The Gospel According to Jesus

I've been reading a book by John MacArthur called The Gospel According to Jesus.  I'm not far into it yet, but have become very intrigued by what churches and "christians" say one must do to be saved, to become a Christian.

MacArthur's book begins, "Listen to the typical gospel presentation nowadays. You'll hear sinners entreated with words like, 'accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior'; 'ask Jesus into your heart'; 'invite Christ into your life'; or 'make a decision for Christ.' You may be so accustomed to hearing those phrases that it will surprise you to learn none of them is based on biblical terminology. They are the products of a diluted gospel. It is not the gospel according to Jesus."

Salvation is such a scary thing to get wrong.  Jesus says many people will cry out, "Lord, Lord," and He'll say, "I never knew you."  How many of those He never knew will be those who were told all they had to do was say a prayer and ask Jesus into their hearts.  How many people have been lead into a false sense of security with instruction to accept Jesus as your personal Savior.

Paul warns the Galatians about turning from a different gospel "which is really no gospel at all."  He further asserts that "some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!"

The church needs to get back to preaching the gospel, not a watered down version made easy to bring more people into the church.  This is a matter of eternal importance.