Conversion, Part 39

October 28, 2009

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.

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Humility, Part 19

October 26, 2009

While it may sound sexist, many women spend a lot of time with their physical appearance with the desire to attain some form of beauty. This is not to say that many men don’t, but it would probably be acknowledged by most that more women than men do this. There does seem to be in people a desire for beauty. However, the true beauty of the human being is the soul. I Peter 3:3 “Your adornment must not be merely external– braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.” The true beauty of a person is of the soul. The humble soul is marked by the beauty of heaven which is Christ in the soul.

“If Jesus is indeed to be our example in His lowliness, we need to understand the principles in which it was rooted, and in which we find the common ground on which we stand with Him, and in which our likeness to Him is to be attained. If we are indeed to be humble, not only before God but towards men, if humility is to be our joy, we must see that it is not only the mark of shame, because of sin, but, apart from all sin, a being clothed upon with the very beauty and blessedness of heaven and of Jesus. We shall see that just as Jesus found His glory in taking the form of a servant, so when He said to us, ‘Whosoever would be first among you, shall be your servant,’ He simply taught us the blessed truth that there is nothing so divine and heavenly as being the servant and helper, of all…When we see that humility is something infinitely deeper than contrition, and accept it as our participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our true nobility.” (Andrew Murray)

Humility is not casting the eyes down and pretending not to be proud, but it is the emptiness of self while being full of Christ. While we are humbled and shamed in one sense by our sin in the presence of God, but we must see that true humility is the most beautiful thing the human soul will put forth because in that the glory of God shines in Christ who shines through the soul with Christ. Psalm 51:17 teaches us that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” There is no sacrifice or service that the soul can give to God but instead it is to be a sacrifice to God. This is when the heart is broken of its own self-sufficiency and its own pride and it bows to the Lord empty of self asking for the Lord to use it.

What each person must ask him or herself is why God is beautiful to him or her. If God is only beautiful to the soul because of something He does for self, then the person is still focused on self too much and is missing the true glory and beauty of God. In the context of speaking of God’s glory, Jonathan Edwards says this: God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above ’em, chiefly by his divine beauty. They therefore that see the stamp of this glory in divine things, they see divinity in them, they see God in them” (Religious Affections, Yale edition, p. 298). The glory of God is also the beauty of God. For a person to see the true glory of God is for that person to see something of the beauty of God in it. It is this beauty of God in His glory that ravishes the soul and makes it long for a desire the glory of God.

The soul that longs for true beauty will never be satisfied with any other form of beauty but that of the glory of God shining in and through its soul. When God looks upon a soul, if He is going to see true beauty He must see His own glory and beauty shining there. This is why it is so vital to be a true sacrifice to God. It is only the broken and contrite soul that is emptied of self and comes to the Lord in humility. It is only the soul that is emptied of self as its idol that can have God as its God. It is only when the soul is truly broken from a form of unity of love with itself that it can have unity in love for God. In the soul that is truly broken from self and Christ then dwells in that soul, the glory of God dwells. But we must remember that the glory of God is not to be separated from the beauty of God. When Jesus Christ dwells in the soul of a human being, the beauty of God dwells in that soul as well.

Human souls are to image forth the glory (and beauty) of God in all they do. If we are to do that, the ugliness of sin and self must be turned from. The only way to be turned from self is to be humbled. If we truly love God and long for Him to look upon us as His image and for Him to see His glory shining back at Him, we must be humbled. But if we desire for other human beings to see the beauty of God in and through us, we must also desire true humility. But there is also no middle ground as we either want others to see our beauty or to see His. We must be humbled.

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Humility, Part 18

October 24, 2009

It must be impressed into the soul that desires true humility that this is only found in the recognition and submission of the soul in light of who God is. While there is a form of humility that the human soul must have in light of its sin, and indeed that is the kind that most focus on, perfect humility is seen in Christ and He was perfectly sinless. The degree of humility that a soul will have is directly related to the absence of self and the presence of the life of Christ in the soul. The Lord Jesus humbled Himself to take human flesh to Himself and then humbled Himself while in human flesh to go to the cross (Philippians 2). That same Lord will work humility in the souls of those He lives in because that is the life He works in souls. A true believer in Christ is one that will grow in humility because the life of Christ will work that in the soul.

“If Jesus is indeed to be our example in His lowliness, we need to understand the principles in which it was rooted, and in which we find the common ground on which we stand with Him, and in which our likeness to Him is to be attained. If we are indeed to be humble, not only before God but towards men, if humility is to be our joy, we must see that it is not only the mark of shame, because of sin, but, apart from all sin, a being clothed upon with the very beauty and blessedness of heaven and of Jesus. We shall see that just as Jesus found His glory in taking the form of a servant, so when He said to us, ‘Whosoever would be first among you, shall be your servant,’ He simply taught us the blessed truth that there is nothing so divine and heavenly as being the servant and helper, of all…When we see that humility is something infinitely deeper than contrition, and accept it as our participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our true nobility.” (Andrew Murray)

We read the words and perhaps hear them occasionally that the greatest in the kingdom is the most humble. But it does not settle down into our souls very deeply. We continue to think of greatness in terms of how the world defines it. The world defines greatness as fame, money, outward success, power, and the ability to lead in how it defines leadership. So the professing Church has bought that type of thinking and swallowed it whole. That has lead to churches looking for men with powerful or charismatic personalities, it has conferences looking for men who are famous, and so it has both the churches and conferences looking for men who fit the model of the world. Yet Scripture is so clear that the greatest is the most humble.

There are people in the churches who are busy doing things, but that in and of itself does not mean that they are humble and being like Christ. People can stay busy in the churches because of pride. They can do those things, even menial things, with a desire to get attention or to think of themselves or have others think of them as humble. Humility is not found in what a person does in and of itself, but in the motives and desires in doing them. Jesus is the supreme example of humility and so we must look to Him and His motives in what He did. We can find these in Scriptures about Him but also in the Scriptures that have His teaching.

Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

John 11:4 – “But when Jesus heard this, He said, ‘This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.’…40 Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.'”

John 14:31 – “but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”

Humility is to be emptied of the motives of self and to truly desire to love God which includes a desire for His glory to be manifested. The life of Christ was the glory of God on display. John 1:14 tells us that Jesus was the very tabernacle of the glory of God. John 1:18 says that Jesus came to put God on display or explain Him. All the teaching and all the miracles pointed to the glory of God. Even when Jesus was pointing to Himself He was doing so because He was the very outshining of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3). True humility, then, is to use self as a temple of the living God and to seek His glory out of love for His glory. It is not to use God to attain honor for self.

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Provocation to Prayer, Part 11

October 23, 2009

For a condensed version of Jonathan Edwards’ call to prayer see http://www.sbaoc.org/blog/?page_id=762 or go to www.sbaoc.org and go to “BLOG” and then “a call to prayer.”

James 5:16 – “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.”

When the devil cannot keep us from a good work, he labors by all means to make us proud of it. Henry Smith
Men are more unwilling to part with their righteousness than with their sins. Stephen Charnock

“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people” (Luke 18:11). Pride and prayer are as opposite of each other as light and darkness. Pride looks to and relies on self while true prayer looks to and relies on God. Pride will pray, but like the Pharisee who prayed to himself rather than God. Pride will pray, but in order to be honored by men. “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men” (Matthew 6:5). Pride will pray, but to seek the interests of self rather than the interests of Christ (Phil 2:21). Pride will pray, as virtually all religions have prayer as part of the religion, but it will be a ritual or a prayer to the great I-dol self.

While the heart is proud, true prayer is not possible. When true prayer is taking place, it is like the light displacing the darkness and so pride must be driven from the heart as it cannot reside in a heart that is truly praying. This is why II Chronicles 7:14 says this: “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The heart must be humbled in order to truly pray because the proud heart will seek self and not the face of God. The proud heart will be blinded to its sin and will not turn from its wicked ways.

In each and every thing that the soul does it will either seek God or self. Pride and self are really the same thing as self must be pumped up with pride in order to seek self rather than God. The soul will have a primary motive in all that it does. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). In Christianity prayer is to be to and for God because the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of the being and from that love one is to love others. In prayer, then, the one praying cannot serve two masters with a whole heart. God is either loved or hated in prayer and we are either devoted to or despise God in prayer. God is not honored if we just offer words that we call prayer, but instead we can only pray if we truly love Him and He is the One loved and self is hated. Luke 14:26 tells us that we cannot be His disciple if we don’t hate our own life: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” Can we claim to be His disciple and pray if we love and seek self in prayer rather than the glory of God in love?

It is easy to see prayer as nothing more than a form of seeking self in false religions, but it is harder to see our own prayers as self-seeking when we have the truth of the Gospel. As the Israelites of old bowed to false idols to obtain what their sinful hearts desired, so today many bow in supposed prayer to what they think of as God to seek the I-dol of self to obtain the desires of self. The desires of self can be money, honor, or religious things. Religious self can also be served in seeking revival. The fallen heart can desire revival for greater numbers and larger offerings. The fallen heart can desire to pray for revival for the things of self. That is to seek self and despise God. It is to be in the full service of the great I-dol of self and is an attempt to use God to gain the sinful desires of self. When a soul seeks God for the service of the sins of self, it cannot be a holy God that is being prayed to and a non-holy God is no God at all. There appears to be a massive amount of idolatry that goes on under the guise of Christianity today because a holy God is not being sought out of love but a false god is being sought for the things of self.

Let us stop deceiving ourselves. There will be no true revival in our land apart from true prayer. There will be no true prayer in our hearts until self is denied and pride is repented of. It is easy to just do the motions of prayer and say orthodox words, but true prayer will not happen until the great I-dol of self has been repented of. This requires inner agony of soul at the hand of God. Do we really desire true prayer and true revival in our day? We will not desire it, much less truly pray for it, apart from a true denial of self given by grace. Let us not think that true revival will come apart from broken and self-denying hearts given to seeking God for Himself in prayer.

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Conversion, Part 38 – Biblical Record of Conversions

October 22, 2009

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.

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Humility, Part 17

October 21, 2009

Humility is more than just a word, but it refers to that which is necessary for a soul to have Christ. It is not just something that a person can fight with self to obtain; it is that which is beyond the power of self to do since humility is the absence of self or the emptying of the soul of self. It is more than just something a person does in order to live, but instead it has to do with the life of the humble Savior in the soul. The proud want to exalt self and do all for the sake of self, but the truly humble hate the remnants of slavery to self and desire to be free from self in order to be instruments of His glory in the world. The proud want to be full of self and the desires of self, but the truly humble want nothing else than to be nothing so that God may be all to the soul.

“The Christian life has suffered loss, where the believers have not been distinctly guided to see that, even in our relation as creatures, nothing is more natural and beautiful and blessed than to be nothing, that God may be all; or where it has not been made clear that it is not sin that humbles most, but grace, and that it is the soul, let through sinfulness to be occupied with God in His wonderful glory as God, as Creator and Redeemer, that will truly take the lowest place before Him.” (Andrew Murray)

Even within the professing Church the desire to be a celebrity seems to drive much of what happens. It happens in local churches when some want to lead music, present dramatic plays, special music, and many times even in the preaching. It happens beyond the local church in concerts, plays, and in conferences with famous speakers or speakers who want to become famous. There is also the desire to be known as an evangelist or author. There can be a drive to be a famous professor. There can be the desire to grow a church so one can write a book on the issue, speak at a conference on it, or perhaps get a bigger church. The issue, regardless of the desire for fame, is that of a heart that wants self to be honored and exalted in this world.

Andrew Murray puts his finger on the same vitally important point that Jesus made over and over again. The greatest is the most humble. The true blessedness of the believer is to be empty of self and nothing so that God may be all. The Pharisees were focused on self in all they did and in that they picture much of what is going on within the professing Church today. “Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him” (Luke 16:14). Jesus has just told them that “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Luke 6:13). As someone has said, “history teaches us that we do not learn from history.” The Bible also teaches us that sinners do not learn the real lessons of the Bible. Lovers of money today also scoff at the idea that they cannot serve God and money. So ministers, ministries, and all sorts of other things continue to rake in the big bucks while thinking that they are serving God and not money. The Pharisees did not see themselves as lovers of money and of honor and so many today don’t see it either.

The Pharisees loved to pray in order to be seen by men (Mat 6:5). They loved to do so-called ministry so that they could be honored. If you asked them why were doing those things, they would have said that they were doing them out of love for God or out of duty to God. So there are many “doing ministry” today that would certainly have the right answers to give when asked of their motives. But one thing is severely lacking in all of this. That is, as Murray said, to be nothing. Jesus told us not to let our left hand know what the right hand was doing. We are to do our good deeds in secret and have Him as the love of our hearts. The humble heart that loves God only wants God to get the glory and does not want self to be honored at all. The soul that has been emptied of self no longer desires self to receive honor because the love of God dwells in that soul and its focus is toward God and God alone.

One great difference between a false humility and a true one is that a false humility has not truly learned at the foot of true grace. True humility only comes as a result of grace in the soul. The Law will humble a person before God so that it knows that it cannot save itself, but grace actually saves the soul and delivers it from the guilt of sin, the punishment of sin, and the power of sin. The Law will humble a person in one sense externally, yet grace empties the soul of self and then imparts to that soul the life of Christ which is a humble life. The soul that has been broken by the Law and by grace is not a person that desires celebrity status in God’s name. It is a soul that loves to be nothing in itself that it may be full of Him and wants His glory to shine through it. It is a soul that will shun fame and the honor of men in order to focus on God. If fame does come to the truly humble, it will flee from it inwardly knowing that this could lead to being a spark of pride in the heart. It hates pride and desires to flee it at all costs.

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Humility, Part 16

October 19, 2009

The idea that the chief care of the soul and its happiness is to be an empty vessel is profound beyond words to describe. We are commanded to be holy as He is holy, yet this says that the highest virtue of the soul is to present itself as an empty vessel. We are commanded to love others as Christ loved, yet Murray tells us that the highest “virtue” of the soul is to present itself as an empty vessel. Is Murray being completely unbiblical or is he giving us an approach to the Christian life that is thoroughly biblical and virtually lost in our day? I believe the latter. We might also think of virtue as that which the soul obtains by the work of grace in the soul rather than its own works.

“The creature has not only to look back to the origin and first beginning of existence, and acknowledge that it there owes everything to God; its chief care, its highest virtue, its only happiness, now and through all eternity, is to present itself an empty vessel, in which God can dwell and manifest His power and goodness.” (Andrew Murray)

Other than some of the ancient Greeks and people like Nietzsche, most have thought of humility as something desirable. It is true they did not understand humility in the Christian way, but there was something that of it that they desired. Even though unbelievers do not understand the depths of pride, they are still repulsed by those who are openly proud. Within professing Christianity humility (in name) is thought to be desirable by all. So it is possible to desire humility (at least some form or definition of it) in order to impress others or for non-Christian motives. The Pharisees fasted and prayed in order to be seen by men, so it is certainly possible to desire to be seen as humble in order to impress others. Do I desire to be humble that I may think well of myself? Do I desire to be humble so that others will think well of me? Do I want to be humble in order to please my spiritual pride? Do I desire to be humble simply because it feeds my spiritual pride in wanting to be biblical and it is in the Bible? If I desire humility in name rather than what it really is for reasons other than to seek the face of God and His glory I desire it for self-centered reasons and that is the opposite of true humility.

Instead of desiring humility for the reasons of self, even if it is for religious self, true humility is the absence of self which brings us to the quote from Andrew Murray. True humility is to present ourselves to God as an empty vessel. God has created all things for His own glory and it is only the humble soul that is emptied of self can be full of His glory and do all with holy intentions and love for His glory. The spiritually proud soul can desire the glory of God in one sense and do things to the glory of God in that sense, but the proud soul in doing that can be much like the Pharisees who did all they did to be seen by men or to please themselves.

The reason that humility is so important is that unless the soul is emptied of self it will do all it does (even its religious actions and duties) for self. In other words, there is no true biblical holiness apart from the soul being emptied of self in order that the love of God may dwell in and through it. If the soul is not emptied of self and filled with the only love in the universe, that soul will do all things out of love for self. As I Corinthians 13:1-3 declares with power, there is nothing that any person can do apart from love that is worthy anything at all.

1 Corinthians 13:1 – “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

The true happiness of the soul according to the modern world is to be full of self and to feed self all it desires. The true happiness of the soul if one learns it from Scripture is to be empty of self, continue to deny self daily, and then to be full of the presence and power of God. This is the message of the Beatitudes which teaches poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, and a pure heart as the way of true blessedness. The Beatitudes and humility teach what true blessedness and happiness (inner joy) really are. Instead of being people who are full of self looking around how to fill self with what self wants whether it is in religion or the world, we are to be those who seek the emptiness of self and pursue Him so that He will dwell in us and manifest His glory in and through us. After all, we say that we love Him and His glory with all of our being. That is only possible if we are emptied of self.

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Humility, Part 15

October 17, 2009

The soul either lives and acts by the power and love of self or it lives and acts by the power and love of God. The proud soul lives and acts out of love for self. The proud soul can be very religious and can even be a pope or a preacher. The proud soul that lives and acts by the power and love of self can imitate virtually all outward Christian acts. The proud soul can also imitate many of the inward things of Christianity though only on the outside. The proud soul can also be very deceived and even convince itself that it is spiritual. But the humble soul has been emptied of self and can do nothing apart from what it receives from its vine who is Christ (John 15). The humble soul sees itself as an empty vessel which is empty of self and needs to be full of God. While it is true that on the outside one might not see much difference between those that live by the power of self and those that live by the power of God, there is a massive difference on the inside. The reign of self is really to be like the devil while the reign of God in the soul is to have the life of Christ in the soul.

“God wished to reveal Himself in and through created beings by communicating to them as much of His own goodness and glory as they were capable of receiving. But this communication was not a giving to the creature something which it could possess in itself, a certain life or goodness, of which it had the charge and disposal. By no means. But as God is the ever-living, ever-present, ever-acting One, who upholdeth all things by the word of His power, and in whom all things exist, the relation of the creature to God could only be one of unceasing, absolute, universal dependence. As truly as God by His power once created, so truly by that same power must God every moment maintain. The creature has not only to look back to the origin and first beginning of existence , and acknowledge that it there owes everything to God; its chief care, its highest virtue, its only happiness, now and through all eternity, is to present itself an empty vessel, in which God can dwell and manifest His power and goodness.”

The last of the quote above is massively important to understand humility and the Christian life. If we understand humility as that which the soul can do for itself, then we will understand the Christian life a lot differently than we will if we see that humility is to be emptied of self so that it can be an empty vessel to be filled with God Himself who dwells in the truly humble soul. If the chief care of a soul is to be an empty vessel, then that is polar opposite to the chief care of the soul to be doing things out of self and self-love. If the chief care of the soul is to be an empty vessel which is to be empty of self, then surely it is self-evident that much of modern professing Christianity in its focus on self is opposite to biblical Christianity. The soul that must deny self in order to take up its cross and follow Christ will utterly abhor the teaching that we must love self in order to love others and then Christ.

As we gaze across the landscape of modern professing Christianity, we don’t hear the teaching that the chief happiness of the soul is to be an empty vessel. We hear that the soul must do this and that and it must buy this and that in order to become what God had planned for it and so God can bless it. But what we don’t hear is that God Himself is the greatest and only true blessing of the soul. God can give many things to unbelievers and do nothing but increase their eternal punishment. But when God gives Himself to the soul, He is then giving what is truly good to that soul. The only true and substantive joy in the universe is the joy that is within the Trinity and what He shares of that with His children. Until the soul is emptied of itself it will never know what true joy really is.

The humbled or emptied soul that comes to God and asks for Him to make it an empty vessel is the soul that understands how utterly dependent it is on God. The soul that has been emptied of self is the only kind of soul in the universe that will now be the dwelling place of God and therefore a place where God will manifest His goodness and His power. In the thinking of the older writers the love and grace of God flowed from His goodness. So in that line of thought the soul that is an empty vessel (true humility) is now full of the love and grace of God. It is this soul that depends on nothing but the power of God rather than the power of self. It is this soul that is moved by the love of God in it rather than the love of self. The humble soul that is emptied of self is a soul that now has the very joy and love of God in it (John 15:11; 17:13, 26) and would not trade that for anything or even all things in the world. The humble soul knows what it means to have a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory (I Peter 1:8). The humble soul knows what true life is while those with the life of self are really living death. How can one begin to utter words to get across to people who are full of self and are taught that to be full of the love of self is the best Christianity can offer? Humility (an empty of self vessel) is what God works in souls so that they can have Himself and share in His life. How can words even begin to describe that? Taste and see that the Lord is good.

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Provocation to Prayer, Part 10

October 16, 2009

Revival Testimonies in Wales
A characteristic incident was the revival of a parish of about two thousand miners. The clergyman was a man of no special gifts. He had, however, great simplicity of doctrine and unusual holiness of life. He had toiled long and that with comparatively little effort. The same was true of other chapels in that neighborhood. The parish was dead. Two years before the revival broke out, amongst a faithful few there was excited a spirit of prayer for their ministers. They prayed alone in their chambers; they prayed unitedly in little prayer bands. Gradually these ministers were conscious of a new spirit of power and love in their ministry. Soon the thoughtless, the godless and the careless flocked to the houses of prayer. The churches were filled with overflowing.

The Rev. H. R. Jones… had returned from America to his home in Cardiganshire. He had witnessed with his own eyes what God was doing for America. Coming from the warm religious atmosphere of an awakened country he felt keenly the coldness of the spiritual life in Wales. He listened to a sermon preached by Morgan [David Morgan]. At the close he asked his brother minister if that was a sample of his usual preaching. When told that it was, he replied, “Then your people will go to hell under your preaching.” This thought greatly distressed Mr. Morgan and he spent many days in prayer, self-examination and in agony of soul. When these two brethren came together again and considered the conditions that existed in the church life in Wales they felt that there was something lacking in the preaching, and most of all, in the spirit of prayer among professed Christians. As a direct result of this visit, these brethren called a meeting to pray for a revival in their land. This was in September, 1858. At first Mr. Morgan was constantly depressed because so few attended the prayer meetings. His friend who had attended and knew the history of the Fulton Street prayer meetings in New York saw a revival before them and never wavered in his faith. Soon a spirit of prayer was noticeable in the community and before two months had passed two hundred persons professed conversion and united with the two churches in that community.

Revival Testimonies in Ireland
The Irish revival had its beginning in the place of prayer…The reading of what God was doing for George Muller in the way of answering prayer gave the desire to four young men in the north of Ireland to meet together for prayer. They met near Connor, in County Antrim…and prayed that “Their labors and that of others in the prayer meetings and Sunday schools might be eminently owned of God.” This prayer meeting, attended by four anxious young men, was the birthplace of the great religious wave that swept over Ireland. The first prayer meeting was held in the same month of the same year, and if not on the same day, then near the same day, that saw the first great Fulton Street prayer meeting in New York City [1857-1858]. Though unknown to each other, the same God was leading in His own wonderful way. This prayer meeting was the first of many, before any great visible results were noticeable. …suddenly a great number of sinners was converted. This directed the eyes of many to the importance of the prayers of God’s people and soon thousands of God’s people were praying that the wave of blessing might become general. …At times it was estimated that a thousand a day were professing conversion. Ulster alone saw one hundred thousand profess conversion.

Christians everywhere were meeting in little bands to pray. Meetings were held…night and day and young and old were smitten with deep conviction…The large church was crowded to the doors and the entire graveyard, surrounding the church, was then filled with praying Christians…When the fire of God fell on Ballymena the Christians in near by Coleraine met to pray for a similar blessing…and were united in their prayers for a revival…So great was the conviction that one of the town newspapers was compelled to delay publication…Their new town hall was about to be formally opened with a great opening dance. So great was the conviction of sin and the desire to attend church services that the hall was engaged to accommodate the crowd.

Acts 1:14 “These…were continually devoting themselves to prayer.” Acts 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” What is more important for ministers than prayer? True revival only comes when God gives His people hearts to pray. Are people praying? There is no need to wonder why revival is not here. What are we devoted to if not to prayer? Are we too busy to pray? Then we are too busy for God’s work.

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Conversion, Part 37

October 15, 2009

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.

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