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Gospel Light Or Gospel-Lite?
Only a crook or a clown offers what he cannot deliver. So which one is God when freewill preachers tell us He desires everyone to be saved and freely, sincerely and genuinely offers salvation to all men and women? Can God deliver upon such a promise? Not if there is a definite number of individuals in the election of grace. Not if there is a limitation in the number of sinners for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. Not if the quickening, regenerating, converting work of God the Holy Ghost is restricted only to those chosen in eternity and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. So which one is it? Is God a crook, deceiving men and women, pretending to hold…
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The Heart Of The Gospel
Forgiveness of sin is the heart of the gospel. Election is the beginning of the gospel. Eternal glory with Christ is the end of the gospel. But peace with God through sins forgiven is the beating heart of gospel grace. When forgiveness is little valued the gospel is held in low esteem. If sin appears as a small thing, a matter of no real gravity or consequence, then the gospel will not be treasured in God’s church and God’s testimony will be diminished in the estimation of sinful men. This is the curse of our day. Men and women have little sense of sin, no dread of judgment and no felt need for forgiveness. We call good evil and evil good, morality is stood on…
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Sovereign Grace Is The Gospel
Let us state clearly our understanding of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is the message of God’s love and saving grace to particular sinners by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Godman. Where there is no preaching of substitutionary atonement, suretyship and representation of sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no gospel. Salvation is a completed work, accomplished upon the cross, sure and certain for every adopted child of God. If sinners are required to do something to activate, apply or secure the benefits of Christ’s work, there is no gospel and our Saviour’s dying testimony “It is finished” is bereft of all meaning. If Christ’s work is offered conditionally to all (“Christ will if you will”) implying…
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What Is The Real Gospel?
The ‘gospel’ is claimed and proclaimed by every Christian tradition and denomination and most preachers will happily tell us it means ‘good news’. Yet every denomination’s gospel differs in one way or another, so a sincere enquirer might well be left wondering, “What is the real gospel?”. The Apostle Paul acknowledged there was another gospel, a false gospel, that really is no gospel at all. He knew the difference between grace and works, between salvation accomplished and applied freely by Jesus Christ to God’s elect, and salvation offered conditionally as a possibility to everyone. If salvation is accomplished and applied by Jesus Christ it is God alone who saves sinners and we must acknowledge His sovereignty in salvation. If our gospel offers the possibility of…
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Why So Particular?
To be described as being particular about things is not always a compliment. In fact it is sometimes used as a polite put down as much as to say, ‘He’s very fussy’, or ‘She’s hard to please’. This is often the impression given when some Christians, usually Baptists, describe themselves as ‘Strict and Particular’. One can imagine someone new to the phrase wincing slightly at the expression. The picture of an austere old aunt or a disciplinarian teacher might spring to mind. Hair combed, laces tied and sitting quietly. Overly strict and very particular. Strict Of course the real meaning of the term is quite different and has more to do with the historical development of theology in certain churches. Congregations who practise strict communion…
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The Great Divide
In this world there is a great divide. There are those who have been chosen to salvation, in Christ, from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and those who have not. There are those who have been predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and those who have not. There are some, in this world, for whom the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7), whose sins are pardoned and who are justified by God. There are others who will themselves forever carry their own sin and its consequences (Matthew 25:46). Every person ever born from the beginning of the world to its end, is on one side of this great divide or the other. On…
