HALF A GOSPEL IS A FALSE GOSPEL

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

Most conservative churches faithfully proclaim the Gospel message, but they do so only in part; they faithfully proclaim what Jesus Christ did for us, but they forget to correctly identify who Jesus is!  Notice in the passage above, two important facts: 

1) Paul was proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ!  Jesus was not just any man; He was the long-awaited King of the Jews, the promised offspring of David!  Matthew's Gospel refers to Jesus as the Son of David ten times:  1:1, 20; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30, 31; 21:9, 15; and 22:42!  Jesus is to be our King!  He is to rule over us!  Also notice that the passage above mentions that the Gospel is based upon what Paul had preached to those in Corinth.  He had taught them that Jesus is the "Son of God" (1 Cor. 1:9), and "Lord" (64 times)!  That is why, in the middle of the four verses above, Paul says, "if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you!"

2) Jesus, while instructing His disciples about preaching the Gospel, made it quite clear that the message was to include a call to repentance.  Luke 24:46-47 says:

"And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Notice that these two verses present the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, AND a call to repentance!  If Jesus is not to be both Savior AND Lord, then why the need for repentance?  Jesus was announced as both:  "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Lk. 2:11).  Both Paul and Peter taught that Jesus was both Lord AND Savior (Phil. 3:20; 1 Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:4; 2 Pet. 1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18)!  There is little doubt as to what He wanted mankind to know about Himself; He said, in John 13:13,

"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am."