Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

In his book The Gospel of the Christ, Tom Stegall has correctly observed that "any seasoned missionary will attest to the fact that merely proclaiming the name 'Jesus' and telling lost souls to believe in that name for eternal life will spell disaster on the mission field. This approach will be the surest recipe for syncretism and false professions of faith in Jesus. People must understand the good news of the gospel of Christ in order to truly believe in His name for everlasting life."¹ In light of this statement, we may ask the same question that Stegall asks in his book: "Which 'Jesus' must a person believe in for eternal life?"²

• THE PROMISE-ONLY "JESUS" who can be virtually anyone or anything as long as the promise of John 6:47 is believed?

• THE PARTIAL GOSPEL "JESUS" who can be a non-buried and never-seen deceiver savior who died for our sins but not necessarily "according to the Scriptures" and rose from the dead but not necessarily "on the third day" – could this be the Christ?³

• THE PAULINE GOSPEL JESUS who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and was seen by many witnesses! (See 1 Corinthians 15:1-5.)

After His resurrection, the real Jesus did stand up! He stood in the presence of His disciples and showed them His hands and feet (see Lk. 24:34-39; Jn. 20:19-31; 1 Cor. 15:1-5). Have you believed this Good News? If not, do so today!

ENDNOTES:

¹ Thomas L. Stegall, The Gospel of the Christ (Milwaukee: Grace Gospel Press, 2009), p. 133. Note: Unfortunately, Tom Stegall promotes a gnostic-type false teaching that I've labeled "the groundless gospel". What is "the groundless gospel"? In 2007, Stegall removed the burial of Christ from his church's doctrinal statement on the "SOLE CONDITION FOR SALVATION", saying that Christ's burial was not part of the gospel. I coined the term "groundless gospel" to describe his new teaching. For a detailed expose of his no-burial gospel, you can find more information in my article: "The Strange Beliefs of Stegall's System".

² Ibid., p. 85, italics his.

³ This highlights the problem of syncretism. According to the groundless gospel, a lost soul would be considered a Christian even if he or she believes in a "Christ" who rose from the dead on the 666th day! However, it should be obvious that this is nothing more than a "false Christ" (Matt. 24:24), not the Christ of the Scriptures (cf. Lk. 24:46; 1 Cor. 15:3ff). We must remember that "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14, cf. 2 Cor. 11:1-4, NKJV).