God Loves… Himself

Every one may have observed that in paroxysms of passion, or ill-humor, the judgment is absolutely disabled; we are incapable of reasoning keenly in the wrong, and very positive. It is not uncommon for persons to be thus blind in cold blood, and some all their lives. Reason never discerns itself, or any thing else truly, till it sees its own impotence. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The doctrine of total depravity, while not believed by most and ignored by virtually all others, is a vital doctrine. This doctrine may be taught in a class on systematic theology, but that appears to be the only place it is thought necessary to teach. But how can a person confess sin unless that person confesses that he is a sinner? How can a person confess the depths of sin unless that person confesses that he is depraved in all parts? Unless a person feels and confesses the depths of sin in all parts, then how can a person rest in Christ alone and grace alone for a redemption that reaches into all parts of the soul? If what Adam said above is correct (Reason never discerns itself, or any thing else truly, till it sees its own impotence), then how can a person understand the Gospel until that person gives up all hope of understanding the Gospel in his or her own power of reason?

A.W. Pink wrote a great book on the sinfulness and depravity of man. In that book he makes it clear that he thinks that the teaching of the inability or impotence of man is vital. He spent about 200 pages discussing the depravity of man in general, but then about 130 pages discussing the inability of man. Here is what he said about why he spent so much time on that subject.

It is of the utmost importance that people should clearly understand and be made thoroughly aware of their spiritual impotence, for thus alone is a foundation laid for bringing them to see and feel their imperative need of divine grace for salvation. So long as sinners think they have it in their own power to deliver themselves from their death in trespasses and sins, they will never come to Christ that they might have life, for “the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” So long as people imagine that they labor under no insuperable inability to comply with the call of the gospel, they never will be conscious of their entire obedience on Him alone who is able to work in them “all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power” (II Thess 1:11). So long as the creature is puffed up with a sense of his own ability to respond to God’s requirements, he will never become a suppliant at the footstool of divine mercy.

If Pink is right that this doctrine of the spiritual impotence of man is of the utmost importance for people to clearly understand and be made thoroughly aware of, and that so that they may understand the Gospel, then we live in a day where the Gospel is not understood by vast numbers within the professing Church. When is the last time you have heard anyone stressing the need for sinners to see that it is not in their own power to deliver themselves from death? Then how can they come to Christ alone for grace alone for life? We want to be nice and be without offensive words and teaching to people today in order to fill the large buildings and give tithes to pay for the large buildings, but that is a far different thing than preaching the truth of the Gospel. Why is it such a calculated plan to avoid teachings such as this in our day and what are the consequences of that? Here is Pink again.

No matter how hotly this doctrine of man’s spiritual impotence is resented by both the profane and the religious world, it must not be withheld through cowardice. Christ, our supreme Exemplar, announced this truth emphatically and constantly…If he is so helpless and hopeless in himself that he cannot turn from sin to holiness, that he cannot please God, that he cannot take one step toward Christ for salvation, is it not a kindness to acquaint him with his spiritual impotence, to shatter his dreams of self-sufficiency, to expose the delusion that he is lord of himself?…It is, then, the reality of the sinner’s helplessness which provides the dark background necessary for the gospel, and just in proportion as we are made aware of our helplessness shall we really value the mercy proffered us in the gospel. On the other hand, while we cherish the delusion that we have power to turn to God at any time, just so long as we shall continue procrastinating and thereby despise the gracious overtures of the gospel.

Every one may have observed that in paroxysms of passion, or ill-humor, the judgment is absolutely disabled; we are incapable of reasoning keenly in the wrong, and very positive. It is not uncommon for persons to be thus blind in cold blood, and some all their lives. Reason never discerns itself, or any thing else truly, till it sees its own impotence. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The doctrine of total depravity is easier to believe in the intellect than it is to have it seated deeply into the soul. While the vast, vast majority of people deny total depravity as a doctrine, even among those who claim to believe it there is the appearance that even there it is mostly an intellectual or a creedal belief only. Calvinists are known for being thinkers and of those who hold to rationality concerning doctrine. While that is a great thing in many ways, the rational holding of a doctrine is not the same thing as holding this doctrine consistently in both doctrine and life. We can see the powerful teaching of this doctrine in the 1689 London Baptist Confession below.

Chapter 6: Of the Fall of Man, Of Sin, And of the Punishment Thereof
2._____ Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.
3._____ They being the root, and by God’s appointment, standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.
4._____ From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.

In the 1689 London Baptist Confession we see the same teaching as that of the Westminster Confession on depravity. “Man is wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.” Then, “Man is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil.” The mind and reason of man is as fallen as the rest of man. Man cannot even see the depths of his own sinfulness unless God is pleased to open the eyes of man to see himself. While man is in spiritual darkness man does not have the light to see any spiritual truth in a spiritual way, but man in his pride thinks of his mind as being able to discern the truths of Scripture by his own reason.

While it is the case that the great doctrines of the Bible can be set out in a rational order and given a rational sense, it is not the case that any fallen human being can understand them in a spiritual manner. As long as man continues to think that he can rationally understand Scripture and spiritual things by his own reason, man will be blind to spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 2:14 sets this out quite clearly: “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.” The natural man sees spiritual things as foolishness and cannot understand them. Regardless of how smart the natural man may be and regardless of how much religious information he may be able to learn and put in his mind, he cannot understand spiritual things.

On the other hand, 1 Corinthians 2:12 sets out how a human being may know truth: “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.” It is the Spirit alone who can show man the truth. Apart from the Spirit no one can know the things of God. As long as reason trusts in reason to discern spiritual things, it will be blind. “Reason never discerns itself, or any thing else truly, till it sees its own impotence.” The doctrine of the depravity of man stands firmly against the proud mind of man in all things, but especially in the realm of spiritual understanding. Until man sees just how impotent he is in the spiritual arena, he will never see anything truly because he trusts in self and not the Spirit.

Every one may have observed that in paroxysms of passion, or ill-humor, the judgment is absolutely disabled; we are incapable of reasoning keenly in the wrong, and very positive. It is not uncommon for persons to be thus blind in cold blood, and some all their lives. Reason never discerns itself, or any thing else truly, till it sees its own impotence. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The stunning truths that are presented in the quote from Adam above have ramifications that extend to all of life. When people are lusting after another or after things, their judgment is disabled. When people are angry or overly happy, their judgment is disabled. When a person is drunk or high on drugs, that person’s judgment is disabled. When a person is in a bad mood or perhaps in some form of depression, that person’s judgment is disabled. So why do we try to reason with people when they are incapable of reasoning? This explains, then, in some way and to some degree the nature of blindness that the unregenerate are in. They are blinded to the truth by their own hearts which are dead in pride, self-love, and self-centeredness.

If Jonathan Edwards (and many others before and after) was correct about the nature of sin as being pride and self-love, then we can see how pride and self-love work together (one and the same thing, perhaps) to blind a person from the truth about self and from the truth of the beauty of God. Pride is much like a passion or an ill-humor in that it interprets all things through the lenses or prism of its exalted view of self. Self-love rejects the worst things about self so that it can continue its high thoughts of self. When the heart that is filled with self-love and self-centeredness hears that truth that self-love and self-centeredness is (are) the very heart of sin, that heart hates the truth. When that heart then hears that God is holy in His self-centeredness and self-love, the heart hates that and is at enmity with God. A heart that has enmity within it is a heart that is blinded to the truth.

The heart that has enmity toward the true God is only too willing to hear about a false god, however. So when false prophets and false preachers abound, the people love to hear of a God that is not focused on Himself and His own glory but instead is focused on them and their earthly welfare. They hear what the love to hear and with hate refuse to hear what they hate to hear. A person that is dead in the sin of self-love and pride will hate the true God who is holy in His self-love and self-centeredness, yet that same person will love the popular god of today that is said to love them and desire worldly wealth for them.

The proud in heart are those who are blinded in much the same way as one that is drunk or in a great anger. In fact, it is perhaps correct to think of the proud in heart as those who are intoxicated with self and the love of self and also driven by hatred of what is true about God and the flashes of light that come in about themselves. A person that is controlled by alcohol night after night will not believe that s/he is actually controlled by the alcohol, but instead wants to think highly of self and in pride will fight to think highly of self. A person that is driven by feeling is a person that is not really in control but is following a feeling or desire, and a person that is driven by self is not in control but simply follows the love of self wherever it thinks may make it feel good. In other words, that is not the practice of solid reason and it is not being a true intellectual in any way. It is a form of slavery.

As the sinner must give up all hope in self in order to hope in Christ alone, so the sinner must give up all hope in his own reason and look to be enlightened by Christ alone. Until sinners see their own inability to overcome sin and to work up their own righteousness, they will not see an utter and absolute need for Christ. But it is also true that until sinners see the utter inability of their own reason to discover Christ and His glory, they will continue in the darkness of pride and self-love as they trust in their own darkened reason. The depravity of man is such that it has a great effect on the reason of man, but proud man will hang on to his reason until the light of the fires of hell awakens him to the nature of sin. People must be delivered from pride or they will never see their own sin and they will never truly repent. People must be delivered from pride or they will never see the glory of Christ and the Gospel, but instead they will only see the one manufactured by their own fallen reason. Oh how man must repent of pride and self in order to see the truth of self and the truth of Christ and the Gospel.

Man’s holiness: much ado about nothing. If you would have a good opinion of your heart, keep the Holy Ghost out of it. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

It is not that holiness is less than utterly vital and as such is if immense importance, but that the holiness that man comes up with on his own is truly much ado about nothing. However, it is also true that in reality man’s holiness is nothing but the vilest of sin and pride. God does not command men to be holy in their own strength and power, so when man actually strives to be holy in his own strength and power man is in violation of the commands of God and is the grip of an awful and horrid pride. When God looks upon a man united to Christ and at least some of what the man does is spiritual fruit that can only come from Christ, God beholds the man as one with Christ. But when a person seeks to obtain his own righteousness and do good works by the strength of self, all that the person does is seen as sinful and wicked things because God does not behold them in Christ and they came from the flesh rather than from Christ.

If a person wants to think that the holiness (so-called) that comes from himself is true holiness, then that person should stay away from the Scriptures and the work of the Spirit in and through them. There is a huge distinction between the holiness that man makes a lot of and the holiness that the Holy Spirit works in and through the soul. The holiness that man makes a lot of is that which the Spirit convicts men as sin and self-righteousness. The Spirit will convict men of sin and show them that their very best holiness is nothing better than filthy menstrual clothes. The work of the Spirit is to convict men of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Men will never learn the truth of what true righteousness is unless the Spirit shows them, but when the Spirit does that men see the true standard of righteousness and then their own filthy rags of they used to think of as righteousness.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of true holiness and always works to do away with false holiness and righteousness as those things are idols in the hearts of men and those things have replaced God in the hearts that are taken up with them. Fallen man always wants to obtain his own righteousness in some way and to some degree, though when the Spirit works in the heart that begins to be seen as the façade that it is and man begins to feel quite uncomfortable and even begin to panic. The work of the Spirit disturbs men and makes them angry and even hateful when they see that the very best they can do is wicked and sinful. That which man makes much of in the arena of morality and civil religion is not only less than what God requires, it is a stench in the nostrils of God and opposes Him.

For man to make much ado about holiness is for man to make much of the greatness and glory of God as He sits supreme in the universe and orders all things for His own glory and love for Himself. What good can the holiness that comes from the sinful and selfish nature do for God? He created all things for His own glory and elect men for the glory of His grace, so that leaves man nothing to praise and nothing to glory in but God. When men think highly of themselves for their own holiness or own goodness they are in darkness and are at enmity with God who does all for His own glory. As the quote from Adam says above, as long as man wants to have a high view of his own holiness he must keep the Holy Spirit out of it. The real problem, however, is that there is no holiness apart from the work of the Holy Spirit and unless men have a true holiness they will perish in hell forever. But of course if man wants to continue to keep up his pride and have a high view of his own holiness, he will have to resist the Holy Spirit to do so and that means that men will love their own holiness so much that they will perish in hell to keep it.

We are ruined by fancying we are what we know or read, or that we can make ourselves so in the turn of a thought; or if we do see and own a defect, yet thinking tenderly of ourselves when we are chargeable with horrid depravity, and absolutely unfit for God. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The heart is so deceitful that it will read a book and think that it is just like what it reads or at least close to what it reads. In other words, reading without knowledge of a deceitful heart can be dangerous to the soul. It is the natural bent of the soul (proud and self-centered) to think that it can read something and simply by a fiat of the power of thought it can be changed. Even more, we treat ourselves as if what we read describes us, though of course if what we read is against us and our sin we are prone to dismiss it. The issue, however, is that the heart is so ready to think well of itself because it is full of exalted thoughts of self.

Another issue is that the incipient Pelagianism of the heart that makes it think that it can do what is needed to be done in its own power or by simply thinking thoughts about the issue. But Scripture drives the point home that the heart needs to be changed in reality and not just think better thoughts. There must be true repentance of the heart which is a real and lasting change rather than just a few thoughts toward a subject. So when we read a book and see that it is speaking the truth, we must see that the heart must be changed rather than just agreeing with what it says. It takes the power of God in grace to change a heart, which again shows how the natural inclination of man in his pride does not like that option and would rather flee from the pain of a heart changed by God.

The heart loves to think well of itself and so it can read a book and think that what the book is speaking about in a good way describes the heart. But when a book is read that describes negative things and even horrid things about the soul (sin), we will think better of ourselves and think that the description is not really for “me.” The same thing is true of reading the Bible. When we read Scripture we are reading a book that God uses to show us our sin and our inability to perform anything pleasing to Him apart from His work of grace in the soul, yet we constantly read it as if we have the ability to do so. When the Bible shows us the ugliness of our sin, we tend to think of others instead of ourselves. When we do that, we are thinking highly of ourselves while the wrath of God abides upon us and ourselves. What a terrible deception this is.

When reading the Bible or a book the heart is busy deceiving us about what we are reading. In its pride and exaltation of self it will either smooth over what is said or exalt self beyond any level it has ever attained. Men need truthful hearts and they need to seek the Lord for humility in order to see themselves as they really are. Men need to seek the Lord in order to read with Light rather than the darkness of their worldly hearts and worldly minds. To be even more clear on the matter, in the words of Jesus we cannot do one good or spiritual thing apart from Christ. We must live by grace rather than trying to find good in our own hearts. We must learn to live by grace rather than to think highly of ourselves and to water the Scriptures down. We must learn to look to the cross of Christ constantly rather than trying to find something to buttress our esteem of ourselves by trying to find good or to excuse ourselves our of self-love.

What ado there is to work up the heart to any liking of God? The reason is, we begin it of ourselves, and think to do it in our own strength; whereas it can only be done in faith, and the Spirit’s power. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9).

3rd. Augustinian.—Which was adopted by all the original Protestant Churches, Lutheran and Reformed. (a.) Man is by nature so entirely depraved in his moral nature as to be totally unable to do any thing spiritually good, or in any degree to begin or dispose himself thereto. (b.) That even under the exciting and suasory influences of divine grace the will of man is totally unable to act aright in co-operation with grace, until after the will itself is by the energy of grace radically and permanently renewed. (c.) Even after the renewal of the will it ever continues dependent upon divine grace to prompt, direct, and enable it in the performance of every good work. A.A. Hodge

Can it be true that sinful man (even saved man) is so utterly dependent on God that all that man receives in the spiritual realm is by grace and grace alone? What, after all, is man saved from and what is he saved for? Man is saved from being under the dominion of darkness and of being a slave to the evil one who exercises his slavery in and through the wicked and selfish heart of man. While man thinks that he is free as he lives on in the sin of pride and self, he is actually in great bondage and does the will and pleasure of the evil one and also in being like the evil one. But when man is transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Beloved Son, man is now in the kingdom of grace.

The statement of A.A. Hodge (above) shows the historic Calvinist position. Even the renewed will is dependent upon divine grace to prompt it. Can a man prompt himself spiritually by his own will and strength? We must remember that what is spiritual is that which is of the Holy Spirit. So this prompting must be by the Holy Spirit if it is to be a spiritual prompting. Will a man direct himself as a converted man or will he look to grace and the Spirit for direction? Can it be a spiritual direction if by the flesh or must it be the direction of the Holy Spirit to be spiritual? I would argue the latter. We can also see this in Romans 8 where we are told that we must put the deeds of the body to death by the Spirit (v. 6). Works of the flesh, even if they are religious works or religious activities that make one better on the outside, are still works of the flesh.

As the statement of Hodge also shows, we are in utter dependence upon grace to enable us to do a good work. But again, if our good works are to be spiritual they must be of the Spirit rather than works of the flesh. Can man work something up in and by his flesh to please God? So what is it that God is looking for? He is looking for and working in human souls to be empty vessels so that He may work through them and that it would all be to the glory of His name. What comes from the flesh is to the glory of the human author of it. It is like Paul saying that he worked harder than them all, yet not himself but grace worked in him (I Cor 15:10).

It must be the Spirit of God that works in and through man or the work will be of the flesh and so be fleshly. This work must be by the grace of God rather than because man decided to do it in his own power or it will be to the glory of man. Until human beings realize the depths of their sin they will not realize the depths of the grace of God and the absolute necessity of grace to do the work in and through them. Yet in America the works of the flesh continues on and people seem to think that they are doing God a favor. Prayer meetings are held and can last for a long time, but they are worthless and dangerous until people learn to pray by grace alone rather than have the flesh prompt, direct, and enable them in the prayer. Preachers preach sermons that are prompted, directed, and enabled by the flesh rather than by grace. Planning meetings are held when they are prompted, directed, and enabled by the flesh and business practices rather than grace. Nothing will be done in the Church that is out of a true love for God and truly intended for His glory until men die to the efforts of the strength of their own flesh and learn to live by grace alone. If it is not done by the Spirit through the faith the Spirit has put in the soul, it is nothing more than the works of the flesh and is a stench in the nostrils of God.

What ado there is to work up the heart to any liking of God? The reason is, we begin it of ourselves, and think to do it in our own strength; whereas it can only be done in faith, and the Spirit’s power. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Is love for God or any liking of or about God something we can work up in our own strength and produce from our own flesh? In many ways this is at the heart of the debate between free-will thinking and Reformed thinking. It is at the heart of the essence of the difference between Arminianism and Calvinism. The Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of the heart, mind, soul, and strength. The question, then, is whether one can love God in his own strength or must one have true faith and the power of the Spirit to do so. The question can also be seen in the distinction between living by grace and living in our own strength to live in faith on Christ. It is hard to understand how one can have can trust in self to have faith and then live by that faith and that not be another way to live by works or a work (faith). Do I live by a faith that comes be grace and then grace works through that faith or do I live by a faith that I work up and then work by that faith?

3rd. Augustinian.—Which was adopted by all the original Protestant Churches, Lutheran and Reformed. (a.) Man is by nature so entirely depraved in his moral nature as to be totally unable to do any thing spiritually good, or in any degree to begin or dispose himself thereto. (b.) That even under the exciting and suasory influences of divine grace the will of man is totally unable to act aright in co-operation with grace, until after the will itself is by the energy of grace radically and permanently renewed. (c.) Even after the renewal of the will it ever continues dependent upon divine grace to prompt, direct, and enable it in the performance of every good work.             A.A. Hodge

Once again we look at the word “responsibility.” The Arminian has the concept that what God commands man can respond with some ability to do. The historic Calvinist says that God commands us and that we have cannot respond with ability but that God commands us in order to show us what we should do rather than what we can do. So the command of God shows us that we cannot keep His commands and so this should drive us to Christ both for forgiveness but also power and ability to love God and keep His commands. As can be seen this is in line with the statement of A.A. Hodge above. Even the redeemed man “continues dependent upon divine grace to prompt, direct, and enable it in the performance of every good work.” Man has no ability to love God beyond what grace works in the heart of man and enables man to perform. It is by grace alone that man can love and obey God and this should drive man to utter dependence upon God for the slightest amount of obedience rather than to try and work these things up in his own power and strength.

Love for God and doing any work out of love for God is a work of the Spirit of God and is not something that is in the power of man to do. Love is not a human activity or even a human feeling in and of itself, but all true love has its origin and source from God as can be seen from the passage just below.

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love (I John 4).

Why should a believer love another believer? It is because love is from God. The text tells us that “everyone” who loves is born of God and knows God, but the one who does not love does not know God. The work “know” in this context means more than just knowing about God, but it is the person that has God dwelling and abiding in him or her and is receiving from God. Every single person that truly loves is a person born of God and knows God. For a soul to love God in truth and in spirit is for that person to be a new creature in Christ and for that person to receive a heart of love and the power of love from God. Love is a divine activity and is not in the power of any human being or any human strength to love. Starting from our own strength in order to try to like and love God is to start from precisely the wrong location and will end in self-deception. The humble receive grace and true love in the soul can only be there and can only act by grace and grace alone.

What ado there is to work up the heart to any liking of God? The reason is, we begin it of ourselves, and think to do it in our own strength; whereas it can only be done in faith, and the Spirit’s power. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

If Thomas Adam is correct that the human soul wants to do things in its own strength which can only be done in faith and the power of the Spirit, then this points to a terrible pitfall in the path of Arminianism and the modern view of Calvinism. The Gospel bids us to come to Christ without any ability of self at all and to look to Christ for all things (grace alone). Biblical sanctification does not teach us to look to self and the power and strength of self to live in a way that pleases God, but instead to look to the Spirit to work in and through us the power to do what pleases God. No human being has the power and ability to do a spiritual act apart from the Holy Spirit.

3rd. Augustinian.—Which was adopted by all the original Protestant Churches, Lutheran and Reformed. (a.) Man is by nature so entirely depraved in his moral nature as to be totally unable to do any thing spiritually good, or in any degree to begin or dispose himself thereto. (b.) That even under the exciting and suasory influences of divine grace the will of man is totally unable to act aright in co-operation with grace, until after the will itself is by the energy of grace radically and permanently renewed. (c.) Even after the renewal of the will it ever continues dependent upon divine grace to prompt, direct, and enable it in the performance of every good work. A.A. Hodge

Just above is a statement of A.A. Hodge on the distinguishing characteristics of true Calvinism or Augustinianism What this statement gives us is the nature of depravity and therefore the nature of grace and what that nature cannot do and what grace must do if anything truly good or spiritual is going to be done. This statement would be considered to be hyper-Calvinism by many Calvinists today, but it is really nothing but historical and biblical Calvinism. Now if we consider the statement by Thomas Adam that people begin of themselves and in our own strength to please God and consider it with the statement of Hodge, we see something of what is going on in our modern day. If the renewed will is always and must always be “dependent upon divine grace to prompt, direct, and enable it in the performance of every good work,” then true Christianity and true Calvinism teach that we cannot begin of ourselves and our own strength.

In the previous post (The Sinful Heart 72) I made a statement about “responsibility.” I said this: “While biblical Calvinism teaches us that apart from Christ we can do nothing good or spiritual, the unbiblical Calvinist will use the word or concept of “responsibility” to make room for efforts of the flesh to be counted as good.” If we consider that statement in light of what Hodge says just above, perhaps it will make more sense now. The renewed human will is completely dependent on divine grace from beginning to end in order to perform any good work. Hodge says “in the performance of every good work.” When he uses the word “every” in that sentence, it demands us to interpret it as saying that for a work to be good it must be that the Spirit has enabled it as opposed to the human flesh and strength enabling it. In other words, for an act to be good it must be spiritual and that requires the Spirit.

While the word “responsibility” can be a good term if defined with care so people can know how we are using it, this is also a word that Arminians and Pelagians use to the destruction of human souls and the glory of God. The theology of historic Calvinism demands that we use that word carefully and in ways that an Arminian and Pelagian could not use it. I have heard professing Reformed people say that God commands us because we are responsible and the word “responsible” means that we have the ability to respond. That is nothing but Arminianism and/or Pelgianism. The Bible teaches us that we cannot do one good thing apart from Christ which is to say that it must come from Him. Hodge, in line with the words of Jesus, tells us that we cannot perform one good thing unless it is the Spirit who works it in us. Even the renewed human soul has no power to respond with ability toward a command of God, so the biblical and historic Calvinist stands firm on the fact that we are completely and utterly dependent upon grace to do any work or anything that pleases God. Yes, that sounds radical to the modern ear, but unless it comes from God through Christ and then back to Him, it will not and cannot please Him. Nothing good can possibly start with the flesh. Such is the result of being born with evil hearts and utterly dependent on the grace of God at all points of life.

What ado there is to work up the heart to any liking of God? The reason is, we begin it of ourselves, and think to do it in our own strength; whereas it can only be done in faith, and the Spirit’s power. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

It is far easier to get a person to agree with the theology of Calvinism (sovereignty of God), since it is quite logical, than it is for the person to become a Calvinist of the heart and in the depths of the soul. A person can be a Pelagian in the inner man and still love the external doctrines of Calvinism. While that may seem like a ludicrous notion to many, it is simply a different application of a person cleaning the outside of the cup and inwardly being full of self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25). It is also an application of I Corinthians 8:1 where we are told that “we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” An external knowledge of Calvinism is certainly possible which would do nothing but make the person arrogant apart from a work of God in giving that person His love in the soul. An external knowledge of God is also not inconsistent with the fallen heart that uses religion to manipulate God. We must be so careful.

While biblical Calvinism teaches us that apart from Christ we can do nothing good or spiritual, the unbiblical Calvinist will use the word or concept of “responsibility” to make room for efforts of the flesh to be counted as good. When Christ told us (John 15) that apart from Him we could do nothing, He was speaking in the context of the vine and the branch. There is no true spiritual fruit that can come from the branch unless it comes from the vine first, yet so many want to have a doctrinal knowledge (very important, thought) without a true submission in utter dependence upon the vine. This leaves the branch to doing things from itself which is the same thing as the flesh doing things in its own strength.

To the soul that has learned to look at itself and know its utter poverty before God and its utter helplessness as well, it knows that it cannot work up one bit of love for God or one bit of desire for God unless God does that work in the soul Himself. But there is a huge difference between a person that knows these things and even accepts them as true in the intellect and one that knows them because they have been taught by God in the depths of the soul. In applying a thought of Jonathan Edwards and using it in this context, it may be impressive to listen to a man lecture on the chemical properties of honey and why it would taste sweet. But if that man had never tasted honey, would he know as much about honey in a real and practical sense as one that had tasted honey many times? Such is the distinction between the one who holds to Calvinism and its doctrines and those who have tasted and see that the Lord is good.

It is true, however, that one can have a taste of the sweetness of the doctrines of Calvinism from the intellectual side alone. This is, however, something that can be used to deceive the soul. Human beings can have a delight in intellectual things and yet that not be a true, spiritual delight of a converted soul. Philosophers, writers, and scientists have a real delight in the work of their intellect. An unconverted theologian may have great delight in the things that he understands about doctrine and its intellectual ties with other doctrines or simply in his own brilliance, but that is not the same thing as the soul tasting the things of God by the work of the Spirit of God.

The fallen human soul is left in utter dependence upon God and His grace to do with it as He pleases. Because the Gospel is of grace alone, God is under no obligation to save the soul because of what the fallen soul is or can do. When God does convert a soul by His sovereign grace, He does not give the soul a power in and of itself to do good works in its own strength. The soul must learn that God alone is the origin and source for all true love (I John 4:7-8) and that it is in His sovereign hand to give this as He pleases. The soul must learn that it is the impoverished soul (Mat 5:3) that is blessed because it relies on nothing of self and gains all by grace from the kingdom of grace and of Christ. As long as the soul strives to work up a like and love for God from itself, it is looking for love in all the wrong places. The soul must look for nothing good from itself but to Christ and His Spirit to work these in the soul. In other words, the sovereignty of God extends far beyond doctrine (which does not denigrate the importance of doctrine) and into His sovereign rule and reign over all the movements and loves of the human heart.

Reformation is the object we pretend to aim at, but we are perpetually mistaking the subject of it; it is ourselves. It is dreadful (but perhaps not uncommon) self-deceit to present ourselves before God with a lie in our mouths, and hypocrisy in our heart, or a secret unwillingness to be and to do as we pray. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

If what has been said in the previous BLOGS on this issue is true, it leaves man with a devastating view of himself and of the sin of his heart and abuse of God. If indeed by self-deceit we are refusing to be the subjects of reformation, then we are trying to present ourselves to God with a lie in our mouths and hypocrisy in our hearts. If we are refusing to be subjects of reformation and that by reforming in accordance with our own good pleasure and leaving what we want, then our prayers for holiness and for a whole heart are lies and show that we are willing to pray for things that we are unwilling to be and do.

A person can pray to know God, but if a person is not willing to repent of all known sin that person does not truly want to know God from a pure heart and a whole heart. So when that person goes to present him or herself before God as if that person wanted to seek God, that person has a lie in the mouth and hypocrisy in the heart. What does God think about those who come to Him and pray earnestly (in appearance) for things that they are unwilling to be or to do? If we pray for the glory of Christ to shine through us, then we must be willing to be shown our sin and to repent of that sin in order for that glory to shine through us.

The seriousness of this should be evident with some reflection. We are told that we will find God if we seek Him with all of our hearts, which means that He will not be found by hearts that are full of sin and a sin that comes from half-heartedness and self-deception. God hates hypocrisy and we must know that He is not pleased with hearts full of wickedness that people simply don’t want to repent of and as such are hypocrites. What would we think of a child pleading with his parents for favor based on a good behavior that the child was living in direct contradiction too? What does it mean to go to God with our hearts fully exposed to Him and then try to hide things from Him?

We should be aware of the fact of how awful it is to go to God and pray for things that we are simply unwilling to be and do. While we may not consciously be aware of it at the moment, that does not do away with our guilt. The things that we have deceived ourselves about are things that are still sin.
Jeremiah 29:12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

As long as we see reformation as having to do with others and not ourselves, we will be self-deceived. As long as we see reformation as being comfortable and easy, we will be self-deceived. As long as we think that God will be satisfied and things are well with our souls without a whole heart and without a continual pursuit of reformation, we will be self-deceived. A heart that truly seeks the living God is a heart that has repented and wants to be shown the sin that remains in its own heart so it may repent of it too. A heart that is not set on casting out all idols is satisfied to be full of self and pride rather than to be full of Christ. A heart that is not set on having the Spirit work in it to reveal hidden idols and sin is a heart that is comfortable with sin and comfortable without Christ or more of Christ. This is what a refusal to be one that is truly seeking reformation of itself is and it is what happens when people are comfortable rather than seeking reformation/sanctification/life of Christ in the soul. It is a simple act of choosing to have sin over Christ.