Gordon H. Clark: The Gospel Includes the Five Points of Calvinism

Now, what did Paul preach?  He himself says, "I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."  This includes the five points of Calvinism, the TULIP, . . .   Dr. Gordon H. Clark

Unwittingly, many Evangelicals and even Calvinists have been duped into thinking that the Gospel can be reduced down to a few pet propositions or verses of the Bible, and that the rest of the Bible is irrelevant in regards to this kernel of truth contained within the Scriptures.  This is the doctrine of Rudolf Bultmann, the neo-orthodox theologian who said that the preaching of the early church could be distinguished from the doctrines of Scripture.  Dr. Gordon H. Clark certainly recognized the distinction between Law and Gospel that both Calvin and Luther taught.  So his point is not to confuse Law and Gospel but to reject a false dichotomy espoused by the theologians of paradox and contradiction.

Clark also rejected the doctrine of the neo-orthodox theologians and Fredrich Schleiermacher that Christianity was more about total dependence on God or a personal relationship with Jesus Christ rather than doctrine.  Christianity is not based on psychology or on some existential personal encounter with God or Jesus Christ that somehow transcends Scripture in a mystical and ineffable encounter.  No, according to Dr. Clark, Christianity is based solely on the knowledge of the propositional doctrines of the Bible that are to be intellectually understood with the mind or heart and believed with the decision of the will.  Saving faith is not personal encounter but propositional knowledge and assent to that knowledge.

In his commentary on Philippians 1:27 Clark says:

The fact that Paul mentions the Gospel twice in this verse, and seven other times in the epistle, warrants some explanation of the term.  In contemporary preaching it is often misused.  I have heard some very conservative Baptists distinguish between the Gospel and church doctrine.  The disciples of Kierkegaard and Barth speak of kerygma, a preaching or announcement, of undetermined length.  Hendricksen expiates on its meaning for a good five pages.  I doubt that a good definition of the Gospel requires five pages, but insistence on the Gospel so defined can stand fifty pages oft repeated.  One might say that the Gospel is what Paul preached.  Now, what did Paul preach?  He himself says, "I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."  This includes the five points of Calvinism, the TULIP, and is not restricted to the five points of fundamentalism:  inerrancy, incarnation, miracles, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection.  These latter are an essential and indispensable part of the Gospel, but they are not the whole of it.  The Gospel includes the P of the TULIP, the perseverance of the saints as Philippians just said back in verse six.  [Philippians 1:6].  In fact the Gospel is the entire Bible, from which nothing should be subtracted nor to which nothing should be added.  Although no minister, not even Paul, can preach the whole Gospel in one sermon, a prolonged reluctance to declare it all prevents a minister from being free from the blood of his auditors.

Dr. Gordon H. Clark.  Philippians.  (Hobbs:  Trinity Foundation, 1996).  P. 40.

See also:  Philippians.

Also, see my transcription of a comment made to this same effect by Dr. Clark at the end of his lecture, Predestination in the Old Testament.  Click here:  Is There a Distinction Between Church Doctrine and Kerygma?

The Three Uses of God's Moral Law: Don't Forget the First Use!

I'm posting this article from the Heidelblog because R. Scott Clark gets the law/gospel distinction right.  I have serious disagreements with the theology of paradox espoused by R. S. Clark.  But on this issue I have to say that I am in full and complete agreement.  You will want to make sure to listen to this discussion.  Here's the link:   Heidelblog:  The Attraction of Legal Preaching.

Jack Miller: More Law or More Gospel?

Jack Miller points out that law/gospel distinction in detail for us here.  My only complaint is that at one point he says "knowledge" of law and gospel is unnecessary:

Our problem as sinners isn't a knowledge problem remedied by more law instruction and our subsequent doing, but a sin-problem which only the gospel solves, God's already done!  This is true for our justification as well as our sanctification.  As believers we are called to mortify sin within us, which by definition means resisting the desires that actually tempt us and then again to offer ourselves to loving God and loving our neighbor.  The finished work of Jesus declared in the gospel is the only weapon given believers that actually breaks that power of sin and frees us to walk in a righteous direction.  The World's Ruined:  Too Much Gospel, Too Little Law?

The problem here is that knowledge is required before anyone can know sin through the light of the law.  (Romans 3:20; 7:7).  The sinful and carnal mind cannot obey God's law.  (Romans 8:7).  In fact the soteriological articles say that plainly in Articles 9-18.  But Article 9 is straight to the point:

Article IX

Of Original or Birth Sin

Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated, whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek phronema sarkos (which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire of the flesh), is not subject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess that concupiscence and lust hath itself the nature of sin.

The phrase phronema sarkos is from the New Testament Greek of Romans 8:7:

. . . διότι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρα εἰς θεόν, τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται· (Romans 8:7 BYZ)

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:7 NKJ)

It means literally the "mind of the flesh".   But here's the thing.  Knowledge is required before we can know we are sinners:

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20 NKJ)

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7 NKJ)

 And knowledge is required before we can know the Gospel by faith:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8 NKJ)

And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. (Ephesians 2:17 NKJ)

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14 NKJ)

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 NKJ)

And even more to the point, even our sanctification is impossible without knowledge:

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:17 NKJ)

but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 NKJ)

The mind is not enmity against God.  We are to worship God with our minds (Mark 12:30).  It is the carnal mind, the sinful mind that is at enmity with God, not the believing mind.  The believer has been set free from this bondage to evil thoughts, though not entirely.  (Genesis 6:5; 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5).

Martin Luther: Quote of the Day: The Law/Gospel Distinction

From Luther's commentary on Galatians 2:14,

14. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel. This is a wonderful example of such excellent men and pillars of the church. Only Paul has his eyes open and sees the offense of Peter, Barnabas, and the other Jews who were hypocrites along with Peter. On the other hand, they do not see their own offense; rather, they think they are right to bear with the weakness of the Jews. So it was very necessary for Paul to criticize them and not hide their offense. So he accuses Peter, Barnabas, and the others of swerving from the truth of the Gospel. It is significant that Peter is accused by Paul as someone who had fallen from the truth of the Gospel. He could not be more grievously reprehended, and yet he suffered it patiently and no doubt acknowledged his offense. Peter, Barnabas, and other Jews had the Gospel but were not walking uprightly according to it. They preached the Gospel but established the law, though this would abolish the Gospel.

Anyone who can judge rightly between the law and the Gospel should thank God and know that he is a true theologian. In times of temptation, I confess that I myself do not know how to do this as I ought. The way to discern the one from the other is to place the Gospel in heaven and the law on the earth, to call the righteousness of the Gospel heavenly and the righteousness of the law earthly, and to put as much difference between the righteousness of the Gospel and of the law as God has made between heaven and earth, between light and darkness, between day and night. If it is a question of faith or conscience, let us utterly exclude the law and leave it on the earth; but if we are dealing with works, let us light the lantern of works and of the righteousness of the law. The sun and light of the Gospel and grace should shine in the day, and the lantern of the law in the night.

So if your conscience is terrified with the sense of sin, remember that you are still on earth. Let the donkey labor there and carry the burden laid upon him; that is, let the body and its members be subject to the law. But when you climb up to heaven, leave the donkey with its burden on the earth, for the conscience has nothing to do with the law or its observance or earthly righteousness. Thus the donkey remains in the valley, but the conscience climbs the mountain with Isaac, knowing nothing at all of the law or its observance, but only looking to the remission of sins and pure righteousness offered and freely given to us in Christ.

Conversely, in civil matters obedience to the law must be severely required. There nothing must be known concerning the Gospel, conscience, grace, forgiveness of sins, heavenly righteousness, or Christ himself, but only Moses, with the law and its observance. If we keep this distinction carefully, neither the one nor the other will pass its bounds. The law will remain outside heaven—that is, outside the heart and conscience; and conversely, the liberty of the Gospel will remain outside the earth—that is, outside the body and its members. As soon as the law and sin come into heaven (that is, into the conscience), let them be thrown out straightaway, for the conscience, being terrified by God’s wrath and judgment, ought to know nothing of the law and sin, but only Christ. And on the other hand, when grace and liberty come into the earth (that is, into the body), then say, “You should not live in the dregs and garbage heap of this physical life; you belong to heaven.”

This distinction between law and Gospel was confused when Peter persuaded the believing Jews that they must be justified by the Gospel and the law together. Paul would not allow this, and so he reproved Peter, not so Peter might be reproached, but so he might again establish a clear distinction between the two—namely, that the Gospel justifies in heaven, and the law on earth.


Luther, M. (1998). Galatians. The Crossway classic commentaries (82–84). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.