Religion v. Relationship Replaced of the Cross and the Resurrection- Have Evangelicals Forgotten the Gospel?

I have been to a number of evangelical churches over the years where it seems the 'formula' for evangelism in a lot of evangelical churches that do 'altar calls' and 'sinner's prayers':

- Do not tell the people who God is.
- Do not tell the people who Jesus is.
- ____Maybe____ mention the cross in passing without explaining what happened on it.
- Leave out the part about the resurrection.
- Tell people that Christianity is not a religion, that religion is a bad thing, and that it is a personal relationship with God.
- Have people repeat a prayer that mentions Jesus that does not mention Jesus dying on the cross or rising from the dead.
- Declare the people saved if they believed the prayer.

The prayer may have people ask Jesus into their hearts, 'accept Jesus' or something along those lines.

Praying to ask Jesus into your heart is not something I can find in the Bible. I cannot find where it says 'Christianity is not a religion.' 'Religion' became a bad thing among American evangelicals in my own life time. In old writings like those of the New England Puritans, it seems to be a near synonymn of the word 'Christianity.' Our Bible translations refer to it in James 1:27 which speaks of the one who exercises 'pure religon' as he who visits 'widows and fatherless in their afflication and keep himself unspotted from the world.'

The Bible speaks of knowing God and knowing Jesus (John 17) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 13 blessing at the end.) But it does not teach that the way you get people to have a relationship with God is by telling them that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion.

Christ's death and resurrection are important parts of the gospel the apostles preached.

I Corinthians 15
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
(KJV, emphasis in bold mine)

Romans 10
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(KJV, emphasis in bold mine)

I have a theory that pastors, preachers, and one-on-one attempted evangelists are so used to hearing 'religion v. relationship' preaching that they do this without thinking whether it is Biblical. I also suspect that many of these people would tell you that you have to believing that Jesus died for your sins and rose again from the dead to be saved if you asked them, but that they aren't aware that they are leaving this out. They rely so heavily on the tradition of what they have heard, that they either aren't examining scripture or paying close attention to what they are leaving out.

If you point it out to them, sometimes they realize what they are doing. i would encourage all of you to do so.

I have even witnessed people who weirdly think the sinner's prayer ritual is doctrine. I heard a preacher say, "If you have not prayed that prayer, you are not a Christian." Were there no Christians before Billy Graham started doing this repeat-this-prayer thing in his evangelistic meetings?

Some of you may reply, "My pastor always preaches the cross and resurrection of Christ whenever he tries to win souls for Christ." Good for you. I've seen that, it just seems to be getting rarer. In my experience in the majority of altar calls or similar 'challenges' I have witnessed in the past decade or two in the US, the religion v. personal relationship thing is preached, the cross might be preached, and the resurrection is omitted.

I see an emphasis on the resurrection in Peter's and Paul's sermons through Acts, beginning in Acts 2. I also see the apostles exhorting people to be baptized and baptizing them, and I do not see them having people repeat prayers in scripture. I also see Jesus' command to baptize, and not a command to have people repeat prayers, in the passage known as 'The Great Commission'.

I suggest you point this out in person, by email, or telephone whenever you see a preacher or street-witnesser do this. What else can we do to help push evangelicalism back toward the gospel?

I have been to a number of evangelical churches over the years where it seems the 'formula' for evangelism in a lot of evangelical churches that do 'altar calls' and 'sinner's prayers':

- Do not tell the people who God is.
- Do not tell the people who Jesus is.
- ____Maybe____ mention the cross in passing without explaining what happened on it.
- Leave out the part about the resurrection.
- Tell people that Christianity is not a religion, that religion is a bad thing, and that it is a personal relationship with God.
- Have people repeat a prayer that mentions Jesus that does not mention Jesus dying on the cross or rising from the dead.
- Declare the people saved if they believed the prayer.

The prayer may have people ask Jesus into their hearts, 'accept Jesus' or something along those lines.

Praying to ask Jesus into your heart is not something I can find in the Bible. I cannot find where it says 'Christianity is not a religion.' 'Religion' became a bad thing among American evangelicals in my own life time. In old writings like those of the New England Puritans, it seems to be a near synonymn of the word 'Christianity.' Our Bible translations refer to it in James 1:27 which speaks of the one who exercises 'pure religon' as he who visits 'widows and fatherless in their afflication and keep himself unspotted from the world.'

The Bible speaks of knowing God and knowing Jesus (John 17) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 13 blessing at the end.) But it does not teach that the way you get people to have a relationship with God is by telling them that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion.

Christ's death and resurrection are important parts of the gospel the apostles preached.

I Corinthians 15
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
(KJV, emphasis in bold mine)

Romans 10
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(KJV, emphasis in bold mine)

I have a theory that pastors, preachers, and one-on-one attempted evangelists are so used to hearing 'religion v. relationship' preaching that they do this without thinking whether it is Biblical. I also suspect that many of these people would tell you that you have to believing that Jesus died for your sins and rose again from the dead to be saved if you asked them, but that they aren't aware that they are leaving this out. They rely so heavily on the tradition of what they have heard, that they either aren't examining scripture or paying close attention to what they are leaving out.

If you point it out to them, sometimes they realize what they are doing. i would encourage all of you to do so.

I have even witnessed people who weirdly think the sinner's prayer ritual is doctrine. I heard a preacher say, "If you have not prayed that prayer, you are not a Christian." Were there no Christians before Billy Graham started doing this repeat-this-prayer thing in his evangelistic meetings?

Some of you may reply, "My pastor always preaches the cross and resurrection of Christ whenever he tries to win souls for Christ." Good for you. I've seen that, it just seems to be getting rarer. In my experience in the majority of altar calls or similar 'challenges' I have witnessed in the past decade or two in the US, the religion v. personal relationship thing is preached, the cross might be preached, and the resurrection is omitted.

I see an emphasis on the resurrection in Peter's and Paul's sermons through Acts, beginning in Acts 2. I also see the apostles exhorting people to be baptized and baptizing them, and I do not see them having people repeat prayers in scripture. I also see Jesus' command to baptize, and not a command to have people repeat prayers, in the passage known as 'The Great Commission'.

I suggest you point this out in person, by email, or telephone whenever you see a preacher or street-witnesser do this. What else can we do to help push evangelicalism back toward the gospel?

I agree with you, this kind of not telling the gospel is growing. In sparing also out, that there is a hell. But, when I use to say my believe in God is an relationship ( child-father) and not an religion. Then I point out the difference that religion is a man made thing, instead a from God revealed truth.

A lot of this behavior started with Charles Finney - long before Billy Graham

I do not recall Finney having people repeat a prayer per se.

A bit of a history in this link:

https://www.disciplestoday.org/bibl...-s-prayer-a-brief-history-of-a-novel-practice

I have been to a number of evangelical churches over the years where it seems the 'formula' for evangelism in a lot of evangelical churches that do 'altar calls' and 'sinner's prayers':

- Do not tell the people who God is.
- Do not tell the people who Jesus is.
- ____Maybe____ mention the cross in passing without explaining what happened on it.
- Leave out the part about the resurrection.
- Tell people that Christianity is not a religion, that religion is a bad thing, and that it is a personal relationship with God.
- Have people repeat a prayer that mentions Jesus that does not mention Jesus dying on the cross or rising from the dead.
- Declare the people saved if they believed the prayer.

The prayer may have people ask Jesus into their hearts, 'accept Jesus' or something along those lines.

Praying to ask Jesus into your heart is not something I can find in the Bible. I cannot find where it says 'Christianity is not a religion.' 'Religion' became a bad thing among American evangelicals in my own life time. In old writings like those of the New England Puritans, it seems to be a near synonymn of the word 'Christianity.' Our Bible translations refer to it in James 1:27 which speaks of the one who exercises 'pure religon' as he who visits 'widows and fatherless in their afflication and keep himself unspotted from the world.'

The Bible speaks of knowing God and knowing Jesus (John 17) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 13 blessing at the end.) But it does not teach that the way you get people to have a relationship with God is by telling them that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion.

Christ's death and resurrection are important parts of the gospel the apostles preached.

I Corinthians 15
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
(KJV, emphasis in bold mine)

Romans 10
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(KJV, emphasis in bold mine)

I have a theory that pastors, preachers, and one-on-one attempted evangelists are so used to hearing 'religion v. relationship' preaching that they do this without thinking whether it is Biblical. I also suspect that many of these people would tell you that you have to believing that Jesus died for your sins and rose again from the dead to be saved if you asked them, but that they aren't aware that they are leaving this out. They rely so heavily on the tradition of what they have heard, that they either aren't examining scripture or paying close attention to what they are leaving out.

If you point it out to them, sometimes they realize what they are doing. i would encourage all of you to do so.

I have even witnessed people who weirdly think the sinner's prayer ritual is doctrine. I heard a preacher say, "If you have not prayed that prayer, you are not a Christian." Were there no Christians before Billy Graham started doing this repeat-this-prayer thing in his evangelistic meetings?

Some of you may reply, "My pastor always preaches the cross and resurrection of Christ whenever he tries to win souls for Christ." Good for you. I've seen that, it just seems to be getting rarer. In my experience in the majority of altar calls or similar 'challenges' I have witnessed in the past decade or two in the US, the religion v. personal relationship thing is preached, the cross might be preached, and the resurrection is omitted.

I see an emphasis on the resurrection in Peter's and Paul's sermons through Acts, beginning in Acts 2. I also see the apostles exhorting people to be baptized and baptizing them, and I do not see them having people repeat prayers in scripture. I also see Jesus' command to baptize, and not a command to have people repeat prayers, in the passage known as 'The Great Commission'.

I suggest you point this out in person, by email, or telephone whenever you see a preacher or street-witnesser do this. What else can we do to help push evangelicalism back toward the gospel?

Praying to ask Jesus into your heart is not something I can find in the Bible.

Hi @presidente, A. W. Pink had something to say along these lines about 100 years ago or so.

Christ needed no help in eternally saving (delivering) souls to eternal life by his death on the cross. He said "it is finished" In a covenant relationship with the Godhead Christ saved all on the cross that will ever be saved (delivered). Jesus instructed his Apostles to go and preach the gospel to the lost sheep (elect) of the house of Israel. The house of Israel is actually Jacob (representative of God's elect) whose name God changed to be called no more Jacob, but to be called Israel (Gen 33:28). There is "the house of Israel" and "the nation of Israel". The scriptures you have quoted in Corinthians and Romans has reference to "the house of Israel" (Jacob), and not to "the nation of Israel" Salvation according to Greek means "a deliverance". These verses are referencing a timely deliverance we receive as we sojourn here on earth when we understand the meat of the word and not an eternal deliverance as they had already been eternally delivered. Preachers are instructed by God to preach the gospel to those of his children who have been born again but are still babes in Christ and are in need of hearing the meat of the word.

That is patently false. The door mentioned below is the door of one's heart.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20)

Now that your fundamental premise has been shown to be false from Scripture, why don't you present the Gospel and let's evaluate your presentation (but keep it brief).

At the same time, we can all agree that the Gospel is generally not being presented properly in evangelical churches.

As to religion vs relationship, let's face it. Christendom by an large is religion without relationship. So the emphasis on relationship is important and the verse quoted makes that very clear.

I repeat, I cannot find praying to ask Jesus into your heart in the Bible.

That verse does not say anything about the door of a heart. And it doesn't say anything about letting Jesus into the door by praying to 'ask Jesus into your heart.' The context is a church letting Jesus into the door--which I think most of us would agree is allegorical-- not the sinner who has not come to faith asking Jesus into His heart.

I presented the Gospel by quoting I Corinthians 15 in the opening post.

This kind of response is really strange to me. Do you read the Bible?

Can't you see that the apostles preached about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and God raising Him from the dead. They would preach the ascension and the fact that Christ is Lord and Christ. They baptized those who responded in faith. But we never read about them talking about religion versus relationship or praying to ask Jesus into their hearts. Why do you feel compelled to try to read modern church practice into verses on another subject? Have you read through Acts and the epistles?

That is patently false. The door mentioned below is the door of one's heart.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20)

Now that your fundamental premise has been shown to be false from Scripture, why don't you present the Gospel and let's evaluate your presentation (but keep it brief).

At the same time, we can all agree that the Gospel is generally not being presented properly in evangelical churches.

As to religion vs relationship, let's face it. Christendom by an large is religion without relationship. So the emphasis on relationship is important and the verse quoted makes that very clear.

A lot of this behavior started with Charles Finney - long before Billy Graham

More nonsense. Your post above was meant to prove we are to pray and ask Jesus into our heart.

Nowhere in that text is there anything about praying and asking Jesus into our hearts.

It is written to a church, not to the world at large, and it has nothing to do with eternal salvation.