The Gospel, The Converting Power of God

Scott Price

"For I not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,..." Romans 1:16 (MKJV)

Sometimes men look at vital things way out of focus. When it comes to issues of the gospel ministry and those involved, some turn it into a popularity contest. If you remember in the book of First Corinthians, Paul warned the people of their spiritual immaturity for playing preacher favorites; "....there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you say; I am of Paul, and I am of Appolos, and I am of Christ. Is Christ divided, was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (I Cor 1:11b-13).

Paul's concern was for the glory of God in the gospel of Christ. His focus was always off of man. Notice what he said in Galatians 1:10-12, "For now do I persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men?, for if I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren that the gospel that was preached after me was not after man. For neither received it from man, neither was I taught it from man, but by revelation of Jesus Christ."

People sometimes put focus on man rather than Christ. Even God's people, in their immaturity at times do this. Some of God's people have put preachers to such an elevated level; they seem to think they are above error. Some preachers themselves even tend to drift into this attitude. These things are unhealthy for the body of Christ. Some would even dare to go as far as dressing the "clergy" up in funny, plush, colorful outfits and giving them titles like "Reverend". These things are the residue left over from people who have wrong ideas about where the primary emphasis should be in the setting for worship. Even the way the church buildings and how the furnishings inside are set up, tend to give away the warped focus of what is of primary importance.

When it comes to the conversion of souls God indeed does use the means of preaching to communicate His gospel to His people. For the past two decades I have had exposure to sovereign grace ministries world-wide and have noticed a great deal of them put more emphasis on the preaching of the gospel, than the gospel of Christ itself. This is not a riddle, hair splitting, or me being picky. The Scripture no doubt does endorse, promote, encourage, and command preaching of the gospel, and shows it's vital part in conversion and the edification and growth of God's saints after conversion. The point not to be missed here is; the focus is not to be on who is preaching, or even the preaching itself, but rather what, or more appropriately WHO is being preached.

Paul also said, "For I am determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" I Cor 2:2. The gospel itself, by the power of the Spirit is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe. The question for starters is, do preachers make people believe? Another question to consider is; do preachers say anything different than Christ and the Apostles have said? Have they improved on what Christ and the Apostles have said? Can they? Are preacher’s feet so beautiful (Rom 10:15) that they feel they need to be bowed down to and perhaps have their feet kissed like people do the Pope? Kiss the Son! (Psalm 2:12).

Thank God for preachers. Thank God for preaching. Thank God for the gospel. Thank God for Christ who is the living Word/Gospel of God. Thank God for the Spirit who opens our eyes in regeneration so that we may see Christ. Let us continue to operate in the ministry of the gospel with our eyes on Christ, not on man. This should be our constant prayer since we are weak and often times tend to lean on the "arm of the flesh", thinking our way is better than God's way. The focus is Christ, not our spin on Him our fancy or glorious presentation of Him is. Christ must increase and we must decrease. Men are frail sinners. Pray for those that labor in the word. It is not an easy task. Follow them as they follow Christ.

Hearing The Voice of Christ In the Word of God
"My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me." John 10:27

Jesus Christ, the God-Man, speaks to His sheep directly by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the means of the word of God (the gospel). Christ Himself is the Word and is also the Truth. He is the language or logic of God. When His sheep are called by the gospel, they follow Christ, the Shepherd. The children of God do not hear an audible voice, but rather the truth of the gospel shines through to the mind of the hearer as it is preached. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17). It does not matter who is preaching it as long as it is preached. Be not confused hear and think I mean to say God converts a soul with a different or false gospel. The Lord only uses His truth in salvation (Rom 1:16-17, John 8:32).

The point is that it is the message that counts, not the messenger. The messenger does not improve the message by crafty speech, or fancy words (I Cor 1:12-31). It is not the delivery style of the messenger that matters. The truth of the gospel concerning Christ's Person and work is the issue. The Scripture says we only plant or water in evangelism and God alone gives the increase (I Cor 3:7). This is the wisdom of God in the conversion of His people. We should be careful to follow through on His command of the great commission to preach the gospel to all without exception and expect God to call out His sheep by name from the rest of the world.
What About Words in Black?

In case some reading this do not know, many Bible versions print the actual words that Christ spoke in red to distinguish them. These are called "Red Letter Editions". We often here folks say that words in the Bible printed in red are more important, somehow more special, or carry more authority than the rest of the Scripture when compared to the words printed merely in black. In some cases such ideas have come even from grace preachers. Let us look at this issue briefly to gather a greater appreciation for the God's word as a whole.

1) All of the Scripture is the word of God. It all carries authority. What Moses, Isaiah or John penned they wrote not of their own authority. The Apostle Paul did not create his own theology and doctrine. Peter's wittings do not have more or less authority than Isaiah, Paul, John, or Jesus. All the Scripture is given by inspiration of God, thus the whole Bible is the word of God. The words in black actually harmonize with the words in red because they all came from the inspiration of the same God.

2) The sum of all Scripture testifies of red; The life giving red blood of Christ. The whole Bible's message can be condensed down to the gospel of the Cleansing Stream of a one Blood Sacrifice, the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the gospel of grace. All the writers of Scripture wrote under inspiration and they all had one thing in common: Jesus Christ the Lord crucified, the central and preeminent theme of all Scripture.
Do not confuse the consistent message that points everything to Christ alone, the One who shed His precious blood. Life is in the merit of His blood alone. He Himself is The Word of God and letter's color makes no difference. Hear Him. Worship Him, even using the means of the words in black. The words, no matter what color, give all the glory to Him. Do not discredit God by downgrading or looking lower on the words in black. Meditate of them and thank Him instead!

Where is the Authority?
“..... when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Matthew 7:28-29

Many times since being converted I have been asked by a variety of folks: "What are you anyway?", referring to what denomination I was. People want to make a blanket judgment on you based on what denominational heading you fall under rather than what gospel you believe. Even my children have asked me what they should tell their friends at school "what we are" when they are asked. Folks also might ask if I am licensed to preach when they hear I am a minister, or if I am an "ordained" minister. Most of these people usually want to know under want authority we are operating under. We see what a lack of license or authority from the state church did for men like John Bunyan in the 1600's........ jail time, around 12 years of it.
Does authority to preach the gospel of Christ and Him crucified come from the state, a denominational headquarters or a religious hierarchy? Do we have to show a hand-me-down church pedigree from a "mother church" that links back to the apostles with no breaks in the chain, one church birthing another church? Is that where authority comes from? Most that claim to have such a chain, and many do, have many false gospel patches holding that chain together.

The Roman Catholics are the biggest boasters of such a system of authority, claiming Peter was the first Pope which links all the way to the present, anti-christ spirit of Pope John Paul. In this system the Scriptures, the very word of God, takes a back seat to the "authority of the church." Just what or where is the beginning or fountainhead of truth and what or where does the authority come from to declare it?

The word of God, wherein is contained the gospel of God's free grace is the only authority needed to declare the gospel. The authority is in the message, which concerns the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ! The authority is not in the messenger or who ordains the messenger but in the gospel message itself. The message is not bound to ecclesiastical bodies, committees, or governments. "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation...." Romans 1:16.

In the type of Baptist background I was involved with in my younger days (from birth to 3 months after my conversion at age 23) was called "Landmarkism". They had this idea that they were the only ones who had the only authority to preach, baptize, and have the Lord's Supper, as well as any other church function. Shortly after my conversion (from listening to the gospel on tape from preachers in various parts of the country and getting one-on-one preaching from a man in our church who was on his way out) there arose a situation that made me take a stand for the gospel in a way that made me leave. I found sadly that these specific type Baptists would rather have fellowship with anyone who agreed with their church doctrine, even if they were Arminian!

The Scripture as a whole tells us judge by the gospel. If we know Arminianism (salvation by works in part plus grace) is a false gospel we cannot have any religious fellowship with Arminians at all. What was confusing and inconsistent was, they would promote sovereign grace Baptists that has already died like A.W. Pink, C.H. Spurgeon, Dr. John Gill, and others in sermon quotes and in their newsletters, bulletins, etc., who would not agree at all with their church doctrine. But these Landmark Baptists, while claiming to hold to the doctrines of sovereign grace, would never have fellowship with any other sovereign grace Baptists who were presently living who had the same church views as Gill, Pink, and others.

The authority is in the gospel message. It is our starting point and basis of fellowship (Phil 1:5). No gospel, no salvation. No gospel, no fellowship. Who cares if a person agrees with me on church doctrine but rejects the gospel? Do I have any ground of fellowship with such a person who believes a false gospel? Of course not! The same goes with eschatology or political views. I cannot look past their false gospel and fellowship on the basis of secondary items.

I believe in Presuppositionalism (presupposing that what the Bible says is true simply because it is God's word) and I can go ahead and rely on the Bible for my authority rather than ecclesiastical bodies. The church has it's place and I am a loyal member of one, but if a church has no true gospel that church has not authority at all, none. In other words I do not have to go on an exhaustive hunt through church history to seek confidence that I am linked to the apostles when I see clearly that I presently hold to the very same gospel they did. Should I spend years studying fossils, dinosaurs, and archeology, so I can have confidence the Evolutionists are not right? No! God says they are wrong and that's what counts. Same goes with the gospel and my confidence in the authority of it.

No gospel, no authority. If I have the same gospel as the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ, and the apostles of the New Testament then that is enough authority for me. Denominational names or titles mean nothing. The gospel of Christ that glorifies the only true God is what matters and that is where the authority is vested. God's gospel is not bound and should not be hoarded or suppressed. It is absolute truth on it's own. His gospel is an everlasting gospel that is more powerful and even more important than we are. We do not give it authority but it is where the authority is. Thank God for this truth. Many have been burned at the stake for it, under various denominational titles and some even in simply nameless churches and fellowship groups that met in caves or houses throughout history. Many times they were hunted down and killed by self-righteous religious men who claimed to have the only authority, but hated the gospel God's people believed.

God is the author of the everlasting gospel and the author has the authority. In what authority do you trust, that which comes from man or that which comes from God and His gospel?

In Full Support of "Negative" Campaign Ads
Do not get too excited. I am not talking politics here. The Scripture, God's inspired and holy word, has in it negative campaign ads. These come in the form of warnings and expose', contrasting light and darkness. It is no accident that God does this on purpose for His glory. He is wise in the use of warnings and exposing. These Biblical contrasts are embraced and loved by the minds of God's people. The challenge and charge of every gospel preacher is to do the very same thing God does in His word. But in a day of "political correctness" even among those who claim to hold to the Doctrines of Sovereign Grace there is a disdain of God's servants when they expose error. It gets folks nervous, especially those who tiptoe and tolerate Arminianism as a legitimate gospel and count themselves and family members saved under such a false gospel. Remember God's ways are not ours. Salvation is of the Lord. It is now and always was because it is authors by the God who cannot lie and does not change.

Glorifying the Word of the Lord
"And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Acts 13:48

The Problem
Man, mis-handling the Bible, would have the word of the Lord and the glory of it to take a back seat to man's opinion about it. Man will distract their listeners from very simple and clear teachings of the word of God, while claiming to protect the "spiritual aspect" of their gospel. They divorce the mind or intellect from their religion, fearing that any thing that leads to rational thinking with the intellect is contrary to faith. They deny the clear promises of God like "..but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children forever...." in the latter half of Deut 29:29.

This emphasis leads to vague, cloudy, uncertain, undefined, shallow, relative, and irrational teachings that keep people in the dark. This mind-set seemingly has become their pride and comfort zone. Many have written us here to say that our doctrine is too dogmatic and that nothing can be that certain, clear, and sure. They say we have nailed things down too tight and we are too black or white. In doing this they invent paradox and mystery where it is not, in order to make excuses for their love of the non-existent "gray areas".

These problems are clearly seen in false religion but too many times we find these ideas creeping in the back door of our true gospel churches. Unless these bad teachings are exposed for what they are, in time will gather speed and strength doing much harm. The negative results are many, primarily lack of growth, edification, and assurance, not to mention a too small of a view of God's precious promises and the power of His truth.

A Call for Clarity
God's people are called to sound a clear, distinct declaration as we sound the warning trumpet (I Corth 14:8). We are not to have people walk away after hearing us and say, "I wonder what he meant by that?" Some preachers and theologians preach many, many times and still people wonder if they believe in a particular and effectual atonement. I see this quite often. This is one reason why I do not get too thrilled over John Calvin. Many books have been written on the topic of whether or not Calvin believed and taught universal atonement or limited atonement. My point here is, if he was clear enough about this very important topic then there would be no question or wondering about it.

The word of the Lord (or the gospel), which our text above mentions, is clear. If it seems cloudy, it is because man has made it cloudy by adding to or taking away from it. Many think if we can just trim off the rough edges of the gospel of absolute free grace of salvation conditioned on Christ alone, it will be a little easier for others to swallow. There are various techniques they use to do this. They think the offense of the cross can be cloaked, talked around, tamed down, or distracted from. The offense of the cross must stand! Man's problem by nature is bad enough and many make it worse by seeking to put mystery where mystery is not since the Bible contains clear written truths.

The word of the Lord preached, heard, and understood by the power of the Spirit always results in an effectual work that "glorifies the word of the Lord." A message void of the offense of the cross will result in the glory of man. There you find a false gospel.

Man's Natural Ways Fall Short
There are at least four types of revelation:

1) God in creation.
2) Law written on the conscience.
3) Written word of God can be read and heard using human knowledge.
4) Supernatural and spiritual revelation of God to the sinner as the sinner finally sees, understands, and believes the gospel (word) through the new birth.

Men and women by nature cannot believe the gospel by looking at the stars no matter what claims televangelist D. James Kennedy makes. People do not believe the gospel as a result of introspection or feelings of guilt by their natural conscience. Man is blind in his natural state and cannot see or understand the shining light of God's word, so as to convert him. Man, through his own wisdom and understanding cannot find God by searching as if He could finally merit salvation by study. That would be salvation conditioned on another work of man.

The Lord has a very high view of His word. He delights to have His word seen and glorified, and that is exactly what He does for all His children as He reveals Himself to them in a sovereign work in the new birth. After that, mystery and ignorance which was there before hearing and believing the gospel, is gone by God's revelation of His word to their minds
(I Corth 2:7-16, II Corth 4:3-6, Eph 1:9, I John 5:20).

Lazy Man's Mysticism
Some of the biggest offenders of the teaching of the word being glorified is the Hyper-Calvinist who claims most of the elect will be regenerated and go to heaven without believing the gospel. How then the word of the Lord be glorified in their hearts. These people are those that are anti-evangelistic and anti-missionary. They deny the responsibility and/or accountability of all who hear the gospel to believe it. They claim the gospel is only for temporal joy in this lifetime and plays no part as a means used in eternal salvation. These people take their mystical religion further and claim a child of God can have no certainty or assurance of salvation. Their conclusion on assurance is a by-product of rejecting the word of God.

Contrary to what they say, the Bible says that these things (gospel doctrine in God's word) are written that you may know you have eternal life (I John 5:13). Many religions that claim to fall under the category of evangelical Christian despise doctrine, theology, knowledge, understanding, dogmatism, orthodoxy, definitions, rationality, distinctions, explanations, assurance, absolute truth, or anything else that lends itself to be concise or clear. All these things seem to eventually flush out the ignorant hypocrite and expose him or at least challenges him to think more than he wants to. When they are made to think they call us hateful for clearing away the smoke and haze to get to the bottom of important gospel issues.

Many of these are professional clergymen who attended schools, full of teachers that are fools. They passed their hatred for the clear truth to young impressionable minds, molding an ignorant student who is uncertain of things but is trained to pass it down. The blind are leading the blind and mass-producing false prophets to preach false gospels. So, we see two extremes of fools. One is a sophisticated and wrongly educated fool and the other is a stupid fool who looks at nothing objectively and suppresses knowledge that might pass anywhere near his highly guarded small intellect. Both seem quite satisfied and proud of their style of foolishness as they elevate their form of mysticism over the clear biblical revelation of God's word. In both these camps sincerity replaces truth and man's wisdom is seen to be the height of foolishness.

The Various Ways
God is glorified in, by, and through His word. God has ordained that His word be declared, proclaimed, spoken, read, taught, explained, written, and dispensed to benefit His purpose. We are take advantage of every known means to communicate the word of God. This glory spoken of in our text is specifically revealed to our heart (mind, will, and affection) as the gospel comes in the power of the Spirit (II Corth 4:6).

Mystical based religions would have you believe the head and the heart are two different things. Nonsense! In this separation, an excuse has been made for the acceptance of false gospels and a blurring of the distinct lines God has drawn in His word concerning what the gospel is and what it is not. Those promoting this idea say that a person believes with their heart but does not understand it in their head. Are they saying a person's head is not a part of a person that matters? Are they saying that things go on in the heart that by-pass the head? Are they saying the head does not take in spiritual things as God works in the heart? Do they mean mind when they say head? Do they mean a person does not exercise their mind when their believe? The vital question is what does this wrong separation of head/heart do to the relationship and importance that God, in His word, puts on knowledge and understanding? The answer to this question has a direct effect on our topic of glorying in the word of the Lord. The idea of this separation is everywhere in society but seems to have a stronghold in religion.

We know the Holy Spirit is the one who gives a spiritual understanding so that we may know God (I John 5:20). It is nice to be at least intellectually understood by the English words that come from your mouth that go to the ear of the one you are preaching to and they realize that what you are telling them is altogether something distinctly different then what they already believe. They may not believe what you are saying but at least you have told it to them clear enough that they see a difference. If they believe a false gospel and do not see a difference in your gospel then you need to lovingly highlight those differences until they at least hear the meanings of the words you are saying. Are you too ashamed of the truth to make distinctions?
God in His wisdom has seen fit to use His word, His gospel, and His doctrine. He reveals things in His word about Himself and what He has done. Not just general things only, but specifics that relate to His glorious redemptive character as He saves sinners in a just and holy manner. His signature is spelled out all through the pages of His word. His name is declared and defined throughout His word in relation to what He has done as well as who He is. His word is important to Him because it is His record about Himself. His word shows things about Him that cannot be seen anywhere else. "Thus saith the Lord" is not just space-filling words. He is the Word made flesh. Never downplay, discredit, and dishonor His word or doctrine. Have you glorified His word? Has God been glorified in your heart through His word?
His Name Demands His Person and Work to be Undivided

For years I have heard many accuse some preachers of preaching the WORK of Christ more than or opposed to the PERSON of Christ and vise-versa. The Lord Jesus Christ is undivided in His Person and work the proof of this is His very Name(s). His names are in direct reference to His work. So, in other words, when Christ is referred to by one of His names it referrers to this specific Person doing a specific work, which His Name defines.

Lord
He of course is Lord in His Divine nature as being the eternal Son of God, but His Lordship in reference to His work is one of being a Mediator. He reigns by virtue of His Person and work as a Mediator of the New Covenant. Grace reigns through righteousness and He who established a perfect righteousness is considered King of Righteousness. One of His names is "The Lord Our Righteousness". Now this is a no-brainer to say His name is related to with His work.

Jesus
In the Old Testament the name Joshua, who was a type of Christ, in Hebrew means Savior or deliverer. In the New Testament we have the Name of Jesus, which means the same thing. In Matthew 1:21 it says: "You shall call His name Jesus because He shall save His people from their sins". If He did not have the purpose to do that work He would not have that name.

Christ
God chose, anointed, and sent the Son of God to do a specific work. He is the Anointed Messiah chosen and sent of God. That is what His Name means. He mentioned all throughout His earthly ministry that "His time" or "hour" was not come yet. But finally the most important event in history happened as the Scripture says: "The hour is come". The Lord Jesus Christ would voluntarily mount the cross to finish the work in victory, showing the full splendor of His Name!
Let us not say His person and work is separated. He was named after what He came to do. We worship Him as a result. Thank Him for His grace and be determined NOT to know anything except Christ AND Him crucified!

Very Important Question About Distinctions
I was recently asked a very important question from someone who was not a member of our congregation about our church's distinctives and thought I would share it with folks. I also sent it to as many in my area who claim to believe and preach "sovereign grace" in the Cincinnati area:

The question: "What is the different about what Gospel of Grace Church believes than any other church in the greater Cincinnati area who claim to believe in the doctrines of God's free and sovereign grace?"

The answer: The major difference that I can speak to is on the "offense of the cross". We believe and teach that the gospel only allows one righteousness and actually opposes and does not tolerate any other forms of righteousness. We boldly and openly reject all false gospels of Pelegianism, Semi-Pelagianism, Arminianism, Freewillism, or any other form of self-righteous, works-religion and readily defend the one and only true gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. The only acceptable righteousness that meets the perfect standard of God is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed and received by God-given faith. This righteousness is worked out, established and brought in solely by the Lord Our Righteousness, Christ Jesus Himself. He did this in His effectual life and death as the Covenant Surety and Representative of His elect people. This enables God to be both a just God and Savior, the Just and justifier of those who trust His Blessed Son.

To tolerate any other message is to void the offense and allow sinners to boast and glory in some merit of their own. Since God will not share His glory with another we are careful to maintain the truth as it is in Christ, as God gives us the grace to do so. We do not claim conversion under a false gospel, but call for repentance of such blasphemous ideas. This specifically means to claim our former religion under a false gospel, before hearing and believing the authentic gospel, as dung and filthy rags and we look to Christ alone as our only hope. This is Biblical conversion.
That is the major difference between us and any so-called "sovereign grace church" in the greater Cincinnati area: We cannot compromise in the area of the offense of the cross. It boils down to Christ and Him crucified effectually as our only glory VS all other false ways being tolerated or accepted as legitimate forms of Christianity. By God's grace GGC will continue to deliver this message with the utmost love and care for souls. If there is any other church in our area within comfortable driving distance that holds to these blessed truths it is news to me. As pastor of GGC in Ross, our church longs for the day to find such an individual or group to fellowship with in the Cincinnati area.