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We believe these three features are unalterable. That neither Christian charity, nor
force of circumstances, neither empty churches nor declining subscriptions can ever
justify the modification or the excision of one of these three items. No other message has
a right to the name gospel, but that of which God is Author. No other message can use
this title, but that which rests upon the promises of Holy Scripture. No other message is
the gospel, but that which coming from God and fulfilling His word finds its goal in the
person of the Son of God.
The gospel and the O.T. Scriptures.
Paul had been charged with introducing innovations, of preaching a self-evolved
message, of altering laws and customs, and therefore before he defines his gospel he turns
aside to declare that it was entirely in harmony with the O.T. Scriptures, and indeed was
the fulfillment of its promises. In verse 17 he picks out one verse from an O.T. prophet
and makes it live for all time: "The just shall live by faith." In chapter 3: 10-18 he
shows that his doctrine of universal sin is founded upon the O.T. Scriptures, and in
chapter 3: 21 declares that the gospel presentation of a righteousness of God without the
law is witnessed by the law and the prophets.
The controversy as to faith or works is settled by the appeal "What saith the
Scriptures?" (4: 3). The same appeal runs through chapters 9:-15: where the remnant,
Israel's temporary blindness, the sovereignty of God's choice, the judgment of believers,
the justification of Paul's extended ministry, and the inclusion of Gentiles, are all based
upon quotations from the O.T. Scriptures. This attitude is not to be looked upon as
peculiar to the apostle Paul, it is also the attitude of Peter:--
"The word of the Lord endureth for ever. And THIS IS THE WORD which by the
gospel is preached unto you" (I Peter 1: 25).
This moreover is the attitude of Christ Himself.
"Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" (John 5: 46, 47).
He who tampers with Moses destroys John 3: 16 (see 3: 14). He who ridicules
Jonah denies the resurrection (Matt. 12: 40). He who disbelieves the flood doubts the
second advent (Matt. 24: 37-39). Moreover as a final witness against modernism it was
the risen Christ Who declared that all things must be fulfilled that had been written of
Him, "in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms" (Luke 24: 44). The
many who believe the gospel of God as preached by Paul can have neither part nor lot
with one who denies the inspiration of the O.T., narrow and old fashioned though such an
attitude may appear.
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Those who are able to read the original have presented to them in the arrangement of
verses 3 and 4 a wonderful conception of this title of Christ, for the words "His Son" are