"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, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 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:" —1st Corinthians 15:1-4
You just read the gospel as defined in the holy Scriptures. The word “gospel” means “good news.” 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” The good news is that Christ died upon THE CROSS FOR OUR SINS, and He was buried, and He was resurrected from the dead three days later.
The “gospel” does not include ceasing from a sinful lifestyle. The “gospel” does not include making full surrender to Christ. The “gospel” does not include forsaking the world. The “gospel” does not include leaving the old life of sin. The “gospel” does not include asking Jesus into your heart, or starting a relationship with Jesus, or having intent to reform. None of these things compromise the “gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ!!! The “gospel” is that Christ died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead according to the Scriptures. To learn more about Biblical repentance, please read the excellent book 'EXCEPT YE REPENT' by Dr. Harry Ironside.
Adding to or subtracting from the “gospel” is a false plan of salvation which CANNOT produce the new birth by the Spirit of God. Only by realization of our guilt of sin (sinnership) and childlike faith (completely resting) in Jesus as our Savior does the new birth take place. By “new birth” I mean being born-again. 1st Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
“Repentance means to change your mind—change your mind—change your mind about how you want to get to Heaven to what God says you've got to do to get to Heaven. If you've got to repent of all your sins, you're still headed for Hell tonight.” —Pastor Bob Gray Sr., a quote from the awesome MP3 sermon, Why You Should Be A Part Of A Growing Church
I recently had a friendly conversation with a young teacher in a Baptist Bible college. I shared the plan of salvation with him to see what he believed concerning salvation, because most people have been misled by the Devil. Sure enough, he was corrupted. I told him that the Bible simply teaches admission of one's guilt as a sinner (Romans 3:19), and believing that Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and resurrected after three days (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). He sadly replied, “I think there needs to be 'A LITTLE BIT MORE' than that!” I am convinced that that young man is not truly saved, because he thinks that to be saved he had to make an earnest attempt to stop sinning.
The whole problem is that America's preachers have been negatively influenced by Roman Catholicism. The Roman Catholic understanding of repentance is unbiblical. Roman Catholics corrupt the meaning of repent to mean a change of lifestyle...
“To repent is to die to Christ, discarding our former way of life in favor of the Way, Truth, and Life that is Christ himself. ”
Where in the Bible are we taught that repentance means to “DIE TO CHRIST?” We are saved by trusting Jesus. nothing else. Then as a Christian, God wants us to be crucified with Christ and die to the lusts and desires of the flesh. Please understand that the saved life and the crucified life are separate. If you combine the two, you have a corrupted Gospel, a false plan of salvation. Dr. Jack Hyles does a wonderful job explaining this truth in his awesome MP3 sermon titled, “STEPS TO SANCTIFICATION (OR THE ROOT OF ALL HERESY).” We are saved by trusting Jesus, period. Whether or not you turn away from the old lifestyle of sin DOESN'T keep you from being saved. Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:15; Ephesians 2:8-9). You can be saved by simply believing on Jesus Christ, that He died for your sins on the cross, was buried and raised-up from the dead three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
Listen to what Pastor Harry Ironside correctly states in chapter 16 of his book, EXCEPT YE REPENT . . .
“In all that I have written I have failed completely to express what was surging up in my soul if I have given anyone the impression that I think of repentance as something meritorious which must be produced in man by self-effort ere he is fit to come to God for salvation.”
SOURCE: Dr. Harry Ironside, a quote from chapter 16, THE PREACHING THAT PRODUCES REPENTANCE, from his timeless classic book, EXCEPT YE REPENT.
In other words, you don't have to stop sinning to be saved! Nor do you have to make a full surrender to serve Christ to be saved. Nor do you have to recognize Jesus as absolute Lord of your life to be saved. These are NOT a part of God's plan of salvation. God's simple plan is that YOU ARE A SINNER! Christ paid your sin debt in full. Unless you accept the gospel as full payment for your sins, you will spend eternity in the fires of Hell after you hear the Lord's horrifying words... I NEVER KNEW YOU! (Matthew 7:21-23).
May I say, whether you believe in DOING GOOD DEEDS or STOPPING BAD DEEDS as a requirement to be saved, both are DEAD WORKS!!! Hebrews 6:1, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.” Here we plainly learn in Hebrews 6:1 that repentance unto salvation means repentance from DEAD WORKS. There's no difference between trusting in your own “MANY WONDERFUL WORKS” as the unsaved religious people in Matthew 7:21-23, or the Lordship Salvationist who believes that he has to try to stop sinning, surrender to Christ, and forsake the world in order to be saved.
Michael Patrick Bowen makes the excellent quote from his book, I NEVER KNEW YOU . . .
You can live for Christ, you can love Christ, you can serve Him with all your might, time, talent and wealth. You can pray to Him, read your Bible, get water-baptized, join a church, witness to people, and do every wonderful work contained within the realm of Christianity, but if you fail to trust Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, He will “dump” you.
SOURCE: I NEVER KNEW YOU (.pdf), by Michael P. Bowen; by Barbour Books, © 2009; page 77.
