As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:19b-20a); and again, “[Jesus] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:15); and again, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor 5:10).
We are saved to serve, and salvation means a life of obedience, not to earn our salvation but because He has saved us.
Sadly, that is not the message sounded from pulpits and broadcast on TV and internet around the world.
Instead, lost sinners are told that if they will simply believe in Jesus, God will give them a wonderful life – and I mean wonderful in the terms of this world.
To repeat: That is not the gospel.
Do I believe that God is the Healer and that we should pray for the sick with expectation of healing? Absolutely.
Do I believe that God meets our needs and enables us to bless others? Certainly.
But I do not believe – no, I am 100 percent sure about it– that we are to tell lost sinners that God promises them health and wealth if they will only believe in Jesus.
That is not the gospel that Jesus preached or that Paul or the other apostles preached. You will not find it anywhere in the New Testament, nor can you derive it from the “abundant life” promise of John 10:10.
Jesus said that in this world we would have tribulation (John 16:33), that in order to be His disciples we had to deny ourselves and take up the cross (Mark 8:34), that if we loved father or mother or son or daughter more than Him we were not worthy of Him (Matt 10:37).
