Sometime in 2012, on a bus enroute Abuja metropolis from Nyanya, a suburb in Nigeria's capital, my attention was drawn to a certain young man preaching a “storm” about Jesus Christ, God, the devil, heaven, hell and the likes. He spoke passionately and vociferously as he made an attempt to make his listeners “give their lives to Christ.” Now, this is one statement I personally have issues with, but we would address that later in this piece.

As I listened quietly to his “gospel”, I was filled with righteous indignation. The gospel he proclaimed was one that prescribed that men “give up” their sins, repent and live a holy life in order to earn salvation. He went on with his vituperative outburst stating how smokers, thieves, alcoholics, liars, fornicators, adulterers, and the likes, will face the wrath of God and be condemned to eternal damnation if they do not repent.

As the message wore on, I scanned the faces of the passengers on the bus, and it was obvious that many had heard “this gospel” countless times and were not ready to be sermonised into giving their lives to a God who is constantly angry with them and ever ready to send them to hell at the slightest provocation.

After his sermon was over, I heaved a sigh of relief! At least we were free from judgment and the sentence of death for those who failed to heed his call. But I was very wrong, a few seconds later, I was taken aback as the 'preacher' started receiving an “offering” for his ministration, encouraging all to “support the ministry.” I thought the ministry is meant to be free and not to be a means of demanding financial gain from others!

My memory of that day cannot recollect if anyone signified interest in giving their lives to Christ, but this did not dissuade the preacher from milking money out of the pockets of some that day. Lest I forget, I believe he even boarded the bus without paying a dime, as many of them usually do.

I am sure you are wondering; “why take time to go through this narrative before hitting the nail on the head?” Well, it is because painting pictures, describing scenarios and telling stories are some ways of aiding people retain information in their hearts.

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First things first; you cannot give your life to Christ, rather you can ONLY receive the life of Christ given to us freely by God. John 1:12 and John 3:16 clearly buttresses this. John 1:12, says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." Those who received Christ, not those who gave their lives to Christ, because in the first place, spiritually dead people have no life!

Moreover, it is often said, “that you cannot give what you do not have.” So how on earth can you give a life that is nonexistent? Hence, it is only those who receive Christ that are empowered or given the right to become sons of God according to scriptures. So it is not about us giving to God but about us receiving that which he has already freely given to us in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:32).

With this foundation, is the gospel Good News or bad news?

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This post was first published on the writer's personal blog