CHAPTER IV.
SOVEREIGNTY OF GRACE.
GOD BESTOWS THE BLESSINGS OF HIS GRACE, NOT ACCORDING TO THE WORKS OF THE
RECIPIENT, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS OWN SOVEREIGN PLEASURE.[1]
God is sovereign in doing what he pleases, uncontrolled by any other being.
"He doth according to his will, in the armies of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none may stay his hand, or say unto him: `What
doest thou?'"[2] No superior being exists, who
can dictate to Jehovah what he should do, or hinder him from the execution of
his pleasure, or call him to account for anything that he has done.
Sovereignty is to be distinguished from arbitrariness. In the latter, the
will of the agent directs the action, without reference to a wise or good
purpose to be accomplished. When God acts, it is according to his good
pleasure. His pleasure is good, because it is always directed to a good end.
He is sovereign in his acts, because his acts are determined by his own
perfections. He has a rule for what he does; but this rule is not prescribed
to him by any other being, nor does it exist independently of himself. It is
found in his own nature. In his acts, his nature is unfolded and displayed.
In some respects the divine nature is so far made known to us, that we are
able to understand the rule to which his acts conform. We so far understand
his justice, that the distribution of rewards and punishments according to the
works of men, is a process for which we can account, and the result of which we
can in part foretell. But there are mysteries in the divine nature which are
too deep for us to fathom: and hence we are unable to assign a rule for the
divine proceedings. These are the cases which we specially refer to the
sovereignty of God. He is not less sovereign in his justice, than in the
dispensations for which he has given us no reason. But we bow before his
sovereignty, in the best exercise of simple confidence in him, when we are
least able to account for his doings; and it has been his pleasure, to leave
much of his proceedings involved in mystery, that we may have occasion for the
exercise of this confidence, which is pleasing to him, and profitable to
ourselves.
We are prone to demand the reason or rule of God's acts, and to prescribe
rules according to which God should act; but the Scriptures teach us to
restrain this propensity. "Shall the thing formed, say to him that formed it:
`Why hast thou made me thus?'"[3] "He giveth
not account of any of his matters."[4] But
though the Scriptures do not explain those dispensations of God which we are
compelled to refer to his inscrutable sovereignty, they teach us that God is
not governed by such rules as human wisdom would prescribe. His ways are above
our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts, as high as the heavens are above
the earth.[5]
Men often complain that God's ways are not equal, and charge him with
partiality in his dealings with his creatures. When this charge is brought
against him, in such a manner as to imply injustice in anything which he does,
he repels the charge: "Are not my ways equal? Are not your ways unequal?"[6] But in bestowing the blessings of his grace,
God claims the right to do what he will with his own.[7] He is not bound to give to every one an equal measure of
undeserved favor; or to measure his freely bestowed blessings, according to the
works of those on whom they are bestowed. This is clearly taught in the
inspired word: "He hath saved us and called us with a 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."[8] "Not of works, but of him that calleth."[9] "Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of
God that showeth mercy."[10]
In the condition of the creatures that God has made, we observe a diversity to
which we can assign no limits. In the vegetable kingdom, we find productions
varying from the cedar of Lebanon to the minute blade of grass, some beautiful
and fragrant, or adapted to great utility, and others without any quality in
which we can perceive a reason for their having been made. Among animals, a
boundless variety appears, in their size, modes of life, and capacity for
enjoyment. In the condition of human beings, the system of diversity
continues. As the human species differs from every other species, so the
condition of each individual man differs from that of every other individual
belonging to the species. One man passes his days in affluence and ease, and
another drags out his miserable existence in poverty and toil. One enjoys
almost uninterrupted health, while another, from the beginning to the end of
his life, is oppressed with disease and pain. One possesses intellect
susceptible of the highest cultivation, and is favored with all the necessary
means of cultivation; while another gropes his way in mental darkness, either
from the natural imbecility of his mind, or from the disadvantageous
circumstances in which his lot of life is cast. Why is all this diversity? We
must answer in the words of Christ: "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in
thy sight."[11] To some extent the sufferings
and enjoyments of men in the present life are attributable to their personal
conduct; and so far the reason for the divine dispensation towards them is
apparent; but, to a far greater extent, no cause can be assigned by human
reason; and we are compelled to ascribe the mysterious arrangement to the
sovereignty of God. As he is sovereign in creation and providence, so he is
sovereign in the dispensations of his grace. "He divides to every man
severally as he will."[12] He withholds from
the wise and prudent, and reveals unto babes, as it seems good in his sight.[13] When the question arises: "Who made thee
to differ from another?" the proper answer is: "It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy;"[14] and "By the grace of God, I am what I am."[15] In the dispensations of grace, full regard is had to
justice, and nothing unjust is done to any one; but grace rises high above
justice, and gives ample room for the display of the divine sovereignty, in the
distribution of blessings to which no individual has the slightest claim.
Among the rules which human officiousness prescribes to God for the regulation
of his conduct, we are prone to insist that the blessings of his grace should
be distributed according to men's works. We do not presume to say, that they
should be given for men's works, for this would render them rewards of
debt, and not of grace. Scripture and reason unite in checking the presumption
which would claim all that God bestows, as due on the ground of merit: but,
while we relinquish the claim on the ground of positive merit, we are yet prone
to conceive that there is a fitness in conferring the blessings of grace on
those who have the negative merit of being less wicked than others. In this
method of dispensation, which human wisdom would recommend, the blessings are
conferred, not for men's works, but according to their works:
but the wisdom of God rejects the counsel of human wisdom in this particular.
A Saul of Tarsus, though chief of sinners, is made a happy recipient of divine
grace, while an amiable young ruler, who had kept the law from his youth up, is
left to perish in his self-righteousness. Publicans and harlots enter the
kingdom of heaven; while multitudes, less wicked than they, are left to the
course to which natural depravity inclines them. These cases exemplify the
explicit declarations of Scripture, which teach, that "we are saved and called,
not according to our works."
It is true, that in the last day, men will be judged according to the deeds
done in the body. But it must be remembered that salvation begins in the
present life. To the present life the calling of men from darkness to light is
limited; and the salvation and calling of the present life, are not according
to men's works. As men are called "to be holy," the holiness which they
exhibit as a consequence of the salvation and calling which they receive from
the grace of God, distinguishes them from other men, and becomes a proper rule
for the decisions of the last day. We see, therefore, that the last judgment
will be according to the deeds done in the body; while it nevertheless remains,
that we are saved and called, not according to our works, but according to the
purpose and grace of God.
SECTION I.--ELECTION.
ALL WHO WILL FINALLY BE SAVED, WERE CHOSEN TO SALVATION BY GOD THE FATHER,
BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, AND GIVEN TO JESUS CHRIST IN THE COVENANT
OF GRACE.[16]
The doctrine of election encounters strong opposition in the hearts of men,
and it is therefore necessary to examine thoroughly its claim to our belief.
As it relates to an act of the divine mind, no proof of its truth can be equal
to the testimony of the Scriptures. Let us receive their teachings on the
subject without hesitation or distrust; and let us require every preconceived
opinion of ours, and all our carnal reasonings, to bow before the authority of
God's holy word.
The Scriptures clearly teach, that God has an elect or chosen people. "Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect."[17] Elect according to the foreknowledge of God.[18] "Shall not God avenge his own elect."[19] "Ye are a chosen generation."[20] "God hath chosen you to salvation."[21] "According as he hath chosen us in
Christ."[22] Whatever may have been our
prejudices against the doctrine of election as held and taught by some
ministers of religion, it is undeniable, that, in some sense, the doctrine is
found in the Bible; and we cannot reject it, without rejecting that inspired
book. We are bound by the authority of God, to receive the doctrine; and
nothing remains, but that we should make an honest effort to understand it,
just as it is taught in the sacred volume.
The Scriptures teach expressly, that God's people are chosen to salvation.
"Beloved, we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, because he hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation."[23] Some have been chosen by God[24] to peculiar offices; as Paul was a chosen vessel, to bear
the name of Christ to the Gentiles, and David was chosen to be the King of
Israel. The whole nation of Israel was chosen out of all nations to be a
peculiar people to the Lord: but it is very clear that the eternal salvation
of every Israelite was not secured by this national election; for to some of
them Christ said, "Ye shall die in your sins; and whither I go ye cannot
come."[25] The election to salvation is shown
by the words of Paul in Rom. ix. 6, to be different from this national
election: "They are not all Israel that are of Israel." "There is a remnant
according to the election of grace."[26] The
national election comprehended all Israel, according to the flesh: but the
election of grace included those only who will finally be saved. It is not a
choice merely to the means of salvation, for these were granted to all the
nation of Israel: but it was a choice to salvation itself, and therefore
respected the "remnant," and not the whole nation.
The Scriptures plainly teach that the election of grace is from eternity. "God
hath, from the beginning, chosen you to salvation."[27] "According as he hath chosen us in him from the
foundation of the world."[28] "According to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began."[29] Election is a part of God's
eternal purpose. Had it been his purpose to save all the human race, there
would have been no elect from among men; no peculiar people, no redeemed out of
every nation. But his purpose to save did not include all the race; and
therefore, on some principle yet to be inquired into, some of the race have
been selected, who will receive the kingdom prepared for them from the
foundation of the world. The eternity of God's election ought not to excite in
our hearts any objection against it. If, in the final judgment, God will
distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, whatever he will then do in
righteousness, it was right for him to purpose to do from all eternity. In his
final sentence, all his preceding dispensations toward the children of men, and
all their actions under these dispensations, will be carefully reviewed, and
the final doom of every one will be pronounced in righteousness. All that will
then be present to the divine mind, was before it from all eternity; and what
God will then do, he purposed to do from the beginning; and the reasons for
which he will do it, are the reasons for which he purposed to do it. There can
be no wrong in the purpose, if it does not exist in the execution. If God can
fully justify at the last day, before the assembled universe, all his
dispensations toward the children of men; all these dispensations must be
right, and the purpose of them from eternity must have been right: and if a
division of the human race can then be righteously made, that division was
righteously made in the purpose of God; and consequently God's election was
made in righteousness.
The Scriptures teach that election is of grace, and not of works. "Not of
works, lest any man should boast;"[30] and if
it be of works, then grace is no more grace.[31] The subject is illustrated by the case of Jacob and
Esau, of whom Jacob was chosen before the children had done either good or
evil; and in applying this illustration, Paul says: "That the purpose of God
according to election might stand; not of works, but of him that calleth."[32] In the last day, God will discriminate
between the righteous and the wicked, according to their works: and it was the
eternal purpose of God, that this discrimination should then be made on that
ground; but the purpose of God includes an earlier discrimination made in
effectual calling; whence we read of those who are "the called according to his
purpose."[33] This discrimination, made at
the time of calling, is not according to men's works, for it is expressly said,
"who hath saved us and called us with a 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;"[34] Calling is
a blessing of grace, not conferred for previous works, nor according to
previous works. Why is this benefit bestowed? The answer is, "not of works,
but of him that calleth."[35] "Not of him
that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."[36] "It is God that worketh in us to will and
to do, of his good pleasure."[37] The first
actual separation of God's people from the rest of mankind, is made when they
are called out of darkness into his marvellouslight; and this calling is
not according to men's works, but according to the good pleasure of God. A
discrimination is then made, for reasons wholly unknown to mortals; not
according to the works of men, but on a ground which infinite wisdom approves.
The reason of the procedure is laid deep in the counsels of the divine mind;
and we are compelled to say respecting it, "How unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out!"[38] This
actual separation of God's people from the rest of mankind, made in their
effectual calling, is like everything which he does, the fulfilment of
his eternal purpose. "He worketh all things after the counsel of his will;"[39] and "known unto him are all his works from
the beginning."[40] The purpose to effect
this first actual discrimination, is God's election; and the ground of the
discrimination when it actually takes place, is nothing different from that of
the purpose to discriminate; that is, it is the ground of election. The
discrimination, when actually made, is approved by the wisdom of God; and all
the consequences of it will be approved in the last day, and throughout all
coming eternity; and therefore the election, or purpose to discriminate, was
approved by infinite wisdom, in the counsels of eternity past. When we object
to the act, or the purpose, we presume to be wiser than God.
From the views which have been presented, it necessarily follows, that election
is not on the ground of foreseen faith or obedience. On this point, the
teachings of Scripture are clear. They are chosen not because of their
holiness, but that they may be holy;[41] not
because of their obedience, but unto obedience.[42] As the discrimination made in effectual calling is God's
work, the antecedent to all holiness, faith, or acceptable obedience; the
purpose to discriminate could not be on the ground of acts foreseen, which do
not exist as a consideration for the execution of the purpose. The
discriminating grace which God bestows, is not on the ground of faith and
obedience previously existing, but for a reason known only to God himself.
This unrevealed reason, and not foreseen faith and obedience, is the ground of
election.
The Scriptures teach that election is according to the foreknowledge of God.[43] We are, however, not to understand the
foreknowledge here mentioned, to be foreknowledge of faith or good works.
Faith and good works do not exist, before the grace consequent on election
begins to be bestowed; and therefore a foresight of them is impossible.
Moreover, the objects of this divine foreknowledge are the persons of the
elect, and not their faith or good works. "Whom he foreknow, them he also did
predestinate."[44] In this foreknowledge of
persons, according to the Scripture use of terms, a peculiar regard to them is
implied. It is said, "Hath God cast away his people, whom he foreknew."[45] If simple knowledge, without any peculiar
regard, were all that is here implied, it would be equally true that God
foreknew the heathen nations, as well as the nation of Israel.
This case of national election may serve also to illustrate the ground of
election to salvation. God's choice of the Hebrew nation arose from a peculiar
regard to them, not founded on their superiority to other nations,[46] but on his own sovereign pleasure. He loved
them, because he would love them. So the election of grace is according to
God's foreknowledge of his people; a foreknowledge implying a peculiar regard
not founded on any superiority in the objects of it, but arising from the
sovereign pleasure of God.
Election is ascribed to God the Father, redemption to God the Son, and
sanctification to God the Holy spirit: "Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."[47]
The Father, as sustaining the authority of the Godhead, is represented as
giving the elect to Christ in the covenant of grace: "Thine they were, and
thou gavest them to me."[48]
The choice of them was with reference to Christ, and that they might be given
to him, and rendered accepted in him. Hence they are said to be "chosen in
Christ."[49] The election, or setting of them
apart to salvation, is, in Jude, attributed to God the Father, by the use of
the word sanctify, which signifies to set apart: "Sanctified by God the
Father." The next clause of this verse, "preserved in Christ Jesus," may
denote that a special divine care is exercised over the elect, because of their
covenant relation to Christ, even before their being called by the Holy Spirit.
"Preserved in Christ Jesus, and called."
Those who are not included in the election of grace, are called, in Scripture,
"the rest,"[50] and vessels of wrath."[51] Why they are not included, we are as unable
to explain as why the others are included; and we are therefore compelled to
refer the matter to the sovereignty of God, who, beyond all doubt, acts herein
most wisely and righteously, though he has not explained to us the reasons of
his procedure. His absolute sovereignty, is the discrimination which he makes,
is expressed by Paul in these words: "He hath mercy on whom he will have
mercy; and whom he will he hardeneth."[52]
The natural tendency of human depravity is such, that the heart grows harder
under the general mercies which God bestows, unless he superadds to all the
other benefits which he confers, the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, by
which the heart is changed. This renewing grace he gives or withholds at his
sovereign pleasure. This sovereignty, in so bestowing mercy as to soften the
hard heart, is unquestionably taught by the words just quoted, however we may
interpret the phrase "he hardeneth." It is not necessary to understand these
words as implying a positive act of God, exerted for the purpose of producing
hardness of heart, and directed to this end. When Paul speaks of the vessels
of mercy, he says that God hath "afore prepared" them for glory; but when he
speaks of the vessels of wrath, as fitted for destruction, he does not say that
God has fitted them for this end.[53] As the
potter, out of the same mass, makes one vessel to honor and another to
dishonor;[54] so God, out of the same mass of
mankind, prepares some for glory, as vessels of mercy; while others, whatever
benefits abuse the mercies which he bestows, and, growing harder by the
influence of their natural depravity, are vessels of wrath fitted for
destruction.
Divines have used the term "reprobate" as equivalent to "non-elect;" but this
is not the Scripture use of the term. Paul says, "Examine yourselves whether
ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?[55] Here all are regarded as reprobates in whom Christ does
not dwell by faith; and, of consequence, the elect themselves are reprobates so
long as they remain in unbelief. Reprobation, as a positive act of God, is no
other than the condemnation under which all unbelievers lie.
From a state of condemnation, God, according to his purpose in election,
delivers some by his renewing grace, and this is no injury or disadvantage done
to the rest.
The doctrine of election is generally opposed by unrenewed men: and even in
the minds of those whose hearts have been renewed by grace, such objections to
it often arise as to prevent the cordial reception of it. The most common of
these objections is would be proper here to consider.
Obj. 1. The doctrine of election offers no inducement to human effort. Under
the belief of it men conclude that, if elected, they will be saved, do what
they will; and if not elected, they will be damned, do what they can. Hence
they decide that all effort on their part is useless, and that it will be as
well to live as they please, and dismiss all concern about their destiny, over
which they can have no control.
That some men, who profess to believe the doctrine of election, make a bad use
of it, cannot be denied; but it cannot be affirmed that all who receive the
doctrine reason or act in the manner stated in the objection. On the contrary,
multitudes, eminent for holiness of life and self-denying labors in the cause
of Christ, not only cordially receive the doctrine, but ascribe all their
holiness and self-denying labors to that grace which they have received from
God's electing love. Many who reject and hate the doctrine, determine to live
as they please, and to give themselves no concern for the things of God and
religion: and the same cause will produce the same effect, in unregenerate men
who admit the doctrine, and pervert it by their carnal reasonings to a use to
which is has no legitimate tendency.
This objection to election applies equally to every part of the divine purpose,
and proceeds on the supposition that God has predetermined the end without
reference to the means by which it is to be accomplished. God has his purpose
in providence, as well as in grace; and works all things in each department of
his operations, after the counsel of his own will: but no wise man will say,
"If I am to have a crop, I shall have it, whether I plough and sow, or not; and
therefore I need not labor, or give myself concern to obtain bread to eat."
The purpose of God leaves men at equal liberty, and gives them equal
encouragement to labor for the meat that perisheth not, as for that which
perisheth. God's purpose does not sever the connection between the means and
the end, but establishes it; and there is nothing, in a proper view of God's
sovereignty, whether in providence or in grace, to induce the belief that the
end may be obtained without the use of the appropriate means; or that the end
need be despaired of if the appropriate means be used. The word of God assures
us, that "he who believes in Christ shall be saved, and he who believes not
shall be damned;" and there is nothing in God's purpose, or in a proper view of
his purpose, to annul these declarations of his word. The purpose of God
determines his own action; but his revealed word is the rule of ours; and if we
so act as to have his promise on our side, we may be sure that is purpose also
will be on our side: but his purpose cannot secure the salvation of any who
remain in impenitence and unbelief, and under the condemnation of his revealed
word.
It is true, however, that election discourages such human effort as is made in
a wrong direction. It prostrates all human hope at the feet of a Sovereign
God, and teaches the prayer, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."
It discountenances all effort to save ourselves by our own works of
righteousness; but brings the sinner to commit himself at once to the sovereign
mercy of God. He who, knowing himself to be condemned and helpless, gives
himself, from the heart, into the hands of God as a sovereign, and trusts
entirely to his grace for salvation, will find no reason to prefer that this
grace should be conferred according to some present determination of the divine
mind, rather than according to the counsel of eternal wisdom. The objection to
the latter, if thoroughly analyzed, will be found to contain in it some lurking
idea that it is safer to trust in something else than in God's absolute mercy.
As such lurking trust is dangerous to the soul, the doctrine of election has a
salutary tendency to deliver us from it. It tends to produce precisely that
trust in God, that complete surrender of ourselves to him, to which alone the
promise of eternal life is made; and if we reject the doctrine, we ought to
consider whether we do not, at the same time, reject our only hope of life
everlasting.
Obj. 2. The doctrine of election is unfavorable to the interest of morality.
If men believe that God has appointed them to salvation or damnation, at his
own pleasure, without regard to their works, the motive to good works which is
drawn from the expectation of future reward or punishment, will cease to
influence them.
At the last day men will be judged according to their works. God's choice of
men to holiness and obedience, and the grace bestowed on them to render them
holy and obedient, do not change the rule by which the final judgment will be
pronounced: they, therefore, leave the expectation of future retribution to
have its full effect on the minds of men. No one will be condemned at the mere
pleasure of God; but every sentence of condemnation will be for sins committed.
Hence the fear of future punishment ought to deter men from the commission of
sin. None have a right to expect acceptance in the great day who do not, in
the present life, serve God in sincerity and with persevering constancy. A
belief that God, by his grace, inclines some men to serve him, and that he
determined, from eternity, to bestow this grace upon them, cannot diminish, in
any well-disposed mind, the proper influence arising from the expectation of
future retribution, or produce indifference to the claims of morality. In
electing men to salvation, God has devised no method of accomplishing his
gracious purpose respecting them, but by rendering them holy and obedient; and
therefore the doctrine of election teaches the indispensable necessity of
holiness and obedience, in order to salvation. The doctrine is perverted and
abused when men take occasion from it to indulge in sin.
Obj. 3. The doctrine of election represents God as partial, and is, therefore,
inconsistent with Scripture, which teaches that "The wisdom which is from
above, is without partiality."[56]
The wisdom from above, which James declares to be without partiality, dwells in
the minds of Christian men, and is exercised in their intercourse with mankind.
It does not incline or require them to feel equal affection toward all, or to
do good equally to all. Within the limits of justice, it requires that every
man shall have his due; and here, all partiality is injustice. In the
department of benevolence, the Christian man is not bound to bestow his favors
with equality, on all his fellow creatures. The wisdom from above guides him,
in the distribution of his favors, by other rules. So God, the source of this
wisdom, is without partiality in the dispensation of his justice; but, in
bestowing his grace, he acts as a sovereign, and claims and exercises the right
to do what he will with his own. Partiality in a judge, when professing to
administer justice, is a great wrong; but the same judge may bestow special
favor on his children, or near friends, or on chosen objects of charity,
without any just imputation of wrong; and to charge God with partiality,
because he bestows his favors as he pleases, is to pour contempt on his
sovereignty, and covertly to deny his right to do what he will with his own.
He may well say to man who makes this charge: "Is thine eye evil, because I am
good?"
Obj. 4. The doctrine of election represents God as a respecter of persons; but
Peter affirmed that "God is not a respecter of persons."[57]
The same phrase has different significations, according to the connection in
which it is used. We may affirm that God is, in one sense of the phrase, a
respecter of persons, for his word states, that "he had respect unto Abel and
his offering."[58] The first Christians were
taught, not to have respect of persons, by giving superior places, in their
religious assemblies, to those who were rich, and wore gay clothing.[59] The Hebrew judges were required not to have
respect of persons, by favoring any one in his cause.[60] In this objectionable sense, God is not a respecter of
persons. Before him, the rich and great of the earth are as nothing: yet he
has respect to his saints, however humble and despised among men. When Peter
affirmed that God is not a respecter of persons, he was addressing the first
company of uncircumcised persons to whom the Gospel was preached; and his words
manifestly imported the equal admission of Gentiles with Jews, to the
privileges and blessings of the Gospel. "God is not a respecter of persons;
but in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with him."[61] The words express
nothing contrary to what Peter elsewhere says: "Ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light."[62]
Obj. 5. The doctrine of election represents God as insincere. He invites all
man to participate in the blessings of the gospel; and yet, if this doctrine is
true, the blessings of the gospel are not designed for all.
If God's word teaches the doctrine of election, and if it contains commands or
invitations to all men to seek salvation through Christ, it is highly
presumptuous in us to charge God with insincerity, because we cannot reconcile
the two things with each other. We ought to remember that we are worms of the
dust, and that it is criminal arrogance in us to judge and condemn the infinite
God. But, in truth, there is no ground whatever for this charge of
insincerity. God requires all men to believe in Christ; and this is their
duty, however unwilling they may be to perform it. The fact that they are
unwilling, and that God knows they will remain unwilling, unless he change
their hearts, abates nothing from the sincerity of the requirement. God proves
his sincerity, by holding them to the obligation, and condemning their
unbelief. He promises salvation to all who believe in Christ; and he proves
his sincerity, by fulfilling his promise in every instance. The
bestowment of special grace, changing the hearts of men, and bringing them
to believe in Christ, is, in no respect, inconsistent with any requirement or
promise that God has made. While men regard the call of the gospel as an
invitation which they may receive or reject at pleasure, it accords with their
state of mind to institute the inquiry, whether God is sincere in offering this
invitation: but when they regard it as a solemn requirement of duty, for which
God will certainly hold them accountable, they will find no occasion for
calling his sincerity in question.
Obj. 6. The doctrine of election confines the benevolence of God to a part of
the human race; but the Scriptures teach, that "the Lord is good to all, and
his tender mercies are over all his works."[63]
God is kind to the unthankful and evil, and bestows blessings on the just and
the unjust; but his benevolence, though infinite, does not produce in every one
of his creatures the highest degree of happiness. The world which we inhabit
abounds with misery, and the Scriptures have warned us, that there is a world
of unmitigated torment, into which wicked men will be driven, to be punished
for their sins, with the devil and his angels. The justice of God limits the
exercise of his benevolence; and, if we deny the doctrine of election, it still
remains true, that the benevolence of God will effect the salvation of a part
only of the human race. Now, unless it can be shown that the election of grace
lessens the number of the saved, no objection can lie against it, on the ground
of its relation to God's benevolence. Paul did not regard it as lessening the
divine benevolence. According to his view of the subject, all Israel would
have been cast away, had not God reserved a remnant according to the election
of grace.[64] What was true of this nation,
is true of all other nations. There are causes, apart from election, which
intercept the flow of God's benevolence to sinful men: and election, instead
of increasing the obstacles, opens the channel in which the mercy of God can
flow, to bless and save the lost.
Obj. 7. The doctrine of election, by teaching that God has reprobated a part
of the human race to hopeless misery, represents him as an unamiable being.
Sinful men are indeed reprobated, not by the election of grace, but by the
justice of God; but their reprobation is not hopeless, so long as the gospel of
salvation sounds in their ears. But the only hope on which they are authorized
to lay hold, springs from the electing love of God. Instead of covering men's
prospects with the blackness of darkness, the doctrine of election sends a ray
of hope, the only possible ray, to enlighten the gloom.
The justice of God will hereafter doom the finally impenitent, as it has
already doomed the fallen angels, to hopeless misery. The unamiable feature,
which the objection we are considering finds in the divine character, is the
justice so horrible to the workers of iniquity. The election of grace, if it
wholly annihilated the justice of God, would receive the praises of unconverted
men; but it cannot do this. The infinite benevolence of God cannot do this.
If men will pronounce the character of God unamiable, because he is just, and
dooms sinful beings to hopeless misery, they prove thereby that they do not
love the God whom the Scriptures reveal, and by whom they are to be judged.
Their quarrel with the doctrine of election is, in truth, a quarrel with the
justice of God, from which that election has not delivered them.
Of the laborers in the vineyard, who received every man his penny, they who had
borne the heat and burden of the day, complained that those who had labored but
one hour, received equal wages with them. The occasion for this complaint
would not have existed, if no one had received more than was due to him, in
strict justice, according to the amount of service rendered. So, if all grace
were withheld from the human race, and every one received from God what his
deeds in strict justice deserve, no occasion would exist for the objection
which is urged against God's election. But, would men be better off? or would
God be more amiable? The lord in the parable met the objection thus: "Friend,
I do thee no wrong. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"[65] We
are taught hereby how to silence objections to the sovereignty of divine grace.
While God does wrong to no man, though he does as he will with his own, it
becomes us to bow to his sovereignty, and acknowledge him infinitely amiable in
all his perfections.
Not content with the God whom the Bible reveals, and who does according to his
pleasure in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, we
carve out to ourselves a deity more amiable, in our view, than he. If we dare
not strip him of his justice, and secure thereby the salvation of all men, we
endeavor to devise for him a method of salvation less exposed to human cavil.
We aim to free him from the responsibility of determining who shall be saved;
and we form the plan, and fix the terms of salvation, with the design of
rendering the result contingent on the actions of men. Our method of grace, we
admit, will not secure the salvation of all men. If the infinitely wise God
should adopt it, he would foreknow all its results, and precisely how many
persons, and what persons, would finally be save by it. Now, if he should make
our plan his own, with this foreknowledge of its results, it would then be his
plan, fixing as definitely the salvation of those who will be saved, as the
plan on which he at present proceeds, and equally leaving the residue of
mankind to the awful doom to which his justice will consign them. Our
preferred plan may accord better with the views of finite worms, like
ourselves, who know not the end from the beginning; but if God would adopt it,
he would be responsible for it, in all its workings, to the final issue:
responsible, though not to any other being, yet to himself; for his acts must
accord with his perfections, and must receive his own approbation. In
selecting his present plan, he has chosen it with a full knowledge of all its
results. As the plan is his chosen plan, so the people whom it will save are
his chosen people. We must prove that our plan would be better, before we can
maintain that the deity of our imagination would be more amiable than the God
of the Bible.
Every proposed method of salvation that leaves the issue dependent on human
volition, is defective. It has been always found, that men will not
come to Christ for life. The gospel is preached to every creature; but all,
with one consent, ask to be excused. The will of men must be changed; and this
change the will itself cannot effect. Divine grace must here interpose.
Unless God work in the sinner to will and to do, salvation is impossible. God
knows the force of opposition which his grace will encounter in each heart, and
the amount of spiritual influence necessary to overcome it. He gives or
withholds that influence at his pleasure. He has his own rule of acting in
this matter--a rule infinitely wise and good. With full knowledge how his rule
will affect every particular case, he perseveres in acting according to it,
however men may cavil: and the rule which infinite wisdom adopts must be the
best; nor can it be any objection to it, that infinite wisdom knows perfectly
its final result.
Obj. 8. The doctrine of election does not recommend itself to the general
acceptance of mankind; but is received only by those who believe themselves to
be in the number of the elect; and who are therefore interested judges.
The truth or falsehood of a religious doctrine cannot be determined by the
acceptance which is obtains among men. What God says, is true, whether men
receive or reject it. The gospel, which is preached on the authority of God's
truth, is rejected by a large part of mankind; and those who do receive it are
exposed to the charge of being interested judges, because they expect God's
blessing through their belief of it. All that the objection says of election
is true of the gospel. It does not prove the gospel untrue; and it ought not,
in the least degree, to impair and weaken our faith in the doctrine of
election.
According to God's method of grace, as revealed in this holy word, the
salvation of men is made dependent on their belief of the gospel. It is a test
of genuine faith, that it cordially receives those parts of divine truth which
are least acceptable to the carnal heart. Hence it arises, that the doctrine
of election, or, which is the same thing, of God's sovereignty is the
bestowment of his grace, often becomes the point at which a sinner's submission
to God is tested. When this doctrine is cordially received, the sinner's
rebellion against God ceases. When he yields to the sovereignty of God in
bestowing eternal life at his pleasure, he admits that sovereignty in
everything else. How much soever he may permit the monarch of the universe to
do what he pleases in smaller matters, if he refuses to yield to his
sovereignty in the matter of highest importance, his submission to God is
partial, and the spirit of rebellion has not departed.
Many examples of Christian experience might be adduced, in which a submission
to God's sovereignty in bestowing the blessings of grace, became the deciding
point of a sinner's acceptance of Christ.
Though the objection which we have considered contains no valid argument
against the doctrine of election, it may suggest an important lesson to those
who admit this doctrine into their creed. If men, as interested judges, decide
in favor of the doctrine, and regard it with pleasure merely because they
suppose themselves to be among the favorites of heaven, their faith will
be unavailing. No submission to God is implied in our approving of his
supposed favoritism toward us. The gospel calls on every sinner to give
himself up, through Christ, into the hands of his offended sovereign; and to do
this as a guilty creature, and not as a supposed favorite of Heaven. In this
complete surrender, the heart becomes fully reconciled to the doctrine of
election.
SECTION II.--PARTICULAR REDEMPTION.
THE SON OF GOD GAVE HIS LIFE TO REDEEM THOSE WHO WERE GIVEN TO HIM BY THE
FATHER IN THE COVENANT OF GRACE.[66]
The Scriptures teach that the Son of God, in coming into the world and laying
down his life, had the salvation of a peculiar people in view: "Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins."[67] "The good Shepherd giveth his life for the
sheep."[68] "Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might
present it to himself a glorious church."[69]
The Scriptures also teach that the expectation of the Redeemer will be fully
realized, and that not one of all whom the Father gave him will fail to be
saved: "He shall see his seed. He shall see of the travail of his soul and be
satisfied."[70] "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."[71] "Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am."[72]
And finally, when all shall be congregated, he will say, "Behold, I, and the
children which God has given me."[73] In
presenting to the Father all who had been given to him, in the covenant of
grace, to be redeemed out of every kindred, tongue, nation, and people, the
Saviour will have the full reward of his obedience unto death.
Redemption will not be universal in its consummation; for the redeemed will
be out of every kindred, tongue, nation, and people;[74] and therefore cannot include all in any of these
divisions of mankind. And redemption cannot have been universal in its
purpose; otherwise the purpose will fail to be accomplished, and all, for which
the work of redemption was undertaken will not be effected.
Besides God's will of purpose, we have seen that he has a will of precept.
According to the latter, he commands all men everywhere to repent; he requires
all to believe in Jesus Christ; and it is his will that all men should honor
the Son. To all who obey his will in these particulars, he gives the promise
of eternal life. The precept and the promise are both included in the revealed
will of God. It is the revealed will of God that the gospel should be preached
to every creature, and that every creature who hears should believe, and that
all who believe shall receive life everlasting. The revealed will is the rule
of our faith, duty, and hope; and by it those who preach the gospel, and those
who hear it, are authorised and bound to regulate every thought and
action. In it, Christ is exhibited as the Saviour of the world;[75] the only name under heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved;[76] and sinners, without
exception, are invited and commanded to believe in Christ. As the gospel is
preached to all men without distinction, and all are called upon to come to
Christ for life; and nothing but man's rejection of the gospel prevents the
extension of its blessing to all who hear it; it accords with the design of
God's revealed word, to speak of the offices and work of Christ, according to
men's obligations respecting them. It must be remembered, however, that the
gospel promises its blessings to those only who obey it; and, as the promise,
not the precept, is the proper measure of the benefits which it secures, its
benefits are limited to particular persons, even when the limitation in its
extent does not appear in the language employed. Christ is called the Saviour
of the world,[77] the propitiation[78] for the sins of the whole world; and the
free gift through him is said to come on all men unto justification of life.[79] These, and other like expressions of
Scripture, represent the facts as they would be, on the supposition that all
men did their duty. But notwithstanding these general expressions, the
revealed will of God secures blessings only to the obedient, and is therefore
narrower in its limit than the purpose or secret will of God, which not only
provides all needed grace for the obedient, but also, for all the elect, the
grace necessary to render them obedient.
The remarks which have been made may suffice to show that redemption is not
universal, in any view which can properly be taken of it. It is particular in
its consummation, and in its purpose; and it is equally so in the revelation of
it, which is made in the gospel. The general terms "all men," "the whole
world," &c. which the Scriptures employ in speaking of its extent, cannot
be understood to secure its benefits to the impenitent and unbelieving.
According to God's secret will, or will of purpose, redemption is secured by
the death of Christ to all the elect; according to his revealed will, it is
secured to those only who believe.
The adaptedness of Christ's death to serve as a ground for universal gospel
invitations, constitutes it in the view of some persons a universal redemption.
But no one can with propriety be said to be redeemed, who does not obtain
deliverance, and who never will obtain it. Other persons who maintain the
doctrine of particular redemption, distinguish between redemption and
atonement, and because of the adaptedness referred to, consider the death of
Christ an atonement for the sins of all men; or as an atonement for sin in the
abstract. In Rom. v.11, the only place in the New Testament where the word
atonement occurs, the Greek word for which it stands, is the same that is
rendered reconciling--reconciliation, in other places.[80] The reconciliation is not between God and sin in the
abstract, for such a reconciliation is impossible. It is a reconciliation of
persons; and such a reconciliation as secures eternal salvation. "If, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God, by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."[81] In Paul's view, all those for whom Christ's death made
reconciliation or atonement, will certainly be saved; and therefore atonement
cannot be universal, unless salvation be universal. It is possible to use the
word atonement in such a sense, as to render the question respecting the extent
of the atonement one of mere definition: but it is best to use the words of
Scripture in the Scripture sense.
In reconciling the vicariousness of Christ's death with the universal call of
the gospel a difficulty arises, which may be stated thus:--
An unrestricted invitation to all who hear the gospel, to come to Christ for
life, seems to imply that universal provision has been made in him; and in
order to the making of universal provision, it appears necessary that he should
have borne the sins of all men.
But the supposition that he bore the sins of the whole human race, is attended
with much difficulty. Multitudes died in impenitence before he came into the
world, and were suffering for their sins in the other world, while he was
hanging on the cross. How could he be a substitute for these, and suffer the
penalty for their sins, when they were suffering it in their own persons? And
if he endured the penalty for the sins of all who have since died, or shall
hereafter die in impenitence, how shall they be required to satisfy justice a
second time by personal suffering?
For a solution of this difficulty, with which the minds of many have been much
perplexed, it has been supposed that the amount of suffering necessary to make
an atoning sacrifice, is not increased or lessened by the amount of the sin to
be atoned for. This hypothesis is entitled to respect, not only because of the
relief which it affords the mind, but also because it has recommended itself to
the general acceptance of learned and pious men. Nevertheless, like every
other hypothesis invented for the removal of difficulty, it should not be made
an article of faith, until it has been proved.
In support of the hypothesis, it has been argued that since the wages of sin
is death, Christ must have died for a single sin, and he needed only to die, in
making atonement for the sins of the whole world.
This argument does not sustain the hypothesis, unless it be assumed that death
is the same in every supposable case. But death may be an easy and joyful
transition from this world to the world of bliss. Such was not the death of
Christ. Death, as the wages of sin, includes more than the mere dissolution of
the body: and Christ, in dying for sin, endured an amount of sorrow which was
not necessary to mere natural death. In this suffering, the expiatory efficacy
of his death chiefly consisted; and we dare not assume that the amount of it
must be the same in every supposable case. The sufferings of Christ derive
infinite value from his divine nature; but, being endured by his human nature,
their amount could not be infinite; hence it is supposable that the amount
might have been different in different circumstances. The inhabitants of Sodom
and Gomorrah will, in the last day, be doomed to the second death, equally with
the more guilty inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida: but the anguish
attendant will be more intolerable in one case than in the other. Analogy
would seem to require, that Christ, suffering for the sins of the whole world,
must endure more than if suffering for only one sin.
The advocates of the hypothesis urge, that the atonement is moral, and not
commercial; and they object, that the notion of so much suffering for so much
sin, degrades it into a mere commercial transaction. According to an
illustration before given, if twenty men owe one hundred dollars, commercial
justice is satisfied when each man has paid five dollars; but when twenty men
have conspired to commit murder, moral justice, or rather distributive justice
(for commercial justice is also moral), holds every man guilty of the deed, and
as deserving of capital punishment as if he alone had committed the crime. On
the same principle, it is maintained, moral justice does not divide the death
of Christ into parts, accounting so much for each offence; but regards it
as equally sufficient for many offences, as for one; and equally
sufficient for the sins of the whole world, as for the sins of the elect.
The argument is not conclusive. It is not true, that the principle of
distributive justice repels the notion of so much suffering for so much sin.
Justice has its scales in government, as well as in commerce; and an essential
part of its administration consists in the apportionment of penalties to
crimes. It does not account the stealing of herbs from a neighbor's garden,
and the murder of a father, crimes of equal magnitude; and it does not weigh
out to them equal penalties. The justice of God has a heavier penalty for
Chorazin and Bethsaida, than for Sodom and Gomorrah. Everything of which we
have knowledge in the divine administration, instead of exploding the notion of
so much suffering for so much sin, tends rather to establish it. The objection
that it is commercial, is not well founded. Though justice in government, and
justice in commerce, may be distinguished from each other, it does not follow,
that whatever may be affirmed of the one, must necessarily be denied of the
other. Distributive justice is not that which determines the equality of value,
in commodities which are exchanged for each other: but it does not therefore
exclude all regard to magnitudes and proportions. In the language of
Scripture, sins are debts[82], the
blood of Christ is a price[83], and his
people are bought.[84] This
language is doubtless figurative: but the figures would not be appropriate, if
commercial justice, to which the terms debt, price, bought, appertain,
did not bear an analogy to the distributive justice which required the
sacrifice of Christ.
In the case adduced for illustration, every accomplice in the murder is held
guilty of the crime, because every one has the full intention of it. Justice,
viewing the crime in the intention, accounts each one guilty, and requires the
penalty to be inflicted on him. It does not admit that the punishment of one
will be equivalent to the punishment of all: but, in this very case, employs
its scales to give to every one his due, and apportions the amount of penalty
inflicted, to the amount of crime.
This examination of the argument discovers, that it is not conclusive. If the
atonement of Christ excludes all regard to the amount of sin to be expiated,
the exclusion does not arise from the abstract principles of distributive
justice, as distinguished from commercial, but from something peculiar in the
great transaction. No transaction like it with which it may be compared, has
ever occurred. The wisdom and justice of God have decided this single case,
and have decided it right. Christ did endure just so much suffering, as
would expiate he sins that were laid on him. What amount of suffering would
have been necessary if he had expiated but one sin, is a question which, so far
as we know, has never been decided in the court of heaven. When we confidently
decide it, we are in danger of intruding into those things which do not belong
to use. If the Holy Scriptures teach us nothing on the subject, we should not
seek to be wise above what is written.
The Scriptures, so far as I know, contain no proof of the hypothesis. The best
argument in its favor is drawn from Hebrews ix., in which it is taught that, if
the sacrifices of the old dispensation had been efficacious, they would not
have needed to be repeated. This seems to involve the principle, that an
efficacious sacrifice for sin, when once made, will suffice for all sin,
however it may be multiplies in all future time; and this principle, if
established, establishes the hypothesis before us. But the clause "then would
they not have ceased to be offered," may be taken without an interrogative
point following, and the argument of Paul will be, that the sacrifices of the
Old Testament dispensation, if efficacious, would have continued to be offered
from year to year, making atonement for the sins of each year as it passed, and
would not have been superseded by another covenant, as the Lord had foretold by
his prophet. So interpreted, the argument of Paul, instead of establishing the
hypothesis, subverts it. But if the clause be read with the interrogative
point, it may still be understood to refer to the remembrance from year to year
continually of the same sins, that had once been atoned for. When the sins of
one year had been atoned for, why should the very same sins be brought into
remembrance the second, third, and fourth years, and the offering for them
repeated, if the first offering had been efficacious? So understood, the
apostle's argument does not establish the principle involved in the
hypothesis.
If, after a thorough examination of the hypothesis, we should, instead of
making it an article of faith, be inclined to abandon it; and if the difficulty
which it was invented to remove should perplex us; we may obtain relief, as we
are compelled to do in other cases, by receiving the whole of God's truth on
his authority, even though the harmony of its parts is not apparent to our weak
understandings. In this way, theological difficulties furnish an opportunity
for the exercise of confidence in the divine veracity: and our state of mind
is never better or safer than when, in simple faith, we take God at his word.
So far as we have the means of judging, the sufferings of Christ, when viewed
apart from the purpose of God respecting them, were in themselves as well
adapted to satisfy for the sins of Judas as on Peter. But we cannot affirm
this of every act which Christ performed in his priestly office. His
intercessions for Peter were particular and efficacious; and these, as a part
of his priestly work, may be included with his sufferings, as constituting with
them the perfect and acceptable offering which he, as the great High Priest,
makes for his people. The atonement or reconciliation which results, must be
as particular as the intercessions by which it is procured.
Some have maintained that, if the atonement of Christ is not general, no sinner
can be under obligation to believe in Christ, until he is assured that he is
one of the elect. This implies that no sinner is bound to believe what God
says, unless he knows that God designs to save him. God declares that there is
no salvation, except through Christ; and every sinner is bound to believe this
truth. If it were revealed from heaven, that but one sinner, of all our fallen
race, shall be saved by Christ, the obligation to believe that there is no
salvation out of Christ, would remain the same. Every sinner, to whom the
revelation would be made, would be bound to look to Christ as his only possible
hope, and commit himself to that sovereign mercy by which some one of the
justly condemned race would be saved. The abundant mercy of our God will not
be confined to the salvation of a single sinner; but it will bring many sons to
glory through the sufferings of Jesus, the Captain of our salvation. Yet every
sinner, who trusts in Christ for salvation, is bound to commit himself,
unreservedly, to the sovereign mercy of God. If he requires some previous
assurance that he is in the number of the elect, he does not surrender himself
to God, as a guilty sinner ought. The gospel brings every sinner prostrate at
the feet of the Great Sovereign, hoping for mercy at his will, and in his way:
and the gospel is perverted when any terms short of this are offered to the
offender. With this universal call to absolute and unconditional surrender to
God's sovereignty, the doctrine of particular redemption exactly harmonizes.
SECTION III.--EFFECTUAL CALLING.
THE HOLY SPIRIT EFFECTUALLY CALLS ALL THE ELECT TO REPENT AND BELIEVE.[85]
The gospel calls all who hear it to repent and believe. This call proceeds
from the Holy Spirit, who qualifies the ministers of the gospel for their work,
and gives them the written word. But men resist and disobey this call of the
Spirit, and remain under condemnation. "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as
your fathers did, so do ye." "Which of the prophets have not your fathers
persecuted?"[86] "He shall be revealed,
taking vengeance on all them that obey not the gospel."[87]
Besides the call which is external, and often ineffectual, there is another,
which is internal and effectual. This always produces repentance and faith,
and therefore secures salvation. The former external call is intended in such
passages of Scripture as the following: "Because I have called, and ye
refused."[88] "Many be called, but few
chosen."[89] The internal and effectual call
is designed in the following passages: "Who hath saved us, and called us with
a holy calling."[90] "Whom he predestinated,
them he also called; whom he called, them he also justified."[91] "Called to be saints."[92] "Among whom are ye also called to Jesus Christ."[93] "To them who love God who are the called
according to his purpose."[94] It is not true
of all who receive the external call, that they are predestinated to life,
justified and saved. Whenever these blessings are represented as belonging to
the called, the internal and effectual call must be meant.
We have before distinguished between the direct and the indirect influence of
the Holy Spirit. The external call being by means of the written or preached
word, belongs to the indirect influence of the Spirit. To render this call
effectual, the direct influence is superadded; and the gospel is then said to
come, not in word only,[95] but in
demonstration of the Spirit and with power.[96] The external call is disobeyed, because men will not
come to Christ that they may have life: the internal call operates on the will
itself, working in men to will and to do, and rendering God's
people willing in the day of his power. As distinguished from the
external call the internal is always unresisted. In the process of conversion,
the Holy Spirit is violently resisted; but his resistance is directed against
the outward means. The internal grace softens and subdues the heart, and
brings it into peaceful subjection to the gospel of Christ.
The internal grace, which renders the outward call effectual, is the grace of
regeneration. Hence regeneration, considered as the work of the Holy Spirit,
is the same as effectual calling; considered as the change of the sinner's
heart, it is the effect of this calling. The calling is effectual, because it
produces regeneration in the subject on whom it operates.
In effectual calling, the Holy Spirit displays his omnipotence. "We believe
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead."[97] The same
power which created the world, and said, "Let there be light, and there was
light," is needed in the new creation of the sinner. "God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts."[98] "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works."[99] "According as his divine
power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."[100] His power in creating the world was
unresisted; and equally unresisted is the power by which he new-creates the
heart. The outward means which the Spirit sends may be resisted; but when the
Spirit himself comes in the omnipotence of his grace, resistance vanishes.
In effectual calling, the Holy Spirit acts as a sovereign. In bestowing the
various gifts which he conferred on the ancient Christians, he acted as a
sovereign: "All these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he will."[101] He is
equally sovereign in giving regenerating grace. "Of his own will begat he us
with the word of truth."[102] Grace is
sovereign in election by the Father, redemption by the Son, and effectual
calling by the Holy Spirit. The discrimination which grace makes among the
children of men, first appears in effectual calling. This work of the Holy
Spirit leads up, through the redemption of Jesus Christ, to God the Father, to
whose electing love we are taught to ascribe all the blessings of eternal
salvation. In this reverse order we look back, along the stream of mercy, to
the fountain from which it flows. The reverse order is observed in the
precept, "Make your calling and election sure."[103] Our calling proceeds from our election; but we
ascertain our election by first ascertaining our calling.
In effectual calling, the Holy Spirit operates on the elect. These are
"sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Christ Jesus, and called."[104] They whom the Spirit calls are "chosen
in Christ from the foundation of the world."[105] "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed."[106] The Spirit's effectual calling fulfils
the word of Christ, "All that my Father giveth me, shall come to me."[107] "Other sheep have I, which are not of
this fold; them also I must bring."[108]
It has been asked, for what purpose does God send his outward call to the
non-elect, since it will be ineffectual, unless accompanied with his omnipotent
grace. We might as well ask for what purpose does God give men his law, when
they will not obey it; or why does he institute a moral government over them,
when they will not submit to it. Instead of demanding God's reasons for what
he does, it becomes every man rather to inquire, what reason he can render to
God, for violating his holy law, and rejecting the call of his gospel. We may
be sure that God will do right, and will be able to vindicate his ways before
the intelligent universe; and we should regard our propensity to call in
question the wisdom and righteousness of his procedure, as an alarming evidence
of our want of submission to his will.
Objection. If repentance and faith are gifts of grace bestowed by the Holy
Spirit in effectual calling, men on whom this grace is not conferred, are not
blameworthy for being impenitent and unbelieving.
The objection virtually assumes, that men are under no obligation to serve God
further than they please; or that if their unwillingness to serve him can be
overcome by nothing less than omnipotent grace, it excuses their disobedience.
Let the man who makes to himself this apology for his impenitence and unbelief,
consider well, with what face he can present his plea before the great Judge.
"I did not serve God, because I was wholly unwilling to serve him; and so
exceedingly unwilling that nothing less than omnipotent grace could reconcile
me to the hated service." Who will dare offer this plea on the great day?
The efficacious grace which renders the gospel successful, is the grand
peculiarity of the gospel dispensation.
This grace was bestowed in a smaller measure, before the coming of Christ, and
during his personal ministry; but the abundant outpouring of it was reserved
for the Pentecost that followed the Saviour's ascension, and the times
succeeding. The apostles were commanded to remain in Jerusalem, until they
were endued with power from on high, and the power of the Holy Spirit which
fell on them rendered their preaching far more successful than the ministry of
Christ himself had been. Had God bound himself, by rule, to give an equal
measure of grace to every human being, and to leave the result to the unaided
volitions of men, the extraordinary success which marked the first period of
Christianity would not have existed. It must be ascribed to the efficacious
grace of the Holy Spirit, whom the Saviour promised to send after he should go
to the Father. To the power of the Spirit, the success of the word, in all
ages, must be attributed: and the glorious millennial day so long expected by
the church will not come, until the Spirit be poured out from on high.[109] Hence, all good men looking forward to
this glorious day, have not relied for its coming on the superior morality and
religious tendency of future generations, but have prayed for it and have hoped
for success, only through the abundant influence of the Holy Spirit.
[1] 2 Tim. i. 9; Rom. ix. 16; Phil. ii. 13;
Matt. xi. 25; Luke x. 21; Eph. ii. 4--9.
[2] Dan. iv. 35.
[3] Rom. ix. 20.
[4] Job xxxiii. 13.
[5] Isaiah lv. 9.
[6] Ez. xviii. 29.
[7] Matt. xx. 15.
[8] 2 Tim. i. 9.
[9] Rom. ix. 11.
[10] Rom. ix. 16.
[11] Matt. xi. 26.
[12] 1 Cor. xii. 11.
[13] Matt. xi. 25.
[14] Rom. ix. 16.
[15] 1 Cor. xv. 10.
[16] Eph. i. 4, 5; 2 Thess. ii. 13; 1 Pet. i.
2; ii. 9; John vi. 37; Rom viii. 33; John x. 27-29.
[17] Rom. viii. 33.
[18] 1 Pet. i. 2.
[19] Luke xviii. 7.
[20] 1 Pet. ii. 9.
[21] 2 Thess. ii. 13.
[22] Eph. i. 4.
[23] 2 Thess. ii. 13.
[24] Acts ix. 15.
[25] John viii. 22. 24.
[26] Rom. xi. 5.
[27] 2 Thess. ii. 13.
[28] Eph. i. 4.
[29] 2 Tim. i. 9.
[30] Eph. ii. 9.
[31] Rom xi. 6.
[32] Rom. ix. 11.
[33] Rom. viii. 28.
[34] 2 Tim. i. 9.
[35] Rom. ix. 11.
[36] Rom. ix. 16.
[37] Phil. ii. 13.
[38] Rom. xi. 33.
[39] Eph. i. 11.
[40] Acts. xv. 18.
[41] Eph. i. 4.
[42] 1 Pet. i. 2.
[43] 1 Pet. i. 2.
[44] Rom. viii. 29.
[45] Rom. xi. 1, 2.
[46] Deut. vii. 7.
[47] 1 Pet. i. 2.
[48] John xvii. 6.
[49] Eph. i. 4.
[50] Rom. xi. 7.
[51] Rom. ix. 22.
[52] Rom. ix. 18.
[53] Rom. ix. 22, 23.
[54] Rom. ix. 21.
[55] 2 Cor. xiii. 5.
[56] James iii. 17.
[57] Acts x. 34.
[58] Gen. iv. 4.
[59] James ii. 3.
[60] Lev. xix. 15.
[61] Acts x. 34, 35.
[62] 1 Pet. ii. 9.
[63] Ps. cxlv. 9.
[64] Rom. xi. 2--5.
[65] Matt. xx. 13, 15.
[66] Eph. v. 25-27; Tit. ii. 14; John x. 11;
Rev. i. 5, 6; Acts xx. 28; Heb. x. 14; Isaiah liii. 5, 11.
[67] Matt. i. 21.
[68] John x. 11.
[69] Eph. v. 25-27.
[70] Isaiah liii. 10, 11.
[71] John vi. 37, 39.
[72] John xvii. 24.
[73] Heb. ii. 13.
[74] Rev. v. 9.
[75] John iv. 42.
[76] Acts iv. 12.
[77] John iv. 42.
[78] 1 John ii. 2.
[79] Rom. v. 18.
[80] Rom. xi. 15; 2 Cor. v. 18, 19.
[81] Rom. v. 10.
[82] Matt. vi. 12.
[83] 1 Cor. vi. 20; 1 Pet i. 18.
[84] 1 Cor. vi. 20.
[85] John vi. 37; Rom. viii. 26, 30; 1 Cor. i.
24; 2 Tim. i. 9; 1 Pet. ii. 9; Jude 1, 2; 1 Cor. ii. 4; 1 Thess. i. 4--6.
[86] Acts vii. 51, 52.
[87] 2 Thess. i. 7, 8.
[88] Prov. i. 24.
[89] Matt. xx. 16.
[90] 2 Tim. i. 9.
[91] Rom. viii. 30.
[92] Rom. i. 7.
[93] Rom. i. 6.
[94] Rom. viii. 28.
[95] 1 Thess. i. 5.
[96] 1 Cor. ii. 4.
[97] Eph. i. 19, 20.
[98] 2 Cor. iv. 6.
[99] Eph. ii. 10.
[100] 2 Pet. i. 3
[101] 1 Cor. xii. 11.
[102] James i. 18.
[103] 2 Pet. i. 10
[104] Jude 1.
[105] Eph. i. 4--13.
[106] Acts xiii. 48.
[107] John vi. 37.
[108] John x. 16.
[109] Isaiah xxxii. 15.
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