BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS
(There is a Cure!)
I. THE BAD NEWS
In Gospel presentation it is very important to present the opposite side of the Good News, which is the bad news in the very human perspective. The goal of this is not to horrify us or to make the Gospel more appealing to the people. The goal is to tell every man about his wretchedness because of sin. The following are the content of Bad News:
A) The Weight of Sins – Inherited Sin and Actual Sins
- Every man inherits the sin of the first man, Adam
- Every man is under the curse
- Every aspect of man’s life is tainted with sins – Total Depravity
- Inherited sins will surely lead to the act of sinning
- Every man will die both physical and spiritual
- All man will do is sin even his righteous act
- Every man cannot earn salvation
B) The Status of Man before God
- Every man is separated from God because God is Holy, Just and Righteous
- Every man is fall short of the glory of God
- Therefore no man can please God
C) The Judgment
- Because of sin, man is separated from God, therefore he is hell bound
- Man’s condemnation in hell is forever
- Man will be tormented day and night
II. THE GOOD NEWS
The Gospel means good news and the good news is there’s a way to get to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ. Gospel is Jesus. All about the life and works of Jesus for salvation is the composition of Gospel. This Gospel or Jesus is not only found in the New Testament. It is from the very beginning after the fall (Genesis 3) and carried through the Law and the Prophets up to Revelation. This Gospel was proclaimed throughout the Scriptures. This is the promise of God to mankind for their salvation, and every true man of God is waiting for Him (Gospel).
A) The Proclamation of Gospel
- There is a cure for the great misery of man in spite of his depravity
- Man may have the salvation, deliverance from the penalty of sins
- There is a way to be reconciled to God
B) The Good News is not New
- Good News is proclaimed by God in Genesis right after the fall of man.
- Good News is from Genesis to the Prophets to the Apostles to Revelation.
- Good News is from eternity to eternity
C) The Good News is Jesus Christ Himself
- It is the life and work of Jesus
- perfect obedience
- perfect righteousness
- incarnation
- teaching
- ministry
- death, resurrection, and ascension
- Old Testament people was looking forward to the Cross (Spiritual)
- New Testament people was looking backward to the Cross (Spiritual)
D) The Power of Gospel
- The power of Gospel is for the glory of God primarily
- The power of Gospel is for the salvation of man.
- Faith is not futile
- Holiness is not in vain
- Salvation is secured
- Justification, sanctification, and glorification are secured
“God cursed man not to live horribly, He doesn’t say that we are lost to be lost in our lostness, He doesn’t give the conscience that every time we sin it will scream out to us just to ignore it. He did those things to tell us that we are sinners and another way He commanding us to turn to Him for He is our salvation”.
Based on Paul Washer’s Sermon
FOR GOD’S GLORY
THE WRONG PRESENTATION OF GOSPEL
(It is very Dangerous!)
The wrong presentation of Gospel is very dangerous. This kind of Gospel is what most theologian called Seeker-Sensitive Gospel. It is a kind of market evangelism. To make the costumer satisfied, they will offer a kind of Gospel that make their costumer prosperous, wealthy, of good health, in good relationship, etc. Everything that sounds good for their itching ears. They will hide the hard stuffs of Gospel, like denying of one’s self, carrying cross daily, obedience, pursuing holiness, repentance and likes. Showing one side of the coin only is very dangerous.
A) The Reasons Why This Kind of Gospel Presentation is very Dangerous
- It gives wrong perspective regarding true Christianity
- It gives false hope
- It gives false assurance
B) The Content of Seeker-Sensitive Gospel
- Self-fulfillment rather than self-denial
- Man Centered approach rather than God-centered approach
- Result Oriented rather than Truth Oriented
C) The Implications of Seeker-Sensitive Gospel
- “Get what you want” rather than “give up everything”
- Replaced the glory of God with satisfaction of man
- They have traded the truth of abandoning our lives to the honor Christ for Christ
honoring us
- Submission to the will is replaced by His submission to our will
D) The Root of Seeker-Sensitive Gospel
1) Pragmatism developed by William James
- it is an old philosophy in secular world wherein what is true is based on the result.
- If the result is not good, it is not true and if the result is good, it is true
- Truth is based whether the method produced good result.
- This philosophy have been used in Christianity
2) Open-Theism
- Create a perception about God in respect to their need
- Those who hold this view believe that they can twist the mind of God for their need
- They do not present God as God that judge.
- They claim that God is holy, just, and righteous but not in respect with sin
3) Relativism
- It evolved from pragmatism
- There’s no absolute truth. Anything can be truth.
- The truth can be known through experience (Neo-orthodoxy)
- A verse in a Bible can be true to someone but not to other.
4) Antinomianism
- Pursuing holiness is optional once you’ve been saved
- After God had saved a man He let him to stay and still be lost and love sins
- They are extreme liberals that do not pursue holiness
E. The Presentation of Seeker-Sensitive Gospel
- They will promote the full implication of Savior of Jesus but not His Lordship
- They will tell the things that are not offending like blessings, forgiveness, comfort, and
love of God and hide the hard stuff like repentance, demand and cost of being
Christian, man’s condition, eternal condemnation and sins
- They will proclaim that a certain man is saved because he followed him in prayer in
the altar call and they went hope bringing the idea that they are saved.
F. Conclusion:
The power of God to save the elect cannot be hindered by wrong presentation of Gospel. But it is very harmful to those they think they are saved but they aren’t. For example, a pastor present a seeker-sensitive gospel and two people, one elect and the other convinced because the hard stuffs were hidden they will accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. They will definitely accept because it is heaven. The harmful effect on the elect is his spiritual growth, and to the other false hope. He attended church service week after week, month after month and year after year, he will be a minister of a particular ministry but they are totally condemned in hell. That’s a harmful effect of the wrong presentation of the Gospel. The church is taking care of a bunch of goats and later on the church will be run by them (Matthew 7:15-23)
FOR GOD’S GLORY
THE LOST DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL
(The First WORD of the Gospel, Repent!)
In most gospel presentation I’ve heard, most of them had neglected one of the demand, and this is a call to repent. And many ignored this doctrine, denied the doctrine, neglect to teach this doctrine and to the most devalue this doctrine which is the doctrine of Repentance. In this study we are going to present repentance the way the Scripture presents it.
A. Biblical Definition of Repentance
- is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.
- is a sorrow of sin and a hatred of it
- is turning away from sin and turning to God (Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem)
- condition of salvation and duty
B. Jesus, Apostles, and Prophets Acknowledge the Doctrine of Repentance
Jesus told the Jews to repent (Mark 1:15, Luke 13:5; 15:1-31)
John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2, Luke 3:8)
Apostles (Acts 2;38; 3:19; 17:30)
Prophets (Ezekiel 33:11; 2Chronicle 7:14; Jeremiah 15:19)
C. Misconceptions about Repentance
- it is a confession
- It is produced by human work
- It is just for one moment that is during the conversion
- It is not necessary for salvation
-
D. How A Person Come to Repentance
- a man must experienced born again (regeneration)
- a man must hear the Gospel so that faith will come
- a man, during the hearing of the Gospel will come to know his sins, his status in God, and his judgment
- a man will hate his sins, by the power of the Holy Spirit to convict us and convince us that a man is a sinner and he need a Savior.
- and this is an act of God of enabling us to come to call in the Name of the Lord begging for mercy
Note: This is not a work of man. It is purely grace. The grace that convicts a man and convinced him that he is a sinner and he needs a Savior is the same grace that gives desire, thirst to come to Jesus. God is the one who grants repentance to a man (Acts 11:18)
E. Why In Gospel Presentation Exclude Repentance?
- to them it is not necessary, believing is the manifestation of salvation not repentance
- to them, since most of them value the soul marketing rather than soul winning.
- to them repentance will hinder an individual to come to Christ. (they want people to come to Christ even they are still embracing a bag of sins than letting them to come to Christ with a broken spirit and a contrite heart)
F. Why Is It So Important to Include Repentance in the Gospel?
- because God commanded people to repent (the effect is to those who are elected and redeemed)
- because repentance is preceded by Faith for salvation
- because we want to give people true assurance of their salvation
- because we want them to serve the Lord our God whose service is not abomination in the Lord because of sins.
- because we want to serve God with holiness
- because God found joy in the repentance of one sinner
- because God is glorified in the repentance of one sinner
FOR GOD’S GLORY
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