The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum RTS and Campus Crusade

There are many fundamental differences between the "modern" gospel which was made most popular by Charles Finney and more recently by Billy Graham and Bill Bright among many others. But what Kuiper mentions in that section of his book is also that which Packer also mentions with all seriousness in his Introductory Essay to the Death of Death in the Death of Christ[/i].

The modern evan-jelly-cals, with their dumbed-down "gospel" mentions sin only in passing if at all. The emphasis given in most presentations is that "man is separated from God". But rarely will you ever hear the modern "soul winner" speak of the helpless an hopeless condition of the sinner's soul. Those who are lost are not in need of making a "decision" or even of "reformation", but rather man's greatest need is "regeneration"; to be made alive by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Unless a man is "born from above" he has absolutely no ability to love Christ, no ability to move toward Christ, in fact without regeneration man naturally hates Christ. Sinners need a new nature. Reading some "sinner's prayer" on the back of a business card or pamphlet will accomplish nothing. And further, this needed radical change of nature cannot be initiated by anything that man can do; it is wholly at the discretion of Almighty God. This truth albeit odious to the vast majority of people and surprisingly even to those who profess to be believers in the inspiration of the Bible and of the sovereignty of God (modified, or course, to meet their own needs) drives men to despair of themselves and rely totally upon the mercy and grace of God.

The God of the Bible is not a "god" Who sits in the heavens praying that Susie Q or John Model Citizen will open the door of their hearts and let a pleading Christ enter and save them. We believe in a Sovereign LORD Who saves who He wills and when He wills according to His eternal counsel and grace. It is the sinners [i]responsibility to get on his knees and plead with the God of all grace to have mercy on him and give him what he needs most..... a new heart of flesh. The glory of the Gospel of Christ is that ALL who come to Him by faith will be received. Thus as the apostle Paul proclaims,

2 Corinthians 5:20 (KJV) "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."

Here are some excellent articles which address this topic:

Cooperative Evangelism, by John Murray
What is it to Preach the Gospel?, by Henry Mahan
Another Gospel, by John Cheeseman
The Gospel and Evangelicalism: An Assessment, by William Webster
Two Views of the Gospel, by Will Metzger

In His Grace,