The Gospel Explained. --R.C. Sproul
We are not of the World!
Deity indwelling men!
Everything else is preliminary to this.
Incarnation, atonement, justification, regeneration;
what are these but acts of God preparatory to the work of invading
and the act of indwelling the redeemed human soul?
-AW Tozer
1. There are two Gospels. The first gospel is a gospel of works, a secular, humanistic, material Gospel embraced by the citizens of the City of Man. This 'better-Gospel' exist entirely within the reality of the present moment found in human perception, ideas and imagination which together are able to create genuine, sincere, belief in a compelling story promising unending life beyond the grave.
2. The second gospel lights a narrow path leading to the City of God with Biblical Truth. The Biblical Gospel of God is found entirely in Christ Jesus alone and lives sealed on the pages and in the words of Scripture, black and white, untouched by the winds of time, undisturbed by tides of change, made alive in man by the Holy Spirit of God, by Grace alone.
3. All men are defined by and have secured eternal life in the moment of conception, this unending life is found in the life created by God now dwelling in the soul of man which is 'The Image of God' of which the Bible clearly speaks. After conception, the soul is born into this world dwelling in an earthly tent which is the body of flesh. Together the soul which is eternal, the creation of God, specifically God the Holy Spirit, and the flesh of man which God fashioned from the dust of the ground are combined and bound together as human life. All men and women alive today share in the fact they are descendants that can trace their origin back to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve who were created by God. The nature of man today remains the same, eternal soul and earthly flesh born together as one.
4. There are two gospels that exist today. The first Gospel is defined by genuine sincere belief in the mainstream and man-centered idea universally known by its signature tenant which is eternal salvation is the work of independent human moral agency expressed as a series of personal decisions made over the course of a lifetime. Human decisions with regard to matters of eternal life are personal, volitional choices which bind together to create in the dimensions of the human mind material faith. This includes personal faith that is able to believe there is only a material, physical existence and nothing more, excluding ideas of life after death. The better-Gospel enters into the human mind, reflected in words that are able to cast shadows of light that awaken the human soul, a soul born having innate knowledge of good and evil, words that are able to draw close to the independent human nature possessing the freedom to will and to act, accepting into the working of the mind the series of ideas communicated in the words of the better-Gospel. The decision is made in the mind to carefully consider the words, not fully grasping the weight of the consequence how engaging with these ideas profoundly and forever change how the mind understands and knows God, the Author of Creation. The better-Gospel enters the mind by means of words about ideas that come into existence as a construction of the mind of man, ideas and thoughts independent and foreign to the nature and mind of God, the living Holy Spirit of God, the Creator of all things. These life changing words enter the mind starting as a simple invitation to reason, question and believe, "Did God actually say?" Lies formed by the words crafted by the Father of Lies, the Enemy of our Soul. Free-will allows new born belief found in the words describing the better-Gospel message to create faith which does exist in fact, only limited to the material dimensions of the physical mind. Once living in the mind, carved in the neural pathways the message of the better-Gospel is free to be grasped and held tightly, now being a personal possession authored by genuine faith found in the power believed to be in the words of the better-Gospel message. The physical nature of an individual's mind is quickly changed in how the better-Gospel message is perceived and understood, internally the message is allowed to become the object of veneration, an image carved by the imagination of the mind, now having a material form having come into a physical existence created by the enticing words and ideas of the better-Gospel story.
5. The second Gospel is narrower, distinct and beyond the reach of the hand of man. In the Biblical Gospel, salvation is granted by the Grace of God alone, to a select chosen race from all nations and corners of the earth, a chosen people, a holy priesthood, appointed to salvation in God by the predetermined will of God alone and this for reasons of His own good pleasure. Salvation in the Biblical Gospel is a gift given by the means of the perfect sacrifice which removed all sin staining in the soul of man, by the effectual power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ alone. Each Gospel is distinct and separate, one conceived in and born residing in man, living in the body of flesh together with the sin stained soul and the second born into existence by the breath of life and the Author of all creation, God the Holy Spirit.
6. The Gospel of Man does not preserve the eternal soul of man in safety, able to reside forever living with God in peace dwelling in the radiant glory of Heaven, God's Throne Room. In contrast the Gospel of Jesus Christ transcends all we know or ever will know, allowing entrance into Heaven free of all sin, each person a descendant in the line of Adam, each chosen to be adopted as a son or daughter of God, heirs and coheirs with Christ Jesus. The Gospel of this world with its foundation resting on volitional free-will is unable to resolve sin whereas the Biblical Gospel, perfectly framed in the words of the Apostle Paul's writings, is able to bring about True Salvation, this through the words of Scripture free from the shadows present in the mind of man, made crystal clear, full of life, by God the Holy Spirit which awakens the words of Scripture to bring forward the very mind of God, to reveal the exact process and method used to transform each individual person to be holy as God is Holy, thus transforming each individual to be a member of God's one Universal Church. Each individual chosen by Christ and ordained by God the Father then abides forever robed in Christ's righteousness, gathered together with all the redeemed of God, forever worshiping God who is Righteous, Pure and Holy, three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit who together are God - one in substance, the Creator of all things in Heaven above and Earth below: past, present and future.
7. Paul in Romans describes the process of salvation to be first resolving all sin in the work of the cross of Christ and in his resurrection from the dead which followed his Holy sacrifice of life and blood poured out. Next sin is exchanged for righteousness granted to those chosen to be Christ's own by the single, unified will of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit before time, before creation, in eternity past. Now declared righteous, justified, free of sin's power, the signature tenant of the Biblical Gospel described by Paul is for the Holy Spirit to then regenerate each chosen individual, adding to man's nature a new spirit, alive as God is alive today this day, Born Again by God in what is understood to be Biblical Regeneration. This process is also described as new life in Christ or simply to be "Born Again." The gift of the spirit is given to all members of Christ's Church, The Bride of Christ, then in response to being transformed by being born in spirit each individual chosen, yields their eternal soul in submission to the newly regenerated unstained spirit now residing within making them Christ's own, slaves of righteousness, to then be living testaments of God's Love, alive spiritually, having true God breathed, spirit generated faith, which is saving Faith, declaring openly with understanding that Jesus Christ is Lord.
8. This transformation of God is signature to Biblical Salvation and in fact renders each individual, over the course of a lifetime, pure and holy to the standard of Holiness which defines God's own nature present in each of the three persons of the Godhead: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, together one. New birth is new life in Christ, new life now abiding in the present together alongside the eternal soul stained by sin, both for this life dwelling together in the tent of the body of flesh. The eternal soul is then refined by the work of man's regenerated spirit which is holy in the present moment and full of life not being stained by sin, a new creation. The soul, stained by sin, is then purified in the fire of the perfect Love of God over the course of a lifetime, this granted to each true chosen believer being prepared in this life for Glorification when both spirit and soul pass from this material world and are immediately taken up to Heaven as one into the present Kingdom of Christ to see the face of Christ as he is, the first born of God. The Son of God and Man. The end result of personal sanctification is holiness, the process of which Paul explains in great detail in his writings which are bound together in the collection of the books he authored by inspiration and through the revelation of the Holy Spirit of God, words which are today preserved in the pages of Scripture, the Holy Bible. Together, in Christ, soul and spirit pass from life-to-life which is the consummation of God Authored Salvation and is simply God's gift provided to each chosen one by the sacrifice and work of Christ alone. The body of flesh spent, soul and spirit are then forever glorified, dwelling in a new tent, Christ himself has prepared in advance, to be alive, living in Heaven, Christ's Kingdom. These garments prepared by Christ are new, made new for life to be lived in the Glory of Heaven, Wedding Garments worthy of the Marriage Table of the Lamb, white as snow, made for worshiping together with all of those chosen and redeemed, together gathered from across the span of all time, worshiping as the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, eternally before the Throne of God, at the feet of Christ Jesus.
9. These two positions are mutually exclusive of each other. The broadly accepted Gospel of salvation found in the decision of mind found in man's free-will clearly is not like the Gospel of Salvation present in the transformation of man's nature to be righteous as God is righteous. This righteousness is created in us by the same supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit in this life, in the present unfolding of His Creation in this time, by the very same power and authority that was present in the beginning of all things, in the work of Creation. Spiritual birth is presented in the Biblical account, in the book of Genesis which describes the seven-day creation and the supernatural power of God at work in the creation of Adam and the breath of life imparted to the father of the race of man. Adam in the beginning was created having a body of material flesh, eternal soul and living spirit; the first man of the human race from whom all, each one born today extends the line of descendants beginning in Adam, the fountainhead of mankind. In Adam all share in what is common to all men, his created nature, "The Image of God" which is the eternal soul and the body of flesh being dust gathered from the ground and Adam's sin which destroyed man's spirit first created by God the Holy Spirit. In Adam man's spirit once lived able to abide in eternal fellowship with God's Spirit, one with each other the same in substance which was the work of God created in the beginning for one purpose, to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God is Spirit and must be worshiped in spirit.
10. The Holy Spirit is not the exclusive attendant of a small group of elite, transcendent saints, select and set apart as spiritual guides being Prophets, Messengers of God or a Lateran Council. Men such as these who present themselves as having gifted insight into the eternal realm are but self-appointed opportunistic purveyors of a man-centered Gospel which they in their minds have conceived. Blind to God's inspired revelation preserved as infallible Biblical truth found in the words of the inspired authoritative teaching found in the book of Romans, they instead boldly proclaim a better-Gospel whose designed intent is to influence, control, and direct the eternal destiny of unregenerate souls in the place of God.
11. Each one of us must be familiar and know what is the depth of darkness and absence of Biblical light found in the black pit present in the free-will proclamation of a better-Gospel. This knowledge and ability to contrast these two Gospels is required so as not to be destroyed by ignorantly becoming a victim of the seductive nature of the deception living in material free-will.
12. This better-Gospel tale begins as a well reasoned appeal which is presented with the correct intensity of sincere emotional force that is specifically designed to yield a personal decision to accept the carefully crafted and polished gospel story that generates sincere belief in the personal decision to invite Christ to be Lord over a person's life and Savior of their soul. A subtle and profound deception.
13. At the completion of the polished gospel monologue the invitation is given for a person to exercise their free-will, to recite an incantation used to initiate and invoke within themselves saving faith. To the purveyors of this message the personal decision to believe is all that is required and is valid proof of eternal salvation in Christ. Sincere belief is the only correct response to the better words preached by the free-will Evangelist in that man's free-will to believe is the core tenant of this better-Gospel message. This Gospel message is a series of ideas bound together by the work of man-centered free-will. Volition brings into existence real, sincere, physical material belief. From belief, faith is born, both conceived by free-will, together they proceed as one to then take possession of eternal salvation. Salvation found in the idea of a universal invitation of God extended to all men to grant Christ the right to pass into the heart of man's being, his soul, to then take the seat of authority at the center of all human life which from conception is found in the eternal soul of man, and is then allowed by man's free-will to rule and abide, this being a creation conceived by the decision of mind and in the power of man's will to save the human soul.
14. The gospel presented by these enlightened guides is but a thought or an idea that all men and women will be held to account personally for their response to the message of the Universal Call of God to accept their better-Gospel which is found in an unrestricted offer of Eternal Salvation extended by God to all people. All that is required for this better-Gospel to have its required effect is to believe sincerely that the tale is true and not to question from where the power of this idea of eternal salvation imagined is derived. These are echoes of the voice heard by Eve when asked to reason, question and believe, "Did God actually say ..."
15. These free-will Evangelists are able to justify their bold claim of having privileged right over lesser men's souls by reason of the gospel they have embraced and actively proselytize. Their right to orchestrate people's lives is derived from a tightly held and sincere belief that all men possess intrinsic, free, independent will which each individual person controls and which they, the messengers, having the same free-will, freely have the right to reason with, influence and finally direct each individual to make a personal decision to accept their story of salvation by means of their carefully crafted Gospel message. In their better-Gospel, free-will is put forward as the center, the very core of their system of reasoning and argument being an incontestable presupposition or immutable fact which serves to provide the unmovable bedrock that is the foundation of their message proclaimed.
16. Clearly free-will in this message, this better-Gospel, is a concept that has been deeply confused with what in reality is actual living and true human free-will which does exist, only in the very narrow and limited domain of human existence, strictly confined to each moment lived in the present day-to-day decisions pertaining to realities of life. Life is a series of mundane decisions arranged in lines of simple pursuits which are achieved by the result of choices made and lived out over the course of a lifetime, life expended over years. Choices are made in response to changes in the construct of material existence in time which is confined to this world and limited to the domain of the human sphere of understanding apart from Christ. In Christ, His will becomes our will by virtue of the regenerated spirit to which we are then held as slaves of a single will: Christ's. We are made slaves of righteousness, righteousness entirely foreign to our own nature born in us as descendants of the line of Adam.
17. Separate from earthly reality, in this gospel-tale Evangelist present the idea that human free-will has great transcending power. Human volition is said to have the power to transform their story of a better-gospel proclaimed into eternal life and a saving reality, this without any Biblical framework derived from Scriptural truth. The decision of a person to change their mind in how they understand the idea of salvation and then believe is not new or a freshly pressed idea, instead this idea having been born originally in Eve was the product of a human free-will decision, processed by the workings of the human mind, processed to create knowledge of good and evil, created within the limits of the physical material world, independent from the spirit of God, conceived in the present moment of time. The decision to believe is in fact true specific to individual understanding present in the workings of physical tissue and the neural pathways of the mind. A free-will decision is simply conceived, developed and born onto the vast plain of the human mind outstretched, never escaping this earthly realm, checked by the limits of a human imagination. Sin.
18. This better-Gospel and subsequent personal decision in this unfolding narrative is always recognized specific to their understanding of God, by God without objection, and why not? Sincere volitional personal belief is all the validation needed to secure Eternal salvation, this decision formed by personal free-will in their system of belief is a clear reflection of God's will and Universal Call. These free-will Evangelist go on to extend the power of man's free-will further to consume God's into their own and to transform the two wills into one, in complete harmony and agreement knowing both are necessary to give their claimed better-Gospel authority beyond the terrestrial sphere.
19. The sum of the spiritual guide's common belief describes first how man's free-will grants the request of Christ who is God to have unbarred and free access to the heart of their being, their soul. Christ is allowed to enter into this heart, the soul and then second for God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit together to open wide the Heavenly doors to the Celestial Kingdom granting entrance to all in response to a personal decision actually living in human imagination.
20. Not as well published and promoted but equally true is a simple fact this conversion of mind is only true as long as the same power of free-will does not go astray and change the decision of mind, evict Christ, and turn away abruptly to openly reject the story of God's Universal Call and offer of eternal life to all men. Their gospel story abandoned and rejected in this man-centered belief system is understood to mean that by rejecting the message and to no longer believe is to reject Eternal Salvation which was brought into existence by the act of human free-will which in this better-Gospel holds the keys to the doors of heaven or the chains of hell and life beyond the grave. This process of accepting, falling away, backsliding and rejecting Jesus is real to those who first believe in the power of free-will and is often a pattern repeated over the course of a brief lifetime which is entirely consistent with the sincere personal belief, salvation is an expression of the personal power of free-will to control the destiny of the eternal soul, either heaven or hell.
21. Now the truth, hard and cold, this "better" gospel does nothing to resolve the eternal issue that must be addressed by each and every person in this life which is all men are spiritually dead and that this state of being defined: dead spiritually, is common to all men and women born in this world, born of the flesh having come from the seed of Adam. The one issue that must be resolved in this brief life is how to find the correct and right way to resolve, eliminate and free each man's eternal soul from the bondage of sin. Sin is real and does have great and eternal power, far greater power than a tale of power present in the story of man's free-will salvation.
22. Sin has great eternal power, it is able to rightly condemn the eternal soul of man to live forever under the burden of sin's curse which is separation from the holy, separation from acceptance by, personal communion with and Worship of the One Holy God: forever. Sin was born into existence by one act of man’s free-will, by the work of our father Adam choosing to reject God's law and disobey God’s commandment. This one act resulted in the immediate, instantaneous spiritual death of Adam which is profound in that spiritual death has been passed down through all succeeding generations to have all men and women today born lacking the holy nature which is a living spirit, which is Holy by nature and like God, is Holy. All men descending from Adam are born spiritually dead, in-fact spiritless, yet they are born alive having at the same time an eternal soul born in like nature as Adam which is known to all as 'The Image of God'. Man is now born alive, an eternal living soul and body of flesh created from the dust, now together a living being, together the race of man, the human race, born of Adam, alive in the present day in each one of us.
23. Great mercy. Adam, the man of flesh, corrupted by sin was yet sealed by the Holy Spirit of God forever created to be the image bearer of God which is sealed in man's nature from the moment of conception. From the moment of conception all men possess life forever having an eternal living soul.
24.In contrast to the absolute Holiness of God, sin or the willful rejection of God's commandments or law, as described in the words of Scripture, stands alone as the ultimate barrier to reconciliation and the elimination of the necessary separation presently existing between God and man. Sin changed man's nature and was the cause for Adam and his wife Eve to be cast away from God's presence by reason of God's Righteous Judgment, Mercy and Grace. Sin's violence against The Holiness of God has created an eternal separation between God who is Holy and the rebellious, sin stained, eternal soul of man.
25. The point of this outpouring of words is clearly define the magnitude of contrast between the unapproachable light of the one Holy God and man who literally has no ability or power to overcome the power of sin present in the fabric of his being. Sin's curse is unmoved by any act of man apart from Christ, or by the decision of a free-will in man which is powerless with regard to sin because the nature and soul of man is not holy, not holy to the standard of the definition of the word Holy which is Jesus who is God. Instead, through all the generations there exists in all men born of Adam an eternal sin stained soul, bound together with corrupted flesh and empty of and having a void that was once filled by a living spirit which was holy. All men are spiritually dead today, yet in the beginning man's spirit was wonderfully alive and holy by God's standard of Holiness, man's first breath was three together; spirit, soul and flesh, created by God, being life and first breath to Adam.
26. The separation between sinful man and Holy God must always exist by definition to preserve man's soul eternally alive, still able to be regenerated and made pure by the Holy Spirit. This is the common Grace of God displayed to all men. Sin by nature as it approaches the presence of God is consumed in the fire of the Holiness of God which is illustrated in the sin offerings of the Old Testament. In order to please God and stand in His presence man must be Holy as God is Holy with no stain of sin, washed white as snow, perfect by God's standard of Holiness. God who is Spirit at the same time must be then worshiped in spirit and that spirit again must be equally Holy to the one standard of Holiness which is God. God is The Holy Spirit. Stop for a moment and think about this true and perfect fact: God is The Holy Spirit.
27. Sin is man's present dilemma, it stands as the one single blow that destroyed all holiness in man and today crushes all hope to ever secure eternal life beyond the grave without becoming the very object of God's eternal Judgment and Wrath. God is Holy and salvation is not offered freely or universally to all men but is reserved to all who have in truth resolved the offense present between man and God which is sin. In order to approach and be in the presence of the One: God is One; True: God is Truth; Holy God requires Holiness which man does not possess in any form, degree or level and this fact combined with the fact that there is no other way to be present in God's Heaven and Throne Room but to be pure, brilliantly white, washed clean of all sin is the message of Good News presented in the words of Scripture. This Gospel is powerful, eternal and able to save our soul to reside forever in the Throne Room of the One Living God, who is Holy: The Biblical Gospel resides in The Word of God which is received into our minds by both hearing and reading. The result is that we are transformed by the renewal of our mind, that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Stories of free-will and asking Jesus into your heart do not change the nature of sinful man into the required holy and sinless man, like Adam who was alive having a living holy spirit by nature, this before Adam's free-will decision to sin against God's command and law and the instantaneous result which was spiritual death.
28. Good News, Jesus Christ, a man, fully man resolved this division in that He was also God, the same Holy God; together, 100% man and 100% God, both Holy, sinless concurrently in undivided unity of being. Both Holy eternally and from conception, the God-Man. Christ is the Author of man's Eternal Salvation. Resurrection: His and ours, our one hope, promise and assurance of Eternal Life living in the presence of God who is Holy.
29. Independent free-will specific to the decision of eternal salvation is beyond the ability of man's soul to choose: yes or no, and does not exist being a false narrative used to explain away the truth that all men are absolutely and completely subject to the pure, holy, perfect living will of God who commands all life in the heavens above and the earth below, God the Author of Creation. The construct of secular thought that man has innate free-will is a worldly system of reasoning that is more correctly an open, blatant renunciation of the power of the Holy Spirit of God breathing life into the first man Adam in the work of creation. Adam the first man was a perfect complete God formed being without sin. Three constituent parts formed together as one perfect man: spirit, soul and flesh - Adam.
30. This fiery rebellion born in the imagination of man is a vocal repudiation of the immutable fact that man, the crown of creation, a created being, is subservient to God, having an infinitely inferior standing when compared to the designer and creator of all life. God who from nothing brought into existence all creation and life, simply by His spoken word with no expense of energy on His part, eternal self-existent aseity. God created man in his own image having the same eternal nature as God which is Holy. God then set man apart to rule over nature having both a living spirit and eternal soul dwelling in a body of flesh, which together was God breathed. Man was first sealed with a God given holy spirit, made holy so as to share in the fellowship of spirit with God as clearly described in the early chapters of Genesis.
31. As a direct consequence of sin the holy spirit in man that provided the common bond with God's spirit which is Holy, died. Spiritual death immediately changed the original nature of man into two constituent parts, fallen man: eternal sin stained soul and flesh created from the dust of the earth ending man's access to and personal fellowship in like spirit with God. Man, dead in spirit, was cast out from God's presence, cast out of the Garden of Eden changed ontologically: eternal soul and living flesh never more to have personal fellowship with Holy God in spirit and truth, forever separated by sin. This is not the end, but only the beginning.
32. But the Love, Grace and Mercy of God present together with His Righteousness Judgement and Wrath provisioned a way, the only way for man to be restored to eternal fellowship with God, a great salvation. This salvation comes by means of the regeneration of man's spirit, establishing reconciliation and restored fellowship with God. This came to us at great cost and sacrifice to God and is established and found exclusively in Christ Jesus, God's only Son conceived in flesh, the flesh of Adam having been born of a woman. Jesus the second Adam. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
33. By the Grace of God the eternal soul of man has been preserved through the generations to this present time having been sealed with the signature image of God uniquely defining his soul. Man was sealed, born forever into existence, by the supernatural breath of life which came from God the Holy Spirit. This image of God in every man is the same eternal image God imparted to the man Adam at creation.
34. When the body of flesh returns back to the dust from which it came, the soul of man continues to live beyond the grave carrying forward Adam's original sin. Original sin present in every thread of the fabric of man's eternal soul is why there remains a necessary separation between the perfect Holiness of God and man who to the extent of his ability to will, remains in nature, dead in spirit, stained, invaded by the unholy corruption of sin. The Old Testament is replete with example after example of men anointed by the Holy Spirit, but at the same time not Born Again by the Holy Spirit of God, up to that point in history Christ; the only God-Man, walked the earth and died once for sin.
35. Self deception is bound in the heart of man embracing a belief that his eternal soul is independent, having free-will to accept or reject a seemingly unguarded offer of citizenship granting acceptance without qualification to dwell for all eternity within the security of the walls of the City of God. This belief at first seems to be only folly and simply senseless musing, but in the blackness of man's sinful heart it is sinisterly militant and hostile to the truth, the truth that Salvation is of God alone and this system of belief is described unstained by sin, perfectly clear, in the words of Scripture found in the Bible's sixty-six books. Do the pages of Scripture describe Salvation to be the belief that in man there is an independent free-will able to contend with God, to contend so much so as to be able to wrestle and overcome any objections of God concerning indwelling sin, to so dominate God's will to then exercise power over God, ultimately forcing God to recant holiness and grant the sin stained soul citizenship in Heaven above?
36. Pride fills the cup of belief found in the work of salvation to be keyed by a volitional act of independent free-will which in the light of Biblical truth is purely Satanic. Satan was once known as Lucifer who lived in God's Heaven above as an Angelic being possessing free-will. Free-will to break God's law and violate God's commandments is the very reason the enemy of our soul was cast out of heaven above: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!". Free-will is in this case simply an attack on the holiness of God, belief which is blindly meant to secure personal eternal salvation instead works to cast aside the one and only shield that can protect man's soul from the wrath of God's eternal judgment. Correctly understood, man's free-will in salvation is outrageous sin. This tightly held belief in man-centered volition is at best an oozing vial putrefied stench drawn from the cold blackness of an obsidian heart of stone. Sin, free-will greater than God! God forbid! In the same way as Satan fell and was destroyed by his own sin which was an abuse of free-will, man's sincere belief in free-will is in truth an attack on God's character, an attack on all attributes of God's deity which define His being: Holiness, Omnipotence, Sovereignty, Grace, Mercy and Love to list but a few.
37. This sin of man-centered salvation by the means of a free-will decision is a bold declaration of war against all that is Holy and will be judged to be unforgivable rebellion rightly by God in the Final Judgment. The unholy soul does not command God in the person of the Holy Spirit. The question: Does man's word have power to create the required regenerated spirit from within himself being equal to God's Holiness? Holiness equal to God's Holiness is required in order to be saved. Holiness is the one standard by which every man is judged either alone in a man-centered self defined holiness or in holiness apportioned to us by the work of Christ in our behalf. Man's spirit is dead, destroyed by sin, in fact lost. The sin of insisting man has free-will indeed quenches the Holy Spirit's work of imparting new life required to regenerate each man's spirit to the standard of holiness which is God, the one standard. Those who are called to be with Jesus are called by Jesus to receive new life once and forever. By contrast a free-will salvation is not Biblical and simply foreign to Biblical revelation and the presentation of the Kingdom of God in Christ, a spiritual Kingdom, the Kingdom of the God-Man Jesus Christ who is Holy as only God can be Holy. Perfect.
38. In replacing the truth of Christ's work on our behalf with clever ideas and vain imaginations, the Holy Spirit's power and light necessary for a full and clear understanding of Biblical revelation is altogether removed from the words of Scripture. This dark sin of presumption and pride in a self-willed salvation blinds the eye to the full body of truth streaming forth about the celestial Kingdom and Heaven above of which Scripture plainly speaks. Heaven is in this present moment the dwelling of Jesus Christ our Eternal King, who sits at the right hand of God full of light, forever and ever the object of the worship of all those called to be Born Again by the Holy Spirit and called to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ's chosen bride. Each individual is called and regenerated in response to the command and by the will of Jesus Christ alone, the King of All Ages.
39. The Holy Spirit is in fact the one necessary and free gift granted by God's Grace alone to each and every true Christian predestined to be a Child of God. This gift given, authored by God the Holy Spirit, is the gift of eternal life present in the metamorphosis of being into the glorified; God revived spiritual body, common to each citizen of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. All Christians who experience transformation: death-to-life, in the fullness of being now serve the God-Man, Jesus Christ who alone is both fully God and fully Man, the King over all creation.
40. This gift granted fills the black hole created by sin and the result of the death of man's spirit. This gift is a new spirit created by the work of the living Holy Spirit of God, bringing to life by the breath of life, that which from the moment of conception has been dead, empty and void. A holy human spirit is born in the same manner just as in the beginning in the work of Creation, spirit unstained by sin in this present life, by God in the work of the Holy Spirit which is the refulgent glory and supernatural power of God fully displayed. The spirit of man now regenerated, filled with new life defines being Born Again and this only by God's Holy Spirit and not by an act of our will. Restated, to be Born Again is for God to miraculously awaken and impart the spirit alive filling an empty void with life by the breath of the Author of all life, the seal of God granted to those chosen to be granted eternal life in Christ. Every Christian genuinely Born Again by the unilateral, one-time act of the Eternal Spirit of God is able by virtue of this transformation to correctly express genuine, personal and effective saving Faith which is absolutely vital, necessary, in fact prerequisite to eternal life found only in God our Creator.
41. Now alive in God, all those who are His by calling are those granted heavenly citizenship establishing the right to have bestowed upon them the title "The Bride of Christ", which is their eternal state. This honor to be one with Christ Jesus is reserved exclusively for the chosen ones of God, those Born Again in spirit, by the Holy Spirit which is the real, single, common bond of unity for the body of individuals constituting God's elect.
42. Israel the eternal Kingdom. Israel's eternal Prophet, Priest, King and glorious Lord, Jesus Christ who is alone lifted up. Christ the beloved of God, redeemed by one perfect sacrifice, sinless, undefiled, pure, holy, the blood of the Lamb of God. The consummation of Israel. Christ's eternal Kingdom for each individual subject, those obedient to the sovereign and irresistible call of Jesus Christ both Jew and Gentile together are born anew in spirit, each one a slave of righteousness. Each chosen and called servant's life, moment-by-moment poured out, sealed with a renewed mind living as a slave in the service of Christ, the King of The Kingdom of God. Made alive by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit now in this present day, in this life lived as one who in truth is Born Again, redeemed to eternal life through faith alone by grace alone. In Christ there dwells a great multitude chosen for eternity to be a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. For Israel the nation that exists in the sphere of this world, born of the flesh of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: Jesus Christ is "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." From the seed of Israel, Christ was born of a woman, He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful. Jesus Christ is Lord, all those redeemed by God are in Christ alone and live forever in His eternal Kingdom. As Israel's Messiah Jesus Christ is the only seed of Israel to keep all the covenants of God with Israel, Jesus the one and only living God of all time and ages. Christ all in all. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.
43. Election is not universal, but instead is an appointment by God, for God's own good pleasure. Together for the body of Christ's elect spanning time, the Universal Church of all believers, the Lord has come quickly to reside and dwell forever as the holy spirit in each one individually and all The Elect collectively. Christ's Church and Bride will always abide in Christ and Christ in them by virtue of the spirit once dead, born forever alive.
44. Together all spirit filled Sons and Daughters of God in common bond are a Holy Temple and dwelling of God, both individually and collectively, not built with hands. As appointed servants, with fullness of being, each one worships the Redeemer of their soul, night-and-day obedient to the will and in response to the manifest love of God, for all of whom Christ is both the Head and the Chief Cornerstone.
45. All are first-born; all are the image bearer of God by virtue of the eternal nature of the soul. The spirit of each one however is lifeless at conception and remains dead, lifeless at birth. Throughout the physical life of the body of flesh the spirit remains dead until finally that body of flesh ceases to be alive and releases the eternally sin stained soul, a spiritless unredeemed body for judgment leaving the flesh to return to the dust from which it came.
46. The exception to this reality of life are those who God has chosen to be Born Again, born in spirit which is to be infused or commingled with and awakened by the comforter; God the Holy Spirit, in whom each individual Christian is made alive which is the second birth, to be born in spirit, once dead. In a like way, new life in the spirit emerges and comes forth vibrant, alive, full of life and fresh for all to witness.
47. The experience of being the object of God's Grace, Mercy and Love is superior in every way to what we can do in our own behalf when we, like all men were first born in the body of flesh. Revived and made new in the present moment the elect have both a living spirit and living flesh existing together in what now is a Temple of God. Salvation is the result of being Born Again by the Holy will of God alone, each Christian is awakened, is transformed ontologically, to be made new and created to be eternal co-heirs with Christ, each one redeemed by Christ alone.
48. In Christ each one is called to be righteous in this generation and that righteousness is actually possible in the life lived this day by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Righteousness is in fact most natural to all who love God, and are loved by God, always living in the presence of God the Holy Spirit who resides in each elect spirit, uniting reborn spirit with His Spirit in the blazing brilliance found in the light of regeneration burning in the elect human being. The fullness of God abides in us and we abide in the light as He is in the light, robed in the righteousness of Christ.
49. Our faith, which is saving faith, a God given faith required for eternal salvation in Christ, stands firm in the knowledge we are chosen by God, born again and made alive in the finished work of Christ for the Glory of the one eternal Holy Creator. God in three persons: The Eternal Father, The Eternal Son, God the Holy Spirit who is the author of the second birth. Eternal life is not derived by the works of our own hands, but instead provisioned by the finished work of Christ alone. Our saving Faith is correctly placed entirely in the single object of God authored salvation: Jesus Christ. By the Grace extended to us by God's providential will alone or God saving us, making us alive spiritually able to worship God in spirit and truth by reason of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God in us, who is forever present in our living being.
50. As temples of the living God we now share in the fullness of Godhead. God's Holy Spirit's indwelling means to us there is agreement between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit who together have granted us second birth. Now, born new in spirit having been first born in flesh as Christians, we are literally not figuratively alive in Christ, and this is by Christ's rich sacrifice given and blood poured out on the wicked cross: His body lifeless. Through Him each of God's chosen are now able to enter into the very presence of the one living God and Creator. Resurrection: His and ours. We are now awaken into a new life that can only be found in Jesus Christ our Lord and King.
51. This new life was not born out of the thoughts of our mind, through imagination or teaching of men, but instead has been made alive in us by the Word of The One, True, Living God. This Word known to us as The Bible; is Holy, inspired, the embodiment of inerrant Truth, the very words of God written. The Bible is the fullness of God's Truth revealed and preserved unaffected by the passage of time as instruction for each of God's chosen and elect.
52. God's Truth stands alone as the only right and complete standard necessary for eternal salvation and works in cooperation with the Holy Spirit of God in us to produce sanctification in the present moment and ultimately our glorification as we pass from life to life. The Bible is the written standard for living out the new, God conceived spiritual life granted to each redeemed Christian soul as a transformed and reborn elect living being who is pure in heart, pure in mind and pure in spirit.
53. This holiness in which we are now made alive is found in Christ Jesus calling us to himself and by God's will alone imparting in us breath and new life in our spirit. Reviving our spirit and redeeming our soul through the life long process of sanctification, both pass from this world, stain of sin removed for eternity from our soul, into the Kingdom to come: glorified, as one unified being, to be with God eternally once again able to coexist in the Garden of Christ's Kingdom, the redeemed body - Adam's first breath. To God alone be the Glory.
54. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdenedâ€â€not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
55. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
56. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we care beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
57. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689
58. This is the key that goes into the lock to turn the bolt that opens the door of the Throne Room of Heaven above. You must be born again in spirit by His Spirit's indwelling Truth, the Word. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
59. Preaching is to speak clearly the original meaning and truth of Biblical text in the voice of the author by whom it was written: first the man, for example: Paul, but more importantly the Holy Spirit of God by whom all Scripture has been Authored for the purpose of Eternal Salvation and for the ongoing Sanctification of all who are in Christ: Christ's Church.
60. Preaching the Word is simply expounding the Bible; verse-by-verse, book-by-book to members of Christ's Church in the current generation. Simple.
61. What is the value of Topical Preaching in the life of Jesus Christ's Church Universal? First, to state the obvious and plain fact which is too often overlooked: Topical Preaching by definition is not Biblical, but instead at best speaks about Biblical truth always from an infinitely diminished position of power and authority in that a man's words are used to replace the true, living revelation of God present in the words of Scripture together collected in the Bible's sixty-six books.
62. A man's ideas and concepts when woven into interesting topics are always foreign to the actual text of Scripture. This is simplistically obvious. In order for Topical Preaching to not be foreign to the Biblical text, they must be the actual Biblical text, word for word, by definition, which makes the words no longer Topical but are now Expositional. This is the demarcation between Expository and Topical Preaching.
63. Concerning power and authority, Topical Preaching will not save anyone or be used to regenerate the soul of the unregenerate. Only the Bible in the context of the whole Bible is able to be used by God the Holy Spirit, the Bible's Author, to regenerate a person to Eternal Life which is to be Born Again.
64. So what are we to make of Topical Preaching? Topical preaching is simply ideas and concepts that are born in the mind of man and have no weight or value in reference to establishing citizenship and entrance into the Eternal Kingdom of God. Only the Word of God, The Bible, is the complete, final and whole mind of God revealed to redeem Christ's Church to himself for Eternity.
65. What is the harvest in this world coming from Topical Preaching? The Contemporary Catholic Church, Progressive Liberal Protestantism, Mormonism: the cult religion, pride displayed by arrogant men in their skill to Preach Topically as a business enterprise, the abomination of the Health and Prosperity Gospel expounded by men who are the mouthpiece of Satan. This is only a sample of the many, many examples of what happens to the truth of Scripture when Topical Preaching is given place and specifically is able to find preference over Expository Preaching.
66. Needless to say Topical Preaching is empty of spiritual meat causing a church body receiving a steady diet of Topical Preaching to starve and die. There is no spiritual meat found on dead men's bones. God is a spirit and is revealed to men and the Church by The Spirit and the Word, The Bible. Best advice, only accept Expositional Preaching in the life of the church and reject Topical Preaching altogether as not Biblical.
67. Do the right thing: Christ Alone, Scripture Alone for the Glory of God Alone.
ESV Hear the Word Audio Bible (MP3 CD)
Essential Truths of the Christian Faith
Essentials of Reformed Systematic Theology (Beeke and Smalley)