Prevenient Grace (3)

Is being convicted of sin and guilt evidence of a saved state, or a step towards it? The Hardshell Baptists teach that it is evidence of a prior regeneration, as do some other Hyper Calvinists. If it precedes being saved, then is it not an example of prevenient grace? If it follows regeneration, then this would make the Holy Spirit a liar if he is the one who is bringing the sinner to believe he is lost when he in actuality is not lost. Further, there are many sinners who know they are guilty and going to Hell and who do not believe in Jesus, and to affirm that they are saved is an absurdity, biblically speaking. I have heard many hardened criminals tell other criminals "see you in hell my friend." Is the knowledge that they are going to Hell evidence of salvation?

Conviction of Sin and Guilt

In the Christian hymn "Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy" there is a line that says "Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream; all the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him." This statement is based upon the teaching of Jesus as given in this instance.

"And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Luke 5: 30-32 nkjv)

Of course, there is no one who does not need repentance, but Jesus alludes to the Pharisees "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others" (Luke 18: 9). Paul, before his conversion, was "blameless as to the righteousness of the law." (Phil. iii. 6) They believed that they were not spiritually sick nor unrighteous. No one is effectually "called," brought to repentance, and healed of sin by the great physician who does not first call for Dr. Jesus, and no one will call upon him who has not first come to see that he needs such a physician to remedy his unrighteously sick and condemned condition. So, the only fitness or preceding grace needed for salvation is to feel your need for Christ and his salvation.

In the hymn "Paradox" by Joseph Hart (1712-1768), this fact is affirmed in the second line which says of lost sinners -- "Nor can he be expected to be perfectly saved till he finds himself utterly lost."

1 How strange is the course that a Christian must steer! How perplexed is the path he must tread! The hope of his happiness rises from fear, And his life he receives from the dead.

2 His fairest pretensions must wholly be waived, And his best resolutions be crossed; Nor can he expect to be perfectly saved, Till he finds himself utterly lost.

3 When all this is done, and his heart is assured Of the total remission of sins, When his pardon is signed and his peace is procured, From that moment his conflict begins.

In another hymn the same truth stated in these lines:

1 Come all ye mourning pilgrims,
Who feel your need of Christ,
Surrounded by temptation,
And by the world despis'd ;
Attend to what I tell you,
My exercise I'll show,
And then you may inform me
If it's been so with you.

2 Long time I liv'd in darkness,
Nor saw my dismal state,
And when I was awaken'd
I thought it was too late
A lost and helpless sinner
Myself I plainly saw,
Expos'd to God's displeasure,
Condemned by the law.

3 I thought the brute creation
Were better off than me
I spent my days in anguish,
No pleasure could I see,
Through deep distress and sorrow
My Saviour led me on,
Then show'd his love unto me
When all my hope was gone.

4 But when I was deliver'd,
I scarcely can believe
To think so vile a sinner
A pardon could receive.
And when the solemn praises
Were flowing from my tongue,
Yet fears were often rising,
That I might still be wrong.

5 But when these fears were banish'd,
My tears began to flow,
To think so vile a sinner
Should be beloved so.
I thought my trials over,
And all my troubles gone,
That peace and joy and pleasure
Would be my lot alone.

In the second stanza the state of conviction is well described and is the state of the sinner before he was delivered. He was in darkness and in a dismal state, but did not realize it, until he was "awakened." He at that point thought it was too late and saw further that he was a "lost and helpless sinner exposed to God's displeasure and condemned by his law." If however, this state of conviction was the result of the Holy Spirit opening his eyes to see himself as he really was, and was an evidence of his previous regeneration, then of course the Holy Spirit convicted him of a falsehood. So, it is evident that this conviction was an example of prevenient grace and was a pre-regeneration work of the Spirit. His awakening and sense of guilt and condemnation brought gloom and a sense of doom, but when he was delivered he was freed from this burden and found joy and began to praise God. This experience of going from sinking in despair to rejoicing in salvation is described by the Psalmist when he wrote:

"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God..." (Psa. 40: 2-3 nasb 1995)

Sinking in the quicksand of despair is a figure of the sinner when he is under the conviction of the law and word of God and by the Holy Spirit and being pulled up and finding footing on a rock and putting a new song of praise in the mouth of the sinking one is a figure of being saved and converted. Conviction of sin brings deep sorrow, but salvation brings joy. So Paul described it when he wrote: "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." (II Cor. 7: 10 nkjv)

In John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" the antagonist "Christian" first experiences an Awakening (Conviction of Sin) before he is saved by entering the "Wicket Gate" (a figure of Christ the door) and comes to the cross by faith. Christian starts in the "City of Destruction" with a "heavy sack" (his burden of sin) and a deep awareness of impending judgment. This represents the Holy Spirit's conviction, breaking his apathy towards sin.

As we will see, the Puritans, like Owen, saw how God prepares the hearts of sinners prior to their being converted to Christ and saved. Theologians call this preparationism and some call it prevenient grace. They also spoke of how God uses the law to bring sinners to the knowledge that they are evil and condemned, and was like the plowing or breaking up of the soil of the heart, prior to the planting of the seed that brings a person to salvation. So Spurgeon, in preaching upon “Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?” (Isaiah 28:24) said:

"Jesus says to all of us, “Ye must be born again.” Unless God the Holy Spirit breaks up the heart with the plough of the law, and sows it with the seed of the gospel, not a single ear of holiness will any of us produce, even though we may be children of godly parents, and may be regarded as excellent moral people by those with whom we live...You cannot destroy weeds by exhortations, nor can you tear out the roots of sin from the soul by moral suasion; something sharper and more effectual must be brought to bear upon them. God must put his own right hand to the plough, or the hemlock of sin will never give place to the corn of holiness. Good is never spontaneous in unrenewed humanity, and evil is never cut up till the ploughshare of almighty grace is driven through it."

"So doth God plough the heart of man, and herein is his patience. The team was in the field in the case of some of us very early in the morning, for our first recollections have to do with conscience and the furrows of pain which it made in our youthful mind. When we were little children, we woke in the night under a sense of sin; our father’s teaching and our mother’s prayers made deep and painful impressions upon us, and though we did not then yield our hearts to God, we were greatly stirred, and all indifference to religion was made impossible. When we were boys at school, the reading of a chapter in the Word of God, or the death of a playmate, or an address at a Bible-class, or a solemn sermon, so affected us that we were uneasy for weeks. The strivings of the Spirit of God within urged us to think of higher and better things. Though we quenched ‘the Spirit, though we stifled conviction, yet we bore the marks of the ploughshare; furrows were made in the soul, and certain foul weeds of evil were cut up by the roots, although no seed of grace was as yet sown in our hearts." 

What Spurgeon describes in these words are what the Puritans and older Calvinists called being "awakened" and which is not to be confused with regeneration. That is what we saw described by the above writer of the hymn when he says he was "awakened" to see his lost condition. Many lost sinners have one or more such experiences, and with some it leads them to seek salvation, but with others they go back to sleep. Many young children when they first realize that they will die one day become aware of God and of their need for salvation. We will have more to say about this shortly. Spurgeon continued:

"Some have continued in this state for many years, ploughed, but not sown; but, blessed be God, it was not so with others of us; for we had not left boyhood before the good seed of the gospel fell upon our heart. Alas! there are many who do not thus yield to grace, and with them the ploughman ploughs all day to sow. I have seen the young man coming to London in his youth, yielding to its temptations, drinking in its poisoned sweets, violating his conscience, and yet continuing unhappy in it all, fearful, unrestful, stirred about even as the soil is agitated by the plough. In how many cases has this kind of work gone on for years, and all to no avail Ah! and I have known the man come to middle life, and still he has not received the good seed, neither has the ground of his hard heart bean thoroughly broken up. He has gone on in business without God: day after day he has risen and gone to bed again with no more religion than his horses, and yet all this while there have been ringing in his ears warnings of judgment to come, and chidings of conscience, so that he has not been at peace. After a powerful sermon he has not enjoyed his meals, or been able to sleep, for he has asked himself, “What shall I do in the end thereof?” The ploughman has ploughed all day, till the evening shadows have lengthened and the day has faded to a close. What a mercy it is when the furrows are at last made ready, and the good seed is cast in, to be received, nurtured, and multiplied a hundredfold."

Notice that Spurgeon calls this being awakened and convicted as an instance of prevenient grace and mercy. He also does not see conviction of sin and being awakened as regeneration but as a step towards it.

We see conviction or sin preceding salvation in the case of the converts made on the day of Pentecost by the preaching of Peter.

"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." (Acts 2: 37-42 nkjv)

This being "cut to the heart" or "pricked" (kjv) is the very conviction of sin we are talking about and is what precedes coming to repentance and receiving forgiveness of sins and receiving the Holy Spirit and spiritual life thereby. The sermon by Peter made them aware of their guilt in crucifying their own Messiah and they believed him and that knowledge led them to despair. That is why they asked - "what shall we do?" 

The Process of Conviction 

In Puritan Calvinism we have these preparations prior to being converted:

Awakening: The sinner is made aware of their danger. 

Examination: A close scrutiny of the heart, uncovering hidden "idolatry" and self-worship. 

Contrition: A deep sorrow, or "gift of tears," for sins committed. 

Repentance: A turning away from self-reliance to trust in Christ.

Salvation

Stephen Charnock (1628-1680) wrote the following in "Efficient of Regeneration" (read here):

"The soul must be beaten down by conviction before it be raised up by regeneration; There must be some apprehensions of the necessity of it. Yet sometimes the work of regeneration follows so close upon the heels of these precious preparations, that both must be acknowledged to be the work of one and the same hand. Paul on the sudden was struck down. and in a moment there is both an acknowledgement of the authority of Christ, and a submission to his will, when he said, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' Acts ix. 6. The preparation of the subject is necessary, but this preparation may be at the same time with the conveyance of the divine nature: as a warm seal may both prepare the hard wax, and convey the image to it, by one and the same touch."

Charnock also wrote:

"What has any man that he has not received? 1 Cor. iv. 7. The apostle excludes everything in us from the name of a donation to God. If there be no one thing but is received from God, then no preparation to grace but is received from him. The obligation then lies upon the receiver, not upon the donor. But may we not oblige God by the improvement of such a gift? The apostle includes everything, challenges him to name any one thing which was not received, which will contain improvements as well as preparations."

Awakening Before Quickening

I wrote a short series on "Awakened Sinners" (See here, here, here) which elaborates on how this experience precedes salvation and is a preceding grace and work of God. Here are some excerpts from those chapters. We have already cited Charnock on this point. 

In an Internet article titled "AWAKENING – BEFORE CONVERSION," by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.

"Awakening is not conversion. Awakening prepares the heart for conversion. It comes before conversion.

Awakening is when you begin to think very seriously about the salvation of your soul. Here is what great Spurgeon said about awakening:

"Great numbers of persons have no concern about eternal things. They care more about their cats and dogs than about their souls. It is a great mercy to be made to think about ourselves, and how we stand before God and the eternal world. This is [very] often a sign that salvation is coming to us. By nature we do not like the anxiety which spiritual concern causes us, and we try, like sluggards, to sleep again. This is great foolishness; for it is at our great peril that we trifle when death is so near, and judgment is so sure… If we are sensible, we shall pray that our anxiety about our souls may never come to an end till we are really and truly saved…It would be an awful thing to go on dreaming down to hell, and there to lift up our eyes with a great gulf fixed between us and heaven. It will be equally terrible to be aroused to escape from the wrath to come, and then to shake off the warning influence, and go back to our insensibility. I notice that those who overcome their convictions and continue in their sins are not so easily moved the next time: every awakening which is thrown away leaves the soul more drowsy than before, and less likely to be again stirred to holy feeling. Therefore our heart should be greatly troubled at the thought of getting rid of its trouble in any other than the right way. One who had the gout was cured of it by a quack medicine, which drove the disease within, and the patient died. To be cured of a distress of mind by a false hope, would be a terrible business: the remedy would be worse than the disease. Better far that [your] tenderness of conscience should cause [you] long years of anguish than that we should lose it, and perish in the hardness of our hearts."  (C. H. Spurgeon Around the Wicket Gate)

These are the essentials of true awakening: you see that you are a lost sinner. You see that you deserve to be punished for your sins. You see that you are in great danger. You see that your sins must be punished – or God is not just. Those are the essentials of true awakening. Until a person feels these things, he is not going to be converted.

These examples show that it is not the length of the awakening that matters. Spurgeon said:

Awakening is not a thing to rest in, or to desire to have lengthened out month after month. If I [wake] up in a fright, and find my house on fire, I do not sit down at the edge of the bed, and say to myself, “I hope I am truly awakened!”… No, I want to escape from threatened death, so I [hurry] to the door or to the window, that I may get out, and…not perish where I am. It would be [no good] to be [awakened], and yet not escape from the danger. Remember, awakening is not salvation."

Said George Whitefield:

"Conviction will always precede spiritual conversion. You may be convicted without being converted, but you cannot be converted without being convicted." ("Repentance and Conversion" - SEE HERE)

Wrote Thomas Boston  (emphasis mine): (here)

"A person may have sharp soul-exercises and pangs, and yet die in the birth. Many "have been in pain," that have but, "as it were, brought forth wind." There may be sore pangs of conscience, which turn to nothing at last. Pharaoh and Simon Magus had such convictions, as made them to desire the prayers of others for them. Judas repented: and, under terrors of conscience, gave back his ill-gotten pieces of silver. All is not gold that glitters. Trees may blossom fairly in the spring, on which no fruit is to be found in the harvest: and some have sharp soul-exercises, which are nothing but foretastes of hell."

"Some have sharp convictions for a while: but these go off, and they become as careless about their salvation, and as profane as ever, and usually worse than ever; "their last state is worse than their first," Matt. 12:45. They get awakening grace—but not converting grace; and that goes off by degrees, as the light of the declining day, until it issues in midnight darkness."

He also wrote:

"There may be a wonderful moving of the affections in souls that are not at all touched with regenerating grace. When there is no grace, there may, notwithstanding, be a flood of tears, as in Esau, who "found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears," Heb. 12:17. There may be great flashes of joy; as in the hearers of the word, represented in the parable of the stony ground, who "with joy receive it," Matt. 13:20. There may be also great desires after good things, and great delight in them too; as in those hypocrites described in Isa. 58:2, "Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways – they take delight in approaching to God."

So, anyone, Calvinist or Arminian, who believes that conviction of sin and times when sinners are awakened by the word and Spirit of God are experiences that precede regeneration, and which often become means towards it, believe in prevenient grace.

Prevenient Grace (2)

In this chapter we will begin with a line from that famous Christian hymn "Amazing Grace" which says: 

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!"

Grace was at work in a sinner before he believed in Christ and was saved. Divine grace teaches the heart to fear before grace relieves those fears in conversion. Grace reveals to a sinner his lost condition and need for salvation before grace causes him to find salvation in Christ and gives him relief and assurance of salvation, and grace first shows him that he is spiritually and morally sick before he sees and accepts the healing of Christ the physician. 

In the past chapter we saw where several Calvinists of the past believed in prevenient grace, such as Augustine, John Owen, Charles Hodge, Archibald Alexander, and Charles Spurgeon. In this chapter we will begin with giving further writings by Owen on this subject from "Pneumatologia" -- "Of the Holy Spirit" as cited here under the heading "Works of the Holy Spirit Preparatory to Regeneration"). Owens wrote (emphasis mine):

"First, in reference to the work of regeneration itself, positively considered, we may observe that ordinarily there are certain previous and preparatory works, or workings in and upon the souls of men, that are antecedent and dispositive to regeneration. Yet regeneration does not consist in them, nor can it be educed out of them."

I don't know why so many Calvinists fail to believe that there are "preparatory works" of God 'in and upon the souls of men that are antecedent and dispositive to regeneration." It is possibly due to their having defined "regeneration" as the first work, and therefore must exclude there being any preparatory work of God. This is also why they began to give a very narrow and restrictive definition to regeneration which excludes faith and repentance, excludes conversion to Christ. 

In Spurgeon's Sermon "Farm Labourers" he said:

"There is a withering wrought by the Spirit which is the preparation for the sowing and implanting by which salvation is wrought."

You can read more excerpts from this sermon and on preparatory works of God in a sinner before he is saved and regenerated in this post of mine (here).

In "Regeneration" by Abraham Kuyper (see here) we find where he acknowledges that it was later Calvinists who began to restrict regeneration to the initial act of God that produces spiritual life. He wrote:

"Before we examine the work of the Holy Spirit in this important matter, we must first define the use of words. The word "regeneration" is used in a limited sense, and in a more extended sense.

It is used in the limited sense when it denotes exclusively God's act of quickening, which is the first divine act whereby God translates us from death into life, from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. In this sense regeneration is the starting-point. God comes to one born in iniquity and dead in trespasses and sins, and plants the principle of a new spiritual life in his soul. Hence he is born again.

But this is not the interpretation of the Confession of Faith, for article 24 reads: "We believe that this true faith, being wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Ghost, doth regenerate and make him a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin." Here the word "regeneration," used in its wider sense, denotes the entire change by grace effected in our persons, ending in our dying to sin in death and our being born for heaven. While formerly this was the usual sense of the word, we are accustomed now to the limited sense, which we therefore adopt in this discussion.

Respecting the difference between the two--formerly the work of grace was generally represented as the soul consciously observed it; while now the work itself is described apart from the consciousness."

(You can read more about Kuyper in my posting here). In that same post you can read these words:

W. G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, Volume 2, pages 492-494, attributes the distinction between "regeneration" and "conversion" to Turretin, and Shedd adopted this approach. He says:

"The divines of the seventeenth century [Puritans] very generally do not distinguish between regeneration and conversion, but employ the two as synonyms. Owen does this continually: On the Spirit, III. v. And Charnocke likewise: Attributes, Practical Atheism. The Westminster [Confession] does not use the term regeneration. In stead of it, it employs the term vocation, or effectual calling. This comprises the entire work of the Holy Spirit in the application of redemption. . . ." Shedd then alleges: "But this wide use of the term regeneration led to confusion of ideas and views. As there are two distinct words in the language, regeneration and conversion, there are also two distinct notions denoted by them. Consequently, there arose gradually a stricter use of the term regeneration, and its discrimination from conversion. Turrettin (XV. iv. 13) defines two kinds of conversion, as the term was employed in his day. . . . After thus defining, Turrettin remarks that the first kind of conversion is better denominated 'regeneration,' because it has reference to the new birth by which man is renewed in the image of his Maker; and the second kind of conversion is better denominated 'conversion,' because it includes the operation and agency of man himself. . . ."

Then Shedd says: "We shall adopt this distinction [by Turretin] between regeneration and conversion. . . . Regeneration is a cause; conversion is an effect."

J. I. Packer also contends that the theory arose in "later Reformed theology:" Packer says:

"Many seventeenth century Reformed theologians equated regeneration with effectual calling and conversion with regeneration . . . LATER REFORMED THEOLOGY has defined regeneration more narrowly, as the implanting of the 'seed' from which faith and repentance spring (I John 3:9) in the course of effectual calling."

Louis Berkhof:

Berkhof likewise acknowledged that the theory had post-Creedal development:

"It is true that some Reformed authors have occasionally used the term 'regeneration' as including even sanctification, but that was in the days when the ORDO SALUTIS was not as fully developed as it is today" (Systematic Theology, page 468).

Owen wrote:

"So the body of Adam was formed before the rational soul was breathed into it; and Ezekiel's bones came together with a noise and shaking before the breath of life entered into them. Eze 37.7-10"

In the previous chapter we saw where Spurgeon used both these examples to illustrate prevenient grace and how he spoke of what Owen had written on the subject.

Owen wrote further:

"First, There are some things required of us by way of duty in order for our regeneration, which are so much in the power of our own natural abilities, that nothing but corrupt prejudices and stubbornness in sinning, keep or hinder men from performing them. We may reduce these to two headings: 

1. An outward attendance to the dispensation of the word of God, with those other external means of grace which accompany it, or are appointed in this. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," Rom 10.17; that is, it is hearing the word of God which is the ordinary means of ingenerating faith in the souls of men. 

2. A diligent intension of mind, using the means of grace, in order to understand and receive the things that are revealed and declared as the mind and will of God. For this end, God has given men their reasons and understandings: so that they may use and exercise them about their duty towards him, according to the revelation of his mind and will. To this purpose, God calls upon them to remember that they are men, and to turn to him. And there is nothing in this that is not in the liberty and power of the rational faculties of our souls, assisted by those common aids which God affords to all men in general."

These means are examples of "prevenient grace" and of the preparations God works prior to regeneration. But, those Calvinists who put regeneration before faith are led to deny that God uses means in producing the new birth. This is because they believe that power to believe must be given in regeneration before a sinner can receive or believe the gospel. So we read that Shedd wrote:

"Seventh, regeneration is not effected by the use of means, in the strict signification of the term means. The Holy Spirit employs means in conviction, in conversion, and in sanctification, but not in regeneration." 

"The appointed means of grace are the word, the sacraments, and prayer. None of these means are used in the instant of regeneration; first, because regeneration is instantaneous and there is not time to use them; second, because regeneration is a direct operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit. It is the action of Spirit upon spirit, of a divine person upon a human person, whereby spiritual life is imparted. Nothing, therefore, of the nature of means or instruments can come between the Holy Spirit and the soul that is to be made alive. God did not employ an instrument or means when he infused physical life into the body of Adam." 

"In like manner, the word and truth of God, the most important of all the means of grace, is not a means of regeneration, as distinct from conviction, conversion, and sanctification. This is evident when it is remembered that it is the office of a means or instrument to excite or stimulate an already existing principle of life. Physical food is a means of physical growth; but it supposes physical vitality. If the body is dead, bread cannot be a means or instrument. Intellectual truth is a means of intellectual growth; but it supposes intellectual vitality. If the mind be idiotic, secular knowledge cannot be a means or instrument. Spiritual truth is a means of spiritual growth, in case there be spiritual vitality. But if the mind be dead to righteousness, spiritual truth cannot be a means or instrument. Truth certainly cannot be a means unless it is apprehended. But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14)." ("Various Uses of the Term Regeneration"; See here) 

You can also see more of these citations from Shedd in this post of mine (here).

Owen wrote further:

"These things are required of us for our regeneration; and it is in the power of our own wills to comply with them. 

In the most diligent use of outward means, men are not able to attain regeneration, or a complete conversion to God, by themselves — not without an especial, effectual, internal work of the Holy Spirit of grace on their whole soul. The substance of what is principally proposed in the ensuing discourses to confirm this, need not be asserted here."

When Owen speaks of it being "in the power of our own wills to comply with" the means, he means that there is no lack of physical or metaphysical ability, no lack of faculties to comply, but he does not deny that an unregenerate sinner lacks moral or spiritual ability.

Owen wrote further:

"Secondly, There are certain internal spiritual effects worked in and upon the souls of men, of which the word preached is the immediate and instrumental cause; these ordinarily precede the work of regeneration, or our real conversion to God. And they are reducible to three heads: 1. Illumination; 2. Conviction; 3. Reformation."

It was this truth that some later Calvinists rejected, possibly because they did not want to embrace any idea of prevenient grace, thinking that it was Armianism. But, that was a mistake.

Owen wrote further:

 

"Secondly, in order of nature, illumination is previous to a full and real conversion to God, and it is materially preparatory and dispositive to this conversion — for saving grace enters into the soul by light. As it is therefore a gift of God, so it is the duty of all men to labor after participating in it, even though it is abused by many."

I have another post on the question addressed by J.C. Philpot as to whether light, or illumination, precedes the giving of spiritual life. (See here) This question divided many of the old Regular Baptists. The Hardshells believe that one must be given spiritual life before he obtains any light on Gospel truth. In this case, the light of truth is no means in giving life. Philpot believed otherwise, that the word of God and gospel light were means in giving life.

Owen wrote further:

"Conviction of sin is another effect of the preaching of the word antecedent to real conversion to God. 

Various things are included in this, or accompany it; such as — (1.) A disquieting sense of the guilt of sin with respect to the law of God, with his threatenings and future judgment.

All these things [concerning illumination and conviction] may be worked in the minds of men by the dispensation of the word, and yet the work of regeneration is never perfected in them."

Conviction of sin and guilt is not evidence of a prior regeneration but is preparatory to it. If the Holy Spirit convicts a sinner so that he believes that he is lost, condemned, and going to Hell when he is really in a justified and saved state, then the Holy Spirit lies to that sinner.

Owen wrote further:

 

"Thirdly, All the things mentioned as being worked instrumentally by the word, are effects of the power of the Spirit of God. The word itself, under a bare proposal to the minds of men, will not affect them this way.

In many persons, maybe in most, who are thus affected, real conversion to God does ensue. By these preparatory actings, the Holy Spirit makes way for the introduction of the new spiritual life into the soul: so these things belong to a work that is perfect in its kind."

Again, when one rejects the idea that there are preparatory works of God in a sinner prior to his being saved, and rejects prevenient grace, he is led to reject the idea that God uses his word in producing regeneration as did Shedd and the later Calvinist or Reformers.

Owen wrote further:

"Wherever these things fail and come short of what, in their own nature, they have a tendency to, it is not from any weakness and imperfection in themselves, but from the sins of those in whom they are worked. For instance, even common illumination and conviction of sin have, in their own nature, a tendency to sincere conversion. They have this tendency in the same way that the law has a tendency to bring us to Christ. Where this end is not attained, it is always from the interposition of an act of willfulness and stubbornness in those who are enlightened and convicted."

Here Owen rightly says that many who have been convicted of sin and have seen their lost condition were not regenerated and that this was owing to their moral or spiritual inability. Read my three chapters on "Conviction of Sin" in my series "The Hardshell Baptist Cult" (here, here, here).

Owen wrote further: 

"Now, because this work often makes a great appearance and resemblance of regeneration, or of real conversion to God — so that neither the world nor the church is able to distinguish between them — it is of great concern to all professors of the gospel to diligently inquire whether, in their own souls, they have been made partakers of any other work of the Spirit of God or not. For although this is a good work, and it has a good subservience to regeneration, yet if men attain no more, if they proceed no further, they will perish eternally. And multitudes actually deceive themselves in this, speaking peace to their souls on the effects of this work; by which it is not only insufficient to save them, as it is to all persons at all times, but it also becomes a means of their present security and future destruction."

The Hyper Calvinists who put regeneration before faith and who deny any divine workings in a soul before regeneration do see any such divine workings as being regeneration, but that is putting it too soon in the divine working. 

Owen wrote further: 

"By these things we may learn to distinguish in ourselves between the preparatory work mentioned, and that of real saving conversion to God. And these are some of the heads of those operations of the Holy Spirit on the minds of men, which are often preparatory to a real conversion to God; and sometimes, by a contempt for and rejection of them, there is a great aggravation of the sin and misery of those in whom they were worked."

 

Prevenient Grace (1)

Is all grace given to men irresistible, or never given in vain? If grace is irresistible in regeneration, as Calvinists teach, does this mean that grace before or after initial regeneration or rebirth is likewise irresistible? How does a belief in "common grace" relate to "irresistible grace"? How does "prevenient grace" relate to what may be called "preparatory" grace or "preparationism" as in Puritan theology? What about conviction of sin? Does it precede or follow the grace of the birth of the Spirit? If it precedes, is it then an example of prevenient grace? Is conviction of sin a gracious work of God that always brings salvation? What about the experience of sinners being "awakened"? Is it regeneration or a preparation for it? Are there means that God uses to bring about the new birth? If yes, are those means examples of prevenient grace? Is there any gracious work that God does in the hearts and minds of sinners prior to their salvation, or is regeneration the first work? 

Is it true, as many claim, that a belief in prevenient grace is peculiar to Armianism? Or, are there Calvinists who believe in prevenient grace? Does the grace of faith precede regeneration? If so, is the giving of faith not an example of prevenient grace? Does divine giving of light precede giving life, or does illumination or enlightenment, or the giving of saving knowledge, precede salvation? If yes, is this illumination an example of prevenient grace? These are some of the questions we will address in this series, and is a subject I have been wanting to write for some time but have been busy with other topical series.

I will begin this series with a citation from the great theologian John Owen, a Calvinist. Owens wrote (emphasis mine). 

"First, in reference to the work of regeneration itself, positively considered, we may observe that ordinarily there are certain previous and preparatory works, or workings in and upon the souls of men, that are antecedent and dispositive to regeneration. Yet regeneration does not consist in them, nor can it be educed out of them."  (From Pneumatologia; "Works of the Holy Spirit Prepatory to Regeneration" as cited here)

This citation answers one of our questions. It shows that a belief in prevenient grace, what Owen calls "preparatory works," is not unique to John Wesley nor to Arminians. As we will see in this series, Owen is not alone, for there are other Calvinists who believe in some version of prevenient grace.

First, we need to define "prevenient grace." The word "prevenient" needs clarification first. It means what comes before, coming from Latin. Just as the word "convenient" means a "coming together," so prevenient means a coming before. It is similar, in the KJV or 1611 English, to the word "prevent," which in today's English means to keep something from happening, but in old English it meant to precede. So we read such texts as this: "I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word." (Psa. 119: 47) The Psalmist is not saying, of course, that he kept the dawning of the morning from occurring, but that he got up before the dawn to cry to the Lord in prayer. We also read in the new testament where Jesus is said to have "prevented" the coming of Peter into the house, which means he went in before Peter. (Matt. 17: 25)

The great Calvinist theologian Charles Hodge in his Systematic Theology, volume II, Chapter 14, under "Vocation," and under "common grace," wrote (emphasis mine):

"Hence it is that the greatest of all gifts secured by the work of Christ, that without which salvation had been impossible, the Holy Ghost, in the influence which He exerts on the minds of men, has in all ages and in all parts of the Church been designated as divine grace. A work of grace is the work of the Holy Spirit; the means of grace, are the means by which, or in connection with which, the influence of the Spirit is conveyed or exercised. By common grace, therefore, is meant that influence of the Spirit, which in a greater or less measure, is granted to all who hear the truth. By sufficient grace is meant such kind and degree of the Spirit’s influence, as is sufficient to lead men to repentance, faith, and a holy life. By efficacious grace is meant such an influence of the Spirit as is certainly effectual in producing regeneration and conversion. By preventing grace is intended that operation of the Spirit on the mind which precedes and excites its efforts to return to God. By the gratia gratum faciens is meant the influence of the Spirit which renews or renders gracious. Cooperating grace is that influence of the Spirit which aids the people of God in all the exercises of the divine life. By habitual grace is meant the Holy Spirit as dwelling in believers; or, that permanent, immanent state of mind due to his abiding presence and power. Such is the established theological and Christian usage of this word. By grace, therefore, in this connection is meant the influence of the Spirit of God on the minds of men."

This again shows that some Calvinists do not reject either common grace or prevenient grace. He also rightly equates the work or influence of the Spirit with grace. He also connects any means that God uses to effect salvation as graces. He defines "prevenient grace" with "that operation of the Spirit on the mind which precedes and excites its efforts to return to God." He also says that such views of grace are "the established theological and Christian usage of" the word "grace." I agree with Owen and Hodge on this question. I get irritated when I hear people say, especially bible teachers who should know better, that Calvinists 1) believe that regeneration or rebirth precedes faith, and 2) deny prevenient grace and call such Arminianism. Neither is true. I have numerous articles in this blog that show that many great Calvinists, like John Calvin himself, believed that men were born again by faith and in prevenient grace.

Hodge wrote further:

"The Influences of the Spirit granted to all Man. That there is a divine influence of the Spirit granted to all men, is plain both from Scripture and from experience."

There are many bible texts which teach this truth and we will examine some of them in this series. Hodge gives several examples. In one example of them he wrote:

"The martyr Stephen (Acts vii. 51) tells the Jews, “As your fathers did...ye do always resist the ‘Holy Ghost,” as the prophet Isaiah lxiii. 10, said of the men of his generation, that they vexed God’s Holy Spirit. The Spirit, therefore, is represented as striving with the wicked, and with all men. They are charged with resisting, grieving, vexing, and quenching his operations."

If the Holy Spirit was active in urging and influencing those who rejected him, was this activity an act of grace? Was it not resisted? Was this influence of the Spirit upon the unregenerate not an example of prevenient grace?

J. L. Packer, well known theologian, wrote:

"The Reformers reaffirmed the substance of Augustine's doctrine of prevenient grace, and Reformed theology still maintains it. Calvin used the term "regeneration" to cover man's whole subjective renewal, including conversion and sanctification. Many seventeenth century Reformed theologians equated regeneration with effectual calling and conversion with regeneration (hence the systematic mistranslation of epistrepho, "turn," as a passive, "be converted," in the AV); later Reformed theology has defined regeneration more narrowly, as the implanting of the "seed" from which faith and repentance spring (I John 3:9) in the course of effectual calling." (See my previous posting for this citation here)

Both Arminians and Calvinists believe in such grace, although Hyper Calvinists and those who put regeneration before faith and evangelical conversion generally deny it. Notice how Packer admits that Augustine believed in prevenient grace. Packer also wrote (See here):

"Regeneration is the work of what Augustine called “prevenient” grace, the grace that precedes our outgoings of heart toward God." 

But, this is where Packer and Hyper Calvinists get it wrong. Regeneration or being born of God is not to be equated with the workings of God that leads to it. Packer is implying that Augustine believed that there was no preceding grace or preceding work of the Spirit in a person prior to his rebirth. In this statement he makes Augustine to contradict himself. Why would he do this? Especially since he has already admitted that Augustine believed in prevenient grace? And admitted that "Reformed theology still maintains it"? 

In "Prevenient Grace," a sermon by the famous Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1865, we find that this great Calvinist likewise believed in prevenient grace. He said (emphasis mine):

"I selected this text, not so much for its own sake, as to give me an opportunity for saying a little this evening upon a doctrine not often touched upon, namely, that of PREVENIENT GRACE, or the grace which comas before regeneration and conversion. I think we sometimes overlook it. We do not attach enough importance to the grace of God in its dealings with men before he actually brings them to himself." 

I agree with this observation of Spurgeon. Many Calvinists reject it outright because they think it is an Arminian tenet, and they do so without investigating the matter.

Spurgeon said further:

"Now, when I look at the life of a man, even before conversion, I think I can discover something of God’s moulding and fashioning in him even before regenerating grace comes into his heart. Let me give you an illustration of my course of thought. When God created man—we are told in the book of Genesis—he made him “out of the dust of the earth.” Mark him beneath his Maker’s hand, the framework of a man, the tabernacle for an immortal soul; a man made of clay, fully made, I suppose, and perfect in all respects excepting one, and that soon followed: for after God had formed him out of the dust, then he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Now it strikes me that during the early part of the history of the people whom God means to save, though they have not received into their hearts any spiritual life, nor experienced any of the work of regeneration, yet their life before conversion is really a working of them in the clay."

Those Calvinists, or Hyper Calvinists, who put regeneration or rebirth before faith and repentance, or before evangelical conversion, do not believe that there is any pre-regeneration gracious acts of the Spirit but have made "regeneration" to be "the first act of God" upon a sinner in effecting regeneration, and thus deny that there is any such pre-regeneration acts of grace. I wrote about this in this post (here). I showed that these Calvinists define regeneration as solely what God does to the exclusion of what God effects in so doing. In that post I wrote the following and cited the words of the great Calvinist theologian Archibald Alexander, from his work titled "A Practical View of Regeneration" (Published in The Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review, volume 8, 1836), in which I gave these introductory words and then gave what Alexander wrote (See here):

"Another error of those who separate regeneration from conversion, faith, and repentance, is to define "regeneration" simply as respects the "cause," whereas biblical "regeneration" includes both causes and effects, and primarily focuses upon the effect.  On this point the great head of Princeton Seminary, Archibald Alexander wrote:

"Evangelical repentance, conversion and regeneration, are substantially the same. They all signify a thorough change of views, affections, purposes and conduct; and this change is every where declared to be essential to salvation."

"Curious inquiries respecting the way in which the word is instrumental in the production of this change are not for edification. Sometimes regeneration is considered distinctly from the acts and exercises of the mind which proceed from it, but in the Holy Scriptures the cause and effect are included; and we shall therefore treat the subject in this practical and popular form. The instrumentality of the word can never derogate from the efficient agency of the Spirit in this work. The Spirit operates by and through the word. The word derives all its power and penetrating energy from the Spirit. Without the omnipotence of God the word would be as inefficient as clay and spittle, to restore sight to the blind."

I then made these comments on these words of Alexander:

"Alexander pinpoints the error of those Hyper Calvinists who restrict the definition of regeneration to include only the "cause." He correctly states that the scriptures include what is effected in the definition. A man cannot then be said to have been "regenerated" who lacked the "effects," or constituent elements of regeneration. In other words, a man cannot be said to have been "saved" who lacks the "things which accompany salvation." Thus, to say a man is regenerated before he believes and repents is to define regeneration strictly by the cause to the exclusion of the effect."

Alexander also wrote:

"Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy over the dry bones in the valley of vision. Thus ministers are now sent to call upon those who are dead in trespasses and sins, to awake and arise from the dead, but none will obey their voice, unless a divine power accompanies their words...That the word of God is indeed the instrument or means of producing this change is evident from many plain testimonies of Scripture..."

I then made these observations on what Alexander said:

"Those Hyper Calvinists who limit their definition of the word "regeneration" to the cause of the change, to the exclusion of the effect, or actual change, greatly err. Alexander is correct to affirm that scripture defines the experience of regeneration in such a way as to include the effect, or to what is actually effected by the cause of regeneration."

As we will see, Spurgeon also spoke of the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones to illustrate how there are things that happen to a sinner before his being brought to life. This story was one of the means for me rejecting Hardshellism and Hyper Calvinism and the idea that God does not use the preaching of the gospel as a means in raising dead sinners to spiritual life. God used Ezekiel's prophesying to the dead bones to resurrect them.

Spurgeon said further:

"You would, perhaps, say that all I have talked about as yet has been providence rather than grace. Very likely, but I think that providence and grace are very near akin; at any rate if providence is the wheel, grace is the hand which turns and guides it. But I am now about to speak of GRACE PRECEDING CALLING IN ANOTHER SENSE." 

Calvinists almost universally agree that the elect will be kept from dying until they have been effectually called and often use Jude 1: 1 to prove it, where Jude says "preserved in Jesus Christ and called." Would that preservation not be an act of grace?

Spurgeon said further:

"It strikes me that it is impossible to say, concerning the elect, when the grace of God begins to deal with them. You can tell when the quickening grace comes, but not when the grace itself comes."

There is certainly grace given to sinners before he saves them.

Spurgeon said further:

"I should say that there is what I cannot call by any other name than formative grace, exercised upon the vessels of mercy at their very birth. It seems to me to be no small mercy that some of us were born of such parents as we were, and that we were born where we were. Some of us began right, and were surrounded by many advantages. We were cradled upon the lap of piety, and dandled upon the knee of holiness." 

These are providential means that prepare the way for a sinner's regeneration.

Spurgeon said further:

"This formative grace many of you, I have no doubt, can trace in the examples and influences which have followed you from the cradle through life. Why, what a blessing to have had such a Sunday-school teacher as some of you had! Other children went to schools, but they had not such a teacher, or such a class as yours. What a privilege to have had such a minister as some of you had, though perhaps he has fallen asleep now!...Furthermore, while there was this formative grace, there seems to me to have gone with it very much of preventive grace." 

Again, all means that God may use in his providence to prepare a sinner for his salvation may be called examples of prevenient grace.

Spurgeon said further:

"Beloved, I have thanked God a thousand times in my life, that before my conversion, when I had ill desires I had no opportunities; and on the other hand, that when I had opportunities I had no desires; for when desires and opportunities come together like the flint and steel, they make the spark that kindles the fire, but neither the one nor the other, though they may both be dangerous, can bring about any very great amount of evil so long as they are kept apart. Let us, then, look back, and if this has been our experience bless the preventing grace of God." 

I too have thanked God a thousand times also for things he did in my life prior to my being born of the Spirit, things which kept me from going over the abyss, from my heart being hardened by divine judgment, even from suicide. 

Spurgeon said further:

"Again, there is another form of grace I must mention, namely, restraining grace. Here, you see, I am making a distinction. There are many who did go into sin; they were not wholly prevented from it, but they could go as far into it as they wanted to do...Oh! how often God has thrown a man on a sick bed to make him well!" 

 Indeed we see restraining grace at work in the lives of God's elect before he calls them.

Spurgeon said further:

"We shall get still further into the subject when we come to what Dr. John Owen calls the preparatory work of grace. Have you ever noticed that parable about the different sorts of ground, and the sower of the seeds? A sower went forth to sow, and some of the seed fell on stony ground; you can understand that, because all men have stones in their hearts. Some fell on the thorns and thistles; you can comprehend that, because men are so given to worldly care. Another part of the seed fell on the beaten path; you can understand that—men are so occupied with worldliness. But how about the “good ground”? “Good ground”! Is there such a thing as “good ground” by nature? One of the evangelists says that it was “honest and good ground.” Now, is there such a difference between hearts and hearts? Are not all men depraved by nature? Yes, he who doubts human depravity had better begin to study himself. Question: If all hearts are bad how are some hearts good? Reply: They are good comparatively; they are good in a certain sense. It is not meant in the parable that that good ground was so good that it ever would have produced a harvest without the sowing of the seed, but that it had been prepared by providential influences upon it to receive the seed, and in that sense it may be said to have been “good ground.”" 

I have already cited from Owen and will yet cite him further in the next chapter. Hyper Calvinists who deny that the word of God is a means in effecting salvation, be it regeneration or rebirth, will argue that the heart being good and honest in the parable means that it was regenerated, and so they say regeneration precedes the sowing of the seed of the word of God and cannot therefore be a means in making the heart good. However, both Owen and Spurgeon are correct in declaring that this honest and good heart is what preceded salvation. That is clear in the parable, for the result of receiving the seed was salvation, so the heart being good and honest could not denote salvation. (See Luke 8: 12)

Spurgeon said further:

"Now let me show you how God’s grace does come to work on the human heart so as to make it good soil before the living seed is cast into it, so that before quickening grace really visits it the heart may be called a good heart, because it is prepared to receive that grace. I think this takes place thus: first of all, before quickening grace comes, God often gives an attentive ear, and makes a man willing to listen to the Word. Not only does he like to listen to it, but he wants to know the meaning of it; there is a little excitement in his mind to know what the gospel tidings really are. He is not saved as yet, but it is always a hopeful sign when a man is willing to listen to the truth, and is anxious to understand it. This is one thing which prevenient grace does in making the soil good. In Ezekiel’s vision, as you will recollect, before the breath came from the four winds the bones began to stir, and they came together bone to his bone. So, before the Spirit of God comes to a man in effectual calling, God’s grace often comes to make a stir in the man’s mind, so that he is no longer indifferent to the truth, but is anxious to understand what it means." 

I agree completely. God certainly gave an "attentive ear" to Lydia before she heard and believed the gospel preached by Paul. The record is that "the Lord opened her heart so that she attended to the things spoken by Paul." (Acts 16: 14) I wrote on this text in this post (here). I showed that the Hyper Calvinist view that this opening of the heart was regeneration was false. They interpret the text in this way in order to prove their thesis that says 1) regeneration comes before faith and 2) the word of God is no means in effecting regeneration. In that post I also cited what Spurgeon said in his rejection of this view. I cite where Spurgeon said the following in preaching upon this text:

"We do not well if we forget the prevenient providences which work before our conversion, to bring us unto that spot where God was pleased to manifest himself unto us." 

"Observe next, that in Lydia's case there was not only preventing providence, but there was also grace in a certain manner preparing the soul. The woman did not know the Saviour; she did not understand the things which make for her peace, yet she knew many truths which were excellent stepping-stones to a knowledge of Jesus." 

"She worshipped God; worshipped him in sincerity; worshipped him looking for the coming of the Messiah, Israel's consolation; and so her mind was prepared for the reception of the gospel. Doubtless, dear friends, in many of us there was a preparation for Christ before Christ came to us in quickening grace."

"Still, dear friends, we ought to ascribe all this preparatory work to sovereign grace, for grace—free favour does much in which no grace of effectual salvation is perceptible. I mean that before grace renews the heart there is grace preparing us for grace; grace may be setting the mind in activity, clearing us from prejudice, ridding us of a thousand infidel and sceptical thoughts, and so raising a platform from which divine grace conducts us into the region of the new life. Such was the case of Lydia, such is the case of many; providence and grace co-work before the effectual time is come." 

"Note again, for we will only hint at these things rather than dwell upon them, that it was assuredly a work of grace, for we are expressly told, “whose heart the Lord opened.” She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did not do it; Paul did not do it; the Lord himself must open the heart, to receive the things which make for our peace. To operate savingly upon human hearts belongs to God alone." 

"...although the Lord opened the heart, Paul’s words were the instrument of her conversion. The heart may be opened, and willing to receive, but then if truth enter not, what would be the use of an open door? But God always takes care to open the heart at a time when the messenger of mercy shall be going by, that the heart may give him admittance." ("Lessons from Lydia’s Conversion" - here)

Spurgeon said further in his sermon on prevenient grace:

"The next mark of this gracious work is an ingenuousness of heart. Some persons will not hear you, or if they do they are always picking holes and finding fault, they are not honest and good ground. But there are others who say, “I will give the man a fair and an honest hearing; I will read the Bible; I will read it, too, honestly; I will really see whether it be the Word of God or not, I will come to it without any prejudices; or, if I have any prejudices I will throw them aside.” Now, all this is a blessed work of preparatory grace, making the heart ready to receive effectual calling."

I look back upon my own conversion and see how God had prepared me by prevenient grace prior to my actual conversion.

Spurgeon said further:

"Then, when this willingness and ingenuousness are attended with a tender conscience, as they are in some unconverted people, this is another great blessing. Some of you are not converted, but you would not do wrong; you are not saints, but you would not tell a lie for the world. I thank God that there are some of you so excellent in morals, that if you were proposed to us for Church-membership, we could not raise any objection to you on that ground, at any rate. You are as honest as the day is long: as for the things of God, you are outwardly as attentive to them, and as diligent in them, as the most earnest and indefatigable Christians. Now, this is because your conscience is tender. When you do wrong you cannot sleep at night; and you do not feel at all easy in being without a Saviour—I know some of you do not. You have not come to any decision; the grace of God has not really made you feel your thoroughly ruined state; still you are not quite easy...You know you have not believed in Jesus Christ, and the world keeps you back from doing so; but still there is a kind of twitching in your conscience; you do not know what it is, but there is a something got into you that makes you say at times, “O God, let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his;” yes, and you even go farther than this, and ask to live the righteous man’s life too. Now, remember, this will not save you: “Ye must be born again.” But for all this the Church of God should feel deeply grateful, for they have seen in themselves that this is often God’s preparatory work—clearing away the rubbish and rubble, and digging out the foundations, that Jesus Christ might be laid therein, the corner-stone of future hope and of future happiness." 

Years ago when I was working with Bob L. Ross of Pilgrim Publications, and author of several scholarly books, we talked about regeneration in the context of the errors thereupon by Hardshells and Hyper Calvinists and I recall him saying about the "ordo salutis" that they place regeneration "too soon" in their paradigm. What we would call pre-regeneration workings of the Spirit they would call regeneration. This is evident when we discuss what is called "conviction of sin," an experience that occurs prior to conversion. Hardshells say that conviction of sin is evidence of regeneration while Arminians and many Calvinists say it is what precedes regeneration. In my series titled "The Hardshell Baptist Cult" I have some chapters on "Conviction of Sin." (See here, here, here)

Spurgeon said further:

"Another work of grace is the creation of dissatisfaction with their present state. How many men we have known who were consciously “without God and without hope in the world.” The apples of Sodom had turned to ashes and bitterness in their mouth, though at one time all was fair and sweet to their taste. The mirage of life with them has been dispelled, and instead of the green fields, and waving trees, and rippling waters, which their fevered imagination had conjured up in the desert, they can see now nought but the arid sand and wasteness of desolation, which appal their fainting spirits, and promise nothing; no, not even a grave to cover their whited bones, which shall remain a bleached memorial that “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Multitudes have been brought to see the deluge of sin which has covered even the high places of the earth, they find no rest for the sole of their foot, but as yet they know not of an ark, nor of a loving hand prepared to pull them in, as did Noah the dove in olden time. Look at the life of St. Augustine, how wearily he wanders hither and thither with a death thirst in his soul, that no fount of philosophy, or scholastic argument, or heretical teaching could ever assuage. He was aware of his unhappy estate, and turned his eye round the circle of the universe looking for peace, not fully conscious of what he wanted, though feeling an aching void the world could never fill. He had not found the centre, fixed and stedfast, around which all else revolved in ceaseless change. Now, all this appetite, this hunger and thirst, I look upon as not of the devil, nor of the human heart alone, it was of God. He strips us of all our earthly joy and peace, that, shivering in the cold blast, we might flee, when drawn by his Spirit, to the “Man who is as a hiding-place from the storm, a covert from the tempest, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

This is what occurred to me before I was born of the Spirit. The Lord showed me the vanity of life, of my life, wherein I saw my future life as not worth living, as bringing forth more evils than good, and so death seemed like a good way to prevent it. The Lord also showed me that I was lost and condemned and that if I did kill myself that I would not be any better off, but in a far worse state. When I was thus made to see my lost condition by the working of God's grace, God was not lying to me, as the Hardshells who believe that conviction of sin is evidence of a saved state. If God was telling me that I was lost and yet I was not really lost, then that would make God a liar. I have written on this several times. See this post as an example. (here)

Is God showing kindness an act of grace? Is God being good to all also an example of his grace? 

 

"More Would Have Been Saved If..."

In "The Primitive Baptist" periodical for April 26, 1845 (See here) we find one of the writings in a series by Elder C.B. Hassell under the title "CHARGES, Exhibited against the Chowan Association in the Kehukee Letter of October, 1843; and which were considered as among the reasons why the latter could not fellowship the former" (pg. 116). In it Hassell wrote (emphasis mine):

"Mr. Judson, the leading Baptist missionary to Burmah, wrote back to his friends in America, to this effect, viz. that thousands of heathen were sinking down into hell, because the ladies of the United States wore so many jewels. For, argued he, if the ladies would throw their jewels and finery into the missionary fund, thousands of poor pagans might be saved from the flames of endless torment, who would otherwise go there and be lost to all eternity! It is fair to presume this man sent back to America the best gospel he was master of; and if the preaching above described was his best, what think you of his worst, which of course was to be made to the poor heathens? Does any man in his senses believe an individual, entertaining such a sentiment as this above mentioned, is an ambassador of Christ; or has any of his gospel to preach to any body, either heathen or civilized? I certainly do not; but naturally conclude, if this is his preaching to professors of Christianity — civilized and enlightened people; that held out to the ignorant barbarians, is a great deal worse; provided any thing can be worse, than to predicate the salvation of the human soul on ear-bobs, rings, or money. And still, we have reason to believe ninetenths of the so-called gospel sent to the heathen in the 19th century, by missionary boards to be no better than this; but precisely of the same character." (pgs. 122-123)

I can see why Calvinists or Predestinarians, especially Hyper Calvinists, would have problems accepting the words of Adoniram Judson that said that "many more sinners would have been saved had the people given more support to missionaries," as did Hassell. Yet, Hassell certainly believed that a person must believe the Gospel and in Christ to be saved. In a recent post I gave several citations from Hassell where he clearly believed that evangelical faith was essential for salvation (See here). In that post I cited these words of C.B. Hassell, from his book "History of the Church of God":

"Should the Lord create an humble, teachable and inquiring disposition in the heart of an inhabitant of China, Japan or the unexplored parts of Africa, He would sooner send an angel from Heaven, or a minister from the uttermost part of the earth, to show him the way of salvation, than leave him destitute of that knowledge, for which he longs and prays without ceasing. The alms and supplications of such persons spring from right principles and motives, and go up as a memorial before God, not to merit His favor, but to plead with Him to fulfill His gracious promises." (pg. 203 of Hassell's History)

I also cited the following words of Hassell, which were taken from the same periodical for the same year, in the previous month (March 1845):

"On the contrary we believe, the gospel is God's system of salvation for ruined man, and that He saves them by grace of His and not by works of theirs. Kehukeeites believe, that the Saviour took the law place and stead of his people, and for them and in their behalf fulfilled it to a punctilio...This they are made to believe by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and this belief is counted to them for righteousness without the deeds of the law. They are then no longer under the law but under grace--no longer dead in trespasses and sins but alive to holiness,-- having their fruit unto the same and the end thereof everlasting life. This belief in Christ, caused by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, is their creation anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that they should walk in; and henceforward they abound in good works to God, begotten by the active principle of grace within them, not from a principle of slavish fear, by which they expect to escape eternal punishment." 

"Charge 3. The Report indirectly charges Kehukee Baptists with believing or teaching, that those who finally die in a state of impenitence, are taken to heaven by an absolute decree of God. The Report need lay claim to no originality here, for this same charge was full grown in the apostolic age and must be quite grey headed by this time...Paul denied the charge, treated it as a slander and so does the Kehukee Association."

In the same periodical for the same year, we find these words for January 25th, 1845: 

"Well, says one, how are we to come in possession of that of which you have been speakiing? (belief of the truth - SG) I know of no other way but the way prescribed in the written word of God. You must receive it by the hearing of the word of truth, when spoken unto you in the demonstration of the spirit and power of God, who is the author of it. For we are told that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God; and how can we hear without a preacher, and how can they preach except they be sent?"

This was the position of those who supported this old periodical. In another post on the beliefs of Elder C.B. Hassell I cited from his personal creed. (See here) Item number four of that creed says:

"The absolute that the Holy Ghost will find all the chosen in Christ, regenerate their soul, lead them unto Christ, and show them the way of salvation and the riches of their inheritance, pure and undefiled in heaven above."

So, Hassell does not deny that faith in Christ is produced by the Spirit and the word of God (like the 1689 London confession says and which he accepted) and that it is a necessary condition for salvation. That being so, why does he object to the words of Judson? With this introduction, let me answer the objection or difficulty that Hassell mentions against what Judson had said. 

First, it must be said that what Judson said is true when looked at from one perspective. Secondly, it must also be said that what Judson said is false when viewed from another perspective. Let me illustrate this point. If I am in outer space looking down on the north pole I say that the earth is spinning counter clockwise. However, if I am in outer space looking up on the south pole I say that the earth is spinning clockwise. In looking at the salvation from the standpoint of the means God uses, i.e. the Gospel or word of God, we must say that people who have those means have an opportunity to be saved whereas those who have not those means have no opportunity. It is also reasonable to assume that more people would be saved if the means were available than if they were not. I believe that this is the way God wants us to look at the matter. However, that does not mean that more will be saved than God determined. 

No one who God predetermined to be saved will be lost, nor die without hearing the Gospel and coming to saving faith and repentance. On the other hand, it is perfectly appropriate for us to say that those who have the means of salvation have a greater chance of being saved than those who have not those means. The Bible does not warrant us to say that because God has determined to save x number of people that therefore there are no means of salvation, nor that the Bible and Gospel preachers are unnecessary. To prove that Judson's statement is not unbiblical, and is not contradictory to what Hassell and other Calvinists believe, I will give some examples from the word of God.

Case Number One

"Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you." (Eze. 3: 4-6 nkjv)

This text upholds the proposition of Judson. The foreigners mentioned (those of a foreign language) would have heard God's words had the Lord sent Ezekiel to preach to them. But, he did not. Therefore, they did not get the benefit of hearing God's word, which would include salvation. Judson could truly say that more people would have heard the word of God and "listened" to it had the American people given more money to the support of foreign missionaries. On the other hand, if God had predetermined that the foreign nations hear the word from the mouth of Ezekiel and be saved thereby, then he would have sent Ezekiel to them and moved the hearts of his people to contribute money to Ezekiel for that end.

Case Number Two

"20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who[e] are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” (Matt. 11: 20-24 nkjv)

What is said about "mighty works" being a means in bringing people to salvation applies to the gospel as a means. Jesus said that the doomed sinners named "would have" repented had they had the mighty works done in their day and seen by those sinners. So, we can say that "more would have been saved via repentance had God sent workers of miracles to those doomed sinners." Further, saying this does not mean that more will be saved than God had predetermined or foreknew. A text that aligns with the above text is this:

"And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)" (Acts 5: 12-14 nkjv)

"More" people believed and were "added to the Lord" because of the miracles, signs and wonders, done by the hands of the apostles, and because the apostles were enabled to give their full time to the work of the ministry by the monetary support of Christians.

Case Number Three

"1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' 7 "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul." (Eze. 33: 1-9 nkjv)

Here again we see that the reasoning of Hassell and the Hyper Calvinists is not cogent nor overthrows true biblical predestination. Without a watchman to warn the wicked there is no opportunity to heed the warning of coming divine judgment and repent and seek God's forgiveness and deliverance. However, the more people who hear the warning the more opportunity there will be for people to do as did the Ninevites when they heard such a warning, that is, repent of their sins and get reprieve from the announced judgment.

Case Number Four

"I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’" (Acts 26: 17-18 nkjv)

Would the Gentiles under consideration have been saved had Paul not gone to them to preach the gospel and thus to effect the things enumerated? Did the monetary contributions of the first Christians aid in Paul being able to go to the Gentiles all over the Roman world?

Would Hassell agree with this statement: "more would have been saved had God sent his word to more people?" Then why disagree with the statement that says: "more would have been saved had the church sent the word to more people?"

After all, one can be sent by the church and by the Lord at the same time, just as both the Spirit and the bride (church) say "come." (Rev. 22: 17)

"As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant." (Acts 13: 2-5 nkjv)

Who sent Paul and Barnabas? God the Spirit, the church at Antioch, or both? Answer; Both. The work they were sent to do was described in the text above in Acts 26: 17-18. They were also helped to do this by the financial support of the churches. In these two great missionaries going out to preach the gospel they were doing what Christ commanded. Notice this text:

"Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." (Luke 14: 23 nkjv)

Would it not be proper to say that more people would accept the invitation to the wedding (context) because more servants went out into the highways to compel people to come in? Is not the result of such going out a greater filling of the house with guests? Now notice these words of the great missionary:

"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more." (I Cor. 9: 19 nkjv)

If Paul said he did things in order that "more" might be won to the Lord, what is wrong with Judson saying that if people did more in support of missionaries that more would be saved? Notice this text:

"Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles." (Rom. 1: 13 kjv)

So, I ask: was there more "fruit" produced by Paul going to the Gentiles in Rome than would have otherwise been produced had he not gone? In the same Roman epistle Paul wrote:

"Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation." (Rom. 15: 17-20 nkjv)

I could have added this text to Case # 2 above, for it does speak of how the miracles done by Paul, and by the power of the Spirit of God, were a means "to make the Gentiles obedient" and to inform them of Christ and so be saved. With this in mind I ask: would more be saved by Paul's going to preach in places where Christ was not known? And, was he not able to go to more such places because the people supported him monetarily?

God Promises Success

God has promised to give success to the preaching of his word. Thus, when there are more missionaries going to more places in the world, there will be more people saved. These texts teach this truth:

"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isa. 55: 11 nkjv)

"He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him." (Psa. 126: 6 nkjv)

In broadcasting seed God promises success. Therefore more sowing of Gospel seed will issue in more people likely being saved. Paul testified: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (I Cor. 3: 6 nkjv) Will there be an increase where there has been no planting?

Hyper Calvinism is behind the thinking of C.B. Hassell. He was leaning upon his own understanding in trying to reconcile predestination with contingencies, or first causes with second causes. What Judson said was true, and yet it is also true that all who God predestined to be saved will be saved. Both things are true even if you cannot comprehend how.