Romans 4:16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
One huge difference between various methods of evangelism and preaching the Gospel is at the point of faith, repentance, and of grace. People have differed (for various reasons) on how much the Law has to do with the sinner coming to Christ and of the need for sinners to be convicted of sin and of humiliation of the soul. The sides of the debate, though we can acknowledge that it may be the case that many have the same motive (grace alone), yet this is not just a debate that can be dismissed as unimportant. I will argue (as I have argued previously) that this is vital to the Gospel. In the next few BLOGS I will be interacting with one section of Horatius Bonar’s book, THE WAY OF Peace. It is from chapter 11, the chapter on Insensibility. The point I am arguing is that the sinner must be BROUGHT to Christ by grace alone. The sinner has no ability to come to Christ and must be BROUGHT to Christ in order for the sinner to be saved by grace alone. Included in this, of course, is how sinners are taught and enabled to come to Christ by God. If we are to urge sinners to come to Christ, we should tell them the only way that they can come and that is a power that is not of their own.
That terror of conscience may go before faith, I do not doubt. But such terror is very unlike Bible repentance; and its tendency is to draw men away from, not to, the cross. Alarms, such as these, are not uncommon among unbelieving men, such as Ahab and Judas. They will be heard with awful distinctness in hell; but they are not repentance. Horatius Bonar
Bonar notes that a terror of conscience may go before faith, but that such terror is very unlike Bible repentance. He then asserts that the tendency of such terror is to draw men away from the cross. I am not sure where that is taught in Scripture, but that would appear to be in accordance with the things he has experienced in his ministry. While there could be various interpretations of what he meant, it is clear that terror is not the same thing as repentance. However, in the context (see below) it appears that Bonar is trying to get men to preach the mercy, love, and grace of Christ in a way where men are not humbled and broken for sin. He does not think that is necessary. The Scriptures, on the other hand, do show us people who are in terror in their conviction of sin. Jesus preached hell and wrath far more than He preached on love and mercy, so while evangelistic success in terms of numbers may not be a result of preaching terror of conscience, it is certainly true that the Lord Jesus did preach this way.
Sorrow for sin comes from apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, from the sight of the cross and of the love which the cross reveals. The broken and the contrite heart is the result of our believing the glad tidings of God’s free love, in the death and resurrection of his Son. Horatius Bonar
While it is correct that a true sorrow for sin comes from the apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ and from the apprehension of the cross and the love which the cross reveals, those things are for believers. The unbeliever will not apprehend love in the cross and will not apprehend the mercy of God in Christ. It is quite true that the truly broken and contrite heart is the result of a new heart which is a believing heart apprehending the free love of God, but that is not the issue with unbelievers. Men are born with proud hearts and those hearts must be humbled and broken before sinners will see their great need of Christ. Indeed, if they are converted they will have hearts that are humbled and broken in a spiritual way, but the heart that is full of pride and self will see no need of Christ other than perhaps a little help. The Scriptures teach us that the Law is our tutor to bring us to Christ and it does that by showing us our sin and our utter helplessness and inability to keep it.
The Gospel of grace alone shines with the perfection and beauty of Christ and His grace, but in order for sinners to see that they must see their own inability in sin. Sinners must see that Christ is the Physician who saves dead sinners and not those who can help themselves. Sinners must reach an end of their hope in themselves and of their own ability in order to rest in Christ as their hope and their strength. The teaching of the Law to sinners is not to teach them another way of salvation apart from Christ, but to show them that they cannot help themselves in the slightest and they must have Christ alone. Sinners must see that they cannot come to Christ unless they are drawn.
God Loves... Himself 
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