Understating the Gospel

Sometimes I am left wondering if professing Christians realise how dire their situation was before coming to faith in Jesus Christ.  When people speak only of how their life is improved without reference to what Jesus has done for them or Who He is to them, this concerns me.  Recently I read an article that explained the changes Jesus had brought to a person's life who was much "happier now."  This should come as no surprise to someone who was facing the just wrath of God for eternity due to sin.  Such statements strike me like a person who was miraculously healed on their deathbed.  It would seem odd if all they had to say about their experience later was, "I'm glad I don't have to wear that unflattering hospital gown any more."  Focusing on fashion or current happiness ignores the immense gravity of how close they came to leaving the hospital in a box, a huge understatement.

The article went on to say the lifestyle of the person before coming to Christ "wasn't helping" and ditching new age practices for Jesus has "worked."  These quotes are good examples of what I mean:  these are true statements from a biblical perspective, yet they are massive understatements.  Sin condemns us before a holy God who will rightly take eternal vengeance on all those who do evil with power that makes demons tremble.  Jesus (God made flesh) and the Gospel are not just one of many things to "try" to see how it works for us:  there is no other way to salvation, forgiveness and eternal life than faith in Jesus!  As a person grows in knowledge and understanding hopefully they realise and appreciate more fully what God has saved them from and saved them for, but "happiness" hinges on what happens.  When trials and troubles arise, maybe the decrease of happiness will lead the person to find their happy fix elsewhere.

It is important in conveying the Gospel to people that we do not conflate their desperate need for salvation with temporal benefits they will receive in coming to Christ in faith.  If people come to Jesus to be happy, to find something that will work for them, when trials arise (as Jesus promised they will) they likely will look for a better deal when a better deal doesn't exist.  The Gospel isn't a better deal:  it is a gracious gift from God we receive or reject.  To see Jesus as merely providing benefits to our lives when life itself is found in Him alone is to have a skewed and incorrect view of the LORD Jesus.  Many people have "tried" Jesus who have never trusted in Him, were never saved by Him, and thus swore off anything to do with Him because they did not receive the benefits they were promised.  Christians ought to do all in our power to avoid the error of ignoring how God supplied our needs for forgiveness, salvation and spiritual regeneration and distilling all this down to how happy we are--and others can be happier too.

The miracle of spiritual regeneration and the filling with the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside when we are born again by faith in Jesus.  Those who repent of their sin and look to Jesus for salvation are new creations by His grace and joined with His Body, the church.  Let's not sell Jesus short of the glory He deserves for all He has accomplished through His death and resurrection as we share Him with others.  The man born blind healed by Jesus did not mince words concerning the miraculous change Jesus made in his life:  "I was blind, but now I see."  I (for one) was dead in sin, enslaved by sin and deservedly headed for hell forever, but now I am born again, forgiven and free.  I have the promise of eternal life awaiting me with the comfort and Holy Spirit right now.  Am I happy?  Yeah, you could say that--and infinitely more.  Praise God!