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1. We preach the whole counsel of God
“Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26,27) Reference Ezekiel 3:17-19
We must follow Paul’s example to the Ephesian elders and preach the whole counsel of God. We must not soley preach God’s love & mercy, or just His anger & justice (Not that any parts of His character are contradictory: He hates because He loves. If you love holiness, then you will hate sin.) We must preach the whole counsel. We must never leave out any part of God’s word to flatter our hearers or seek man’s approval.
We preach…
The Law
• Reflects God’s character (Romans 7:12)
• Reveals sin and its exceeding sinfulness (Romans 7:7, 7:13)
• Stops self-justification, leaves ALL the world guilty (Romans 3:19–20)
• Is meant for sinners (1 Timothy 1:8–11)
• Prepares for grace (Galatians 3:24)
• Is written on the heart — conscience bearing witness to the truth (Romans 2:15)
• Men without an excuse regarding sin (Romans 1:19–20)
Man’s fallen state
• Born sinners (Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:2–4, Romans 5:12–19)
• Are in rebellion against God and do not seek Him (Colossians 1:21, Romans 5:10, Romans 3:10–18)
• Slaves to sin (Romans 6:6)
• Spiritually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1)
• Suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18)
• "Good works" as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)
Christ
• Virgin birth (Matthew 1:18, Luke 1:35)
• Fully God and fully man (Colossians 2:19, John 1:1-3, John 8:58, John 20:28, Hebrews 1:8, Luke 24:39, Phil. 2:5–8)
• His Attributes (eg: John 4:24, Job 11:7, Psalm 90:2, 147:5, Exodus 3:14, 34:6. Revelation 4:8, 15:4)
• Sinless (1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Is the only way to the Father, to be saved (John 14:6, Matthew 11:27, Acts 4:11–12)
• Will return in power and great glory (Mark 13:26)
Christ Crucified
• The atonement — propitiation for our sins — satisfied the wrath of God (1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 2:2, Romans 3:24-26, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 3:18)
• God demonstrating His love towards us, and hatred of sin (Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10, Romans 8:31–33, Mark 15:34)
• Jesus justifies (Romans 5:9)
• Jesus sanctifies, sets free from sin (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:13–14,22)
Christ Resurrected
• The triumphant King who crushed the power of sin and death and is our hope (Revelation 1:17–18, Luke 24:45–47, 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, 1 Corinthians 15:12–60, Romans 6:6)
Repentance and Faith
• Are commands, and are a necessary part of the gospel message (Proverbs 28:13, Luke 13:3, John 3:18)
• Can be false (1 Peter 2: 20-22, Mark 4: 1-20, 2 Corinthians 11:26, 1 Corinthians 15:2)
• Repentance leading to salvation is produced by Godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7: 8-11)
• Are granted by God (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25, Ephesians 2:8, John 6:28-29)
• Grow and are evidence of regeneration (1 John)
• Saved by Grace through faith alone (Romans 4:5, 5:1, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:24,26,28–30, Romans 9:30, 10:4, 11:6, Galatians 2:16,21, Philippians 3:9)
The Judgment
• Christ will judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 9:7-8, Acts 17:31)
• Hell is eternal conscious punishment (Mark 9:43–45, Matthew 18:9, 22:12–14, Luke 16: 19–31, Revelation 20:10–18)
• Those found in their sin will be sent to Hell and cast into the Lake of Fire forever
• Those found in Christ saved to the uttermost, eternally with Christ (Romans 6:23, Hebrews 7:24–26, John 6:37, John 14:1–3, Revelation 21:3–4, 22:3–5).
2. We use the law as a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal.3:24)
“I would have not known sin, except through the law.” (Romans 7:7)
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)
Also see 1 Timothy 1:8-11 and Romans 3:19-20
Below, in Section 3, you will see that the gospel is "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." Not to make men happy, not to provide health, wealth, and a wonderful plan for one’s life. Christ died to bring glory to the Godhead and provide men salvation from Hell and sin. Men must see themselves condemned by the law before they will come to Christ for forgiveness (With correct motive). The law serves the function of showing men that they are powerless to help themselves in anyway to be right (righteous) with God. Furthermore, the greater the conviction of the law the better. The deeper one knows his sin, the more he will hunger and thirst for a righteousness not his own, and cling to Christ alone for His righteousness. Finally, he who is forgiven much loves much. The deeper the understanding of ones personal sin against God, the deeper the love of God and hatred of sin.
In closing, God’s moral law justifies no one. It never has. Its purpose for today is the same as it was when it was given to Moses atop Mt. Sinai. To those before Christ it was meant to convict of sin, crush self-righteousness, and point to their only hope of which they were to place their faith: the coming Messiah. To those after Christ it is meant to convict of sin, crush self-righteousness, and point to their only hope of which they are to place their faith, Jesus Christ.
3. We preach Repentance towards God and Faith in Jesus Christ
Not only must we preach the biblical gospel, we must also preach the biblical response which is repentance and faith. Repentance as defined from the scriptures is a change of the mind and will towards sin, which leads to a change in behavior. Faith is only as good as the object it is placed in. I could call my car jesus, however, my car won’t save me. In the same way, neither will the jesus taught by the cults, nor the watered-down jesus being preached from many pulpits of historically orthodox churches who have turned from biblical truth to please the itching ears of men. Faith must be placed in the Jesus of the Bible alone. Jesus = fully God, fully man, sinless, the only savior and lord. He commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel.
“...how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:20,21)
“Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8)
“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.’” (Matthew 11:20–24)
*** Notice here Jesus is NOT talking to Pharisees. It is a commonly held error that Jesus only rebuked or warned of Hell to the lawyers, scribes, and Pharisees.
“John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” (Mark 1:4)
“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” (Mark 1:14-15)
“When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” (Mark 2:17)
“So they went out and preached that people should repent.”(Mark 6:12)
“Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)
“Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.’” (Luke 24:46–48)
“But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:18,19)
“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.” (Acts 26:19–21)
“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
“in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25,26)
4. We don’t preach…
With all credit to Todd Friel at Way of the Master Radio here is an article containing a list of 13 ways you will never hear us preach the gospel and why:
Churches divide over carpet color, building additions and budgets. In the meantime, our fellow church members are going to hell by the boat load.
A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands of people, if not millions, have been brought into some kind of religious experience by accepting Christ, and they have not been saved.”
D. James Kennedy said, “The vast majority of people who are members of churches in America today are not Christians. I say that without the slightest contradiction. I base it on empirical evidence of twenty-four years of examining thousands of people.”
Friend, we argue over so many petty things. May I suggest we have lost sight of the most important debate of all, “What is salvation?” My theology teaches that salvation happens when a man repents and places his trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21).
I would like to present thirteen ways that we have re-defined how a person becomes a true convert. Have we done this intentionally? Certainly not. We have simply created lingo that has a grain of truth in Scripture, but it is so open to interpretation that the un-converted understand it in ways that lead to false conversions.
1. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior. We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.
2. Ask Jesus into your heart. Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.
3. Just believe in Jesus. The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.
4. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it. We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.
5. Accept Jesus. Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us--and He will, if we repent and trust.
6. Make a decision for Jesus. Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.
7. It is easy to believe. While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.
8. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution.* If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.
9. Come to Jesus just as you are. We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.
10. Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and ___________ (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage). Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.
11. Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace. Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.
12. Jesus is the missing piece. Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.
13. Jesus is better than fame and fortune. That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.
If I showed up at your door with a can of grapefruit juice and a roll of paper towels and offered to change your oil, you would say, “No thanks.” If we wouldn’t let someone mess with our car using the wrong method, why do we allow the Gospel to be presented so ambiguously?
Would you let a doctor operate on your child who was “sort of” accurate? The salvation of men is far more important than an appendix.
I beg you to consider how you share the Gospel. You and I know what we are talking about when we use these phrases, but do the unregenerate? Is it possible that we have so many backsliders today because they never slid forward in the first place? Is it because they were never told that they must repent and trust?
If we are willing to debate shag verse plush in the fellowship hall, shouldn’t we be more concerned about an issue that has eternal consequences?
*A special thanks to Derreck Kinter with Richmond Biblical Evangelism Team for giving us permission to use portions of what Richmond Biblical Evangelism Team has put together.
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