The Gospel's Reception

People receive the Gospel in two different ways. All depends on the state of their hearts. God's elect, with regenerate hearts given by God's Spirit, receive it as it is -- literally God's Word. It is nothing less.

Those who are reprobate reject and hate it, for they reject and hate the living and true God Himself. They hate and reject His Christ and His salvation, and they express this hatred and rejection violently. They did so in Paul's time and they still do, or would if they could, today.