“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
The world as you know it is not nuetral, nor is it safe.
Wherever you go people are promoting a kingdom and its rule. Whenever someone talks, a king’s orders are being carried out. Town criars abound. You can hear them promoting their leader’s agenda out in the street, coffee shop, comment threads on X, and shouting their allegiance on Instagram and Facebook posts. Each opinion at the dinner table and pool table should start with the phrase, “Hear Ye! Hear Ye!”
People want you to see and understand the world as they do, and then submit to the leadership of their king. No one is a truly free and independent agent who is just living their innocent lives pleasantly, merrily, breezily for the joy of self. Bob Dylan is right, “You gotta serve somebody.” People are constantly persuading, sometimes with force and passion, some use sarcasm and cynicism, and many more have harnessed sweet, sugary kindness to win your fealty.
However an opinion is spread, you can say that some sort of “Gospel” is being championed. In fact, the word “Gospel” means to proclaim “Good News,” declare a “Good Story,” and more precisely it is a “Good Telling.” People are constantly telling you their version of reality that they believe is for your good. They want you to adopt thier vision for a better world: German sociologists call this Weltanschauung, my psychology prof called this striving for self-actualization, and now hipsters call this living meta.
Sharing the “Gospel” is nothing more than declaring the world “that is,” and for Christians, living in the world “that is” is the only way to experience blessing, joy, and peace. It is a world that truly is “Good.” But not every worldview is founded in goodness. Athiesm at its core leads to black nothingness and despair, but the promoter of the athiestic worldview would say it actually is “Good News” because at least when you live in their world you are not being manipulated and lied to by the hypocritical masses of deluded sacrosanct zombies. So rejoice! Because even though your final destination is still being the main course for an army of hungry maggots, you will at least die knowing you were not a gullible sucker like the rest of silly religious humanity.
See, isn’t that “Good News?”
Why is Getting the Gospel Right So Important?
While the word “Gospel” means good news, the way in which the good news is spread is through another Greek word, “kerygma.” In Mark 16:20 the writer says the disciples went out and “preached” the kingdom of God everywhere, that’s kerygma. This sort of preaching is what the church calls, “Kingdom Proclamation.” One Greek dictionary says this is the message that, “In Classical Greek, a public servant of supreme power both in peace and in war, will call together a group of adherents to loyal obedience on behalf of the King.”
Paul describes it like this in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” So like a small seed that is planted, the “Gospel” is a small message that contains power, the spark of eternal life for the hearer who hears. And like a seed, the Gospel’s brilliance is found in its simple packaging. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5):
(1) Jesus, the Son of God, lived. (He was sent by the Father to earth, John 5:24).
(2) Jesus died for our sins. (He was satisfying payment for all the sins humanity comprehensively committed before and after his death, Romans 3:25-26)
(3) Jesus was buried.
(4) Jesus rose again. (He proved that his payment was acceptable on our behalf and death has been defeated, Hebrews 10:11-13).
Some people will say, “That’s it? That is all I have to believe to be a Christian? How elementary.” They will actually take offense that Christianity seems so easy and simplistic, they always want more: more pomp, more show, more candles, more chants, and of course, more doing. But simple faith is what connects us to the real, pulsating, life of God. Connection to His power – imputation of His Spirit – can only acquired by faith, because faith alone is not tainted with the poison of pride, which we will talk about in a little bit. Ephesians 1:11-13 says that when we believe we are “included in Christ” and then “marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” As 2 Peter 1:4 says, this is the only way to participate in the divine nature. The kerygamtic power is real!
This is why getting the message right is so important. When I believe the true “Gospel” I spiritually transfer kingdoms. Colossians 1:13 says that we have been rescued from the dominion (kingdom) of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son he loves. Because I heard and believed the right “Gospel”, I now, this very second, live in a new land. That is why Paul insists in Romans 14:8, “If we live, we live to the Lord (King). If we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether, we live or die, we BELONG TO THE LORD.”
And here is the beautiful thing about living in the kingdom, all the currency that is used, traded, obtained is sheer untainted GRACE. Grace, the unmerited favor of God given because he loves us, is how we are sustained in this realm. We are “saved by Grace through Faith, and THIS IS NOT FROM YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD. Not of works so no man can boast!” Everything we have was given to us, and those who live in this kingdom realize nothing is deserved – – it is all grace. Paul insists on this, in 1 Corinthians 15:10 he says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am!” And he says this is of highest importance for one singular reason, “so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
See, the “Gospel” is all about the transference of power. Real power. That is why we must get the “Gospel” right.
What is the Wrong Gospel?
So what is the false Gospel? It is every other message that does not point to the Kingdom of Christ as utlimate fulfillment. As they say, “There is only one right way to draw a straight line, but there are infinate ways to draw a crooked line.” In every false “Gospel” we will find the same three key ingredients:
(1) The first is the demonic “appropriation of heaven’s property.” Psalm 50:16 writes, “To the wicked God says, ‘What right do you have to recite my laws, or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction!” The false “Gospel” will use the same terminology as the Christian “Gospel” by stealing many of its words and promises, while buried deep underneath all this psuedo-heavenly packaging is certain death. Paul goes so far as to say, “If anyone offers any other Gospel than the one you have received, let him be eternally condemned.”
Why? The wide road, the crooked road, leads to damnation.
(2) The false “Gospel” never reveals the true king of the realm of darkness, he is always hiding in the shadows of the lie. Ephesians 2:2 calls this king, “The Prince of the power of the air.” Satan is a diabolical puppeteer, pulling the strings of all those who have not submitted to the true “Gospel of Christ.” He lets his deluded minions believe they are in fact in complete control of reality while they are being played like a fiddle. Do you remember when the dark devil tempted Jesus in the desert in the book of Matthew 4:8-10? Listen to what he says very closely because he offers all of us the same deal:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
His master stroke is that he makes you believe that you can live your life the way you want on your own terms, liberated, wild, livin’ footloose and fancy-free. You may think you are in control, when in fact, the rotten Devil is. Jesus says it much more blunt, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” Ask O.J. Simpson, he will tell you.
(3) The currency in this kingdom is not grace, but PRIDE. (Not gay pride, that is a modern lable for sexual deviancy). Pride means actual arrogance, conceit, and raw independence. You think your success, your significance, and even enjoying the fruit of selfish earthly pleasure is owed to you, because it is all your doing. “I earned it!” When the truth is, God is the who lets you even breathe in the first place. Pride is the fish taking credit for the water it swims in. The lie of pride was first cast in the Garden of Eden, “For God knows that when you eat from the tree in the garden your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Theologians call this the “Glory Story.”
And if you listen closely, the Glory Story is being promoted daily, everywhere you go. It is “Gospel” proclamation that ultimately ends in death. The end is the “loss of your soul.” Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. A steep, down a bottomless pit, kind of fall.
Look and You Will See
Now that we have established the truth that different “Gospels” are being proclaimed daily, the Christian’s task is to be discerning. All of us must listen closely and hold on to what is good, and reject what is wrong. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 paints the intensity of the “Gospel War” with very bold strokes. Listen: “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
This happens in every arena of life, but you must be willing to see the “Gospel” implications. Let me show you:
WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE: Abortion is now the popular option to terminate an “unwanted” pregnancy. Who decides? Oh, the woman and her doctor. (Yeah, right, like the doctor even cares.) So let me get this straight. The woman believes that since a baby is growing in her body, she has been given the “Soveriegn right” to determine if that life should be given an opportunity to live? Don’t you see, she believes she is king, or queen, whatever. But if Jesus is really King, as the “true Gospel declares”, we must change our mind and recognize that he owns the life of that baby in the womb. We are not given the authority to terminate the life he created because he is the true Soveriegn. And yes, the “fetus” is a child, because he says so in Psalm 139:14-15, Jeremiah 1:5, and Galatians 1:15.
LGBTQ+ LIBERATION: Can a person decide gender, sexual proclivities, and even what sort of polyamorous arrangement they want? If they believe God has no say, then they are free to be gay. But if homosexulity is a result of “God giving them over to the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another,” then taking pride in obvious moral rebellion is well deserving of wrath. (See Romans 1:18-32). You have rebelled against the Real King (PSalm 2:1-3). “But how can you be such a hater?” This is not about hate, but rather, which kingdom are you going to serve. LGBTQ+ is a false “Gospel” declaration, it is an impotent kerygma, that is why they parade in the streets in June shouting, “Hey Ho, Homophobia’s Got to Go!” That is a dark kingdom marching song.
HOLLYWOOD: Believe it or not, movies, scripts, and screenplays are also declaring a worldview. Take for instance the world of Star Wars. The original world of George Lucas had rules that made it work. True fans were drawn to the very concepts of heroism, self-sacrifice, and the war against evil that are part of the way the world we live in really is. The triumph of verisimilitude. The storyline works because it reflects the world the real King made. But overtime different people wanted to change the lore, destroy the story, and “do it their way.” Instead of the story being key, the perspective of the storyteller became the most important thing. Listen to the director of the new Star Wars series, “The Acolyte”, Leslye Headland describes her approach when it came to her take on the story, “We are free to break so many rules of the original story and start over in so many ways with no complications and no consequences.”
Do you see what she said, “We are free to do as we wish.” That is the epitome of the false “Gospel,” and it is the current sentiment of the modern world we live in. People simply do not want King Jesus’ rule, they want no complications (which means no obedience) and no consequences (no sin, death, and wrath). It reminds me of the famous statement by H. Richard Neighbor when he talked about liberalism’s false “Gospel”: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.” No complications, no consequences, and no real power. No kerygma.
It is the true “Gospel” that has power, and that is why it is the only message that saves.
