The Untarnished Gospel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13

Possibly like you, I have sat under many sermons and from many differing churches and pastors. Sometimes I did not recognise the gospel that brought me to Christ. I believe we can be guilty of making the gospel something it is not. At the risk of offending or saying something out of turn, let me share with you some of the things that the gospel is NOT.

The gospel is NOT:

A talk on history. Not even middle east history.

A lecture on Sociology.

A discourse on Psychology

A comparison of religion to science

… If I needed any of these improvements to my education, I would go back to University or Night Classes. My own thought is that these things can be used to show how clever or knowledgeable the preacher is. They do not have anything to do with the gospel, the grace of God or our salvation.

When will we get back to basics and preach the whole gospel in our various churches? Our wise God gave us all that we need to know, through His Word, and the advice to young pastor Timothy when he encouraged him, and us, to:

Preach the Word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favourable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2