The Sovereignty of God in
Salvation
by
Arthur W. Pink
"0
the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable
are His judgments, and His ways past finding out" (Rom.
"Salvation
is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9); but the Lord does not save all. Why not?
He
does save some; then if He saves some, why not others? Is it because they are
too
sinful and depraved? No; for the Apostle wrote, "This is a faithful
saying,
and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners;
of whom I am chief" (1 Tim.
of
sinners, none are excluded because of their depravity. Why then does not God
save
all? Is it because some are too stony-hearted to be won? No; because it is
written,
that God will "take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give
them
a heart of flesh" (Ezek.
so
intractable, so defiant that God is unable to woo them to Himself? Before we
answer
this question let us ask another; let us appeal to the experience of the
Christian
reader.
Friend,
was there not a time when you walked in the counsel of the ungodly,
stood
in the way of sinners, sat in the seat of the scorners, and with them
said,
"We will not have this Man to reign over us" (Luke
time
when you "would not come to Christ that you might have life" (John
Yea,
was there not a time when you mingled your voice with those who said unto
God,
"Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. What is the
Almighty,
that we should serve Him? and what profit should we have, if we pray
unto
Him?" (Job 21:14, 15)? With shamed face you have to acknowledge there was.
But
how is it that all is now changed? What was it that brought you from haughty
self-sufficiency
to a humble suppliant; from one that was at enmity with God to
one
that is at peace with Him; from lawlessness to subjection; from hate to
love?
And as one ëborn of the Spirit' you will readily reply, "By the grace of
God
I am what I am" (1 Cor.
lack
of power in God, nor to His refusal to coerce man, that other rebels are
not
saved too? If God was able to subdue your will and win your heart, and that
without
interfering with your moral responsibility, then is He not able to do
the
same for others? Assuredly He is. Then how inconsistent, how illogical, how
foolish
of you, in seeking to account for the present course of the wicked and
their
ultimate fate, to argue that God is unable to save them, that they will
not
let Him. Do you say, "But the time came when I was willing, willing to
receive
Christ as my Saviour"? True, but it was the Lord who made you willing
(Psa.
110:3; Phil.
but
for the fact that He is Sovereign and does as He pleases! But to return to
our
opening inquiry.
Why
is it that all are not saved, particularly all who hear the Gospel? Do you
still
answer, Because the majority refuse to believe? Well, that is true, but it
is
only a part of the truth. It is the truth from the human side. But there is a
Divine
side too, and this side of the truth needs to be stressed or God will be
robbed
of His glory. The unsaved are lost because they refuse to believe; the
others
are saved because they believe. But why do these others believe? What is
it
that causes them to put their trust in Christ? Is it because they are more
intelligent
than their fellows, and quicker to discern their need of salvation?
Perish
the thought--"Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou
that
thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,
as
if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). It is God Himself who maketh
the
difference between the elect and the non-elect, for of His own it is
written,
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding,
that we may know Him that is true" (1 John
Faith
is God's gift, and "all men have not faith" (2 Thess. 3:2);
therefore, we
see
that God does not bestow this gift upon all. Upon whom then does He bestow
this
saving favor? And we answer, upon His own elect--"As many as were ordained
to
eternal life believed" (Acts
of
God's elect" (Titus 1:1). But is God partial in the distribution of His
favors?
Has He not the right to be? Are there still some who murmur against the
Goodman
of the house'? Then His own words are sufficient reply--"Is it not
lawful
for Me to do what I will with Mine own?" (Matt. 20:15). God is Sovereign
in
the bestowment of His gifts, both in the natural and in the spiritual realms.
So
much then for a general statement, and now to particularize.
1. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD THE FATHER
IN SALVATION.
Perhaps
the one Scripture which most emphatically of all asserts the absolute
Sovereignty
of God in connection with His determining the destiny of His
creatures,
is the Ninth of Romans. We shall not attempt to review here the
entire
chapter, but will confine ourselves to verses 21-23-- "Hath not the
potter
power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor, and
another
unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His
power
known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction:
And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels
of
mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory?" These verses represent
fallen
mankind
as inert and as impotent as a lump of lifeless clay. This Scripture
evidences
that there is "no difference," in themselves, between the elect and
the
non-elect; they are clay of "the same lump," which agrees with
Ephesians
2:3,
where we are told that all are by nature "children of wrath." It
teaches us
that
the ultimate destiny of every individual is decided by the will of God, and
blessed
it is that such be the case; if it were left to our wills, the ultimate
destination
of us all would be the
does
make a difference in the respective destinations to which He assigns His
creatures,
for one vessel is made "unto honor and another unto dishonor;" some
are
"vessels of wrath fitted to destruction," others are "vessels of
mercy,
which
He had afore prepared unto glory."
We
readily acknowledge that it is very humbling to the proud heart of the
creature
to behold all mankind in the hand of God as the clay in the potter's
hand,
yet this is precisely how the Scriptures of Truth represent the case. In
this
day of human boasting, intellectual pride, and deification of man, it needs
to
be insisted upon that the potter forms his vessels for himself. Let man
strive
with his Maker as he will, the fact remains that he is nothing more than
clay
in the Heavenly Potter's hands, and while we know that God will deal justly
with
His creatures, that the Judge of all the earth will do right, nevertheless,
He
shapes His vessels for His own purpose and according to His own pleasure. God
claims
the indisputable right to do as He wills with His own.
Not
only has God the right to do as He wills with the creatures of His own
hands,
but He exercises this right, and nowhere is that seen more plainly than
in
His predestinating grace. Before the foundation of the world God made a
choice,
a selection, an election. Before His omniscient eye stood the whole of
Adam's
race, and from it He singled out a people and predestinated them "to be
conformed
to the image of His Son," "ordained" them unto eternal life.
Many are
the
Scriptures which set forth this blessed truth, seven of which will now
engage
our attention.
"As
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed" (Acts 13:48). Every
artifice
of human ingenuity has been employed to blunt the sharp edge of this
Scripture
and to explain away the obvious meaning of these words, but it has
been
employed in vain, though nothing will ever be able to reconcile this and
similar
passages to the mind of the natural man. "As many as were ordained to
eternal
life, believed." Here we learn four things: First, that believing is the
consequence
and not the cause of God's decree. Second, that a limited number
only
are "ordained to eternal life," for if all men without exception were
thus
ordained
by God, then the words "as many as" are a meaningless qualification.
Third,
that this "ordination" of God is not to mere external privileges but
to
"eternal
life," not to service but to salvation itself. Fourth, that all--"as
many
as," not one less--who are thus ordained by God to eternal life will most
certainly
believe.
The
comments of the beloved Spurgeon on the above passage are well worthy of our
notice.
Said he, "Attempts have been made to prove that these words do not teach
predestination,
but these attempts so clearly do violence to language that I
shall
not waste time in answering them. I read: ëAs many as were ordained to
eternal
life believed,' and I shall not twist the text but shall glorify the
grace
of God by ascribing to that grace the faith of every man. Is it not God
who
gives the disposition to believe? If men are disposed to have eternal life,
does
not He--in every case--dispose them? Is it wrong for God to give grace? If
it
be right for Him to give it, is it wrong for Him to purpose to give it? Would
you
have Him give it by accident? If it is right for Him to purpose to give
grace
today, it was right for Him to purpose it before today--and, since He
changes
not--from eternity."
"Even
so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election
of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace
is
no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise
work
is no more work" (Rom. 11:5, 6). The words "Even so" at the
beginning of
this
quotation refer us to the previous verse where we are told, "I have
reserved
to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Note
particularly
the word "reserved." In the days of Elijah there were seven
thousand--a
small minority--who were Divinely preserved from idolatry and
brought
to the knowledge of the true God. This preservation and illumination was
not
from anything in themselves, but solely by God's special influence and
agency.
How highly favored such individuals were to be thus "reserved" by
God!
Now
says the Apostle, Just as there was a "remnant" in Elijah's days
"reserved
by
God," even so there is in this present dispensation.
"A
remnant according to the election of grace." Here the cause of election is
traced
back to its source. The basis upon which God elected this "remnant"
was
not
faith foreseen in them, because a choice founded upon the foresight of good
works
is just as truly made on the ground of works as any choice can be, and in
such
a case it would not be "of grace" ; for, says the Apostle, "if
by grace,
then
it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace" ; which means
that
grace and works are opposites, they have nothing in common, and will no
more
mingle than oil and water. Thus the idea of inherent good foreseen in those
chosen,
or of anything meritorious performed by them, is rigidly excluded. "A
remnant
according to the election of grace" signifies an unconditional choice
resulting
from the Sovereign favor of God; in a word, it is absolutely a
gratuitous
election.
"For
ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not
many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish
things
of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of
the
world to confound the things which are mighty: and base things of the world,
and
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not,
to
bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in His
presence"
(1
Cor. 1:26-29). Three times over in this passage reference is made to God's
choice,
and choice necessarily supposes a selection, the taking of some and the
leaving
of others. The Chooser here is God Himself, as said the Lord Jesus to
the
Apostles, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John
15:16). The
number
chosen is strictly defined--"not many wise men after the flesh, not many
noble,"
etc., which agree with Matthew 20:16, "So the last shall be first, and
the
first last; for many be called, but few chosen." So much then for the fact
of
God's choice; now mark the objects of His choice.
The
ones spoken of above as chosen of God are "the weak things of the world,
base
things of the world, and things which are despised." But why? To
demonstrate
and magnify His grace. God's ways as well as His thoughts are
utterly
at variance with man's. The carnal mind would have supposed that a
selection
had been made from the ranks of the opulent and influential, the
amiable
and cultured, so that Christianity might have won the approval and
applause
of the world by its pageantry and fleshly glory. Ah, but "that which is
highly
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). God
chooses
the "base things." He did so in Old Testament times. The nation which
He
singled
out to be the depository of His holy oracles and the channel through
which
the promised Seed should come was not the ancient Egyptians, the imposing
Babylonians,
nor the highly civilized and cultured Greeks. No; that people upon
whom
Jehovah set His love and regarded as ëthe apple of His eye' were the
despised,
nomadic Hebrews. So it was when our Lord tabernacled among men. The
ones
whom He took into favored intimacy with Himself and commissioned to go
forth
as His ambassadors were, for the most part, unlettered fishermen. And so
it
has been ever since. So it is today: at the present rates of increase, it
will
not be long before it is manifested that the Lord has more in despised
China
who are really His, than He has in the highly favored U.S.A.; more among
the
uncivilized blacks of Africa, than He has in cultured (?) Germany! And the
purpose
of God's choice, the raison d' etre of the selection He has made is,
"that
no flesh should glory in His presence"--there being nothing whatever in
the
objects of His choice which should entitle them to His special favors, then,
all
the praise will be freely ascribed to the exceeding riches of His manifold
grace.
"Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath
chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without
blame before Him; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will... In
whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose
of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph.
1:3-5,
11). Here again we are told at what point in time--if time it could be
called--when
God made choice of those who were to be His children by Jesus
Christ.
It was not after Adam had fallen and plunged his race into sin and
wretchedness,
but long ere Adam saw the light, even before the world itself was
founded,
that God chose us in Christ. Here also we learn the purpose which God
had
before Him in connection with His own elect: it was that they "should be
holy
and without blame before Him" ; it was "unto the adoption of
children" ; it
was
that they should "obtain an inheritance." Here also we discover the
motive
which
prompted Him. It was "in love that He predestinated us unto the adoption
of
children by Jesus Christ to Himself"--a statement which refutes the oft
made
and
wicked charge that, for God to decide the eternal destiny of His creatures
before
they are born, is tyrannical and unjust. Finally, we are informed here,
that
in this matter He took counsel with none, but that we are "predestinated
according
to the good pleasure of His will."
"But
we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13). There are
three
things here which deserve special attention. First, the fact that we are
expressly
told that God's elect are "chosen to salvation." Language could not
be
more
explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries and
equivocations
of all who would make election refer to nothing but external
privileges
or rank in service! It is to "salvation" itself that God hath chosen
us.
Second, we are warned here that election unto salvation does not disregard
the
use of appropriate means: salvation is reached through "sanctification of
the
Spirit and belief of the truth." It is not true that because God has
chosen
a
certain one to salvation that he will be saved willy-nilly, whether he
believes
or not: nowhere do the Scriptures so represent it. The same God who
predestined
the end also appointed the means; the same God who "chose unto
salvation"
decreed that His purpose should be realized through the work of the
Spirit
and belief of the truth. Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is
a
profound cause for fervent praise. Note how strongly the Apostle expresses
this--"we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of
the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation," etc.
Instead
of shrinking hack in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the
believer,
when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word,
discovers
a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords,
save
the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer Himself.
"Who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works,
but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus
before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9). How plain and pointed is the
language
of Holy Writ! It is man who, by his words, darkeneth counsel. It is
impossible
to state the case more clearly, or strongly, than it is stated here.
Our
salvation is not "according to our works" ; that is to say, it is not
due to
anything
in us, nor the rewarding of anything from us; instead, it is the result
of
God's own "purpose and grace"; and this grace was given us in Christ
Jesus
before
the world began. It is by grace we are saved, and in the purpose of God
this
grace was bestowed upon us not only before we saw the light, not only
before
Adam's fall, but even before that far distant "beginning" of Genesis
1:1.
And
herein lies the unassailable comfort of God's people. If His choice has been
from
eternity it will last to eternity! "Nothing can survive to eternity but
what
came from eternity, and what has so come, will" (George S. Bishop).
"Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of
the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1
Peter
1:2). Here again election by the Father precedes the work of the Holy
Spirit
in, and the obedience of faith by, those who are saved; thus taking it
entirely
off creature ground, and resting it in the Sovereign pleasure of the
Almighty.
The "foreknowledge of God the Father" does not here refer to His
prescience
of all things, but signifies that the saints were all eternally
present
in Christ before the mind of God. God did not "foreknow" that certain
ones
who heard the Gospel would believe it apart from the fact that He had
"ordained"
these certain ones to eternal life. What God's prescience saw in all
men
was, love of sin and hatred of Himself. The "foreknowledge" of God is
based
upon
His own decrees as is clear from Acts 2:23--"Him, being delivered by the
determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands
have
crucified and slain"--note the order here: first God's "determinate
counsel"
(His decree), and second His "foreknowledge." So it is again in
Romans
8:28,
29, "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to
the
image of His Son," but the first word here, "for," looks back to
the
preceding
verse and the last clause of its reads, "to them who are the called
according
to His purpose"--these are the ones whom He did "foreknow and
predestinate."
Finally, it needs to be pointed out that when we read in
Scripture
of God "knowing" certain people the word is used in the sense of
knowing
with approbation and love: "But if any man love God, the same is known
of
Him" (1 Cor. 8:3). To the hypocrites Christ will yet say "I never
knew
you"--He
never loved them. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father"
signifies, then, chosen by Him as the special objects of His approbation
and
love.
Summarizing
the teaching of these seven passages we learn that, God has
"ordained
to eternal life" certain ones, and that in consequence of His
ordination
they, in due time, "believe"; that God's ordination to salvation of
His
own elect is not due to any good thing in them nor to anything meritorious
from
them, but solely of "His grace"; that God has designedly selected the
most
unlikely
objects to be the recipients of His special favors in order that "no
flesh
should glory in His presence"; that God chose His people in Christ before
the
foundation of the world, not because they were so, but in order that they
"should
be holy and without blame before Him"; that having selected certain ones
to
salvation. He also decreed the means by which His eternal counsel should be
made
good; that the very "grace" by which we are saved was, in God's
purpose,
"given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began"; that long before they were
actually
created God's elect stood present before His mind, were "foreknown"
by
Him,
i.e., were the definite objects of His eternal love.
Before
turning to the next division of this chapter, a further word concerning
the
subjects of God's predestinating grace. We go over this ground again because
it
is at this point that the doctrine of God's Sovereignty in predestining
certain
ones to salvation is most frequently assaulted. Perverters of this truth
invariably
seek to find some cause outside God's own will which moves Him to
bestow
salvation on sinners; something or other is attributed to the creature
which
entitles him to receive mercy at the hands of the Creator. We return then
to
the question, Why did God choose the ones He did?
What
was there in the elect themselves which attracted God's heart to them? Was
it
because of certain virtues they possessed? because they were
generous-hearted,
sweet-tempered, truth-speaking? in a word, because they were
"good,"
that God chose them? No; for our Lord said, "There is none good but one,
that
is God" (Matt. 19:17). Was it because of any good works they had
performed?
No;
for it is written, "There is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom.
3:12).
Was
it because they evidenced an earnestness and zeal in inquiring after God?
No;
for it is written again, "There is none that seeketh after God" (Rom.
3:11).
Was
it because God foresaw they would believe? No; for how can those who are
"dead
in trespasses and sins" believe in Christ? How could God foreknow some men
as
believers when belief was impossible to them? Scripture declares that we
"believe
through grace" (Acts 18:27). Faith is God's gift, and apart from this
gift
none would believe. The cause of His choice then lies within Himself and
not
in the objects of His choice. He chose the ones He did simply because He
chose
to choose them.
"Sons
we are by God's election
Who
on Jesus Christ believe,
By
eternal destination,
Sovereign
grace we now receive,
Lord
Thy mercy,
Doth
both grace and glory give!"
2. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD THE SON IN
SALVATION.
For
whom did Christ die? It surely does not need arguing that the Father had an
express
purpose in giving Him to die, or that God the Son had a definite design
before
Him in laying down His life--"Known unto God are all His works from the
beginning
of the world" (Acts 15:18). What then was the purpose of the Father
and
the design of the Son. We answer, Christ died for "God's elect."
We
are not unmindful of the fact that the limited design in the death of Christ
has
been the subject of much controversy--what great truth revealed in Scripture
has
not? Nor do we forget that anything which has to do with the Person and work
of
our blessed Lord requires to be handled with the utmost reverence, and that a
"Thus
saith the Lord" must be given in support of every assertion we make. Our
appeal
shall be to the Law and to the Testimony.
For
whom did Christ die? Who were the ones He intended to redeem by His
blood-shedding?
Surely the Lord Jesus had some absolute determination before Him
when
He went to the Cross. If He had, then it necessarily follows that the
extent
of that purpose was limited, because an absolute determination of purpose
must
be effected. If the absolute determination of Christ included all mankind,
then
all mankind would most certainly be saved. To escape this inevitable
conclusion
many have affirmed that there was not such absolute determination
before
Christ, that in His death a merely conditional provision of salvation has
been
made for all mankind. The refutation of this assertion is found in the
promises
made by the Father to His Son before He went to the Cross, yea, before
He
became incarnate. The Old Testament Scriptures represent the Father as
promising
the Son a certain reward for His sufferings on behalf of sinners. At
this
stage we shall confine ourselves to one or two statements recorded in the
well
known Fifty-third of Isaiah. There we find God saying, "When Thou shalt
make
His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed," that "He shall
see of
the
travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied," and that God's righteous
Servant
"should justify many" (vv. 10 and 11). But here we would pause and
ask,
How
could it be certain that Christ should "see His seed," and "see
of the
travail
of His soul and be satisfied," unless the salvation of certain members
of
the human race had been Divinely decreed, and therefore was sure? How could
it
be certain that Christ should "justify many," if no effectual
provision was
made
that any should receive Him as their Lord and Saviour? On the other hand,
to
insist that the Lord Jesus did expressly purpose the salvation of all mankind
is
to charge Him with that which no intelligent being should be guilty of,
namely,
to design that which by virtue of His omniscience He knew would never
come
to pass. Hence, the only alternative left us is that, so far as the
pre-determined
purpose of His death is concerned Christ died for the elect only.
Summing
up in a sentence, which we trust will be intelligible to every reader,
we
would say, Christ died not merely to make possible the salvation of all
mankind,
but to make certain the salvation of all that the Father had given to
Him.
Christ died not simply to render sins pardonable, but "to put away sin by
the
sacrifice of Himself" (Heb. 9:26). As to whose "sin" (i.e.,
guilt, as in 1
John
1:7, etc.) has been "put away," Scripture leaves us in no doubt--it
was
that
of the elect, the "world" (John 1:29) of God's people!
(1)
The limited design in the Atonement follows, necessarily, from the eternal
choice
of the Father of certain ones unto salvation. The Scriptures inform us
that
before the Lord became incarnate He said, "Lo, I come, to do Thy will O
God"
(Heb. 10:7), and after He had become incarnate He declared, "For I came
down
from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me"
(John
6:38). If then God had from the beginning chosen certain ones to
salvation,
then, because the will of Christ was in perfect accord with the will
of
the Father, He would not seek to enlarge upon His election. What we have just
said
is not merely a plausible deduction of our own, but is in strict harmony
with
the express teaching of the Word. Again and again our Lord referred to
those
whom the Father had "given" Him, and concerning whom He was
particularly
exercised.
Said He, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him
that
cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out... And this is the Father's will
which
hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing,
but
should raise it up again at the last day" (John 6:37, 39). And again,
"These
words
spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and said, Father, the hour
is
come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee; As Thou hast given
Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou
hast
given Him...I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me
out
of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept
Thy
Word... I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou
hast
given Me; for they are Thine... Father, I will that they also, whom Thou
hast
given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou
hast
given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John
17:1,
2, 6, 9, 24). Before the foundation of the world the Father predestinated
a
people to be conformed to the image of His Son, and the death and resurrection
of
the Lord Jesus was in order to the carrying out of the Divine purpose.
(2)
The very nature of the Atonement evidences that, in its application to
sinners,
it was limited in the purpose of God. The Atonement of Christ may be
considered
from two chief viewpoints--Godward and manward. Godward, the
Cross-work
of Christ was a propitiation, an appeasing of Divine wrath, a
satisfaction
rendered to Divine justice and holiness; manward, it was a
substitution,
the Innocent taking the place of the guilty, the Just dying for
the
unjust. But a strict substitution of a Person for persons, and the
infliction
upon Him of voluntary sufferings, involve the definite recognition on
the
part of the Substitute and of the One He is to propitiate of the persons for
whom
He acts, whose sins He bears, whose legal obligations He discharges.
Furthermore,
if the Lawgiver accepts the satisfaction which is made by the
Substitute,
then those for whom the Substitute acts, whose place He takes, must
necessarily
be acquitted. If I am in debt and unable to discharge it and another
comes
forward and pays my creditor in full and receives a receipt in
acknowledgment,
then, in the sight of the law, my creditor no longer has any
claim
upon me. On the Cross the Lord Jesus gave Himself a ransom, and that it
was
accepted by God was attested by the open grave three days later; the
question
we would here raise is, For whom was this ransom offered? If it was
offered
for all mankind then the debt incurred by every man has been cancelled.
If
Christ bore in His own body on the tree the sins of all men without
exception,
then none will perish. If Christ was "made a curse" for all of Adam's
race
then none are now "under condemnation." "Payment God cannot
twice demand,
first
at my bleeding Surety's hand and then again at mine." But Christ did not
discharge
the debts of all men without exception, for some there are who will be
"cast
into prison" (cf. 1 Peter 3:19 where the same Greek word for
"prison"
occurs),
and they shall "by no means come out thence, till they have paid the
uttermost
farthing" (Matt. 5:26), which, of course, will never be. Christ did
not
bear the sins of all mankind, for some there are who "die in their sins"
(John
8:21), and whose "sin remaineth" (John 9:41). Christ was not
"made a
curse"
for all of Adam's race, for some there are to whom He will yet say,
"Depart
from Me ye cursed" (Matt. 25:41). To say that Christ died for all alike,
to
say that He became the Substitute and Surety of the whole human race, to say
that
He suffered on behalf of and in the stead of all mankind, is to say that He
"bore
the curse for many who are now bearing the curse for themselves; that He
suffered
punishment for many who are now lifting up their own eyes in Hell,
being
in torments; that He paid the redemption price for many who shall yet pay
in
their own eternal anguish the wages of sin, which is death" (George S.
Bishop).
But, on the other hand, to say as Scripture says, that Christ was
stricken
for the transgressions of God's people, to say that He gave His life
"for
the sheep," to say He gave His life a ransom "for many," is to
say that He
made
an atonement which fully atones; it is to say He paid a price which
actually
ransoms; it is to say He was set forth a propitiation which really
propitiates;
it is to say He is a Saviour who truly saves.
(3)
Closely connected with, and confirmatory of what we have said above, is the
teaching
of Scripture concerning our Lord's priesthood. It is as the great High
Priest
that Christ now makes intercession. But for whom does He intercede? for
the
whole human race, or only for His own people? The answer furnished by the
New
Testament to this question is clear as a sunbeam. Our Saviour has entered
into
Heaven itself "now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb.
9:24),
that
is, for those who are "partakers of the heavenly calling" (Heb. 3:1).
And
again
it is written, "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost
that
come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them"
(Heb.
7:25). This is in strict accord with the Old Testament type. After slaying
the
sacrificial animal, Aaron went into the holy of holies as the representative
and
on behalf of the people of God: it was the names of Israel's tribes which
were
engraven on his breastplate, and it was in their interests he appeared
before
God. Agreeable to this are our Lord's words in John 17:9--"I pray for
them:
I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they
are
Thine." Another Scripture which deserves careful attention in this
connection
is found in Romans 8. In verse 33 the question is asked, "Who shall
lay
anything to the charge of God's elect?" and then follows the inspired
answer--"It
is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that
died,
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also
maketh intercession for us." Note particularly that the death and
intercession
of Christ have one and the same objects! As it was in the type so
it
is with the antitype--expiation and supplication are co-extensive. If then
Christ
intercedes for the elect only, and "not for the world," then He died
for
them
only. And observe further, that the death, resurrection, exaltation and
intercession
of the Lord Jesus are here assigned as the reason why none can lay
any
"charge" against God's elect. Let those who would still take issue
with what
we
are advancing weigh carefully the following question--If the death of Christ
extends
equally to all, how does it become security against a "charge,"
seeing
that
all who believe not are "under condemnation"? (John 3:18).
(4)
The number of those who share the benefits of Christ's death is determined
not
only by the nature of the Atonement and the priesthood of Christ but also by
His
power. Grant that the One who died upon the Cross was God manifest in the
flesh
and it follows inevitably that what Christ has purposed that will He
perform;
that what He has purchased that will He possess; that what He has set
His
heart upon that will He secure. If the Lord Jesus possesses all power in
Heaven
and earth then none can successfully resist His will. But it may be said,
This
is true in the abstract, nevertheless, Christ refuses to exercise this
power,
inasmuch as He will never force anyone to receive Him as their Lord and
Saviour.
In one sense that is true, but in another sense it is positively
untrue.
The salvation of any sinner is a matter of Divine power. By nature the
sinner
is at enmity with God, and naught but Divine power operating within him
can
overcome this enmity; hence it is written, "No man can come unto Me,
except
the
Father which hath sent Me draw him" (John 6:44). It is the Divine power
overcoming
the sinner's innate enmity which makes him willing to come to Christ
that
he might have life. But this "enmity" is not overcome in all--why? Is
it
because
the enmity is too strong to be overcome? Are there some hearts so
steeled
against Him that Christ is unable to gain entrance? To answer in the
affirmative
is to deny His omnipotence. In the final analysis it is not a
question
of the sinner's willingness or unwillingness, for by nature all are
unwilling.
Willingness to come to Christ is the finished product of Divine power
operating
in the human heart and will in overcoming man's inherent and chronic
"enmity,"
as it is written, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy
power"
(Psa. 110:3). To say that Christ is unable to win to Himself those who
are
unwilling is to deny that all power in Heaven and earth is His. To say that
Christ
cannot put forth His power without destroying man's responsibility is a
begging
of the question here raised, for He has put forth His power and made
willing
those who have come to Him, and if He did this without destroying their
responsibility,
why "cannot" He do so with others? If He is able to win the
heart
of one sinner to Himself why not that of another? To say, as is usually
said,
the others will not let Him is to impeach His sufficiency. It is a
question
of His will. If the Lord Jesus has decreed, desired, purposed the
salvation
of all mankind, then the entire human race will be saved, or,
otherwise,
He lacks the power to make good His intentions; and in such a case it
could
never be said, "He shall see of the travail of His soul and be
satisfied."
The
issue raised involves the deity of the Saviour, for a defeated Saviour
cannot
be God.
Having
reviewed some of the general principles which require us to believe that
the
death of Christ was limited in its design, we turn now to consider some of
the
explicit statements of Scripture which expressly affirm it. In that wondrous
and
matchless Fifty-third of Isaiah God tells us concerning His Son, "He was
taken
from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for
He
was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people
was
He stricken" (v. 8). In perfect harmony with this was the word of the
angel
to
Joseph, "Thou shalt call His name JESUS, for He shall save His people from
their
sins" (Matt. 1:21) i.e., not merely Israel, but all whom the Father had
"given"
Him. Our Lord Himself declared, "The Son of Man came not to be
ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt.
20:28),
but why have said "for many" if all without exception were included?
It
was
"His people" whom He "redeemed" (Luke 1:68). It was for
"the sheep," and not
the
"goats," that the Good Shepherd gave His life (John 10:11). It was
the
"Church
of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).
If
there is one Scripture more than any other upon which we should be willing to
rest
our case it is John 11:49-52. Here we are told, "And one of them, named
Caiaphas,
being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing
at
all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for
the
people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of
himself:
but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die
for
that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also He should gather
together
in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." Here we are
told
that Caiaphas "prophesied not of himself," that is, like those
employed by
God
in Old Testament times (see 2 Peter 1:21), his prophecy originated not with
himself,
but he spake as he was moved by the Holy Spirit; thus is the value of
his
utterance carefully guarded, and the Divine source of this revelation
expressly
vouched for. Here, too, we are definitely informed that Christ died
for
"that nation," i.e., Israel, and also for the One Body, His Church,
for it
is
into the Church that the children of God--"scattered" among the
nations--are
now
being "gathered together in one." And is it not remarkable that the
members
of
the Church are here called "children of God" even before Christ died,
and
therefore
before He commenced to build His Church! The vast majority of them had
not
then been born, yet they were regarded as "children of God"; children
of God
because
they had been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and
therefore
"predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself"
(Eph. 1:4, 5). In like manner, Christ said, "Other sheep I have (not
"shall
have") which are not of this fold" (John 10:16).
If
ever the real design of the Cross was uppermost in the heart and speech of
our
blessed Saviour it was during the last week of His earthly ministry. What
then
do the Scriptures which treat of this portion of His ministry record in
connection
with our present inquiry? They say, "When Jesus knew that His hour
was
come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved
His
own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). They
tell
us how He said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
His
life for His friends" (John 15:13). They record His word, "For their
sakes I
sanctify
Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John
17:19);
which means, that for the sake of His own, those "given" to Him by
the
Father,
He separated Himself unto the death of the Cross. One may well ask, Why
such
discrimination of terms if Christ died for all men indiscriminately?
Ere
closing this section of the chapter we shall consider briefly a few of those
passages
which seem to teach most strongly an unlimited design in the death of
Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 5:14 we read, "One died for all." But that is not
all
this
Scripture affirms. If the entire verse and passage from which these words
are
quoted be carefully examined, it will be found that instead of teaching an
unlimited
atonement, it emphatically argues a limited design in the death of
Christ.
The whole verse reads, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because
we
thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead." It should be
pointed
out that in the Greek there is the definite article before the last
"all,"
and that the verb here is in the aorist tense, and therefore should read,
"We
thus judge: that if One died for all, then the all died." The Apostle is
here
drawing a conclusion as is clear from the words "we thus judge, that if...
then
were." His meaning is, that those for whom the One died are regarded,
judicially,
as having died too. The next verse goes on to say, "And He died for
all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
Him
which died for them, and rose again." The One not only died but "rose
again,"
and so, too, did the "all" for whom He died, for it is here said they
"live."
Those for whom a substitute acts are legally regarded as having acted
themselves.
In the sight of the law the substitute and those whom he represents
are
one. So it is in the sight of God. Christ was identified with His people and
His
people were identified with Him, hence when He died they died (judicially)
and
when He rose they rose also. But further we are told in this passage (v.
17),
that if any man be in Christ he is a new creation; he has received a new
life
in fact as well as in the sight of the law, hence the "all" for whom
Christ
died
are here bidden to live henceforth no more unto themselves, "but unto Him
which
died for them, and rose again." In other words, those who belonged to this
"all"
for whom Christ died, are here exhorted to manifest practically in their
daily
lives what is true of them judicially: they are to "live unto Christ who
died
for them." Thus the "One died for all" is defined for us. The
"all" for
which
Christ died are they which "live," and which are here bidden to live
"unto
Him."
This passage then teaches three important truths, and the better to show
its
scope we mention them in their inverse order: certain ones are here bidden
to
live no more unto themselves but unto Christ; the ones thus admonished are
"they
which live," that is live spiritually, hence, the children of God, for
they
alone of mankind possess spiritual life, all others being dead in
trespasses
and sins; those who do thus live are the ones, the "all," the
"them,"
for
whom Christ died and rose again. This passage therefore teaches that Christ
died
for all His people, the elect, those given to Him by the Father; that as
the
result of His death (and rising again "for them") they
"live"--and the elect
are
the only ones who do thus "live"; and this life which is theirs through
Christ
must be lived "unto Him," Christ's love must now
"constrain" them.
"For
there is one God, and one Mediator, between God and men (not "man,"
for
this
would have been a generic term and signified mankind. O the accuracy of
Holy
Writ!), the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be
testified
in due time" (1 Tim. 2:5, 6). It is upon the words "who gave Himself
a
ransom
for all" we would now comment. In Scripture the word "all" (as
applied to
humankind)
is used in two senses--absolutely and relatively. In some passages it
means
all without exception; in others it signifies all without distinction. As
to
which of these meanings it bears in any particular passage, must be
determined
by the context and decided by a comparison of parallel Scriptures.
That
the word "all" is used in a relative and restricted sense, and in
such case
means
all without distinction and not all without exception, is clear from a
number
of Scriptures, from which we select two or three as samples. "And there
went
out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all
baptized
of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins" (Mark 1:5). Does
this
mean that every man, woman and child from "all the land of Judea and they
of
Jerusalem" were baptized of John in Jordan? Surely not. Luke 7:30
distinctly
says,
"But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves,
being not baptized of him." Then what does "all baptized of him"
mean?
We answer it does not mean all without exception, but all without
distinction,
that is, all classes and conditions of men. The same explanation
applies
to Luke 3:21. Again we read, "And early in the morning He came again
into
the Temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught
them"
(John 8:2); are we to understand this expression absolutely or relatively?
Does
"all the people" mean all without exception or all without
distinction,
that
is, all classes and conditions of people? Manifestly the latter; for the
Temple
was not able to accommodate everybody that was in Jerusalem at this time,
namely,
the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, we read in Acts 22:15, "For thou (Paul)
shalt
be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." Surely
"all
men"
here does not mean every member of the human race. Now we submit that the
words
"who gave Himself a ransom for all" in 1 Timothy 2:6 mean all without
distinction,
and not all without exception. He gave Himself a ransom for men of
all
nationalities, of all generations, of all classes; in a word, for all the
elect,
as we read in Revelation 5:9, "For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us
to
God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation."
That
this is not an arbitrary definition of the "all" in our passage is
clear
from
Matthew 20:28 where we read, "The Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto,
but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many," which limitation
would
be quite meaningless if He gave Himself a ransom for all without
exception.
Furthermore, the qualifying words here, "to be testified in due time"
must
be taken into consideration. If Christ gave Himself a ransom for the whole
human
race, in what sense will this be "testified in due time"? seeing that
multitudes
of men will certainly be eternally lost. But if our text means that
Christ
gave Himself a ransom for God's elect, for all without distinction,
without
distinction of nationality, social prestige, moral character, age or
sex,
then the meaning of these qualifying words is quite intelligible, for in
"due
time" this will be "testified" in the actual and accomplished
salvation of
every
one of them.
"But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of
death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste
death
for every man" (Heb. 2:9). This passage need not detain us long. A false
doctrine
has been erected here on a false translation. There is no word whatever
in
the Greek corresponding to "man" in our English version. In the Greek
it is
left
in the abstract--"He tasted death for every." The Revised Version has
correctly
omitted "man" from the text, but has wrongly inserted it in italics.
Others
suppose the word "thing" should be supplied--"He tasted death
for every
thing"--but
this, too, we deem a mistake. It seems to us that the words which
immediately
follow explain our text: "For it became Him, for whom are all
things,
and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make
the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." It is of
"sons" the
Apostle
is here writing, and we suggest an ellipsis of "son"--thus: "He
tasted
death
for every"--and supply son in italics. Thus instead of teaching the
unlimited
design of Christ's death, Hebrews 2:9, 10 is in perfect accord with
the
other Scriptures we have quoted which set for the restricted purpose in the
Atonement:
it was for the "sons" and not the human race our Lord "tasted
death."
In
closing this section of the chapter let us say that the only limitation in
the
Atonement we have contended for arises from pure Sovereignty; it is a
limitation
not of value and virtue, but of design and application. We turn now
to
consider—
3. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD THE HOLY
SPIRIT IN SALVATION.
Since
the Holy Spirit is one of the three Persons in the blessed Trinity, it
necessarily
follows that He is in full sympathy with the will and design of the
other
Persons of the Godhead. The eternal purpose of the Father in election, the
limited
design in the death of the Son, and the restricted scope of the Holy
Spirit's
operations are in perfect accord. If the Father chose certain ones
before
the foundation of the world and gave them to His Son, and if it was for
them
that Christ gave Himself a ransom, then the Holy Spirit is not now working
to
"bring the world to Christ." The mission of the Holy Spirit in the
world
today
is to apply the benefits of Christ's redemptive sacrifice. The question
which
is now to engage us is not the extent of the Holy Spirit's power--on that
point
there can he no doubt, it is infinite--but what we shall seek to show is
that
His power and operations are directed by Divine wisdom and Sovereignty.
We
have just said that the power and operations of the Holy Spirit are directed
by
Divine wisdom and indisputable Sovereignty. In proof of this assertion we
appeal
first to our Lord's words to Nicodemus in John 3: 8-- "The wind bloweth
where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it
cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
A
comparison
is here drawn between the wind and the Spirit. The comparison is a
double
one: first, both are Sovereign in their actions, and second, both are
mysterious
in their operations. The comparison is pointed out in the word "so."
The
first point of analogy is seen in the words, "where it listeth" or
"pleaseth";
the second is found in the words "canst not tell." With the second
point
of analogy we are not now concerned, but upon the first we would comment
further.
"The
wind bloweth where it pleaseth... so is every one that is born of the
Spirit."
The wind is an element which man can neither harness nor hinder. The
wind
neither consults man's pleasure nor can it be regulated by his devices. So
it
is with the Spirit. The wind blows when it pleases, where it pleases, as it
pleases.
So it is with the Spirit. The wind is regulated by Divine wisdom, yet,
so
far as man is concerned, it is absolutely Sovereign in its operations. So it
is
with the Spirit. Sometimes the wind blows so softly it scarcely rustles a
leaf;
at other times it blows so loudly that its roar can be heard for miles. So
it
is in the matter of the new birth; with some the Holy Spirit deals so gently
that
His work is imperceptible to human onlookers; with others His action is so
powerful,
radical, revolutionary, that His operations are patent to many.
Sometimes
the wind is purely local in its reach, at other times widespread in
its
scope. So it is with the Spirit: today He acts on one or two souls, tomorrow
He
may, as at Pentecost, "prick in the heart" a whole multitude. But
whether He
works
on few or many He consults not man. He acts as He pleases. The new birth
is
due to the Sovereign will of the Spirit.
Each
of the three Persons in the blessed Trinity is concerned with our
salvation:
with the Father it is predestination; with the Son propitiation; with
the
Spirit regeneration. The Father chose us; the Son died for us; the Spirit
quickens
us. The Father was concerned about us; the Son shed His blood for us,
the
Spirit performs His work within us. What the One did was eternal, what the
Other
did was external, what the Spirit does is internal. It is with the work of
the
Spirit we are now concerned, with His work in the new birth, and
particularly
His Sovereign operations in the new birth. The Father purposed our
new
birth; the Son has made possible (by His "travail") the new birth;
but it is
the
Spirit who effects the new birth--"Born of the Spirit" (John 3:6).
The
new birth is solely the work of God the Spirit and man has no part or lot in
it.
This from the very nature of the case. Birth altogether excludes the idea of
any
effort or work on the part of the one who is born. Personally we have no
more
to do with our spiritual birth than we had with our natural birth. The new
birth
is a spiritual resurrection, a "passing from death unto life" (John
5:24)
and,
clearly, resurrection is altogether outside of man's province. No corpse
can
re-animate itself. Hence it is written, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth;
the
flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6:63). But the Spirit does not
"quicken"
everybody--why?
The usual answer returned to this question is, Because everybody
does
not trust in Christ. It is supposed that the Holy Spirit quickens only
those
who believe. But this is to put the cart before the horse. Faith is not
the
cause of the new birth, but the consequence of it. This ought not to need
arguing.
Faith (in God) is an exotic, something that is not native to the human
heart.
If faith were a natural product of the human heart, the exercise of a
principle
common to human nature, it would never have been written, "All men
have
not faith" (2 Thess. 3:2). Faith is a spiritual grace, the fruit of the
spiritual
nature, and because the unregenerate are spiritually dead--"dead in
trespasses
and sins"--then it follows that faith from them is impossible, for a
dead
man cannot believe anything. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please
God" (Rom. 8:8)--but they could if it were possible for the flesh to
believe.
Compare with this last--quoted Scripture Hebrews 11:6--"But without
faith
it is impossible to please Him." Can God be "pleased" or
satisfied with
any
thing which does not have its origin in Himself?
That
the work of the Holy Spirit precedes our believing is unequivocally
established
by 2 Thessalonians 2:13--"God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." Note
that
"sanctification of the Spirit" comes before and makes possible
"belief of
the
truth." What then is the "sanctification of the Spirit?" We
answer, the new
birth.
In Scripture "sanctification" always means "separation,"
separation for
something
and unto something or someone. Let us now amplify our assertion that
the
"sanctification of the Spirit" corresponds to the new birth and
points to
the
positional effect of it.
Here
is a servant of God who preaches the Gospel to a congregation in which are
an
hundred unsaved people. He brings before them the teaching of Scripture
concerning
their ruined and lost condition: he speaks of God, His character and
righteous
demands; he tells of Christ meeting God's demands, and dying the Just
for
the unjust, and declares that through "this Man" is now preached the
forgiveness
of sins; he closes by urging the lost to believe what God has said
in
His Word and receive His Son as their Lord and Saviour. The meeting is over;
the
congregation disperses; ninety-nine of the unsaved have refused to come to
Christ
that they might have life, and go out into the night having no hope, and
without
God in the world. But the hundredth heard the Word of life; the Seed
sown
fell into ground which had been prepared by God; he believed the Good News,
and
goes home rejoicing that his name is written in Heaven. He has been "born
again,"
and just as a newly-born babe in the natural world begins life by
clinging
instinctively, in its helplessness, to its mother, so this new-born
soul
has clung to Christ. Just as we read, "The Lord opened" the heart of
Lydia
"that
she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul" (Acts 16:14), so
in
the case supposed above, the Holy Spirit quickened that one before he
believed
the Gospel message. Here then is the "sanctification of the Spirit":
this
one soul who has been born again has, by virtue of his new birth, been
separated
from the other ninety-nine. Those born again are, by the Spirit, set
apart
from those who are dead in trespasses and sins.
A
beautiful type of the operations of the Holy Spirit antecedent to the sinner's
"belief
of the truth," is found in the first chapter of Genesis. We read in
verse
2, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face
of the deep." The original Hebrew here might be literally rendered thus:
"And
the earth had become a desolate ruin, and darkness was upon the face of the
deep."
In "the beginning" the earth was not created in the condition
described
in
verse 2. Between the first two verses of Genesis 1 some awful catastrophe had
occurred--possibly
the fall of Satan--and, as the consequence, the earth had
been
blasted and blighted, and had become a "desolate ruin," lying beneath
a
pall
of "darkness." Such also is the history of man. Today, man is not in
the
condition
in which he left the hands of his Creator: an awful catastrophe has
happened,
and now man is a "desolate ruin" and in total "darkness"
concerning
spiritual
things. Next we read in Genesis 1 how God refashioned the ruined earth
and
created new beings to inhabit it. First we read, "And the Spirit of God
moved
upon the face of the water." Next we are told, "And God said, Let
there be
light;
and there was light." The order is the same in the new creation: there is
the
first the action of the Spirit, and then the Word of God giving light.
Before
the Word found entrance into the scene of desolation and darkness,
bringing
with it the light, the Spirit of God "moved." So it is in the new
creation.
"The entrance of Thy word giveth light" (Psa. 119:130), but before it
can
enter the darkened human heart the Spirit of God must operate upon it.
[[
The priority contended for above is rather in order of nature than of time,
just
as the effect must ever be preceded by the cause. A blind man must have his
eyes
opened before he can see, and yet there is no interval of time between the
one
and the other. As soon as his eyes are opened, he sees. So a man must be
born
again before he can "see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Seeing the
Son is
necessary
to believing in Him. Unbelief is attributed to spiritual
blindness--those
who believed not the "report" of the Gospel "saw no beauty"
in
Christ
that they should desire Him. The work of the Spirit in "quickening"
the
one
dead in sins, precedes faith in Christ, just as cause ever precedes effect.
But
no sooner is the heart turned toward Christ by the Spirit, than the Saviour
is
embraced by the sinner.]]
To
return to 2 Thessalonians 2:13: "But we are bound to give thanks always to
God
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth."
The order of thought here is most important and instructive. First,
God's
eternal choice; second, the sanctification of the Spirit; third, belief of
the
truth. Precisely the same order is found in 1 Peter 1:2--"Elect according
to
the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." We take it that the
"obedience"
here is the "obedience to the faith" (Rom. 1:5), which appropriates
the
virtues of the sprinkled blood of the Lord Jesus. So then before the
"obedience"
(of faith, cf. Heb. 5:9), there is the work of the Spirit setting us
apart,
and behind that is the election of God the Father. The ones "sanctified
of
the Spirit" then, are they whom "God hath from the beginning chosen
to
salvation"
(2 Thess. 2:13), those who are "elect according to the foreknowledge
of
God the Father" (1 Peter 1:2).
But,
it may be said, is not the present mission of the Holy Spirit to "convict
the
world of sin"? And we answer, it is not. The mission of the Spirit is
threefold;
to glorify Christ, to vivify the elect, to edify the saints. John
16:8-11
does not describe the "mission" of the Spirit, but sets forth the
significance
of His presence here in the world. It treats not of His subjective
work
in sinners, showing them their need of Christ, by searching their
consciences
and striking terror to their hearts; what we have there is entirely
objective.
To illustrate. Suppose I saw a man hanging on the gallows, of what
would
that "convince" me? Why, that he was a murderer. How would I thus be
convinced?
By reading the record of his trial? by hearing a confession from his
own
lips? No; but by the fact that he was hanging there. So the fact that the
Holy
Spirit is here furnishes proof of the world's guilt, of God's
righteousness,
and of the Devil's judgment.
The
Holy Spirit ought not to be here at all. That is a startling statement, but
we
make it deliberately. Christ is the One who ought to be here. He was sent
here
by the Father, but the world did not want Him, would not have Him, hated
Him,
and cast Him out. And the presence of the Spirit here instead evidences its
guilt.
The coming of the Spirit was a proof to demonstration of the
resurrection,
ascension, and glory of the Lord Jesus. His presence on earth
reverses
the world's verdict, showing that God has set aside the blasphemous
judgment
in the palace of Israel's high priest and in the hall of the Roman
governor.
The "reproof" of the Spirit abides, and abides altogether
irrespective
of
the world's reception or rejection of His testimony.
Had
our Lord been referring here to the gracious work which the Spirit would
perform
in those who should be brought to feel their need of Him, He had said
that
the Spirit would convict men of their un-righteousness, their lack of
righteousness.
But this is not the thought here at all. The descent of the
Spirit
from Heaven establishes God's righteousness, Christ's righteousness. The
proof
of that is, Christ has gone to the Father. Had Christ been an Impostor, as
the
religious world insisted when they cast Him out, the Father had not received
Him.
The fact that the Father did exalt Him to His own right hand, demonstrates
that
He was innocent of the charges laid against Him; and the proof that the
Father
has received Him, is the presence now of the Holy Spirit on earth, for
Christ
has sent Him from the Father (John 16:7)! The world was unrighteous in
casting
Him out, the Father righteous in glorifying Him; and this is what the
Spirit's
presence here establishes.
"Of
judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged" (v. 11). This is the
logical
and inevitable climax. The world is brought in guilty for their
rejection
of, for their refusal to receive, Christ. Its condemnation is
exhibited
by the Father's exaltation of the spurned One. Therefore nothing
awaits
the world, and its Prince, but judgment. The "judgment" of Satan is
already
established by the Spirit's presence here, for Christ, through death,
set
at nought him who had the power of death, that is, the Devil (Heb. 2:14).
When
God's time comes for the Spirit to depart from the earth then His sentence
will
be executed, both on the world and its Prince. In the light of this
unspeakably
solemn passage we need not be surprised to find Christ saying, "The
Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not,
neither
knoweth Him." No, the world wants Him not; He condemns the world.
"And
when He is come, He will reprove (or, better, "convict"--bring in
guilty)
the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they
believe
not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no
more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:8-11).
Three
things, then, the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth demonstrates to the
world:
first, its sin, because the world refused to believe on Christ; second,
God's
righteousness in exalting to His own right hand the One cast out, and now
no
more seen by the world; third, judgment, because Satan the world's prince is
already
judged, though execution of his judgment is yet future. Thus the Holy
Spirit's
presence here displays things as they really are. We repeat, John
16:8-11
makes no reference to the mission of the Spirit of God in the world, for
during
this dispensation, the Spirit has no mission and ministry worldward.
The
Holy Spirit is Sovereign in His operations and His mission is confined to
God's
elect: they are the ones He "comforts," "seals," guides
into all truth,
shows
things to come, etc. The work of the Spirit is necessary in order to the
complete
accomplishment of the Father's eternal purpose. Speaking
hypothetically,
but reverently, be it said, that if God had done nothing more
than
given Christ to die for sinners, not a single sinner would ever have been
saved.
In order for any sinner to see his need of a Saviour and be willing to
receive
the Saviour he needs the work of the Holy Spirit upon and within him as
imperatively
required. Had God done nothing more than given Christ to die for
sinners
and then sent forth His servants to proclaim salvation through Jesus
Christ,
thus leaving sinners entirely to themselves to accept or reject as they
pleased,
then every sinner would have rejected, because at heart every man hates
God
and is at enmity with Him. Therefore the work of the Holy Spirit was needed
to
bring the sinner to Christ, to overcome his innate opposition, and compel him
to
accept the provision God has made. We say "compel" the sinner, for
this is
precisely
what the Holy Spirit does, has to do, and this leads us to consider at
some
length, though as briefly as possible, the parable of the "Marriage
Supper."
In
Luke 14:16 we read, "A certain man made a great supper, and bade
many." By
comparing
carefully what follows here with Matthew 22:2-10 several important
distinctions
will be observed. We take it that these passages are two
independent
accounts of the same parable, differing in detail according to the
distinctive
purpose and design of the Holy Spirit in each Gospel. Matthew's
account--in
harmony with the Spirit's presentation there of Christ as the King
says,
"A certain king made a marriage for his son." Luke's account--where
the
Spirit
presents Christ as the Son of Man--says "A certain man made a great
supper
and bade many." Matthew 22:3 says, "And sent forth His
servants"; Luke
14:17
says, "And sent His servant." Now what we wish particularly to call
attention
to is, that all through Matthew's account it is "servants," whereas
in
Luke
it is always "servant." The class of readers for whom we are writing
are
those
that believe, unreservedly, in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures,
and
such will readily acknowledge there must be some reason for this change from
the
plural number in Matthew to the singular number in Luke. We believe the
reason
is a weighty one and that attention to this variation reveals an
important
truth. We believe that the "servants" in Matthew, speaking generally,
are
all who go forth preaching the Gospel, but that the "Servant" in Luke
14 is
the
Holy Spirit, for God the Son, in the days of His earthly ministry, was the
Servant
of Jehovah (Isa. 42:1). It will be observed that in Matthew 22 the
"servants"
are sent forth to do three things: first, to "call" to the wedding
(v.
3); second, to "tell those which are bidden.. all things are ready: come
unto
the marriage" (v. 4); third, to "bid to the marriage" (v. 9);
and these
three
are the things which those who minister the Gospel today are now doing. In
Luke
14 the Servant is also sent forth to do three things: first, He is to say
to
them that were bidden, Come: for all things are now ready" (v. 17);
second,
He
is to "bring in the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the
blind" (v.
21);
third, He is to "compel them to come in" (v. 23), and the last two of
these
the
Holy Spirit alone can do!
In
the above Scripture we see that "the Servant," the Holy Spirit,
compels
certain
ones to come in to the "supper" and herein is seen His Sovereignty,
His
omnipotency,
His Divine sufficiency. The clear implication from this word
"compel"
is, that those whom the Holy Spirit does "bring in" are not willing
of
themselves
to come. This is exactly what we have sought to show in previous
paragraphs.
By nature, God's elect are children of wrath even as others (Eph.
2:3),
and as such their hearts are at enmity with God. But this "enmity" of
theirs
is overcome by the Spirit and He "compels" them to come in. Is it not
clear
then that the reason why others are left outside, is not only because they
are
unwilling to go in, but also because the Holy Spirit does not "compel"
them
to
come in? Is it not manifest that the Holy Spirit is Sovereign in the exercise
of
His power, that as the wind "bloweth where it pleaseth" so the Holy
Spirit
operates
where He pleases?
And
now to sum up. We have sought to show the perfect consistency of God's ways:
that
each Person in the Godhead acts in sympathy and harmony with the Others.
God
the Father elected certain ones to salvation, God the Son died for the
elect,
and God the Spirit quickens the elect. Well may we sing,
Praise
God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise
Him all creatures here below,
Praise
Him above ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.