C. H. Mackintosh, 19th century Plymouth Brethren was a fluent writer and his book "Notes on the Penteteuch" is worthy of being in any pastor's library. In the preface, written by W. M. Smith, the following citation is given from the periodical edited and published by Mackintosh ("Things New and Old").
"Our divine Master called upon sinners to repent and believe the gospel. Some would have us to believe that it is a mistake to call upon persons dead in tresspasses and sins to do anything. "How," it is argued, "can those who are dead repent? They are incapable of any spiritual movement. They must first get the power ere they can either repent or believe."
What is our reply to all this? A very simple one indeed--our Lord knows better than all the theologians in the world what ought to be preached. He knows all about man's condition--his guilt, his misery, his spirutual death, his utter helplessness, his total inability to think a single right thought, to utter a single right word, to do a single right act, and yet He called upon men to repent. This is quite enough for us. It is no part of our business to seek to reconcile seeming differences. It may seem to us difficult to reconcile man's utter powerlessness with his responsibility; but "God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain." It is our happy privilege, and our bounden duty, to believe what He says, and do what He tells us. This is true wisdom, and it yields solid peace.
Our Lord preached repentance, and He commanded His apostles to preach it; and they did so constantly."
Our Hardshell and Hyper Calvinist brethren need to learn this lesson.
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