The Address of the Gospel

Prof. Herman C. Hanko

[Originally published in The Covenant Reformed News, vols. 5-6]

Introduction

What is the address of the gospel? To whom is the gospel addressed? To whom is it addressed by God? To whom is it addressed by the preacher?

What happens when the gospel is preached? What happens in the individuals who hear the gospel? And why does one response to the gospel come from one person, while an entirely different response come from another?

Why does one person receive the gospel with joy, while another rejects it out of hand? Why do the reactions to the preaching differ? (cf. the parable of the four kinds of soil in Matthew 13)

Why does the gospel come in different forms? Why does it come in conditional sentences—as it often does? Why does it come with demands?—demands, not only, but also demands which require absolute perfection (e.g., I Pet. 1:15-16—How is it possible for anyone to be as holy as God is holy? and, if it is not possible, why does Scripture call us to such a holiness?)

These are the type of questions that seem to come up again and again in discussing various passages of Scripture.

Partly the reason why they repeatedly come up is the unreasonable and unbiblical insistence that the gospel is a well-meaning offer on God’s part in which God expresses His earnest desire to save every one who hears the gospel—and this damnable heresy has done more damage in the church and more damage to sound biblical preaching than anyone can imagine.

We are made willing in the day of His power, as Psalm 110 puts it (v. 3). And so, in willingness and joyful obedience, we choose what no man can possibly choose apart from grace (e.g., as did Moses, when he, “by faith … chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt” [Heb. 11:25-26]—a foolish choice from a human point of view, but a choice that leads to glory—as it did for Christ).

It is all God’s work in us and through us and to His glory.

The Contents of the Gospel

What is it that is preached in the gospel? What does a minister say when he brings the gospel of Jesus Christ?

In general, of course, the contents of the gospel are the sacred Scriptures. God has given the church His own infallibly inspired Word. That Word, as it is contained in the Scriptures, is, in its totality, the revelation of Jehovah God as the God of salvation in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Or, in short, the Scriptures reveal Christ in whom God is made known as the God who saves.

All preaching must be limited entirely and exclusively to Scripture. No man may bring his own word, his own ideas, his own thoughts on matters or his own notions about things, when he preaches. He must limit himself rigidly and totally to what Scripture says, so that he is able, in his preaching, to say, “Thus saith the Lord.”

When a minister or preacher preaches, he comes with the Word of God!

That Word of God is Christ.

When the apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 1:23, says: “But we preach Christ crucified …,” he means exactly that the gospel which he brings is limited to that one subject only: Christ crucified. That that is what he means is evident from what he writes in the very next chapter: “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (v. 2).

In the cross of Christ is revealed the salvation worked by Jehovah God.

Now all of this is obvious and fundamental to any Reformed man.

But it must also be understood that the Scriptures contain much, much more than direct references to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures contain a great deal of doctrine. In fact, Scripture is fundamentally interested in doctrine, i.e., the truth as it is in God. Many, many doctrines are found in God’s Word—doctrines of creation, providence, election and reprobation, justification, heaven, etc.  They are the doctrines contained in the creeds of the church.

These doctrines must be preached. Every one of them must be preached. This is what Paul meant when he reminded the elders from Ephesus that he had been faithful in his ministry and that he is pure of the blood of all men because he “had not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27).

How many ministers today can say the same thing?

But the Scriptures also contain many other kinds of material than doctrine. Scriptures contain stories (in both the Old and New Testaments); they contain poetry, prophecy, wise sayings; but they also contain many, many exhortations and admonitions covering every aspect of life and requiring of men obedience to God in all they do. There are countless demands placed upon men; requirements coming from God; callings which cannot be ignored. These, too, are part of the gospel.

And, in addition to all these things, the Scriptures also contain many dire threats and warnings, attached to Scripture’s demands, which threaten those who disobey with the most terrible of judgments in this life and in the life to come.

And the Scriptures contain many sweet and blessed promises of untold riches, marvellous treasures, blessings indescribably great, of inestimable value and worth—which are also made in connection with Scripture’s demands, exhortations, admonitions, and callings.

One point must be emphatically remembered, however. And that is this: Whatever may be the content of preaching—whether history, poetry, exhortations, demands, threatenings, or promises—it must be Christ and Him crucified; that is, it must proclaim Christ as the revelation of Jehovah God, the God of all salvation.

To Whom is the Gospel Addressed?

In a certain sense of the word, it can be said that the gospel is addressed to God’s people, because the Scriptures are written for the sake of God’s people. These Scriptures have sometimes been called, with justification, Christ’s “love letter” to His bride.

I well recall the story of a minister who was publicly lecturing on the truth of the infallible inspiration of Scripture. During the course of his speech, he was suddenly interrupted by a college student who mockingly opposed the speaker’s thesis on the grounds that Scripture contained many “contradictions.” The minister calmly replied, “I would not expect you to understand. You have been opening someone else’s mail.”

Even such passages as are often claimed to refer to all men refer instead to God’s people.

When Isaiah calls the “thirsty” to come to the waters, that Word of God is addressed to God’s people who alone are thirsty (Is. 55:1-2). When Jesus calls the “labouring and heavy laden” to come to Him, He is specifically and concretely directing that call to His own people, because they are the only ones who labour and are heavy laden (Matt. 11:28). And so, Scripture very often defines the people addressed in the gospel as being God’s people—although they are given spiritual names which identify them according to their spiritual characteristics.

If it is true that Scripture is the infallibly inspired record of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ as the God of the salvation of His people, and if all preaching is absolutely limited to the sacred Scriptures, then preaching is primarily directed towards God’s people.

Let that be understood, first of all.

But the fact of the matter is that the contents of Scripture are, in a certain sense, indeed, addressed to everyone who hears.

Only Hyper-Calvinists deny this obvious truth and insist that the gospel must be addressed in all its parts, only to the elect.

We want no part of such a view.

That the gospel is addressed to all who hear is obvious from many considerations.

In the first place, it is preached widely and broadly so that everyone within the hearing hears this preaching. This wide hearing of the gospel is true in the church where are found many unbelievers (who may very well be hypocrites); but it also, necessarily, takes place on the mission field where the gospel is proclaimed to all the nations.

Yet, it is not only an unavoidable by-product of the preaching that all hear. God wants many more than the elect to hear the gospel.

And this hearing of the gospel is not just simply a certain auditory phenomenon, such as happens when the janitor in a college happens to step into a classroom and hears a professor lecture on the theory of relativity. When men hear the gospel, they are confronted by Christ who is proclaimed in the gospel.

And when they are confronted by Christ who is proclaimed in the gospel, they are confronted with the demands of the gospel.

God wants it that way. It is necessary and important for God to do this. To deny this truth is really to deny an important part of God’s plan and purpose.

God wants the gospel to be preached to far more people than the elect.

He does not want the gospel preached to every single person who ever lived. This is evident from the fact that, throughout the history of the world, countless thousands have lived and died without ever hearing the gospel. If God had wanted them to hear it, He could easily have seen to it that the gospel was brought to them. But, as the Canons of Dordt expresses it, the gospel is preached to “whom God out of his good pleasure sends” it (II, 5).

But, although God does not want all men to hear the gospel, He does want a whole lot more people to hear the gospel than the elect. In fact, it is probably not incorrect to say that more reprobate hear the gospel than elect, because God’s people are, after all, always a remnant according to the election of grace.

And let it be clearly understood: God does not want many non-elect people to hear the gospel just simply in order that it may be said of them that at one time or another, they heard somebody preaching.

A foreigner may, on a visit to London, enter the Parliament buildings and hear a prime minister hold a speech on the European Economic Community. But because he is from Zaire, and because the EEC has no interest for him, he may stay and listen, but the speech is of no significance.

That is not the way it is with the gospel.

When anyone (elect or reprobate) hears the gospel, he is confronted with the Christ who is proclaimed in it. This can never be avoided.

In a way, it is a dangerous thing to pick up the Scriptures and read them; or to come under the preaching of the gospel. It is impossible to read Scripture or to hear the preaching without being confronted with the question, most solemn and most crucial: “What will you do with Christ?” And, indeed, on a man’s answer to that question hangs the eternal destiny of his soul.

So it is not only the preacher—who, by the way, is totally unable to tell who in his audience is elect and who is reprobate—who must bring the gospel to many more than the elect; God Himself addresses many more than the elect with the gospel.

That this is true is clear from many parts of Scripture.

It is evident, in the first place, from every incidence of preaching recorded in God’s Word. Always, the preaching was brought to a widely diversified audience, including both elect and reprobate. And when the command to repent from sin and turn to God came through the preaching, that command came to all who heard. This was true in the Old Testament as well as in the New.

In the second place, Jesus Himself stressed this very truth in more than one place, but nowhere so clearly as in the parable of the wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-14). Many who refused to come were bidden to the feast (v. 4). When it became clear that they would not come, the call went out to those in the highways (vv. 9-10). Even then, one called from the highways was not an elect, for he was expelled because he had no wedding garment on (vv. 11-13). And the whole parable is concluded with the words, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (v. 14).

Peter’s example on Pentecost is the model for all preaching. We are specifically told by the holy Spirit that Peter preached to all his audience that they were under the solemn obligation to repent and be converted so that their sins might be blotted out (Acts 2:38; 3:19-20).

There can be no question about it that God brings the gospel to many, many more than His people, and, by bringing the gospel to them, confronts them with Christ and the demand to obey.

God wills this for a specific purpose. And that purpose is that sin may be fully revealed as sin, and that when God punishes in everlasting hell, His judgment on the wicked is just and righteous.

God’s Particular Address to the Elect and Reprobate

The reprobate who come under the preaching of the gospel are addressed by the gospel. They are not only addressed incidentally (i.e., because they merely happen to be present when the gospel is preached). They are specifically addressed by God Himself.

One important question remains to be answered, however: What does God Himself say to them when He addresses them in the gospel?

In order to answer that question, we must, once again, though briefly, return to the question which we answered earlier: What specifically are the contents of the gospel?—to which we stated that the contents of the gospel are the revelation of God in Jesus Christ as the God of all salvation, which includes promises and threats, warnings and admonitions, exhortations and callings—none of which are separated from the truth of the gospel. They all belong together. The truth must be proclaimed in all its fullness. And the warnings and threats, the admonitions and exhortations, all must be connected with the truth.

God, in revealing the truth, reveals the truth concerning Himself. He speaks always of who He is, what kind of a God He is, and what He does as the sovereign Lord. And especially He speaks of the fact that He reveals the infinite perfections of His own being by revealing Himself as the God of salvation.

But—and here we come to the very heart of the gospel—part of that truth concerning Himself is His own absolute sovereignty in the work of salvation; and that sovereignty is revealed nowhere so much as in the truth of election and reprobation.

If one is to be free from the blood of all men (as Paul told the Ephesian elders), one must preach the whole counsel of God. And that counsel of God includes sovereign election and reprobation. That is the heart of the gospel.

And so, God reveals Himself in all His truth as the God who saves His elect only; and He reveals Himself as the God who damns the reprobate in the way of their sin.

But there is more.

He reveals Himself as the sovereign God who saves the elect in the way of granting them repentance and faith. In fact, so true is this, that God even calls His elect by such names: “labouring and heavy laden”; “those who have no money”; “repenting ones”; “people with broken spirits and contrite hearts”; “those who call upon the name of the Lord”; “poor in spirit”; etc., etc.

And because these spiritual characteristics are the names by which He calls His own, they are also, at the same time, the demands of the gospel. They are the exhortations, the admonitions, and the requirements for salvation.

But the opposite is also true of the reprobate. They also are called by their spiritual names: “covetous”, “fornicators”, “despisers of God and of His Word”, “those who reject the gospel and crucify the Son of God afresh.”

And these spiritual characteristics of the reprobate become the threatenings and warnings of the gospel.

And they become the means in the hands of a sovereign God to accomplish His sovereign purpose in the reprobate.

And so, the address of the gospel is always very particular. It is the promise of salvation to those who flee from sin and repent of their iniquity. The promise of salvation is never to anyone but these.

And the warnings of the gospel are also never to anyone but the rebellious and hard of heart.

Promises and threats, commands and warnings, all come together to all that hear. But already in the proclamation of the gospel, both are particular: promises to the believing; warnings to the unbelieving.

And thus, God accomplishes His purpose.

What Does God Himself Say in the Gospel?

What God says in the gospel is an important question. What does God say when the gospel is addressed to all who hear?

There are wrong answers given to that question, answers which have done untold harm to the preaching of the gospel; answers, indeed, which really make gospel preaching impossible.

Some, among whom is to be found people who claim to be Reformed in their thinking, say that God addresses all men in the gospel in this fashion: “I love you very much. I love you so much that I have given Christ Himself to die for you on the cross. I have made salvation available to you as a token of My love for you. I solemnly assure you that I want nothing so much as that you be saved. And as a token of this My love for you, I have done all I can possibly do to save you. If, therefore, you will believe in Christ, My Son, I will give you salvation.”

That is the gospel address of “the well-meant offer of salvation.”

The trouble is that it denies the truth of God, especially the truth of God’s sovereignty. It denies the one crucial aspect of God’s revelation of Himself—the truth that He is God alone and that He does all His good pleasure.

It denies that great truth in the interests of leaving salvation up to man’s free choice and making man’s salvation dependent upon what man does.

If I had to preach such a gospel, I would resign from the ministry and forever hold my peace. And if I had to listen to such a gospel, I would despair utterly and forget altogether about going to church.

No. God says this in the gospel: “I am the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. I have created heaven and earth and all that they contain for My praise. I rule sovereignly in the affairs of men and nations, accomplishing My will and doing all My good pleasure. I show forth My praise in all ages, both now and forever.”

That is what God says, first of all.

But He goes on to say, “I show forth My sovereign power and great glory especially in the work of salvation. I save a people whom I have chosen in Christ. I save them through the blood of Jesus Christ, My Son, whom I have given for these people and for them alone. And I show forth My praise, especially the praise of My justice and righteousness, in damning sinners to everlasting hell. I the Lord do all these things.”

But He also says this: “I save My people through the way of repentance and fleeing for refuge to Christ; and I damn the wicked through the way of their unbelief and hardness of heart manifested in their rejection of Christ My Son.”

This, too, God says in the gospel.

And so, to make that absolutely certain, God says in the gospel proclamation (and make no mistake about it, for He says it to everyone who hears the gospel), “Believe on Christ! That is your solemn calling. Turn from your sin and evil way and come to Christ. And, if you will come to Him I will save you from your sins. Everyone who flees to the cross in sorrow for sin will find in Me a merciful and gracious God, abundant to save.”

But God also says in the preaching, “If you refuse to believe in Christ and turn from your sin, I will punish you in the fierceness of My anger and will throw you far from Me into everlasting hell. You will not despise My Christ with impunity. For I am a just and righteous God who hates sin and will surely punish it most terribly.”

And so, God specifically directs sweet and blessed promises to some who do turn from their sin and flee to Christ; and He hurls the thunder bolts of His anger against those who despise His Christ and mock His words.

That, too, is the address of the gospel.

God’s Sovereign Working Through the Gospel

How God works through the address of the gospel is an important question. It is important because we have, throughout this discussion, proceeded from the viewpoint that God is sovereign in all that He does.

He is sovereign in the preaching of the gospel. God always accomplishes all that He purposes to do.

The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16). Paul preaches Christ crucified because that preaching is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews, but “to them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1:24). Paul stands in awe of the power of the gospel because those who preach it “are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one … the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life” (II Cor. 2:14-15).

God always accomplishes His purpose in the gospel, sovereignly. And God accomplishes His purpose not only in them that believe, but also in them that reject the gospel.

How does God work through the address of the gospel?

Let us take a look at the wicked and unbelieving, first of all.

We are talking now about the reprobate, who are such according to the eternal decree of God. They, in many instances, come under the preaching of the gospel and are, by the preaching, addressed by God.

It must be remembered that they are sinners who are totally depraved. This is true of the elect as well as the reprobate; but we are not talking about the elect at this point. That will come.

They are so totally depraved that they are unable to obey the gospel, though they hear it. They are unable to heed its demands, though they well-understand what those demands are. Their depravity is total. They are dead in trespasses and sins.

To them, God speaks; and He says a great number of things.

He speaks of His truth; and in His truth, God says to the wicked: “I alone am God who am worthy of all praise and honour. Before Me you must bow.”

He speaks of man’s sin. He says, “You have sinned against Me grievously. You must repent of your sin and turn to Me, for I am a holy God who hates sin.”

If man should respond and say, “We are totally depraved! We cannot turn to thee.” God responds with the words, “I made you holy and without sin. It is your own fault that you are unable to turn to Me. You are still obligated to do that which is right and pleasing to Me. Do not blame Me for your sin. It is your fault.”

God also solemnly assures the wicked that He is in utter seriousness when He tells them to repent. He says, “You must repent and turn from your evil ways. And if you do not repent, I will destroy you. But if you do turn from your ways, I will forgive you and bless you.”

At the same time, it is God’s eternal purpose to damn the wicked. And God accomplishes that purpose through the means of their unbelief.

When the wicked hear these words of God, they become more set in their evil ways. They hurl their insults at God, crucify again His Son, turn in mockery and derision against His truth, laugh at His commands, and assure Him that they will not permit Him to punish them.

As the commands of the gospel bring out more and more of their wickedness, they become more and more hardened in their sin. And God, who is never mocked, comes in His judgments upon them.

But even in this, God is also sovereign. He hardens their hearts. His Word does not return to Him void—even in the case of the reprobate (Is. 55:11). But He hardens in such a way that the fault of their sin lies with them; and the just judgment which comes upon them is deserved. In this way, God is vindicated through the gospel, and preachers are a sweet savour to God.

How Does the Holy Spirit Work in the Gospel?

When the gospel is preached according to the command of Christ, the effect of the gospel upon God’s people, while mysterious and wonderful, is nevertheless, not mechanical. God never works with His people in a mechanical fashion. He never works in such a way that a person is a robot who does things unconsciously because God, through the gospel, presses buttons in his psyche.

In general, we must remember that, before a man can respond to the gospel, the Holy spirit has already begun to work in his heart. If he is dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), then, as a dead man, he cannot respond to the gospel except to reject it. He must be given ears that hear (Matt. 13:11, 16).

This God-given ability to hear the gospel is what is meant by “the inward call” of the gospel. The “outward” call is the preaching; the “inward” call is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The inward call is never apart from the outward call. But the outward call is always effective in the hearts and lives of the elect because of the inward call.

Nevertheless, while all this is true, it is also true that the Holy Spirit continues to work in the hearts of the elect when the gospel is preached.

The Holy Spirit does not make one receptive to the gospel, and then throw man on his own powers and abilities. Every moment that the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit is also working in the heart. And this continues all the life long of the elect people of God.

How does the Holy Spirit work?

He works in such a way that the gospel is impressed upon the consciousness of the individual child of God so that he not only becomes conscious of what the gospel says, but he understands and believes that gospel in the context of his own life with all its circumstances.

I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough.

Let us take a few examples.

Supposing that the minister is explaining a doctrine. Let us, for the purposes of the illustration, use the doctrine of total depravity. When the elect child of God in whom the Spirit works, hears the doctrine of total depravity explained, the Holy Spirit so works in his consciousness that he becomes aware, not only of the doctrine itself, but of the fact that he personally is a totally depraved sinner, worthy of God’s wrath and eternal death.

When the minister is preaching on the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit so impresses that upon the consciousness of the elect sinner that he not only sees the sacrifice of Christ as the only way of salvation, but he sees it also as the only hope of salvation for him.

So it is with all the truth. When the minister is talking about the wonder that God uses afflictions to save His people, the child of God hears that word in such a way (because of the Spirit’s work) that he finds peace in his afflictions, knowing that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that awaits him.

This is true of all doctrinal preaching. The doctrines of Scripture are so brought into the consciousness of the elect sinner that he not only sees and believes them as truth from God, but also comes to apply them to his own life.

I know personally of a young man who was brought by the Spirit to conversion and membership in the church by a sermon on the doctrine of election—of all things. But whatever may be the content of the sermon which the minister is preaching, the Holy Spirit always works in such a way that it becomes impressed upon the consciousness of the child of God.

Why Does God Work in this Way?

God works in this way because it is God’s purpose to save His elect people so that they are conscious of their salvation. They are not saved as robots. They are not taken to heaven oblivious of their own salvation. They are not senseless hunks of wood or stone. They are God’s elect people, the apple of His eye, the objects of His eternal love. In His love for them, God causes them to experience the salvation He has prepared for them in Christ.

This love is experienced, not in some mystical, other-worldly, esoteric, inexplicable manner by means of “voices from heaven” or strange experiences in yet stranger places (which can then be interpreted as a “conversion experience”); that love is experienced through the call of the gospel as all the truth of Scripture is impressed in all its truth upon the consciousness of the child of God. It is a marvellous work of God within us which makes us understand the truth, know it, believe it, love it, be willing to die for it, and at the same time is our very salvation.

When the minister preaches the cross of Christ, the Holy Spirit so works that the believer knows, in the depths of his soul, that that glorious work of Christ is for him personally! When the preacher sets forth Scripture and its doctrine of eternal glory, the light of that glory, by the Spirit, shines in his own soul and fills him with joy.

This is all God’s work through the Spirit of Christ. It is part of that marvellous work of salvation that is described in Scripture, beginning in regeneration and ending in everlasting bliss.

And so, the address of the gospel is made real in our hearts by the Holy Spirit so that the gospel is addressed to us.

But the Holy Spirit works the same way in all the preaching.

When the preacher brings the admonitions of Scripture to the congregation, the Holy Spirit so impresses that Word upon the consciousness of the elect child of God that he sees his own inability to keep that Word of God, and he flees for grace to the cross of Christ.

When the threatenings of judgment are proclaimed, then the sinner hears them with trembling, as the Spirit seals that Word upon his own conscious awareness of his many sins; and he seeks the cross that he may find shelter beneath its shadow.

When the preached Scriptures call to those who are burdened and weary—or thirsty for righteousness, or poor in spirit—the Holy Spirit of Christ so makes that Word a power within the elect sinner that he sees himself described just as the preaching describes him.

And when the call of the gospel comes (“Come unto me all ye that labour …”), he looks in wonder and amazement at Christ who calls. He says, from the depths of his sorrow, “That is my name. Is He calling me? I can scarcely believe that He would call me to Himself, for my sins are very great. Yet I hear my name. I will go to Him.”

But it is the Spirit that applies the Word in such a way that the sinner hears Christ calling him.

This is what Jesus means when He said, “… the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name (literally, name by name—HH), and leadeth them out.”

Christ calls them by their spiritual names; and they hear, by the work of the Spirit, their own names called, as the Spirit impresses these spiritual names upon their consciousness.

When the promises of the gospel are proclaimed, indeed the minister does not know who are the elect and who are not; but the Holy Spirit of Christ knows; and He so works in the hearts of the elect that the blessed promises of the gospel are impressed so upon the believer’s heart that he sees them in all their beauty. And when they are proclaimed to all who believe in Christ, to all who put their trust only in Him, and who flee to Him for a refuge, then the Spirit works such graces in their hearts that they lay hold on Christ, hurl themselves into His arms, and rest in the serene and overwhelming consciousness of His love.

The address of the gospel is the work of the Spirit.

Several things ought to be apparent.

First of all, this all has much to say about how we ought to hear. Scripture urges upon us the admonition: “Be careful how you hear.” When we listen so that we hear Christ speak and eagerly lend our ears to see what He has to say, we truly hear Him. And when we listen to what He has to say, we indeed hear Him speak to us—in such a personal and intimate way that there is no escaping what He says. And when we listen to what He says in obedience and faith, then His love and peace fill our souls.

Secondly, this is how Jesus Himself draws His people to Himself. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me: and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). And: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me” (John 6:44-45).

Such is the blessed address of the gospel.

The Demand of Unattainable Perfection

Why do the Scriptures call, through its admonitions, to a perfection which we can never attain in this life?

The Scriptures never call to a half-holiness, to a less-than-perfect obedience. The Scriptures never tell us to do the best we can. The Scriptures never leave us any doubt but that we are to live in such a way that all sin is expelled from our lives and we become, in all we do, holy as God is holy.

This is an important question; and to it, different answers have been given.

There have always been in the church people who do claim that it is possible to live a life completely free from sin while still in the world. The story is told of a minister in the Netherlands who announced, one Lord’s Day to his congregation, that he had an important announcement—namely, that he was celebrating an anniversary. It was, so he said, exactly one year ago that he had committed his last sin.

Usually people who are Perfectionists are also Arminians; and Arminians have a very low view of sin. They do not understand that sin is in the nature—deeply imbedded in our whole being. A child of God not only knows that he is not perfect, but that indeed he has only a very small beginning of the new obedience.

It is, strangely enough, characteristic of both Arminians and Hyper-Calvinists that they hold to the idea that God never demands of anyone that which he cannot perform. The Arminians, however, say that man is able, with supreme effort and some help from divine grace to do anything which Scripture requires. The Hyper-Calvinists say that the gospel can and must come only to the elect, because God never requires of a man that which he cannot perform.

The Reformed say, however, that God indeed requires of both elect and reprobate (of all that hear the gospel) that they live a life of perfection. None can. None will—on this earth. None are able to do what Scripture requires. But all must.

Because they do not, the reprobate go to hell. But the elect do not keep all the requirements of the gospel either. And yet they are called to perfection.

Why is that?

In my own ministry, I have had people come up to me after the service and say something to this effect: “Pastor, that was a good sermon, but I can’t do what you said.” Probably what they meant to add, but usually didn’t, was: “Why preach it if I can’t do it anyway?” In a certain sense they were right. We are unable to do fully what the Scriptures require of us.

It must be understood that we are primarily interested in God’s people. God works in them sanctification so that they are made holy through the power of the gospel as applied to them by the Holy Spirit.

But God does not save them perfectly in this life. He gives them only a small beginning of the new obedience. He saves them in such a way that they only start on the road of sanctification, but do not arrive at perfection until they are in glory.

And so, as they struggle to walk in holiness, these saints of God attain only a very small principle of the holiness which God requires.

Why preach such absolute perfection, when it is unattainable in this life?

If I may phrase the question in a slightly different way, we could ask: Why does God wait until glory to give His people the full holiness which He requires of them? And why, while they are still in the world, does God demand a holiness which He will give when they arrive at their eternal destination?

There are a number of reasons for this—all of which have to do with the general question of the address of the gospel.

The first reason is that, by means of the demands of perfection, the child of God may see his sins and flee to the cross for forgiveness. When Scripture requires us to be as holy as God is (cf. I Pet. 1:15-16) or to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength (Matt. 22:37; Deut. 6:5; Luke 10:27), or to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:39, et al), the Holy Spirit brings to our consciousness how far short we fall from what God requires. This brings us to the cross where we seek forgiveness and pardon. It is not saying too much to insist that this knowledge of sin is always first in our conscious experience when we hear the gospel. It is not only first when we first believed and fled to Christ; it is always first, every time we hear the gospel proclaimed.

The second reason why God demands perfection is that we, seeing how far short we come to what God demands, may learn that the only power by which we are able to keep God’s commands is by the power of the cross of Christ. And again, we flee to that cross to find strength and grace to escape sin and walk in obedience. We learn that all our sanctification is only in the blood of Christ.

A third reason why God requires of us perfection, though we cannot attain it, is that we may see that we do have the beginnings of all that God requires. We do begin to walk in God’s ways. We do start on the road of sanctification. We do love God, walk in holiness, seek Him in fellowship with Him.  What Augustine said, more than a millennium ago, is still said by every saint: “Give what Thou dost ask, and ask what Thou wilt.”

A fourth reason why God demands of us perfection is that, in this way, we may continue the battle against sin all our life. Sometimes we become very weary in the battle—especially because the same sins plague us continuously. And we are inclined to give up and quit fighting.

But the high demands of God’s law and the urgent admonitions of Scripture inspire within us the desire to continue to fight. Though we are often sore wounded, and though sometimes we seem to be overcome, yet God continues to call us to holiness, and the Holy Spirit works through that call the continual desire to be as God is.

And finally, the reason why perfection is preached to God’s people is that through the preaching of perfection, we come to see what God will do for us when He takes us at last to heaven. He will sanctify us entirely and make us as perfect as He is. He will cleanse us at last from all sin and, in body and soul, conform us to the image of His own dear Son.

And so, hating our sin, wearing of the battle, we look with renewed eagerness to the day when we shall be in glory. We shall be victorious—not by our own strength, but by the power of the cross.

The good that we would, we do not; and the evil that we would not, that we do; and in agony we cry out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” But: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:14-25).

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