In the last newsletter we looked at a few confessions and catechisms regarding conversion. It is possible to believe that sinners need “saved” and yet not know that the Bible speaks of the need to be converted. The soul needs to be delivered from hell, true, but it also needs to be prepared for heaven. If salvation is thought of as being only a deliverance from hell, then much of conversion is missed. A soul is saved when it is delivered from the power of sin and death and transferred into the kingdom of the Son (Col 1:13). At the fall the soul was fit for nothing but sin and hell. As the heart is hardened by sin, it became more and more fitted for sin and hell. A soul not delivered from sin has not been delivered from sin, hell, and has not been fitted for heaven. The converted soul is the temple of the living God both now and for eternity, but until conversion the soul is not a fit temple for God on earth or heaven.
A person may know a lot of information about conversion and still miss some vitally important points. In His good providence the Lord has provided for His people some great instruction in the confessions and catechisms of the past. These old documents are the result of many men coming together to wrestle with the Scriptures in order to find out the mind of God. The teachings in these old documents are not the product of human reason alone, but are from men who set out from Scripture what they believed that the Scriptures taught. In the last newsletter I quoted some parts of the Shorter Catechism (revised for Baptists). I will give those quotes again. Below that I will give a quote from the 1823 Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists of Wales. We will then only have room to look at one text of Scripture to see if what these men wrote aligns with at least one passage of Scripture.
30. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? [A] We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit.
31. How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? [A] The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
32. What is effectual calling? [A] “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.”
The 1823 Confession of Faith (Calvinistic Methodists of Wales) says this: “to make them willing in the day of his power, and guide them into all truth.” The Holy Spirit must “convince them of sin, show them their state of misery, reveal Christ to them, draw them to him, and create them in him; then will they be members of his mystical body.” One driving question we have to deal with is if these things are biblical or not. If they are, we need to seek to put them into practice. Much of what is set forth as the Gospel today focuses on aspects of the work of Christ. But we forget that the Gospel declares the glory of the triune God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ should be seen in terms of the Trinity. What the Father planned the Son carried out. What the Son carried out the Spirit must apply.
We must be direct and blunt. It matters little whether one is Arminian or Reformed if they deny the work of the Spirit in the application of redemption. The Arminian has replaced the work of the Spirit by looking to the will of man to choose Christ. In our day the Reformed have done largely the same thing. If people are only told they must believe certain truths about Christ then both Arminians and Reformed are telling people the same thing. The Reformed say that they know that God brings people to faith, which is true. However, if both have the same message and both only tell a person says to pray or make a commitment, then there is no real difference. We must ask ourselves why the older ways were used during times of revival and modern ways during a time of darkness.
In the Shorter Catechism and in the 1823 Confession the emphasis is on the work of the Spirit as opposed to the will of man. The older writers saw Scripture teaching that the application of redemption must be the work and power of the Holy Spirit rather than the dead will of men. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? Does the will of man work it or is it the power of God through the Holy Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit apply redemption purchased by Christ? What Christ divinely purchased must be divinely applied. It is the Holy Spirit who works faith in the soul and unites the soul to Christ. Can the soul do a divine work like that? We are either in our own hands and wills or we are in the hands of the Holy Spirit. How does the Holy Spirit effect this? It is a Divine work that includes the Spirit convincing sinners of their sin and misery, enlightening minds to the knowledge of Christ, and persuading and enabling sinners to embrace Christ Himself. It is not just that a person must believe that certain propositions are true, but the person must embrace Christ Himself.
“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” (1 Co 2:1-5)
A lot is said about Christ in our day, though the biblical preaching of Christ is rare. Even those that declare Christ in doctrine are missing something. Today’s preaching is powerless, so there are conferences that teaches preaching doctrine, expositionally, with more passion, and with more concern. But our text tells us how to preach Christ with power. It is not one, however, that fits easily with the modern evangelism regardless of Arminian or Reformed theology. Paul did not try to use great learning to convince people (v. 1), but instead proclaimed the testimony of God. This testimony of God is about God in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul did more than just preach about the cross itself, but his preaching was the demonstration of the Spirit and of power (v. 4). The reason for verses 1-4 is found in v. 5. Paul wanted the faith of his hearers to rest on the power of God. Do not be deceived, it is possible to be Arminian or Reformed and lead people to a faith that rests on the wisdom of man. One can preach the cross of Christ and still preach in a way that faith will rest on the wisdom of man.
Our text gives important clues as to Paul’s meaning which gives us one reason why the writers of our confessions accented the work of the Holy Spirit in redemption. This teaches us to beware of adhering to doctrine and to our confessions with a faith that rests on the wisdom of men as well. We can get people to intellectually agree to the words of our confessions while they rest on the wisdom of men. We can love our confessions while resting on the wisdom of men. The text tells us that to truly preach Christ is to do it in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” To truly preach Christ, then, is not just to preach facts about Christ, but preach the work of the Spirit purchased by Christ who also applies Christ to sinners. The way Paul preached Christ crucified was to demonstrate how the Holy Spirit applied the work of Christ. This is how Paul pointed to the power of God.
So why is our preaching so weak today? Maybe it is not because we don’t speak of the cross of Christ, but because we are not preaching what Christ has purchased. If we are not preaching and teaching about the fact that Christ purchased the Spirit who applies what Christ purchased, then we are preaching with weakness in our own wisdom. If we are not showing in our preaching how the Spirit applies the work of Christ rather than the will of man himself, then we are appealing to the wisdom and power of man. We will only be faithful to God in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified if we preach the power of God in salvation which is the work of the Holy Spirit on and in sinners who is able “to make them willing in the day of his power.” The text that we have used (I Cor 2:1-5) shows us why the writers of our confessions and catechisms focused so much on the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. It is because they preached Christ and Him crucified in the testimony and power of God. We are weak because we don’t preach Christ fully by demonstrating the Spirit in the power of God.
If the writers of our confessions and catechisms were and are correct, then our day falls far short of preaching Christ crucified because we are not preaching the power of the Spirit in applying the redemption of Christ. One can preach about the Holy Spirit as a genie who works to heal and give people the material things they want. That is not preaching Christ crucified and the power of God in how the Holy Spirit applies redemption. We live in a day where Christianity appears to have been swallowed up by the world. We hear the name of Christ in many places and in many ways and we hear of the Holy Spirit in many ways. But what we don’t hear about is the glorious preaching of Christ crucified in the fullness of its meaning and the power of God. We don’t hear how “the Holy Spirit draws sinners to Himself convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ.” The Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom 1:16), it is not the will of man to salvation. The Gospel is the power of God to take sinners from the clutches of the devil, but it is not just an act of the will but the Spirit working through the words to transform and convert souls. When the Spirit works through the words to convert sinners, it is because the divine power of God in Christ has purchased it. It is also the divine power of God in the Spirit that applies it. Sinners are really converted from being the children of the devil to be the children and temple of the living God by the work of the triune God. Only Christ could purchase and only the Spirit could apply such a glorious conversion. It is nothing short of a different Gospel to preach a gospel that can be applied by the will of man as he pleases.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment