We might think we know how to preach to gospel, and yet find our way of presenting the gospel in direct opposition to the way Paul would preach it. Or Peter. Or Jesus.

“Not me,” you say.

O.K. Then you would be shocked to know that when you preach the love of God saying, “God loves us just the way we are,” then you are in direct opposition to John 3:16 that says, “Whosoever believeth.” John 3:36 says that whoever does not believe, “the wrath of God rests and stays on him.” That means God hates us just the way we are. But you just won’t preach it, will you?

So, there is one little example. Your gospel may be more in agreement with many false gospels that claim “whosoever” means anyone and everyone who you can get to say the sinner’s prayer. You may have learned a cute way of “leading sinners to Christ” by using infallible logic like “whosoever means you, doesn’t it?” They agreed to the logic and said the sinner’s prayer, repeating after you. But you wouldn’t follow the same logic and say “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire,” would you? Why didn’t you tell them that, pastor?

Why would a preacher preach a gospel not in accordance to the Word of God? The answer is: He is under strong delusion. He thinks what he preaches is correct or he would change his preaching.

“Preach the gospel.” One of these words is not popular. It is “preach.” Modern preaching is called “sharing.” Modern pastors are trained sermon-makers and not preachers. They think of themselves as teachers. They teach; not preach. They assume that is what pastors are supposed to do. If one were to ask a pastor what he pastor does, he would probably answer he shares the message of the good news with his flock, or something of that sort. Whatever the case may be, he will probably say he is not a “preacher.” In most cases he would be correct, he is not a preacher.

There is no problem with sharing the message of the good news with anyone. The problem arises when the message of the good news is no longer the gospel but some invention of popular theology. That is a real problem. That is a problem swamping the churches today. No gospel is preached. Only sermons about how to love.

That is the Law. The Law of Moses states: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. It says that in Leviticus 19:18. It doesn’t say that anywhere else in the Old Testament. When Jesus quotes it, that is what he is quoting. Why is Leviticus 19:18 so special? Because it sums up the Law in one word, as Paul said. It sums up Leviticus 19:17 “you shall not hate… but you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and shall not incur sin because of him.” But why do you, pastor, tell your flock not to rebuke the wickedness, but to “love”? This flies in the face of the commandment itself.

Some of you are very confused at this point. You think you understand love. You think it is like that good feeling you get when you watch a romantic movie. Such romances are based on compassion, kindness and gentleness overcoming meanness and hatred and uncaring attitudes. On the face of it, this seems commendable. But have you noticed that the compassion, kindness and gentleness portrayed have nothing whatever to do with repentant sinners, but with man’s goodness? It usually involves adultery or fornication, doesn’t it? Oh sure, man’s badness can always be portrayed as some crazy preacher telling people to repent, right?

Any more, the preacher of righteousness is bad, in popular opinion. And the wicked claim to have a special relationship with God based on their love for Him, even though they obey not Leviticus 19:31 or 20:13. These ones feel an overwhelming calling to instruct others on how to love. They are all experts on the subject and have mountains of advice on how to love. Their gospel appears to be nothing more than an ongoing sermon on what they think is the best way to love. Very little of what they say is Biblical, of course, because they find their opinions constantly attacked or ignored by the Scriptures.

They only use the Scriptures for “buzz words.” They love to use the word “love.” And they use “kindness,” “gentleness,” “meekness,” “tolerance,” and other such Biblical words. But they, like the devil when he argued with Jesus, take the words and leave the meaning. In their natural reasoning they seem to get it right, thus fulfilling the Scripture that says, “there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of its paths is death.”

Pastor, when was the last time you warned anyone to repent of their own reasoning and come to the Judge of all, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and ask for forgiveness? When did you explain who God is and why his is so outraged at the wicked? When did you set forth the judgment of God on sinners so they could rightly understand grace? So many pastors preach a social gospel of forgiveness that they don’t even understand what true forgiveness is all about.

Much of this sermonizing occupies its time instructing husbands and wives how to have good marriages. It is strange how terse the Bible is on such important affairs. It is strange how silent these “marriage counselors” are on Biblical affairs. Granted, sometimes they use the Scriptures to belittle bachelor number one, Paul the apostle. Perhaps they really dig in and mention Sarah and Abraham. Their proof texts are brief and well-arranged to get the desired result. The desired result, of course, is to submit to the pastor and his church. It is not to submit to one another in the fear of God. If the submission occurred at this level (man to God), then the rest would follow. Wives would submit to their own husbands (instead of to any man who flattered them or acted as their advocate). Husbands would love their own wives instead of ogling other women or becoming passive under the wife’s dictates. Adultery and homosexuality would become scarce. Men would become men and women would become women.

Oh, and if you want to know how to preach the gospel, I highly recommend the Bible. Also, I suggest the small book titled Today’s Gospel – Authentic or Synthetic? Published by Banner of Truth Trust.

- Chris Simonson

We encourage you to email the author to prove or disprove, from the Scriptures, the intent, meaning, purpose or doctrine of this piece. email Chris