Good Moral Teachings

Good Moral Teachings

The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl on February 12, 2023. If you watched the game, you probably saw a couple of the He gets us TV ads. Admittedly, I don’t know too much about the He gets us ads nor their website. I’ve seen a few of their ads and they appear to be about good moral teachings. I’ve seen the ones that say be childlike and love your enemies. What’s wrong with these messages? Nothing’s inherently wrong with the messages. They contain good moral teachings. But good moral teachings are not the Gospel.

My problem with the He gets us ads is that the people behind it think they are leading people to Jesus. But they are not leading people to the Jesus of the Bible. They are merely leading people to some of the good moral teachings of Jesus. What’s wrong with that you say? Well, as Christians, we are to share the Gospel, the biblical Gospel with others. Buddhists have good moral teachings. Mormons have good moral teachings. Jehovah Witness’ have good moral teachings.

Ultimate Goal – Their Own Words

If you watch these supposedly Jesus commercials, how are they to bring you to Jesus? They do not. The ads merely contain good moral teachings. I looked at their website and found this sentence on their site: “Ultimately, we want people to know his teachings and how he lived while here on Earth.” Folks, they don’t even try to hide the fact that ultimately they want people to know Jesus’ teachings  and how He lived on this earth.

How does that help anyone with eternal life? It doesn’t! It merely teaches people how to be good neighbors. Again, as Christians, we are to share the glorious Gospel with others. Those of us who are true believers have eternal life. We have the Word of life and we are to share truth with this lost and dying world.

Jesus Preached The Gospel

Guess what? When Jesus walked this earth, He also shared the Gospel. He preached everywhere that He went. Jesus talked about Hell more than anybody else in the Bible. Why? Because Hell is real and all unrepentant sinners are headed there. A hippy-dippy Jesus that only promotes love and good moral teachings can’t save anyone because hippy-dippy Jesus’ are not real. There is only one true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible.

The true Jesus preached repentance. It was the very first message that Jesus preached. And leaving Nazareth, he (Jesus) came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:13-17).

The Lord Preached Repentance

Jesus preached repentance. Sadly, I didn’t see anything in the  message from He gets us about repentance. In fact, the ads implied the opposite. Just continue in your sins, Jesus loves you. It is true that we can never clean ourselves up enough for God to accept us. Jesus will meet us in the gutter of our sins, no matter how low or depraved we are. But the Lord loves us too much to leave us there.

Jesus did not preach love, love, love. No, He preached repent. In Luke 13:1-3 Jesus says: There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

The Lord further states in Luke 13:4-5: Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Jesus also said, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:31-32).

Biblical Christianity Doesn’t Just Contain Good Moral Teachings

I hope you are seeing the  pattern here. Biblical Christianity doesn’t just contain good moral teachings. No, biblical Christianity calls people to repent and believe the Gospel. We are to have repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:20-21). For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Is there anything wrong with good moral teachings? No, not as long as people aren’t substituting this for the Gospel. As Christians, we are to be holy because God is Holy. We are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. But as true believers, as true followers of Jesus, we are to share the full truth with this lost and dying world. That truth is that without Jesus you have no hope. No one or nothing else can save you. Jesus is the only name under Heaven whereby you must be saved.

You Must Be Saved

You must be saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ or the guilt of your sins remains upon you. Oh, do not fall for a hippy-dippy Jesus which is no savior at all. Instead, recognize that you are a sinner. That you have offended our Holy Creator God. Jesus says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone. Oh, folks, we have all done so much worse than telling a little lie every now and then. God is so Holy, unrepentant sinners will be judged even on their thought life.

How many times have you raged inside against someone and they didn’t even know it? Or how many times have you lusted or coveted someone or something? Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden and we have all sinned since then. There is none that doeth good, no not one. Your very best that you have ever done in your life is as filthy rags in the presence of Almighty God.

Oh, recognize that you have offended God and that there is nothing that you can do to save yourself. Realize that you cannot do more good than bad. You can’t bribe God. All you can do is admit that you are a sinner. Cry out for God to forgive you. Repent and surrender your life, fully and completely to Jesus Christ the Lord. Don’t fall for good moral teachings. They will not save you. All the good in the world will not rescue you on Judgment Day. You must be saved in this life or your guilt will remain upon you for all eternity.

Don’t Foolishly Die In Your Sins

Do not die in your sins and go to Hell. Instead, turn to Christ and live. Jesus saves, but you must come to Him His way, through repentance and faith. Jesus calls you to repent and believe the Gospel. Will you do so tonight?  Or will you continue in your rebellion saying, “I will not have this man reign over me?” God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humbly to come to Jesus through repentance and faith.

Trust Jesus to save you. Put your faith in His saving grace just like you would trust in a parachute before jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you now (From the Hymn Only Trust Him written by John Stockton).

It’s a shame that the people funding the He gets us ads are spending millions (and I’ve heard they plan on spending a billion or more on these ads) and they are merely pointing people to the good moral teachings of Jesus. The Super Bowl last Sunday was the third highest rated Super Bowl in Super Bowl history. So I’m sure the He gets us website received millions and millions of hits. I’m sure the people funding it are very proud of themselves and all the clicks they received. I’m sure they think the campaign was successful.

Was It Really Successful?

But was it really successful? Based on clicks, probably so. Based on biblical Christianity? Absolutely not. It’s a real shame that they aren’t point people to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. They should be pointing people to JESUS, not just to His teachings.

Just imagine how God could have used their ads if all they did was put up a black screen with John 3:16 in white letters on it for 30 seconds. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It’s not good  moral teachings that unrepentant sinners need, it is the Gospel. As the apostle Paul says (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit): For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). The Gospel is what saves lost souls, not good moral teachings.

Fellow Christians (that is to true believers), point people to our Lord and Savior. Point them to the glorious Gospel. Even if you don’t know how to share your faith in Jesus with others, memorize and quote John 3:16:  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Oh, direct people to the Holy Bible instead of good moral teachings. Acts 2:21 states …whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Direct lost souls to the Holy Bible. Direct them to Christ Jesus, not to His good moral teachings.

(This message was proclaimed in downtown Springfield, MO on February 17, 2023)