Good News: Jesus Came To Save Sinners

April 1, 2026

Leadership Notes

     I’ve started reading “How The Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It,” by Arthur Herman. Fascinating so far.

     The first chapters cover events from the 1600s-1700s, including the establishment of Great Britain. In the process of bringing Scotland and England together into one united kingdom, bribery, lying, misrepresenting, and other kinds of skullduggery were involved. Politics and politicians then were as horrible and corrupt as they are now. The more things change…

     Of greater interest to me were the theological changes sweeping through some in the church. Many preachers and teachers were transitioning from the influence of John Knox and John Calvin to what they saw as a more serene and compassionate gospel. These proponents proposed that belief in Jesus as Savior was not necessary for salvation. They taught that even upright pagans could be saved. They cast doubt on the Trinity and on Jesus Christ as the Son of God…all doctrines long abandoned by English thinkers such as John Locke and Isaac Newton. One lecturer even advised students at the University of Glasgow to take what they read in the Bible “with a grain of salt.” False teachers and teaching were as horrible then as they are now.

     All of this provides context for what happened to Charles Spurgeon a century-and-a-half later. In what has been called the “Downgrade Controversy”:

“Charles Spurgeon resigned from the Baptist Union in October

1887, later leaving other associations, because of his opposition

to the spread of modernistic theology and the decline of

evangelical orthodoxy in British churches. He cited concerns over

the denial of scriptural authority and substitutionary atonement,

resulting in a public, painful breach.”

     God bless Covenant Church and our grasp of Gospel truth. We will never weaken our grip or let go. Whatever may happen in church life, the Gospel is our singular, foundational truth. As we prepare to celebrate Easter, here’s the simplest way to put it:

> Bad News: Sin Leads to Death.

> Good News: JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS.

There’s no better way to put it.

     And now, your Moment of Spurgeon:

“It is easy for the Lord to save a sinner, but it is impossible for a

self-righteous man to be saved until he is brought down from his

fatal pride.”

With Much Love and Affection,

            Richard

Good Friday/Easter p.s. – From Romans 8:1…”Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”