The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation: The Duty of Sinners to Believe in Jesus Christ

by Andrew Fuller

‘I believe it is the duty of every minister of Christ plainly and faithfully to preach the gospel to all who will hear it; and as I believe the inability of men to spiritual things to be wholly of the moral, and therefore of the criminal kind, and that it is their duty to love the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in him for salvation though they do not; I therefore believe free and solemn addresses, invitations, calls, and warnings to them to be not only consistent but directly adapted, as means, in the hand of the Spirit of God, to bring them to Christ.’ These words, part of a statement of religious convictions drawn up by Andrew Fuller prior to taking up the pastorate in Kettering, are the themes he develops in this important book. Not naturally given to controversy, he agonised over its publication but, persuaded of its vital importance, published it in 1785, four years after writing it. Persuasive gospel preaching has been largely lost today just as it had been in Fuller’s day. This is a book to rekindle that passion on a clear doctrinal basis.

Genres: Theology, Christian

110 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2010

About the author

Andrew Fuller (6 February 1754 – 7 May 1815) was an English Particular Baptist minister and theologian. Known as a promoter of missionary work, he also took part in theological controversy. Fuller is best known in connection with the foundation of the Baptist Missionary Society, to which he for the most part devoted his energies.

Reviews

[Nicholas Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuller argues that every person has a duty to believe the gospel, and thus every minister has a duty to preach the gospel to all people. It is no wonder why this book sparked such change among the Particular Baptists and beyond. He held out an evangelical Calvinism, which ran counter to much of the norm of his day.

[Brit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent book by Fuller on the duty of sinners to believe in Jesus. However, like most books of his era, this one is a difficult read, and what took 100 pages to say could have been spelled out in a short pamphlet. I appreciate his insights and reasoning, but this is also not a book I could ever hand to somebody for edification.

[Matt Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

In many ways, this is a restatement of Thomas Watsons Doctrine of Repentance or better yet John Owen’s Mortification of Sin. Especially since Fuller relies heavily on Owen. It is not so much on the acceptance of the Gospel as the title perhaps suggests, but rather how there is an immediate need to spread the Gospel. Christians are to be the heralds of the Gospel.

[Stephen Drew]

One of the most influential books that transformed baptists from a small sec to a global influence

[Tessa]

This book is a hard read (I found his argumentation very hard to read and follow, so manny commas!) but not all that technical (it is not concerned with compatibilism, philosophy, or arguing the finer points of theology). It is simply pointing out the problem of negating the “good faith offer” of God to the gospel through faith in Jesus. He never says if we believe there are those God calls to believe who have no ability to believe that God is then the author of evil (the logical conclusion). He merely lays out the evidence and, apparently, is confident people of his time see the blatant error of their belief.