Just a Thought: Is the Gospel Really Being Perverted Today?

Easter Sunday, I found myself stumbling over my lower lip once again, as my jaw dropped upon reading a Twitter message by the senior pastor at the church where Martin Luther King, Jr. served years ago.

I believe MLK possibly rolled over in his grave (it's obvious from below that he believed in the Gospel).

Here's the quote I read on Easter Sunday:

"The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves."

A couple days later, I read this statement on another social media platform, written by a young woman who describes herself as a "recovering evangelical" (this is a very common term for many in the progressive Christian movement):

"I found (speaking of her evangelical upbringing) the whole repentance (of sin) process to be a mechanism for guilt and shame, and instead of finding freedom, I found self-hatred and a proclivity for making the same "mistakes"... Now that I no longer try to meet some sort of expectation created by Christian culture, I can learn from my decisions and try to do better. No shame necessary - just learning and constant improvement."

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Why do I share these statements?

Jesus-followers, WE MUST BE AWARE of the new gospel that is invading our current religious culture.

On the extreme side of progressivism:

There is no need for the substitutionary atonement of sin.
Jesus did not need to die on our behalf.
The cross is a non-value...
The resurrection...UNNECESSARY!

We simply:

1) commit to helping others (and find salvation)

2) learn from our mistakes and do better

3) eliminate any concept of shame-based-godly-sorrow, rejecting it simply as a mechanism for entrapment

4) find freedom from self-hatred by ridding oneself of any cultural expectations (you do you)...

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Please ponder these things deeply -

Do you understand what is being said, really comprehend it?

We don't need Jesus.

God's love for the world revealed through the giving of His Son is obsolete.

I am my own Savior.

I can work my way to heaven (or Nirvana, or...).

I am the master of my own destiny.

I simply jump through the right hoops.

I only have to improve enough to be "good enough."

BUT - how good is good enough?

If salvation is left in my hands, I am doomed.

So are you - no matter how good you are; no matter how well you learn from your past; no matter how well you dispense of cultural expectations; no matter how much you serve the poor...

These ideas may sound better than the pure gospel for a season...

They may even seem more loving...

But, there are a lot of holes left to be filled...

Right here is where my own testimony began.

As a kid I thought I had to be good enough to achieve heaven.

I lived in fear I couldn't come close to being good enough...

Finally, I gave up trying entirely and landed in that pit I talked about last week.

Fortunately, there to rescue me: Jesus!

No matter how hard we will try, we can not save ourselves.

In everything: Give me Jesus!

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The great need of our time is to tune our ears to the (metaphoric) music and the songs being sung by those who would promote a perverted gospel!

The Apostle Paul makes it clear how he feels about those who do:

But 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 (Galatians 1:8)

"Let them be accursed": it's a strong word! It means "doomed to destruction." Even saying that, Paul's heart was breaking, later he says to them, I "labored" over you like a mother in child-birth, and now I am laboring again...

And, it is for this reason, this "doubling over in emotional pain," that Paul dropped often to his knees, weeping prayers over the churches to fully comprehend the height, depth, width, and scope of God's love.