Many so-called gospels are preached today, and they are so different from each other that they cannot all be right. Just what is the Gospel? The question is of vast importance, for in Galatians 1:6-9 the double curse of God is pronounced upon “… any man …” or even “… an angel from heaven …”who preaches “… another gospel: Which is not another …”
The clear definition of the Gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, “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 … 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.”
Without controversy, that is the Gospel. But it does not tell us in this passage just how to apply the Gospel in dealing with men about their salvation. How shall we “preach the Gospel?”
When the Philippian jailer asked, “… what must I do to be saved?”, the answer was ready, “… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30-31).
But what does it mean to “… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ … “? When one believes, he receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, and he is immediately “born”- “… born again” (John 3 :7): “… not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
So the preacher of the Gospel must “preach Christ”? Certainly! But what does it mean to preach Christ? In his own devious way the modernist preaches Christ, the Unitarian preaches Christ, the Christian Scientist preaches Christ, the Mormon preaches Christ; BUT NONE OF THESE preach the Gospel. When Paul wrote about it, his readers clearly understood that to preach Christ was to preach the Gospel in all its fullness, but this is not true in our day. We must PREACH CHRIST according to the Scriptures.
The preacher of the Gospel must preach Christ and Him crucified; he must preach the cross; he must preach the blood.
But one may do all this without preaching the Gospel at all. The Roman Catholic system preaches Christ and Him crucified, it preaches the cross, it preaches the blood, but it never preaches the Gospel.
To preach the Gospel, we must preach the Gospel of grace. We must preach that salvation is the “… gift of God.” We must preach that salvation is “… by grace … through faith …” plus nothing. Salvation is “… through faith … Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Good works are the result of salvation, but not its cause. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works …” (Ephesians 2:1 0).
Romanism preaches Christ, the cross, and the blood; but Romanism has never preached that the sinner can be saved through Christ alone. It is always “plus something” – plus the intercession of Mary, plus works of penance, plus the sacraments, and so on.
The modernist preacher today preaches another gospel which is not Christian; it is pagan.
Beware of any teaching that adds anything at all to the finished work of Christ. Christ saves all who receive Him as Saviour. He is the way, only God. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).