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It is a false gospel that offers and emphasizes worldly goods
I passed by a certain place, many days before today. It was a shopping centre, sort of. And there they were, a minister with a loudspeaker, together with a few more individuals of his company. They were all wearing green bibs, with the inscription “Soul Winner” on the back. For a moment, I was so thrilled by what I was witnessing, for once there were still faithful brethren who cared about taking the Gospel to the outside world. But, just like the story of a beautiful balloon among thorns, so did my joy vanish into mourning – instantly. These are the words that came from the loudspeaker, “Are you tired of suffering, are you struggling with poverty, sickness and unemployment? Come to Jesus, come get your breakthrough now, and come get your things…” Now I ask you my dear Christian friend: what kind of a gospel completely ignores the eternal salvation of souls, and only promises and offers the temporal and worldly things of this world? What type of gospel is this one, that doesn’t mention sin, righteousness, judgment and repentance, but only tickles the ears of wicked men with the false promises of material pleasures? It’s not about what Christ has done on the cross but what men can get from God, despite their obvious rebellion against Him.
My estimation is that 95% of African churches have relapsed to preaching this poisonous message, especially those of the Pentecostal denomination. Believe it or not, even those fundamental things such as baptism have been put aside, only to be replaced by all those “camping” programs so that people can eat, play games and “have fun”. It is just another religion that seeks to promote worldly success, pride and greed in the name of God. Brothers, just look at the kind of damage that we have done with this materialist false gospel.
It is a false gospel that adds human effort on top of Christ’s work on the cross
Remember the famous statement, “good people will enter heaven”? This is a very old false gospel that says you can impress the Almighty through a few charity works on top of some “good behavior” in the society. This is basically what all world religions teach. They believe that man can work his way to heaven. It’s about self-effort. They imagine that on the Day of Judgment, God is going to weigh their many good works in comparison with a few “mistakes” they have made. My question is, how much good works are enough, is there a fixed number of good acts that I have to do to qualify for heaven? Secondly, I ask, what about your sins, do your acts of charity somehow wipe away all your sins to make you righteous? Finally, ever heard about a man called Jesus of Nazareth? The one whose death was necessary because we could not save ourselves by our own efforts. We are all enemies of God through wicked works, twice as dead in our sins (Col 1:21). We have all sinned and fallen short of that righteous standard. Therefore, He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we can be the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). It’s Him who was wounded for our transgressions because the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:6). If you say you qualify for paradise based on your good conduct, then what did Christ die for? Here is a verse for your homework, “for by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph 2:8-9) Therefore, the “do good works to enter heaven” message is a deadly false gospel that we must guard against.
It’s a false gospel that eliminates suffering
I picked up a little newspaper printed by the Universal Church with these headlines, “Stop Suffering.” The idea is that the moment you come to Jesus, congrats, all your life’s troubles have disappeared. Of course, this is another silly version of the prosperity gospel. The famous verse in Christian circles today is Jeremiah 29:11; “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm.” That verse is true and biblical, yet you are never told that it was addressing people who were getting ready to face 70 years of suffering in Babylon’s captivity. Instead, such verses are wrongly used to assure people that they will never face any suffering. Their lives will be nothing short of angelic bliss and earthly paradise.
Indeed, God has wonderful plans for you, and those plans may involve pain, suffering and persecution. Yet He promises that His chief end is not to harm you through that suffering, but to be with you in every way. So that He can be your supreme treasure. For example, God’s wonderful plan for Stephen was for him to be stoned to death. God’s wonderful plan for Paul was to be rejected, beaten and prisoned – many times. Read history and be humbled by the stories of many godly believers who suffered various kinds of difficulties that cost them a lot. Believe it or not, God actually uses the sufferings of His people to grow and reform them into the image of Christ. When you have time, just read Philippians 1:29 and tell me what it says. Therefore, a gospel that says you will stop suffering once you join their church is a false gospel.
It’s a false gospel that elevates the law above the cross
The law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, so says the good apostle (Gal 3:24-25). It was only a shadow of the reality of Christ Himself (Col 2:16-17). Yet, despite all of this, there are some folks who seem to enjoy binding people back to the law again. They will say God is not happy because you are not observing the Sabbath, because you are not paying your tithe, because you are not doing this and that other thing. Such individuals make much of the law but very little of the cross of Christ. I assume they have no knowledge at all, or perhaps are willfully ignorant of our Saviour’s great work of redemption. These are the modern Pharisees who enjoy laying a heavy load on people’s shoulders while they are not prepared to carry it themselves. It’s a false gospel that emphasizes anything above the cross of Christ.
It is a false gospel that elevates a human above the Redeemer
Forget Baal worship, a new kind of idolatry has resurfaced upon the religious surface. This time, humans find themselves glorying in their fellow kind. The religious crowd now attend churches not because they are in love with Jesus the Lord, but because they are impressed with some “Papa” that has a “powerful anointing.” Such people will not waste time before they tell you, not about Jesus, but all about the “great man” of God. At that time I wonder, where does Christ fit in all this? If you are reading this, take this goodly warning to heart; beware of being impressed by a mere creature above the Creator. Any true gospel will glorify Jesus above all.
A false gospel is devil focused
Have you noticed that the modern churchgoer is big on prayer; all-night prayer mountain services and daily fastings? Yet it’s not prayers to get boldness for evangelism, not to have power over sin but to destroy and cast down evil altars and to bind demons of limitation. As you can discern, it’s the devil who is the subject matter, not Jesus. Such individuals have got an unhealthy fear of darkness until they have lost confidence that Christ is far more powerful than Satan. If we are in Him, what can separate us? Do I need to have sleepless nights binding demons? Instead, because Christ is sovereign, I sleep in peace and gratitude for who He is and what He is done for me. Therefore, beware of such a gospel that always talks about the devil, spirits and witches more than the Redeemer.
The true Gospel
Let me end with the good stuff. Indeed, I have desires and dreams to succeed on earth. Yet Jesus didn’t die for that because I can be successful without coming to Jesus. He came, lived, died and rose gain on the 3rd day because I am not righteous. I have never been, even though I have tried. My mind thinks wicked things, my eyes lust after uncleanness and from my tongue comes out sinful words. If I were to die in this state, the good Lord would give me justice and throw me into the lake of fire because thus what my sins deserve. Thankfully, Jesus has paid for all my evils, past present and future. All I had to do was to abandon any hope in my self-efforts and put all my trust upon the Redeemer’s bosom, and I was declared righteous instantly. A traitor like me was forgiven, and then adopted into the family as a son. When death comes, there goes me to be with my Savior together with His holy saints. You can also get this salvation, repent of your sins and throw yourself to the good Lord. He came not to call the righteous but sinners like you and me. This is the true Gospel. When did you last hear anything like it?
Sinothi Ncube
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