The danger of one sided Gospel presentation

The speaker discusses the danger of presenting only one side of the gospel, focusing solely on the benefits and advantages of Christianity without mentioning the cost and commitment involved. They emphasize the importance of understanding that salvation comes with a cost and requires a total commitment to Jesus. They highlight that faith is not found in something, but in a person - Jesus. They also mention that some people come to Christianity for the wrong reasons, such as crowd effect or personal gain. The speaker urges believers to fully understand the offer of salvation before making a decision and to be motivated by conviction rather than desire. They emphasize that Jesus wants wholehearted followers who understand the cost of discipleship. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for your time. My name is Gila Meola. Servant of God. Servant of Jesus Christ. Today, we would like to talk about the danger of one-sided gospel presentation. It is right now. The free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, salvation is a free gift that God gives to all who come to Him. But, how can it be free if the disciple is not aware of the cost? Hallelujah! When we plan to make a project, the purpose is so that it succeeds. No one decides to undertake something when there is no guarantee of success. Conviction is necessary in whatever we do. It is quite common practice to see many people rush into discipleship. Not because they do it on principle of faith. Not because they are motivated by need to get into a relationship with Jesus. But, they are simply driven by the desire to become a Christian for a certain reason. Desire can be understood in many different ways. First, the desire to benefit from the advantages of Christianity. We all agree that there are eternal benefits and advantages that we have as a son of God. But, one thing important that we need to know is that discipleship cannot be based on short-lived emotions and shallow enthusiasm. Let me explain. It is true that the possessions of God are for all those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. However, coming to Jesus with just the intention of taking advantage of Christianity is not consistent with the gospel of Christ. To understand this, it is important to point out the danger of presenting to the potential disciples the gospel which mentions only the benefits and advantages that we have in Christ. The reality is that it often happens that salvation is preached as if we are calling people to come get gifts. The danger is that when we preach only the advantages and benefits of Christianity without mentioning the cost to be paid, there will be a large number of people who will come to acquire these benefits without really understanding the meaning of God's invitation. Of course, faith for these people is limited to receiving the gifts of eternal life. It is as simple as that. But, not having understood that the gift of life is Jesus himself and that it was necessary to enter into a relationship of trust with Him to submit to Him to benefit from these gifts, this is what will happen. As soon as a difficulty arises, the disciple will abandon the race. The mistake is that we never take time to make it clear to the believer that salvation always involves a cost. We merely present one side of the gospel. Why shouldn't the disciple know right from the beginning that he must make Jesus the number one priority of his life? Why should he not know that he should surrender everything to Jesus? His family relationship, his possessions, even his own life. In other words, there must be a total commitment. This is exactly what Jesus is asking the new believers to consider very carefully before taking any decision to follow Him. He doesn't hide His intentions to them. He says, He continues saying, Luke 14, 25-27 What Jesus means in this passage is this. Your love for God must be so complete and wholehearted that your love for family members will be paled in comparison, paled to the point of being like hatred. We can see that Jesus did not hesitate to tell the crowd that they had to take up their own cross. Jesus didn't exactly put on kid gloves to do so. He was candid and very clear. He did not say to himself, If I tell them that, they will turn away from me. Praise the Lord. If Jesus was able to tell the crowd that, with Him, they have eternal life, but everyone has to take up his own cross, why do His servants don't bother so much to do the same? Let's understand this. Jesus never asked to join Christianity by mentioning only the advantages. We should know this. Preaching the gospel doesn't have to be a game of seduction. The truth has to be said and the Holy Spirit will convince the listeners. Unfortunately, many are Christians who have responded to the call of the Lord out of desire, out of enthusiasm, without the slightest idea of the sacrifices they will have to make. The sad part about all this is that those who come to Christ only because of the benefits of Christianity may not be as committed as they should be. They enter into discipleship with enthusiasm, but as soon as misfortune comes their way, they draw back. Listen. Faith cannot be found in something, but faith is only found in a person. Jesus. Jesus is the person with whom you enter into a relationship. Hallelujah. Before we conclude, I would like to mention the other reason why many come to Christianity. The crowd effect. You know, people become Christians because everyone is going there, because the church is a huge and beautiful building. It can also be the desire associated with making a friend or finding a partner or something else. If these are the reasons for which we become Christians, then faith for us cannot be the relationship of trust we have with Christ. For example, in the book of Acts chapter 8 verse 9 through 24, we know the intention of Simon the Sorcerer when he decided to come to Christ. His decision to come to Christ was motivated by calculation. He did not come to Christ to change his spiritual condition nor to enter into a relationship with Jesus, but he came to Christ for a specific purpose, that is to obtain the power of the Holy Spirit for his personal interest. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. I just want to remind you that before the believer commits to follow Jesus, we must first give him the opportunity to understand the offer of salvation so that he could measure the pros and cons before deciding. His decision to come to Christ must be motivated by conviction and not by desire. For he that commits to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrew chapter 11 verse 6. You know, salvation is a free gift from God. But the salvation that costs you everything is from God as well and one doesn't go without another. Presenting the offer of salvation without mentioning the cost that goes with it will lead the potential disciple to have a wrong understanding of faith. You know, the Lord Jesus is not interested in having half-hearted followers. He does not want disciples who do not know what they are getting into when they decide to follow him. Friend, there is a cost, a cost that each follower must assess before making up his mind to follow him. It is precisely to highlight this point that the Lord Jesus teaches the parables about the building of a tower and about a king going to make war against another king. Luke chapter 14 verse 28 to 31. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Well, this is the end of today's message. We hope you enjoyed it. Please, join us next Sunday in God's visit. God bless. [♪ music playing ♪