Take a look at this paragraph from Free Grace advocate, Bob Wilkin, as he critiques other Christians who (according to him) don’t have the same level of “assurance of salvation” as he has:<\/p>\n\n\n
Most people witness like this: \u201cI don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going when I die. If you have 5 minutes I can help you not know where you are going when you die.\u201d With a message like that, is it any wonder that most people find it hard to witness? That isn\u2019t good news, is it?*<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n
Does any aspect of Wilkin’s words strike you as off? (Besides the snarkiness.)<\/p>\n\n\n
Did you notice that his quibble with the way most Christians approach “witnessing” is that they lack assurance themselves and so they pass along the same lack of confidence to their “converts”?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
BUT …<\/p>\n\n\n
It simply never occurs to him to question the validity or appropriateness of the central question: “Do you know where you are going when you die?”<\/p>\n\n\n
In fact, he reinforces it.<\/p>\n\n\n
If you know your Bible, you should be shocked that, within the modern church, “You can go to heaven when you die” is considered an adequate summary of the “good news”.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
But it most certainly is considered to be just that.<\/p>\n\n\n
This cannot be overstated: The idea that the gospel entails the rescue of individuals from earth to enjoy a future disembodied bliss in heaven far away misses out on so much of the meat of the Christian faith – and its true goal – that it doesn’t just fall short as a summary of the true gospel, it absolutely distorts it.<\/p>\n\n\n
Obscures it.<\/p>\n\n\n
Hinders it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
Stops it in its tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n
Something big needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n