The attacks on the saving message of eternal life by faith alone in Jesus are not new. For example, beginning in Acts 15, both unbelieving and believing Jews attempted to bring works into the saving message by saying that Gentiles needed to be circumcised. Today, the distortion of grace is still very much alive and well. One popular theological framework, Calvinism, strives to look to works for “proof” of salvation. It teaches that believers who fall away were never saved in the first place. A second theological framework, Arminianism, teaches that works are necessary to maintaining eternal life, and that believers who fall away lose it. Both popular camps twist the saving message by adding works as a necessary component of eternal salvation. Sadly, both undermine the clear message of the Scriptures that all who simply believe in Jesus for eternal life have it and can never lose it, even if they fall away later.
As stated, this is not a new battle. The war rages on for us today. However, the battle is shifting, and new methods have been developed to distort the message of grace. The battle seems even more intense. The attacks the Church faces today are all new. In a post-modern era where objective truths are demonized, assurance of salvation is seen as unnecessary or even sinful, and experience is elevated as the arbitrator for theological matters.
An example of these new attacks can be found in the shifting language that some are using to describe the saving message. Instead of looking to Jesus and His promise of eternal life, many are now proclaiming that believing the Lord’s “identity” is the saving message. At first blush, this may seem benign. Of course, it is by faith alone in Jesus that the unbeliever is saved. However, what is it about Christ that the unbeliever must know? If the evangelist tells the unbeliever that they must believe in His “identity,” what does that mean to the unbeliever? The answer is simple yet catastrophic: It can mean whatever they want it to mean. To some, He is the King. To others, He is the Lamb of God. He is also our High Priest. He is a prophet. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is God. He is the Prince of Peace, and so much more. A young woman I talked with on a plane told me that Jesus was the “form of God” she identified with because she was raised Christian, but that to others, He can be whatever form of deity they are most connected to in their experience.
This pluralistic view reflects what we see outside the Church. For example, people today are identifying as “non-binary,” meaning their gender is on a spectrum. Their gender identity is seen as fluid. Another example was seen during a recent protest when a news reporter asked a group of protestors what they were marching for. They had no idea. While they identified with the protest, they didn’t know the message they identified with. These examples show the danger of pointing unbelievers to the Lord’s “identity” as the saving message. First, many people see Christ’s identity as fluid; thus, it has become meaningless. Second, many people would say they believe in the Lord’s “identity” but do not know His message regarding eternal life. Catholics, Mormons, Calvinists, and the girl on the plane all believe in some form of the Lord’s identity. Like the protestors, many people believe in some form of the Lord’s “identity,” as they define it, but have never believed the message of eternal life by grace through faith.
As our world continuously strives to break down objective truth, it should be no surprise that the saving message is becoming so nebulous as to make it unknowable. If we tell unbelievers to believe in the Lord’s identity, we have given them an incomplete gospel message. The saving message becomes whatever the unbeliever wants it to mean, and we refute the Lord’s teachings (John 3:16; Matt 7:13-14). Sadly, we see a shift from clear to vague messaging in the church today, leaving the unsaved still unsaved.
In contrast, the Gospel of John repeatedly presents Jesus as the Giver of eternal life (John 1:12; 3:16; 4:10,14; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 11:25-27). In fact, John is often referred to as the gospel of life, due to the emphasis on the gift of eternal life that runs throughout it. To remove eternal life from John’s Gospel is to cut the book in half; that would remove half the book’s message. The Gospel of John was written to unbelievers to tell them how they could be saved (John 20:30-31). The message of John is clear. We should point them to Jesus as the One who gives eternal life when they believe in Him for it.
Whether it be through adding works, like the Calvinists and Arminians, or through the vague language of our post-modern world, the saving message is under attack. Satan doesn’t want the unbeliever to know about the gift of eternal life. In the past, he has added works to destroy the message. Today, he adds seemingly benign terms to remove the gift from the message altogether. He wants the unbeliever to remain confused. As the Church today continues to fight against the attacks on the saving message, may we be bold proclaimers of both the Giver and the gift.
