by Sonny Hernandez
Is the gospel offered?[1] No. The gospel is proclaimed, not proffered, to men in hopes they accept it. Examine the following reasons why:
Both well-meant offer (WMO) advocates and those who oppose this doctrine believe Christians must preach Christ to all men. Proclaiming Christ to all men is an indisputable Christian truth (Mark 16:15).[2] Contentious disputes will arise when supposed gospel ministers try to defend offering the gospel, but to no avail.
The Bible testifies about the preaching of the gospel but never says the gospel is "offered." To reiterate, nowhere in Scripture does it say that God's people "offered" the gospel. Paul did not say, "Offer the Word," but said, "Preach the Word" (2 Timothy 4:2). Mark's gospel does not say, "Offer the gospel to every creature," but states, "...Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (16:15).
Because the "finished" work of Christ is the gospel (John 19:30),[3] proclaiming the good news means a believer is testifying about what Christ accomplished and for whom He died, but offering the gospel presupposes salvation depends on a sinner accepting the offer. Therefore, the WMO undermines several gospel essentials and leads people to think God conditioned salvation on the sinner, not the Savior.
Supporters of the WMO doctrine will twist two key texts, Revelation 22:17 and Matthew 11:28-29. Revelation 22:17 states, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
In the verse above, the author never used the word "offer" or the Greek prospherō. And "come" and "let him take" are imperatives, not indicatives of an offer. So men who cite Revelation 22:17 as a proof text to support the WMO are superstitiously trying to turn imperatives ("come" and "let him take") into an indicative of an offer. This practice is called eisegesis.
Similarly, since Matthew 11:28-29 mentions "come to me" and "take my yoke," proponents of the WMO think this proves Christ offered the gospel. But advocates of this ill-begotten progeny of Arminianism are densely trying to turn imperatives ("come" and "take") into an indicative of an offer.
In conclusion, I do not accept the WMO heresy because it is a gross Arminian doctrine.[4] But I dogmatically believe in proclaiming what my Savior accomplished to all men promiscuously and without distinction. Praise God for faithful ministers who proclaim, not offer, the gospel of the crucified, resurrected,[5] ascended, and glorified Savior without removing the offense of the cross.[6]
[1] Promoters of the WMO doctrine believe God desires to save even those who will never attain salvation and thus offers the gospel to all men, including the non-elect. Examine the following three points below to see why this moderate Calvinist version of the Arminian altar call is godless: 1. The Bible repeatedly says to "preach" the gospel or the Word (e.g., Mark 16:15; Rom. 1:15; 1 Cor. 1:17, 9:16; 2 Tim. 4:2), but nowhere in Scripture does it say the gospel is an "offer." Nowhere! 2. According to Scripture, the reprobate will never become elect, and goats will never transform into sheep. Therefore, arguing that God desires to save even the non-elect means Calminians or advocates of the WMO doctrine believe God has a continuously failing desire to redeem men [the goats] who will never attain salvation. 3. Per WMO bastions and their duped acolytes, God constantly fails to accomplish His desire of delivering men [the reprobates] who will never attain salvation. But the God of the Bible accomplishes all He desires (Isaiah 55:11). Bottom line: God desires to save only His elect, not the reprobate, and the gospel is a proclamation of the completed, saving, and effectual work of Christ alone on behalf of the sheep, not a well-meant offer of salvation to all men, including the non-elect. Although Scripture does not support offering the gospel, God's Word does teach to proclaim the good news to all men. "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Therefore, Bible-believers reject the WMO heresy because they embrace the gospel of Christ alone, not crypto Arminianism.
[2] The good news needs to be proclaimed today by men who are not ashamed to articulate the contents of the gospel so an objective observer can clearly distinguish between their message and what the false Arminian and Roman Catholic ministers teach. You will never have to worry about a false teacher lauding your message if you proclaim the truth. So if a semi pelagian or papist could say "amen" to your supposed gospel presentation on the atonement and sovereign election, it's because you sound more like a compromiser or hireling than you do a herald for Christ. Therefore, preach the offense of the cross to all men who seek to establish their own righteousness but don't compromise. Too much of that is going on these days.
[3] Most professing Christians claim to know the message of the fall of Adam and the devastating implications. Because the commandments reflect the nature of the Triune God, the law demands perfection, and violating the law results in death. Perfect obedience to the law and payment for the penalty of sin can only be found in the Savior's righteousness, not rebellious sinners. This perfect righteousness, found only in Christ, gives the elect assurance of salvation. Put another way, Christ's vicarious law-keeping and particular redemption, also known as the whole work of His righteousness in its compact unity, assures the elect of salvation. Many will disagree because someone led them to believe their good deeds, law-keeping, and obedience provide assurance, but none of their superstitious assertions prove the points they desperately try to make; their arguments only prove they think men's fallible works are superior to the Master's finished work. Bottom line: Justification and assurance of salvation point to Christ alone, plus nothing, but not to the exclusion of the Father and the Holy Ghost.
[4] The Bible does not teach even one tenet of Arminianism such as conditional election, freedom of the will, unlimited atonement, and resistible grace. And no prophet of God, apostle, elder, or Christ ever preached on any of these autosoteric [self-saving] principles. Therefore, Arminianism or semi-Pelagianism is heresy because it proposes a different God and a false gospel. Many will try to soften this heresy, but the apostle Paul did not. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9).
[5] The resurrection of Christ is a declaration of His full divinity and efficacious gospel (Romans 1:3-4). Because of Christ's resurrection, the elect will also rise (2 Corinthians 5:15-17). This gospel truth proves the Son exhausted the Father's wrath on their behalf (Romans 8:31-39), death has no dominion over Him (Romans 6:9), and the defeat of Satan, who had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Apart from the incarnate Christ, whom God raised in the same body before His death (Luke 24:39), everything is in vain. And all hope is lost (1 Corinthians 15:14-19). Praise God Almighty the Father's glory raised Christ from the dead (Romans 6:4), and the Son is Lord of both the dead and the living (Romans 14:9).
[6] Supposed ministers who claim to preach "Jesus Christ and him crucified" but intentionally use inclusive language to describe the work of the Savior and won't elaborate on who Christ purchased or what He accomplished are false prophets, not faithful preachers. These counterfeits deliberately remove the offense of the cross because they are truly ashamed of the gospel and don't believe it is the power of God. Yet, amidst the timidness and the gross compromise are the faithful remnant of God who will not ignore biblical context or wantonly use ecumenical terminology to describe the discriminative grace of God and the finished work of the resurrected, ascended, and exalted Savior. The following text explains why: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
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