The reason I never understood the Gospel before I got saved four years ago is because I only heard bits and pieces of it, and that what was given was still veiled to me (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). I knew Jesus died for sins and that if we would believe in Him we would go to heaven, but that was it. That was my limited, shallow, superficial understanding of what Jesus Christ has done. I had accepted a watered down gospel, which is no gospel at all. In the New Age we also believed in a jesus, so I didn't see any problem with the broad and mystic road I was on.

The majority of the self-professing Christians I encountered back then would always tell people that God loves all of us just the way we are (which is unbiblical and misleading). Start off with telling the unsaved person how God is ONLY love without mentioning anything else, and you'll end up with a person not realizing how holy God is, how sinful we are and that Biblical repentance and being born again are all part of Salvation.

People won't grasp what it is that Jesus has done on the cross. They'll think: “If God loves me so much right now just the way I am, than He will never send me to hell, because love doesn't do that.” This is exactly what I thought when I was still unsaved. I knew Jesus died for sins, but I didn't grasp that this meant that I am a sinful person. When I thought of sin, I thought of murderers, rapists etc. These were the bad people who needed saving. I, by nature, was on the side of good. God, I thought, had no reason to want to send me to hell.

The Biblical Christians I'd encountered sounded hateful and judgmental. Now that I am saved, I know they sounded that way only because I didn't like what they were telling me. In truth, they were the most loving of all, for they wanted to snatch me out of the fire (Jude 1:23) and actually made the effort to try to reach me. That is love in action (1 John 3:18).

I didn’t realize how depraved I am, that my wicked heart desires anything that opposes God. That I was born in sin, that since birth I have gone astray (Psalm 51:5; 58:3), and that I personally choose to sin, that I am by nature a willing slave to sin, alienated from God, an enemy of God instead of a child of God (Romans 5:10), by default on my way to hell instead of heaven. I thought every person born is automatically a child of God, since He is the Creator and we were made in His image, but the Bible tells us that we BECOME children of God (John 1:12-13; Galatians 3:26) once we become born again, born of the Spirit (John 3:5-7) and that we are by nature children of God's wrath (Ephesians 2:3).

If one wants to know God, one has to know God’s Word. At that time, I didn’t read the Bible, except for cherry-picking the positive, ‘feel-good’ verses, which I would twist out of context to my own destruction. I had no idea that I was following a false christ and worshipping a god made in my own image. The fear of God was not in me. I had no godly grief over my sins, and I took for granted what Jesus Christ had done. I didn't understood that the wrath of God was on me for not repenting and accepting Jesus Christ Biblically. 'God is love, love, love' was all I needed to hear to wrongly assume that I would be fine.

It gave me the false assurance that I could continue living the way I desired, without worrying about any consequences of my continual rebellion against Him. I wrongly assumed that I was a good enough person to have earned my way into heaven and that John 3:16 was all there is to know. I thought I was born again because I was spiritual and had many spiritual experiences and encounters. I was horribly self-deceived—drunk on spiritual highs.

In the New Age we believed that we were the ones who understood the TRUE meaning of Jesus His teachings, because we claimed to be spiritually more developed and awakened than Biblical Christians. The New Age teaches that there is no such thing as sin, that we are on earth to learn life lessons to help humanity evolve, and that Jesus came to earth to teach the world about Christ Consciousness (sadly, this false teaching has found its way in many modern day churches) and that the core of Jesus His teachings was to teach us how we can all become Christ as we become attuned to this level of consciousness. (Jesus warned: Matthew 24:4-5)

I was doing all kinds of "works" in His name, things God strictly forbids in both the Old Testament and New Testament such as channeling, divination, tarot etc, but I didn't read the Bible, so I had no idea I was actually going against God instead of "working together" with Him (I surpressed the truth in unrighteousness). I didn't truly know Him althought I thought I did. If I had died back then, Jesus would had told me: “I never knew you. Depart from me you worker of lawlesness.” (Matthew 7:21-23). The most terrifying words one could ever get to hear from Jesus.

It is true that God is love but that is just one attribute of His holiness. He is also wrathful, righteous and just (Romans 1:18). Modern day christianity, even those who do mention Christ's teachings about sin and hell, ignore and often will downplay or seperate the sin from the sinner. But God sends the sinner to hell, not the sin. God's wrath is directed against the sinner (John 3:36).

The entire Gospel matters. What is not given cannot be understood. A watered-down or sugar-coated gospel results in many false converts, people who look for a life-coach jesus: a jesus whose sole purpose is to make us happy and to give us our 'best life now'; a genie in a bottle jesus who is there to serve our wishes; A jesus who gives suggestions instead of commandments. This false version of Jesus is embraced by today's world because it tells people exactly what they want to hear. It should be no surprise that this is the very opposite of what God's Word teaches. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

If we want people to understand the entire Gospel, we must first explain to them why we are alienated from God, and why we won't go to heaven by default. That it is because of our sinful, natural state (Colossians 1:21-23). What sin is and how we are all infected by it. Then we can explain to them what God did in His loving kindness and mercy for us sinners to be saved by sending His only Son Jesus Christ to the earth, the perfect lamb of God without spot or blemish, who was fully man and fully God in His identity and who lived a perfect life to fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law that we fail to abide by (Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Peter 2:22). He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day to reconcile us to a holy God (Colossians 2:13-14). He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, and He will come again in full glory AND judgment.

God's love for us was demonstrated at the cross (Romans 5:8-9). God's kindness is meant to lead to repentance (Romans 2:4). If we tell the story in reverse, leaving out uncomfortable truths, people will not understand God's loving kindness and the Biblical definition of love, for the love of God is completely different from the worldly definition.

If there is no fear of God, there will be no godly grief over sin and no sincere repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). Why would anyone accept a cure when they do not realize they are sick? It is not the healthy who need a doctor. We are all sick and infected with sin. Sin is what seperates us from a holy God. It has us on the path to eternal destruction. Jesus Christ took on the punishment you and I deserve.

We are dead in our sins. We are debtors with a debt we cannot pay. But God in His love and mercy made us who believe in Jesus Christ alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:5), having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ finished His work of redemption, atonement and reconciliation. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, we will be adopted into God's family and become children of God, and will receive the Holy Spirit. Only those born of the Spirit will enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3-7), have their sins forgiven and have a relationship with God (Romans 8:14-17).

Life-coach jesus has no power to save anyone and 'Jesus loves you<3' is not the Gospel. God demonstrated His love for us sinners on the cross, but the modern day 'feel-good vibes' church has equated this love to mean mere affirmation, together with a license to 'do what thou wilt' and the idea of 'you do you'. Jesus told people to repent and to “go and sin no more.” He warned of God's Wrath, to fear God who has power to send a person to hell (Luke 12:4-5). He taught about hell more than anyone else. Jesus compared the destruction of the Galileans to the eternal fate of ANYONE who doesn't repent (Luke 13:2-5). Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36).

Jesus didn't suggest to repent, He commands it. Just like He commands us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15; Acts 13:47). Our first obedience occurs the moment we repent and believe the Gospel; all other obedience flows from that, once the Holy Spirit is at work in a regenerate person. All of Salvation is a work of God.

If we love Him, we keep His commandments. True love warns and speaks God’s truth. This is the truth that will be seen as offensive and divisive by the world, but to us who are in Christ, God’s truth is what brings Salvation, and that what unites us—having the same love, being of one mind, and in full accord. While it is God alone who opens eyes, hearts and minds, we are commanded to proclaim the entire Gospel. Because Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). That is how God ordained it. Let us spread the good news of the entire Gospel with a sense of urgency.

Who the Son sets free is free indeed! (John 8:36)