God Loves… Himself

In the last newsletter we looked at the conversion of Nicodemus. While there are not a lot of biblical texts that teach about Nicodemus, there is enough to see that he was not a converted man when he went to Christ in John 3. Later on we see that he had a new heart and was willing to suffer the loss of reputation and position for the Messiah. This newsletter will be on some who believed but were not converted. We will also look at more regarding the conversion of Nicodemus. It is necessary to look at things that are not conversion as well as some that are conversion to distinguish between true and false conversion.

23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man (John 2:23-25).

Those are the words of Scripture about many who believed. These words are given to us just before Scripture tells us that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. What we know about many who believed is that they saw the signs (attesting miracles) that Jesus was doing. Their belief came from the fact that they witnessed Jesus doing things that no one else could do. There could be no doubt that the power of God was with Him. Nicodemus admitted as much when he said, in John 3:2, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” We must ask ourselves what the difference is between the type of belief that the many had in John 2 and Nicodemus had in John 3 and then the faith that a saved person has.

So again, the many in Jerusalem believed in Jesus because they saw the signs that He was doing. Some of them even knew and believed that He was a teacher sent from God, but they were not converted people. In their case we can understand this as a person seeing something so convincing that it is a belief that is pressed on the person and cannot be resisted. A person that sees a miracle cannot help but believe something about it if that person is going to be honest. As some did in the ministry of Jesus, however, they can attribute His power to the devil or to demons, but they could not deny that the events occurred. But the human heart is not changed and converted by seeing a miracle. An intellectual belief will happen, but the nature of the heart has not changed.

Several times in Scripture men believed in Jesus but were not true followers because of fear of the Pharisees. John 6 gives us another reason, though it is very tied in with the fear of the Pharisees. In John 6:1-14 Jesus fed five thousand men and who knows how many of their wives, children, and servants were with them. They were so pleased with the free food that they wanted to make Him king by force (v. 15). But Jesus withdrew and went to be alone. His disciples headed out in a boat across the sea (v. 16), but Jesus went across part of the way on foot (v. 19). The next day the crowd went looking for Him and found Him. They asked when He got there in v. 25. Jesus, however, went straight to the real issue. He went to their hearts and why they were looking for Him. “Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (v. 26). A little later in the discussion, they asked Jesus for a sign so that they may believe Him (v. 30). They then mentioned (v. 31) that “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.” In other words, they wanted more free food.

In John 2 many believed in Jesus because of the miracles He was doing. Most likely they were healing miracles. Jesus could do the kind of healings that could not be denied. He could make those blind from birth see and those who could not walk for years to get up and walk. But again, that does not change the heart. The people in John 6 believed Jesus enough to want to make Him king, but we have the words of Jesus telling us that they simply wanted free food. They believed Jesus enough to seek Him, but they sought Him for free food. They wanted Him for totally selfish purposes and not because of who He really was. John 2 tells us that Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, “for He knew all men” and “He Himself knew what was in man” (2:24-25). In John 2 we have people believing Jesus, but He knew what was in them and did not entrust Himself to them. In John 6 He knew what the real desire of the people was and it was for free food. In other words, their hearts were still dead in sins and trespasses. They were not converted people because they believed things about Jesus and wanted things from Jesus, but instead they were still in the bondage of sin. They were lovers of self and not lovers of God.

In Luke 17 we have another miracle of Jesus that could not be denied by those it happened to:

12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 13 and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine– where are they? 18 “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

Ten men with leprosy cried out to Jesus for mercy. All ten appeared to be calling Jesus “Master.” All ten appeared to be crying for mercy. All ten were cleansed of their leprosy as they were on their way to show themselves to the priests as Jesus told them. But only one of the ten, after the healing, glorified God with a loud voice and came and fell on his face at the feet of Jesus. That one was a Samaritan. All ten received what they really wanted. The nine sought Jesus the Master for mercy. They received the mercy that they really wanted. Only the one, however, saw the miracle and came back to Jesus and found what his soul really wanted. He was already physically cleansed from leprosy when he came back to Jesus. But now he is told that his faith had made him well. In other words, the nine received a cleansing that was external, but the one was cleansed in soul as well. The nine undoubtedly believed that they were healed physically and believed in Jesus, but just one had his soul cleansed through faith.

In John 11 we have the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Everybody that saw that event believed that it happened. “Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.

46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. 47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation” (John 11:45-48). Many of the Jews saw what He had done and so they believed in Him. The Pharisees did not deny that He was doing miracles, and so in some way they believed in Him. But their hearts were not changed because they were more concerned with their self-interest than they were with the truth. They were concerned about their self-interests and not about the kingdom of God.

John 11:40 gives the other side: “Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”” One kind of faith saw the glory of God and the other did not. Some saw the resurrection of Lazarus and believed in Jesus in some way. But a few saw the resurrection and they saw the glory of God. Saving faith sees the glory of God and non-saving faith sees the event. Non-saving faith may be excited and see something of the greatness of God, but it does not see the glory of God’s true grace in it. In John 6 we have some seeing the glory of Jesus in receiving free food. But with the disciples they knew that it was only Jesus who had words of eternal life. The ones who believed without conversion saw glory in obtaining free food, but it was glorious only from their self-centered view. Those who were converted saw the glory of God and knew that Christ was the bread of life sent from heaven. The nine who were cleansed from leprosy and did not come back had all from Jesus that they wanted, but the one wanted to be cleansed from his sin as well. But all ten believed that Jesus did miracles.

Nicodemus is vastly different than the groups above. The group from John 2 believed the miracles, but later on Nicodemus saw the glory of God in the miracles. The group from John 6 only came to Jesus with the selfish desire for free food, but Nicodemus loved the Messiah when his senses could see nothing but a dead body. In Luke 17 we see that nine men had no desire for Christ Himself and to be delivered from sin. Instead, all they wanted was to be cleansed from leprosy so they could go on with life, but Nicodemus gave up his way of life to have Christ. In John 11 we see that all will believe if they see one raised from the dead, but only those who truly believe will see the glory of God. Nicodemus saw the glory of God in the Messiah when he gave up his position in going to take care of the body of Jesus. He saw the glory of God in the crucified Messiah and then in the resurrected Messiah. Nicodemus was a man that was born from above. He was no longer the self-centered man who out of fear came at night, but now he was a new creature in Christ. As Jesus taught him, a man must be born from above to see or enter the kingdom. He saw and entered. Nicodemus was a converted man because the faith he had was not centered upon himself. He was a changed man who loved Christ and not himself, and that is what a converted person does.

As we begin to look at the biblical records on conversion, we will simply note a few things to start. It must be stated at the beginning that when a text of Scripture gives us a historical account of a conversion, that is not necessarily all that there is to the story. In other words, a historical account may not give all the doctrines of Scripture on that subject and may just give the bare bones of the facts. This is why, for example, it is certainly biblical to tell someone to repent and believe, but it is not biblical to just leave it there. Other places in the Bible tell us what it means to repent and believe. The first biblical record concerning conversion that we will deal with is Nicodemus. He is a fascinating subject who was and is in the hands of God.

John 3:1 – “Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ 3 Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ 4 Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?’ 5 Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again. ‘ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'”

Nicodemus was quite probably very aware of Jesus from His cleansing the Temple (John 2:14-20) and the miracles or signs that He did during Passover (John 2:23). Many believed when they saw those, but the text indicates that they were not truly converted when it says that Jesus “was not entrusting Himself to them” (John 2:24). But at least one man saw the signs and recognized something very different here. When this man, who was a leader among the Pharisees and the Jews, came to Jesus he said this: “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). This leader came to what would have been for him an educated man and yet called him “Rabbi.” He saw the signs that Jesus had been doing and he knew that this man was sent from God.

Jesus, however, was not awed by the attention focused on Him by this religious and political leader, but instead went to the real issue of this man’s heart. This man, as a very religious Jew at that time, would have trusted in his birth, his keeping of the law, and perhaps his status in life. But Jesus went straight to the issue of the need for a new heart even in this very religious man. Jesus did not tell the man that he needed to pray a prayer or make a decision. He did not tell the man that he needed to make a moral reformation. He did not tell the man to do anything at all. He did not limit himself to direct language that he must repent and believe. What He told the man was that He must be born from above (again) or he could not even see the kingdom of God. He told him in clear terms what must happen to him and told him that it was the Spirit who must change him.

The Jewish people at that time were waiting for someone to come and defeat their enemies. They were looking for a military leader and one that would bring the restoration of the kingdom of God much like it was during the time of David and Solomon. We can assume that Nicodemus saw the signs that Jesus did and wondered if He was the man who was to establish the kingdom once again in Israel. But Jesus went to the man’s heart and the true nature of the kingdom which is spiritual. Clearly Jesus as Messiah came to set up a kingdom and as King He would reign over it, but the kingdom that He came to set up was an inward kingdom. “And He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father– to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev 1:6).

The meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus is one that has massive ramifications for the way we evangelize and view conversion. The older Reformed writers did not push people to make a decision or to pray a prayer, but instead they told them that they must be born from above. George Whitefield, the great eighteenth century evangelist, preached on the new birth over and over. People are born with sinful natures and hearts and they must have a new nature and a new heart to truly be saved. People are born spiritually dead and they must be spiritually born if they are to have true life which comes through Christ and is by the Spirit.

The promise of the Gospel is that God will give a person a new heart which is seen in the New Covenant: “I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE” (Heb 8:10). The writing of the law on the heart is the work of the Spirit. For a person that sees the plague of his heart and the desperate wickedness of it, salvation is not good news unless it includes being saved from a sinful heart. For the person that loves God, salvation is not good news apart from receiving a new heart and the Spirit pouring out the love of God in that new heart. For the person that loves holiness and hates sin, salvation is not good news apart from being delivered from a sinful heart and receiving a heart that is conducive to holiness. The act of God in giving a new heart is part of the really good news of the Gospel of grace. It includes making a person a new creature. The Gospel of grace is not limited to delivering a person from hell, but it delivers a person from the cause of hell which is sin. If a person could go to heaven with a sinful heart that person would hate heaven. If a person went to hell with a new heart hell would no longer be hell. Hardened sinners will say a prayer in order to escape hell because they love themselves, but a person who has his heart broken and sees that sin is a wicked and vile thing has a desire to be delivered from his own heart.

The biblical record concerning Nicodemus is scant. We know that the chief priests and Pharisees were speaking against Jesus and Nicodemus (“being one of them”) said this: “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” (John 7:51). In this we see something going on in the heart of Nicodemus. He came to Jesus in the darkness the first time, but now he is defending Jesus (just a little) in front of others. Scripture tells us that many of the rulers believed in Him but were afraid of the Pharisees. “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue” (John 12:42). This was a powerful motive in the religious and political world during the time of Jesus on earth. They still thought in terms of clean and unclean as set out in the Old Testament. They still thought in terms of theocratic rule, though they were ruled over by the Romans. To be kicked out of the synagogue meant to be separated from the forgiveness and favor of God and to be a social outcast.

Later on in the book of John (19:37-41) we have more on Nicodemus: “And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.” 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. 39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.”

The small amount of teaching on Nicodemus does not leave a lot of room for making deductions, but it does leave some room. This is especially true in light of other Scriptures. What we do see is a tremendous change in the heart of Nicodemus. He went from visiting Jesus after dark (John 3) to asking a question before the chief priests and the Pharisees in sort of a defense of Jesus (John 7). He then went to take the body of Jesus after His death by crucifixion in order to bury it (John 19). He came out in the open to take the body of Jesus and make sure that it received proper treatment. This is a sign of a new heart. John 5:44 gives evidence of this: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” Nicodemus had been turned from desiring glory from the leaders of the people to being one that sought to do what was right out of love for God. As long as men seek glory from each other, it is a sign that they are still in the grip of a selfish heart. But Nicodemus appears to have had a new heart so that now he loved Christ more than the applause of men. He now loved Christ more than he loved the world and the honors the world gives.

Jesus declared that a mark of discipleship was to deny self, pick up the cross, and to follow Him. Nicodemus became willing to do that. He became like Paul who viewed his former life as a Pharisee as rubbish compared to having Christ (Phil 3:1-11). What we have, then, is the story of a converted man. We can see that he believed because he turned his back on the glory he could have received from men. He believed (had faith) because he chose to deny self and take up his cross (the ridicule of men) in order to follow a dead Messiah. The one who came in darkness out of the fear of men now loves Christ and is willing to accept ridicule for a dead Messiah. That is a sign of one who now sees and has entered the kingdom. Jesus taught Nicodemus about the need of a new heart and then gave him one. Conversion, as seen in Nicodemus, is to be born again and to be turned from self to Christ.

The effect of the Spirit’s work in conversion is enormous. If we could chart the distinctions and contrasts between those that say that faith is an act of the will or a prayer and then the Bible’s teaching of the Spirit’s work in conversion, the contrast and differences would be great. Next week, if things go as planned, we will begin to look at conversions that Scripture records. But this week we will look at the nature of conversion by its effects.

1. Scripture reaches us that a truly converted soul is one that is united to Christ. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (I Cor 12:13). The one joined to Christ is married to Christ and is part of the Church which is the body of Christ (Eph 5:22-33). An intellectual choice or an act of the will cannot join a sinner to Christ.

2. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul lives by that union with Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This is the work of the Spirit and is not in the power of the intellect or will.

3. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is one that is in communion (intimate knowledge of) with God through Jesus Christ. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (I John 5:20). Eternal life is to live in intimate communion with God through Christ. It is to know God which is to have Christ in the soul and the soul to be in Christ.

4. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul has the love of God shed abroad in the soul and actually has the God of love abiding in it. “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom 5:5). “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I John 4:16). The soul that has been truly converted is united to Christ and so the love of God for the Son also goes to those who are united to Him and married to Him. It is not just that the converted soul receives something, but the soul receives love Himself.

5. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is a new creature in Christ Jesus. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (II Corinthans 5:17). “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:15). In conversion the Spirit makes the unbelieving sinner into a new creation. It is not just an act of the intellect or an act of the will; it is the Spirit making the sinner into something that is new. It is a new creation. As II Corinthians 13:5 teaches, the old things have passed away but new things have come. This is real change.

6. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is now a new creature of faith that loves. Faith is not just the work of the intellect or the act of the will, but it is the act of the renewed soul and the whole renewed soul. “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:15). “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). These are parallel passages using the same language. Both passages say that it is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, but each passage says something different about what matters. But is it really different? 6:15 says that what matters is a new creation. 5:6 says that what matters is faith working through love. We can put the two together and say that a soul that is a new creation is a soul that has faith working through love. In other words, a soul that is a new creation is a believing soul. Conversion, then, is when the Spirit changes the soul from deadness in unbelief to one of life in faith and that life is Christ and consists in love and love is the fulfillment of the law. The soul that is a new creation is a believing soul. The soul is converted when the Spirit creates a believing soul in Christ and that is a new creation.

7. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is one that is born from above and of the Spirit. “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”…5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:3, 5, 6). No human can just have an intellectual belief nor come up with an act of the will to cause him or herself to be born from above. This is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit.

8. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is the temple of the living God. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (I Corinthians 6:19). “Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE” (II Corinthians 6:16). “In whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:21-22). In conversion the Lord takes a soul and takes away what is evil and cleanses it so that He may dwell in it. The Lord does not just dwell in temples made by human hands, but in temples of souls that are from His hand and are new creations.

9. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is one that has been reconciled to God. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom 5:10). Reconciliation is only possible when the nature of a sinner has been changed from one having enmity with God to one that has love for God. The glory of God shines in that it takes sinners who had nothing but enmity toward Him and reconciles them in love. “Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:22). This is through and by Christ, not the human intellect or will.

10. Scripture teaches that a truly converted soul is a child of God. God starts the work of conversion with sinners who are children of the devil. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father…Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (I John 3:8-10). Surely it is clear that it is the work of God to take one that is a child of the devil by nature and is in slavery in darkness to change that person to a child of light and a child of God. “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13). It is God who rescues and transfers sinners.

This has not an exhaustive list, but it serves to show the enormity of true conversion and how it is beyond the act of man. The enormity of what it takes to convert the soul shows that it is the work of the living and infinite God. The work of conversion is so far beyond what a human soul can do it that it is obvious that it has to be the work of God. The effects of conversion absolutely militate against any human being having an ability, whether in the mind or will, to do any one of these things much less all of them. The effects of conversion put on display the glory of the grace of God in saving sinners apart from anything found in them. The effects of conversion are the fingerprints of God on and in the soul and must not be confused with the work of human beings.

The effects of conversion show that it is not an act of faith which saves the sinner as such, but it shows that a regenerated soul is a believing soul. Faith is not just one act of the soul, but it is the state of a soul that is now a new creation in Christ Jesus. When Adam and Eve fell they fell into spiritual death and into a state and nature of unbelief. They were full of self and pride. All who are born of a human father and mother, as all other than Christ are, are born dead in sins and trespasses. It takes God to create a new and living soul which is a believing soul. No act of intellectual belief and no act of the will can make a believing soul, that is, a living soul. It is God that takes dead sinners and makes them new creatures that can share in His divine nature (II Peter 1:4) which is Christ in you the hope of glory (Col 1:27). The glory of God shines in it and to try to share in this is like Uzzah touching the ark.

If it is true, as the Bible, the older Confessions and Catechisms teach us, that sinners must be convicted of sin and receive new hearts; then why is it the case that this is so ignored in the modern day? Jesus taught that all must be turned and become as children to even enter the kingdom (Matthew 18:3). He also taught that the one who was humbled as a little child would be the greatest in the kingdom (Matthew 18:4). But again, why are these things so ignored today? Could it be that our very standards of orthodoxy are hiding these things from our eyes? The Pharisees had also developed a standard of orthodoxy that hid the truth from their eyes as well.

The standards of orthodoxy today have redefined justification by faith alone so that it is thought that conviction of sin is to add a work. But as has been shown in previous articles, that is not what the older Confessions and Catechisms teach us. In fact, they taught that conviction of sin is part of how the grace of God draws sinners to salvation. We have also swallowed whole the modern teaching that if we preach on sin too much we will run people away. We even say that we must preach Christ rather than pound people over their sin. It may be true that we are not to pound people over their sin, but that is far different than preaching on sin in the heart so that men and women will be deeply convicted of their sin in a way that can be used by the Spirit to draw them to Christ.

Expository preaching can also stand in the way of preaching on sin in a way that produces conviction of sin. Expository preaching can be an excuse for some not to preach on sin (“I preach the text”) while for others it may simply hide the issue. This happens when we are so interested in the text, what the words mean, and the context that we preach the text and never get to a real meaning of the text. Underneath each text the glory of God and the sinfulness of man are always there. It is not just that they are underneath, but in fact the glory of God in Christ is always the main point. If we are missing the main point of the glory of God in Christ, then we are going to miss man’s sin which is in opposition to God. Whatever else we are doing, if we are going to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it has been historically understood we must preach about the sin of human beings. If we have defined justification by faith alone in a way that gets in the way of preaching on sin, then we need to repent. If we have drawn back from preaching on sin because of fear that it will run people away, then we must repent. If our style of expository preaching has kept us from preaching on sin to the heart of sinners, then we must repent.

One way that God brought judgment on Israel was to give it priests and prophets who would not preach on sin. When external sin is not exposed, people go on in external sin. When internal sin is not exposed, people go on in internal and external sin. Listen to the words of Ezekiel 3:25 in the context of not preaching on sin: “As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. 26 “Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house.” What a judgment on the nation when God made the tongue of the prophet stick to his mouth so he could not rebuke them. They were a rebellious house and part of their punishment was to have a prophet that could not rebuke them. We can preach justification by faith alone and do that by expository preaching, and yet if we do not reach the heart of sinners with the news of their sin we have not truly declared the truth of who God is and of who man is in light of that.

Hear the words of Jeremiah: “How shall I admonish you? To what shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you as I comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea; Who can heal you? 14 Your prophets have seen for you False and foolish visions; And they have not exposed your iniquity So as to restore you from captivity, But they have seen for you false and misleading oracles?” (Lamentations 2:13). When a positive form of Christianity is preached it is nothing different from the Old Testament prophets who preached false and foolish visions. When they did that, they did not expose the iniquity of the people. They preached a positive message that the people wanted to hear but they did not preach what God commanded and so the people were left in bondage. The same thing is true today. People are in bondage to their sin and the devil and we have “preachers” who will not deal with the sinful hearts of the people. Instead they say soothing things of how much God loves them and not mention the sin. But as long as they do not expose the sin and tell people of true repentance, the people will remain in bondage to their sins. Sure they may hang around and tithe as long as the “preacher” declares soothing things, but that is not what the Lord commands. This is not conducive to conversion.

The prophet Jeremiah gives us the words of God on this: “But if they had stood in My council, Then they would have announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds” (23:22). A preacher is to be one that declares the words of God. But the Word of God tells us that sinners are born dead in sins and trespasses and that they must have new hearts. The Word of God tells us that sinners have proud and stubborn hearts. It tells us that all men are given over to pride and sin and that all fall short of His glory. We are also told that men must repent or they will perish. The teaching and preaching on sin is not an option if we are going to listen to the council of God and declare His words to the people. If we are to be faithful to the Word of God in terms of preaching the Gospel to the unsaved and the saved alike, we must deal with the sin of the hearts of people. We must preach in a way that brings conviction of sin if the Spirit is pleased to do so. How are the churches going to be salt and light if it does nothing but preach the positive things?

When preachers will not preach on sin and on sin in such a way that opens the hearts of people to themselves, they are not just shirking their duty, but they are encouraging the wicked as Ezekiel 13:22 tells us: “Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life.” Perhaps the hearts of the people are not reached because the hearts of preachers have not been reached. Perhaps the hearts of people are not opened because the hearts of the preachers have not been opened. Perhaps the people don’t want the sins of their hearts opened to them and the preacher does not want the sin of his heart opened either. If the sin of the heart is not opened up then the wicked are encouraged not to turn from their wicked ways. It is hard to hear, but it could be that a major problem in our nation is that preachers are encouraging the wicked in their sin. The problem is perhaps not so much with the world but with the professing Church that is not doing its duty to expose sin from the pulpit.

While this particular series is on conversion, we are not far off the path of that subject. What happens when preachers do not try to expose the heart of sinners to themselves? What happens when the message of the Gospel is close to orthodox but not quite there? What happens when preachers preach expository messages but do not get to the hearts of sinners in exposing their sin? It leads to the same situation that Jeremiah speaks about: “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9 “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, 10 then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’– that you may do all these abominations?” (7:8-10). When we cast the Ten Commandments aside and simply preach what we call “a simple Gospel” or “a simple message of Christ,” we are causing people to trust in deceptive words. If we are not preaching the nature of sin when we preach what we think is the Gospel, then we are providing ways for people to break the commandments and to follow idols and then come to church and say that “we are delivered.”

Apart from a true conviction of sin and a true conversion of soul people are left in the pews with something very close to an orthodox message of the Gospel, will not hear much of sin, but they hear expository sermons that are filled with historical references, good illustrations, catchy stories, and a lot about what words mean. But their hearts are left untouched and so they are able to steal in legal ways, murder in their hearts, commit adultery in their hearts before their computers and magazines, and offer sacrifices to other gods (greed and the love of money are idolatry) while smiling on Sunday morning and thinking that they are saved. As long as people say a prayer and make a relatively orthodox profession, we assume that God has saved them. They are trusting in deceptive words and the deceptive words are those of preachers. The nation of Israel was led astray and left in its sin by its priests and prophets and the professing Church has been led astray and left in its sin by its preachers and its scholars.

What is the only real answer even in this very dark hour? What must be done? Isaiah 58:1 points the way: “Cry loudly, do not hold back; Raise your voice like a trumpet, And declare to My people their transgression And to the house of Jacob their sins.” We need to think again about what the orthodox Gospel and conversion really are. We have turned from what was taught in Scripture and history. We have to think again about preaching God’s glory and on sin even if people leave. We will have to think again about what true preaching is. Expository preaching can be a method of avoiding the truth and hiding behind the words of the Bible. The only real answer is to be broken in heart before God and to return to His methods and His words. The Word of God must be preached to the hearts of sinners so that they will see their wickedness and their sin. We must get back to preaching what true conversion is and leave the results to God. We must listen and bow to God rather than the polls and the “experts.”

In past weeks Confessions and Catechisms have been quoted many times. The point has been to show that this is what has been taught by those who wrote the major Confessions and Catechisms in history. The point is that this view is neither a new view nor an extreme point of view. It is simply what has been taught by both Baptists and Presbyterians in history. While it may be the majority (even vast majority) view today that a person must come to a point to make a choice or to have an intellectual belief in a stated view, that was not the majority view in history. In fact, in history it was considered to be a dangerous view if someone taught that a person must simply make a choice or to have an intellectual belief about some facts of the Gospel. It used to be taught that a person must be deeply convicted of sin as the way the Holy Spirit brought a person to faith and conversion.

This week’s article may be somewhat on the offensive side for some. However, the effort is to point to the fact that it is the Holy Spirit that converts sinners. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts people of sin and it is the Holy Spirit who regenerates and renews sinners. A sinner will not and cannot come to Christ in his or her own power. Christ taught us a very important truth if we are willing and able to listen: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me” (John 6:44-45).

What does it mean to be taught of the Father? After Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God in Matthew 16:17, “Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” One part of the teaching that the Father does is to reveal spiritual truths. It is the inward teaching of God in the soul that we must recognize and even seek. This was, after all, what Paul prayed for in Colossians 1:9: “we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” There is a spiritual wisdom and a spiritual understanding that God alone can teach. He teaches spiritual things by the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

2:7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

This is not some hyper-mysticism, but it is simply recognition of the undeniable fact that Scripture speaks of an internal teaching that no man can do. But there is also another side that must be pointed at. It is the nature of the call of Christ to sinners. A lot of ink and perhaps blood has been spilled on this issue. Some say that the call to come to Christ is to be issued to each and every person without distinction. Others say that the call to come to Christ has some distinctions or qualifications set out in Scripture. What is to be our guide and how are we to come to a decision on this matter? The motive of even approaching this subject, though it will not be given a thorough treatment, is simply to show the importance of striving with men and women and being used as means to convict them of sin as a priority. While it is true that the Holy Spirit’s work is to convict them of sin, it is also the work of human beings to be used of the Holy Spirit in that work. While we carry the external message, we must pray that the Spirit would apply the internal message and even point sinners to the work of the Spirit.

Mark 2:17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

The two verses given above show us that there are some people that Jesus did come to call and some that He did not come to call. This is what is hard and perhaps offensive to some, so let me set it out that we are to preach repentance to each and every person. We are to preach the truth of who God is to each and every person. We are to tell each and every person the way of salvation. But what we must also understand is that Jesus specifically tells us that He did not come to call anyone but sinners. That is perhaps something that may be hard for some to swallow, but that is the clear teaching of those texts. We must not understand that as a way that prohibits the declaration of the Gospel to each and every person, but it must instruct us on the way we are to teach and preach the Gospel. If Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners, then we must be at work showing people that they are sinners.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

The previous two verses should also instruct us in our views of conversion and evangelism. Jesus calls all those who are weary and heavy-laden to come to Him and that He would give them rest. A person that is not weary of sin does not want rest from his or her sin, but simply wants to get out of hell. The person that comes to Christ must not just know about sin, but be weary and heavy-laden with sin. This is pictured for us by John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress. Sin was pictured as a large burden on a man’s back and which only fell off when the man knelt at the cross. The Holy Spirit has to convict sinners of their sin and show them what sin really is for them to see and feel sin as a burden. Until the Holy Spirit convicts a sinner of sin and gives understanding of what it is, the sinner may know that sin is wrong to some degree but simply go on in it. But when the Spirit has worked on that sinner, sin is no longer a pleasure but has become a burden. The sinner now understands sin to be a bondage and slavery. The sinner now sees that sin is not just a decision; it is part of the sinner’s nature. Sin is not just something that can be cast off with a mere decision; it is something that takes the Divine power to do so.

In the New Testament we don’t have a lot of people just making intellectual decisions about Christ. We have people pleading with the Apostles to tell them what to do in order that they may be saved. We don’t see that in our day because we don’t see people being brought under deep conviction of sin. We don’t see that in our day because at the slightest hint that a person sees his or her sin we stop working on their hearts about sin. But what we must understand is that many times a person needs to come to deeper and deeper points of conviction. It is also true that a person under conviction will begin to make excuses for sin which shows that s/he needs a deeper conviction. After all, Romans 3:19 tells us one purpose of the law: “so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.” True conviction has only reached its appointed goal when the mouth of the sinner has been shut except to confess that God is righteous and just to do with him or her as God pleases.

We have Jesus calling sinners who were weary and burdened of their sin to Himself and we have Jesus calling those who were thirsty to Himself. Those who were thirsty were those who thirsted for eternal life. The context teaches us this. Souls who are weary of sin not only want to be relieved of the burden of sin, but they want life. This has also been pictured to us by Bunyan who pictures the man running from the things of the world with his fingers in his ears crying out for eternal life. The soul that has been taught the things of God knows that it must have Christ to deliver it from the burden of sin but that it must have the Holy Spirit to give it life. A soul that is deeply convicted and burdened with sin cannot imagine giving itself life, but instead it knows that the Spirit blows as He pleases (John 3:3-8). A soul that is deeply convicted and burdened with sin longs to be freed from the bondage of a sinful nature and thirsts for a new heart.

The doctrine of conversion is not just something we need to hear about and then go on in our religious ways; it is something that should deeply influence all that we do. It should teach us that we start by grace alone and that we can only continue each moment by grace alone. It should teach us that in evangelism we are to teach sinners in a way that they know that it is by the grace of God that sinners can have their burdens taken away and to be given a new heart. It should teach us that we are to preach to each and every person but that the way we are to do that is to seek for men, women, and children to be deeply convicted of sin. That is, after all, what the Bible teaches.

There can be no question that in conversion the soul has to be regenerated. The explicit and clear words of Jesus are that a human soul must be born again (from above) before it can see or enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3-8). His words in the same passage about the same event are that a person must be born of the Spirit. For some reason in the past century and a half or so the main message of evangelism has increasingly put the weight upon a human act or will rather than the act of God in salvation. Was this change driven by theology or for measurable results? The Gospel has been under attack since God’s promise of it as a curse on Satan in Genesis 3:15. The words of God have been under attack since the Serpent brought doubt to Eve in the Garden. The Gospel has been under attack and is still under attack. It is not always a frontal attack, but it is usually by subtle means as the father of these attacks was subtle in the Garden in his efforts to deceive Eve. The evil one does not have to deny that there is a Gospel in order to work a little poison in the mix and deceive large numbers of people.

We have been focusing on the activity of the Spirit in convicting souls in His work in converting the soul. But it is also the Spirit that renews and regenerates the soul. Titus 3 is one place that gives us this glorious teaching.

“When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

This text rings with clarity and beauty. It is by the kindness of God our Savior and His love that souls are saved. Souls are not saved on the basis of any deed or deeds which they have done. If some insist that a soul is saved because of an act of faith or an act of the human will, they cannot show that from Titus 3:4-7. The text explicitly says what the basis for salvation is not on the basis of deeds done in righteousness. If an act of faith is not done in righteousness, then it is an act of unrighteousness. If an act of faith is an unrighteous act, then how could it move God to save sinners? The text then gives us the true basis for salvation. God saves according to His mercy. The only basis for salvation in this text is mercy and love of God. Then the text tells us that mercy saves by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. How and why is the Holy Spirit given? He is poured out upon “us” through Jesus Christ. So we know how. Then the text gives us the why or the reason for it all: “so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Here is a glorious message of grace. The grace of God is what justifies sinners. Romans 3:24 says the same thing: “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Justification is by grace alone. This grace of God takes the soul and actually changes it. God’s mercy takes the unbelieving soul and washes it in regeneration and renews it by the Holy Spirit. It is done that way so that a sinner can be justified by grace and when one is justified by grace then one is an heir according to the hope of eternal life. When the soul has been regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit and justified by grace, then the sinner has the hope of eternal life. But notice again, there is no language of any basis for salvation in the text other than what God does according to His mercy, love, and grace. The choice of man and the will of man are not objects of hope and do not give us a basis for salvation at all. The work of regeneration in the soul is our hope because that brings eternal life.

What follows are quotes from a great little work on Decisional Regeneration by Jay Adams published in 1972.

“Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God. It is not a work of man. It is not something that man does but something God does. The new birth is a change wrought in us, not an act performed by us…The history of the Christian Church has seen many errors concerning the new birth. These teachings depart from Scripture by attributing to man the ability to regenerate himself. When these false concepts of man and the new birth are adopted, churches soon become corrupted with false practices.

Few controversies were so heated as the one over Baptismal regeneration. C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), the most prolific preacher of that century, had printed in 1864 more copies of his sermon denouncing Baptismal Regeneration than of any other sermon. Baptismal Regeneration teaches that the new birth is conveyed by the waters of baptism. The sacrament is performed by man and is in his control.

But the twentieth century Church has, in “Decisional Regeneration,” a more subtle falsehood to combat. “Decisional Regeneration” differs from Baptismal Regeneration only in the fact that it attaches the certainty of the new birth to a different act. This doctrine, just as Baptismal Regeneration, sees the new birth as the result of a mechanical process than can be performed by man. What is here called “Decisional Regeneration” has in its deceptive way permeated much of the Christian Church…The practice of “Decisional Regeneration” needs exposed in order to save men from the damning delusion that because they have “decided” or “signed a card,” they are going to heaven and are no longer under the wrath of God….Regeneration has thereby been reduced to a procedure which man performs. How differently did Jesus Christ deal with sinners. He did not have any instant salvation process…Mr. Murray has pointed out the fact that on the basis of this counseling “a man may make a profession without ever having his confidence in his own ability shattered; he has been told absolutely nothing of his need of a change of nature which is not within his own power, and consequently, if he does not experience such a radical change, he is not dismayed. He was never told it was essential so he sees no reason to doubt whether he is a Christian.

Robert Dabney, one of the great theologians of the nineteenth century, made some very penetrating observations concerning the disillusionment of people that have been counseled for a decision. Some of these individuals, he said, “feel that a cruel trick has been played upon their inexperience by the ministers and friends of Christianity in thus thrusting them, in the hour of their confusion, into false positions, whose duties they do not and cannot perform, and into sacred professions which they have been compelled shamefully to repudiate….They may keep their hostility to themselves in the main; because Christianity now ‘walks in her silver slippers;’ but they are not the less steeled against all saving impressions of the truth.” “Decisional Regeneration” does not bring men to Christ any more than does Baptismal Regeneration. It is true that some are converted under such preaching, but this is in spite of the false methods used, not because of them. The Bible is clear in its declaration that only by the Spirit of God can men be born again. True repentance and faith are the acts of regenerated men, not of men dead in sins (Eph. 2:1, 5)…The apostles taught that God saves His elect through the foolishness of preaching. All new methods devised by man can only fall far short of this ordained means of converting the sinner. The Church must forsake its carnal inventions and once again be guided by the teaching of Scripture if it is to expect God to bless its efforts and multiply its harvest.

J.H. Merle d’Aubigne (1794-1872) in his history of the Reformation in England states that “to believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the Church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism.” One of the greatest American theologians, Charles Hodge (1797-1878), also points out the danger of this teaching. “No more soul-destroying doctrine could well be devised than the doctrine that sinners can regenerate themselves, and repent and believe just when they please…As it is a truth both of Scripture and of experience that the unrenewed man can do nothing of himself to secure his salvation, it is essential that he should be brought to a practical conviction of that truth. When thus convicted, and not before, he seeks help from the only source whence it can be obtained.”…What a glorious doctrine is the new birth to the helpless sinner! May the Church return to the biblical doctrine so that it may evangelize again to the glory of God.”

Despite the religious rhetoric and orthodox language in our day, things are even worse today than they were in the days of the writers mentioned by Adams. We hardly hear a peep today against decisional regeneration today. It is in our churches cloaked in orthodox language, yet it is there. Men cannot truly repent and believe unless they are born again. Why don’t we explain that to people so they won’t believe that their choice for Christ will save them? Evangelism programs have inundated our churches based on the will of sinners and not of God giving them new hearts. Instead of that, we are told to talk to people and get them to the point of making a decision or praying a prayer. Even if a person professes to be Reformed, if that person evangelizes in a way where conversion is thought to be partly of man, then as d’Aubigne said, it “is worse than Pelagianism.” As Charles Hodge points out, this is a soul-destroying doctrine. As Dabney pointed out, this steels men against all saving impressions of the truth. As Mr. Murray said “a man may make a profession without ever having his confidence in his own ability shattered; he has been told absolutely nothing of his need of a change of nature which is not within his own power.”

Do we really believe in a Gospel that is the power of God for salvation? Do we really believe the words of Jesus that men must be born again and that this happens as the Spirit wills? Do we really believe that men are justified by grace alone? Do we really believe that men are dead in their sins and have no ability to make a new heart for themselves? If they are not awakened to the fact that they are dead, can they really see their need for a new heart and a new nature? It could be that our very orthodoxy today has been mixed with what has come from Finney and so our hearts are chilled from understanding the Gospel of grace from eternity past to the way sinners are brought Christ by the Spirit. Regardless of the methods that have been invented and practiced by men, in some way sinners must know that they are dead in their sins and that they are utterly helpless under the wrath of God and that they need Him to give them life. He only gives life based on grace and nothing they can do. Are we in the death grip of a Pelagian captivity as R.C. Sproul once said? All the signs point to the fact that he was and is correct.

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).

In the most recent newsletters we have been looking at conviction of sin. This is a matter that is perhaps of some dispute, but in past days it was no dispute. If one thought of conversion as God’s work (whether quick or slow) and that the Holy Spirit takes the soul from its deadness in sin, it appears self-evident that it would start with a period of conviction to bring the soul to a realization of its sin and its need of a Savior. But, as in the modern day, when faith is thought of as an intellectual agreement or assent to some degree to a set of facts, then conviction is not thought of as necessary. Once again let me quote from Chapter 7 of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.

“It pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace, wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.”

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. (Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English)

Solomon Stoddard, the grandfather of Jonathan Edwards, wrote A Guide to Christ. The purpose was to teach ministers how to guide seeking souls to Christ. We need to hear some of his very solemn warnings in our day.

“The work of regeneration being of absolute necessity unto salvation, it greatly concerns ministers especially, in all ways possible, to promote the same; and in particular that they guide souls aright who are under a work of preparation. There are some who deny any necessity of the preparatory work of the Spirit of God in order to a closing with Christ. This is a very dark cloud, both as it is an evidence that men do not have the experience of that work in their own souls, and as it is a sign that such men are utterly unskillful in guiding others who are under this work. If this opinion should prevail in the land, it would give a deadly wound to religion. It would expose men to think of themselves as converted when they are not.

If men understand that there is a work of humiliation before faith, then, if they get some common affections (love, sorrow, delight, yes, and a common faith too), they will say that these are not of the right kind; for men must see the plague of their own hearts, their helplessness, and that they are like the clay in the hand of the potter before they come to Christ, and so will be afraid and be searching themselves. But if they do not know of any necessity of preparation, they will take the first appearance of holiness for holiness; and, if they find religious affections in themselves, they will grow confident that God has wrought a good work in them. It would, likewise, expose them to bolster up others in false confidence.

A man who knows there must be a work of preparation will be careful how he encourages others that they are in Christ. He will inquire how God has made way for their receiving of Christ; but another who is a stranger to it will be ready to take all for gold that glitters and, if he sees men religiously disposed, will be speaking peace to them. He will be like the false prophets saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. So men will be hardened. It is a dismal thing to give men sleepy notions and make them sleep the sleep of death.

The truth of this opinion is much to be suspected from what has been left on record to the contrary by Arthur Hildersham, William Perkins, John Dodd, Richard Sibbes, Daniel Dyke, John Ball, John Preston, Thomas Hooker, Thomas Shepard, John Norton, and others of the like stamp, whose judgment in matters of this nature outweighs the judgment of thousands of others, though otherwise learned men. But, besides this, there is a great deal of light in the Word of God in this matter.”

What this quote from Stoddard does, in light of the Westminster and the 1689 Baptist Confessions, is give us how the older writers viewed this issue. Stoddard could have listed many more, but he only gave us a representative few. This is in no way a form of works for salvation, but is simply saying how the Holy Spirit persuades and makes souls able to receive Christ as the Confessions say. Again, if salvation is thought to be simply coming to an intellectual agreement or an act of the will to Christ, then this conviction will be seen as works. But here we have a united testimony of those used of God telling us that souls must go through a work of conviction and humiliation before they come to faith. It would seem that if we could understand the drastic difference of methods and of the Gospel itself that Charles Finney brought in during the 1800’s it would chill us to think that our modern methods may be more like his than the Gospel that God used during the great revivals of the past.

Finney did not believe in a thorough conviction of sin in which the soul was broken from its pride and self, but instead he pressured the soul to come to a decision. This method would be included in Stoddard’s dark cloud. He saw this as so serious that he said that “if this opinion should prevail in the land, it would give a deadly wound to religion. It would expose men to think of themselves as converted when they are not.” We live in a day where the churches are filled with the unconverted who think they are converted and so that opinion has prevailed. Could there be a link between those two things and so Stoddard was right? Could it be that because Finney’s method prevailed in our land a deadly wound has been given to religion? Is it not evident when we simply ask people if they believe facts (the devil does) rather than seeing if Christ is in them? Christianity is not just a matter of getting people to pray prayers and assent to a few facts; it is about the life of God living in the souls of human beings.

God tells us repeatedly in the Bible that the proud in heart are an abomination and that He opposes them. It is only the humble that receive grace. Can we, then, be honest in looking at the Gospel and think that God does not humble the pride of man so that the soul will receive Christ by grace alone? Can we honestly think that God saves the proud without saving them from their pride? The proud heart is nothing but an idol factory and does all for the great idol of self. The heart with pride cannot believe as pride and faith cannot dwell in the same heart (Hab 2:4). For a heart to truly repent it must repent of its pride and once that has happened it is a humbled soul. We know that Scripture teaches us that there are a few things that are impossible for God to do. It is impossible for God to lie and it is impossible for God to change. For God to save a proud person while they are still in their pride is for God to lie and for Him to have changed. It is impossible for God to save a proud soul apart from Him changing His nature and being opposite of what He has said. A saved soul is a soul that God dwells in and a soul that God has poured out His love in. A soul must be convicted of its sin and it must be humbled in order for those things to happen.

A few newsletters ago (Conversion 29-30) the conviction of sin from Acts 2:37 was discussed. That text describes conviction of sin as being “pierced to the heart.” The word for pierce is the same word used in John 19:34 when a soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a spear. A true conviction of sin will bring inner pain when the soul realizes that it has been convicted in God’s court and is awaiting sentencing to eternal torments. The soul is brought to see that it has sinned against God and that His judgment is just. The soul sees that there is nothing in it and nothing that it has ever done that can move God to show grace to it. Grace is that glorious attribute of God that tells us that the grace of God can only be moved from within God Himself. As the soul has been enlightened by God to sin and to the character of God and His grace, the soul sees that it has been full of pride and God will not show grace to the proud. It realizes that it must have grace or it will perish, but it knows that God views all the proud as an abomination to Him. It feels the weight of its sin and knows that if it is to have the life of God in its soul it will only come if God saves that soul to the glory of His grace. This is the conviction of sin that the giants of the past spoke of and what we must lead people to. If people do not have a true conviction of sin, then the Holy Spirit has not worked in them to persuade them and make them able to believe. This is simply His method of doing so.

A soul has not been convicted of sin as sin until it goes beyond the mere external wrong to the pride of the heart in the sin. The very heart of sin is that it is an act of enmity against God which is enormous pride. The heart must see that it is full of self-love and pride as what guides it. If the soul is not delivered from its self-love and pride then its self-love and pride will lead it to a false understanding of repentance and of the Gospel. That is exactly what so many of the followers of Christ did. They wanted to follow Christ for the benefits without bowing to Him as the supreme Lord and Messiah. It is the very nature of sinners to love those who love themselves (Luke 6:32). This is why it is so much easier to get people to pray a prayer if we tell them that God loves them. They will love those who love them. But if we tell them the truth that the wrath of God abides on those who do not believe, their natural and proud heart will rebel and hate that. The first method will produce many more supposed converts, but the second method will lead to men seeing their enmity against God and so see the true state of their sinful hearts. This is not a method of preparing souls for conversion as such, but instead it is what Spurgeon would call preparing souls by having them see just how unprepared they are. Conviction of sin is not preparing souls to be saved, but it is getting the soul to see just how unsaved it is and delivering it from the hands of pride to the grace of Christ.

Some who are misinformed and fearful call things like this hyper-Calvinism, yet it is nothing other than what the Westminster and the 1689 Baptist Confessions teach and what the giants of the past who preceded, wrote, and then came after those Confessions believed and practiced. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a simple thing, but must be taken from the whole of Scripture. Many will say that there is a free offer. Indeed, but what does that mean? It is true that the Gospel is to be proclaimed to all sinners. However, Jesus also said that He did not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners (Luke 5:32). In other words, there is a certain kind of call that is only given to those who see and feel themselves as true sinners. We must not be content to go along with the modern ways that have led us into the professing Church and the nation spiraling deeper and deeper into darkness. Do our hearts not bleed just a little at the following thoughts? How wretched are those people who will go out of this world thinking that God loves them and then find out that God is their enemy. How utterly awful it will be to the many who go out of this world saying “Lord, Lord” and then finding out that He will tell them to depart from Him because they practice iniquity. How terrible it is to think that God hears your prayers now and then you enter eternity where your cries for mercy are ignored for eternity. We need to shed our fears of men and seek the Lord for the true Gospel. The words just previous to this sentence undoubtedly refer to many ministers in our day who preach peace, peace that is no true peace to many across our land. May our hearts be broken.

In looking at the conviction of sin in terms of conversion, it might strike modern people as rather odd. But this is the position of the 1689 Confession, the Westminster Confession, and it was the position of the Puritans. It might seem to some that there is a conflict with the free offer of the Gospel, but that is not how the Confessions looked at it. Let me once again quote from Chapter 7 of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.

“It pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace, wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.”

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. (Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English)

Q. 72. What is justifying faith? A. Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and his righteousness… (Westminster Larger Catechism)

The free offer is the proclamation of the Gospel to all men. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be proclaimed to all people. However, this does not mean we are to proclaim the Gospel as if it depended on man to comply with the demands of the Gospel. Men are born dead in sins and trespasses and they must be made willing and able to believe by the work of the Holy Spirit. B.B. Warfield wrote about the real or primary issue with Calvinism. It is not the doctrine of election in and of itself, but it is the effectual call. In other words, people can have some form of belief that they are Calvinists and believe in the doctrine of election, but the real issue is what they believe about irresistible grace. That is perhaps the main issue that separates Calvinism from Arminianism.

“Thus it comes about that the doctrine of monergistic regeneration-or as it was phrased by the older theologians, or “irresistible grace” or “effectual calling.”-is the hinge of the Calvinistic soteriology, and lies much more deeply embedded in the system than the doctrine of predestination itself which is popularly looked upon as its hall-mark. Indeed, the soteriological significance of predestination to the Calvinist consists in the safeguard it affords to monergistic regeneration-to purely supernatural salvation. What lies at the heart of his soteriology is the absolute exclusion of the creaturely element in the initiation of the saving process, that so the pure grace of God may be magnified. Only so could he express his sense of man’s complete dependence as sinner on the free mercy of a saving God; or extrude the evil leaven of Synergism (q.v.) by which, as he clearly sees, God is robbed of His glory and man is encouraged to think that he owes to some power, some act of choice, some initiative of his own, his participation in that salvation which is in reality all of grace. There is accordingly nothing against which Calvinism sets its face with more firmness than every form and degree of autosoterism. Above everything else, it is determined that God, in His Son Jesus Christ, acting through the Holy Spirit whom He has sent, shall be recognized as our veritable Saviour. To it sinful man stands in need not of inducements or assistance to save himself, but of actual saving; and Jesus Christ has come not to advise, urge, or induce, or aid him to save himself, but to save him. This is the root of Calvinistic soteriology; and it is because this deep sense of human helplessness and this profound consciousness of indebtedness for all that enters into salvation to the free grace of God is the root for its soteriology that to it the doctrine of election becomes the cor cordis of the Gospel. He who knows that it is God who has chosen him and not he who has chosen God, and that he owes his entire salvation in all its processes and in every one of its stages to the choice of God, would be an ingrate indeed if he gave not the glory of his salvation solely to the inexplicable elective love of God.” (Calvin and Calvinism, B.B. Warfield)

What you see lined up one after the other are Reformed Confessions and then the powerful point by Warfield that irresistible grace or the effectual call is really the true hall-mark of Calvinism. Monergistic regeneration is the real issue at hand. Monergism simply has the idea of one worker or a solo worker. Monergistic regeneration is when God is the sole worker in regenerating souls. A lot of non-Reformed thinking about irresistible grace and mondergistic regeneration can be hidden underneath a claim to believe in election. But far more serious than that, is the fact that if we are not clear to some degree on this we will leave those we evangelize trusting in themselves to some degree. The Westminster Larger Confession speaks of man “being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition.” Can a person really believe in Christ alone until a person sees that s/he has no ability in self and no one else does either to rescue him or her from that lost condition? Can a person truly understand the effectual call or irresistible grace unless s/he understands his or her own inability? Can salvation by grace alone be consistently proclaimed apart from teaching the inability of man to save himself or contribute to salvation anything at all?

As we have seen in previous newsletters, conviction of sin is not the work of man or something man must do himself in order to be saved. A true conviction of sin is the work of the Holy Spirit. A true conviction of sin is one of the steps of the Holy Spirit in the souls of those He is applying the redemption of Christ and Christ Himself in. The Spirit begins with a soul that is dead in sins and trespasses and works in it so that it will receive and partake of the life of God. That is eternal life. The soul that is dead in sins must see that it is dead in order to see what true life is and how that is to be sought. If men are not convicted of their sinful nature, then they will not be convicted of the true nature of sin. It is not just that the inability of the soul is a teaching that may or may not be taught, but it is what the nature of sin is. Jesus told us that the soul that everyone that commits sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Those words mean something and they get to the real heart of sin. As long as we withhold the information from people that they are in bondage to sin, they will not truly be convicted of sin as it is and of their lost condition. If they are not convicted of their truly lost and helpless condition, they will not understand the import of the Gospel of life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for dead sinners and it brings the life of God to and in the soul.

The Puritan John Flavel wrote a book entitled The Method of Grace. This series of articles has spoken about the methods and steps of the Holy Spirit. The two ideas are synonymous rather than contradictory. In the first section Flavel covers The Nature of the Spirit’s Application of Christ to Men. In this he deals with the effectual application of Christ to men, union with Christ, saving faith, and fellowship with God. In the second section he deals with the Subject Applied in a Solemn Invitation to Come to Christ, with Motives from His Titles and Benefits. In the third section, he gets to the subject we are dealing with. Remember that the title of the book is The Method of Grace. We are looking at how grace does the job of applying the redemption of Christ. The titles of the four chapters in this section are as follows: 1) Necessity of being slain by the law. 2) Necessity of being slain by the law,–Continued. 3) Necessity of being “taught of God.” 4) Necessity of being “taught of God,”-continued.

Here is one Puritan outlining the steps of the Holy Spirit of the method that God takes in His grace of applying salvation. This is in direct correlation with the Westminster Confession and the 1689 Baptist Confession. Flavel and the Confessions did not look at being slain by the law as anything but a necessity. Romans 7:9, the text that Flavel used, says this: “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died.” Until we see the judgments of the Law weighing on our hearts and the Spirit brings this conviction to the depths of the soul, we will not die to self and the life of Christ is not in our souls. The Law brings us to the death of self and our own self-righteousness and all our efforts so that we will be like the tax collector who did nothing and trusted in nothing of self but was left with nothing but a cry to God for mercy (Lk 18:13). Until we feel the weight of the Law and its judgment on our souls and the death of our sinful natures, we will not know what it means to be weary and heavy laden. After all, it is only the weary and the heavy laden that Christ calls to Himself (Mat 11:25ff). Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but only the sinners (Mat 9:13). Until a person is broken from his own strength and his own righteousness, s/he will not look away from self to Christ for life. Until that death to self occurs, people look to themselves in some way rather than to Christ alone. Until we see ourselves as dead and helpless before God, we will not look to the Spirit to work monergistic regeneration in our souls.

We are looking at the glorious doctrine of conversion. Conversion is not the work of the human soul, though we are to use the means of grace. We are tracing the steps of the Holy Spirit in His work in conversion. As a sinner is not converted by his own works, so neither are sinners converted by the work of an evangelist. The soul must be changed and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The evangelist brings the message of the Gospel and proclaims to the sinner the good news that God may convert him or her according to grace and not according to the merit or works of the sinner. Here are some words from Thomas Hooker from his book The Soul’s Humiliation:

“Do you think that a few faint prayers, and lazy wishes, and a little horror of heart can pluck a dead man from the grave of his sins, and a damned soul from the pit of hell, and change the nature of a devil to be a saint? No, it is not possible; and know that the work of renovation, is greater than the work of they creation; and there is no help in earth, either go to Christ, or there is no succour for thee. We can pity poor drunkards, and sorrow for them; but we are as able to make worlds, and to pull hell in pieces; as to pull a poor soul from the paw of the devil. Nay, he is a devil, and a damned devil, as you have heard; if this were well considered; it would dash in pieces, all those carnal conceits of a great many which make nothing of turning a devil to be a saint.”

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict the sinner of sin. Until the sinner realizes the depths of sin, conversion will be thought of as a small thing. Until true conviction is brought to the soul, the sinner will be full of pride and self-sufficiency. People differ in thinking about what conviction of sin really is. We can think of this in terms of a court of law. The accused is brought before the judge to have the crimes that s/he is charged with read. The accused can plead guilty or not guilty. If the accused pleads not guilty, then a date trial is set. But if the accused pleads guilty, s/he must understand what s/he is being accused of and what the punishment for each crime is. The accused criminal cannot just shrug his or her shoulders, say the words “I am sorry,” and then just walk off. The accused cannot admit guilt to lesser crimes than being charged with if the judge insists on the accused admitting to the crimes before sentence is passed. The judge will also want the accused to know that each crime has a certain punishment and that the sentence will be passed according to certain guidelines before the plea is accepted.

The Holy Spirit operates much like the practices of a court (in the sense above). He works in the hearts of sinners to bring them to a realization of their sin to show them what they are guilty of and what the punishment for their crime really is. Until a sinner realizes from the depths of the soul that s/he is worthy of God’s wrath for eternity the sinner has not truly been convicted of sin. Until a sinner reaches the point that David reached in Psalm 51, that sinner has not truly confessed the guilt of sin. The word “confession” has the idea of “to speak the same as.” When a judge reads the crime against the accused that person is said to confess only if the confession agrees that what the judge said the accused is guilty of. The Holy Spirit works in those who are criminals against God and His Law so that they agree with what God’s Law says against them, know the punishment prescribed by that Law. Only then can they be said to agree that they are worthy of the punishment prescribed. Below is David’s confession:

Psalm 51:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.

David saw that his sin was so great that whatever God as punishment would be just. He saw that his sin was so great that his only plea was to God for His lovingkindness and His compassion. That is the point that sinners must come to. They must not only feel some conviction for sin in the sense that they must feel bad, but they must see that they are guilty of violating the Law of God and that they deserve the punishment that the Law prescribes against them. It is only when they see something of the depths of their sin that they are truly convicted of sin which is to say that they see themselves as standing before the Judge who is also the Jury and that they know that they have been convicted of all the crimes against them. For the sinner to be convicted of sin is to know that s/he is now righteously exposed to eternal hell as a just punishment for sin. It is to be in the presence of God and declared guilty by Him as the Judge and to hear (so to speak) the sentence passed. It is to know and to feel the weight of the crimes and to realize that one is guilty as charged. It is to feel in the soul the hideous nature of sin and to know that “I” am guilty of all that and deserve nothing but hell as the worst miscreant on the planet.

In our day it is taught that a sinner admitting to a wrong or sin is enough to be called conviction of sin. However, we have to keep in mind the quote from Thomas Hooker that conversion is harder than the creation of the human being. Conversion is to be changed from a devil to a saint and to be translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. It is to be changed from being a child of the devil to be a child of God. A conversion like that is not possible for a human to do, but only the Holy Spirit. The conviction the Spirit brings is a true conviction of sin that comes to the whole soul. The soul that is truly convicted is pictured to us in Scripture in several places. We have men crying out to the apostles on multiple occasions wondering what they were to do. They did not just nod their head and agree to something, but when the Holy Spirit worked in them they were acutely aware of their sin.

The following is from last week’s newsletter:

“The text (Acts 2:37) tells us that “they were pierced to the heart.” The Greek transliteration of the word for “pierce” is katanusso. This is a word that is made up of the preposition kata and the word nusso. In John 19:34, while Jesus was on the cross, “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” The Greek word used in John 19:34 is nusso. Some of the meaning seems to be immediately clear, but to expand on it some it has the idea of to pierce with compunction [sorrow] and pain of heart. It is a feeling of sharp pain connected with anxiety and remorse and it is to be deeply moved. This is something of what David mean when he said that he knew his sin (Psa 51:3-4). This is the anguish of soul felt by Job (42:1-6) and Isaiah (6:1-6). It seems to be parallel to what Isaiah felt in his soul when he saw God and the weight of his sin became unbearable.”

In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit brought a true conviction of sin through the preaching of Peter. It was not just a head knowledge of sin that the Spirit brought, but it was such an acute sense of sin that the Holy Spirit (Who breathed forth Scripture) used and uses the same word for it as He did in speaking of the spear that was thrust into the side of Jesus. True conviction of sin, when brought to the soul by the Holy Spirit, brings pain into the soul that He describes His own work as a spear thrust into the side and up into the heart. Conviction of sin is not a comfortable thing but it is to know that one is worthy of eternal death in the presence of a thrice holy God. It is not possible for the soul to feel nothing when its sin is discovered in the presence of God. We should not assume that people have been convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit if they are casual about it. The older writers taught that people should seek the Lord and pray for a true conviction of sin. In our day the avoidance of preaching about sin or even preaching about sin as nothing more than a violation of moral actions leads to a hardening of the heart rather than a true conviction of sin. For a sinner to be truly converted by the Holy Spirit, the first step is a true conviction of sin.

There are arguments given against this, usually based on one of two points: 1) That they do not want to put anything between the sinner and Christ. 2) This sounds like works as though the sinner could work up conviction of sin and prepare himself for salvation. I would like to point out, however, that these arguments also argue against the historical Confessions of the Church. In response to the first point, the answer is simply that we are not putting anything between the sinner and Christ, but instead are pointing out what is already there. What is already there is a heart full of pride and self and a heart that needs to be converted from those. In answer to argument 2, let me quote from Chapter 7 of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith: “It pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace, wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.” The good news of the Gospel is not that Christ has accomplished salvation and leaves it to the sinners to do with it what they will, but that He promises to give the elect the Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe. That is the promise of the Gospel according to the Confession. That is also what Acts 2:37-39 is teaching as well. The work of conviction, as seen in the 1689 in Chapter 8:8-10 and 10:1-2, teaches that it is the Holy Spirit who converts sinners and part of that conversion is His convicting them of sin. Sinners are convicted, converted, and are “made willing by His grace.” The work of the Holy Spirit in converting sinners starts with a deep conviction of sin and that is grace too. The Holy Spirit works in effectual calling to bring sinners to a deep conviction of sin so that they will no longer trust in themselves but in Christ alone. The Spirit brings sinners to a deep humility because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The work of the Spirit is by grace and prepares the soul for grace. This is a Gospel of grace from beginning to end.