond by asking me, isn't preaching about our ability to achieve prosperity, or living the abundant life, or receiving emotional healing, and so on, good news? I responded to the challenge by pointing out that if I woke up to find a million dollars in my bank account, that of course would absolutely be some very "good news." When my two children were born and the doctor said that they were both perfectly healthy, I considered that to be some great news. But is that good news, the same "good news" that Jesus preached and that the Apostles espoused? And the obvious answer to any serious bible student is an emphatic no.

Christ and the gospel writers emphasized repeatedly that Jesus primary emphasis in all of His preaching and teaching was the good news of "the gospel of the Kingdom," and Christ's sacrificial death, burial and resurrection for the remission of sin. For example, when Jesus began His three-year earthly ministry, Matthew records the following, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Shortly after that, Matthew further elucidates Christ's ministry when he records, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:17, 23).

During His sermon on the mount, Jesus famously admonished His listeners to, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:33-34). The meaning of these verses is as direct as it sounds. We are to seek the things of God as a priority over the things of the world. Primarily, it means we are to seek the salvation that is inherent in the kingdom of God because it is of greater value than all the world’s riches.

So, what exactly is the Gospel of the Kingdom?

Simply put, the gospel of the kingdom is the good-news message of repentance, redemption, and restoration offered by God as the result of the sacrificial death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who became a "propitiation for us," so that we could be redeemed from the curse and are now able to enjoy an eternal future of life with Christ. In other words, because of the sin of Adam, humanity was cursed with sin and death and born with an Adamic sin nature. But Christ took upon Himself, the punishment that we all deserved. Paul in his letter to the believers in Rome wrote, "But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Subsequently, although we must live here until God calls us home, we are not to live for ourselves or according to this world’s value system. Those who have been bought by the blood of Jesus have been given the right to live according to God’s value system. Citizens of the kingdom of God live here on assignment from our Father the King. Living with a kingdom mindset as opposed to a worldly or secular mindset, empowers us to make Godly life choices as we invest our lives in furthering the gospel of the kingdom.

Regrettably however, this selfless or self-denying message of the gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus emphasized, is in stark contrast to the modern contemporary self-centered gospel messaging that has become so popular and widespread in today's culture that emphasizes the self, or blessings in this life first and foremost. Themes such as, living the abundant life today, walking in prosperity, personal blessings, how to feel good about yourself, developing positive self-esteem, how to receive emotional healing, or being set free from all of your personal earthly struggles to one degree or another, and many other such motivational topics has become the dominant subject matter that is being transmitted from the majority of pulpits across the country.

Expository preaching and teaching that exegete the biblical text in its original context, that produces conviction of sin, true transformation through a renewed mind, Christian growth, sanctification, maturity, discipleship, evangelism, selflessness over self-centeredness and discerning of the times that we are in, are becoming increasingly rare. Many ministers of the Gospel have watered their messages down, reducing their sermons to what often seems like mere motivational seminars than the gospel of the Kingdom that Christ preached.

Messages of escape from condemnation without repenting from sin, messages of affirmation as a child of God without actual obedience to the Father in our daily walk, messages of comfort without denying oneself to pursue His will, or messages of forgiveness without any self-awareness, or Holy Spirit conviction that enables us to realize just how much we have offended a holy and righteous God.

More simply put, this modern contemporary preaching trend places the lion's share of the emphasis vertically instead of horizontally. In other words, most preaching today is centered around how to prosper and live abundantly in this current life, as opposed to the actual gospel of the Kingdom that Christ emphasized which focused on how to live today in order to live abundantly in eternity. How we can be abundantly blessed in this life, as opposed to how we can live a selfless life that is pleasing to Him.

And in many cases, even though scriptures are being quoted, the passages referred to are generally simply nothing more than a launching off point in order to get to the primary topic that hermeneutically speaking, more often than not, has little or nothing to do with the actual context of the biblical text that was referenced. These sermons are generally given a catchy title that captures the imagination and stirs the emotion but contain no actual theological or hermeneutical substance. One of the more notorious examples is the very popular use (or misuse) of Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

This verse is often cited as God's promise of blessing to the believer today. However, setting aside the fact that this verse has nothing whatsoever to do with the Church, contextually, this verse was a message given to Jeremiah by God to let Judah know that because of their years of rebellion and sin against God, they had incurred His wrath and was now going to be sentenced to seventy years of captivity in Babylon. And only when the seventy years were completed, would they be allowed to return to their Homeland. This type of misrepresentation of the gospel in modern contemporary preaching is one of many examples of how God's word is being manipulated, distorted, watered down and sugar coated for more palatable consumption by contemporary audiences.

Consider just for example, some of the other more popular themes like preaching or teaching on the steps to a successful marriage or how to raise children in our culture. Now while it is of course very true that sermons on family issues are critically important and needed, especially in the day and time that we are in now. A time in which ideas of the Judeo/Christian biblical worldview regarding family is under attack like never before in history. However, even with the worlds unprecedented attacks on biblical ideas for the family, there are yet a serious problem that often surfaces with modern teaching on family life.

Primarily, in much of the contemporary messaging, from the pulpits, conferences and books on family matters, what the Scriptures actually says about marriage and family and God's explicitly stated roles and responsibilities for husbands and wives in their fullest biblical context is often either neglected or extremely watered down, manipulated or misrepresented. How many sermons on marriage for example, faithfully and urgently set forth everything that God actually says about the roles of Christian men and women in their complete biblical context (Eph. 5:22-33; 1 Pet. 3:1-7; Prov. 31, Titus 2:1-8; or 1 Cor. 7:1-6) in their entirety, without any sugar coating or mincing of words?

Boldly preaching and teaching the plain, unadulterated and unfiltered biblical truth of what the Word of God actually says about marriage and family and the specific God ordained roles of husbands and wives is imperative for multiple reasons. Primarily because the world is attacking traditional/biblical roles with unprecedented ferocity. But just as importantly, is the fact that believers must recognize that whenever two people make the decision to join their lives together for life, what you are actually doing is bringing together two people who were both born into sin, who both inherently have fleshly sinful vulnerabilities that are a direct result of their inherent sin nature that does not just simply go away once you say, "I do."

In other words, when a man and a woman join together and make a life covenant, what is actually happening is that you are bringing together two people who have two different backgrounds, two different history's, two different upbringings, two different sets of influences, two different life experiences, two different sets of strengths and weaknesses, different likes and dislikes, different interests, different temperaments, different goals and ambitions, different levels of spiritual conviction, different levels of spiritual and emotional maturity, different views on parenting, different opinions on budgeting and finance, different education levels, and often times, different views on their individual roles and responsibilities.

And with all of these differences, the ONLY UNIFYING COMMON DENOMINATOR, or the ONLY SOURCE for the successful joining of two sinners is for both to "BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF THEIR MINDS." And the only way that we can be truly transformed is through the raw, unfiltered, and straight forward preaching and teaching of the WORD OF GOD.

What does it mean to have a renewed mind?

Simply stated, renewing your mind according to Romans 12:2 means interpreting life through the lens of God’s Word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, rather than through the lens of your past experience, woundedness, past trauma, fleshly preferences, or the opinions of the world. It is a fundamental shift away from our old way of thinking toward viewing life and the world through the lens of God's Word and from a Kingdom perspective. It is making daily, decisions to choose the Mind of Christ rather than operating from the fleshly minded way that the word does or the way that we did before we were born again.

Regrettably however, more often than not, in place of the complete and unadulterated, mind renewing presentation of the gospel on important topics such as of family, what has become popular, what draws the largest crowds, and what sells the most books in today's contemporary church culture is more feel-good messaging that waters down the gospel to make it more palatable. And to be blunt, much of the teaching leans towards more of a feminized gospel or themes. Such popular teachings as "The Five Love Languages" for example, a book which has sold millions of copies and is being promoted and taught by thousands of Pastors across the country over and above the unadulterated and unfiltered presentation of the Scriptures.

And while if you are a mature, self-aware, Kingdom minded and selfless Christian, this type of teaching can have some practical suggestions. However, if you as an individual (husband or wife) are still carnal minded, immature, and self-centered, or a believer who has not yet been adequately discipled, or whose mind has not been transformed by the Word of God, then messaging like knowing your spouse's love language is not going to deal with the root of the problem which is a self-centered, unregenerate, untransformed mind and heart.

Often, such people are fine as long as things are going well, and all of their needs and expectations are being met. But when the inevitable trials and tribulations present themselves which are inherent in this life, when jobs are lost, or when children arrive on the scene, when unforeseen challenges arise, and when major disagreements pop up, then all of a sudden, people tend to fall back on their innate fleshly nature and responses, and that's when relationships begin to unravel.

However, if both parties are well rooted and grounded in the Word of God, if both have the same level of conviction and commitment to want to please God above all else, if both are dedicated to do it God's way regardless of what the world says, or regardless of where their feelings and emotions are leaning, that is when God will step in and bring peace and comfort.

In other words, for the most part, much of the unbiblical, watered down, sugar coated and untransformative messaging on important subjects like marriage and family, as well as many other important subjects, focuses on the self as opposed to being a transformed selfless servant, the here and now is prioritized over future rewards in eternity. Or to be even more frank, people are being conditioned to consider themselves, and to consider their own personal self-gratification rather than our future rewards at the Judgement Seat.

Far too many people, including Christians, are overly preoccupied with their own personal happiness. What are you going to do for me is a common thought process in modern society instead what is the central themes of the gospel that Christ and the Apostles consistently emphasized in the scriptures which actually admonished us to "deny ourselves," which is the opposite of what the world teaches, and the opposite of our human nature.

The two different gospels

To be even more specific, there is a major worldview difference between the true gospel of the New Testament and the modern gospel that has become so popularized in today's church. More simply put, the true Gospel of the Kingdom that Christ and the Apostles taught, encourages the believer to resist our normal, default fleshly desires, responses and inclinations which is generally centered around self-preservation, or to think of ourselves our own personal wants and desires first and foremost. In other words, because we are all born with an inherent Adamic sin nature, true Christian maturity is a growth process to learn to go against our inherent nature and take on the nature of Christ. A new nature and a new mindset which again, is diametrically opposite of what the world teaches and what is normal and natural.

In his epistle the believers in Philippi, the Apostle Paul illustrated this point in a very powerful way when he admonished them to, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

Paul’s basic idea here is quite simple yet profound. Jesus not only set aside His rights as God, but He voluntarily left the highest position in the universe and went to the very lowest position on earth in order to rescue humanity from God’s judgement who did not deserve to be rescued. He humbled Himself all the way down to the lowest form of humiliation which was death on a cross. Death by crucifixion was reserved only for the worst of the worst, and who the culture viewed as being cursed by God. And by making this world history changing sacrifice, He at the same time, presented an example for all believers to follow. There can be no greater example of lowering or humbling oneself that what Christ did on our behalf.

And not coincidentally, during Christ's earthly ministry, He referred to this idea of self-denial as a way of life for His disciples on multiple occasions. Consider for example, the admonishment that Christ gave immediately after rebuking Peter for confronting Him regarding his teaching about His pending persecution and death in Jerusalem.

Christ first responded by telling Satan to "get thee behind me" (Matthew 16:23). He then proceeded to give the following declaration: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:24-27).

Notice that Christ is emphasizing future or eternal rewards that will be based upon how we live in this life. This is the Gospel message that should be the primary focus and emphasis of every believer and every minister of the gospel today. NOT how we can "live our best life now," but how we can hear Him say "well done" in the future. This will involve a complete rethinking of how we view our lives, and even more importantly, a complete reevaluation of how ministers of the gospel present the message of salvation as they minister the word of God to their audiences and to the world.

The Gospel of Christ is the very power of God that saves men from His holy wrath against our sins. When given in full and unfiltered, it sets people free from the captivity of sin and death and allows for a powerful Christian life that exhibits the authority and likeness of Christ. Sadly however, many people have watered the Gospel down, reducing it to merely a message of escape from condemnation without repenting from sin, a message of affirmation as a son or daughter of God without actually having to obey what the Father says in His word, a message of prosperity and comfort without denying oneself to pursue His will, or a message of forgiveness without realizing just how much we have in our sinful Adamic nature have offended a holy and righteous God.

Furthermore, what has gone largely unnoticed, is the fact that this increasingly popular watered-down type of gospel messaging lacks the spiritual nutrients needed to produce mature kingdom disciples who are able to discern the signs of the times, resist the enemy and to be "salt and light" to a dark world. It is sort of like when you boil vegetables until they are limp and soft. When that happens, it's a strong probability that that you have literally boiled all of the life sustaining, healthy nutrients out of the food.

And then you compound that by adding sugar on top of the vegetables in order to make them taste better. Now, of course you will fill full and satisfied for a while, but that feeling of satisfaction will only be temporary. And if you consume this type of diet over a sustained period, you run the risk of having unforeseen health consequences later in life. You run the risk of having a weakened immune system, diabetes, high blood pressure, and many other related health issues that are the result of years of lack of proper life sustaining nutrition due to an unhealthy diet.

Similarly, this type of watered down, and sugar-coated gospel messaging will result in Christians having weakened spiritual immune systems. A spiritual immune system that fails to convict of sin, fails to transform our minds to conform with the mind of Christ, and fails to grow us in the "knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." It focuses on how to prosper in this life, as opposed to how to live in this life in a way that will allow our Lord to say, "well done thou good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things, now I am going to make you ruler over many things, enter into the joy of thy Lord" (Matthew 25:23).

In short, this modern contemporary gospel may motivate, and encourage, but it fails to make disciples, and fails activate the great commission which should be the single most important function of the church. The gospel the Jesus preached on the other hand, means that the believer's primary goal and emphasis in this present life should not be our own self-centered life of personal pleasure, abundance and a comfortable life that is free from the inherent troubles that come with living in this sin infested world. Rather, our primary emphasis should be on a life of selflessness with our sights focused squarely on a future life in eternity with Christ when He comes back and establishes His Kingdom here on earth. Or, more succinctly put, how should we live in this life in a way that we can hear Him say, "well done" in the next life.

Now, does this mean that we should neglect the reasonable and daily duties that help sustain our lives, or our personal responsibilities to our families, our Churches, to our employers, or our communities? Certainly not. In fact, Paul warned that "if any man did not take care of his own, he is worse than an infidel." But for the mature Christian, there should be a difference in attitude toward how we view life, a different priority, a different life emphasis, different guiding life principles, a different response mechanism, and a different worldview. If we have taking care of God’s business as a priority, if we prioritize hearing Him say "well done," to be "salt and light," seeking His salvation, living in obedience to Him, being "living epistles," and sharing the good news of the kingdom with others as our primary life's priorities, then He will take care of our business as He promised.

Moreover, in light of the current state of society, and the current state of gospel preaching from the majority of pulpits, books, television, and much of social media, what are we to do about it? For starters, ministers of the gospel need to take a step back and reevaluate their content and ask themselves these basic questions:

• Is this message going to help their audience to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior"?

• Is this message going to bring about conviction of sin, or is it only going to flamboyantly and charismatically stir their emotions while they leave feeling good about themselves while still in their sin?

• Is this sermon going to go a long way towards making disciples whose minds are being transformed by the gospel that is being ministered, or is it only going to produce better or more faithful church members?

• Is this message God inspired and God ordained, or is it just going to be entertaining?

• And maybe most importantly, am I presenting a message that is rightly divided, in its proper, original biblical and historical context?

• And am I subsequently, rightly apply the text in the way that God originally intended?

In 2 Peter 3:18, Peter admonishes his readers to "grow in grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Like a newborn infant, who has to grow and learn through childhood, adolescence and even adulthood, must constantly learn and grow in this life. Similarly, as born-again believers, we must constantly grow in God's word in order to become mature Christians. The rightly divided and rightly applied truth of the Gospel must consistently be ingrained in our hearts and minds. It must guide our thoughts, our actions and even our reactions.

But just as significantly, a rightly divided and a rightly applied understanding of the gospel is the only way that we will be able to properly discern the signs of the times, and to be able to recognize false teaching and false teachers who are extremely skilled at playing upon man's inherent weaknesses and self-centered inclinations and vulnerabilities.

But with all of that said, we must never lose sight of the fact that there is a difference between knowing scripture and growing and maturing in our knowledge and understanding of the Gospel. I often like to point out the fact that the Scribes and the Pharisees had a lot of head knowledge about the written scriptures, but they did not have a rightly divided understanding of God's word. They literally had the very person that their Old Testament prophets all prophesied about standing directly in front of them in the flesh, but they failed to recognize Him.

He was performing miracles, and teaching and preaching the gospel, but yet, not only were they completely oblivious to who they had standing in front of them, they went on to reject the incarnate Word and advocated for His crucifixion. Even with all of their head knowledge, they had a complete lack of discernment. And if anyone should have been able to discern that Jesus was the Christ it should have been the Pharisees and Scribes. They were the religious leaders of the day. They were the ones who most of the common people looked up to. Nevertheless, they were completely self-centered, power hungry and clueless.

Finally, the only way to recognize or discern the truth of God's word from the error of the world’s way of thinking is to replace it with God’s truth through a transformed mind. And the only infallible source of God’s truth is His revealed Word, the Bible. Transformation through renewed minds comes only as believers expose themselves to God’s Word through the faithful exposition of the gospel each week in church, personal Bible study, and group Bible study.

So, which gospel will you believe? Will you believe the contemporary preaching of the gospel that is centered around "living your best life NOW," or will you believe the selfless, gospel of the Kingdom that Christ preached? Sometimes, because after all we are still living in the flesh that must be crucified daily, we can subconsciously be drawn into believing a word that brings us encouragement but is not really being rightly divided. But you can always safeguard yourself by doing self-evaluations. When you hear the word being preached are you being convicted of any sin, any wrong or unhealthy thoughts, any grudges, any regrettable outbursts, any unhealthy addictions and so on? And are you learning anything that not only you didn't know before but inspired you to study and learn the word even more?

A solid church that believes in preaching the Word, reading the Word, and singing the Word is invaluable in helping us renew our minds. There are no shortcuts. There is no magical formula for renewing our minds. We must fill our minds with God’s Word. As Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).