The accidental effects of the Gospel.
The accidental effects of the Gospel.
§ 46. The accidental effects of the Gospel are that: (1) It brings the cross to those who confess it. “Whoever loses His life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35). “Whoever has left house or brothers,” etc., “for My sake and for the Gospel” (Mark 10:29[–30]). “Striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel” (Phil. 1:27). “That he might serve me in my chains for the Gospel” (Phlm. 13). “If you suffer for it and take it patiently, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called” (1 Pet. 2:20–21).
(2) This doctrine offends the world. In fact, “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23). Thus before the world it is considered as “the foolishness of preaching” (v. 21), for “it is the secret and hidden wisdom of God which none of the rulers of this age understand” (1 Cor. 2:7–8). “The soulish man3 does not perceive nor can he understand it” (v. 14).
(3) It is proclaimed as a trumpet of rebellion and a cause of disasters in the world: “Unto this hour we are slandered. We have become as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things” (1 Cor. 4:11, 13).
(4) It is the occasion for the blinding of the wicked and unbelieving. “Even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:3–4). “Christ” (as He is preached through the Gospel) “is a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall” (1 Pet. 2:8).
(5) For unbelievers, it is the occasion for greater damnation. “It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you” (Matt. 11:22). “The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:7–8).