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| A gospel that is no gospel, it is no good news. |
https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10215160832149637
December
4, 2019
A gospel that is no gospel, it is no good news.
I
read this typical description of the gospel from the Protestant Reformation
page: https://www.facebook.com/ReformedEvaneglical/posts/1807137505973758
(the post has since been deleted...)
What
is the Gospel?
It's
that Christ died for our sin and resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians
15:1-4) this is what we are to proclaim over and over again to the believers
and to the lost sinners. The Reformation recovered the Gospel, Rome taught that
we are saved by faith in Christ but.. you need to go to mass, do good works
etc... they taught a false gospel and still do today. Before we preach the
Gospel there must be bad news, otherwise the Gospel or good news will not make
sense. Here is the bad news we are born into sin (Psalm 51:5), we all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), sin is transgression
of God's Holy law (1 John 3:4), the just punishment for us sinners is hell (1
Corinthians 6:9-10). So here is the good news or the Gospel that God sent His
Son (John 3:16) who is true God (1 John 5:20) and true man (1 Tim 2:5) on the
cross He bore our sin (Isaiah 53:12) God crushed Him for our sin or iniquity
(Isaiah 53:6,10), Christ was our substitute, He became sin for us, that we may
become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21), something called double
imputation happens, our sin to Christ and His righteousness imputed (credited)
to us ( Rom 3:26, 4:6-8, 2 Cor 5:21, James 2:23)and on the third day He rose
from the dead defeating death (1 Cor 15:55-58). So God commands you to repent
of sin (Acts 17:30) and trust or believe in Christ for salvation (Acts15:11,
16:30). At the moment of regeneration ( being born from above) we are declared
righteous and justified by faith alone because of Christ ( Romans 5:1, Gal
2:16, 3:24). Baptism is what follows after one repents and believes, since it's
a sign and seal of our regeneration, forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 16:30-32)
=========
The
gospel is the good news of what God has done through His Son Jesus Christ and the
Holy Spirit to save His chosen people:
-
He purposed their eternal salvation before the foundation of the world;
-
Christ accomplished the same salvation for the exact same people through His
righteousness and blood ;
-
The Spirit of God and Christ applies that same salvation to each one of God's
elect personally at God's appointed and approved time;
-
The gospel ministry has been ordained for the calling out of those whom the
Spirit of God has freely applied the eternal salvation when they were dead in
trespasses and sins, calling them to believe the GOOD NEWS of what God HAS DONE
for them in Christ Jesus and applied to them by the Spirit of God. Believing,
they will experience the blessedness of their having been saved by God's free grace.
-
Christ shall gloriously consummate the salvation of His redeemed people at His
return at the end of the gospel age.
The
above is the gospel, the good news of what the Triune God has freely and
sovereignly done to save His people; His people are called to believe the good
news of their salvation, Eph 1:13.
-------
Now
let me make some comments on the above answer to the question "What is the
gospel?"
1.
@ "Rome taught that we are saved by faith in Christ but.. you need to go
to mass, do good works etc... they taught a false gospel and still do
today."
This
necessarily implies that Rome's protestant daughters teach that they are saved
by faith alone in Christ; they teach another gospel and still do today.
To
be saved by faith alone in Christ is NO gospel at all. The reason is quite
simple. Do you know why? To be saved by faith alone in Christ necessarily
implies that the UNsaved is required to believe in Christ in order to be saved
by Christ.
Pray
tell, how is it good news to the UNsaved when he is required to perform the
spiritual work of believing in Jesus Christ in order to be saved? Doctors of
Divinity, tell us what is the spiritual state of the UNsaved? How is it good
news to the dead who are required to eat in order to receive life?
The
Harlot church was, and is wrong; justification before God is NEITHER by faith
nor by works. Justification before God is freely by His grace (the manner of
justification) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (the basis of
justification).
Faith
in Jesus Christ evidences and manifests that justification that has taken place
by the free grace of God.
Rome's
protesting daughters hacked one of the TWO gangrenous legs off their Mother
Harlot and hold dear to the other gangrenous limb.
2.
@ "... Christ was our substitute, He became sin for us, that we may become
the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21), something called double imputation
happens..."
Christ
is the substitute of His people; He NOT ONLY lived in their stead a perfect and
sinless life of obedience to all the laws of God BUT ALSO died in their stead
the cursed death on the cross and suffered the full measure of the wrath of God
for all the sins of all His people. Christ secured the righteousness necessary
for the justification of His people and died the cursed death necessary for the
forgiveness of His people.
It
is BOTH righteousness and blood.
Double
imputation took place on the cross; on the cross, all the sins of all those
given to Him to redeem were imputed to Christ, and He endured and suffered the
full measure of the holy wrath of God in the stead of His people; ALSO the
righteousness of Christ was imputed to all those entrusted to Him by the Father
to redeem.
Legal imputation logically and chronological precedes the vital
application of the same to each elect personally.
Sin and condemnation were
legally imputed to all represented by Adam in the fall; sin and condemnation
are applied to each of Adam's descendants personally at their conception.
The
righteousness of Christ is FREELY applied to an elect personally when he is
still in the state of condemnation and death - "Being justified freely by
his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Romans 3:24. IT
IS NOT by faith alone; the UNjustified is INCAPABLE of believing, being still
in an UNjustified state of condemnation and death.
"By
faith alone" is NOT good news; by God's free grace alone is good news!
3.
@ "So God commands you to repent of sin (Acts 17:30) and trust or believe
in Christ for salvation (Acts15:11, 16:30)."
How
is "trust or believe in Christ for salvation" any good news for those
still without salvation?
Pray tell, how are those without salvation capable of
trusting or believing in Christ for salvation?
Doctors of divinity, what is
your diagnosis of the spiritual state of those without salvation from God?
What
spiritual acts could such perform in order to be saved; what could they do for
salvation?
4.
@ "At the moment of regeneration ( being born from above) we are declared
righteous and justified by faith alone because of Christ."
Putting
the cart before the horse is no good news, it is stupidity.
Regeneration
is quickening the dead with eternal life. Sin brought condemnation and death;
righteousness secures justification and life. The application of Christ's
righteousness by God to an elect personally LOGICALLY precedes the Holy
Spirit's activity of quickening the dead with eternal life.
Rom
5:18
Therefore
as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation [of death];
even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life.
The
condemnation of death because of sin is contrasted with the justification of
life because of righteousness. The application of Christ's righteousness to an
elect personally is the basis and warrant for the bestowal of eternal life.
An
elect is declared righteous and justified FREELY God's grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24); they ARE NOT declared righteous
and justified by faith alone.
The
UNrighteous and UNjustified are incapable of faith. Why are Rome's protesting
daughters so blind to see a simple truth.
Except
a man be born again, he cannot. And the justification of life freely by God's
grace MUST PRECEDE the quickening of the dead by the Spirit of God.
Faith
is the instrument, BOTH to EXPERIENCE and to EVIDENCE the prior justification
by the free grace of God; EVEN SO, breath is evidence of the dead having been
quickened.
May our gracious Lord grant each reader understanding of these things.
Amen
