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The Old-New Gospel

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 11, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 24.

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The Old-New Gospel

Saved by Believing

ETERNAL life is a gift from God. “The wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This gift of life is received by receiving Christ the Son of God. “The witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.”
Christ is received by believing on him. “As many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
This is the experience for which the apostle Paul prayed in behalf of all believers: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.”
This is the gospel of Christ, set forth in these few words: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” But the Christ who is our life is also our righteousness: “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness.” And as life is the gift of God, so also is righteousness: “For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.”
This righteousness is received by believing on Christ (or receiving Christ), and is in marked contrast with the righteousness of the law or righteousness by works: “If any other man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” The righteousness thus received through faith in Christ is not an excuse for sin nor a substitute for good works. The instruction concerning this is clear: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?” “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.”
Neither does the faith which apprehends this righteousness set aside the law of God. Read these words: “Now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus. . . . Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: nay,we establish the law.” The purpose of the gospel is to restore the moral image of God in man in order that the divine character may be revealed in conduct in harmony with God’s law, the transcript of his character. This was the aim in the gift of Christ: “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
A brief outline of the essential features of the gospel may be deduced from the passages of scripture already quoted: (1) Eternal life is the gift of God; (2) this life is inseparable from Christ, and is imparted by giving Christ to the human family; (3) Christ is received as our life by believing on him; (4) when thus received, he dwells in the heart as the very life of our life; (5) he who is our life is also our righteousness; (6) thus life and righteousness are equally the gift of God, and both are received by believing; (7) life and righteousness are bestowed, not in order to perpetuate sin, but as a means of salvation from sin; (8) the experience of salvation from sin, is manifested in a life of obedience to the law of God—the obedience of faith.
This is the gospel for all times, all places, and all peoples; and there has never been any other gospel, and there never can be any other gospel. It is true that the full light of this gospel did not shine out all at once, but there has been no change in the way of salvation since the good news of victory over sin and Satan was made known in the garden of Eden. In the various crises in the history of God’s work in the earth the gospel message has been proclaimed with special reference to the needs of the time, or in view of some impending event, as the flood, the first advent, etc., but the vital features of salvation by faith have ever been the same.
The threefold message of Rev. 14: 6-12 is “the everlasting gospel” preached in all the world as a means of preparing a people to meet the Lord. It is not a new gospel, neither does it present a new way of salvation. Like John the Baptist, it says, “Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance;” and it insists that this fruit means obedience to the commandments of God, but it also teaches that this obedience must be the fruit of salvation and not the price of salvation. The coming of the Lord is the key-note of this last gospel message, and righteousness by faith—saved by believing rather than by doing—should be its burden. In no other way can a people be prepared to stand with boldness in this closing hour of God’s judgment.
The thoughts presented in this article may aid in the study of the Sabbath-school lesson for June 20, the subject of which is “The Everlasting Gospel.”