Book Review: The Unsaved Christian

That title sounds like a misnomer, doesn't it? The unsaved Christian? Isn't a Christian, by name, a saved individual, a follower of Christ? But, Dean Inserra points out, though a person may call themselves a Christian, they may ignore who Christ is or the critical role he plays in salvation. They may think they're on the right track. After all, they attend church, live by a moral code, sing the hymns with gusto, may even know Bible verses. Yet, deep down, Christ isn't key. He's perhaps a good person to follow or emulate. 

For some, the Bible, God's holy Word, is just a book of stories meant to illustrate the ideas of God's love. They don't see themselves as "unsaved" or "lost." Their belief that God exists and wants us to be happy should be sufficient, right? Yet, the Bible says God will deny some entrance to heaven because, although they consider themselves followers of Christ, they do not trust in Christ's atoning work. Christ's death on the cross is the only path to cancel out the debt of sin and bring reconciliation with God. As Inserra states, many will say, "Didn't WE...?" instead of "Didn't HE?" If your trust is in what you're doing, you are trusting in self not Christ's sufficient work.

I loved a teaching principle Inserra learned in seminary: "Never preach a sermon that would still be true if Jesus hadn't died and risen from the grave." Cultural Christians can stand in church singing, "Up from the grave He arose," yet still live with no impact from that statement. Cultural Christians want Christianity without Christ, "a belief system in which God's love and acceptance are assumed." Many wrongly suppose everyone will get to heaven because God loves all of us. This negates the truth of the gospel. There is only one way to get to heaven. You must believe in and accept the gift of Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross to pay your debt of sin that estranged you from the Father. Without recognizing sin and turning to Christ to cover that sin, you can say you're a Christian and still be far from entering the kingdom of God.

First, Inserra identifies many of today's false beliefs and false gospels. Then, he walks the reader through ways to approach these deceptions. His goal is to point the lost to the narrow way that leads to life. The Bible says few find it. Many follow the wide way. "God is love. He loves everyone. He wants us to love everyone, too." This wishy-washy, touchy-feely view of Christianity isn't Christian at all. God is holy. He cannot abide sin. To do so would be unloving. 

Another significant statement Inserra makes is, "There's no bench for true followers of Christ." Convicting! What am I doing to reach those who don't even consider themselves outside the kingdom? Am I articulating the true gospel? If nothing else, this book makes me want to reach out to those around me. Time is slipping away. The gospel is "good news." I, for one, don't want to hold it in.