Law-Gospel Preaching: Is It Actually Dangerous?
Show notes
In this video, Jon Moffitt addresses the relationship between law, gospel, good works, and assurance of salvation from a Reformed Baptist perspective.
Should Christians look to their obedience for assurance? Do good works establish our assurance, or do they strengthen an assurance already founded upon Christ?
Looking at the London Baptist Confession, especially chapters 5, 16, 17, and 18, Jon argues that the foundation of Christian assurance is the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Good works are real and necessary fruits of faith, and they can strengthen our assurance, but they are not its foundation.
This distinction matters for how we preach to Christians struggling with sin. The law tells us how we ought to live, but the power for salvation, sanctification, perseverance, and obedience comes through Christ and the work of his Spirit.
In this episode:
• What law and gospel distinction actually means
• Why law/gospel is part of the Reformed Baptist tradition
• The foundation of assurance according to the 1689
• How good works strengthen assurance
• Why obedience is a fruit of assurance
• What happens to assurance when Christians fall into serious sin
• How Christ preserves his people to the end
• Why preaching the gospel is essential for sanctification
The Christian life does not move beyond Christ. We begin by faith in Christ, continue by faith in Christ, and are preserved through faith in Christ.
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