As we move through the teaching of Scripture on why souls need to be converted rather than just what is called to be “saved,” we need to keep Scripture at the center of our thinking. Most likely we have been influenced in some way by what goes under the guise of the Gospel. This may sound like an extremely negative approach, but it just might be that God has turned our nation over to a spiritual judgment that has left us in great darkness. It might be the case that the professing Church has been in spiritual darkness for a long time and we are in the depths of it at the moment. If that is correct, then we need to understand that much of our thinking is not in accordance with Scripture but in accordance with religion and religious traditions. It might be the case that there are vast numbers of people in the conservative parts of the professing churches that have prayed prayers and live moral lives, but have not been converted by God. It might be the case that there are many Reformed people that have minds that are converted to doctrines but do not have the life of Christ. It may be that there are nice and kind people that are religious and yet have not been truly converted. It might be that there are religious leaders and ministers that know a lot about the Bible but are unregenerate. Scripture speaks of this often: “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power” (II Tim 3:5). There are many that have the form or external of what appears as godliness, but they are without the true power of godliness because they have not been truly converted by God.
What we must see is that there is a real difference between the form of godliness and that which is real godliness. In the context of II Timothy 3:5 Scripture tells us one result of true godliness: “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (II Tim 3:12). Paul does not say that many or most people that desire to live godly will be persecuted, but “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus said this: “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” (Mat 5:11). Jesus said that people are blessed when people are insulted and persecuted because of Him. He did not say that they may be persecuted, but that “when” they are which is at the least a strong implication that all will be persecuted if they are those that are blessed of Him. Perhaps we don’t understand the nature of true godliness.
It would seem, then, that we can make a deduction from the teachings of Jesus and Paul at this point. If our godliness is not the kind of godliness that results in insults and persecution for His name’s sake, it may be that our godliness is nothing more than a form of it. In America today we are so concerned to be gracious and nice that we are not teaching the offense of the cross. No one will ever be won to Christ because believers are gracious, but instead the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the offense of the cross must be preached. If we are more concerned about being gracious, non-offensive, and nice than we are about being like Jesus Christ, perhaps we have nothing more than a form of godliness. Preaching, teaching, and talking about the truth of Jesus Christ will bring out the opposition of the human heart to God. Jesus Christ was love incarnate and He was persecuted and hated. When we are like Jesus we will be persecuted and hated as well. Indeed we are told in our day to be like Christ and treat others graciously, but the truth of the matter is that if we were like Christ in reality we would be persecuted.
There is a true humility and then there is a form of humility that people wear on the outside. There is also a lowly feeling that people have that make them think that they are humble. There are forms of love that pass as true love and forms of repentance that pass as true repentance. There are many teachings on how to be like Christ that are but forms of being like Christ rather than true Christ-likeness. All of those are forms that sound good to hearts that want to be religious but not like the true Christ. We must remember that the fallen heart does not want the truth of God and comes up with all sorts of teachings about Christ rather than the truth of Christ. The religion of the natural man uses the Bible and has the appearance of biblical teachings, but instead they are but forms of religion and do not have the power. The power of godliness and being like the biblical Christ is one that will bring the sinful hearts of men to the top and it will be expressed. If our godliness is nothing more than being nice, good, and being “gracious” to human beings most likely we have a form of godliness and do not have the power.
We must be awakened to the biblical teaching on the utter need of conversion and true holiness or the Gospel will remain hidden from our eyes. In the 1930’s a man by the name of Arthur Pink issued this dire warning:
“Alas, alas, God’s ‘way of salvation’ is almost entirely unknown today, the nature of Christ’s salvation is almost universally misunderstood, and the terms of His salvation misrepresented on every hand. The ‘Gospel’ which is being proclaimed is, in nine cases of every ten, but a perversion of the Truth, and tens of thousands, assured that they are bound for Heaven, are now hastening to Hell, as fast as they can take them. Things are far, far worse in Christendom than even the ‘pessimist’ and the ‘alarmist’ suppose…it is now almost universally supposed that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the human will, which any man is capable of performing; all that is needed is to bring before a sinner a few verses of Scripture which describe his lost condition, one or two which contain the word ‘believer,’ and then a little persuasion for him to ‘accept Christ,’ and the thing is done. And the awful thing is that so very, very few see anything wrong with this-blind to the fact that such a proves is only the devil’s drug to lull thousands into a false peace…But this we greatly fear-unless God is pleased to grant a real revival, it will not be long ere ‘the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people’ (Isa. 60:2), for the light of the true gospel is rapidly disappearing. (Genuine Salvation, International Outreach, 1999).
Mr. Pink wrote this in the 1930’s. Surely we can see that things are worse instead of better. Pink points out that the nature of salvation in his day was almost entirely unknown. Instead of us thinking of the 40’s and 50’s as a great time for the Gospel, perhaps we need to think through this again in a different light. Perhaps those were days when public morality was respected a lot more, but that might have been nothing more than a form of godliness. Indeed we do not read of people being persecuted in those days, but the Bible promises persecution for all that wish to live godly in Christ Jesus regardless of the day they live in. He said that the nature of salvation was almost universally misunderstood. Was he right about that? If so, have things changed since then? It may be the case that things are worse now than then. He said that the “Gospel” which was being proclaimed was nothing but a perversion of the truth. What if he was right and we have continued that perversion and it is even more of a perversion now? He thought that at least part of the perversion was thinking that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the human will. Has that changed? No, it is the cry of virtually every evangelist today. While there may be some that say they deny that, does the way they evangelize reflect that?
Could it be that the vast majority of “Gospel” preaching and presentations of that same “Gospel” is nothing more than the devil’s drug to lull sinners to sleep in churches today? Pink certainly believed that darkness was covering the earth and that people were in gross darkness because the light of the true Gospel was rapidly disappearing. He wrote that over seventy years ago. If that darkness has continued to grow and the light of the true Gospel has continued to rapidly disappear, where are we in our day? I am sure there are many that think that because we have nice buildings and a lot of activity done that is attached to the name of Christ that things are okay. But we must remember what Christ told us: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'” (Mat 7:21-23). It could be that our very religious practices, which would include our way of evangelism, will be declared by God on judgment day as the practice of lawlessness. It could be that many are crying “Lord, Lord” in the present day and yet will not enter the kingdom. We must face this as a reality.
Simply the fact that we do something called “evangelism” does not mean that we are teaching the biblical Gospel. The Pharisees went about “evangelizing” and all they did was to make others twice the son of hell as themselves (Mat 23:15). We are in a great darkness today and part of that darkness includes the message of the Gospel itself. We can preach justification by faith alone by itself with great biblical fidelity and simply miss the point of the whole Gospel. Souls must be wholly converted. The Gospel is the good news about how God converts sinners from being children of the devil to being His children. The Gospel is not the good news about how man can make a decision, pray a prayer, or make an act of his own will in his own power, but it is about the living God who changes the hearts of sinners Himself and makes them partakers of His holiness. That is an unknown Gospel today. When the Gospel is viewed in terms of souls being converted by God, then things change. When the Gospel is seen as that which God does and men now have the power of holiness rather than a form of it, this is a Gospel that truly changes. However, it does not make us just a little better and a little nicer; it makes us into new creatures in Christ Jesus. The converting power of God makes us truly like Jesus with the life of Jesus in us. That is such a conversion that we now truly love and seek true holiness and so the desire to be godly is now the life of Christ shining out through us. He was hated in the flesh and He will be hated in us as well. The true Gospel will bring persecution.
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