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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By Arthur W. Pink
Chapter 4
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SALVATION
"O the depths of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His
ways past finding out"
Romans 11:33
"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 1 am chief" (1 Tim.
1:15). Therefore, if God saved the "chief" 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 of the most
stony-hearted people of all it is written, that God will yet "take the
stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh"
(Ezek. 11:19). Then is it because some are so stubborn, 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 19:14)? Was there
not a time when you "would not come to Christ that you might
have life" (John 5:40)? 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 ‘born of the Spirit,’ you will readily reply,
"By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10). Then
do you not see that it is due to no 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 (Ps. 110:3; Phil. 2:13) why then
does He not make all sinners willing? Why, 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 5:20).
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 13:48). Hence it is that we
read of "the faith 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 Good-Man 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 long-suffering 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 Lake of Fire. It declares
that God Himself 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 is 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 "unto
the adoption of children," 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: ‘As 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 will 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 Choser 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 agrees 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 ‘the 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 the heavenlies 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; In love 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 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" (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 back 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" (G. 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
Pet. 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 it 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
or 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 no
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 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 who’s "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 gayest Me out of the world: Thine
they were, and Thou gayest 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 lovest 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. Godwards, the Cross-work of
Christ was a propitiation, an appeasing of Divine wrath, a
satisfaction rendered to Divine justice and holiness; manwards, 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 Law-giver 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 debt of all men without exception, for
some there are who will be "cast into prison" (cf. 1 Pet. 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’" (G. 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 that 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
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" (Ps. 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 Pet. 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 were they 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
they 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 the
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 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 forth the restricted purpose in the Atonement:
it was for the "sons" and not the human race our Lord "tasted
death" (1 John 2:2 will be examined in detail in Appendix 4).
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 be 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 wide-spread 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
reanimate 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 from 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 own personal
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 newborn 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 [the
Gap Theory-ed.]—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 waters." 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 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 words giveth light" (Ps. 119:130), but before it can enter the darkened human heart the Spirit of God must operate
upon it. [1]
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 of 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 Pet. 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 unrighteousness, 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
Imposter, 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.
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, shews 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 were imperatively required. Had
God done nothing more than given Christ to die for sinners and then sent
forth His servants to proclaim salvation through Christ, 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 Son of David, the King of the Jews—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 Himself. This is not incongruous, or derogatory to 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.
ENDNOTES:
[1] 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.
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