Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Acts 4:19-20 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
1 Thessalonians 2:4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Ephesians 6:6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
“There have always been preachers who have sought popular acclaim above all else, and there are some still. It is part of fallen human nature that even those charged with the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel can fall into the trap of trying to be popular rather than faithful.” (Morris)
Being faithful with the gospel of Jesus Christ means we do not add to it or take away from it. The same is true of God’s Word. People pleasers give lip service and head nods toward things of God but their heart is in being joined with the world in a way that does not honor and glorify God. The gospel of Jesus Christ can not be separated from heaven and hell, righteousness and sin, forgiveness and guilty, and Judgment. How can a person know of the need for Jesus Christ without an understanding of these? To water down the need is to obscure the greatness of grace, love, and mercy Jesus Christ gave when He sacrificed Himself for sinners. God’s Word is clear in regards to man’s separation from Him due to sin. “All have sinned and fall short” – Sin is and will be judged by God – Eternity awaits us all – Heaven and Hell – Eternity in heaven is a promise of God just as eternity in hell. I can think of no other scripture that is as clear as what is written in the Gospel of John. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” There is no other way by which a man can be saved. There is no way to be good enough or do good enough things to be right before the holiness of God. It is only when there is a humble surrender of all self-reliance and complete reliance, trust, faith, and belief in and through Jesus Christ will any person be saved from eternal hell. God has given mankind free choice to choose between self and Christ, heaven and hell, forgiveness and guilt. The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the absolute need should never be diluted or obscured. Wide is the road that leads to Hell and narrow is the path to Heaven. Never let it be accounted to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ was diluted or obscured in any way.