The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?

I have a friend at my workplace who is asking questions about whether or not he is saved. He is what no-lordship advocates would consider a "carnal Christian," and by his own confession he really doesn't want to live for God, rather he just wants his free ticket out of hell. Coming into this book I had hoped to gain an answer his question. Not only have I been able to give him a solid, scripture based answer, but I myself was spiritually cut open by the truth in this book. It has been right in front of me all along and I have not seen it.Part one introduces us to the issues at hand and gives a brief overview of both lordship salvation and no-lordship salvation.Part two is really where the meat begins. This section is called "Jesus heralds His gospel." I was wowed by what I found. I have always believed that I am righteous. At least I put in a better effort than most people when it comes to Christianity. I read a lot of books on the topic of Christianity, and I generally go the extra mile when necessary; but John blew me off my feet by explaining the meat of the gospel. "I have not come to save the righteous, but sinners." Wow. This section lays out the gospel in the way that Jesus really said it! It really set a high pace and tone for the rest of the book.Part three consists of six chapters which are based on explaining parables and how they fit into the gospel Jesus was teaching. Another fantastic, eye opening section that really helped bring out the truth of the gospel in everything Jesus said.Part four is about how Jesus explained His gospel. It talks about the true meaning of the word "repentance" and the nature of true faith, as well as the cost of discipleship and a few other things. Once again, another bone chilling section. "The broad way is the natural choice, from a human point of view. People prefer sin to righteousness. Jesus said, 'Men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil' (John 3:19). It is easy to fall in step with the crowd. You can even add Jesus to all your treasured sins and possessions so that you can feel religious. You can go to church and be as active or as passive as you desire. You never have to deny yourself or take up your cross. The only problem is that the natural way ends in disaster." (p. 208 - hardcover anniversary edition)The last part is only one chapter, and it explains how the death of Jesus was perfectly planned and what effect it has on the gospel.Overall, this book really cut deep. In my first year of college I went to a Bible college (I am just finishing up my second year), and I did all the things you would expect from a Bible college student. I participated well in the classes, I read my Bible a TON, I was definitely one of the most active Christians at the whole school (by this I mean I read my Bible a lot and such, mostly legalistic practices to make myself a better Christian). But in the end nothing clicked. It was like everything I was learning I was learning up in my head, and none of it was making its way down to my heart.This book sparked something in me. This really IS the gospel according to Jesus. If this is not the gospel according to Jesus then I want no part in Christianity any more, for all the months and years that I have believed that my righteousness was so important and that God was on a leash to grab whoever wanted a free ticket out of hell simply because they "believed (if you can really call it belief)" in a list historical of facts. For the first time ever, as I have read this book and begun to really understand the gospel, I have really felt God chipping away the scab on my heart and speaking to me in a heartfelt way, and for this I will be eternally grateful, first to God and then to John.I heartily recommend it!-Now that I have reviewed the book, I feel that I should post some quotes to counter these silly claims that people are making about how John is saying that works save and so forth."IMO, MacArthur does not condition salvation on the performance of the "good works" (Eph. 2:10) expected of a disciple. He does, however, require an upfront commitment to the "good works" of discipleship in "exchange" for salvation." - Lou Martuneac"No one questions that there must be a sincere change of mind, a turning of one's self to the Saviour; but lordship advocates attempt to make behavior and fruit essential ingredients of, rather than evidence of, saving faith." - Miles Stanford"Salvation is by grace through faith. It has nothing to do with the meritorious human works. But the only possible response to God's grace is a broken humility that causes the sinner to turn from his old life to Christ. The evidence of such a turning is the willingness to submit and obey. If coldhearted disobedience and deliberate rebellion continue unabated, there is good reason to doubt the reality of a person's faith." p. 122"Clearly, the biblical concept of faith is inseparable from obedience. 'Believe' is treated as if it were synonymous with 'obey' in John 3:36: 'He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life.' Acts 6:7 shows how salvation was understood in the early church: 'A great many...were becoming obedient to the faith.' Obedience is so closely related to saving faith that Hebrews 5:9 uses it as a synonym: 'Having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.'" p. 190

This book has been the source of some controversy, but that should not be the case. In this book, MacArthur carefully and accurately explains what Scripture says about the nature of salvation. I give this book my highest possible recommendation!

This is a hard book to find because it's usually out of print. Is by far the best of John MacArthur. Excellent resource to give to someone who is still seeking and wants truth that is easy to read and understandable. I could read this over and over again.

John MacArthur explains the gospels so articulately. I enjoyed reading the book and it explained a lot.

I read this book as a paperback some 20/25 years ago when I was young man going to a Baptist Church. I've just recently re-read this book in its updated version on Kindle after being a member of the Orthodox Church for some 14 years. Yep, you guessed it; I've made a move from Western Church to Eastern Church and attempt to use the best of both in my life.The problem that this book relates to seems to me to be a particularly Protestant problem. Whilst there is a Protestant affirmation of the whole Bible being the Word of God, nonetheless, there is a propensity for highlighting various verses that support one's theological disposition, and so, making some parts of the Bible, "more important", than others. This leads to some strange occurrences, such as, in an environment of Protestant , Solo Scriptura, you may find in a church service that the Bible is read for 4 min and that the sermon goes for about 40 min. Symbolically this may lead one to assume that the word of the Minister/Pastor/Reverend whatever, is ten times more important than the Word of God. The modern Protestant tradition has also seemingly lost connexion with the historical life of the Church and seems to float (drift) in reference to its contemporary self other than reference to the historical Church Fathers, by whom I mean Clement, Ignatius, Justin Martyr etc.In the Orthodox Church Jesus is verbally referred to as, God, Lord, Master and Saviour in our various liturgies and church services. Unlike the Protestant world, the Orthodox world is rich in symbolism and Jesus is visually portrayed by the use of icons. Many Orthodox Churches have a major icon, that of Jesus Christ Pantocrator. This is a BIG image of Jesus Christ up on the ceiling or very close to the ceiling portraying him as, "Lord of All", looking down on His people. We also have a prayer that has survived through the millennia called the Jesus prayer. This prayer simply says, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner", (if you are a Christian you too can use this prayer). Another prayer translated from the Greek but in reference to Christ, " O Saviour, save us". As you can see from these several examples the balance of "Jesus as Lord" and "Jesus as Saviour" are lived as one, verbally, visually, ideologically and in prayer. To separate these two characteristics of Christ to the Orthodox Christian mind is totally, "out of Church".The Christian movement throughout the entirety of its history has suffered from doctrinal errors in some way, shape or form. Much theological study is actually a study of various errors along the way as opposed to the orthodox understanding. MacArthur has done a really good job of addressing the particular theological error that he is concerned about. His use of biblical narrative and explanation of meaning is superb but as long as picking and choosing (that's what "heresy" means) prevails the line of the song, "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest" will tend to be evident. The orthodox Church will always exist in harmony with God's will. EPH 1:15-23

This book is and excellent read, did have some minor disagreements, but overall very insightful. Would highly recommend this book.

Excellent book! It's wise to read this book followed by one on "Free Grace" so you can fully understand both sides of this debate. MacArthur mentions a few of the thorough author's on the other side of the debate. This will be a book I will keep for reference.

I too had believed that I was saved just because of a one-time proclamation of faith. Never have I realized how dangerous my life was to my soul until I came across Pastor John and his sermons which ultimately led me to this blessing of a book. God has been gracious to me and everyone who has seen our folly in the carnal doctrine of salvation. May God bless you all!

I thank God for John Macarthur. Who delivers God word as it is, both in his sermons and in his books. It's an excellent book. A fantastic explanation of the Gospel. I will recommend it to anyone. God bless you.

MacArthur zeigt klar auf, warum es nicht ausreicht, Christus bloß als Retter aufzunehmen, ohne ihn gleichzeitig zum Herrn des Lebens zu machen.

This book essentially contrasts two views of salvation and Christian living: Decisional Salvation and Lordship Salvation.In Decisional Salvation, a person is considered saved at the moment they publically confess the beliefthat Jesus died for their sins. The person does not have to do anything beyond this to be saved. The person's lifestyle beyong this is not considered critical. If the professing Christian brings forth little or no fruit, this is considered unimportant so long as they still believe in Jesus.In Lordship Salvation, merely confessing Christ is Lord is not enough. The person has to walk their talk as well, as James 2:17 underlines. MacArthur uses James 2:19 to show that merely believing the correct things doesn't make a person saved, as even the devil believes the core truths of the gospel, but isn't saved! Furthermore, the Bible states even a professing Christian can still end up in Hell (Matthew 7:23), so merely believing Jesus is Lord and calling Him so isn't enough. These passages present what MacArthur concludes is a rebuttal of Decisional Salvation.At this point MacArthur clarifies that he is NOT teaching works salvation, which would be heresy. He states that works do not save us. However, works ARE a good indicator of whether or not a person's profession of faith in Christ is genuine. MacArthur frequently distinguishes between mere professions of faith, where a person believes themself saved but isn't, and 'saving faith', which is the genuine article. Works are therefore visible evidence, the 'fruit' a genuinely saved person would bring forth (Galatians 5:22-23). MacArthur argues that if a person who calls themself a Christian but does not produce fruit, it is fair to assume they are not truly Christian. He invokes passages (e.g. Matthew 7:17, Luke 6:43) to show that fruitless 'Christians' will suffer damnation.MacArthur believes several things distinguish genuine Christian living from the counterfeit: obedience (John 14:15, John 15:10), self-denial (Mark 8:34), growing in holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and perseverance (1 Corinthians 9:24). Living your life devoid of these symptoms should act as a warning sign to any professing Christian that they may not possess genuine 'saving faith'.The book is incredibly challenging, and well worth a read to anyone who takes their faith seriously.