• George Ella on Doctrinal Matters

    Antinomianism And The Righteousness Of The Law

    Most readers are familiar with the Calvinist-Arminian controversy of the 18th century in which free-grace, championed by Whitefield, Toplady and Romaine was set against free-will, maintained by Fletcher, Sellon and Wesley. The controversy dealt with whether salvation was made possible by Christ, depending on man’s acceptance of it, or whether Christ secured His Church’s salvation by His atoning death. At the same time, a similar controversy was raging on a closely related topic. “Is the Mosaic Law God’s eternal standard or has it become irrelevant to unbeliever and believer alike as a Covenant of Works and as a yardstick of sanctification?” The leading contestants in the Calvinistic-Arminian controversy were mainly Oxford and Cambridge dons and men of a first class education. The opposite was the…

  • William Gadsby's Fragments (Complete)

    Questions About The Law

    The following article was taken from William Gadsby's work, “The Present State of Religion”, where he dealt with the law as a rule of conduct for the Christian. Dear Sir, Friend G. informs me you wish me to write to you, and inform you what law it is that I say the believer is in no sense under. I therefore write to say (though I cannot help thinking you must know) that it is the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, commonly called the moral law, or ten commandments, recorded in Exodus 20, and hinted at, with its curses annexed to it, in Deuteronomy 27. This is the law I intend, and do venture to say that the believer in Christ is in no…

  • William Gadsby's Letters (Complete)

    A Feeling Religion, Not A Mere Brain Religion

    My dear Brother in the great Head of Zion,—I hope you and your spouse are well, and that the dear Lord is leading you more and more into the deep things of God. Remember, if a man is to be taught much of the depths of God's eternal love, he must wade in the depths of his own enmity. If he is to be well instructed in the depths of the glorious atonement of Christ, he must feel and sicken at the awful and damnable depravity of his own nature. And so on in every respect; for we can only feelingly and experimentally know the glory of Christ, but as God the Holy Ghost reveals him to our hearts, and reveals him there as just…

  • William Gadsby's Fragments (Complete)

    The New Law

    In the Gospel Standard for 1839, amongst the “Gleanings” was one, attributed to Mr. Gadsby: “The old covenant they broke, and the old law they broke, and break; but they cannot break the new covenant, neither can they break the new law.” In reply to this, the next month, Mr. Gadsby wrote: “Messrs. Editors,—In your number for this month (January), page 24, amongst your gleanings, is a remark to which the signature 'W. G.' is put, which I altogether deny as ever falling from my lips, It is that the believer 'cannot break the new law.' I believe that the blessed Lord writes the glorious substance of every divine law in the hearts of his people, and that the covenant of works they have awfully…

  • William Gadsby's Fragments (Complete)

    The Rule Of Obedience

    If the gospel is no rule of obedience (as numbers declare), I am at a loss to know what the apostle means when he says, “The mystery which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets; according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known unto all nations for the obedience of faith.” (Rom 16:25) It is by faith “we wait for the hope of righteousness.” (Gal 5:5) We are “saved by grace, through faith.” (Eph 2:8) The word does not profit, if not “mixed with faith.” (Heb 4:2) “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” (Heb 11:1) “The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” (Rom 1:17) God purifies…

  • Jared Smith on the Biblical Covenants

    Two Or Three Covenants?

    One of the reasons many Reformed believers assert it is the duty of all sinners to savingly believe on Christ is because they distinguish between the covenant of redemption and the covenant of grace. They believe the covenant of redemption was made between the Father, the Son and the Spirit from eternity, whereas the covenant of grace is made between Jehovah and the sinner in time. They view the covenant of redemption as existing in the background of God’s plan for the ages, whereas the covenant of grace is set in the foreground of man’s responsibility for today. R. C. Sproul outlined this view in his book, “What Is Reformed Theology”. He explained Reformed Theology is primarily concerned with three major covenants—the covenant of redemption,…