As we have been traversing the waters concerning conviction of sin and its place in conversion many people have been quoted so far. The reason for the multitude of quotes from individuals and confessions is to show that this is how conversion was viewed by the giants of the past who preached and wrote when God was moving in the land. Today it seems as if the majority simply want people to intellectually believe a few things and then to say a prayer or make a commitment. That is directly opposed to the Gospel that was preached and is directly opposite of the teaching that God works in souls to actually convert sinners from being the sons of the devil to children of God. The conviction of sin must not be minimized as only a way to get people to say that they need to be saved, but a true conviction of sin is necessary in order for the person to be broken from pride and self-sufficiency. Scripture tells us that “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psa 34:18).
James Buchanan, the writer of the classic work on justification, has some instructive words for us today:
“Any doctrine, therefore, which excludes the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit in order to our Justification-either by representing faith as a mere intellectual belief, and ascribing it to the natural exercise of our faculties on the truth and its evidence,-or by describing it as the product of man’s free-will, acting spontaneously and without the effectual influence of divine grace,-is at variance with the express teaching of Scripture, and should be rejected, as it was by Augustine, because it does not sufficiently recognize, either the natural depravity of man, or the efficacy of divine grace.”
The contrast that is drawn is the work of the Holy Spirit who is the power of divine grace to work and give the soul true faith and not just a mere intellectual belief or as an exercise of the free-will. We must remember that this is the classic work on justification by faith alone and in it he is showing us how justification can be attained through faith alone and by grace alone. It is only if the Holy Spirit works in the soul through conviction of sin in order to deliver the soul from any hope in itself and look to grace alone to deliver it from sin and hell. The teaching of the Bible on conviction of sin is not superfluous, it is utterly necessary in how the Holy Spirit works in the soul to save it.
The 1689 Baptist Confession and the Baptist Catechism has been quoted several times in past weeks. The quote that follows will be by Benjamin Beddome’s exposition of the Baptist Catechism which was originally written between the years of 1693 and 1695. It is answering question 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 out wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel.” “Are all that are effectually called convinced of sin? Yes…Are they convinced of sin in the heart? Yes…Are they convinced of sin in the life? Yes…Do they see sin to be exceeding sinful? Yes…And exceeding hateful? Yes…And is such a conviction of sin the fruit of the Spirit? Yes…Is such a conviction necessary? Yes…
Beddome, from his exposition, believed that the work of the Spirit in conviction of sin was part of the effectual call. The quote from above is only a small selection of the fuller quote, but he goes on about the types of sin that people are convicted of. He clearly teaches here that all that that are effectually called are convinced of sin. Not only just convinced of sin, but of sin of the heart and life. Not only that, but they see their sin as exceedingly sinful and hateful. That conviction of sin is not a work of the will or the mind, but instead it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Thomas Goodwin, in his work on the Holy Spirit in Salvation, sets out humiliation for sin as a necessity for faith. Not only that, he refers to this as one of the three parts of regeneration. Here is a short quote which is a heading for a chapter: “In which it is proved that to convince us of sin, and to humble us in the sense of it, is the work of the Holy Ghost in converting us to God.” In other words, without taking away all the mystery of regeneration in conversion, he is telling us that in working faith in the soul the Spirit works humiliation for sin in that work. This is very instructive for modern day evangelists. Instead of only trying to convince people of the intellectual truth about Christ, they should use the means of grace toward conviction of sin because that is how faith comes.
Thomas Shepard, a minister in America in the 1600’s and founder of Harvard University, writes in The Sound Believer that there are four acts of Christ’s power in conversion. He says this: “It is true, Christ is applied to us next by faith, but faith is wrought in us that way of conviction and sorrow for sin; no man can or will come by faith to Christ to take away his sins, unless he first see, be convicted of, and loaded with them. Once again we can see the pattern that was prevalent in the older Reformed writers and preachers. It was that faith is worked in the sinner by conviction of sin. It is not that the conviction alone produces faith, but until a person sees his sin and is broken from all hope in himself that person will not come to Christ alone to take away the sins. Until the person is heavy laden with the sins that person will not look to Christ to bear the yoke. Until a person is weary with sin that person will not want Christ to deal with sin. But the work of conviction in the soul by the Spirit shows the sinner his weariness and his burden so that he will want Christ. The work of conviction in the soul breaks the soul from self-righteousness and assists in emptying the soul of its pride. This is a necessary work.
Shepard goes on to show the four acts of Christ’s power in the conversion of sinners. 1) The first act of Christ’s power is conviction of sin. 2) The second act of Christ’s power is compunction (deep sorrow) for sin. 3) The third act of Christ’s power is humiliation or self-abasement. 4) The fourth act of Christ’s power is to work faith in the soul. Notice that these follow the same line of thought as the Confessions in attributing these acts to the power of Christ. The Confessions follow the train of thought from the office of Christ as King. In this way we can see that salvation is by Christ alone and yet includes far more than the cross alone. This is not to denigrate the cross at all, but it shows how Christ as King subdues the heart and makes it His temple.
The doctrine of irresistible grace must be true if salvation is to be by grace alone. If salvation is not by the drawing and working of grace in all of its parts, then something other than grace (human will) has a part in salvation. Part of this drawing of the Spirit is conviction of sin. Sinners do not deserve to be shown the truth of their sin. Sinners deserve to be hardened and given over to darkness. But conviction of sin, when it is done in drawing the sinner to salvation, is the work of grace in working in the sinner to give saving grace. In this work of the Spirit we see the light of grace overpowering the darkness of sin and opening the soul to see its true state. If the sinner simply sees his own sin apart from the work of the Spirit, that is not a work of grace. But the Spirit works in the soul and opens it to see its true state which is a step in overcoming the darkness of that soul. That is a work of grace.
Romans 8:30 points to something very important: “these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified.” All those who receive the call of Romans 8:29-30 are justified. This is one reason why so many used to think of this call as being so powerful. To repeat, all who receive this call are justified. There is something about this call that takes the sinner from being dead in sins and trespasses and brings them to being justified in the sight of God. This also helps us to see why Jesus said that it was such good news or an advantage (John 16:7) that He was leaving and that the Spirit would come and convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11). It was in this context that Jesus said that the Spirit would guide them into all truth. After the Spirit was given we see that the conviction of sin was powerful. In previous newsletters we have looked at Acts 2:37 where the people were pierced in heart and were driven to inquire what they were to do. In Acts 16 we have another case of this: “And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (vv. 29-30). When the Spirit convicts of sin, people begin to fear and to seek how to be saved. When the “evangelist” just tries to tell people intellectual information about Christ to get people to people to say a prayer or profess faith, we can know that way cannot lead to a saving faith by itself. A soul must be convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of grace, then, includes the conviction of sin which is part of the effectual calling of God in bringing sinners to Himself. Sinners do not deserve to have a sight of their sin in this life as the power of sin and the just desert of sin is that it hardens the soul to sin, the holiness of God, and to its own pride. But it is the grace of God to convict them of their sin and use that to show them their helplessness and their utter need of Christ in all ways. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just good news about the bare news of the cross, but it is good news that God can call sinners and bring them to Himself by grace. Repentance and faith are beyond the powers of the natural man and if they are properly instructed they will see that. The good news is that God will draw them to Himself and make them willing and able to believe. Now that is the good news that is of grace alone. “Our object should not be to have scripture on our side but to be on the side of scripture; and however dear any sentiment may have become by being long entertained, so soon as it is seen to be contrary to the Bible, we must be prepared to abandon it without hesitation” (William Symington).
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