Question: Pastor John, in his defense of baldness, Charles Spurgeon said:
“It is not possible to preach Christ and the crucified one, unless we preach what is now known as Calvinsm. Baldness is just a nickname; Calvinism is the gospel and nothing else. I don’t think we can preach the gospel if we don’t. We preach justification by faith without works, nor can we preach it, unless we preach God’s sovereignty in His dispensation of grace, or exalt immutable, eternal, and elective love. and the victor of Jéhovah. Nor do we believe that we can preach the gospel, unless we depend on the special and special redemption of God’s chosen people, a redemption made by Christ on the cross; nor do I understand a gospel that allows the saints to fall after being called, and admits that God’s children are burned in the fire of condemnation after having once believed in Jesus??
- “Listen.
- I love Spurgeon.
- He is one of my most valuable teachers.
- But it seems that.
- If this is true.
- The gospel preached by the Arminians would be reduced to inefficiency.
- What is your opinion?Christ and The Crucified One?.
John Piper’s answer: Well, I like Spurgeon too. As I developed these points on the foundations, riches, and heights of gospel truth, I said, Amen!
So is it possible for an Arminien to effectively preach the gospel?
My answer: Yes, it’s possible.
Now notice:
And my answer to all these questions would be: No, it’s not possible
What he asked was: Is it possible for an Arminian to effectively preach the gospel?What I understand is: is it possible for an Arminian to speak enough of the truth of the gospel so that God may be willing to use it to save sinners?The answer is yes.
Now, let me tell you why I’m saying this, because it’s important. There is no need to minimize or exaggerate the problem we face. Why am I saying that? Spurgeon said, “It is not possible to preach Christ and He crucified, unless we preach what is now known as Calvinism. “And then he presents a little of what baldness means.
The problem with this way of expressing yourself is that it creates an unreal image of what is really happening in preaching; he considers that the preaching of the gospel is totally present or completely absent; and when expressed in this way, is it misleading?, since, in fact, preachers? Arminians and Calvins always preach aspects of the gospel in different ways and with different accents. We all use a language in preaching that, at least sometimes, does not allow us to say perfectly whether the words we use have a Calvinist or Arminian meaning. They may refer to one or the other, depending on their intent with words. We don’t always specify. There’s no way, it’s not possible to qualify as often.
Therefore, whether you are a Calvin or an Arminian, it is not possible to describe every prayer you say preaching to Christ to ensure that each sentence has a clearly Calvinist or Arminian meaning. Does this mean that the same biblical phrases about death and The Resurrection of Jesus will be quoted by the two preachers, Calvin and Arminian, and God can use these biblical phrases to save sinners, although not all of the Harmonious or Calvinist implications of these phrases are explicit.
So here’s the gospel. Let’s see if a Calvinist or an Arminian can say what I’m going to say. I’m going to preach the gospel now.
God is a glorious, completely holy, completely righteous God and created us for His glory. Everyone has sinned because they do not live for the glory of God, preferring other things over God and thus dishonoring God. And we are rebels by nature, unable to change without God’s help. Therefore, we are all under the righteous and holy wrath of God. We will all perish forever if we cannot be saved from their wrath.
But God, in his mercy, sent his own Son into the world, Jesus Christ, to take away sins and bear the wrath of all who believe in him. Faith unites us only with Christ so that his death counts as ours and his righteousness. So, no matter how terrible your origin, no matter your ethnicity, your intelligence, your gender, your socioeconomic status, your family history, everyone who believes, believes only in Jesus, that is, they receive Him as Savior and Lord and Treasure, they will be saved and have eternal life. So repent of your sins, renounce all trust in yourself and in Jesus.
End of gospel presentation
I think an Arminian and a Calvinist can say every word I just said. Of course, we know that at various points in this gospel presentation, our beliefs will take us in different directions when we explain these prayers and these differences are truly significant. as people grow in their faith. Calvinism and Arminianism are not indifferent questions, but even before clarifying these differences, these gospel statements are true as they are and God can make them effective in the mouths of Calvin and Arminian.
This is a crucial statement: What do people who hear the gospel believe when they hear these statements?What do they believe in the way God really is?will be clarified as people learn the truth more fully and deeply. And if the God they believed in, the God they thought was glorious and desirable, did not manifest himself as the true God and true Christ of the Bible, will be clarified as the truth presented to them. False believers will be revealed and true believers will be confirmed.
So my answer is: Yes, in the sense that I have tried to describe now, can an Arminien preach the gospel?Christ and he crucified.