On The Gospel
John Gill: A Body Of Doctrinal Divinity, Book IV.7.5b
Of the Gospel
5b. Whether repentance is a doctrine of the law or of the gospel? the answer to which is, that such who sin ought to repent of sin; this God has commanded, the law of nature teaches; and so far as this is to be considered as a duty incumbent on men, it belongs to the law, as all duty does; but then the law makes no account of repentance for sin; nor does it admit of it as a satisfaction for it; nor gives any encouragement to expect that God will receive repenting sinners into his grace and favor upon it; this is what the gospel does, and not the law; the law says not, repent and live, but do and live. Moreover, there is what may be called a legal repentance and contrition; for by the law is the knowledge of sin, without which there can be no repentance; and it works a sense of wrath in the sinners conscience, and a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation from an incensed God; but if it stop here, it will prove no other than a worldly sorrow, which works death. The Spirit of God may make use of this, and go on and produce spiritual repentance, such a repentance as is unto life, even life eternal; and unto salvation, which needs not to be repented of: but such a repentance is not the work of the law; for life and salvation come not by any work of the law; but true repentance, which has salvation annexed to it, is, as faith, a blessing of the covenant of grace; a grant from God, a gift of Christ as a Savior, and with it remission of sins; a grace produced in the soul by the Spirit of Christ, by means of the gospel, which only encourages to the exercise of it; (see Acts 5:31 ; 11:18 ; 2 Corinthians 7:10 ; Galatians 3:2 ).
And so is a doctrine of the gospel, and not of the law, as appears from the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, who exhorted and encouraged to repentance from gospel motives; and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Matthew 3:2 ; Mark 1:4 ). But what has the law to do either with baptism or the remission of sins? His ministry was evangelical, and ran in the same strain with the apostles, as appears from their answer to a question put to them; “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” A serious question, put upon thought and reflection by persons upon the bottom of a covenant of works, as the Jews rally were; and especially under a sense of guilt, as those were, desirous to know what must be done by them, that they “might be saved;” as it may be supplied from the jailor’s words, when in the same case; or whereby they might make atonement for, and obtain the pardon of so great a sin, of which they were guilty: to which a proper answer is returned, putting them off of legal works for such purposes, and directing them to evangelical ones; “repent and be baptized, everyone of you, for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:37 ,38 ). And this is also clear from the story of Christ Himself; who came, not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance; which was not a legal, but evangelical repentance. He began His ministry thus; “repent, and believe the gospel” (see Matthew 9:13 Mark 1:15 ; ). With which agrees the ministry of the apostles in general; who, by the direction of Christ, preached repentance and remission of sins in his name; which most certainly was the gospel; the one, as well as the other, a doctrine of the gospel (Luke 24:47 ). And the apostle Paul, who was a most evangelical preacher, divides his whole ministry into these two parts; “repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21 ).
Addendum and add’l thoughts concerning what Gill articulated in this portion:
What should be clear in Gill’s view is that there are “kinds” or “types” of repentance, just like there are “kinds” and “types” of love which the provisionist lumps together under the same umbrella, though they are different and most certainly NOT universally applicable.
A person remaining under the Covenant of works can be repentant but only in a natural manner since they have no light and are blind to their need of redemption, thus they can be sorrowful that their sin or nature are in opposition to God, and their inclination against Him, because it creates many sorrowful issues in their life which they cannot fully comprehend. Therefore, they cannot have even the slightest victory over sin and are subject to its power and control, under the curse of sin and death, they have become slaves to its prison without a key to open the door.
But for the one whom the LORD God has or will regenerate is transferred from being under the COW to being under the Covenant of Grace/Redemption, and no longer under the curse of sin and death, and whose new birth by the Holy Spirit is empowered to repent and believe what was once outright rejected, denied and not truly sought out. Thus, the gift of true repentance and faith brings real and spiritual reconciliation unlike the natural repentance under the curse of sin and death and thus under the COW; the law of God and not the Gospel. The supernatural application of the Gospel removes what the law could never provide.
Robert Gilmore is a Strict and Particular Baptist preacher. He resides in Blountville, Tennessee, serving the Lord in various capacities. He is widely read on historic and modern theology, engaging with believers on social platforms and other mediums.
