I offered a few counter verses—from the Gospel of Mark: “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). I skipped ahead to Jesus’ famous words in Mark 8: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” I hit “Send” and waited. About an hour later I got what I took to be a sign-off message: “The gospel is about grace so anyone who pushes for kingdom, repentance, and following Jesus is pushing into the realm of works.”