WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?
What Is The Gospel?
Luke 15:2
This man receives (welcomes) sinners.
1Timothy 1:15
Christ Jesus came to save sinners.
I Corinthians 15:3-4
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.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (made right with God through Christ).
C.H. Spurgeon “If there be no resurrection…” on 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, February 20, 1890
https://spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs2287.pdf
Our religion is not based upon opinions, but upon facts. The great facts of the Gospel are that God was incarnate in Christ Jesus, that He lived here a life of holiness and love, that He died upon the cross for our sins, that He was buried in the tomb of Joseph, that the third day He rose again from the dead, that after a while He ascended to His Father’s throne where He now sits, and that He shall come by and by, to be our Judge, and in that day the dead in Christ shall rise by virtue of their union with Him.
Tikhon of Zadonsk Journey to Heaven, Part II: The Way of Salvation
The Gospel, from its very name, is the happiest of news. To all the world, it proclaims Christ the world’s Saviour, who came to seek out the lost and save them. Listen, then, all you lost sinners! The Gospel loudly declares to us all, ‘The Son of Man has come to seek and save what is lost.’ (Luke 19:10) It is a dreadful thing for us to be found in a state of sin in God’s sight. But the Gospel proclaims that our sins are forgiven on account of Christ’s name, and that Christ is our justification in God’s sight.
John Wycliffe On the Truth of Holy Scripture (written after publishing De Civili Dominio which resulted in being summoned to St Paul's in 1377 to answer charges of heresy.)
The New Testament is of full authority and open to understanding of simple men, as to the points that be most needful to salvation. It seemeth open heresy to say that the Gospel, with its truth and freedom, sufficeth not to salvation...
John Calvin’s 1543 revision of his preface to the 1535 French translation of the Bible by Pierre Robert (Olivétan) was entitled “An Epistle Showing How Our Lord Jesus Christ is the End of the Law and the Sum of All that Must be Sought in Scripture. To All Who Love Jesus Christ and His Holy Gospel.”
The English translation of Calvin’s Preface to the Geneva Bible of 1550 by Thomas Weedon was published in 1848
https://dev.wts.edu/stayinformed/view.html?id=495
Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man in under the condemnation of God.
Through knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow-citizens with the saints, citizens of the kingdom of heaven and heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the foolish wise, sinners justified, the despairing comforted, doubters made certain and slaves set free. The gospel is the word of life and truth. It is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe (Romans 1:16), and the key to the knowledge of God, which for the faithful opens the door of the kingdom of heaven, releasing them from their sins...
Thomas Goodwin Justifying Faith
What is the gospel? Truly nothing else but that doctrine which holds forth the grace of God justifying, pardoning, and saving sinners, and Jesus Christ made our righteousness... (1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21)
Stephen Charnock Discourses on Christ Crucified
http://books.google.com/books?id=PNo8AAAAcAAJ&dq
Christ crucified is the sum of the Gospel, and contains all the riches of it. If our faith stop in Christ’s life, and do not fasten upon His blood, it will not be justifying faith. His miracles, which prepared the world for His doctrines; His holiness, which fitted Himself for His sufferings, had been insufficient for us without the addition of the cross.
James Guthrie, Minister of Sterling, Scottish Presbyterian and Covenanter before his execution, June 1, 1661
I do believe that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) of whom I am the chief, through faith in his righteousness and blood, have I obtained mercy, and in him and through him alone have I the hope of a blessed conquest and victory over sin and Satan, and hell and death, and that I shall attain unto the Resurrection of the just and be made a partaker of eternal life; I know whom I have believed, and he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)
Octavius Winslow Daily Walking With God
The revelation of God asks not for a faith that will merely endorse its divine credentials; it asks not merely that skepticism will lay aside its doubts, and receive it as a divine verity; it asks, yes, it demands, more than this- it demands a faith that will fully, implicitly, practically receive the momentous and tremendous facts it announces- a faith that brings them home with a realizing power to the soul, and identifies it with them- a faith that believes there is a hell, and seeks to escape it- a faith that believes there is a heaven, and strives to enter it- a faith that credits the doctrine of man's ruin by nature, and that welcomes the doctrine of man's recovery by grace- in a word, a faith that rejects all human dependence, and accepts as its only ground of refuge "the righteousness of Christ, which is unto all, and upon all those who believe." (Romans 3:22) Oh, this is the true faith of the gospel!
J.C. Ryle
"Six Vital Certainties"
Life is short and uncertain.
Death is sure.
Judgment is inevitable.
Sin is exceedingly sinful.
Hell is a dreadful reality.
Christ alone can save you.
"Foundation Truths"
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.vi.html
"Vital Principles of Christianity"
1. The extreme sinfulness of sin, and my own personal sinfulness, hopelessness and spiritual need.
2. The entire suitableness of our Lord Jesus Christ by His sacrifice, substitution and intercession, to be the Saviour of the sinner’s soul.
3. The overwhelming value of the soul, as compared to anything else.
4. The absolute necessity of anybody who would be saved being born again, or converted by the Holy Ghost.
5. The indispensable necessity of holiness in life being the only evidence of a true Christian.
6. The absolute need for coming out from the world and being separate from the vain customs, recreations and standard of what’s right, as well as from its sins.
7. The supremacy of the Bible as the only rule of what is true in faith, or right in practice, and the need of regularly reading and studying it.
8. The absolute necessity of daily private prayer and communion with God, if anyone intends to lead the life of a true Christian.
9. The unspeakable excellence and beauty of the doctrine of the Second Advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Ryle on what is Evangelical faith?
Knots Untied
http://www.preachershelp.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ryle-knots-untied.pdf
Old Paths
https://www.preachtheword.com/bookstore/old-paths-ryle.pdf
Where is forgiveness (of sin) to be found? Simply trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. It is to rest your soul, with all its sins, unreservedly on Christ, to cease completely from any dependence on your own works or doings, either in whole or in part, and to rest on no other work but Christ’s work, no other righteousness but Christ’s righteousness, no other merit but Christ’s merit, as your ground of hope.
The Lord Jesus Christ, in great love and compassion, has made a full and complete satisfaction for sin, by suffering death in our place upon the cross. There He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, and allowed the wrath of God, which we deserved, to fall on His own head. For our sins, as our Substitute, He gave Himself, suffered, and died, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that He might deliver us from the curse of a broken law, and provide a complete pardon for all who are willing to receive it.
Simple faith, is the only thing required, in order that you and I may be forgiven. That we will come by faith to Jesus as sinners with our sins, trust in Him, rest on Him, lean on Him, confide in Him, commit our souls to Him, and forsaking all other hope, cleave only to Him, this is all and everything that God asks for. Let a man only do this, and he shall be saved. His iniquities shall be found completely pardoned, and his transgressions entirely taken away.
Come then, willing to receive, and not thinking how much you can bring. Come, willing to take what Christ offers, and not fancying you can give anything in return. Come with your sins, and no other qualification but a hearty desire for pardon, and, as sure as the Bible is true, you shall be saved.
G. Campbell Morgan, Evangelism, “The Evangel”
The evangelist proclaims God’s evangel when he announces the fact that Christ is able to save from sin, and consequently from its penalty.
The evangel is good news to such as need it. Joy is in it, the note of hope, of optimism. It comes to the man in darkness, and brings him light. It comes to a man in bondage, and announces the way of escape. It comes to a man under sentence of death, and tells him the sentence has been remitted.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"What Is The Good News?" on Luke 4:18-19
"The Gospel: Good News" on Galatians 1:8
https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/other-sermons/the-gospel-good-news/
“What Is Christianity”, Matthew 9:10-13, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
https://opentheo.org/i/5926737109619756139/what-is-christianity
What makes a man a Christian? The question of questions. The question that not only determines how we live in this world, the question that determines our eternal destiny. This of all questions in this uncertain world in which we live is the most we can't afford to make mistakes about this.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
(The Christian) knows that he is a hopeless, vile, condemned, and damned sinner, and that he relies only on the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ died for his sins, that he trusts only to that atoning, reconciling work of Christ, that Christ was his Substitute; and that God in Christ by the Spirit has made a new man of him, and given him a new nature.
Let Everyone Praise the Lord: Psalm 107, “The Salvation of God”
https://www.monergism.com/salvation-god-martyn-lloyd-jones
The glory of the Gospel is this: that you and I not only can do nothing, we are not expected to do anything. He asks nothing of anyone but just this: that you see yourself as you are in the sight of God. That you recognize your sin, your emptiness and your woe. Repentance is all He demands.
Salvation, as it makes no demands on us, depends entirely and only on what God does, what God has done. The essence of salvation is what God has done in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:19-21) The Son of God has done it all. Salvation is a free gift. It is not a programme which we are set on in order to earn forgiveness. God forgives us for one reason only, and that is that He has punished our sins in the person of His own Son. It is not our pleading. It is not our repentance. It is not our works. There is nothing left for you to do except to believe and to see that it was done there and to receive the free gift of salvation. Just turn to Him, cry out unto Him, and He will answer.
Truth Unchanged, Unchanging, "Is The Gospel Still Relevant?", 1950
The message of the gospel is to tell men that everything necessary for their salvation is to be found in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God. He is the full and final revelation of God. It is in Him, His life and His teaching, that we see what man is meant to be, and the kind of life that man is meant to live. It is in His death upon the Cross that we see the sin of the world finally exposed and condemned. It is through His death that we see the only way whereby man can be reconciled to God.
It is from Him alone we can drive new life, and obtain a new beginning. It is only as we receive power from Him that we can live the life that God intended us to live.
The Plight of Man and the Power of God
The Gospel works - it is "the power of God unto salvation'. (Romans 1:16) It changes and transforms everything. It brings peace and rest to the soul and victory in live. The Gospel alone faces and exposes, and really deals with, the fundamental problem of man and his needs (cleansing and forgiveness of sin, restoration of our relationship with our Creator Father, power over sin, Satan, the world and self)...it alone has the correct diagnosis and remedy.
The Gospel works for everyone, for anyone, for all...it centres on (what all men) share in common - sin and rebellion against God, failure in our lives, and a sense of shame. It demolishes all distinctions by placing us all together before God.
It matters not who we are nor what we are. There is no such thing as wise and unwise, great and small, learned and ignorant, wealthy or poor. There is no long Jew and Gentile, Barbarian or Scythian, male or female, slave or free. (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11) God see us all as souls lost and desperate, helpless and forlorn. And he offers all of us the same salvation.
We must rouse ourselves and realise afresh that though our Gospel is timeless and changeless, it nevertheless is always contemporary. We must meet the present situation and we must speak a word to the world that none else can speak.
Lloyd-Jones' address to the 2nd National Assembly of Evangelicals, "Evangelical Unity", Oct. 1966 (He was not invited back)
The Protestant definition of the church is that it is a place where the true doctrine is preached, where the sacraments are properly and regularly administered, and where discipline is exercised.
What then is true doctrine?
(The Evangelical) view of the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God;
our assertion of the unique deity of the Lord Jesus Christ - yes, His virgin birth;
His atoning, sacrificial, substitutionary death;
His literal, physical resurrection;
the miraculous and supernatural;
the person of the Holy Spirit and His work.
These are the doctrines which are essential to salvation; there is the truth that is to be preached, the message which is the first of the true marks of the church. And a church is a gathering of people who are in covenant together because they believe these things; who have experienced their power; who are born again and born of the Spirit, and who give evidence of this in their daily life.
“Essential Doctrines to Salvation”, Great Doctrines of the Bible, Vol. 2
There are certain doctrines that we must believe and there are others about which we are doubtful and about which there may be legitimate disagreement.
What, then, are these things that are essential?
Well, we must believe in God. We must believe about the character of God. If we do not believe that God is holy, we are not Christians. If we do not believe that God is just and righteous, we are not Christians. In addition to believing in the love of God, we must believe in the other attributes that we considered in an earlier lecture (See Volume 1, “God the Father, God the Son”). The Biblical revelation about this holy, righteous God who is the Judge of the universe – that is essential.
It is equally essential that we should believe in our sinful and lost condition.
I am prepared to argue about that – that is absolute.
If we do not know what a sinner is, that we are sinners and have repented, we are not Christians, we cannot be, and there is no value in our saying that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. For what is it to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ unless it is to see that He is the Savior and the Redeemer and the only one.
But what do I need to be saved from?
It is the guilt of my sin in the presence of this holy God. So, I must be clear about the doctrine of sin and my lost state, and my helplessness, and then about the person and work of Christ.
Paul himself gives these essentials in the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15: ‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received’ – What? – ‘how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures’ (v. 3). That is the first thing – the Person of Christ and what He has done; the priestly work, the mediatorial work, the atonement.
I do not argue about this.
I know I am described as narrow, but if people do not see that they are saved only by the Blood of Christ, well then, think what you like of me, I cannot see that such people can be Christians.
It is essential. ‘I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified’ says Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Paul ‘placarded’ His death to the Galatians. It was always at the center. This is not a matter to be argued about.
This does not belong to the symmetry of faith but to the integrity of faith, as do also some aspects of this great doctrine of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
If you do not believe in regeneration, if you do not see its utter absolute necessity, then I do not see that you have any right to regard yourself as a Christian.
If you do not see that you are so lost that nothing but receiving new life from God can reconcile you and take you to heaven, then you are lacking at a vital point, a point that is integral and belongs to the very integrity of faith.
Those, then, are absolute necessities.
“Puritan Papers”, Vol. 5, 1968-1969, “Can We Learn From History?”
https://www.monergism.com/can-we-learn-history
In 1654 Oliver Cromwell—with his idea of Toleration—and the Parliament called upon the divines to define what should be tolerated or indulged among those who profess the fundamentals of Christianity. In effect they said, we have all these divisions and sects and groups; what are the fundamentals of Christianity on which we can have fellowship together? So a committee was set up and the members of the committee were these: Mr. Richard Baxter, Dr. John Owen, Dr. Thomas Goodwin, Dr. Cheynel, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Reyner, Mr. Nye, Mr. Sydrach Simpson, Mr. Vines, Mr. Manton, Mr. Jacomb. They produced sixteen articles which they felt stated the fundamentals on which, and on which alone, true fellowship is possible between Protestant evangelical people. We have the authority of Richard Baxter for saying that it was Dr. John Owen who worded those articles. Here they are:
1. That the Holy Scripture is that rule of knowing God and living unto Him which whoso does not believe cannot be saved.
2. That there is a God who is the Creator, Governor and Judge of the world, which is to be received by faith, and every other way of the knowledge of Him is insufficient.
3. That this God who is the Creator is eternally distinct from all creatures in His Being and Blessedness.
4. That this God is One in Three Persons or subsistences.
5. That Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and Man without the knowledge of whom there is no salvation.
6. That this Jesus Christ is the true God.
7. That this Jesus Christ is also true Man.
8. That this Jesus Christ is God and Man in One Person.
9. That this Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, who by paying a ransom and bearing our sins has made satisfaction for them.
10. That this same Lord Jesus Christ is He that was Crucified at Jerusalem, and rose again and ascended into Heaven.
11. That this same Jesus Christ being the only God and Man in One Person remains for ever a distinct Person from all saints and angels not-withstanding their union and communion with Him.
12. That all men by nature were dead in sins and trespasses, and no man can be saved unless he be born again, repent and believe.
13. That we are justified and saved by grace and faith in Jesus Christ and not by works.
14. That to continue in any known sin upon what pretense or principle soever is damnable.
15. That God is to be worshipped according to His own will, and whosever shall forsake and despise all the duties of His worship cannot be saved.
16. That the dead shall rise, and that there is a day of judgment wherein all shall appear, some to go into everlasting life and some into everlasting condemnation.
What is an Evangelical? is still in print and is the three addresses given by Lloyd-Jones at the 1971 International Fellowship of Evangelical Students conference.
I am a Calvinist; I believe in election and predestination; but I would not dream of putting it under the heading of essential. I put it under the heading of non-essential… You are not saved by your precise understanding of how this great salvation comes to you. What you must be clear about is that you are lost and damned, hopeless and helpless, and that nothing can save you but the grace of God in Jesus Christ and only Him crucified, bearing the punishment of your sins, dying, rising again, ascending, sending the Spirit, regeneration. Those are the essentials… While I myself hold very definite and strong views on the subject, I will not separate from a man who cannot accept and believe the doctrines of election and predestination, and is Arminian, as long as he tells me that we are all saved by grace, and as long as the Calvinist agrees, as he must, that God calls all men everywhere to repentance. As long as both are prepared to agree about these things I say we must not break fellowship.
A summary of his position as to essential and non-essential truths is here; by Kevin DeYoung
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/martyn-lloyd-jones-what-is-evangelical_05/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/lloyd-jones-what-is-evangelical-2/
David Platt Follow Me
The Gospel is the Good News that the just and gracious God of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to bear His wrath against sin on the cross and to show His power over sin (and death) in the Resurrection, so that everyone who turns from sin, trusts in Him will be reconciled to God forever.
WARNING from Sinclair Ferguson
If the gospel that is proclaimed does not produce the fruit of that gospel that is visible in the New Testament,
the gospel that is proclaimed cannot be the New Testament gospel.
THE GOOD NEWS
(Matthew 4:23, 9:35; Mark 1:14-15, 16:15; Luke 4:18,43, 8:1, 9:6, 16:16; Acts 5:42, 8:12, 10:36, 11:20, 14:7,15, 20:24; Romans 10:15)
Luke 2:10-11
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Romans 3:23
We are ALL sinners (1 Kings 8:46, Romans 3:10-12, 1 John 1:8)
Romans 6:23
Sin leads to death (Ezekiel 18:20), but God offers us the free gift of salvation in Jesus
G. Campbell Morgan The Crises of the Christ "Man Unlike God in Sin"
As material death is separation of the spirit from the body, so spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from God.
Romans 5:8
Because of God’s love for me, Jesus died for my sins (Luke 19:10, 1 Timothy 1:15)
John 3:16
Whoever believes/has faith in Jesus shall have eternal life (John 3:36, 6:40, John 20:31, Acts 13:39)
John 14:6
Jesus is the only way to salvation (Acts 4:12)
Romans 10:9
We must surrender control of our life to Jesus, who proved His power over sin and death by His resurrection
Revelation 3:20
He will save whoever asks, but we must ask. (Romans 1:17, 10:13)
Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all..."
Isaiah 55:1, John 7:37-38, Revelation 22:17 "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely..."
WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?
Agree that I am a sinner and repent of my sins (consider my ways, confess, and turn). (Luke 13:3, 24:47; Acts 3:19)
Believe Jesus died for my sins and proved His power over sin and death by the resurrection. (Romans 10:9)
Confess that Jesus is Lord of my life and take up His yoke of obedience and submission. (Matthew 11:28-30)
Decide to give control of my life (heart, soul, mind and body) to Jesus.
The greatest act of grace and mercy in history (His story) was God's sacrifice of His Son for our salvation (John 3:16) purposed by God before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-10). God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to die for our sin (Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21). When, like Paul, Christ Jesus has taken hold of us (Psalm 18:16, Philippians 3:12), and by the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5), we die (make a willing sacrifice) to sin and self (Galatians 2:20, 5:24); take up our cross of self-denial and suffering (Matthew 16:24-25, Luke 9:23); and put on His yoke of obedience and surrender (Matthew 11:28-30).
A BELIEVER’S PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me for I am a sinner. I believe you died on the cross for my sins, and rose again. I have decided this day to give my life, my whole life, to you. Thank you for forgiving my sins, for making me a new person, for filling me with the Holy Spirit, and for your promise of eternal life with you in heaven. I pray that you will take my life, which is now your life, and use it for your purpose.
What Does The Bible Teach?
Authority of Scripture – Sola Scriptura: Psalm 12:6, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Matthew 28:19, Titus 3:4-7
Original sin: Romans 5:12
Substitutionary atonement – Jesus died for, and in the place of, sinners: 1 John 2:1-2, 1 Timothy 2:4-6, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21
Salvation by grace through faith: Ephesians 1:4-13, 2:8, Galatians 2:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Romans 8:29-30, 9:16
2 Timothy 1:9 "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time..."
Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit"
We must be born again: John 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 1:3
Bodily resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 14-20, 42-44
Second coming and judgment: Matthew 25:31-46, John 14:3, Acts 1:11, 17:31
Reality of Satan, hell and spiritual warfare: 1 John 5:19, Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8
Evangelism and missions: Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Philemon 6
Virgin Birth: Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38
Jesus performed miracles: Matthew 13:54, Luke 19:37, John 10:38
Believer’s baptism: Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:41, 16:30-33, 18:8.
We are baptized NOT TO BE SAVED, BUT BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED/BORN AGAIN; as an act of obedience and a visible testimony that we have died to our old life of sin and self, and risen to walk as new creations in Christ Jesus.
I Timothy 1:15, 3:16
Christ Jesus came to save sinners...(not to make a way for men dead in sin to save ourselves Ephesians 2:4-9)
He (Jesus) was manifested in the flesh (incarnation John 1:14),
vindicated (raised from the dead) by the Spirit (Romans 8:11, 1 Corinthians 15:20),
seen (witnessed) by angels (and His disciples John 21:24, 2 Peter 1:16),
proclaimed among the nations (Acts 2:14-39),
believed on in the world (John 1:12),
taken up in glory (the ascension Acts 1:9)
(and in like manner will return again Acts 1:11, 1 Corinthians 15:23).
Reform Evangelical Christians affirm the “5 Solas”:
Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
Sola fide ("by faith alone")
Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")
Cambridge Declaration of 1996
http://alliancenet.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID307086_CHID798774_CIID1411364,00.html
The 6th Sola Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda ("The church reformed, always reforming.")
Despite our best effort to reproduce a "New Testament Church", anything set up by man will be tainted by our sin, self, and the world and can be sanctified further by conformity with God's inerrant and unchanging Word; NOT by seeking new revelation.
Sola quicquid sentiat ("whatever I feel alone") is NOT the 7th Sola!
The Five Points of Calvinism or Reform Theology are TULIP:
(1) All human beings are so totally (in every part) depraved (spiritually "dead in transgressions and sins" Ephesians 2:1) and corrupted (infected) by sin that they cannot exercise free will toward, nor effect any part of, their salvation. Our salvation is only by the sovereign will of the Father, work of the Son, and by the power of the Spirit. (Romans 8:7 - "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.", Ephesians 2:8, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:3-7, Romans 9:15, 11:8,25);
(2) Unconditional election and saving faith are sovereign gifts of God;
(3) While the death of Christ is sufficient to expiate (atone for) the sins of the whole world, its saving efficacy is limited to the elect (Limited atonement/Particular redemption);
(4) In sovereign grace God (Irresistible and Efficacious Grace) calls to faith (Acts 16:14, 26:18) and regenerates the elect (Converting Grace Acts 13:48b) to newness of life;
(5) God graciously preserves (Perseverance of the Saints Ephesians 1:13-14) the redeemed so that they persevere to the end, even though they are troubled by many infirmities as they seek to make their calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10)
Sovereign Grace (Particular) Baptists affirm the Five Points.
C.H. Spurgeon “Impotence and Omnipotence” on John 5:5-9, February 16, 1890
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/impotence-and-omnipotence/#flipbook/
Salvation is the free gift of God, by Jesus Christ, and the work of it is supernatural. It is done by the Lord himself, and he has power to do it, however weak, nay, however dead in sin, the sinner may be. As a living child of God, I can say to-night, that,—
“On a life I did not live,
On a death I did not die,
I stake my whole eternity.”
“Upon A Life I Did Not Live” by Horatius Bonar
http://hymnbook.igracemusic.com/hymns/upon-a-life-i-did-not-live
C.H. Spurgeon, from the ‘Declaration of Faith and Practice’ of the New Park Street Chapel (Reformed Baptist church)
We believe, that the work of regeneration, conversion, sanctification and faith, is not an act of man’s free will and power, but of the might, efficacious and irresistible grace of God.
Spurgeon on irresistible grace
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/charles-spurgeon-calvinism-irresistible-grace
Steve Lawson, “Salvation is of the Lord”
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/salvation-lord
R.C. Sproul's series on Reform Theology
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/what-is-reformed-theology/introduction-4
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones “Chosen In Him”, on Ephesians 1:4
https://www.monergism.com/chosen-him-ephsians-1-4
(Audio Sermon) https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-ephesians/chosen-in-him/
It is God who has chosen in Christ every one who is a Christian (2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2); it is God who has predestinated us. (Ephesians 1:4-5) It is a part of God’s purpose that we should be saved. There would never have been any salvation if God had not planned it and put it into execution. It is God who ‘so loved the world’ (John 3:16); it is God who ‘sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.’ (Galatians 4:4)
It is all of God and according to His purpose (Acts 2:23, 2 Timothy 2:9). It is ‘according to the counsel of his own will’ (Ephesians 1:11) that all these things happened.
Arminianism teaches:
(1) Election is based on foreseen faith, and the free will choice to believe;
(2) The universality of Christ’s (Unlimited) atonement;
(3) The free will and partial depravity of man;
(4) The resistibility of grace (Prevenient/Enabling Grace does not necessarily lead to Converting Grace);
(5) The possibility of falling from grace/losing one's salvation.
General (Redemption) Baptists believe:
(1) Eternal security (denied by Free Will Baptists);
John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them from out of my Father’s hand."
(2) Imputed righteousness (Romans 4:24, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Corinthians 5:21);
(3) Resistible grace;
(4) Unlimited (General redemption) atonement ;
(5) "Whosoever will" (John 3:16, John 6:40, John 7:37-38, Luke 9:23) is foreknown (1 Peter 1:1-2), and are the elect by God’s foreknowledge of their (not His) choice.
The problem with this view of God's foreknowledge is that for God to proginōskō is for God to ordain - purpose - choose. Jesus went to the cross as our atoning sacrifice by "God's set purpose and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23) to fulfill "what (God's) power and will decided beforehand should happen." (Acts 4:28, 1 Corinthians 2:7)
God's plan of salvation and our redemption did not occur by His looking through time and noticing the fortuitous decisions of Judas, the Sanhedrin and Jewish people, and Pontius Pilate.
Iain H. Murray’s The Forgotten Spurgeon.
In Spurgeon’s Biblical Calvinism, that he so forthrightly preached...Christ was to be lovingly pressed on all. And with the utmost confidence of success. For God had a people whom he had chosen to be saved, whom Christ had died to save, whom he was determined to save, and whom he was saving—regenerating them by the Spirit, enabling them to believe, and giving them grace to persevere to the end. This was the framework within which Spurgeon’s gospel preaching was decidedly set and it brought him into significant conflict both with Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism.
Hyper-Calvinism, in its attempt to square all gospel truth with God’s purpose to save the elect, denies there is a universal command to repent and believe, and asserts that we have only warrant to invite to Christ those who are conscious of a sense of sin and need.
Arminianism, on the other hand, denies that God has a purpose to save anyone. It teaches ‘that Christ’s death does not in itself secure, beyond doubt, the salvation of any one man living…that if man’s will would not give way, and voluntarily surrender to grace, then Christ’s atonement would be unavailing.’
Ch. 4, “Arminianism and Evangelism” (and Calvinism, alter calls, the “anxious bench” & “enquiry rooms”)
https://www.faithbiblechurchnh.org/murray_arminianism.htm
“It is a motion of the heart towards Him, not a motion of the feet, for many come to Him in body, and yet never came to Him in truth…the coming here meant is performed by desire, prayer, assent, consent, trust, obedience.”
The sinner is instructed, under Arminian preaching, that he must begin the work by becoming willing and God will complete it; he must do what he can and God will do the rest. So if a firm ‘decision for Christ’ is made, he is at once counseled to trust that the Divine work has also been done...
But the truth is that Arminianism has erected a pattern of conversion which is sub-scriptural and which unregenerate men can attain to. By representing repentance and faith as something possible for unrenewed men it opens the way to an experience in which the self-will of the sinner and not the power of God may be the main feature. The Scripture everywhere represents the will and power of God as first, not second, in salvation, and a teaching which promises that God’s will must follow our will may have the effect of causing men to trust in a delusion – an experience which is not salvation at all.
Charles Spurgeon's Autobiography, Volume 1, “A Defense of Calvinism”
https://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs002.pdf
There is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. Calvinism is the gospel. I do not believe we can preach the gospel if we do not preach justification by faith, without works—nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace—nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah! Nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ worked out upon the cross.
Spurgeon's defense of Calvinism, “Exposition of the Doctrine of Grace”, The New Park Street and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, “Opening Meetings of Metropolitan Tabernacle”, April 11, 1861
https://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs364A.pdf
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/exposition-of-the-doctrines-of-grace/#flipbook/
“Charles Spurgeon on Calvinism”
https://www.ligonier.org/posts/charles-spurgeon-calvinism-definite-atonement
Resources
J.C. Ryle (An Inerrantist, Reform, Evangelical Anglican) Highly Recommended Starting Place
Old Paths
Jeremiah 6:16 "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it."
http://www.preachtheword.com/bookstore/old-paths-ryle.pdf
Faith is simply the grasp of a contrite heart on the outstretched hand of an Almighty Saviour (Matthew 14:31, Philippians 3:12b "Christ has taken hold of me"). It is the hand of the drowning man which lays hold on the rope thrown to him. Cast away all idea of work, or merit, or doing, or performing, or paying, or giving, or buying in the act of believing on Christ.
[Yes, we must reach up to that hand, but it is not the reaching, but the hand of the Savior, that saves us. And God in His sovereignty will let us drown in our sin (Romans 1 “give us over”, John 5:40, 2 Thessalonians 2:10) if that is what we choose; a choice of which He had foreknowledge. But if He has chosen us from eternity, He will not let us drown (Irresistible and Efficacious Grace).]
The Upper Room, Being a Few Truths for the Times
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/r/ryle/upper_room/cache/upper_room.pdf
Chapter V Jeremiah 6:16 “The Good Way”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.vii.html
The victories of Christianity, wherever they have been won, have been won by distinct doctrinal theology; by telling men of Christ's vicarious death and sacrifice; by showing them Christ's substitution on the cross, and His precious blood; by teaching them justification by faith, and bidding them believe on a crucified Saviour; by preaching ruin by sin, redemption by Christ, regeneration by the Spirit; by telling men to…believe, repent, and be converted. These are the “old paths.”
Chapter IX Acts 17:16-17. “Athens”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.xi.html
What are we to understand St. Paul preached?
(a) St. Paul at Athens preached the person of the Lord Jesus, - His divinity, His incarnation, His mission into the world to save sinners, His life, and death, and ascension up to heaven, His character, His teaching, His amazing love to the souls of men.
(b) St. Paul at Athens preached the work of the Lord Jesus, - His sacrifice upon the cross, His vicarious satisfaction for sin, His substitution as the just for the unjust, the full redemption He has procured for all, and specially effected for all who believe, the complete victory He has obtained for lost man over sin, death, and hell.
(c) St. Paul at Athens preached the offices of the Lord Jesus, has the one Mediator between God and all mankind, as the great Physician for all sin-sick souls, as the Rest-giver and Peace-maker for all heavy-laden hearts, as the Friend of the friendless, the High Priest and Advocate of all who commit their souls into His hands, the Ransom-payer of captives, the Light and Guide of all wandering from God.
(d) St. Paul at Athens preached the terms which the Lord Jesus had commanded His servants to proclaim to all the world;--His readiness and willingness to receive at once the chief of sinners; His ability to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him; the full, present, and immediate forgiveness which He offers to all who believe; the complete cleansing in His blood from all manner of sin; faith, or simple trust of heart, the one thing required of all who feel their sins and desire to be saved; entire justification without works, or doing, or deeds of law for all who believe.
(e) Last, but not least, St. Paul preached at Athens the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He preached it as the miraculous fact on which Jesus Himself staked the whole credibility of His mission, and as a fact proved by such abounding evidence that no (denier of) miracles has ever yet honestly dared to (refute) - He preached it as a fact, which was the very top-stone of the whole work of redemption, proving that what Christ undertook He fully accomplished, that the ransom was accepted, the atonement completed, and the prison doors thrown open for ever.
Need we be ashamed of the weapons of our warfare? Is the gospel, the old Evangelical creed, unequal to the wants of our day? I assert boldly that we have no cause to be ashamed of the gospel at all. It is not worn out. It is not feeble. It is not behind the times. We want nothing new, nothing added to the gospel, nothing taken away. We want nothing but “the old paths,” the old truths fully, boldly, affectionately proclaimed. Only preach the gospel fully, the same gospel which St. Paul preached, and it is still “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and nothing else called religion has any real power at all. (Romans 1:16)
Chapter X Acts 26:24-29 “Portraits” (Festus, Agrippa & Paul)
(a) St. Paul was altogether convinced of the truth of the facts of Christianity. That the Lord Jesus Christ was actually “God manifest in the flesh,” (1 Timothy 3:16) - that He had proved His divinity by doing miracles which could not be denied, - that He had, finally, risen from the grave and ascended up into heaven, and was sitting at God's right hand as man's Saviour, - on all these points he had thoroughly made up his mind, and had not the slightest doubt of their credibility. On behalf of them he was willing to die.
(b) St. Paul was altogether convinced of the truth of the doctrines of Christianity. That we are all guilty sinners, and in danger of eternal ruin, that the grand object of Christ coming into the world was to make atonement for our sins, and to purchase redemption by suffering in our stead on the cross, - that all who repent and believe on Christ crucified are completely forgiven all sins, - and that there is no other way to peace with God and heaven after death, but faith in Christ, - all this he most steadfastly believed. To teach these doctrines was his one object from his conversion till his martyrdom.
(c) St. Paul was altogether convinced that he himself had been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and taught to live a new life, - that a holy life, devoted and consecrated to Christ, was the wisest, happiest life a man could live, that the favour of God was a thousand times better than the favour of man, - and that nothing was too much to do for Him who had loved him and given Himself for him. He ran his race ever “looking unto Jesus,” and spending and being spent for Him (Hebrews 12:2; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 12:15).
(d) Last, but not least, St. Paul was altogether convinced of the reality of a world to come. The praise or favour of man, the rewards or punishments of this present world, were all as dross to him. He had before his eyes continually an inheritance incorruptible, and a crown of glory that would never fade away (Philippians 3:8; 2 Timothy 4:8). Of that crown he knew that nothing could deprive him...“neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
C.H. Spurgeon
Treasury of David on Psalm 25:5 "Lead me in thy truth, and teach me."
It (would be) well for many professors if instead of following their own devices and cutting out new paths of thought for themselves, (if) they would enquire for the good old ways of God's own truth and beseech the Holy Ghost to give them sanctified understandings and teachable spirits.
A Puritan Catechism
http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/puritan_catechism.htm
Many a minister has derived his first doctrinal knowledge from (The Westminster Assembly's Catechism); and, indeed it has in it the very life-blood of the gospel. Let our youths and maidens study the Scriptures daily, and let them use The Baptist Confession of Faith, which they will find to be a useful compendium of doctrinal knowledge.
"This We Believe" by Stewart Olyott - sermon series & study notes with reference to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith https://www.rbc.org.nz/library/olyott.html
The 1742 Philadelphia (Calvinistic Particular) Baptist Confession of Faith
http://baptiststudiesonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/philadelphia-confession.pdf
2000 Baptist Faith & Message
C.H. Spurgeon in the forward to his 1855 edition of the "Baptist Confession"
Be not ashamed of your faith; remember it is the ancient gospel of martyrs, confessors, reformers and saints. Above all, it is the truth of God, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail.
A.W. Tozer
The Knowledge of the Holy
(Only) the gospel can lift this destroying burden (of sin) from the mind, give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (Isaiah 61:3)
The Divine Conquest
1 Thessalonians 1:5 “Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit…”
The Christian message rightly understood means this: God, who by the word of the Gospel proclaims men free, by the power of the Gospel actually makes men free. They to whom the Word comes in power know deliverance...
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
The gospel of Jesus Christ demands a decision and a committal. It calls upon me to say, "Recognizing this as God's truth and as the call of Christ, I am going to give myself to it, come what may. I believe it, I will act upon it."
Truth Unchanged, Unchanging "The Test of a Christian"
The gospel has but one test...How do we stand with God?
WARNING
Jonathan Edwards’ preface to Joseph Bellamy’s True Religion Delineated, or, Experimental Religion, As Distinguished from Formality on one Hand, and Enthusiasm on the other, set in a Scriptural and Rational Light
…the nature of that religion which God requires of us, and must be found in us, in order to our enjoying the benefits of God’s favor…is a point of infinite consequence to every single person; each one having to do with God as his supreme judge, who will fix his eternal state, according as he finds him to be with or without true religion.
A.W. Tozer
Renewed Day by Day
These are things about which we cannot afford to be wrong; to be wrong is still to be lost and far from God.
That Incredible Christian
To the question "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30) we must learn the correct answer. To fail here is not to gamble with our souls: it is to guarantee eternal banishment from the face of God. Here we must be right or be finally lost.
WARNING II
A person is never the same after hearing the Gospel
Either his heart is hardened (Isaiah 6:9-10, John 12:37-41, Acts 28:25-27)
Or his heart is softened and he is drawn to Jesus by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14, 12:3)
Or his heart is broken and he is given a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10)
1 John 4:14, 5:11-12; Hebrews 2:3a
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?