Benefits of the Gospel

(REUPLOADED) This is the fourth and last part of The Doctrine of the Gospel Series.

Subject: The Benefits of the Gospel (Eph. 1:13-14)

Note: The goal of the saving Gospel of Christ is ultimately for God’s glory and not for the recipient’s benefit. (Eph. 1:6)

1. Material Prosperity — Some misconceptions have been around for ages that becoming a Christian equates to gaining material prosperity. But here’s the truth: the Gospel is primarily for our souls’ salvation to ensure its eternal state. In the Scripture, Jesus dealt with a man of prosperity and told him that the one that saves is to give up all of his possessions (Mark 10:27-29).
2. The Joy of Heaven and fear of Hell — Here is another example of a wrong perception of Gospel benefits. The motivation of the Gospel is the joy of having Jesus Christ and the gladness for being under His Lordship.
3. Antinomianism — It is a teaching that says that once saved, one is free from the rule of God’s law and is, therefore, no obligation to perform and obey the law. It is contrary to what Romans 8:6-8 says.
4. Neonomianism — Somewhat similar to Antinomianism, it is a belief that God has two wills. The first is in the Old Testament, where He governs His people under the law. But because it was not compelling enough, He established another will or covenant called the Gospel Covenant. According to this belief, now that we are in the New Testament, the second will wrap up all the Old Testament requirements and laws for one’s salvation into two: i.e., faith and repentance.

This belief, undoubtedly, is alarming!

5. Legalism — Very dogmatic; it is the opposite of Antinomianism beliefs. In Legalism, one can only get the grace of salvation if that person strongly, strictly embraces, and follow all the laws and church implementations.

Premise: The Gospel benefit is to enjoy God’s saving grace in the wholeness of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sinclair Ferguson (The Whole Christ) PP, 44 [“the benefits of the gospel (justification, reconciliation, redemption, adoption) were being separated from Christ, who is himself the gospel. The benefits of the gospel are in Christ. They do not exist apart from him. They are ours only in him. They cannot be abstracted from him as if we ourselves could possess them independently of him”]

Point: We cannot enjoy salvation apart from the person and character of Jesus Christ. The one who professed to be saved by the Gospel should see Christ himself as the benefit and that he shall not want. (Col. 1:13-20)

• It was a Scottish ecclesiastical dispute occasioned by the republication in 1718 of The Marrow of Modern Divinity (originally published in two parts in London in 1645 and 1649 by “E. F.” — generally believed to be a pseudonym for Edward Fisher).
• The doctrine has been declared as an Antinomian and the birth of the Free Offer Theology
• The main teachings are:
  1. It held that assurance was of the nature of faith
  2. It taught a universal atonement and pardon on the cross. (While this point was not explicitly discussed in the book, the Assembly considered it a necessary part of the book’s teaching that the universal offer of the Gospel was a warrant to each man to receive Christ. Thus, at this critical point, the whole question of the offer of salvation entered the discussion.)
  3. It taught that holiness was unnecessary to salvation
  4. It taught that the fear of punishment and the hope of reward is not allowed to be motives of obedience
  5. It held that the believer is not under the law as a rule of life

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia is correct when it finds these “ambiguities” in the Marrow thought:

1. Christ has taken upon Him the sins of all men, and being a deed of gift and grant unto all mankind is not a universal purchase of the death of Christ; therefore, it logically follows that—
2. — the saving deed of gift and grant of Christ to all mankind is effective only to the elect, i.e., an infallible redemption gifted to all secures only a portion of its objects.
3. “A deed of gift and grant to all is only an offer.” In other words, Christ is gifted to all; without that, he died for them.
4. Since the gift of Christ to all is not a benefit purchased by the atonement, the substance of the free offer of the gospel does not consist of Christ as Redeemer, but only as a Friend.

Point: The Gospel is not just a saving act but an act of establishing a covenant between Christ and the redeemed. Having Jesus Christ as personal Saviour and King of life is the benefit of the Gospel.

1. Justification — It means that God declares guilty sinners righteous through identification with Jesus. It is:
   • a gift from God— not something we achieve or earn,
   • a once and for all instantaneous event in our lives,
   • a change in our standing or position before God, not in our actual practice. However, if one is truly justified, their faith will produce works, but this is part of the process of sanctification, not justification.

Applied; Forgiveness of Sin and Righteousness of Christ (Col. 1:21-22; Rom. 4:3)

2. Reconciliation — means to exchange antagonism for friendship, bringing together those who have fallen out, and restore fellowship, harmony, or communion. Our sin separated us from God. As a result, we were unable to have any kind of relationship with Him. Now that we have been justified, however, the barrier that separated us has been removed. We are free to fellowship with God and enjoy all the pleasures that relationship includes.
3. Adoption — The magnitude of God’s gracious love towards us is seen in the fact that not only does God forgive our sins and allow us access to his presence, but He also treats us as his own children. As such, this means that we are given the full rights of God’s children, including being heirs of all God’s blessings.

John 1:12, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

4. Redemption — Christ’s death is to free His elects from the wrath of God and condemnation (Matt. 1:21).

Conclusion: The benefit of the Gospel is centred on the person and works of Jesus Christ and not on personal advancements.

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