Abounding in the Good Things of the Gospel: A Mere 21-Point Disputation on Absolute Defiance of Using Grace as a Cover-Up or License for Sin and a Commitment to the Honor of the Eternal Christ in Christian Living

Dr. MA Petillo

The law of God is good and wise
And sets his will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
And dooms to death when we transgress.
Its light of holiness imparts
The knowledge of our sinful hearts
That we may see our lost estate
And seek deliv'rance ere too late.
To those who help in Christ have found
And would in works of love abound
It shows what deeds are his delight
And should be done as good and right.
When men the offered help disdain
And wilfully in sin remain,
Its terror in their ear resounds
And keeps their wickedness in bounds.
The law is good; but since the fall
Its holiness condemns us all;
It dooms us for our sin to die
And has no pow'r to justify.
To Jesus we for refuge flee,
Who from the curse has set us free,
And humbly worship at his throne,
Saved by his grace through faith alone. (TH, 449).

1.  It is better to abound in the good things of the gospel than abound in grace because of a license to the sinfulness of sin.

2.  It is better to abound in grace than to abound in lawlessness.

3.  Christians ought to abound in God's superlative grace.

4.  It is better to have Christian hope than to have despair.

5.  It is better to have God's work than to have man's help.

6.  It is better to know the sufferings of Christ than to add your personal sufferings to His matchless Cross.

7. It is better to have joy in suffering for Christ than to have bitterness for those who persecute you for His name's sake.

8.  It is better to be gracious than to be stiff-necked.

9.  It is better to demonstrate our good works as a predestinarian manifestation of God's ways than to think there is a sinner's meritorious demonstration in how we are right with a holy God.

10.   It is better to love your enemies than to hate your enemies.

11.  It is better to be fruitful in whatever is good than to be engaging in the works of the sinful nature.

12.  It is better to have faith than to doubt.

13.  It is better to please God through the unified divine imputed righteousness of Christ alone than to displease a holy God through human works as filthy rages.

14.  It is better to have so-called Christian qualities than to have the works of the flesh and love of this fallen world.

15.  It is better to have the blessings of justification by faith alone than to have the wrath of God in warring disobedience.

16.  It is better to have God as your sole source than to rely on sinners or superstition.

17.  It is better to have Christian generosity than to not give at all.

18.  It is better to be faithful than to be lawless.

19.  It is better to abound in obedience than license.

20.   It is better to live by the Spirit as a new creation than increase sin.

21.  What do I mean by saying "It is better?"  There is no meritorious worth in it, because all merit is Christ alone in how we are right with God.  But what does it mean?  It means that God makes men to differ even in Christian loving.  Its not that we do not have human responsibility in progressive sanctification!  We certainly have it, but we are called to live apart from the world.  Though we say there is cooperation in the pursuit of holiness (not spiritual rebirth), we would say it is all of God in the final analysis.  Does it mean since there is "cooperation" in the pursuit of holiness there is also "cooperation" in spiritual rebirth?  By no means!  The plain testimony of the inspired and inerrant Word is that we cannot believe in and ourselves, but after God completely enables us, we are able to cooperate with God, but it is completely God's work in light of a radical change from darkness to light in the pursuit of holiness.  In a sense, it does not mean we are better than the world touching our indwelling sin and original sin, and possess "inherit" spiritual worth.  It means everyone has a sin nature (the leper cannot change his spots by nature), but the Christian is set apart by a holy God in light of God's unmistakeable work in God-centered spiritual salvation touching spiritual rebirth as a new creation.  It is only right to understand "it is better" because God alone makes us to differ in comparison to this fallen world.  Christians should know that they are bound to heaven not because of themselves, but because of the Trinitarian work of God in the entire scope of spiritual salvation and redemption.  That is, this is why we seek the higher things of God.  God has made His divine revelation plain in the infallible Scriptures: the things of God are better than the things of the world.   John Wesley wrote, "The first priority of my life is to be holy, and the second goal of my life is to be a scholar."

All praise to God, who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of wonders, pow'r, and love,
The God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul he fills,
The God who every sorrow stills,
To God all praise and glory!
What God's almighty pow'r hath made
His gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning dawn or evening shade
His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth;
Within the kingdom of his might,
Lo, all is just and all is right,
To God all praise and glory!
I cried to him in time of need:
Lord God, O, hear my calling!
For death he gave me life indeed
And kept my feet from falling.
For this my thanks shall endless be;
O thank him, thank our God, with me,
To God all praise and glory!
The Lord forsaketh not his flock,
His chosen generation;
He is their refuge and their rock,
Their peace and their salvation.
As with a mother's tender hand
He leads his own, his chosen band,
To God all praise and glory!
Ye who confess Christ's holy name,
To God give praise and glory!
Ye who the Father's power proclaim,
To God give praise and glory!
All idols under foot be trod,
The Lord is God! the Lord is God!
To God all praise and glory!
Then come before his presence now
And banish fear and sadness;
To your Redeemer pay your vow
And sing with joy and gladness:
Though great distress my soul befell,
The Lord, my God, did all things well,
To God all praise and glory!  (TH, 4).