I have spoken on behalf of GES for many years. Both verbally and in print, I and others like me have been labeled as “non-(fill in the blank) gospel” believers. We believe the unbeliever must believe in Jesus for eternal life in order to live with Him forever. Since it is eternal life, it cannot be lost. Most reject that. They say you don’t have to believe in Him for eternal life, but that you must believe other things about Him.
They say you must believe that He was buried. Therefore, I am a “non-tomb gospel” believer. They say you must believe in the Deity of Christ, so I am a “non-Deity gospel” believer. They say you must repent of your sins, so I am a “non-repentance gospel” believer. You must believe in the lordship of Christ, so I am a “non-lordship gospel” believer. You must believe that Jesus died for your sins, so I am a “non-cross (crossless) gospel” believer.
Of course, I believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world. I believe He is God. I believe He is Lord. I believe He was buried after He died on the cross. I believe that a person who is living in sin should repent. However, I don’t think a person has to understand these things—or do them, in the case of repentance—in order to receive eternal life.
When Jesus presented the gospel of eternal salvation to unbelievers, He spoke to them about eternal life. Sometimes He used those very words, and at other times He used synonymous terms, such as never die or everlasting life (John 3:16; 4:14; 5:24; 6:47; 11:26).
But there is a strong aversion to these words in the gospel presentations of most Evangelicals. I visited the websites and read the gospel presentations of five very well-known Evangelical ministries. None of them used the phrase eternal life or one similar to it. The closest they came was the phrase “new life,” which, according to them, comes from a faith that includes repentance. One spoke about a “spiritual life” that the repentant sinner receives. Those phrases are vague and add conditions to the requirement of faith.
Most talked about the blood of Christ and that Christ died in our place. One said that the believer who denies the Lord was never saved. Another said, “Genuine salvation is manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct.”
Turning from sin—repentance—was probably the most common theme in these five presentations. A representative example is:
(Faith) is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.
It would be impossible to visit any of these five websites and conclude that the unbeliever needs to believe in Jesus for eternal life. He would think that in order to “really” believe in Him, he must turn from his sins. There can be no assurance of eternal life because one must examine his works over the course of his life in order to know whether his repentance and faith were genuine.
Why this aversion to the term eternal life in these websites? Maybe they are bound by a traditional way of presenting the gospel and are repeating phrases by rote. I also think they don’t use the term because they don’t want to be associated with the theology of grace. They fear that such words will lead to “easy believism” and false assurance among people who do not live a godly life. Clearly, none of them think the unbeliever needs to believe in Jesus for eternal life that can never be lost. It is more important that people concern themselves with how they live.
Some may think I cherry-picked the websites I looked at. I would challenge you to do the same thing. Visit the websites of Evangelical churches and parachurch organizations and examine their doctrinal statements. You will likely discover the same thing I did. Belief in eternal life—a life that can never end—is not necessary. It is not even mentioned. In fact, it is seen as a dangerous thing. It would lead to a non-repentance, non-Lordship, non-died-for-my-sins, non-tomb, non-cross, and non-Deity gospel.
Many of us have been called these things. They’re used as theological slurs. But read the gospel presentations of the Lord in the Gospel of John. Those slurs could be thrown at Him. Those who hurl them have omitted, for various reasons, the one thing the unbeliever must believe: Jesus promises eternal life—life that can never end—to all who believe in Him for it.
The worst gospel to preach is a non-eternal-life one.
