At the end of my last post I asked the question, ‘what about those folk who have grown up in a Christian home and church environment and who have never consciously made a response to the Gospel – are they “saved”’? I am sure most Christians have at some time heard the statement that just because you live in a garage does not mean that you are a car. But why is it true that someone brought up in a Christian environment, and who conforms to the outward norms of Christianity, is not necessarily saved?

Ever since the enlightenment, and particularly since the reformation, the distinction between mind (soul) and spirit has become blurred and even non-existent. The early church theologians regarded human beings as triune creatures comprising body, soul, and spirit. However, modern theologians see human beings as dualities or even modalities – creatures comprised of a physical and a non-material aspect (spirit/soul) or beings where these aspects are so integrated that they constitute an undifferentiated whole. As a result of this type of thinking, many Christian teachers regard ‘salvation’ essentially as a change from one way of thinking to another. So, the presentation of the Gospel becomes a reasoned argument and a persuasive exercise, and salvation itself is seen as more an act of the human will than a supernatural act of God. Yes I know I might be oversimplifying things and that most evangelicals would not accept that they might be thinking this way. However, I do think that this is a definite underlying problem in much of today’s church.

A few components of Salvation

It is true that we need to change our minds about ourselves, God, and the need for salvation; this change of mind and heart is part of what we label ‘repentance’. It is also true that we need to exercise our wills to accept what Jesus has done for us and to ask him for a new spiritual life.

However, and this is a huge ‘however’, this is only the small ‘manward’ side of salvation, the simple response to what God has done and what he offers to do for us. The two overwhelmingly major components of our salvation are firstly what Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary to make our salvation even possible, and secondly what the Holy Spirit does in creating a new spiritual life within us. This miraculous act of creation is called the New Birth. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3), and again, “unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (vs. 5). Yet again Jesus said, “You must be born again.” (vs. 7).

A baby cannot be born without an actual, and most times traumatic, birthing experience. Babies do not slowly materialise until one day the surprised mother says “O look! It seems we have a child!”  In similar fashion to be born again of the Spirit is a definite and momentous event – it is supernatural creative miracle!

I have written this post not just to answer the question concerning people who grow up in Christian environments but to draw attention to the deeper issue of recognising the new birth of the spirit as an essential and definitive Christian experience. Do you have any thoughts on this? If you do I would love you to comment on the blog.

The evangelist is sitting in a coffee shop with a friend. A waiter comes up to him to take their order. The evangelist beams at him and says, “My friend, do you know Jesus?” The man, a good natured black African in his twenties, smiles a little uncertainly and says “no I don’t.” The evangelist asks him if he would like to know Jesus and the man nods, so the evangelist asks him to pray a little prayer with him, which he does quite happily. The evangelist turns to his friend and says “Praise God, another person saved into the kingdom!”

The friend is somewhat taken aback by all this so he asks the evangelist on what grounds he thinks the waiter is now ‘saved’. The evangelist looks surprised and says, “Acts 2:21 of course; ‘And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”. He called on the name of the Lord when he prayed the sinner’s prayer with me so now he is saved!”

Let me give you another scenario. The evangelist you have invited to preach the Gospel in your church on Sunday morning has just used up all the time singing and ministering to the people by praying for healings, speaking out words of knowledge, and so on. He suddenly realises that his time is up and he hasn’t yet got around to preaching so he says “Now, is there anyone here who wants to accept Jesus into their hearts? Everybody please close your eyes and bow your heads…” He then proceeds to pray, and includes in his prayer references to repentance, the blood of Christ, acceptance of salvation, and so on. Then he says, “Now let’s all pray together” and he invites anyone in the congregation who doesn’t know Jesus as saviour to pray the ‘sinner’s prayer’ silently with him. After this he says; ”now while all heads are bowed and all eyes closed, if you prayed that prayer with me just slip your hand up for a moment… thank you sir… God bless you madam…”

What’s wrong with either or both of these scenarios? Have the people concerned heard the Gospel? Have they responded adequately to the Gospel? Are they now saved? I will continue to explore this important issue in my next post.

The Gospel and the response
The essence of the Gospel

The word ‘gospel’ comes from the Greek word evangelion and simply means ‘good news’. The NIV sometimes translates the Greek as good news, as in Matthew 4:23, and at other times as gospel, as in Matthew 24:14.

In the New Testament evangelion is linked in to the words kingdom, grace and salvation, but often it is directly connected with Jesus Christ himself. For instance, the Gospel of Mark starts with the words ‘the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God’. Jesus is the embodiment of the Kingdom of God and the good news of the coming of this kingdom on earth is all about him. I don’t think that many would quibble with the fact that the Gospel is about Jesus, but differences in opinion start to arise when we attempt to unpack the elements of the good news about Jesus.

In Ephesians 1:13 Paul writes about the ‘gospel of your salvation’ and it is here, concerning salvation, that we find marked differences within the theology and practice of different Christians and groups. Calvinists will say that only some people have been selected by God to be ‘saved’ which might be good news for the elect and very bad news for everybody else. Others claim that everyone has been saved through what Jesus has accomplished and that the good news is that people simply need to realise this and enjoy their status. Some groups claim that salvation must be earned in some way, and yet others believe that salvation isn’t necessary at all.

Differences in application evidence differences in theology. Some evangelists focus their efforts on encouraging people to ‘accept Christ into your heart’, but what does this really mean? Others strive to obtain commitments to Christ, and yet others see their mandate as helping people to pray ‘the sinners prayer’. On the other side of the continuum are those who insist that the biblical mandate is to make disciples and that disciples are those who do a lot more than simply pray a little prayer.

What do you believe to be the essence of the Gospel? In my next post I will describe one approach to presenting the Gospel and then ask you to evaluate it.

The Gospel and the response