Alan Dale Gross
Active Member
"A DEFICIENT GOSPEL"
By Curtis Pugh
Bocsa, Romania
A SCRIPTURAL CONSIDERATION OF THE BIBLE WORDS,
"unless ye have Believed in vain".
(My comments in CAPS).
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have Received, and wherein ye Stand; By which also ye are Saved,
"if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have Believed in vain.
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also Received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that He was buried,
and that He Rose Again the Third Day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
"The verses quoted above set forth the essentials of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"The Gospel, then, is seen to be The Finished Work of Christ!
"It is this Gospel that has been preached by faithful men of God
and believed by countless multitudes down through the centuries.
It is “the Gospel” meaning there is no other. This is the Saving Gospel!
"But today it seems that there is A Deficient Gospel being preached that results in converts whose experience is less than Scriptural and whose Genuine Salvation is to be doubted when the lives of these people are examined.
"Poll after poll shows that the lifestyles of THIS FA;SE VERSION OF BEING “born again” men and women are no different than those of the unprofessing majority around them. What are the causes of this situation? I will list and discuss briefly Four reasons that The Deficient Gospel produces deficient converts.
"First of all there is little or no sense of the Holiness of God in both preachers and hearers.
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:18.
"Too many people God is a nice old “grandfather” dozing in the sky somewhere,
AS IF HE IS WATCHING A SOAP OPERA. He is rather disinterested in what is going on in the Earth,
but can be appealed to in emergency situations.
People see God as a Cartoonish cross between Santa Claus and Superman.
However, Mankind, since all of us are unholy in ourselves, cannot naturally conceive of True Holiness on the part of another – even of God. The Psalmist wrote: “…thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an One as thyself…” (Psa. 51:21).
The God of modern man’s understanding is most often a reflection of man himself,
rather than the awe-inspiring Perfect Holy Being called Jehovah.
"God is Revealed in His Word as a God who can have nothing to do with sin!
LOST SOULS MUST BE PREACHED AND TOLD ABOUT THEIR GUILT OF BEING A SINNER AGAINST GOD.
“Thou Art of Purer Eyes than to behold evil, and canst not Look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13).
"Understood in the light of Scripture,
God cannot be properly thought of as 'a benign old grandfather who overlooks sin'.
He is not like us! His Holy Law Reveals that His Holy Nature demands Holiness – the very thing man lacks!
"God's Holy Nature demands that sin be punished – either by the individual sinner
or by the Vicarious Substitionary death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Place of His people.
"But Modern-Day Preachers Seldom Really Preach the Law of God, TO BRING CONVICTION OF THEIR SIN AND HOW THEIR BREAKING OF GOD'S LAW IS INFINITELY OFFENCSIVE TO HIM AS THE PERFECY HOLY, ETERNAL, CREATOR GOD OF THE UNIVERSE and so men and women are ignorant of the Holiness of God and the need for a Sacrifice to Pay for their failure to live according to God’s Holy Demands.
"Secondly, unbelief in the Total Depravity of mankind on the part of the preachers
has resulted in the idea that lost men can please God by a self-manufactured, FALSE FLESHLY "Repentance and Faith".
"Romans 8:8 says, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
"John 6:44 says, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath Sent Me Draw him:
and I Will Raise him up at The Last Day.”
"First Corinthians 2:14 says: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are Spiritually Discerned.”
"But in spite of such clear statements as these (and others) both preachers
and hearers are naturally inclined to think that it is 'within the power of mankind' to “do something”
and thus obligate God to Save them (????).
"Because of this, the average “convert” is one who has “done something”
and thus trusts in what he has done, having been assured that if he would do the “something”
he would be guaranteed a place in Heaven AND FEEL SAFE TO SING, "IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL" (???).
"(Usually the “something” is “pray the sinner’s prayer,” “come forward and make a public profession,”
“open your heart’s door to Jesus,” etc. or some other unscriptural idea that is promoted ad nauseum.)
"Total Depravity as taught in the Scriptures
is not that mankind is as bad as he can be, but that people are as SPIRITUALLY bad off as he can be –
"he is dead in sins and in need of Regeneration – a thing which a Spiritually dead man cannot accomplish or initiate.
"That a Spiritually dead man cannot accomplish or initiate Regeneration is proved by the following verses:
“And you hath He Quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1);
“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye Must be Born Again” (John 3:7);
“Which were Born (AGAIN),
not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God” (John 1:13).
"In spite of these and other similar verses, SOMEHOW, the idea promoted by modern preachers
is that THEIR CONCEPT OF 'the New Birth' is indeed initiated by “the will of man.”
"And so it is that people are told in so many words that his Eternal Destiny is in his own hands
and that Salvation is brought about by his will – by his making 'a decision' for Christ.
"Rather than being told that he is a helpless sinner who must be Saved by another,
he is led to believe he can bring about his salvation by his own actions.
Thus he does not seek God, but rests in his own ability."
con't:
By Curtis Pugh
Bocsa, Romania
A SCRIPTURAL CONSIDERATION OF THE BIBLE WORDS,
"unless ye have Believed in vain".
(My comments in CAPS).
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have Received, and wherein ye Stand; By which also ye are Saved,
"if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have Believed in vain.
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also Received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that He was buried,
and that He Rose Again the Third Day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
"The verses quoted above set forth the essentials of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"The Gospel, then, is seen to be The Finished Work of Christ!
"It is this Gospel that has been preached by faithful men of God
and believed by countless multitudes down through the centuries.
It is “the Gospel” meaning there is no other. This is the Saving Gospel!
"But today it seems that there is A Deficient Gospel being preached that results in converts whose experience is less than Scriptural and whose Genuine Salvation is to be doubted when the lives of these people are examined.
"Poll after poll shows that the lifestyles of THIS FA;SE VERSION OF BEING “born again” men and women are no different than those of the unprofessing majority around them. What are the causes of this situation? I will list and discuss briefly Four reasons that The Deficient Gospel produces deficient converts.
"First of all there is little or no sense of the Holiness of God in both preachers and hearers.
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:18.
"Too many people God is a nice old “grandfather” dozing in the sky somewhere,
AS IF HE IS WATCHING A SOAP OPERA. He is rather disinterested in what is going on in the Earth,
but can be appealed to in emergency situations.
People see God as a Cartoonish cross between Santa Claus and Superman.
However, Mankind, since all of us are unholy in ourselves, cannot naturally conceive of True Holiness on the part of another – even of God. The Psalmist wrote: “…thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an One as thyself…” (Psa. 51:21).
The God of modern man’s understanding is most often a reflection of man himself,
rather than the awe-inspiring Perfect Holy Being called Jehovah.
"God is Revealed in His Word as a God who can have nothing to do with sin!
LOST SOULS MUST BE PREACHED AND TOLD ABOUT THEIR GUILT OF BEING A SINNER AGAINST GOD.
“Thou Art of Purer Eyes than to behold evil, and canst not Look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13).
"Understood in the light of Scripture,
God cannot be properly thought of as 'a benign old grandfather who overlooks sin'.
He is not like us! His Holy Law Reveals that His Holy Nature demands Holiness – the very thing man lacks!
"God's Holy Nature demands that sin be punished – either by the individual sinner
or by the Vicarious Substitionary death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Place of His people.
"But Modern-Day Preachers Seldom Really Preach the Law of God, TO BRING CONVICTION OF THEIR SIN AND HOW THEIR BREAKING OF GOD'S LAW IS INFINITELY OFFENCSIVE TO HIM AS THE PERFECY HOLY, ETERNAL, CREATOR GOD OF THE UNIVERSE and so men and women are ignorant of the Holiness of God and the need for a Sacrifice to Pay for their failure to live according to God’s Holy Demands.
"Secondly, unbelief in the Total Depravity of mankind on the part of the preachers
has resulted in the idea that lost men can please God by a self-manufactured, FALSE FLESHLY "Repentance and Faith".
"Romans 8:8 says, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
"John 6:44 says, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath Sent Me Draw him:
and I Will Raise him up at The Last Day.”
"First Corinthians 2:14 says: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are Spiritually Discerned.”
"But in spite of such clear statements as these (and others) both preachers
and hearers are naturally inclined to think that it is 'within the power of mankind' to “do something”
and thus obligate God to Save them (????).
"Because of this, the average “convert” is one who has “done something”
and thus trusts in what he has done, having been assured that if he would do the “something”
he would be guaranteed a place in Heaven AND FEEL SAFE TO SING, "IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL" (???).
"(Usually the “something” is “pray the sinner’s prayer,” “come forward and make a public profession,”
“open your heart’s door to Jesus,” etc. or some other unscriptural idea that is promoted ad nauseum.)
"Total Depravity as taught in the Scriptures
is not that mankind is as bad as he can be, but that people are as SPIRITUALLY bad off as he can be –
"he is dead in sins and in need of Regeneration – a thing which a Spiritually dead man cannot accomplish or initiate.
"That a Spiritually dead man cannot accomplish or initiate Regeneration is proved by the following verses:
“And you hath He Quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1);
“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye Must be Born Again” (John 3:7);
“Which were Born (AGAIN),
not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man,
but of God” (John 1:13).
"In spite of these and other similar verses, SOMEHOW, the idea promoted by modern preachers
is that THEIR CONCEPT OF 'the New Birth' is indeed initiated by “the will of man.”
"And so it is that people are told in so many words that his Eternal Destiny is in his own hands
and that Salvation is brought about by his will – by his making 'a decision' for Christ.
"Rather than being told that he is a helpless sinner who must be Saved by another,
he is led to believe he can bring about his salvation by his own actions.
Thus he does not seek God, but rests in his own ability."
con't:
