Stop Preaching the Gospel The WRONG WAY!

The Danger of Preaching to Discourage Believers

Spurgeon said, you know, the work of Satan is often to get the preacher to discourage the believer. Well, bro, and there are many, Spurgeon's saying this in his own day, we're saying it in our day, that many people think that's good preaching.

It's not. Is to actually preach in such a way that people are worried and anxious and concerned about their, I mean, not unbelieving people, right? That's preaching the law. That's right. Right? To crush us in our sin.

But he's talking about, there are many preachers who think they're doing their job well, when they preach in such a way that the saints who trust Christ are afraid. That's right. And are unsettled and are unsure as to whether or not they're going to finally make it.

That kind of objective is the objective of Satan, not God. So we're going to have a basic conversation about what the gospel is. A lot of times the way that the gospel and the forgiveness of sins is presented, the gospel, and I'm using those air quotes in a way that is thoroughly confusing.

Christ and His Benefits Cannot Be Separated

Yeah. And in a way sounds inherently contradictory. On the one hand, there's a lot of talk about Jesus and what he did. But then on the other hand, there's a lot of talk about me and what I need to do.

So which is it? That confusion can rob people of peace and joy and hope, can make people far less effective in the church. And all of us, even once we are converted, even once we become Christians, we are still inclined toward all evil.

So when you begin to talk about forgiveness of sins, you better have a gospel and a forgiveness that will overcome all of that reality. That's right. It's important that we understand that in order to receive the forgiveness that is offered to us freely in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nothing that we need to do in order to receive it.

That's right. Faith is an open hand. That's right. That receives from Christ these benefits. That's right. And you can't separate Christ from his benefits. That's right. Often people say, unless you repent of your sins, you cannot have forgiveness of your sins.

Union with Christ and the Revelation of the Son

How do you respond to that? The Lord God Almighty, by his sovereign grace, causes us to be alive and unites us to the Lord Jesus. Galatians 1, where Paul says that the Lord was pleased to reveal his son to me.

That's right. When you see him, when he's revealed to you, you don't know everything. That's right. But you know, I need him. That's right. I need him. He is the only one who can atone for my sins. He is the only one who can achieve righteousness as a human being that can then be counted to me.

Christ’s Active and Passive Obedience

For the person who has only heard that the gospel is, Yeah. Jesus died for your sins. Yeah. With all due respect, you are cutting the work of Christ in half at best. That's right. Because he did far more than just die and endure the curse of the law so that we might be forgiven.

That's right. As magnificent as that is. Yeah. He did more than that. He lived for us. That's like a guy who breaks the law, jumps into the water, and is drowning. And you say, you know what? I forgive you for what you have done.

In order for you to be safe, you must get back into the boat now. Yeah. And they can't because why? They're drowning. Yeah, exactly. The person's drowning and you just throw them the life raft. That's right.

Right? They literally are going under. And you're going to say, well, you need to grab hold of it. When in reality, the presentation in the scriptures is that we are drowning. I mean, we're actually dead.

I was going to say, dead at the bottom of the ocean. We're at the bottom of the body of water. The Lord reaches down with his arm that, by the way, is not short to save. No. And he rips us up from the depths of death.

Absolutely right. And gives us life and unites us to his son. That's gospel.