There is a portion of Bible prophecy that is, for the most part, dangerously overlooked.  Many times our efforts to sound the alarm and alert the masses that 'The End is Near', 'The Lord could Return at any Moment', or 'Watch and be Ready' overshadow the warnings that Christ himself gave about the Church.  Christ indicates that the Church in the time of His return would become extremely sick indeed.

In Luke 18:8, we see Christ ask, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

In light of reports from all over the globe as to the health and fortitude of Christianity, can we not all agree that the Church is indeed becoming contaminated with gospels of prosperity, works, and methods and means, and long ago forgotten is the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the only gospel that saves?

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." - Rom 1:16

And yet, have we not forgotten the gospel?  We hear from our pulpits the words, "Ask Christ into your heart and be saved".  And yet no where inthe Word of God do we find those words preached or taught.  Even attempts at the gospel such as "Believe in Christ and you will be saved", fall short of the true meaning and the true means unto salvation.  Too many times, there is no mention of hell. There's no mention of consequence and there is no mention of judgment, which is precisely why the bible commands all to repent. (Acts 17:30-31)

What is the end result of the insufficient words in the delivering of the gospel message? The end result is a person who believes they are saved, and yet they truly have no idea what that really means.  In the promise of a more satisfying life, they have believed on a salvation that is superficial, without heart, without sincerity and without the requirement of true repentance.  It is a salvation based upon the words of men, and not the Words of God.

Did not Christ warn of this very thing?

Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Matt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Matt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This passage is clear that there will be those who THINK they are Christian and fit for the Kingdom and yet they are found lacking.  So lacking in fact that Christ calls them workers of iniquity (lawlessness, immorality, sin).

How can this be? How can there be those that would seem to do so much for theKingdom, or those that would seem to be Christian, and yet found to be solacking in the very essence of Christianity - salvation itself?

Again, I suggest that we return to the words of Christ.

Mark 4:3 "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
Mark 4:4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
Mark 4:5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
Mark 4:6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
Mark 4:7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
Mark 4:8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

Christ goes on to explain the parable in verses 14 thru 20.

The sower sows the Word, and we see that there are 4 distinct hearers of the Word.

1. Some will hear the Word, but immediately Satan comes and takes away the words of the Word that were sown.
2. Then there are those who hear the Word, and immediately receive it with gladness, but then … over time… like a plant with no sure rooting, the Word dies in their hearts - due in part to the onslaught of trial, tribulation and hardships.
3. The next group is those who hear the Word and receive it.  But like plants among thorns, the riches, the cares and the love of the world choke out the Word in their hearts, and it becomes unfruitful.
4. Lastly are those who hear the Word and bury the roots of the Word deep within the soil of their hearts.  No trials, no troubles and no temptations of the world can take away the Word and the Gospel written upon their hearts.

Group number 1:

I would suggest these are people whose hearts are hard. And even though they hear the Word, their god - the god of this world (Satan) - has blinded them from hearing the truth.

Group number 2:

I would suggest are all those that hear the word, and believe they have followed the gospel message and received salvation. They spring up in faith and service, and then when the 'heat is on' and life's pressures mount, they slowly fade away from their initial zealous passion. They wither in faith.

Group Number 3:

Might I suggest that group number 3 is those who display all the Characteristics of a 'true' Christian, but then the temptations of the world overcome them.  These are the carnal Christians (if there even is such a thing) who get caught up in society, and instead of living lives set apart from the world and yet in the world, they live in the world indistinguishable from it - except perhaps on Sunday mornings.

These are the cultural Christians - those who said a casual prayer at summer camp, or at an altar call and were told that they were therefore Christians.  They might even doubt their own salvation at times, but are reassured by a parishioner because they 'prayed a prayer' one day… one summer… one time.  They are those who wear the clothes, but in actuality they are naked; those who stand proud, but are truly wretched; those who seem rich in the things of God, but yet remain blind to the truths of them.  They believe they have entered the narrow gate, but now still walk the broad way.

You will note that the scripture reads,

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is theway, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." - Matt7:14

Straight is the gate and NARROW is the way…. And few there be that find it.  Let the word ''few'' echo around in our brains for a minute as this statement too validates the premise of this article.

This group number 3 is nothing more than a bunch of seemingly healthy and wonderful trees, but without any fruit upon their branches.

Some of these are what we might today call 'Backsliders'. They are those we hope are Christian, but our doubt remains because of how they live their lives.

However - and more deceptively - some of this group would have all the outward appearance of a Christian through social constructs, and none of the inward and spiritual fruit from repentance.  This deception is not one of purpose, but rather these people fool themselves, as much as they fool anyone in this regard.

Group Number 4:

Group number 4 is those who understand the cross, and what happened on and through it.  They understand the true gospel and no storm, no trial, no tribulation would ever cause them to cast aside their faith.

They bear fruit, and although they are not perfect, they are in fact growing in holiness.  They came to the cross in true repentance, have come to hate the sin that left them wretched, and now cling to the cross with all faith and trust in Jesus Christ their Savior.

Now I would like to call attention to verse 13 of this passage we're looking at.

Mark 4:13 And He said to them, "Do you notunderstand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Notice how Christ would seem to be suggesting that the understanding of all kingdom parables can be taken from the understanding of this one presented here.

The Mark 4 parable is clearly speaking of what I would call various forms of 'false converts' to Christianity, as opposed to 'True Christians'.

Let's look at another parable in Matthew 13:

Matt 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
Matt 13:25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
Matt 13:26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
Matt 13:27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ''Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?''
Matt 13:28 He said to them, ''An enemy has done this.'' The servants said to him,''Do you want us then to go and gather them up?''
Matt 13:29 But he said, ''No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
Matt 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." 

Interesting.  Here again we have a parable that talks about tares (false converts) growing up along side wheat (true Christians).  Note here that the false converts grow alongside the wheat up until the time of the end, when their 'true colours' will be revealed.  Their reward?  To be burned. ("away from me… I never knew you" - Matt 7:23).

What about the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13?  The result is the same.   The other (foolish) virgins came and cried out, "Lord,Lord, open to us!", but he answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you."

It would certainly seem that there was a pattern as to Christ's teaching onthe Kingdom.  It appears clear that He warns many times of the existence of 'False Converts' within the Church.

Christ did in fact give us a method to detect them within our midst.   Going back now to Matthew 7:

Matt 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matt 7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Perhaps this is the very reason why Paul implored the Corinthian church to

"Examine yourselves as to whether you are inthe faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is inyou?" - 2Cor 13:5.

So what is our counter-offensive to this truth that there will be many who think they are Christians, but are found out not to be?

The answer lies in our examination of the gospel we preach.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…." -Romans 1:16

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Godis at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." - Mark 1:15

Do we Preach the 'True' Gospel?

Looking at the parable of the sower and the soils, I wonder if the modern church doesn't help somewhat in the production of Groups 2 and 3.

Perhaps those people we know that might fall in Groups 2 or 3 are those that were told a false gospel of, "Come to Jesus and he'll give you a life of peace, joy, happiness. You will find fulfillment and your life here on earth will all come up roses if you only give this Jesus thing a try." Or perhaps, "We all have a God shaped hole in our hearts that can only be filled by Jesus".  But then never was the true means of salvation presented, or what it means to be forgiven for your sins.

While it is true that we all are missing a connection with God in our lives and that salvation brings unto us all the characteristics of the fruit of the spirit, never is it acceptable for utilizing those items as a draw card to lead people to salvation.

Preaching that someone needs to be saved so that they can have a happier life, a more fulfilling life and a more abundant life has missed the mark of the true gospel message.  It is true that the Christian life changes you.  That you will be given a new heart, a new passion, and that you will obtain, love, peace,joy, kindness, goodness, patience (Gal 5:22) and that Christ promised a life of abundance (John 10:10), however it is important to know that these characteristics are not the superficial definitions that the secular world has.  Many preachers quote John 10:10 as support for the idea that Christianity leads to physical prosperity and 'every good thing.'  The verse has been used as a description of the Christian life, the normative pattern of life that Christians can expect because of God's blessings.  However, by the context of John 10 and viewing it with other passages of Scripture, we can see that Christ was relaying a different concept.  Christ does not promise them an extension of physical life nor an increase of material possessions, but rather the certainty of a life lived at a higher level of satisfaction.  A life lived in obedience to God's will and reflecting His glory - a life more abundant.

Contrary to promising that if we followed Him, our lives would magically become perfect, and wonderful; be free of strife and suffering; free of debt and sickness, Christ instead promised that the Christian life would be hard.  Christ promised that we would be 'Hated for His name''s sake'.  He promised that men would hate us and that our faith in Christ would cause division even within our own families (Matt 10:22; Luke 12:51-53).  If we promise the 'down and out' that Christ will make their lives better here on earth and all the while Christ really promises trials and tribulations, then we are simply setting people up for a fall.  When they find out that Christianity doesn't make their lives on earth suddenly come up roses, they cast it quickly aside, throw off this Jesus thing (because it didn't work), and then never look back at Christianity again. They are inoculated to the Christian message, and it is harder than ever to reach them with the 'true' gospel.

My friends, one cannot be saved unless they truly understand what sin is, and why they need to be redeemed from the result of it.  Sin in itself is the result of us breaking God's Holy law.  The apostle Paul said, "I would not have known sin if not for the law" (Rom 7:7).  By the law we can see ourselves as God sees us.  I myself, do know myself, as a lying, thieving, blaspheming, adultering, murdering and idolatrous man.  I have dishonored my parents by dishonoring God, and I certainly have fallen short of loving God above all things.  This revelation was a painful one, but it was necessary as the actions of Christ himself do attest.  For example we have the story of how Christ utilized the law to show a rich man (with good intentions) truly how he stood with God.

Matt 19:16 Now behold, one came and said to Him,"Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternallife?"

What would you say if someone came to you with this same question?  I imagine we would be overjoyed at the opportunity to tell the man, but what would we say?  Let's see what Christ says,

Matt 19:17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."
Matt 19:18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " ''YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,'' ''YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,'' ''YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,'' ''YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,''
Matt 19:19 ''HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER,'' and, ''YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'' "

Before we talk about what Christ did say, it is very important here to note what it was that He didn't say.  Notice how Christ did not say, "Oh my friend… I'm so glad you asked.  You have a God shaped hole in your heart that can only be filled by me.  And someday really soon, I'm going to die for your sins so you can be reconciled to God and have a much better life here on earth".

No… Christ did not say that.  Instead he directed the man to the law, and to the man's concepts of what it means to be 'good'. "Why do you call Me good? Noone is good but God".  Notice how He sets the man up to understand what it means to be good in God's eyes.  He did so by taking the man through the Law - the Ten Commandments.

The man answered Christ by saying that he had kept them all.

Matt 19:20 The young man said to Him, "Allthese things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"

But Christ, knowing the man's heart, confronted him on the first and second commandment - the man's love of money, more than his love of God.

Matt 19:21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
Matt 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Notice how Christ did not chase after the man.  He brought the man to the knowledge of sin, through the law.  At first glance it appears that Christ missed an opportunity here, and perhaps He might have benefited from a couple of classes on 'friendship evangelism'.  We of course recognize the foolishness of this statement.  Christ instead left the man to deal with his own conscience.  'Con' meaning with, and 'science' meaning knowledge.

 "… who show the work of the law writtenin their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselvestheir thoughts accusing or else excusing them in the day when God will judge thesecrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." - Romans2:15-16

The Gospel is true when it states, "For all of sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). The problem lies with our understanding of sin, and how God hates sin, and how justice MUST be satisfied for the breaking of God's Holy law.  The only way that 'justice' can be appeased is if someone pays the fine or punishment for our sin.  We in our own 'goodness' stand naked before the law of God.  We stand guilty before a God who hates, lying, thieving and blaspheming - who sees hate as murder (Matt 4:21-22; 1 John 3:15), and lust as adultery (Matt 5:28).

Is not the Bible clear, therefore, when Paul declares,

" Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

We are all guilty of violating God's law.  As with Paul should we not fall to our knees and cry out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24)

The Bible tells us that before we are Christians we are enemies of God at heart.

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God;.." - Romans 8:7

My friends, justice must be appeased.  Someone needs to pay for our sin against a holy and just God.

You will glorify God in one of two ways.  You will glorify God when you repent and trust in the Savior so that you can obtain His mercy, grace and loving kindness, OR I’m afraid, that you will glorify God, when he gives you exactly what you deserve on judgment day, through the smoke of your torment (Acts 17:31; Rom 2:16; Rev 14:11; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:8) because justice will have been satisfied. (Isaiah 5:16)

Now you might want to cry out, "But I thought God was love?"

And He is!... and that''s the best part.

The Bible says that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb 9:22). And that is exactly what Christ did for each of us.

Jesus Christ came to earth.  He lived by the law in a sinless life, and then died for our sins in His innocence.  Isaiah tells us that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, and when Christ broke bread the night before his crucifixion, He told the disciples that He looked forward to this time, because of HIS LOVE.  Christ knew He was going to die for us and HE LOOKED FORWARD to suffering in our place.  Christ died and He Himself bore the wrath we deserved.  He did so to set us free from our violation of the law.  Jesus Christ paid our fine.  And when Hedid a legal transaction occurred.  Like someone paying the fine for us in a civilcourt of law, justice was satisfied through Christ's death on the cross.  And our inheritance was then born because He didn't stay dead.  He rose again and so is the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our God paid our fine, so that we could stand justified before the throne of glory.  Now justified, the Christian walk moves on in holiness.  We grow insanctification until such time as we are called home through death, or our Lord Jesus returns to earth in glory.

When someone responds to the gospel message… that of repentance and faith, God will save them and God will change them.

In our own lives we can expect the same. You will know when you've been saved. You'll be on fire, and although there may be seasons in our lives when it seems the fire is only smoldering, nothing can cause us to cast aside our Christianity. Like a skydiver clinging to a parachute, we too remain affixed tothe cross that saves us from the result of transgressing God's law.  You'll never be snatched from Christ's hands because He will seal you with the Holy Spirit and be marked forever His. You remain in the promise of eternal life, not because you're a good person or because of some works of the flesh, but because you are a wretched person who has been forgiven by a Good, Gracious and Loving God.

That's what makes the song by John Newton so meaningful.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I''m found.
Was blind, but now I see.

My friends, be sure of your ministry. Are we leading people to the narrow way, or are we building 'tares' among the harvest fields.  Nothing we ever do in ministry will ever be as important as whether or not we preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:5

-- J.R. Hall

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” - Rom 10:9-10

This statement is of course true, however, please note how we ‘confess the Lord Jesus’.  This means that we confess the Lord Jesus was, and is who He Himself said He was.  The Scriptures are clear that Christ was the propitiation for our sin.  Christ was the Passover lamb... the lamb of God who John the Baptist hailed as, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”.

Christ said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Luke 5:32)

"And he appeared to His Disciples after the resurrection and declared, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” ( Luke 24:46-47)

More passages that speak on repentance are 2 Cor. 7:9-10; 2 Peter 3:9, and Acts 20:21.

The subject of repentance and faith unto salvation is not a new one. The Apostles taught it. The early church taught it. And even the great preachers of the centuries taught it.

"I learn from the Scriptures that repentance is just as necessary to salvation as faith is, and the faith that has not repentance going with it will have to be repented of." - Charles Spurgeon

"Repentance is a part of salvation, and when Christ saves us, he saves us by making us repent. But repentance does not save. It is the work of God alone." - Charles Spurgeon

“It is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance.” - John Wesley

While repentance is not a work that earns salvation, repentance unto salvation does result in works (James 2:20).  It is impossible to truly and fully change your mind without that causing a change in action.  Repentance results in a change in behavior.  That is why we are called to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). A person who has truly repented will give evidence of a changed life (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:19-23; James 2:14-26).  Repentance, properly defined, is necessary for salvation.  Biblical repentance is changing your mind and turning to Christ in faith for salvation (Acts 3:19).  Turning from sin is not the definition of repentance, but it is one of the results of genuine repentance.

I hope that helps some of the confusion.

In His Service.

J.R. Hall

Tags: christian | faith | repentance | salvation | sins