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Emergent followers of men like Brian McLaren and Rob Bell are completely ‘rethinking’ the Gospel and what it means to be a Christian. Ironically, their newly “rethunk” “gospel” has no Biblical foundation or backing.

Here is an example of one emergent type waxing eloquent about the ‘wideness in God’s mercy. He parrots McLaren’s “new” explanation for Jesus’ death on the cross (that Jesus died to show us the brutality of imperial framing stories.) Said Chad the Emergent Type:

The proclamation that Jesus is Lord led those who were maligned with the name “Christian” to stop at nothing, including death, to spread the Good News that death has lost its sting in Christ Jesus and because of this Rome can no longer carve up the world with their greatest weapon - fear of the sword. Now, free to live fully in the present (the Kingdom of God being at hand), we can reach out to the poor, the homeless, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan and the marginalized, and even we lowly Gentiles, to announce that Justice will be served - but until that day we strive as fellow workers with God and pray thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is emergent gobbledygook that contradicts the Biblical Gospel.

The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, clearly and concisely defined The Gospel for us. His clear and concise definition is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 which states:

1Cor. 15:1   Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

1Cor. 15:3   For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

The Good News (gospel), according to the Bible, is the proclamation that Jesus Christ died for our sins and the certainty of this forgiveness by Christ’s resurrection from the grave. The gospel has nothing to do with telling the Romans they can’t carve up the world with the fear of the sword.

Instead, the Biblical Gospel tell us the Good News that God is offering all sinners a full and complete pardon of their sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This ‘other gospel’ that emergent types are pushing on us sounds loving because of its talk of reaching out to the poor and the marginalized. Unfortunately, they are reaching them with a false gospel. Here is what the scriptures say about the true Christian gospel and true Christian ministry:

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This passage clearly states that the Good News is the message that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting men’s sins against them. In other words, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God IS the proclamation of a Kingdom grounded in the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus Christ’s Penal Substitutionary Atonement. In fact, the mercy of Christ’s death on the cross is so wide that all whom God turns in repentance and gives faith to believe this Good News will be saved.