your gospel, "reverend" is no gospel at all

there are many who pass themselves off as christians who are not. you cannot be a christian and deny the gospel.

someone should tell jeffrey john.

mr. john ( i will not call him "reverend") has prepared a message that will be aired this easter week on the b.b.c. in it he denies the very gospel that christians are to proclaim.

an excerpt from an article in the british newspaper "the telegraph":

In a BBC Radio 4 show, Mr John, who is now Dean of
St Albans, urges a revision of the traditional explanation,
known as "penal substitution".Christian theology has taught
that because humans have sinned, God sent Christ
as a substitute to suffer and die in our place.

"In other words, Jesus took the rap and we got forgiven as
long as we said we believed in him," says Mr John. "This is
repulsive as well as nonsensical. It makes God sound like a
psychopath. If a human behaved like this we'd say
that they were a monster."

Mr John argues that too many Christians go
through their lives failing to realise that God is
about "love and truth", not "wrath and punishment".
He offers an alternative interpretation,
suggesting that Christ was crucified so he could
"share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can
throw at us".

mr. john's message has stripped the gospel of its meaning. if christ's death did not appease the wrath of god against sinners who have placed their faith in his sacrifice, then there is no justification and no forgiveness of sin.

i wonder what mr. john does with passages such as:

Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned
to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Romans 3:25 God presented Him [Jesus] as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in His blood.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 15:3 Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin
to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 2:17 For this reason He [Jesus] had to be made like His
brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make
atonement for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 9:28 Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins
of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin,
but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His
wounds you have been healed.

1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you
will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to
the Father in our defense Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours
but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

(all italics mine)

we must not remain silent when "teachers" do violence to scripture in order to rearrange the character of god that is more to their liking.

yes, the bible speaks of the love of god, as it does his patience, his grace, his mercy, his majesty, his holiness... and his wrath. it is careless and awful to pit one of god's characteristics against another in a way that neuters him.

perfect love hates anything that does harm or injury to the object of that love. if you love your child, then you hate pornography, molestation, rape, murder, and a host of other things. this does not discount your love for your child. your hatred towards those things demonstrate your love for your child. your love would be no love at all if you were indifferent or casual about those things.

we have got to get over ourselves and our politically correct warm fuzzy jesus culture that looks less like christianity and more like the oparah winfrey show.

yes jesus loves his children, and yes he hates their sin. the wrath of god will be poured out on all sin that is not paid for by the death of christ.

god forbid that we deny the truth of the gospel, the work of our lord.

this is why we must *demand* solid preaching in our churches.

doctrine is not boring... it saves us from hell! demand that your church hold christ centered, theologically sound preaching! if our pastors do not equip their congregations with the truth, how will the respond when they hear or read false teaching from a smooth talking, mind wowing author who teaches heresey?

in paul's letter to timothy, he urges him to be prepared for and to combat this possibility with these words. we would do well to ensure we heed them in our churches.

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and
His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for
themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths
(1 tim. 4:1- 4)