The aim of gospel preaching - Gery Schmidt

"The third subject we shall consider is the aim of gospel preaching. And we will look at the two questions asked in the introduction. First, is the aim of gospel preaching to call upon the unregenerate to perform certain duties by which they are to be regenerated, and thus be saved? Though this is undoubtedly the prevailing view among such who profess to be Christians, the Scriptures declare emphatically that this is not the purpose or end of gospel preaching. First, the signification and extent of grace prove that the aim of gospel preaching cannot be to induce the unregenerate to perform salvation-meriting duties. The signification of grace teaches us that the divine favor is an unmeritable favor, wherein man is discovered to be, on account of his sinful nature, unworthy, incapable of earning, and undesiring of saving grace. The extent of grace instructs us that every component of salvation, from beginning to end, is grounded in the unmerited favor of God, and thus includes such things as repentance and faith.




Secondly, the Scriptural truth that duty has no place in the matter of salvation also evinces that the intent of gospel preaching is not to get sinners to do this, that, and the other thing in order to be saved. God's word proclaims that salvation is of grace and not of works. And the term works is all-embracing, so that not one has any Scriptural right to transform such gifts of grace as repentance and faith into salvation-earning works. The Mosaic Law also reveals what sinners can accomplish when a holy and perfect duty-system is presented to them. They can only sin all the more, thus demonstrating their total depravity, and consequently, the absolute necessity of saving grace. Both the signification and extent of grace, along with the Scriptural truth that duty has no part in the matter of salvation, show that the aim of gospel preaching cannot be to call upon the unregenerate to perform certain duties in order to be saved.


But what about all the duty-demanding texts one finds in the Scriptures? Did not John the Immerser and the Lord Jesus call upon sinners to repent and believe (Mt. 3:2; Mk. 1:15)? Did not apostles like Peter and Paul exhort sinners unto repentance and faith (Acts 2:38; 16:31; 26:20)? The answer to these questions is an obvious yes. However, we need to answer another important question concerning this fact. Are the repentance and faith of these passages to be construed as the causes or effects of grace? From what we have learned concerning the extent of grace, we know that repentance and faith are grounded in God's unmerited favor. We have also seen that the unmeritorious nature of grace demonstrates that man is not only unworthy of God's grace, but is also neither capable of earning nor even desirous of God's grace. What these facts tell us is that such things as repentance and faith are not even in the possession of unregenerate sinners, and thus, they cannot but be the effects of grace.


What then does this fact exhibit concerning the exhortations unto repentance and faith? Since repentance and faith are the effects, and not the causes, of grace, they are clearly not matters of duty binding upon the unregenerate. And since repentance and faith are the effects of saving grace, all such who actually do repent and believe in Christ must do so because they are already regenerate, and thus already have the ability and desire to do such things. If we exhort a man to eat and drink, does his compliance with the exhortation cause him to live? Not at all. Rather, it is because he is already alive that he can comply with the exhortation. Eating and drinking are not the causes of life, but are rather the effects of life. So too, the ability to comply with the exhortation to repent and believe does not represent the cause of spiritual life, but is evidence that one is already in possession of spiritual life. And hence, the so-called duty-demanding texts do not support the notion that repentance and belief are duties by which the unregenerate can be saved.


This leads naturally to the second question, namely, is the aim of gospel preaching to call forth the elect unto repentance? The answer is yes. And two particulars will bear this fact out. First, it has just been shown that the purpose of gospel preaching cannot be to induce the unregenerate to perform salvation-meriting works. This fact demonstrates the following two things. First, it reveals that the unregenerate cannot be the intended subjects of gospel preaching. The unregenerate, according to the Scriptures, are neither capable of procuring, nor even desirous of salvation. Indeed, they do not so much as even possess repentance and faith. Consequently, it is but ludicrous to think that a true gospel preacher would exhort unto repentance and faith such who not only do not possess the gracious gifts of repentance and faith, but who also have neither the ability to procure, nor the desire for saving grace. Many professing Christians often remark that God does not command sinners what they have not the ability to perform. This is in actuality quite true when we are speaking of the gospel. But just who has the ability to repent and believe? Certainly not the unregenerate? And it is in fact the regenerate who represent the intended subjects of gospel preaching, for they alone are such who are granted the ability to repent and believe.


Secondly, the performance of salvation-meriting works is not the aim of gospel preaching. And why? Because salvation is of grace and not of works. When a gospel preacher proclaims the facts concerning the person and work of Christ, and notes that the whole of salvation is of grace, it is absolutely inconsistent after this that a preacher should insist upon repentance and faith as duties by which the unregenerate might be saved. This is making repentance and faith the causes, and not the effects, of saving grace. What then is the intent of an exhortation unto repentance and belief? It is to call forth the regenerate unto grace-evidencing acts. When Jesus commanded Lazarus to come forth (John 11:43), did Lazarus comply as a dead man or as a living man? Clearly, as a living man. Thus Lazarus' obedience was not the cause, but the evidence of his being raised from the dead. So too, none but the spiritually living can comply with the exhortation to repent and believe. When the jailer asked Paul and Silas, "what must I do to be saved?" And they responded, "believe in the Lord Jesus" (Acts 16:30,31), the fact that he and his household did believe in Christ is evidence that they were already spiritually alive. Indeed, the gospel is not "Do and live" (Lev. 18:5), but "Live and do" (Acts 13:48). Thus it can be seen that it is the aim of the gospel preachers to call forth the elect unto repentance.


The second particular which evinces that the purpose of gospel preaching is to call the elect unto repentance is the fact that the elect alone represent the objects of grace. It was noted earlier that Matthew 1:21 teaches that Jesus Christ came into the world to "save his people from their sins." Since the very purpose of the incarnation is restricted to the elect, how then can gospel preaching, which is an explication of the person and work of Christ, possibly extend any further than the elect? When Peter proclaimed that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved," he certainly did not intend this to include any more than "as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself" (Acts 2:21,39). Paul was also called to preach the gospel, but everything he endured in the prosecution of his calling was solely "for the sake of the elect" (2 Tim. 2;10). Why then does Jesus command that the gospel be preached to every creature (Mark 16:15)? Two reasons. First, because the gospel was no longer to be restricted to the Jews as it had been (Mt. 10:5), and secondly, because gospel preachers know not who the elect are until they come forth in repentance and faith. Indeed, the elect themselves are unaware of their status until they are born again, and are thereby enabled by grace, through the hearing of the gospel, to repent and believe in Christ. But the aim of every true gospel preacher is ultimately to call only the sheep of Christ to repentance.


The preaching of the gospel is God's intended means by which he gathers his elect unto himself in time. And salvation is a matter of pure grace, not something conditioned upon the works or duties of the unregenerate. This we have seen to be the case as we have briefly considered the subjects of grace, duty, and gospel preaching. Grace excludes duty in the matter of salvation and terminates upon the elect, and reveals that the elect alone are the intended subjects of gospel preaching." -Gery Schmidt