One of the greatest blessings available to Christians today is the ability to listen to faithful biblical preaching from around the world. Yet not every sermon that mentions God or quotes the Bible faithfully proclaims the Gospel. As you listen, it is worth asking a simple but important question.
The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers forgiveness, new life, and eternal salvation to all who repent and trust in Him. We should preach on a wide variety of topics because the Gospel speaks to every aspect of life. However, no matter the subject, faithful Christian preaching should ultimately lead people back to Christ and what He has accomplished for us, not a Pelagian-tainted message that says you can achieve victory, purpose, or acceptance if you simply try harder and get your act together.
When you listen to a sermon, ask yourself: Could this same sermon be preached without referencing Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross?
In other words, if you removed the religious language that serves as a mask for an otherwise humanistic message, would anything essential be lost? Is what you are hearing merely a psychological or self-help message wrapped in Christian vocabulary, or is it truly rooted in the Gospel truth that only through Christ can we pass from death to life? Ultimately, does this sermon lead me to depend more on God or look more to myself?
Every faithful sermon should ultimately point us to Christ. If Jesus is missing, then the heart of the Christian message is missing.
Dr. BJ Condrey 
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