The distinction of the faith of Primitive Baptists is no subtle distinction; it is over the very meaning of the gospel message. If we agree that the gospel testifies of Christ, then the difference is what is the purpose of Christ and the degree of His accomplishment. In whom (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. Eph 1:11,12 I believe the critical distinction is that we believe it is the purpose of God for Christ to remove our sins from our account, but what is preached in most Baptist churches is that it is His purpose to offer Himself to the sinner for us to accept or reject. I wish to prove that the former agrees with scripture and leave some questions to challenge my critical reader.
The year of jubilee prefigures the gospel. Lev 25:9,10 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Here the trumpet informs the debtor of his redemption and the slave of his liberty. Again in Isaiah 61:1 The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD... These must be describing the glorious gospel because Jesus read from that passage in Luke 4:18,19 And the eyes of all them were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Therefore I believe the gospel is a declaration, not a proposition, of salvation. Does the gospel make us free by giving us a chance to make it apply to us, or by allowing us to free our mind of the burden of guilt?
I submit to you that the basis of the gospel's comfort is in the full and finished atonement of Jesus. Watch carefully how Paul precisely presents the logical order of the gospel in Ephesians 1. You have to read it all to get the affect, but for brevity's sake I will highlight the 11-14 verses to emphasize this order: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will...In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. This is the order that Paul teaches in Eph 1: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (v.4) - predestinated us unto the adoption (v.5) - made us accepted (v.6) - informed us (v.8) - we trusted him after we heard the word of truth (v.13) - after we believed we were sealed with the Spirit of promise. Our believing and trusting in the truth doesn't make it true--doesn't make us heirs--it is the earnest we can enjoy until the redemption of our bodies when we will see it for ourselves. Are any of God's elect still in their sins, or has Christ put away all of our sins forever?
Again in Hebrews 10 another place gives us this same order: Christ came to do the Father's will (v.9) - we are sanctified by His will (v.10) - Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for ever and sat down at the right hand of God (v.12) - we are perfected for ever (v.14) - the Holy Ghost witnesses to our conscience (vv. 15-18) - we draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (v.22) - we hold fast this profession (v.23) - love and assemble with and exhort one another (vv.24,25). Why is Arminianism so odious to me? Scripture says there is no more offering for sin (v.18). Teaching that Christ is offering eternal salvation today is denying the effectual sacrifice of the Lamb of God, and is placing the sinner in the place of the Almighty Judge who has already accepted the offering of Jesus Christ. Imagine the final judgment on that last morning. What do you think is more important: whether the sinner accepted Christ when his understanding was dark, or whether the Judge is pleased in the sacrifice of his Son in the place of that poor, once-deluded sinner?
Praise God that our redemption has been obtained and that the scriptures declare our liberty in Christ! It is on the foundation of that established truth that the gospel saves us from fear and hopelessness, from the time we first trust in Christ until the day of the redemption of the purchased possession.
