The Common Denominator

I enjoy reading biographies, but I have lost count of how many times I have read in them of the harmful influence of the modern Gospel. I have waded through books where a husband professes faith in Jesus and yet beats his wife over and over. He apologizes, asks God for forgiveness and then does it again. And again. The common denominator with all these professed converts is that they responded to a perverted gospel. They came for a better, victorious, problem-free life. In one book, the author gives his testimony (as a professing Christian): “I hadn’t learned to accept God’s love and grace . . . [I was] trying to win God’s approval.” These are symptoms of a false conversion. They reveal a shallow understanding if not complete ignorance of the purpose of the cross. Before he professed faith in Jesus, someone said to him, "If you are willing to accept Christ, not only as Savior but also as Lord of your life—the leader, the quarterback—great things are possible.” That’s a perversion of the gospel message—we are not to tell sinners that God's purpose is to give mankind happiness, fulfillment, and allow him to get the best out of life. Nowhere in Scripture do we see that message being preached, yet it is the essence of the modern proclamation. It leaves the sinner ignorant of the fact that he is a criminal, and ignorant of the fact that God is his judge. It's the recipe for a false conversion. I find that if I keep the analogy in the courtroom (criminal and judge), it keeps me from straying into the error of the modern gospel.