In one sense conversion is the beautiful work of God in taking a soul marred in all of its parts with sin and making it a new creation. It is God taking a soul that has the darkness of the devil going forth from it in its selfishness and pride and making it into a soul that has the light of the glory of God shining forth from it. In this work the might and power of God is seen in taking the soul from the dominion of darkness and translating it into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13). In Colossians 2:15 the cross and salvation are seen as an act of God triumphing over rulers and authorities through Christ. Psalm 110:1 tells us that “The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” This is Yahweh speaking to Adonai and Christ is Adonai. What we have set before us, then, is the work of a King. The true King is King Jesus who is the King of Kings.
We have to work our minds and hearts to fight the modern idea of a weak and almost helpless Jesus in His mildness. No, it is in the great power of a mighty King that He went to the cross and became the Redeemer of souls. But the biblical idea of a Redeemer is one that the King carries out. We looked at some of the Baptist Catechism a few articles ago, but now we want to look at it in a different context. What has to happen to the soul in salvation and what does Christ by His Spirit do to actually accomplish this?
Q 26. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? A. Christ as our Redeemer executeth the offices of a prophet, or a priest, and of king, both in his estate of humiliation and of exaltation.
Q 29. How does Christ execute the office of king? A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling, and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Q 32. 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.
Q 33. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ, in our effectual calling.
Q 34. 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 doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel.
Q 36. What is justification? A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
The progression of the work of salvation is seen in these questions and answers. What we see is that while justification is received by faith alone, yet that is but a small part of the story. The reason behind the great doctrines of justification is that Jesus Christ is acting as King in order to redeem souls. When a soul is truly saved, that is the work of King Jesus in saving that soul. Justification by faith alone is not the work of a human soul in coming up with faith, but instead it is the work of King Jesus in executing His office of King. The soul partakes of the redemption that Christ purchased when Christ applies it to us effectually by His Holy Spirit. The Spirit applies the redemption that was purchased by Christ by working faith in the soul in effectual calling. Notice again that all of this starts with the work of Christ the Redeemer doing this as King.
So far we can easily see that the Baptist Catechism (copy of the 1695 edition) thinks of faith as being the work of the Spirit in applying the salvation purchased by Christ and as the work of His office as King. It then goes on to speak specifically and directly of effectual calling. This effectual calling is what the Holy Spirit does, though indeed this is also the work of Christ the King. The Catechism gives us the steps that King Jesus takes in this work of effectual calling which is carried out by the Holy Spirit. These are steps by which the Spirit persuades and enables the soul to embrace Jesus Christ. First, the Holy Spirit convinces the sinner of sin and misery. Second, He enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ. Third, He renews our wills. It is in these three things that the soul is persuaded and enabled to embrace Christ. These are the things that happen in the soul so that it will receive Christ and believe on Him in justification. When we say that a soul is justified by faith alone, we are looking at the end product of the work of King Jesus by His Spirit Who alone enables souls to embrace Christ.
The problem with the theology and practice of seemingly the vast majority of Americans is that they want the sinner to believe from his own strength and power without speaking of the work of Christ as Redeemer and King. We seem so ready to talk the sinner into believing and acting without giving any real thought to the work of King Jesus in applying His salvation that He has purchased by the Holy Spirit. When we evangelize as if all depended on man rather than the work of the Redeemer, we are not talking about the same salvation or the same Gospel as the one that depends completely on Christ as Redeemer and King. The faith that can be worked up by the power of the human soul is not the same faith that is worked in the soul and applied by the Holy Spirit in applying the redemption of King Jesus. Yes, sinners are justified by faith alone. But that can mean so many different things depending on how it is taken. Our Baptist fathers were very clear as they agreed with the Westminster Divines.
The Baptist Catechism is built on the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Here is a modern wording of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
Q 30. How does the Holy Spirit apply to us the redemption Christ bought? A. The Spirit applies to us the redemption Christ bought by producing faith in us and so uniting us to Christ in our effective calling.
Q 31. What is effective calling? A. Effective calling is the work of God’s Spirit, Who convinces us that we are sinful and miserable, Who enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and Who renews our wills. This is how He persuades and makes us able to receive Jesus Christ, Who is freely offered to us in the gospel.
The updated translation, while the older one is clear, makes things even more clear. The Redemption that Christ accomplished is applied to the sinner by the Holy Spirit in producing faith in us. The production of faith is part of the effectual call. The effectual call, in very clear language in the modern wording, shows us that this is the very way the Spirit persuades and enables people to receive Christ. I am taking pains to point this out (even repetitive?) because this is how the older works on conversion proceed. They labor at getting souls convicted of sin. They labor at getting souls to understand the Gospel and what are the signs of regeneration. These men were not teaching a works of salvation at all, but instead they were teaching the true Gospel of grace. They were not teaching the steps of men to salvation, but instead they were teaching the steps of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of men.
We can now see (as previously mentioned) why Asahel Nettleton was so distraught at the methods of Charles Finney and his followers. It was because Finney and his followers preached of a salvation that Christ had accomplished but did not speak of it as one that He had to apply by His Holy Spirit. Instead, he thought he could convince men by his reasoning and powerful persuasion. We can also see why the evangelism and preaching in our day are so weak. Men preach as if all depended on men though indeed some might give lip service to the Spirit. But it is a very different thing just to speak of salvation as being applied by the Spirit than it is to actually deal with sinners as if the Holy Spirit has to apply salvation to them so that they will not look to themselves but to God who must effectually do these things. If we think of salvation as having to be effectually applied by the Spirit, then if man tries to apply it that will be the ineffectual application of it. If the Spirit has to work with power beyond measure in order to work faith in human souls, then the works of man to come up with his own faith will be weak beyond measure. Romans 1:16 speaks of the Gospel as being the power of God for salvation, but now we teach as if man has power unto his own salvation. The power of the Gospel includes the application of it by the Spirit.
The conversion of souls is by the renewing work and power of God from its accomplishment in the earthly life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the actual application of it to the soul by the work of the Spirit in producing faith in the soul. The soul that is “excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them” (Eph 4:18) cannot give itself spiritual understanding and life from its own spiritually dead self. But instead the steps of the Spirit must take place in that soul. It is not by the works of man, but it is by the works of the living God by the Spirit. The soul must have a true conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit. The soul must have its mind enlightened to the truths of the Gospel by the Spirit. The soul must have faith worked in it by the Holy Spirit. There is no other way and this alone is the application of the Gospel of grace alone. In coming weeks we will be looking at how the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to the soul. In this we will see the Gospel of the power of God in converting souls and bringing His life to them. A converted soul is different than just a soul that believes something in its own power, but a converted soul has had the work of God on and in it so that it is now a temple of the living God with the life of God in its soul. It has, therefore, eternal life because it has the life of God in the soul. It is truly saved.
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