Chapter 9 – Affirmation (part 2)
For the sake of quite a number of friends who have waited many years for further help on the problem raised by the relation of man’s inability to his responsibility, we feel we must devote one more article to this difficult but important (perhaps to some, abstruse and dry) aspect of our subject. Light thereon has only come to us, “here a little and there a little,” for we, too, are a very dull scholar: but the measure of understanding now given us, it is our duty to share with others. We have sought to show that the problem we are now wrestling with appears much less formidable when once the precise nature of man’s impotency is properly defined-it is due neither to the absence of requisite faculties for the performance of duty, nor to any force from without which compels him to act contrary to his nature and inclinations. Instead, his bondage unto sin is a voluntary one: he freely chooses the evil. Second, it is a moral inability, and not physical or constitutional.
In saying that the spiritual impotency of fallen man is a moral one, we mean that it consists of an evil heart, of enmity against God. Man has no affection for his Maker, no will to please Him, but instead an inveterate desire and determination to please himself and have his own way, at all costs. It is, therefore, a complete misrepresentation of the facts of the case to picture fallen man as a being who wishes to serve God but who is prevented from doing so by his depraved nature-that he genuinely endeavors to keep His Law but is hindered by indwelling sin. The fact is that he ever acts from his evil heart and not against it. Man is not well disposed toward his Creator, but ill disposed. No matter what change is wrought in his circumstances, be it poverty to wealth, sickness to health, or vice versa, man remains a rebel-perverse, stubborn, wicked-with no desire to be any better, hating the light and loving the darkness.
It therefore follows that man’s voluntary and moral inability to serve and glorify God is, third, a criminal one. As we have pointed out previously, a wicked heart is a thing of an entirely different order from weak eyesight, a bad memory, or paralyzed limbs. No man is to blame for physical infirmities, providing they have not been self-indulged by sinful conduct. But a wicked heart is a moral evil, yes the sum of all evil, for it hates God and is opposed to our neighbors instead of loving them as we are requited. To say that the sinner cannot change or improve his heart is only to say he cannot help being a most vile and inexcusable wretch. To be unalterably in love with sin, so far from rendering it less sinful, makes it the more so. Surely it is self-evident that the more wicked a man’s heart is, the more evil and blameworthy he is. The only other possible alternative would be to affirm that sin itself is not sinful.
It is because the natural man loves sin and hates God that he has no inclination and will to keep His Law but so far from that excusing him, it constitutes the very essence of his guilt. We are told that Joseph’s brethren “hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him” (Genesis 37:4). Why was it that they were unable to speak peaceably unto him? Not because they lacked vocal organs, but because they hated him so much. Was such inability excusable? No, in that consisted the greatness of their guilt. An Apostle makes mention of men “having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin” (2 Peter 2:14). But was not their impotency a culpable one? Surely it was, for the reason they could not cease from sin was that their eyes were “full of adultery.” So far from such an inability being an innocent one, it constituted the enormity of their crime-so far from excusing them, it made their sin the greater. Men must indeed be blind when they fail to see that it is their moral impotency, their voluntary enslavery to sin, which renders them obnoxious in the sight of the Holy One.
A man’s heart being fully set in him to do evil does not render his sinful actions the less criminal, but the more so. Consider the opposite: does, the strength of a virtuous disposition render a good action the less or the more praiseworthy? So far from God being less glorious because He is so infinitely and unchangeably holy in His nature that he “cannot be tempted with evil’ (James 1:13) or act otherwise than in the most righteous and perfect manner, it constitutes the very excellence of the Divine character. Is Satan any less sinful and criminal because he is of such a devilish disposition, so full of unreasonable malice against God and men, as to be incapable of anything but the most horrible wickedness? So of humanity. No one supposes the want of a will to work excuses a man from it, as physical incapacity does. No one imagines that the covetous miser, with his useless hoard of gold, but who has no heart to give a penny to the poor, is for that reason excused from deeds of charity as though he had nothing to give.
How justly, then, may God still enforce His rights and demand loyal allegiance from men. God will not relinquish His claims because the creature has sinned, nor lower His requirements because he has ruined himself. Were God to command that which we ardently desired and truly endeavored to do, but for which we lacked the requisite faculties, we should not be to blame. But when He commands us to love Him with all our hearts and we refuse so to do, then we are most certainly to blame, notwithstanding our moral impotency, because we still possess the necessary faculties for the exercise of such love. This is precisely what sin consists of: the want of affections for God with its suitable expression in obedient acts, the presence of an inveterate enmity against Him with its works of disobedience. Were God to grant rebels against His government the license to freely indulge their evil proclivities, that would be to abandon the platform of His holiness and to condone, if not endorse, the wickedness.
“There is no difficulty in seeing the reasons why God might address such commands to fallen and depraved men. The moral law is a transcript of God’s moral perfections and must ever continue unchangeable. It must always be binding, in all its extent, upon all rational and responsible creatures, from the very condition of their existence, from their necessary relation to God. It constitutes the only accurate representation of the duty universally and at all times incumbent upon rational beings-the duty which God must of necessity impose upon and require of them. Man was able to obey this law, to discharge this whole duty, in the condition in which he was created. If he is now in a different condition-one in which he is no longer able to discharge this duty-this does not remove or invalidate his obligation to perform it. It does not affect the reasonableness and propriety of God, on the ground of His own perfections, and of the relation in which He stands to His creatures, proclaiming and imposing this obligation-requiring of men to do what is still as much as ever incumbent upon them” (W. Cunningham).
It has generally been lost sight of that the Moral law is not only the rule of works, but also of our strength. Inasmuch as well-being is the ground of well-doing-the tree must be good before the fruit can be-we are obliged to conclude that the Law is the rule of our nature as truly as it is of our deeds. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). And observe that was said not only to unfallen Adam but also to his fallen descendants, and that the Savior pressed the same-“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Luke 10:27)! The Law not only requires us to love, but to have minds furnished with all strength to love God, so that there may be life and vigor in our love and obedience to Him. The Law requires no more love than it does strength, therefore if it did not require strength to love, it would require no love either. Thus it is plain that not only does God enforce His rightful demands upon fallen man, but also that He has not abated one iota of His requirements because of the Fall.
If the Divine Law said nothing more unto the natural man today than, “you shall love the Lord your God with what strength you now have”–rather than with the strength He requires him to have and which He first gave unto him, so that both strength and faculty, love and its manifestation came under the command-it would amount to, “you need not love the Lord your God at all,” for you are now “without strength” and therefore incapable of loving and serving Him, and are not to be blamed for having none. But as we have shown, man is culpable for his impotency, for the only reason why he loves not God is because his heart is still at enmity against Him. Did ever murderer plead at the bar of justice that he hated his victims so intensely that he could not go near him without killing him? If such were his acknowledgment, that only aggravated his crime and he stands condemned out of his own mouth. Hell, then, must be the only final place for inalienable rebels against God.
We should also call attention to the propriety of the Divine law being pressed upon fallen men in all the length and breadth of its requirements, both as a means of knowledge and a means of conviction, even though it is no longer available as a standard which is able to measure up to. In spite of his inability to render obedience to it, the Law serves to inform man of the holy character of God, the relation in which he stands to Him, and the duty which He still requires of him. So, too, it serves as an essential means of convicting men of their depravity. Since they are sinners, it is most important that they should be made aware thereof. If their duty be made clear, if they be bid to do that which is incumbent upon them, they are more likely to perceive how far short they come. If they are stirred up to endeavor a compliance with God’s requirements, a discharge of their obligations, they will discover their moral helplessness in a way more forcible than any sermons can convey.
In the next place let us point out that fallen man is responsible to use means both for the avoidance of sin and the performance of holiness. Though the unregenerate is destitute of spiritual life, yet they are not therefore mere machines, The natural man has a rational faculty and a moral sense which distinguishes between right and wrong, and those faculties he is called upon to exert. So far from being under an inevitable necessity of living in known and gross sins, it is only because of deliberate perversity that any do so. The most profane swearer is able to refrain from his oaths when in the presence of someone he fears and to whom he knows it would be displeasing. Let a drunkard see poison put into his liquor, and it would stand by him untasted from morning until night. Criminals are deterred from many offenses by the sight of a policeman, though they have no fear of God before their eyes. Thus self-control is not utterly outside man’s power.
“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it and pass away” (Proverbs 4:14, 15). Is not the natural man capable of heeding such warnings? It is the bounden duty of the sinner to eschew everything which has a tendency to lead unto wrongdoing, to turn his back upon every approach unto evil and every custom which leads to wickedness. If we deliberately play with fire and are burned, the blame rests wholly on ourselves. There is still in the nature of fallen man some power to resist temptation, and the more it be asserted, the stronger it becomes-otherwise there would be no more sin in yielding to an evil solicitation than there is sin in a tree being blown down by a hurricane. Moreover, God does not deny grace to those who humbly and earnestly seek it from Him in His appointed ways. When men are influenced to passion, to allurements, to vice, they are blamable and must justly render an account unto God,
No rational creature acts without some motive. The planets move as they are driven, and if a counter influence supervene, they have no choice but to leave their course and follow it. But man has a power of resistance which they have not, and he may strengthen by indulgence or weaken by resistance the motives which induce him to commit wrong. How often we hear of athletes voluntarily submitting to the most rigorous discipline and self-denial-does not that evince the natural man has power to refrain from self-indulgence when he is pleased to use it? Highly-paid vocalists abstaining from all forms of intemperance in order to keep themselves physically fit, illustrates the same principle. A heathen king took unto himself Sarah, but when God warned him that she was another man’s wife, he touched her not. Observe carefully that the Lord said to him: “I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart; for I also withheld you from sinning against Me: therefore suffered I you not to touch her” (Genesis 20:6). Abimelech had a natural “integrity” which God acknowledged to be in him, though He also affirmed His own power in restraining him. If men did but nourish their integrity, God would concur with them to preserve them from many sins.
Not only is man responsible to use means for the avoidance of evil, he is also under binding obligations to employ the appointed means for the furtherance of good. It is true that the efficacy of means lies in the sovereign power of God and not in the industry of man, nevertheless He has established a definite connection between means and the end desired. God has appointed that bodily life shall be sustained by bodily food, and if a man deliberately starves himself to death he is guilty of self-destruction. Men still have power to attend upon the outward means, the principal of which are hearing the Word and engaging in prayer. They have the same feet to take them to church as conducts them to the theater: the same ability to pray unto God as the heathen have to cry unto idols. Slothfulness will be reproved in the day of judgment (Matthew 25:26-30)-the sinner’s plea that he had no heart for these duties will avail him nothing-he will have to answer for his contempt of God.
Because he is a rational creature, man has the power to exercise consideration: he does so about many things, why not about his soul? God Himself testifies to this power even in a sinful people: to His Prophet He said, “You shall remove your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 12:3). Christ condemned men for their failure at this very point: “You hypocrites you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you do not discern this time? Yes, and why even of yourselves judge you not what is right?” (Luke 12:56, 57). If men have the ability to take an inventory of their business, why not of their eternal concerns? Refusal to do so is criminal negligence. “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD” (Psalm 22:27): the natural man possesses the faculty of memory and is obligated to put it to the best use. “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD” (Lam. 3:40): failure so to do is a willful negligence.
Man has not only physical organs, but affections or passions. If Esau could weep for the loss of his blessing, why not for his sins? Observe the charge which God brought against Ephraim. “They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God” (Hosea 5:4): they would entertain no thoughts nor perform any actions that had the least prospect toward reformation. The unregenerate are capable of considering their ways. They know they shall not continue in this life forever, and most of them are persuaded in their conscience that after death there is an appointed judgment. True, the sinner cannot save himself, but he can obstruct his own mercies. Not only do men refuse to employ the means which God has appointed but they scorn His help by fighting against illumination and conviction. “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear” (Genesis 42:21); “You do always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51).
How can the natural man be held responsible to glorify God when he is incapable of doing so? Let us summarize our answers. First, sin has not produced any change in the essential relation between the creature and the Creator: nothing can alter God’s right to command and to be obeyed. Second, sin has not taken away the moral agency of man, consequently he is as much a subject of God’s moral government as he ever was. Third, since man still possesses faculties which are suited to the substance of God’s commands, he is under binding obligations to serve his Maker. Fourth, the moral inability of man is not brought about by any external compulsion, for nothing outside of man imposes upon him any necessity of sinning: because all sin issues out of his own heart he must be held accountable for it. Fifth, man’s servitude to sin was self-induced and is self-perpetuated, and since man freely chooses to do evil he is inexcusable therein. Sixth, man’s inability is moral and not constitutional, consisting of enmity against and opposition to God, and therefore it is a criminal one. Seventh, because he refuses to use those means which are suited to lead to his recovery and scorns the helps which he is duty-bound to improve, he deliberately destroys himself.
In conclusion, it should be pointed out that in spite of all the excuses offered by the sinner in defense of his moral impotency and the outcries he makes against the justice of being required to render unto God that which lies altogether beyond his power, the sentence of his condemnation is articulated within his own being. Man’s very conscience testifies to his responsibility and witnesses to the criminality of his wrongdoing. The common language of men under the lashings of conscience is: I might have done otherwise: O what a fool I have been! I was faithfully warned by those who sought my good, but I was self-willed. I had convictions against wrong-doing, but I stifled them. My present wretchedness is the result of my own madness: no one is to blame but myself. The very fact that men universally blame themselves for their folly establishes their accountability and evinces their guilt.
If we are to attain anything approaching completeness of this aspect of our subject it is necessary that we discuss the particular and special case of the Christian’s inability, for this is a real, yet distinct, branch of our theme, though all the writers we have consulted thereon appear to have studiously avoided it. This is, in some respects, admittedly the most difficult part of our problem, yet that is no reason why it should be evaded. If Holy Writ has nothing to say thereon, then we must be silent too; but if it makes pronouncement, it is our duty to believe and endeavor to understand what that pronouncement signifies. As we have seen, the Word of God plainly and positively affirms the moral impotency of the natural man unto good, and at the same time teaches throughout that the fallen creature is a responsible and accountable agent-that his depravity supplies not the slightest extenuation for his transgressing of the Divine Law. But the question we now desire to look squarely in the face is, How is it with the one who has been born again? Wherein does his case and condition differ from what it was previously, both with respect to his ability to do those things which are pleasing to God and the extent of his responsibility?
We begin by asking the question, Are we justified in employing the expression “the Christian’s spiritual impotency,” or is it not a contradiction in terms? Answer, Scripture does warrant the use of it. “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), connotes that the believer has no power of his own to bring forth any fruit to the glory of God. “For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18): such an acknowledgment from the most eminent of the Apostles makes it plain that no saint has strength on his own to meet the Divine requirements. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves” (2 Corinthians 3:5): if insufficient of ourselves to even think a good thought, how much less so to perform a good deed. “For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that you cannot do the things that you would” (Galatians 5:17): that “cannot” clearly authorizes us to speak of the Christian’s inability. Every prayer for Divine support and strength is a tacit confirmation of the same truth.
Then if such is the case of the Christian, wherein is he, in this matter, any better off than the non-Christian? Is not this to evacuate regeneration of its miraculous and most blessed element? We must indeed be careful not to disparage the gracious work of the Spirit in the new birth, nevertheless we must not lose sight of the fact that regeneration is only the beginning of His good work in the elect (Philippians 1:6), and that the best of them are but imperfectly sanctified in this life (Philippians 3:12). That there is a real, yes, a radical difference, between the unregenerate and the regenerate is gloriously true: the former are dead in trespasses and sins, the latter have passed from death unto life. The former are the subjects and slaves of the Devil. The latter have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). The former are completely and helplessly under the dominion of sin: the latter have been made free from sin’s dominion and become the servants of righteousness (Romans 6:14, 18). The former despise and reject Christ: the latter love and desire to serve Him.
In seeking to grapple with the problem of the Christian’s spiritual inability and the nature and extent of his responsibility, there are two dangers to be avoided, two extremes to guard against: namely, practically reducing the Christian to the level of the unregenerate, which is virtually a denial of the reality and blessedness of regeneration; and, making out the Christian to be well-near independent and self-sufficient. That which must be aimed at is a preserving of the balance between, “without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) and, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). That of which we are now treating is part of the Christian paradox, for the believer is often a mystery to himself and a puzzle to others, such strange and perplexing contraries meeting in him. He is the Lord’s free man, yet declares, “I am carnal, sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). He rejoices in the Law of the Lord, yet cries, “O wretched man that I am” (Romans 7:24). He acknowledges to the Lord, “I believe,” yet in the same breath prays, “help You mine unbelief.” He declares, “when I am weak then am I strong.” One moment he is praising his Savior and the next groaning before Him.
Wherein does the regenerate differ from the unregenerate? First, he has been given an understanding that he may know Him which is true (1 John 5:20). His mind has been supernaturally illumined, spiritual light shines in his heart (2 Corinthians 4:6), which capacitates him to discern spiritual things after a spiritual and transforming manner (2 Corinthians 3:18)-nevertheless its development may be hindered by neglect and sloth. Second, he has a liberated will so that he is capacitated to consent unto and embrace spiritual things: his will has been freed from that total bondage and dominion of sin which he lay under by nature. Nevertheless he is still dependent upon God’s working in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Third, his affections are changed so that he is capacitated to relish and delight in the things of God and therefore does he exclaim, “O how love I Your Law.” Before, he saw no beauty in Christ, but now He is “altogether lovely.” Sin which was formerly a spring of pleasure is now a fountain of sorrow. Fourth, his conscience is renewed, so that it reproves him for sins of which he was not previously aware and discovers in himself corruptions which he never suspected.
But if on the one hand there is a radical difference between the regenerate and the unregenerate, it is equally true that there is a vast difference between the Christian in this life and in that which is to come. While we must be careful not to belittle the Spirit’s work in regeneration, we must he equally on our guard lest we lose sight of the believer’s entire dependency upon God. The new nature which is imparted at regeneration is but a creature after all (2 Corinthians 5:17), and therefore is not to be looked unto, rested in, and made an idol of. Though the believer has had communicated to him the principle of grace, yet he has no store of grace within himself from which he may now draw: he is but a “babe” (1 Peter 2:2), completely dependent on Another for everything. The new nature does not of itself empower or enable the soul unto a life of obedience and the performance of duty, it simply fits and makes it meet for such. The principle of spiritual life requires its Bestower to call it into operation. The believer is, in that respect, like a becalmed ship-waiting for a heavenly breeze to set it in motion.
Yet in another sense the believer resembles the crew of that ship, rather than the vessel itself, and herein he differs from those who are unrenewed. Before regeneration we are wholly passive, incapable of any cooperation, but the regenerate have a renewed mind to judge aright and a will to close with the things of God when moved by Him-nevertheless we are dependent upon His moving us. We are daily dependent upon God’s strengthening, exciting and directing the new nature, so that we need to pray, “incline my heart unto Your testimonies . . . quicken You me in Your way” (Psalm 119:36, 37). The new birth is a vastly different thing from the winding up of a clock, so that it will now run by itself: rather is the strongest believer like a glass without a base, which cannot stand one moment longer that it is held. The believer has to wait upon the Lord for his strength to be renewed (Isaiah 40:31). The Christian’s strength is sustained solely by the constant operations and communications of the Holy Spirit, and he lives spiritually only as he clings closely to Christ and draws virtue from Him.
There is a suitableness or answerableness between the new nature and the requirements of God so that His commands “are not grievous” unto it (1 John 5:3), yes, so that Wisdom’s ways are found to be “pleasant” and all her paths “peace” (Proverbs 3:17). Nevertheless the believer stands in constant need of the help of the Spirit, working in him both to will and to do, granting fresh supplies of grace so as to enable him to perform his spiritual desires. A simple delight in the Divine Law is not of itself sufficient to produce obedience: we have to pray, “make me to go in the path of Your commandments” (Psalm 119:35). Regeneration conveys to us an inclination and tendency unto that which is good, thereby fitting us for the Master’s use. But we have to look outside ourselves for enabling grace: “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1). Thereby God removes all ground for boasting. He would have all the glory given to His grace: “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
If sufficient rain fell in one day to suffice for several years we should not so clearly discern the mercies of God in His providence or be kept looking to Him for continued supplies. So it is in connection with our spiritual lives: we are daily made to feel that “our sufficiency is of God.” The believer is entirely dependent upon God for the exercise of his faith and for the right use of his knowledge. Said the Apostle: “I live yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), which gives the true emphasis and places the glory where it belongs. But observe he at once added, “and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God (by the faith of which He is its Object), who loved me and gave Himself for me”: that preserves the true balance. Though it was Christ who lived in and empowered him, yet he was not passive and idle. He put forth acts of faith upon Him and thereby drew virtue from Him, and thus he could do all things through Christ strengthening him.
It is at that very point the responsibility of the Christian appears. As a creature, his responsibility is the same as pertains to the unregenerate, but as a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17) he has incurred increased obligations, for “unto whoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). The Christian is responsible to walk in newness of life, to bring forth fruit unto God as one who is alive from the dead, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, to use his spiritual endowments and to improve or employ his talents. The call comes to him, “stir up the gift of God which is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6). Of old the Prophet complained of God’s people, “there is none that stirs up himself to lay hold of You” (Isaiah 64:7), which condemns slothfulness and spiritual lethargy. The Christian is responsible to use all the means of grace which God has provided for his well-being, looking to Him for His blessing upon the same. When it is said, “the Spirit helps our infirmities” (Romans 8:26) the Greek word is “helps together”-He co-operates with our diligence-not our idleness.
The Christian has received spiritual life and all life is a power to act by. Inasmuch as that spiritual life is a principle of grace animating all the faculties of the soul, he is capacitated to use all means of grace which God has provided for his growth and to avoid everything which would hinder or retard his growth. He is required to keep his heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23), for if the fountain is kept clean the springs which issue therefrom will be pure. He is required to “make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14), suffering not his mind and affections to fix themselves on sinful or unlawful objects. He is required to deny himself, take up his cross and follow the example which Christ has left him. He is commanded, “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15), and therefore he must conduct himself as a stranger and pilgrim in this scene, abstaining from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11) if he would not lose the heavenly inheritance (1 Corinthians 9:27). And for the performance of these difficult duties he must diligently and earnestly seek supplies of grace counting upon God to bless the means to him.
No small part of the Christian’s burden and grief is the inward opposition he meets with, thwarting his aspirations and bringing him into captivity to that which he hates. The believer’s “life” is a hidden one (Colossians 3:3), and so also is his conflict. He longs to love and serve God with all his heart and to be holy in all manner of conversation, but the flesh resists the spirit. Worldliness, unbelief, coldness, slothfulness exert their power: the believer struggles against their influence and groans under their bondage. He desires to be clothed with humility, but pride is ever breaking forth in some form or other. He finds that he cannot attain unto that which he desires and approves. He discovers a wide disparity between what he knows and does, between what he believes and practices, between his aims and realizations. Truly he is “an unprofitable servant.” He is so often defeated in the conflict that he is frequently faint and weary in the use of means and performance of duty, and made to question the genuineness of his profession, and tempted to give up the fight.
In seeking to help distressed saints concerning this sore trial, the servant of God needs to be very careful lest he foster a false peace as mere formalists, who have an historical faith in the Gospel but are total strangers to its saving power, and especially not to bolster up hypocritical professors who delight in the mercy of God but hate His holiness, and misappropriate the doctrine of His grace and make it subservient to their lusts. He must therefore call upon his hearers to honestly and diligently examine themselves before God, that they may discover where the inward oppositions arise and what are their reactions to the same. Whether they spring from an unwillingness to wear the yoke of Christ and whether their whole hearts accompany and consent unto such resistances to God’s righteous requirements-or if these oppositions to God’s Laws have their rise in corruptions which they sincerely endeavor to oppose, which they hate, which they mourn over, confess to God, and long to be released from.
When describing the conflict in himself between the flesh and the spirit-indwelling sin and the principle of grace he had received at the new birth-the Apostle declared, “For that which I do (which is contrary to the holy requirements of God) I allow not”-approve not of it-it is foreign to my real inclinations and purpose of heart-“but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15). The evil which rose up within him he detested and yearned to be delivered from. Far from affording him any satisfaction it was his great burden and grief. And thus it is with every truly regenerated soul when he is in his right mind. He may be, yes is, frequently overcome by his carnal and worldly lusts, but instead of being pleased at such an experience and contentedly lying down in his sins, as a sow delights to wallow in the mire, he cries out in distress, by God’s grace, confesses such falls as grievous sins, and prays to be cleansed therefrom.
“If I were truly regenerate, how could sin rage so fiercely within and so often obtain the mastery over me?” is that which deeply exercises many of God’s people. Yet does not Scripture declare, “For a just man falls seven times” (Proverbs 24:16), but observe it at once adds, “and rises up again.” Was it not the lament of David, “iniquities prevail against me” (Psalm 65:3), yet if you are striving to mortify your lusts, looking daily to the blood of Christ to pardon and begging the Spirit to more perfectly sanctify you, you may add with the Psalmist, “As for our transgressions, You shall purge them away.” Yes, did not the highly-favored Apostle declare, “For we know that the Law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold (not “unto,” but) under sin” (Romans 7:14). Yet there is a vast difference between Paul and Ahab, of whom we read that he “did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD” (1 Kings 21:25). It is the difference between one who is taken captive in war, becoming a slave unwillingly and longing for deliverance, and one who voluntarily abandons himself to a course of open defiance of the Almighty and who so loves evil that he would refuse release.
We must distinguish between sin’s “dominion” over the unregenerate and sin’s tyranny and usurpation over the regenerate. “Dominion” follows upon right of conquest or subjection. Sin’s great design in all of us is to obtain undisputed dominion: it has it in unbelievers and contends for it in believers. But every evidence the Christian has that he is under the rule of grace is that much evidence he is not under the dominion of sin. “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:22, 23). That does not mean sin always triumphs in the act, but that it is a hostile power which the renewed soul cannot evict-it wars against us in spite of all we can do. The general frame of believers is that notwithstanding sin being a “law” (or governing force) not “to” but “in” them is, that they “would (desire and resolve to) do good,” but “evil is present” with them. Their habitual inclination is unto good, and they are brought into captivity against their will. It is the “flesh” which prevents the full realization of their holy aspirations in this life.
But still the question presses on us, If the Son has “made us free” (John 8:36), how can Christians be in bondage? Answer, Christ has already freed them from the guilt and penalty, love and dominion of sin, but not yet from its presence. As the believer hungers and thirsts after righteousnesses, pants for communion with the living God, and yearns to be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, he is “free from sin,” but as such longings are more or less thwarted by indwelling corruptions, he is still “sold under sin.” Then let prevailing lusts humble you, cause you to be more watchful, and seek more diligently unto Christ for deliverance. Those very exercises will evidence a principle of grace in you which desires and seeks after the destruction of inborn sin. Those who have hearts set on pleasing God are earnest in seeking from Him enabling grace, yet they must remember He works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure, maintaining His sovereignty in this as in everything else. Bear in mind that it is allowed sin which paralyzes the new nature.
Thus God has not yet uprooted sin from the soul of the believer and suffers him to groan under its uprisings that his pride may be stained and his heart made to constantly feel he is not worthy of the least of His mercies-to produce in him that feeling of dependence on Divine power and grace. To exalt the infinite condescension and patience of God in the apprehension of the humbled saint. To place the crown of glory on the only Head worthy to wear it: “not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto Your name give glory, for Your mercy and for Your truth’s sake” (Psalm 115:1).
