Week 1 – The Gospel by Pastor Mark Cowart
First of all, I want to ask you to consider the distinction between the gospel of salvation and the gospel of repentance. What is the difference? I believe the Good News has been wrongly presented to some extent in many cases, and we will explore that in this study.
How did the Lord Jesus actually present eternal life to people?
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” John 3:1-9 NKJV
Nicodemus is totally thinking in the natural here. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians hadn’t been written yet, where it is clearly reveals that each person is, in fact, a spirit, they have a soul, and they live in a temporary body.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV
In other words, this scripture is a prayer that we would be able to function in those realms and to understand and distinguish each realm of our existence. So, think of it this way. Our physical body enables us to function in this natural world. Upon death, the body ceases to function, but the created-in-God’s-image spirit does not. We are eternal. The spirit simply vacates the expired body.
While we are in this body, however, the challenge is to walk after the spirit rather than the flesh. The Lord Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well: But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23 NKJV
In order to do that, we must be born “from above”, our spirit receiving the life of God at the point when we receive Jesus as Lord. As we have been leading people to make this decision, I believe we have been missing some critical elements of the new birth in our gospel. There are some things we’ve got to really understand regarding this.
Leonard Ravenhill made this statement in his book, Why Revival Tarries: “We’re a million, billion miles away from New Testament Christianity!”
The American Church more closely resembles the Laodicean church addressed by the Lord in The Revelation. A careful review of this scripture reveals concerning similarities.
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — ...
Revelation 3:14-17 NKJV
The Lord went on to say in John’s vision: I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Revelation 3:18-21 NKJV
Notice He stands at the door, knocking from the outside! I believe He is saying to us here that it is possible to crowd Him out of our churches by tradition, carnality and our own exalted “methods”. We have missed the gospel of repentance, the gospel of the Kingdom. The gospel of salvation is that you must be born again. Right? This is vital. You cannot enter heaven unless you’ve been born from above. We’ve developed some methods in America to where we are communicating that, if they once walk that aisle, pray that prayer, even without other Christians, then they are done. You can go live any way you want, because you are born again. That aligns with a doctrine of eternal security, “once saved, always saved,” which holds that under no circumstances can you ever lose your salvation after you confess Jesus as Lord.
There is an ongoing debate in the Body of Christ over this question. On my website (markcowart.com) you will find a video of myself and three other men of God whom I respect discussing this, if you’d care to check that out. It is an important question for all of us. I believe the idea that we can live any way we want from here on, because Jesus’ death on the cross and His precious blood covers all our sins, is a doctrine of demons. We all need to be most concerned with what the Word of God has to say about this.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Pastor martyred in Nazi Germany for standing against the evil there, said this: “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church,” and “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship.” To really understand, we need to take our religious lenses off and study the words of Christ on this.
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62 NKJV
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV
The Greek there for “narrow” is thlibo meaning contracted with pressure. We are not talking about easy street here. Other translations say the road to life is difficult, it is full of trouble, and few there be who go that way. I think there are possibly millions upon millions of people in churches today who think they are saved, and they are not. We need to get to the bottom of this, and the Word of God has the answers for us. At the same time, we cannot be effective for the Kingdom while living in constant fear that we are not saved.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. I John 4:18 NIV
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7 NKJV
I believe there are people, right now in American and around the world, who think they are saved, but they are not, because they haven’t repented. The word literally means to change one’s mind. Then, that new way of thinking will become evident in behavior. A good illustration of the fundamental of repentance is this. If I am walking south at the time I repent, I will change my heading. I’m going to go a different direction, change course.
So, the way I present the gospel of salvation is basically this. You need to pray the prayer confessing your sins and receiving Christ as your Savior. That is the most important thing, to get saved, to get born from above, having you name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Then, your conversion must go beyond that. The gospel of repentance is the gospel of the Kingdom.
There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’ Luke 13:1-5 NKJV
In this passage, those addressing Jesus were comparing sins – pointing to outcomes as evidence of godliness or lack thereof. He immediately corrected them for this idea with another example of a catastrophic loss of life, clearly making the connection back to their own sinful state.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23 KJV
Everything in the septic tank is polluted and poisonous, even though the top part is less murky than the bottom. Whether you were a relatively good sinner in the world or a very bad sinner, it makes no difference.
We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6 NLT
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. II Corinthians 10:12 NKJV
When people on the street are polled as to whether they believe there is a heaven and a hell, the majority say they do. If asked where they think they are headed, they usually say to heaven, because they are good people or have done the best they could or some such. When the interviewer continues with questions regarding their behaviors such as lying, stealing, cursing and such “lesser” sins, they are surprised to learn that God’s Word says the following:
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. James 2:10 NKJV
So, we have to understand the gospel of the Kingdom. What is it? Well, if we don’t repent, Jesus says, we will “all likewise perish.” Period.
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, “See here!’” or “See there!” For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.’ Luke 17:20-21 NKJV
So, this is where the Kingdom begins. It starts inside each one of us. We live in a fallen world. Satan is the god of this world. You were born into a world ruled by darkness.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. Isaiah 60:2 NKJV
So, what is the Kingdom of God? It is where He rules, where He has dominion. Until the devil’s “lease” is up in the earth, and the Lord Jesus rules all that is seen, He can rule and reign now in your heart. And then, you can exercise Kingdom authority. This heart change comes at a high price in many countries today. The severe persecution and rejection, even by family, that some have endured in India, for example, shocks most Americans. There are countless such accounts from all over the world.
“In America, there is no cost to being a Christian.” – Leonard Ravenhill
This is the gospel of the kingdom – Jesus ruling and reigning in our hearts and minds, no matter the cost, regardless of what is going on around us.
Pray this over your life:
Lord Jesus, I want to follow you at any cost. I will take up my cross. I will deny the world. Thank you that I am strengthened by your power and anointing to be a light in this dark world. Amen.
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