ib ! ' 'n* iii',W!i!hi!:iY^E°¥JMHYHI&SfliTY'' Gift of 190-f SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY SL Compfffliium aim CommonpkcMBoolt DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS BY AUGUSTUS HOPKINS STEONG, D. D., LL. D. PRESIDENT AND PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY IN THE ROCHESTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN THREE VOLUMES VOLUME III THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION PHILADELPHIA AMEEIOAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY Boston Chicago Atlanta il'EW ioBK St. Louis Daiaas COPYRIGHT, Bt AUGUSTUS HOPKINS STBONQ, PUBLISHED MARCH, IQOO, n< V.2. C&tteto Deo £>attmtoti The eye sees only that which it brings with it the power of seeing." — Cicero. Open thou mine eyes, that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law." — Psalm 119 : 18. For with thee is the fountain of life : In thy light shall we see light."— Psalm 86 : 9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part ; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part SHALL BE DONE AWAY."— 1 Cor. 18 : 9, 10. TABLE OF CONTENTS. VOLUME III. Chapter LT. — The Beconoiliation op Man to God, or the Application op Eedemption through the Work op the Holy Spirit, 777-886 Section I. — The Application of Christ's Eedemption, in its Preparation, 777-793 I.— Election 779-790 1. Proof of the Doctrine of Election, 779-785 2. Objections to the Doctrine of Election, 785-790 n.— Calling, 790-793 A. Is God's General Call Sincere ? 791-792 B. Is God's Special CaU Irresistible ? 792-793 Section IL — The Application op Christ's Eedemption, in its Actual Beginning, 793-868 I.— Union with Christ, 795-809 1. Scripture Bepresentations of this Union, 795-798 2. Nature of this Union, 798-802 3. Consequences of this Union, 802-809 II.— Eegeneration, 809-829 1. Scripture Bepresentations, 810-812 2. Necessity of Eegeneration, 812-814 3. The Efficient Cause of Eegeneration, 814-820 4. The Instrumentality used in Eegeneration, 820-823 5. The Nature of the Change wrought in Eegeneration, 823-829 m.— Conversion, 829-849 1. Eepentance, 832-836 Elements of Eepentance, 832-834 Explanations of the Scripture Bepresentations, . . . 834-836 2. Faith 836-849 Elements of Faith, 837-840 Explanations of the Scripture Bepresentations, 840-849 IV.— Justification, 846-868 1. Definition of Justification, 849 2. Proof of the Doctrine of Justification, 849-854 3. Elements of Justification, 854-859 4. Eelation of Justification to God's Law and Holiness, 859-861 5. Eelation of Justification to Union with Christ and the Work of the Spirit, 861-864 yii Vlll table of contents. 6. Eelation of Justification to Faith, 864-867 7. Advice to Inquirers demanded by a Scriptural View of Justification, 868 Section ILT. — The Application op Christ's Eedemption, in its Continuation, 868-886 L — Sanctification, 869-881 1. Definition of Sanctification 869-870 2. Explanations and Scripture Proof, 870-875 3. Erroneous Views refuted by the Scripture Passages, 875-881 A. The Antinomian, 875-877 B. The Perfectionist, 877-881 II.— Perseverance, 881-886 1. Proof of the Doctrine of Perseverance 882-883 2. Objections to the Doctrine of Perseverance, 883-886 PAET Vn.— ECCLESIOLOGT, OB THE DOCTEINE OF THE CHUBOH, 887-980 Chapter I. — The Constitution of the Church, or Church Polity, 889-929 I.— Definition of the Church, 887-894 1. The Church, like the Family and the State, is an Institution of Divine Appointment, 892-893 2. The Church, unlike the Family and the State, is a Voluntary Society, 893-894 IE. — Organization of the Church, 894-903 1. The Fact of Organization, , 894-897 2. The Nature of this Organization, 897-900 3. The Genesis of this Organization, 900-903 HI.— Government of the Church, 903-926 1. Nature of this Government in General, 903-914 A. Proof that the Government of the Church is Democratic or Congregational 904-908 B. Erroneous Views as to Church Government, refuted by the Scripture Passages, 908-914 (a) The World-church Theory, or the Eomanist View, 908-911 (6) The National-church Theory, or the Theory of Provincial or National Churches 912-914 2. Officers of the Church, 914-924 A. The Number of Offices in the Church is two, . . . 914-916 B. The Duties belonging to these Offices, 916-918 C. Ordination of Officers, 918-924 ( a ) What is Ordination? 918-920 ( o ) Who are to Ordain ? 920-924 3. Discipline of the Church, 924-926 A. Kinds of Discipline, 924-925 B. Eelation of the Pastor to Discipline, 925-926 IV. — Eelation of Local Churches to one another 926-929 table of contents. IX 1. The General Nature of this Eelation is that of Fellowship between Equals 926-927 2. This Fellowship involves the Duty of Special Con sultation with regard to Matters affecting the common Interest 927 8. This Fellowship may be broken by manifest Depart ures from the Faith or Practice of the Scriptures on the part of any Church, 928-929 Chapter EL — The Ordinances op the Church 930-980 I.— Baptism, 931-959 1. Baptism an Ordinance of Christ, 931-933 2. The Mode of Baptism 933-940 A. The Command to Baptize is a Command to Immerse, 933-938 B. No Church has the Eight to Modify or Dispense with this Command of Christ, 939-940 3. The Symbolism of Baptism, 940-945 A. Expansion of the Statement as to the Symbolism of Baptism, 940-942 B. Inferences from the Passages referred to, 942-945 4. The Subjects of Baptism 945-959 A. Proof that only Persons giving Evidence of being Begenerated are proper Subjects of Baptism, , 945-946 B. Inferences from the Fact that only Persons giv ing Evidence of being Eegenerate are proper Subjects of Baptism, 946-951 C. Infant Baptism, 951-959 ( a ) Infant Baptism without Warrant in the Scripture, 951-952 (6) Infant Baptism expressly Contradicted by Scripture, 952-953 ( c ) Its Origin in Sacramental Conceptions of Christianity 953-954 ( d ) The Reasoning by which it is supported UnscripturaL Unsound, and Dangerous in its Tendency, 954-956 ( e ) The Lack of Agreement among Pedo- baptists, 956-957 (/ ) The Evil Effects of Infant Baptism, 957-959 II.— The Lord's Supper, 959-980 1. The Lord's Supper an Ordinance instituted by Christ, 959-960 2. The Mode of Administering the Lord's Supper, 960-962 3. The Symbolism of the Lord's Supper, 962-965 A. Expansion of the Statement as to the Symbolism of the Lord's Supper, 962-964 B. Inferences from this Statement, 964-965 4. Erroneous Views of the Lord's Supper, 965-969 X table of contents. A. The Eomanist View, 965-968 B. The Lutheran and High Church View, 968-969 5. Prerequisites to Participation in the Lord's Supper, 969-980 A. There are Prerequisites, '. 969-970 B. Laid down by Christ and his Apostles, 970 C. The Prerequisites are Four, 970-975 First, — Eegeneration, 971 Secondly,— Baptism, 971-973 Thirdly,— Church Membership, 973 Fourthly,— An Orderly Walk, 973-975 D. The Local Church is the Judge whether these Prerequisites are fulfilled, 975-977 E. Special Objections to Open Communion, 977-980 PAET Vm.— ESCHATOLOGY, OE THE DOCTEINE OF FINAL THINGS, 981-1056 I.— Physical Death, 982-998 That this is not Annihilation, argued : 1. Upon Eational Grounds, 984-991 2. Upon Scriptural Grounds, 991-998 II.— The Intermediate State, 998-1003 1. Of the Eighteous, 998- 999 2. Of the Wicked 999-1000 Eefutation of the two Errors : (a) That the Soul sleeps, between Death and the Eesurrection, 1000 ( b ) That the Suffering of the Intermediate State is Purgatorial, 1000-1002 Concluding Eemark 1002-1003 HI.— The Second Coming of Christ, 1003-1015 1. The Nature of Christ's Coming 1004-1005 2. The Time of Christ's Coming 1005-1008 3. The Precursors of Christ's Coming, 1008-1010 4. Eelation of Christ's Second Coming to the Millennium, 1010-1015 TV.— The Eesurrection, 1015-1023 1. The Exegetical Objection, 1016-1018 2. The Scientific Objection, 1018-1023 V.— The Last Judgment, 1023-1029 1. The Nature of the Final Judgment, 1024-1025 2. The Object of the Final Judgment 1025-1027 3. The Judge in the Final Judgment, 1027-1028 4. The Subjects of the Final Judgment 1028 5. The Grounds of the Final Judgment, 1029 VI.— The Final States of the Eighteous and of the Wicked, . . 1029-1056 1. Of the Eighteous, 1029-1033 A. Is Heaven a Place as well as a State ? 1032 B. Is this Earth to be the Heaven of the Saints ? 1032-1033 2. Of the Wicked, 1033-1056 table of contents. xi A. Future Punishment is not Annihilation, 1035-1039 B. Punishment after Death excludes new Pro bation and ultimate Eestoration 1039-1044 C. This Future Punishment is Everlasting, 1044-1046 D. Everlasting Punishment is not inconsistent with God's Justice, 1046-1051 E. Everlasting Punishment is not inconsistent with God's Benevolence, 1051-1054 F. Preaching of Everlasting Punishment is not a Hindrance to the Success of the Gospel, 1054-1056 Index op Subjects, 1059-1116 Index of Authors, 1117-1138 Index of Scripture Texts, 1139-1157 Index of Apocryphal Texts, 1158 Index op Greek Words, 1159-1163 Index op Hebrew Words, 1165-1166 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY. VOLUME III. CHAPTEE II. THE EECONOLLIATION OF MAN TO GOD, OE THE APPLICATION OF EEDEMPTION THROUGH THE WOEK OF THE HOLY SPIEIT. SECTION 1.— THE APPLICATION OF CHRIST'S REDEMPTION IN ITS PREPARATION. ( a ) In this Section we treat of Election and Calling ; Section Second being devoted to the Application of Christ's Eedemption in its Actual Beginning, — namely, in Union with Christ, Eegeneration, Conversion, and Justification ; while Section Third has for its subject the Application of Christ's Eedemption in its Continuation, — namely, in Sanctification and Perseverance. The arrangement of topics, in the treatment of the reconciliation of man to God, is taken from Julius Muller, Proof -texts, 35. " Revelation to us aims to bring about reve lation in us. In any being absolutely perfect, God's intercourse with us by faculty, and by direct teaching, would absolutely coalesce, and the former be just as much God's voice as the latter " ( Hutton, Essays ). ( b ) In treating Election and Calling as applications of Christ's redemp tion, we imply that they are, in God's decree, logically subsequent to that redemption. In this we hold the Snblapsarian view, as distinguished from the Supralapsarianism of Beza and other hyper-Calvinists, which regarded the decree of individual salvation as preceding, in the order of thought, the decree to permit the Fall. In this latter scheme, the order of decrees is as follows : 1. the decree to save certain, and to reprobate others ; 2. the decree to create both those who are to be saved and those who are to be reprobated ; 3. the decree to permit both the former and the latter to fall ; 4. the decree to provide salvation only for the former, that is, for the elect. Richards, Theology, 302-307, shows that Calvin, while in his early work, the Institutes, he avoided definite statements of his position with regard to the extent of the atone ment, yet in his latter works, the Commentaries, acceded to the theory of universal atonement. Supralapsarianism is therefore hyper-Calvinistic, rather than Calvinistic. Sublapsarlanism was adopted by the Synod of Dort ( 1618, 1619 ). By Supralapsarian is meant that form of doctrine which holds the decree of individual salvation as preceding the decree to permit the Fall; Sublapsarian designates that form of doctrine which holds that the decree of individual salvation is subsequent to the decree to permit the Fall. m 778 SOTESIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. The progress in Calvin's thought may be seen by comparing some of his earlier with his later utterances. Institutes, 2 : 23 : 5 — " I say, with Augustine, that the Lord created those who, as he certainly foreknew, were to go to destruction, and he did so because he so willed." But even then in the Institutes, 3 : 23 : 8, he affirms that " the perdition of the wicked depends upon the divine predestination in such a manner that the cause and matter of it are found in themselves. Man falls by the appointment of divine providence, but he falls by his own fault." God's blinding, hardening, turning the sinner he describes as the consequence of the divine desertion, not the divine causation. The relation of God to the origin of sin is not efficient, but permissive. In later days Calvin wrote in his Commentary on 1 John 2 : 2 — " he is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, hut also for the whole world "— as follows : " Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, and in the goodness of God is offered unto all men without distinction, his blood being shed not for a part of the world only, but for the whole human race ; for although in the world nothing is found worthy of the favor of God, yet he holds out the propitiation to the whole world, since without exception he summons all to the faith of Christ, which is nothing else than the door unto hope." Although other passages, such as Institutes, 3 : 21 : 5, and 3 : 23 : 1, assert the harsher view, we must give Calvin credit for modifying his doctrine with maturer reflection and advancing years. Much that is called Calvinism would have been repudiated by Calvin himself even at the beginning of his career, and is really the exaggeration of his teaching by more scholastic and less religious successors. Renan calls Calvin " the most Christian man of his generation." Dorner describes him as " equally great in intellect and character, lovely in social life, full of tender sympathy and faithfulness to his friends, yielding and forgiving toward personal offences." The device upon his seal is a flaming heart from which is stretched forth a helping hand. Calvin's share in the burning of Servetus must be explained by his mistaken zeal for God's truth and by the universal belief of his time that this truth was to be defended by the civil power. The following is the inscription on the expiatory monument which European Calvinists raised to Servetus : "On October 27, 1553, died at the stake at Champel, Michael Servetus, of Villeneuve d' Aragon, born September 29, 1511. Reverent and grateful sons of Calvin, our great Reformer, but condemning an error which was that of his age, and steadfastly adhering to liberty of conscience according to the true principles of the Reformation and of the gospel, we have erected this expiatory monu ment, on the 27th of October, 1903." John DeWitt, in Princeton Theol. Rev., Jan. 1904 : 95 — " Take John Calvin. That fruitful conception — more fruitful in church and state than any other conception which has held the English speaking world — of the absolute and universal sovereignty of the holy God, as a revolt from the conception then prevailing of the sovereignty of the human head of an earthly church, was historically the mediator and instaurator of his spiritual career." On Calvin's theological position, see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1 : 409, note. ( e ) But the Scriptures teach that men as sinners, and not men irrespec tive of their sins, are the objects of God's saving grace in Christ ( John 15 : 9 ; Eom. 11 : 5, 7 ; Eph. 1 : 4-6 ; 1 Pet. 1:2). Condemnation, moreover, is an act, not of sovereignty, but of justice, and is grounded in the guilt of the condemned ( Eom. 2 : 6-11 ; 2 Thess. 1 : 5-10 ). The true order of the decrees is therefore as follows : 1. the decree to create ; 2. the decree to permit the Fall; 3. the decree to provide a salvation in Christ sufficient for the needs of all ; 4. the decree to secure the actual acceptance of this sal vation on the part of some, — or, in other words, the decree of Election. That saving grace presupposes the Fall, and that men as sinners are the objects of it, appears from John 15: 19 —"If ye were of the world, the world would love its own : out because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth yon"; Rom. 11:5-7 — "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. But if it is by grace, it is no more of works : otherwise grace is no more grace. What then ? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not ; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened." Eph. 1 : 4-6 — "even as he chose us in Mm before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in lore : haying foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved "; 1 Pet. 1 : 2 — elect, " according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanotifioa- tion of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus : draco to you and peace be multiplied," ELECTION. 779 That condemnation is not an act of sovereignty, but of justice, appears from Rom. 2 : 6-9 — " who will render to every man according to his works .... wrath and indignation .... upon every soul of man that worketh evil " : 2 Thess. 1:6-9 — "a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you .... rendering vengeance to them that knew not God and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus : who shall suffer punishment." Particular persons are elected, not to have Christ die for them, but to have special influences of the Spirit bestowed upon them. (c?) Those Sublapsarians who hold to the Anselmio view of a limited Atonement, make the decrees 3. and 4. , just mentioned, exchange places, — the decree of election thus preceding the decree to provide redemption. The Scriptural reasons for preferring the order here given have been already indicated in our treatment of the extent of the Atonement (pages 771-773). When ' 3 ' and ' 4 ' thus change places, ' 3 * should be made to read : " The decree to provide in Christ a salvation sufficient for the elect "; and '4' should read: "The decree that a certain number should be saved, — or, in other words, the decree of Election." Sublapsarianism of the first sort may be found in Turretin, loc. 4, quaes. 9 ; Cunning ham, Hist. Theol., 416-439. A. J. F. Behrends : " The divine decree is our last word in theology, not our first word. It represents the terminus ad quern, not the terminus a quo. Whatever comes about in the exercise of human freedom and of divine grace— that God has decreed." Yet we must grant that Calvinism needs to be supplemented by a more express statement of God's love for the world. Herrick Johnson : " Across the Westminster Confession could justly be written : ' The Gospel for the elect only." That Confession was written under the absolute dominion of one idea, the doctrine of pre destination. It does not contain one of three truths : God's love for a lost world ; Christ's compassion for a lost world, and the gospel universal for a lost world." I. Election. Election is that eternal act of God, by which in his sovereign pleasure, and on account of no foreseen merit in them, he chooses certain out of the number of sinful men to be the recipients of the special grace of his Spirit, and so to be made voluntary partakers of Christ's salvation. 1. Proof of the Doctrine of Election. A. "From Scripture. We here adopt the words of Dr. Hovey : "The Scriptures forbid us to find the reasons for election in the moral action of man before the new birth, and refer us merely to the sovereign will and mercy of God ; that is, they teach the doctrine of personal election." Before advancing to the proof of the doctrine itself, we may claim Scriptural warrant for three pre liminary statements (which we also quote from Dr. Hovey), namely : First, that "God has a sovereign right to bestow more grace upon one subject than upon another, — grace being unmerited favor to sinners." Hat. 20 : 12-15 — " These last have spent but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us . . . . Friend, I do thee no wrong .... Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? " Rom. 9 : 20, 21 — " Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Thy didst thou make me thus 1 Or hath not the potter a right over the day, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another onto dishonor ? " Secondly, that " God has been pleased to exercise this right in dealing with men." Fs. 147 : 20 — " He hath not dealt so with any nation ; And as for his ordinances, they have not known them " . Som. 3 : i, 2 " Tf lat advantage then hath the Jew ? or what is the profit of circumcision ? Much every way : first of all, that they were intrusted with the oracles of God "; John 15 : 16 — " Te did not choose me, but I ohose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit "; Acts 9 : 15 — " he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the obildren of Israel." Thirdly, that "God has some other reason than that of saving as many as possible for the way in which he distributes his grace." 780 SOTBRIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. Hat 11 : 21 - Tyre and Sidon "would have repented," if they had had the grace bestowed upon Chorazin and Bethsaida ; Rom. 9 : 22-25 - " What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make lus power known, endured with much longsnffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: and that he might make known me riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory ? " The Scripture passages which directly or indirectly support the doctrine of a particular election of individual men to salvation may be arranged as follows : ( a ) Direct statements of God's purpose to save certain individuals : Jesus speaks of God's elect, as for example in Bark 13 : 27-" then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his eleot "; Luke 18 : 7 — " shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night ? " Acts 13 : 48 —" as many as were ordained (rera.yii.ivoi ) to eternal life believed "— here Whedon translates : " disposed unto eternal life," referring to KoTY|pTieoO yiiwKeo-iJai ( 1 Cor. 8 : 3 ; Gal. 4:9); negatively in the sentence of Christ : ovStTrore eyvotv iitias, " I never knew you," never had any acquaintance with you." On npoyivu- o-xu, Rom. 8 : 29 — ofis irpoiyvm, "whom he foreknew," see Denney, in Expositor's Greek Testa ment, in loco : "Those whom he foreknew— in what sense? as persons who would answer his love with love ? This is at least irrelevant, and alien to Paul's general method of thought. That salvation begins with God, and begins in eternity, are fundamental ideas with him, which he here applies to Christians, without raising any of the problems involved in the relation of the human will to the divine. Tet we may be sure that irpoe'-yvu has the pregnant sense that yuw/ca, often has in Scripture, e. g., in Ps. 1 : 6 ; Amos 3:2; hence we may render : ' those of whom God took knowledge from eternity (Iph.l: 4)." In Rom. 8: 28-30, quoted above, "foreknew" = elected— that is, made certain individuals, in the future, the objects of his love and care ; "foreordained " describes God's designation of these same individuals to receive the special gift of salvation. In other words, " fore knowledge " is of persons : " f oreordination " is of blessings to be bestowed upon them. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., appendix to book v, (vol. 2: 751) — "'whom he did foreknow' (know before as his own, with determination to be. forever merciful to them ) ' he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son ' — predestinated, not to opportunity of conformation, but to conformation itself." So, for substance, Calvin, RUckert, DeWette, Stuart, Jowett, Vaughan. On 1 Pet 1 : 1, 2, see Com. of Plumptre. The Arminian interpretation of " whom he foreknew" (Rom. 8:29) would require the phrase "as conformed to the image of his Son " to be conjoined with it. Paul, however, makes conformity to Christ to be the result, not the foreseen condition, of God's f oreordination ; see Commentaries of Hodge and Lange. ( e ) With assertions that this choice is matter of grace, or unmerited favor, bestowed in eternity past : Eph. 1:5-8 — " foreordained .... according to the good pleasure of his will, tc the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved .... according to the riches of his grace " ; 2:8 — "by grace have ye been saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God " — here " and that " ( neuter toCto, verse 8 ) refers, not to " faith " but to " salvation." But faith is elsewhere represented as having its source in God, — see page 782, ( k ). 2 Tim. 1:9 — "his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal." Election is not because of our merit. McLaren : " God's own mercy, spontaneous, undeserved, condescending, moved him. God is his own motive. His love is not drawn out by our loveableness, but wells up, like an artesian spring, from the depths of his nature." ( d) That the Father has given certain persons to the Son, to be his peculiar possession : John 6 : 37 — "All that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me " ; 17 : 2 — "that whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life " ; 6 — "I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou gavest them to me " ; 9 — "I pray not for the world, hut for those whom thou hast given me"; Eph. 1 : 14 — "unto the redemption of God's own possession"; 1 Pet. 2:9 — "a people for God's own possession," ( e ) That the fact of believers being united thus to Christ is due wholly to God: John 6 : 44 — " No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him " ; 10 : 26 — "ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep " ; 1 Cor. 1 : 30 — " of him [ God ] are ye in Christ Jesus " = your being, as Christians, in union with Christ, is due wholly to God. (/) That those who are written in the Lamb's book of life, and they only, shall be saved : Phil. 4 : 3— "the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the beck of life " ; Rev. 20 : 15 — "And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire " ; 21 : 27 — " there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean ... but only they that are written in the lamb's book of life " = God's decrees of elect ing grace in Christ. 782 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. (g) That these are allotted, as disciples, to certain of God's servants : Acts 17 : 4 — ( literally ) — " some of them were persuaded, and were allotted [ by God ] to Paul and Silas " — as disciples ( so Meyer and Grimm ) ; 18 : 9, 10 — " Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace : for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee : for I have much people in this city." ( h ) Are made the recipients of a special call of God : Rom. 8:28, 30— "called according to his purpose whom he foreordained, them he also called"; 9: 23,24 — " vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles " j 11:29 — "for the gifts and the calling of God are not repentodof"; 1 Cor. 1 : 24-29 — "unto them that are called .... Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God .... For behold your calling, brethren, .... the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to naught the things that are : that no flesh, should glory before God " ; GaL 1 : 15, 16 — " when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me " ; cf. James 2 : 23 — " and he [ Abraham ] was called [ to be ] the friend of God." ( i ) Are born into God's kingdom, not by virtue of man's will, but of God's will : John 1 : 13 — " born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God " ; James 1 : 18 — "Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth" ; 1 John 4 : 10 — "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us." S. S. Times, Oct. 14, 1899— "The law of love is the expression of God's loving nature, and it is only by our participation of the»divine nature that we are enabled to render it obedience. ' Loving God,' says Bushnell, ' is but letting God love us.' So John's great Baying may be rendered in the present tense : ' not that we love God, but that he loves us.' Or, as Madame Guyon sings : ' I love my God, but with no love of mine, For I have none to give ; I love thee, Lord, but all the love is thine. For by thy life I live'." ( j ) Eeceiving repentance, as the gift of God : Acts 5 : 31 — "lim did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins"; 11:18 — "Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life " ; 2Tim.2;25 — "cor recting them that oppose themselves ; if perad venture God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth," Of course it is true that God might give repentance simply by Inducing man to repent by the agency of his word, his providence and his Spirit. But more than this seems to be meant when the Psalmist prays : " Create in me a dean heart, 0 God ; And renew a right spirit within me" (Ps.51:10). ( k ) Faith, as the gift of God : John 6 : 65 — "no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father " ; Acts 15 : 8, 9 "God ... . giving them the Holy Spirit . . . cleansing their hearts by faith " ; Rom. 12 : 3 — "aooording as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith"; ICor. 12: 9 — " to another faith, in the same Spirit"; Gal. 5 :22— " the fruit of the Spirit s . . . faith " ( A. V.) ; Phil. 2 : 13 — In all faith, " it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure " ; Eph. 6 : 23 — " Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"; John3:8 — "The Spirit breatheth where he wills, and thou [ as a consequence ] nearest Mb voice " ( so Bengel ) ; see A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 166 ; 1 Oor. 12 : 3 —"No man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the My Spirit " — but calling Jesus " lord " is an essential part of faith,— faith therefore is the work of the Holy Spirit ; Tit 1 : 1 — " the faith of God's elect "= election is not in consequence of faith, but faith is in consequence of election (Ellicott). If they get their faith of themselves, then salvation is not due to grace. If God gave the faith, then it was in his purpose, and this is election. (I) Holiness and good works, as the gift of God. Eph. 1 : 4 — " chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy " ; 2 : 9, 10 — " not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore pre pared that we should walk in them " ; lPet.i:2— elect "unto obedience." On Scripture testimony, see Hovey, Manual of Theol. and Ethics, 858-261 ; also art. on Predestination, by Warfleld, in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. These passages furnish an abundant and conclusive refutation, on the one hand, of the Lutheran view that election is simply God's determina tion from eternity to provide an objective salvation for universal humanity; ELECTION. 783 and, on the other hand, of the Arminian view that election is God's deter mination from eternity to save certain individuals upon the ground of their foreseen faith. Roughly stated, we may say that Schleiermaoher elects all men subjectively ; Lutherans all men objectively ; Arminians all believers ; Augustinians all foreknown as God's own. Schleiermacher held that decree logically precedes foreknowledge, and that election is individual, not national. But he made election to include all men, the only difference between them being that of earlier or of later conversion. Thus in his system Calvinism and Restorationism go hand in hand. Murray, in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, seems to take this view. Lutheranism is the assertion that original grace preceded original sin, and that the Quia Voluit of Tertullian and of Calvin was based on wisdom, in Christ. The Lutheran holds that the believer is simply the non-resistant subject of common grace ; while the Arminian holds that the believer is the coBperant subject of common grace. Luther anism enters more fully than Calvinism into the nature of faith. It thinks more of the human agency, while Calvinism thinks more of the divine purpose. It thinks more of the church, while Calvinism thinks more of Scripture. The Arminian conception is that God has appointed men to salvation, just as he has appointed them to condem nation, in view of their dispositions and acts. As Justification is in view of present faith, so the Arminian regards Election as taking place in view of future faith. Arminianism must reject the doctrine of regeneration as well as that of election, and must in both cases make the act of man precede the act of God. All varieties of view may be found upon this subject among theologians. John Milton, in his Christian Doctrine, holds that " there is no particular predestination or election, but only general. . . . There can be no reprobation of individuals from all eter nity." Archbishop Sumner : " Election is predestination of communities and nations to external knowledge and to the privileges of the gospel." Archbishop Whately : " Election is the choice of individual men to membership in the external church and the means of grace." Gore, in Lux Mundi, 320— " The elect represent not the special purpose of God for a few, but the universal purpose which under the circumstances can only be realized through a few." R. V. Foster, a Cumberland Presbyterian, opposed to absolute predestination, says in his Systematic Theology that the divine decree "is unconditional in its origin and conditional in its application." B. From Reason. ( a ) What God does, he has eternally purposed to do. Since he bestows special regenerating grace on some, he must have eternally purposed to bestow it, — in other words, must have chosen them to eternal life. Thus the doctrine of election is only a special application of the doctrine of decrees. The New Haven views are essentially Arminian. See Fitch, on Predestination and Election, in Christian Spectator, 3 :622— " God's foreknowledge of what would be the results of his present works of grace preceded in the order of nature the purpose to pursue those works, and presented the grounds of that purpose. Whom he foreknew — as the people who would be guided to his kingdom by his present works of grace, in which result lay the whole objective motive for undertaking those works — he did also, by resolving on those works, predestinate." Here God is very erroneously said to foreknow what is as yet included in a merely possible plan. As we have seen in our dis cussion of Decrees, there can be no foreknowledge, unless there is something fixed, in the future, to be foreknown ; and this fixity can be due only to God's predetermina tion. So, in the present case, election must precede prescience. The New Haven views are also given in N. W. Taylor, Revealed Theology, 373-444 ; for criticism upon them, see Tyler, Letters on New Haven Theology, 172-180. If God desired the salvation of Judas as much as of Peter, how was Peter elected in distinct ion from Judas? To the question, "Who made thee to differ?" the answer must be, "Not God, but my own will." See Finney, in Bib. Sao., 1877 : 711 — " God must have fore known whom he could wisely save, prior in the order of nature to his determining to save them. But his knowing who would be saved, must have been, in the order of nature, subsequent to his election or determination to save them, and dependent upon 161 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. that determination." Foster, Christian Life and Theology, 70— " The doctrine of elec tion is the consistent formulation, sub specie eternitatis, of prevenient grace 86 — With the doctrine of prevenient grace, the evangelical dootrine stands or falls." ( b ) This purpose cannot be conditioned upon any merit or faith of those who are chosen, since there is no such merit, — faith itself being God's gift and foreordained by him. Since man's faith is foreseen only as the result of God's work of grace, election proceeds rather upon fore seen unbelief. Faith, as the effect of election, cannot at the same time be the cause of election. There is an analogy between prayer and its answer, on the one hand, and faith and salvation on the other. God has decreed answer in connection with prayer, and salva tion in connection with faith. But he does not change his mind when men pray, or when they believe. As he fulfils his purpose by inspiring true prayer, so he fulfils his purpose by giving faith. Augustine : " He chooses us, not because W9 believe, but that we may believe : lest we should say that we first chose him." (John 15:16 — "Te did not choose me, but I chose you " ; Rom, 9 : 2i — " from the same lump " ; 16 — " not of him that willeth " ). Here see the valuable discussion of Wardlaw, Systematic Theol., 2 : 485-549 — " Elec tion and salvation on the ground of works foreseen are not different in principle from election and salvation on the ground of works performed." Cf. Prov. 21:1 — "The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses ; le turneth it whithersoever he will " — as easily as the rivulets of the eastern fields are turned by the slightest motion of the hand or the foot of the husbandman ; Ps. 110 : 3 — " Thy people offer themselves willingly In the day of thy power." ( o, ) The depravity of the human will is such that, without this decree to bestow special divine influences upon some, all, without exception, would have rejected Christ's salvation after it was offered to them ; and so all, without exception, must have perished. Election, therefore, may be viewed as a necessary consequence of God's decree to provide an objective redemption, if that redemption is to have any subjective result in human salvation. Before the prodigal son seeks the father, the father must first seek him, — a truth brought out in the preceding parables of the lost money and the lost sheep (Luke 15 ). Without election, all are lost. Newman Smyth, Orthodox Theology of To-day, 58 — " The worst doctrine of election, to-day, is taught by our natural science. The scien tific doctrine of natural selection is the doctrine of election, robbed of all hope, and without a single touch of human pity in it." Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2 : 335 — " Suppose the deistic view be true: God created men and left them ; surely no man could complain of the results. But now suppose God, foreseeing these very results of creation, should create. Would it make any difference, if God's purpose, as to the f uturition of such a world, should precede it? Augustine supposes that God did purpose such a world as the deist supposes, with two exceptions : U ) he interposes to restrain evil ; ( 2 ) he intervenes, by providence, by Christ, and by the Holy Spirit, to save some from destruction." Election is simply God's determina tion that the sufferings of Christ shall not be in vain ; that all men shall not be lost ; that some shall be led to accept Christ ; that to this end special influences of his Spirit Bhall be given. At first sight it might appear that God's appointing men to salvation was simply permissive, as was his appointment to condemnation ( 1 Pet. 2:8), and that this appoint ment was merely indirect by creating them with foresight of their faith or their dis obedience. But the decree of salvation is not simply permissive, —it is efficient also. It is a decree to use special means for the salvation of some. A. A. Hodge, Popular Lectures, 143— "The dead man cannot spontaneously originate his own quickening, nor the creature his own creating, nor the infant his own begetting. Whatever man may do after regeneration, the first quickening of the dead must originate with God." Hovey, Manual of Theology, 287— "Calvinism, reduced to its lowest terms, is elec tion of believers, not on account of any foreseen conduct of theirs, either before or in the act of conversion, which would be spiritually better than that of others influenced by the same grace, but on account of their foreseen greater usefulness in manifesting the glory of God to moral beings and of their foreseen non-commission of the sin ELECTION. 785 against the Holy Spirit." But even here we must attribute the greater usefulness and the abstention from fatal sin, not to man's unaided powers but to the divine decree ; see Dph, 2:10 — "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them." (d) The doctrine of election becomes more acceptable to reason when we remember : first, that God's decree is eternal, and in a certain sense is contemporaneous with man's belief in Christ ; secondly, that God's decree to create involves the decree of all that in the exercise of man's freedom will follow ; thirdly, that God's decree is the decree of him who is all in all, so that our willing and doing is at the same time the working of him who decrees our willing and doing. The whole question turns upon the initiative in human salvation : if this belongs to God, then in spite of dif ficulties we must accept the doctrine of election. The timeless existence of God may be the source of many of our difficulties with regard to election, and with a proper view of God's eternity these difficulties might be removed. Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 349-351— " Eternity is commonly thought of as if it were a state or series anterior to time and to be resumed again when time comes to an end. This, however, only reduces eternity to time again, and puts the life of God in the same line with our own, only coming from further back At present we do not see how time and eternity meet." Royce, World and Individual, 2 : 374— " God does not temporally foreknow anything, except so far as he is expressed in us finite beings. The knowledge that exists in time is the knowledge that finite beings possess, in so far as they are finite. And no such foreknowledge can predict the special features of individual deeds precisely so far as they are unique. Foreknowledge in time is possible only of the general, and of the causally predetermined, and not of the unique and free. Hence neither God nor man can foreknow perfectly, at any temporal moment, what a free will agent is yet to do. On the other hand, the Absolute possesses a perfect knowledge at one glance of the whole of the temporal order, past, present and future. This knowledge is ill called foreknowledge. It is eternal knowledge. And as there is an eternal knowledge of all individuality and of all freedom, free acts are known as occurring, like the chords in the musical succession, precisely when and how they actually occur." While we see much truth in the preceding statement, we find in it no bar to our faith that God can translate his eternal knowledge into finite knowledge and can thus put it for special purposes in possession of his creatures. ¦ E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250— " Foreknowing what his creatures would do, God decreed their destiny when he decreed their creation j and this would still be the case, although every man had the partial control over his destiny that Arminians aver, or even the complete control that Pelagians claim. The decree is as absolute as if there were no freedom, but it leaves them as free as if there were no decree." A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 40, 42— " As the Logos or divine Reason, Christ dwells in humanity everywhere and constitutes the principle of its being. Humanity shares with Christ in the image of God. That image is never wholly lost. It is completely restored in sinners when the Spirit of Christ secures control of their wills and leads them to merge their life in his. ... If Christ be the principle and life of all things, then divine sovereignty and human freedom, if they are not absolutely reconciled, at least lose their ancient antagonism, and we can rationally 'work out our own salvation,' for the very reason that 'it is God that worketh in us, both to will and to work, for his good pleasure ' ( Phil, 2:12,13)." 2. Objections to the Doctrine of Election. (a) It is unjust to those who are not included in this purpose of salva tion. — Answer : Election deals, not simply with creatures, but with sinful, guilty, and condemned creatures. That any should be saved, is matter of pure grace, and those who are not included in this purpose of salvation suffer only the due reward of their deeds. There is, therefore, no injustice in God's election. We may better praise God that he saves any, than charge him with injustice because he saves so few. 50 786 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALTATION. God can say to all men, saved or unsaved, "Friend, I do thee no wrong .... Is it not lawful for mo to do what I will with mine own ? " ( Hat. 20 : 13, 15 ). The question is not whether a father will treat his children alike, but whether a sovereign must treat condemned rebels alike. It is not true that, because the Governor pardons one convict from the penitentiary, he must therefore pardon all. When he pardons one, no injury is done to those who are left. But, in God's government, there is still less reason for objection ; for God offers pardon to all. Nothing prevents men from being pardoned but their unwillingness to accept his pardon. Election is simply God's determination to make certain persons willing to accept it. Because justice cannot save all, shall it therefore save none ? Augustine, De Predest. Sanct., 8— "Why does not God teach all? Because it is in mercy that he teaches all whom he does teach, while it is in judgment that he does not teach those whom he does not teach." In his Manual of Theology and Ethics, 260, Hovey remarks that Rom. 9 : 20 — " who art thou that repliest against God ? "— teaches, not that might makes right, but that God is morally entitled to glorify either his righteousness or his mercy in disposing of a guilty race. It is not that he chooses to save only a few ship wrecked and drowning creatureB, but that he chooses to save only a part of a great company who are bent on committing suicide. Prov. 8 : 36 — "he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul : All they that hate me love death." It is best for the universe at large that some should be permitted to have their own way and show how dreadful a thing is opposition to God. See Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1 : 455. ( 6 ) It represents God as partial in his dealings aud a respecter of per sons. — Answer : Since there is nothing in men that determines God's choice of one rather than another, the objection is invalid. It would equally apply to God's selection of certain nations, as Israel, and certain individuals, as Cyrus, to be recipients of special temporal gifts. If God is not to be regarded as partial in not providing a salvation for fallen angels, he cannot be regarded as partial in not providing regenerating influences of his Spirit for the whole race of fallen men. Ps. 44 : 3 — " For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them ; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable unto them"; Is. 45:1,4,5 — " Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him .... For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chcsen, I have called thee by thy name : I have sumamed thee, though thou hast not known me "; Luke 4 : 25-27 — "There were many widows in Israel . , , . and unto none of them was Elijah sent, hut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow, And there were many lepers in Israel , . , . and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian " ; 1 Cor, 4 : 7 — "For who maketh thee to differ ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" 2 Pet. 2 : 4 — "God spared not angels when they sinned, but oast them down to hell"; Heb. 2 : 16 — " For verily not to angels doth he give help, but he giveth help to the seed of Abraham." Is God partial, in choosing Israel, Cyrus, Naaman ? Is God partial, in bestowing upon some of his servants special ministerial gifts ? Is God partial, in not providing a salva tion for fallen angels ? In God's providence, one man is born in a Christian land, the son of a noble family, is endowed with beauty of person, splendid talents, exalted opportunities, immense wealth. Another is born at the Five Points, or among the Hottentots, amid the degradation and depravity of actual, or practical, heathenism. We feel that it is irreverent to complain of God's dealings in providence. What right have sinners to complain of God's dealings in the distribution of his grace ? Hovey : " We have no reason to think that God treats all moral beings alike. We should be glad to hear that other races are treated better than we." Divine election is only the ethical side and interpretation of natural selection. In the latter God chooses certain forms of the vegetable and animal kingdom without merit of theirs. They are preserved while others die. In the matter of individual health, talent, property, one is taken and the other left. If we call all this the result of system, the reply is that God ohose the system, knowing precisely what would come of it. Bruce, Apologetics, 201—" Election to distinction in philosophy or art is not incompre hensible, for these are not matters of vital concern ; but election to holiness on the part of some, and to unholiness on the part of others, would be inconsistent with God's own holiness." But there is no such election to unholiness except on the part of man himself. God's election secures only the good. See ( c ) below. J. J. Murphy, Natural Selection and Spiritual Freedom, 73— "The world is ordered on a basis of inequality ; in the organic world, as Darwin has shown, it is of inequality — ELECTION. 787 of favored races— that all progress comes ; history shows the same to be true of the human and spiritual world. All human progress is due to elect human individuals, elect not only to be a blessing to themselves, but still more to be a blessing to multitudes of others. Any superiority, whether in the natural or in the mental and spiritual world, becomes a vantage-ground for gaining a greater superiority. ... It is the method of the divine government, acting in the provinces both of nature and of grace, that all benefit should come to the many through the elect few." (c) It represents God as arbitrary. — Answer: It represents God, not as arbitrary, but as exercising the free choice of a wise and sovereign will, in ways and for reasons which are inscrutable to us. To deny the possibility of such a choice is to deny God's personality. To deny that God has reasons for his choice is to deny his wisdom. The doctrine of election finds these reasons, not in men, but in God. When a regiment is decimated for insubordination, the fact that every tenth man is chosen for death is for reasons ; but the reasons are not in the men. In one case, the reason for God's choice seems revealed : 1 Tim. 1 : 16 — " bowbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his longsuffering, for an cnsample of them that should thereafter believe on him unto eternal life " — here Paul indicates that the reason why God chose him was that he was so great a sinner : verse 15 — " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief" Hovey remarks that " the uses to which God can put men, as vessels of grace, may determine his selection of them." But since the naturally weak are saved, as well as the naturally strong, we cannot draw any general conclusion, or discern any general rule, in God's dealings, unless it be this, that in election God seeks to illustrate the greatness and the variety of his grace,— the reasons lying, therefore, not in men, but in God. We must remember that God's sovereignty is the sovereignty of Ood— the infi nitely wise, holy and loving God, in whose hands the destinies of men can be left more safely than in the hands of the wisest, most just, and most kind of his creatures. We must believe in the grace of sovereignty as well as in the sovereignty of grace. Election and reprobation are not matters of arbitrary will. God saves all whom he can wisely save. He will show benevolence in the salvation of mankind just so far as he can without prejudice to holiness. No man can be saved without God, but it is also true that there is no man whom God is not willing to save. H. B. Smith, System, 511— " It may be that many of the finally impenitent resist more light than many of the saved." Harris, Moral Evolution, 401 (for substance)— "Sovereignty is not lost in Fatherhood, but is recovered as the divine law of righteous love. Doubtless thou art our Father, though Augustine be ignorant of us, and Calvin acknowledge us not." Hooker, Eccl. Polity, 1:2—" They err who think that of God's will there is no reason except his will." T. Erskine, The Brazen Serpent, 259— Sovereignty is "just a name for what is unrevealed of God." We do not know oKof God's reasons for saving particular men, but we do know some of the reasons, for he has revealed them to us. These reasonB are not men's merits or works. We have mentioned the first of these reasons : ( 1 ) Men's greater sin and need ; 1 Tim. 1: 16 — "thatinmeasohief might Jesus Christ show forth all his- longsnffering." We may add to this : (2) The fact that men have not sinned against the Holy Spirit and made themselves unreceptive to Christ's salvation ; 1 Tim. 1 : 13 — "I obtained mercy, because I did it igncrantly in unbe- ief "=the fact that Paul had not sinned with full knowledge of what he did was a reason why God could choose him. ( 3 ) Men's ability by the help of Christ to be witnesses and martyrs for their Lord ; Acts 9 : 15, 16 — " he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel : for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." As Paul's mission to the Gentiles may have determined God's choice, so Augustine's mis sion to the sensual and abandoned may have had the same influence. But if Paul's sins, as foreseen, constituted one reason why God chose to save him, why might not his ability to serve the kingdom have constituted another reason ? We add therefore : ( 4 ) Men's foreseen ability to serve Christ's kingdom in bringing others to the knowledge of the truth; John 15: 16 — "I chose yon and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit." Notice however that this is choice to service, and not simply choice on account of service. In all these cases the reasons do not lie in the men themselves, for what these men are and what they possess is due to God's providence and grace. ( d ) It tends to immorality, by representing men's salvation as inde pendent of their own obedience. — Answer : The objection ignores the fact 788 80TERI0L0GY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. that the salvation of believers is ordained only in connection with their regeneration and sanctification, as means ; and that the certainty of final triumph is the strongest incentive to strenuous conflict with sin. Plutarch: "God is the brave man's hope, and not the coward's excuse." The pur poses of God are an anchor to the storm-tossed spirit. But a ship needs engine, as well as anchor. God does not elect to save any without repentance and faith. Some hold the doctrine of election, but the doctrine of election does not hold them. Such should ponder 1 Pet. 1 : 2, in which Christians are said to be elect, " in sanctinoation of the Spirit, unto obedi ence and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." Augustine : "He loved her [ the church ] foul, that he might make her fair." Dr. John Watson ( Ian McLaren ) : " The greatest reinforcement religion could have in our time would be a return to the ancient belief in the sovereignty of God." This is because there is lack of a strong conviction of sin, guilt, and helplessness, still remain ing pride and unwillingness to submit to God, imperfect faith in God's trustworthiness and goodness. We must not exclude Arminians from our fellowship— there are too many good Methodists for that. But we may maintain that they hold but half the truth, and that absence of the doctrine of election from their creed makes preaching less serious and character less secure. ( e ) It inspires pride in those who think themselves elect. — Answer : This is possible only in the case of those who pervert the doctrine. On the contrary, its proper influence is to humble men. Those who exalt themselves above others, upon the ground that they are special favorites of God, have reason to question their election. In the novel, there was great effectiveness in the lover's plea to the object of his affection, that he had loved since he had first set his eyes upon her in her childhood. But God's love for us is of longer standing than that. It dates back to a time before we were born,— aye, even to eternity past. It is a love which was fastened upon us, although God knew the worst of us. It is unchanging, because founded upon his infinite and eternal love to Christ. Jer. 31 : 3 — "Jehovah appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee"; Rom. 8:31-39 — "If God is for us, who is against us ? . . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? " And the answer is, that nothing " shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our lord." This eternal love subdues and humbles : Ps. 115 : 1 — "Not unto us, 0 Jehovah, not unto us, But unto thy name give glory For thy lovingkindness, and for thy truth's sake." Of the effect of the doctrine of election, Calvin, in his Institutes, 3 : 22 : 1, remarks that " when the human mind hears of it, its irritation breaks all restraint, and it dis covers as serious and violent agitation as if alarmed by the sound of a martial trumpet." The cause of this agitation is the apprehension of the fact that one is an enemy of God and yet absolutely dependent upon his mercy. This apprehension leads normally to submission. But the conquered rebel can give no thanks to himself,— all thanks are due to God who has chosen and renewed him. The affections elicited are not those of pride and self-complacency, but of gratitude and love. Christian hymnology witnesses to these effects. Isaac Watts ( + 1748) : " Why was I made to hear thy voice And enter while there 's room. When thousands make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come. 'T was the same love that spread the feast That sweetly forced me in ; Else I had still refused to taste, And perished in my sin. Pity the nations, O our God I Constrain the earth to come ; Send thy victorious word abroad, And bring the wanderers home." Josiah Conder (+1855): " 'Tis not that I did choose thee, For, Lord, that could not be ; This heart would still refuse thee ; But thou hast chosen me ;— Hast, from the sin that stained me, Washed me and set me free. And to this end ordained me That I should live to thee. 'T was sovereign mercy called me, And taught my opening mind ; The world had else enthralled me. To heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none above thee ; For thy rich grace I thirst ; This knowing,— if I love thee, Thou must have loved me first." (/) It discourages effort for the salvation of the impenitent, whether on their own part or on the part of others. —Answer : Since it is a secret decree, it cannot hinder or discourage such effort. On the other hand, it is a ground of encouragement, and so a stimulus to effort ; for, without ELECTION. 789 election, it is certain that all would be lost ( cf. Acts 18 : 10 ). While it humbles the sinner, so that he is willing to cry for mercy, it encourages him also by showing him that some will be saved, and ( since election and faith are inseparably connected) that he will be saved, if he will only believe. While it makes the Christian feel entirely dependent on God's power, in his efforts for the impenitent, it leads him to say with Paul that he "endures all things for the elects' sake, that they also may attain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory " ( 2 Tim. 2 : 10 ). God's decree that Paul's ship's company should be saved (Acts 27: 24) did not obviate the necessity of their abiding in the ship ( verse 31 ). In marriage, man's election does not exclude woman's ; so God's election does not exclude man's. There is just as much need of effort as if there were no election. Hence the question for the sinner is not, " Am I one of the elect ? " but rather. " What shall I do to be saved ? " Milton repre sents the spirits of hell as debating foreknowledge and free will, in wandering mazes lost. No man is saved until he ceases to debate, and begins to act. And yet no man will thus begin to act, unless God's Spirit moves him. The Lord encouraged Paul by say ing to him : "I have much people in this oity " ( Acts 18:10) — people whom I will bring in through thy word. " Old Adam is too strong for young Melanchthon." If God does not regen erate, there is no hope of success in preaching : " God stands powerless before the majesty of man's lordly will. Sinners have the glory of their own salvation. To pray God to convert a man is absurd. God elects the man, because he foresees that the man will elect himself "( see S.R. Mason, Truth Unfolded, 298-307). The doctrine of elec tion does indeed cut off the hopes of those who place confidence in themselves ; but it is best that such hopes should be destroyed, and that in place of them should be put a hope in the sovereign grace of God. The doctrine of election does teach man's abso lute dependence upon God, and the impossibility of any disappointment or disarrange ment of the divine plans arising from the disobedience of the sinner, and it humbles human pride until it is willing to take the place of a suppliant for mercy. Rowland Hill was criticized for preaching election and yet exhorting sinners to repent, and was told that he should preach only to the elect. He replied that, if his critic would put a chalk-mark on all the elect, he would preach only to them. But this is not the whole truth. We are not only ignorant who God's elect are, but we are set to preach to both elect andnon-eleet(Ez.2:7 — "thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear " ), with the certainty that to the former our preaching will make a higher heaven, to the latter a deeper hell ( 2 Cor. 2 : 15, 16 — " For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish ; to the one a savor from death unto death ; to the other a savor from life unto life " ; cf. Luke 2 : 34 — "this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel " = for the falling of some, and for the rising up of others ). Jesus' own thanksgiving in Mat. 11 : 25, 26 — "I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst bide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes : yea, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight " — is imm ediately followed by his invitation in verse 28 — " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is no contradiction in his mind between sovereign grace and the free invitations of the gospel. G. W. Northrup, in The Standard, Sept. 19, 1889— "1. God will save every one of the human race whom he can save and remain God ; 2. Every member of the race has a full and fair probation, so that all might be saved and would be saved were they to use aright the light which they already have." . . . . ( Private letter ) : " Limitations of God in the bestowment of salvation : 1. In the power of God in relation to free will ; 2. In the benevolence of God which requires the greatest good of creation, or the greatest aggregate good of the greatest number; 3. In the purpose of God to make the most perfect self -limitation ; 4. In the sovereignty of God, as a prerogative absolutely optional in its exercise ; 5. In the holiness of God, which involves immutable limita tions on his part in dealing with moral agents. Nothing but some absolute impossi bility, metaphysical or moral, could have prevented him ' whose nature and whose name is love' from decreeing and securing the confirmation of all moral agents in holi ness and blessedness forever." ( g ) The decree of election implies a decree of reprobation. — Answer : The decree of reprobation is not a positive decree, like that of election, 790 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. but a permissive decree to leave the sinner to his self -chosen rebellion and its natural consequences of punishment. Election and sovereignty are only sources of good. Election is not a decree to destroy,— it is a decree only to save. When we elect a President, we do not need to hold a second election to determine that the remaining millions shall be non-Presi dents. It is needless to apply contrivance or force. Sinners, like water, if simply let alone, will run down hill to ruin. The decree of reprobation is simply a decree to do nothing— a decree to leave the sinner to himself. The natural result of this judicial forsaking, on the part of God, is the hardening and destruction of the sinner. But it must not be forgotten that this hardening and destruction are not due to any positive efficiency of God, — they are a self -hardening and a self-destruction, — and God's judi cial forsaking is only the just penalty of the sinner's guilty rejection of offered mercy. See Hosea 11 : 8 — " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? .... my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together"; 4:17 — "Ephraim is joined to idols; let himalono"; Rom. 9:22, 23 — "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsnffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction : and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory " — here notice that "which he afore prepared " declares a positive divine efficiency, in the ease of the vessels of mercy, while "fitted unto destruction" intimates no such positive agency of God, — the vessels of wrath fitted themselves for destruction ; 2 Tim. 2 : 20 — "vessels .... some unto honor, and some unto dishonor " ; 1 Pet. 2:8 — " they stumble at the word, being disobedient : whereunto also they were appointed " ; Jude 4 — " who were of old set forth [ ' written of beforehand ' — Am. Rev. ] unto this condemnation " ; Mat. 25 : 34, 41 — " the kingdom prepared for you .... the eternal fire which is prepared [ not for you, nor for men, but] for the devil and his angels "= there is an election to life, but no reprobation to death ; a " book of life " ( Rev. 21 : 27 ), but no book of death. E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 313— "Reprobation, in the sense of absolute pre destination to sin and eternal damnation, is neither a sequence of the doctrine of elec tion, nor the teaching of the Scriptures." Men are not "appointed" to disobedience and stumbling in the same way that they are "appointed" to salvation. God uses positive means to save, but not to destroy. Henry Ward Beecher : " The elect are whosoever will ; the non-elect are whosoever won't." George A. Gordon, New Epoch for Faith, 44 — " Election understood would have been the saving strength of Israel ; election mis understood was its ruin. The nation felt that the election of it meant the rejection of other nations. . . . The Christian church has repeated Israel's mistake." The Westminster Confession reads : " By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed ; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." This reads as if both the saved and the lost were made originally for their respective final estates without respect to character. It is supra lapsarianism. It is certain that the supralapsarians were in the majority in the West minster Assembly, and that they determined the form of the statement, although there were many sublapsarians who objected that it was only on account of their foreseen wickedness that any were reprobated. In its later short statement of doctrine the Presbyterian body in America has made it plain that God's decree of reprobation is a permissive decree, and that it places no barrier in the way of any man's salvation. On the general subject of Election, see Mozley, Predestination ; Payne, Divine Sover eignty; Ridgeley, Works, 1:261-324, esp. 322; Edwards, Works, 2 : 527 sq. ; Van Ooster- zee, Dogmatics, 446-458; Martensen, Dogmatics, 362-382; and especially Wardlaw, Systematic Theology, 485-549 : H. B. Smith, Syst. of Christian Theology, 502-514 ; Maule, Outlines of Christian Doctrine, 36-56 ; Peck, in Bapt. Quar. Rev., Oct. 1891 : 689-706. On objections to election, and Spurgeon's answers to them, see Williams, Reminiscences of Spurgeon, 189. On the homiletical uses of the doctrine of election, see Bib. Sac, Jan. 1893:79-92. II. CAIiIiTNG. Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ. — The Scriptures distinguish between : CALLING. 791 (a) The general, or external, call to all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit. Is. 45:22 — "Look unto me, and he ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else " ; 55:6 — " Seek ye Jehovah while he may he found ; call ye upon him while he is near " ; 65 : 12 — " when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and ohose that wherein I delighted not " ; Ez. 33 : 11 — " As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way and live ; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel ? " Mat. 11 : 28 — " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest " ; 22 : 3 — " sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast : and they would not come " ; Mark 16 : 15 — "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation " ; John 12 : 32 — " And I, if I he lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself" — draw, not drag; Rev. 3:20 — "Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (6) The special, efficacious call of the Holy Spirit to the elect. Luke 14 : 23 — "Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled " ; Rom. 1:7 — "to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints : Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ " ; 8:30—" whom he foreordained, them he also called : and whom he called, them he also justified"; 11:29 — "For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of"; 1 Cor. 1:23, 24 — "but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God " ; 26 — "For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the Josh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called " ; Phil. 3 : 14 — " I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high [ marg. ' upward ' ] calling of God in Christ Jesus " ; Eph 1:18 — " that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints " ; 1 Thess. 2*12 — "to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory " ; 2 Thess. 2 : 14 — " whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ " ; 2 Tim. 1:9 — " who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, net according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal"; Eeb. 3:1 — "holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling"; 2 Pet, 1:10 — " Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure." Two questions only need special consideration : A. Is God's general call sincere ? This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey ; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey. (a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, espe cially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience. God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invita tions of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them. These desires were meant by the phrase "revealed will" in the old theologians ; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase " secret will." It is of the former that Paul speaks, in 1 Tim. 2:4 — " who would have all men to be saved." Here we have, not the active o-io-ai, but the passive o-o-eV-u. The meaning is, not that God purposes to save all men, but that he desires all men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly con sistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number ( see, on 1 Tim. 2 : 4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles ). The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that 792 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which " he that will" may "come" and "take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say: "What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Is. 5:4). Broad us, Com. on Mat. 6 : 10 — " Thy will be done ' ' — distinguishes between God's will of pur pose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 621— "Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influ ence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect." See also Studien und Kritdken, 1887 : 7 sq. ( b ) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it. Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2 : 643— " Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on cer tain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it ; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effect ual grace to some, and not to others. . . . According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them." See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521. B. Is God's special call irresistible ? We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious, — that is, that it infal libly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things : ( a ) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term 'irresistible,' as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul [ Ps. 110 : 3 — " Thy people are freewill-offerings In the day of thy power : in holy array, Out of the womb of the morn ing Thou hast the dew of thy youth " — i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew ; Phil. 2 : 12, 13 — " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure " — i.e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly con demns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit : for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons ( F. C, 60, 581, 582, 673). los. 4:16 — " Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer," or " or as a heifer that slideth back " = when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not "the sacrifices of God " which are " a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart" (Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250— "The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And further more, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contra diction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life." Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation is received as a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is in purpose a gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abund ant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God. APPLICATION OF CHRIST'S REDEMPTION. 793 ( 6 ) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that- new dis position of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere cooperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exer cised ( John 1 : 12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Eegeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical. John 1 : 12, 13 — " But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to beoome children of God, even to them that believe on his name : who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129 — " Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky — a reflex, a mirror, a diffu sion ; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee." Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302 — "In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism betweeD man and God ; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and there fore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Such real duality of will, and not the appear ance of duality, as E. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion." SECTION II.— THE APPLICATION OF CHRIST'S REDEMPTION IN ITS ACTUAL BEGINNING. Under this head we treat of Union with Christ, Eegeneration, Conversion (embracing Eepentance and Faith), and Justification. Much confusion and error have arisen from conceiving these as occurring in chronological order. The order is logical, not chronological. As it is only " in Christ" that man is " a new creature " (2 Cor. 5:17) oris "justified" (Acts 13:39), union with Christ logically precedes both regeneration and justification ; and yet, chronologically, the moment of our union with Christ is also the moment when we are regenerated and justified. So, too, regeneration and conversion are but the divine and human sides or aspects of the same fact, although regeneration has logical precedence, and man turns only as God turns him. Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 3 : 694 ( Syst. Doct, 4 : 159 ), gives at this point an account of the work of the Holy Spirit in general. The Holy Spirit's work, he says, presupposes the historical work of Christ, and prepares the way for Christ's return. " As the Holy Spirit is the principle of union between the Father and the Son, so he is the principle of union between God and man. Only through the Holy Spirit does Christ secure for him self those who will love him as distinct and free personalities." Regeneration and con version are not chronologically separate. Which of the spokes of a wheel starts first? The ray of light and the ray of heat enter at the same moment. Sensation and percep» tion are not separated in time, although the former is the cause of the latter. 794 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. " Suppose a non-elastic tube extending across the Atlantic. Suppose that the tube is completely filled with an incompressible fluid. Then there would be no interval of time between the impulse given to the fluid at this end of the tube, and the effect upon the fluid at the other end." See Hazard, Causation and Freedom in Willing, 33-38, who argues that cause and effect are always simultaneous ; else, in the intervening time, there would be a cause that had no effect ; that is, a cause that caused nothing ; that is, a cause that that was not a cause. " A potential cause may exist for an unlimited period without producing any effect, and of course may precede its effect by any length of time. But actual, effective cause being the exercise of a sufficient power, its eff eot cannot be delayed ; for, in that case, there would be the exercise of a sufficient power to produce the effect, without producing it,— involving the absurdity of its being both sufficient and insufficient at the same time. "A difficulty may here be suggested in regard to the flow or progress of events in time, if they are all simultaneous with their causes. This difficulty cannot arise as to intelligent effort ; for, in regard to it, periods of non-action may continually intervene ; but if there are series of events and material phenomena, each of which is in turn effect and cause, it may be difficult to see how any time could elapse between the first and the last of the series If, however, as I suppose, these series of events, or material changes, are always effected through the medium of motion, it need not trouble us, for there is precisely the same difficulty in regard to our conception of the motion of matter from point to point, there being no space or length between any two consecutive points, and yet the body in motion gets from one end of a long line to the other, and in this case this difficulty just neutralizes the other So, even if we cannot conceive how motion involves the idea of time, we may perceive that, if it does so, it may be a means of conveying events, which depend upon it, through time also." Martineau, Study, 1 : 148-150— " Simultaneity does not exclude duration," — since each cause has duration and each effect has duration also. Bowne, Metaphysics, 106—" In the system, the complete ground of an event never lies in any one thing, but only in a complex of things. If a single thing were the sufficient ground of an effect, the effect would coexist with the thing, and all effects would be instantaneously given. Hence all events in the system must be viewed as the result of the interaction of two or more things." The first manifestation of life in an infant may be in the lungs or heart or brain, but that which makes any and all of these manifestations possible is the antecedent life. We may not be able to tell which comes first, but having the life we have all the rest. When the wheel goes, all the spokes will go. The soul that is born again will show it in faith and hope and love and holy living. Regeneration will involve repentance and faith and justification and sanctification. But the one life which makes regeneration and all these consequent blessings possible is the life of Christ who joins himself to us in order that we may join ourselves to him. Anne Reeve Aldrich, The Meaning : " I lost my lif e in losing love. This blurred my spring and killed its dove. Along my path the dying roses Fell, and disclosed the thorns thereof. I found my life in finding God. In ecstasy I kiss the rod ; For who that wins the goal, but lightly Thinks of the thorns whereon he trod ? " See A. A. Hodge, on the Ordo Salutis, in Princeton Rev., March, 1888 : 304-321. Union with Christ, says Dr. Hodge, " is effected by the Holy Ghost in effectual calling. Of this calling the parts are two : ( a ) the offering of Christ to the sinner, externally by the gospel, and internally by the illumination of the Holy Ghost ; ( b ) the reception of Christ, which on our part is both passive and active. The passive reception is that whereby a spiritual principle is ingenerated into the human will, whence issues the active reception, which is an act of faith with which repentance is always conjoined. The communion of benefits which results from this union involves : ( o ) a change of state or relation, called justification ; and ( b ) a change of subjective moral character, commenced in regeneration and completed through sanctification." See also Dr. Hodge's Popular Lectures on Theological Themes, 340, and Outlines of Theology, 333-429. H. B. Smith, however, in his System of Christian Theology, is more clear in the putting of Union with Christ before Regeneration. On page 502, he begins his treatment of the Application of Redemption with the title : " The Union between Christ and the indi vidual believer as effected by the Holy Spirit. This embraces the subjects of Justifica tion, Regeneration, and Sanctiflcation, with the underlying topic which comes first to be considered, Election." He therefore treats Union with Christ ( 531-539 ) before Regen eration ( 553-569 ). He says Calvin defines regeneration as coming to us by participa tion in Christ, and apparently agrees with this view ( 559 ). UNION WITH CHRIST. 795 *' This union [ with Christ] is at the ground of regeneration and justification " ( 534). " The great difference of theological systems comes out here. Since Christianity is redemption through Christ, our mode of conceiving that will determine the character of our whole theological system " ( 536 ). " The union with Christ is mediated by his Spirit, whence we are both renewed and justified. The great fact of objective Chris tianity is incarnation in order to atonement ; the great fact of subjective Christianity is union with Christ, whereby we receive the atonement " ( 537 ). We may add that this union with Christ, in view of which God elects and to which God calls the sinner, is begun in regeneration, completed in conversion, declared in justification, and proved in sanctification and perseverance. L Union with Chbist. The Scriptures declare that, through the operation of God, there is con stituted a union of the soul with Christ different in kind from God's natural and providential concursus with all spirits, as well as from all unions of mere association or sympathy, moral likeness, or moral influence, — a union of life, in which the human spirit, while then most truly possessing its own individuality and personal distinctness, is interpenetrated and energized by the Spirit of Christ, is made inscrutably but indissolubly one with him, and so becomes a member and partaker of that regenerated, believing, and justified humanity of which he is the head. Union with Christ is not union with a system of doctrine, nor with external religious influences, nor with an organized church, nor with an ideal man,— but rather, with a personal, risen, living, omnipresent Lord (J. W. A. Stewart). Dr. J. W.Alexander well calls this doctrine of the Union of the Believer with Christ "the central truth of all theology and of all religion." Tet it receives little of formal recognition, either in dogmatic treatises or in common religious experience. Quenstedt, 886-912, has devoted a section to it ; A. A. Hodge gives to it a chapter, in his Outlines of Theology, 369 sq„ to which we are indebted for valuable suggestions ; H. B. Smith treats of it, not however as a separate topic, but under the head of Justification ( System, 531-539 ). The majority of printed systems of doctrine, however, contain no chapter or section on Union with Christ, and the majority of Christians much more frequently think of Christ as a Savior outside of them, than as a Savior who dwells within. This compara tive neglect of the doctrine is doubtless a reaction from the exaggerations of a false mysticism. But there is great need of rescuing the doctrine from neglect. For this we rely wholly upon Scripture. Doctrines which reason can neither discover nor prove need large support from the Bible. It is a mark of divine wisdom that the doctrine of the Trinity, for example, is so inwoven with the whole fabric of the New Testament, that the rejection of the former is the virtual rejection of the latter. The doctrine of Union with Christ, in like mariner, is taught so variously and abundantly, that to deny it is to deny inspiration itself. See Kahnis, Luth. Dogmatik, 3 : 447-450. 1. Scripture Representations of this Union. A. Figurative teaching. It is illustrated : ( a ) From the union of a building and its foundation. Eph. 2 : 20-22 — " being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone ; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit " ; Col. 2 : 7 — "builded up in him "—grounded in Christ as our foundation ; 1 Pet. 2 : 4, 5 — " unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God eleot, precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house " — each living stone in the Christian temple is kept in proper relation to every other, and is made to do its part in furnishing a habitation for God, only by being built upon and permanently connected with Christ, the chief corner-stone. Cf. Ps. 118 : 22 — " The stone which the builders rejected Is become the head of the corner " ; Is. 28 : 16 — " Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation : he that believeth shall not he in haste." ( b ) From the union between husband and wife. Rom. 7 : 4 — " ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God " — here union with Christ 796 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. is illustrated by the Indissoluble bond that connects husband and wife, and makes them legally and organically one ; 2 Cor. 11 : 2 — "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy : for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ"; Eph. 5 : 31, 32 — "Por this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall oleave to his wife ; and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great : but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church " — Meyer refers verse 31 wholly to Christ, and says that Christ leaves father and mother (the right hand of God) and is joined to the church as his wife, the two constituting thenceforth one moral person. He makes the union future, however, — "Por this cause shall a man leave his father and mother " — the consum mation is at Christ's second coming. But the Fathers, as Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Jerome, referred it more properly to the incarnation. Rev. 19:7 — "the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready " ; 22:17— " And the Spirit and the bride say, Come"; cf. Is. 54:5 — "Por thy Maker is thine husband"; Jer. 3:20 — "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, 0 house of Israel, saith Jehovah " ; Eos. 2 : 2-5 — " for their mother hath played the harlot "— departure from God is adultery ; the Song of Solomon, as Jewish interpreters have always maintained, is an allegorical poem describ ing, under the figure of marriage, the union between Jehovah and his people : Paul only adopts the Old Testament figure, and applies it more precisely to the union of God with the church in Jesus Christ. ( c ) From the union between the vine and its branches. John 15 : 1-10 — " I am the vine, ye are the branches : Eo that abideth in me, and I in him, the same heareth muoh fruit : for apart from me ye can do nothing " — as God's natural life is in the vine, that it may give life to its natural branches, so God's spiritual life is in the vine, Christ, that he may give life to his spiritual branches. The roots of this new vine are planted in heaven, not on earth ; and into it the half -withered branches of the old humanity are to be grafted, that they may have life divine. Yet our Lord does not say " I am the root." The branch is not something outside, which has to get nourishment out of the root, — it is rather a part of the vine. Rom. 6.-5 — " if we have become united with him [ o-u^vtoi — * grown together ' — used of the man and horse in the Centaur, Xen., Cyrop., 4 : 3 : 18 ], in the like ness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection " ; 11 : 24 — " thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree " ; Col 2 : 6, 7 — "As therefore ye reoeived Christ Jesus the lord, so walk in him, rooted and builded up in him " — not only grounded in Christ as our foundation, but thrusting down roots into him as the deep, rich, all-sustaining soil. This union with Christ is consistent with individuality : for the graft brings forth fruit after its kind, though modified by the tree into which it is grafted. Bishop H. W. Warren, in S. S. Times, Oct. 17, 1891 — "The lessons of the vine are intimacy, likeness of nature, continuous impartation of life, fruit. Between friends there is intimaoy by means of media, such as food, presents, care, words, soul looking from the eyes. The mother gives her liquid flesh to the babe, but such intimacy soon ceases. The mother is not rich enough in life continuously to feed the ever-enlarging nature of the growing man. Not so with the vine. It continuously feeds. Its rivers crowd all the banks. They burst out in leaf, blossom, clinging tendrils, and fruit, everywhere. In nature a thorn grafted on a pear tree bears only thorn. There is not pear-life enough to compel change of its nature. But a wild olive, typical of depraved nature, grafted on a good olive tree finds, contrary to nature, that there is force enough in the growing stock to change the nature of the wild scion." ( d ) From the union between the members and the head of the body. 1 Cor. 6 : 15, 19 — " Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ ? . . . . know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God?" 12:12 — "Por as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body ; so also is Christ " — here Christ is identified with the church of which he is the head ; Eph. 1 : 22, 23 — " he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to he head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" — as the members of the human body are united to the head, the source of their activity and the power that controls their movements, so all believers are mem bers of an invisible body whose head is Christ. Shall we tie a string round the finger to keep for it its own blood ? No, for all the blood of the body is needed to nourish one finger. So Christ is "head over all things to [ for the benefit of ] the church " ( Tyler, Theol. Greek Poets, preface, ii ). " The church is the fulness ( 7rAijpwjia ) of Christ ; as it was not good for the first man, Adam, to be alone, no more was it good for the second man, Christ " ( C. H. M. ). Eph. 4 : 15, 16— " grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ ; from whom all the body . ... maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love " ; 5:29,30 — "for no man ever hated his own flesh ; but nourisheth and oherisheth it, even as Christ also the church ; because we are mem bers of his body." UNION WITH CHRIST. 797 ( e ) From the union of the race with the source of its life in Adam. Rom. 5 : 12, 21 — "as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin ... . that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord " ; 1 Cor. 15 : 22, 45, 49 — " as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive .... The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit .... as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly " — as the whole race is one with the first man Adam, in whom it fell and from whom it has derived a corrupted and guilty nature, so the whole race of believers constitutes a new and restored humanity, whose justified and purified nature is derived from Christ, the second Adam. Cf. Gen. 2:23— "Thisis now bone ofmy bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man " — here C. H. M. remarks that, as man is first oreated and then woman is viewed in and formed out of him, so it is with Christ and the church. " We are members of Christ's body, because in Christ we have the princi ple of our origin ; from him our life arose, just as the life of Eve was derived from Adam .... The church is Christ's helpmeet, formed out of Christ in his deep sleep of death, as Eve out of Adam .... The church will be nearest to Christ, as Eve was to Adam." Because Christ is the source of all spiritual life for his people, he is called, in Is. 9 : 6, " Everlasting Father," and it is said, in Is. 53 : 10, that " he shall see his seed " ( see page 680 ). B. Direct statements. ( a ) The believer is said to be in Christ. Lest we should regard the figures mentioned above as merely Oriental metaphors, the fact of the believer's union with Christ is asserted in the most direct and prosaic manner. John 14:20 — "yeinme"; Rom.6:ll — "alive unto God in Christ Jesus"; 8:1 — " no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus " ; 2 Cor. 5 : 17 — "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature " ; Eph. 1:4 — " ohose us in him before the foundation of the world " ; 2:13 — " now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ." Thus the believer is said to be "in Christ," as the element or atmosphere which surrounds him with its perpetual presence and which constitutes his vital breath ; in fact, this phrase "in Christ," always meaning " in union with Christ," is the very key to Paul's epistles, and to the whole New Testament. The fact that the believer is in Christ is symbolized in baptism : we are "baptized into Christ" ( Gal. 3 : 27). ( 6 ) Christ is said to be in the believer. John 14:20 — "I in you" ; Rom. 8:9 — "ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you, But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his " — that this Spirit of Christ is Christ himself, is shown from verse 10 — " And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the spirit is life because of righteousness " ; Gal. 2 : 20 — "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me "—here Christ is said to be in the believer, and so to live his life within the believer, that the latter can point to this as the dominating fact of his experience, — it is not so much he that lives, as it is Christ that lives in him. The fact that Christ is in the believer is symbolized in the Lord's supper : "The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body o f Christ ?" {1 Cor. 10:16). ( c ) The Father and the Son dwell in the believer. John 14 : 23 — " If a man love me, he will keep my word : and my Father will love Mm, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him " ; cf. 10 — " Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? the words that I say unto yon I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works"— the Father and the Son dwell in the believer ; for where the Son is, there always the Father must be also. If the union between the believer and Christ in John 14 : 23 is to be interpreted as one of mere moral influence, then the union of Christ and the Father in John 14 : 10 must also be interpreted as a union of mere moral influence. Eph. 3:17 — "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith " ; 1 John 4 : 16 — " he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him." ( d ) The believer has life by partaking of Christ, as Christ has life by partaking of the Father. John 6 : 53, 56, 57 — " Except ye eat the flesh cf the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves .... Re that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me " — the believer has life by partaking of Christ in a way that may not inappropriately be compared with Christ's having life by partaking of the Father. 1 Cor. 10 : 16, 17 — " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ? " —here it is intimated that the Lord's Supper sets forth, in the language of sym- 798 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATI6N. bol, the soul's actual participation in the life of Christ ; and the margin properly translates the word Koivaivia, not "communion," but "participation." Cf. 1 John 1:3— "our fellowship (mrana) is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Foster, Christian Life and Theology, 216 — "In John 6, the phrases call to mind the ancient form of sacrifice, and the participation therein by the offerer at the sacrificial meal, —as at the Passover." ( e ) All believers are one in Christ. John 17 : 21-23 — " that they may all be one ; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me. And the glory whioh thou hast given me I have given unto them ; that they may be one, even as we are one ; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one " — all believers are one in Christ, to whom they are severally and collectively united, as Christ himself is one with God. (/) The believer is made partaker of the divine nature. 2 Pet. 1:4 — "that through these [promises] ye may become partakers of the divine nature" — not by having the essence of your humanity changed into the essence of divinity, but by having Christ the divine Savior continually dwelling within, and indissolubly joined to, your human souls. {g ) The believer is made one spirit with the Lord. 1 Cor, 6:17— "he that is joined unto the lord is one spirit" — human nature is SO interpenetrated and energized by the divine, that the two move and act as one ; cf. 19 — " know ye not that your body is a temple of the Roly Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God 7 " Rom, 8 ; 26 — " the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity : for we know not how to pray as we ought ; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with grcanings which cannot be uttered" — the Spirit is so near to us, and so one with us, that our prayer is called his, or rather, his prayer becomes ours. Weiss, in his Life of Jesus, says that, in the view of Scripture, human greatness does not consist in a man's pro ducing everything in a natural way out of himself, but in possessing perfect receptiv ity for God's greatest gift. Therefore God's Son receives the Spirit without measure ; and we may add that the believer in like manner receives Christ. 2. Nature of this Union. We have here to do not only with a fact of life, but with a unique rela tion between the finite and the infinite. Our descriptions must therefore be inadequate. Yet in many respects we know what this union is not ; in certain respects we can positively characterize it. It should not surprise us if we find it far more difficult to give a scientific definition of this union, than to determine the fact of its existence. It is a fact of life with which we have to deal ; and the secret of life, even in its lowest forms, no philosopher has ever yet discovered. The tiniest flower witnesses to two facts : first, that of its own relative independence, as an individual organism ; and secondly, that of Its ulti mate dependence upon a life and power not its own. So every human soul has its proper powers of intellect, affection, and will ; yet it lives, moves, and has its being in God (Acts 17: 28). Starting out from the truth of God's omnipresence, it might seem as if God's indwell ing in the granite boulder was the last limit of his union with the finite. But we see the divine intelligence and goodness drawing nearer to us, by successive stages, in vegetable life, in the animal creation, and in the moral nature of man. And yet there are two stageB beyond all these : first, in Christ's union with the believer ; and sec ondly, in God's union with Christ. If this union of God with the believer be only one of several approximations of God to his finite creation, the fact that it is, equally with the others, not wholly comprehensible to reason, should not blind us either to its truth or to its importance. It is easier to-day than at any other previous period of history to believe in the union of the believer with Christ. That God is immanent in the universe, and that there is a divine element in man, is familiar to our generation. All men are naturally one with Christ, the immanent God, and this natural union prepares the way for that spiritual union in which Christ joins himself to our faith. Campbell, The Indwelling Christ, 131 — " In the immanence of Christ in nature we find the ground of his immanence in human nature. ... A man may be out of Christ, but Christ is never out of him. Those who banish him he does not abandon." John Caird, Fund. Ideas of Christianity, 2 : 233- UNION WITH CHRIST. 799 256— " God is united with nature, in the atoms, in the trees, in the planets. Science is seeing nature full of the life of God. God is united to man m body and soul. The beating of his heart and the voice of conscience witness to God within. God sleepB in the stone, dreams in the animal, wakes in man." A. Negatively. — It is not : ( a ) A merely natural union, like that of God with all human spirits, — as held by rationalists. In our physical life we are conscious of another life within us which is not subject to our wills : the heart beats involuntarily, whether we sleep or wake. But in our spirit ual life we are still more conscious of a life within our life. Even the heathen said : " Est Deus in nobis ; agltante calescimus illo," and the Egyptians held to the identifi cation of the departed with Osiris ( Renouf , Hibbert Lectures, 185 ). But Paul urges us to work out our salvation, upon the very ground that "it is God that worketh" in us, " both to will and to work, for his good pleasure " ( Phil. 2 : 12, 13 ), This life of God in the soul is the life of Christ. The movement of the electric car cannot be explained simply from the working of its own motor apparatus. The electric current throbbing through the wire, and the dynamo from which that energy proceeds, are needed to explain the result. In like manner we need a spiritual Christ to explain the spiritual activity of the Christian. A. H. Strong, Sermon before the Baptist World Congress in London, 1905 — " We had in America some years ago a steam engine all whose working parts were made of glass. The steam came from without, but, being hot enough to move machinery, this steam was itself invisible, and there was presented the curious spectacle of an engine, trans parent, moving, and doing important work, while yet no cause for this activity was perceptible. So the church, humanity, the universe, are all in constant and progressive movement, but the Christ who moves them is invisible. Faith comes to believe where it cannot see. It joins itself to this invisible Christ, and knows him as its very life." ( b ) A merely moral union, or union of love and sympathy, like that between teacher and scholar, friend and friend, — as held by Socinians and Arminians. There is a moral union between different souls : 1 Sam. 18: 1 — "the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul " — here the Vulgate has : " Anima Jona than agglutinata Davidi." Aristotle calls friends "one soul." So in a higher sense, in Acts 4 : 32, the early believers are said to have been " of one heart and soul." But in John 17 : 21, 26, Christ's union with his people is distinguished from any mere union of love and sympathy : " that they may all be one ; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us ; .... that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them." Jesus' aim, in the whole of his last discourse, is to show that no mere union of love and sympathy will be suf ficient: "apart from me," he says, "ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). That his disciples maybe vitally joined to himself, is therefore the subject of his last prayer. Dorner says well, that Arminianism ( and with this doctrine Roman Catholics and the advocates of New School views substantially agree ) makes man a mere tangent to the circle of the divine nature. It has no idea of the interpenetration of the one by the other. But the Lutheran Formula of Concord says much more correctly : " Damna- mus sententiam quod non Deus ipse, sed dona Dei duntaxat, in credentibus habitent." Ritschl presents to us a historical Christ, and Pfleiderer presents to us an ideal Christ, but neither one gives us the living Christ who is the present spiritual life of the believer. Wendt, in his Teaching of Jesus, 2 : 310, comes equally far short of a serious interpretation of our Lord's promise, when he says : " This union to his person, as to its contents, is nothing else than adherence to the message of the kingdom of God brought by him." It is not enough for me to be merely in touch with Christ. He must come to be " not so far as even to be near." Tennyson, The Higher Pantheism : " Closer is he than breathing, and nearer than hands or feet." William Watson, The Unknown God : "Yea, in my flesh his Spirit doth flow. Too near, too far, for me to know." ( c ) A union of essence, which destroys the distinct personality and sub sistence of either Christ or the human spirit, — as held by many of the mystics. 800 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. Many of the mystics, as Schwenkf eld, Weigel, Sebastian Frank, held to an essential union between Christ and the believer. One of Welgel's followers, therefore, could say to another : " I am Christ Jesus, the living Word of God ; I have redeemed thee by my sinless sufferings." We are ever to remember that the indwelling of Christ only puts the believer more completely in possession of himself, and makes him more conscious of his own personality and power. Union with Christ must be taken in connection with the other truth of the personality and activity of the Christian ; otherwise it tends to pantheism. Martineau, Study, 2 : 190— " In nature it is God's immanent life, in morals it is God's transcendent life, with which we commune." Angelus Silesius, a German philosophical poet (1624-1677), audaciously wrote: "I know God cannot live an instant without me ; He must give up the ghost, if I should cease to be." Lowde, a disciple of Malebranche, used the phrase " Godded with God, and Christed with Christ," and Jonathan Edwards, in his Religious Affections, quotes it with disapprobation, saying that " the saints do not become actually partakers of the divine essence, as would be inferred from this abominable and blasphemous language of heretics "( Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 224 ) . " Self is not a mode of the divine : it is a principle of isolation. In order to religion, I must have a will to surrender . . . . ' Our wills are ours, to make them thine.' Though the self is, in knowledge, a principle of unification ; in existence, or metaphysically, it is a principle of isolation " ( Seth). Inge, Christian Mysticism, 30 — " Some of the mystics went astray by teaching a real substitution of the divine for human nature, thus depersonalizing man — a fatal mistake, for without human personality we cannot conceive of divine personality." Lyman Abbott : " In Christ, God and man are united, not as the river is united with the sea, losing its personality therein, but as the child is united with the father, or the wife with the husband, whose personality and individuality are strengthened and Increased by the union." Here Dr. Abbott's view comes as far short of the truth as that of the mystics goes beyond the truth. As we shall see, the union of the believer with Christ is a vital union, surpassing in its intimacy any union of souls that we know. The union of child with father, or of wife with husband, is only a pointer which hints very imperfectly at the interpenetrating and energizing of the human spirit by the divine. ( d ) A union mediated and conditioned by participation of the sacra ments of the church, — as held by Romanists, Lutherans, and High-Church Episcopalians. Perhaps the most pernicious misinterpretation of the nature of this union is that which conceives of it as a physical and material one, and which rears upon this basis the fabric of a sacramental and external Christianity. It is sufficient here to say that this union cannot be mediated by sacraments, since sacraments presuppose it as already existing ; both Baptism and the Lord's Supper are designed only for believers. Only faith receives and retains Christ ; and faith is the act of the soul grasping what is purely invisible and supersensible : not the act of the body, submitting to Baptism or partaking of the Supper. William Lincoln : " The only way for the believer, if he wants to go rightly, is to remember that truth is always two-sided. If there is any truth that the Holy Spirit has specially pressed upon your heart, if you do not want to push it to the extreme, ask what is the counter-truth, and lean a little of your weight upon that ; otherwise, if you bear so very much on one side of the truth, there is a danger of pushing it into a heresy. Heresy means selected truth ; it does not mean error ; heresy and error are very different things. Heresy is truth, but truth pushed into undue importance, to the disparagement of the truth upon the other side." Heresy ( aXperrts ) = an act of choice, the picking and choosing of a part, instead of comprehensively embracing the whole of truth. Sacramentarians substitute the symbol for the thing symbolized. B. Positively. — It is : ( a ) An organic union,— in which we become members of Christ and partakers of his humanity. Kant defines an organism, as that whose parts are reciprocally means and end. The body is an organism ; since the limbs exist for the heart, and the heart for the limbs. So each member of Christ's body lives for him who is the head ; and Christ the head equally lives for his members : Eph. 5 : 29, 30 — " no man ever hated his own flesh ; but nourisheth and oherisheth it, UNION WITH CHRIST. 801 even as Christ also the church ; because we are members of his body." The train-despatcher is a symbol of the concentration of energy ; the switchmen and conductors who receive his orders are symbols of the localization of force ; but it is all one organic system. ( 6 ) A vital union, — in which Christ's life becomes the dominating prin ciple within us. This union is a vital one, in distinction from any union of mere juxtaposition or external influence. Christ does not work upon us from without, as one separated from us, but from within, as the very heart from which the life-blood of our spirits flows. See Gal. 2 : 20 — " it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me : and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me;" Col. 3:3, 4 — "For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall he manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory." Christ's life is not corrupted by the corruption of his members, any more than the ray of light is defiled by the filth with which it comes in contact. We may be unconscious of this union with Christ, as we often are of the circulation of the blood, yet it may be the very source and condition of our life. ( c ) A spiritual union, — that is, a union whose source and author is the Holy Spirit. By a spiritual union we mean a union not of body but of spirit, — a union, therefore, which only the Holy Spirit originates and maintains. Rom. 8 : 9, 10 — " ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelloth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the spirit is life because of righteousness." The indwelling of Christ involves a continual exercise of efficient power. In Eph. 3:16, 17, "strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man " is immediately followed by " that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." ( d ) An indissoluble union, — that is, a union which, consistently with Christ's promise and grace, can never be dissolved. Mat. 28:20 — "lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" ; John 10: 28 — " they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand "; Rom, 8 : 35, 39 — "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? .... nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord " ; 1 Thess. 4 ; 14, 17 — " them also that are Allien asleep in Jesus will God bring with him then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Christ's omnipresence makes it possible for him to be united to, and to be present in, each believer, as perfectly and fully as if that believer were the only one to receive Christ's fulness. As Christ's omnipresence makes the whole Christ present in every place, each believer has the whole Christ with him, as his source of strength, purity, life ; so that each may say : Christ gives all his time and wisdom and care to mo. Such a union as this lacks every element of instability. Once formed, the union is indis soluble. Many of the ties of earth are rudely broken, — not so with our union with Christ,— that endures forever. Since there is now an unchangeable and divine element in us, our salvation depends no longer upon our unstable wills, but upon Christ's purpose and power. By temporary declension from duty, or by our causeless unbelief, we may banish Christ to the barest and most remote room of the soul's house ; but he does not suffer us wholly to exclude him ; and when we are willing to unbar the doors, he is still there, ready to fill the whole mansion with his light and love. ( e ) An inscrutable union, — mystical, however, only in the sense of sur passing in its intimacy and value any other union of souls which we know. This union is inscrutable, indeed ; but it is not mystical, in the sense of being unintel ligible to the Christian or beyond the reach of his experience. If we call it mystical at all, it should be only because, in the intimacy of its communion and in the transform ing power of its influence, it surpasses any other union of souls that we know, and so cannot be fully described or understood by earthly analogies. Eph. 5 : 32 — " This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church"; Col. 1 : 27 —"the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." See Diman, Theistic Argument, 380 — "As physical science has brought us to the con clusion that back of all the phenomena of the material universe there lies an invisime universe of forces, and that these forces may ultimately be reduced to one all-pervad- 51 802 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. ing force in which the unity of the physical universe consists ; and as philosophy has advanced the rational conjecture that this ultimate all-pervading force is simply will- force; so the great Teacher holds up to us the spiritual universe as pervaded by one omnipotent life— a life which was revealed in him as its highest manifestation, but which is shared by all who by faith become partakers of his nature. He was Son of God : they too had power to become sons of God. The incarnation is wholly within the natural course and tendency of things. It was prepared for, it came, in the fulness of times. Christ's life is not something sporadic and individual, having its source in the personal conviction of each disciple ; it implies a real connection with Christ, the head. Behind all nature there is one force ; behind all varieties of Christian life and character there is one spiritual power. All nature is not inert matter,— it is pervaded by a living presence. So all the body of believers live by virtue of the all-working Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost." An epitaph at Silton, in Dorsetshire, reads : " Here lies a piece of Christ — a star in dust, A vein of gold, a china dish, that must Be used in heaven when God shall feed the just." A. H. Strong, in Examiner, 1880 : " Such is the nature of union with Christ,— such I mean, is the nature of every believer's union with Christ. For, whether he knows it or not, every Christian has entered into just such a partnership as this. It is this and this only which constitutes him a Christian, and which makes possible a Christian church. We may, indeed, be thus united to Christ, without being fully conscious of the real nature of our relation to him. We may actually possess the kernel, while as yet we have regard only to the shell ; we may seem to ourselves to be united to Christ only by an external bond, while after all it is an inward and spiritual bond that makes us his. God often reveals to the Christian the mystery of the gospel, which is Christ in him the hope of glory, at the very time that he is seeking only some nearer access to a Redeemer outside of him. Trying to find a union of cob'peration or of sympathy, he is amazed to learn that there is already established a union with Christ more glorious and blessed, namely, a union of life ; and so, like the miners in the Rocky Mountains, while he is looking only for silver, he finds gold. Christ and the believer have the same life. They are not separate persons linked together by some temporary bond of friendship,— they are united by a tie as close and indissoluble as if the same blood ran in their veins. Yet the Christian may never have suspected how intimate a union he has with his Savior ; and the first understanding of this truth may be the gateway through which he passes into a holier and happier stage of the Christian life." So the Way leads, through the Truth, to the Life (John 14 : 6 ). Apprehension of an external Savior prepares for the reception and experience of the internal Savior. Christ is first the Door of the sheep, but in him, after they have once entered in, they find pasture (John 10: 7-9). On the nature of this union, see H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 531-639 ; Baird, Elohim Revealed, 601 ; Wilberf orce. Incarnation, 208-272, and New Birth of Man's Nature, 1-30. Per contra, see Park, Discourses, 117-136. 3. Consequences of this Union as respects the Believer. We have seen that Christ's union with humanity, at the incarnation, involved him in all the legal liabilities of the race to which he united him self, and enabled him so to assume the penalty of its sin as to make for all men a full satisfaction to the divine justice, and to remove all external obstacles to man's return to God. An internal obstacle, however, still remains — the evil affections and will, and the consequent guilt, of the individual souL This last obstacle also Christ removes, in the case of all his people, by uniting himself to them in a closer and more perfect manner than that in which he is united to humanity at large. As Christ's union with the race secures the objective reconciliation of the race to God, so Christ's union with behevers secures the subjective reconciliation of behevers to God. In Baird, Elohim Revealed, 607-610, in Owen, on Justification, ohap. 8, in Boston, Covenant of Grace, chap. 2, and in Dale, Atonement, 265-440, the union of the believer with Christ is made to explain the bearing of our sins by Christ. As we have seen in our discussion of the Atonement, however (page 759), this explains the cause by the effect, and implies that Christ died only for the elect ( see review of Dale, in Brit. Quar. UNION WITH CHRIST. 803 Rev., Apr. 1876 : 221-225 ). It is not the union of Christ with the believer, but the union of Christ with humanity at large, that explains his taking upon him human guilt and penalty. Amnesty offered to a rebellious city may be complete, yet it may avail only for those who surrender. Pardon secured from a Governor, upon the ground of the services of an Advocate, may be effectual only when the convict accepts it,— there is no hope for him when he tears up the pardon. Dr. H. E. Robins : " The judicial declaration of acquittal on the ground of the death of Christ, which comes to all men ( Rom. 5 : 18 ), and into the benefits of which they are introduced by natural birth, is inchoate justifica tion, and will become perfected justification through the new birth of the Holy Spirit, unless the working of this divine agent is resisted by the personal moral action of those who are lost." What Dr. Robins calls " inchoate justification '' we prefer to call " ideal justification " or "attainable justification." Humanity in Christ is justified, and every member of the race who joins himself to Christ by faith participates in Christ's justifi cation. H. E. Dudley : " Adam's sin holds us all down just as gravity holds all, while Christ's righteousness, though seoured for all and accessible to all, involves an effort of will in climbing and grasping which not all will make." Justification in Christ is the birthright of humanity ; but, In Order to possess and enjoy it, each of us must claim and appropriate it by faith. R. W. Dale, Fellowship with Christ, 7 — " When we were created in Christ, the for tunes of the human race for good or evil became his. The Incarnation revealed and fulfilled the relations which already existed between the Son of God and mankind. From the beginning Christ had entered into fellowship with us. When we sinned, he remained in fellowship with us still. Our miseries " [ we would add : our guilt ] " were his, by his own choice. . . . His fellowship with us is the foundation of our fellowship with him. . . . When I have discovered that by the very constitution of my nature I am to achieve perfection in the power of the life of Another — who is yet not Another, but the very ground of my being— it ceases to be incredible to me that Another— who is yet not Another — should be the Atonement for my sin, and that his relation to God should determine mine." A tract entitled "The Seven Togethers" sums up the Scripture testimony with regard to the Consequences of the believer's Union with Christ : 1. Crucified together with Christ — Gal. 2:20 — o-vveirTavpujiai. 2. Died together with Christ — Col. 2 : 20 — aTreiMrere. 3. Buried together with Christ— Rom. 6:4 — aweri^rnLev. 4. Quickened together with Christ — Eph. 2:5 — awefcooiroiTjcrei'. 5. Raised together with Christ — CoL 3:1 — awityipdrrrt. 6. Sufferers together with Christ— Rom. 8:17— a-v^witrxoiiev. 7. Glorified together with Christ — Rom. 8 : 17 — o-wSo{ aaSHaev. Union with Christ results in common sonship, rela tion to God, character, influence, and destiny. Imperfect apprehension of the believer's union with Christ works to the great injury of Christian doctrine. An experience of union with Christ first enables us to under stand the death of sin and separation from God which has befallen the race sprung from the first Adam. The life and liberty of the children of God in Christ Jesus shows us by contrast how far astray we had gone. The vital and organic unity of the new race sprung from the second Adam reveals the depravity and disintegration which we had inherited from our first father. We see that as there is one source of spiritual life in Christ, so there was one source of corrupt life in Adam ; and that as we are justified by reason of our oneness with the justified Christ, so we are condemned by reason of our oneness with the condemned Adam. A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 175— "If it is consistent with evolution that the physical and natural life of the race should be derived from a single source, then it is equally consistent with evolution that the moral and spiritual life of the race should be derived from a single source. Scripture is stating only scientific fact when it sets the second Adam, the head of redeemed humanity, over against the first Adam, the head of fallen humanity. We are told that evolution should give us many Christs. We reply that evolution has not given us many Adams. Evolution, as it assigns to the natural head of the race a supreme and unique position, must be consistent with itself, and must assign a supreme and unique position to Jesus Christ, the spiritual head of the race. As there was but one Adam from whom all the natural life of the race was derived, so that there can be but one Christ from whom all the spiritual life of the race is derived." The consequences of union with Christ may be summarily stated as follows : 804 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. ( a ) Union with Christ involves a change in the dominant affection of the souL Christ's entrance into the soul makes it a new creature, in the sense that the ruling disposition, which before was sinful, now becomes holy. This change we call Regeneration. Rom. 8:2— "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death" ; 2 Cor. 5:17 — "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature" (marg. — "there is a new creation "); Gal. 1 : 15, 16 — "it was the good pleasure of God ... . to reveal his Son in me " ; Eph. 2:10 — " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." As we derive our old nature from the first man Adam, by birth, so we derive a new nature from the second man Christ, by the new birth. Union with Christ is the true " transfusion of blood." " The death-struck sinner, like the wan, anasmio, dying invalid, is saved by having poured into his veins the healthier blood of Christ " ( Drummond, Nat. Law in the Spir. World ). God regenerates the soul by unit ing it to Jesus Christ. In the Johnston Harvester Works at Batavia, when they paint their machinery, they do it by immersing part after part in a great tank of paint, — so the painting is instan taneous and complete. Our baptism into Christ is the outward picture of an inward immersion of the soul not only into his love and fellowship, but into his very life, so that in him we become new creatures ( 2 Cor. 5 : 17). As Miss Sullivan surrounded Helen Kellar with the influence of her strong personality, by intelligence and sympathy and determination striving to awaken the blind and dumb soul and give it light and love, so Jesus envelops us. But his Spirit is more encompassing and more penetrating than any human influence however powerful, because his life is the very ground and prin ciple of our being. Tennyson : " O for a man to arise in me, That the man that I am may cease to be I " Emerson : " Himself from God he could not free ; He builded better than he knew." Religion is not the adding of a new department of activity as an adjunct to our own life or the grafting of a new method of manifestation upon the old. It is rather the grafting of our souls Into Christ, so that his life dominates and manifests itself in all our activities. The magnet which left to itself can lift only a three pound weight, will lif t three hundred when it is attached to the electrio dynamo. Expositor's Greek Testament on 1 Cor. 15 : 45, 46 — " The action of Jesus in ' breathing ' upon his disciples while he said, 'Receive the Eoly Spirit' (John 20:22 sq.) symbolized the vitalizing relationship which at this epoch he assumed towards mankind ; this act raised to a higher potenoy the original ' breathing ' of God by which ' man became a living soul '( Gen. 2: 7 )." ( 6 ) Union with Christ involves a new exercise of the soul's powers in repentance and faith ; faith, indeed, is the act of the soul by which, under the operation of God, Christ is received. This new exercise of the soul's powers we call Conversion (Eepentance and Faith). It is the obverse or human side of Eegeneration. Eph. 3 : 17 — " that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith " ; 2 Tim. 3 : 15 — " the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Faith is the soul's laying hold of Christ as its only source of life, pardon, and salvation. And so we see what true religion is. It is not a moral life ; it is not a determination to be religious ; it is not faith, if by faith we mean an external trust that somehow Christ will save us ¦ it is nothing less than the life of the soul in God, through Christ his Son. To Christ then we are to look for the origin, continuance and increase of our faith (Luke 17: 5— "said unto the Lord, Increase our faith " ). Our faith is but a part of "his fulness" of which "we all received, and grace for grace " ( John 1 : 16 ). A. H. Strong, Sermon before the Baptist World Congress, London, 1905 — " Christian. ity is summed up in the two facts : Christ for us, and Christ in us — Christ for us upon the Cross, revealing the eternal opposition of holiness to sin, and yet, through God's eternal suffering for sin making objective atonement for us ; and Christ in us by his Spirit, renewing in us the lost image of God, and abiding in us as the all-sufficient source of purity and power. Here are the two foci of the Christian ellipse : Christ for us, who redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us, and Christ in us, the hope of glory, whom the apostle calls the mystery of the gospel. " We need Christ to us as well as Christ for us. How shall I, how shall society, find heal ing and purification within ? Let me answer by reminding you of what they did at Chi cago. In all the world there was no river more stagnant and fetid than was Chicago Ri ver. UNION WITH CHRIST. 805 Its sluggish stream received the sweepings of the watercraf t and the offal of the city, and there was no current to carry the detritus away. There it settled, and bred miasma and fever. At last it was suggested that, by cutting through the low ridge between the city and the Desplaines River, the current could be set running in the opposite direction, and drainage could be secured into the Illinois River and the great Mississippi. At a cost of fifteen millions of dollars the cut was made, and now all the water of Lake Michigan can be relied upon to cleanse that turbid stream. What Chi cago River could never do for itself, the great lake now does for it. So no human soul can purge itself of its sin; and what the individual cannot do, humanity at large is powerless to accomplish. Sin has dominion over us, and we are foul to the very depths of our being, until with the help of God we break through the barrier of our self-will, and let the floods of Christ's purifying life flow into us. Then, in an hour, more is done to renew, than all our efforts for years had effected. Thus humanity is saved, individual by individual, not by philosophy, or philanthropy, or self-development, or self -reformation, but simply by joining itself to Jesus Christ, and by being filled in Him with all the fulness of God." ( c ) Union with Christ gives to the believer the legal standing and rights of Christ. As Christ's union with the race involves atonement, so the believer's union with Christ involves Justification. The believer is enti tled to take for his own all that Christ is, and all that Christ has done ; and this because he has within him that new lif e of humanity which suffered in Christ's death and rose from the grave in Christ's resurrection, — in other words, because he is virtually one person with the Eedeemer. In Christ the believer is prophet, priest, and king. Acts 13 : 39 — "by him [ lit. : ' in him ' = in union with him ] every one that helieveth is justified " ; Rom. 6:7,8 — " he that hath died is justified from sin .... we died with Christ" ; 7:4 — "dead to the law through the body of Christ" ; 8:1 — "no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" ; 17 — "heirs of God, and joint- heirs with Christ " ; 1 Cor. 1 : 30 — " But of him ye are in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and right eousness [justification]"; 3:21, 23 — "all things are yours .... and ye are Christ's"; 6:11— "ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God" ; 2 Cor. 5:14 — "we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died " ; 21 — " Him who knew no sin he made to hB sin on our behalf ; that we might become the righteousness [ justification ] of God in him " = God's justified persons, in union with Christ (see pages 760, 761). Gal. 2:20 — "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me " ; Eph. 1:4, 6 — " ohose us in him .... to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved " ; 2 : 5, 6 — " even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ .... made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus " ; Phil. 3 : 8, 9 — " that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the right eousness which is from God by faith " ; 2 Tim. 2 : li — " Faithful is the saying : For if we died with him, we shall also live with him." Prophet : Luke 12 : 12 — "the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say"; 1 John 2: 20 — "ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things." Priest: 1 Pet. 2 : 5 — ' ' a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ " ; Rev. 20 : 6 — " they shall be priests of God and of Christ"; lPet.2:9 — " a royal priesthood." King: Rev. 3 : 21 — " He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne " ; 5 : 10 — " madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests." The connection of justification and union with Christ delivers the former from the charge of being a mechanical and arbitrary procedure. As Jonathan Edwards has said : " The justification of the believer is no other than his being admitted to com munion in, or participation of, this head and surety of all believers." (d) Union with Christ secures to the believer the continuously trans forming, assimilating power of Christ's life, — first, for the soul ; secondly, for the body, — consecrating it in the present, and in the future raising it up in the likeness of Christ's glorified body. This continuous influence, so far as it is exerted in the present life, we call Sanctification, the human side or aspect of which is Perseverance. For the soul: John 1:16— "of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace"— successive and increasing measures of grace, corresponding to the soul's successive and increasing needs ; Rom, 8 : 10 — " if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the spirit is life because of righteous- 806 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. ness"; i Cor. 15:45— "The last Adam beoame a life-giving spirit"; PhiL 2:5 — "Have this mind in you, whioh was also in Christ Jesus " ; 1 John 3 : 2— " if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him." " Can Christ let the believer fall out of his hands ? No, for the believer is his hands." For the body : 1 Cor. 6 : 17-20 — " he that is joined unto die Lord is one spirit . , . . know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit whioh is in you .... glorify God therefore in your body " ; 1 Thess. 5 : 23 — "And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly ; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of onr Lord Jesus Christ " ; Rom. 8 : 11 — " shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you "; 1 Cor. 15 : 49 — "as wo have borne the image of the earthy [ man ], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [ man ] " ; PhiL 3 : 20, 21 — " For our citizenship is in heaven ; from whence alse we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ : who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself." Is there a physical miracle wrought for the drunkard in his regeneration? Mr. Moody says, Yes ; Mr. Gough says, No. We prefer to say that the change is a spiritual one ; but that the " expulsive power of a new affection " indirectly affects the body, so that old appetites sometimes disappear in a moment ; and that often, in the course of years, great changes take place even in the believer's body. Tennyson, Idylls : " Have ye looked at Edyrn ? Have ye seen how nobly changed ? This work of his is great and wonderful ; His very face with change of heart is changed." " Christ in the soul fashions the germinal man into his own likeness, — this is the embryology of the new life. The cardinal error in religious life is the attempt to live without proper environ ment" (see Drummond, Natural Law in Spiritual World, 253-284). Human life from Adam does not stand the test, — only divine-human lif e in Christ can secure us from falling. This is the work of Christ, now that he has ascended and taken to himself his power, namely, to give his life more and more fully to the church, until it shall grow up in all things into him, the Head, and shall fitly express his glory to the world. As the accomplished organist discloses unsuspected capabilities of his instrument, so Christ brings into activity all the latent powers of the human soul. " I was five years in the ministry," said an American preacher, " before I realized that my Savior is alive." Dr. R. W. Dale has left on record the almost unutterable feelings that stirred his soul when he first realized this truth ; see Walker, The Spirit and the Incarnation, preface, v. Many have struggled in vain against sin until they have admitted Christ to their hearts, — then they could say : " ibis is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our Mth" ( 1 John 5:4). "Go out, God will go in ; Die thou, and let him live ; Be not, and he will be ; Wait, and he '11 all things give." The best way to get air out of a vessel is to pour water in. Only in Christ can we find our pardon, peace, purity, and power. He is " nude unto us wisdom from God, and justification and sanctification, and redemption " ( 1 Cor. 1 : 30 ). A medical man says : " The only radical remedy for dipsomania is religiomania " ( quoted in William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 268 ). It is easy to break into an empty house ; the spirit cast out returns, finds the house empty, brings seven others, and " the last state of that man becometh worse than the first " ( Hat. 12 : 45 ). There is no safety in simply expelling sin ; we need also to bring in Christ ; in fact only he can enable us to expel not only actual sin but the love of it. Alexander McLaren : " If we are 'in Christ,' we are like a diver In his crystal bell, and have a solid though invisible wall around us, which keeps all sea-monsters off us, and communicates with the upper air, whence we draw the breath of calm life and can work in security though in the ocean depths." John Caird, Fund. Ideas, 2 : 98—" How do we know that the life of God has not departed from nature ? Because every spring we witness the annual miracle of nature's revival, every summer and autumn the waving corn. How do we know that Christ has not departed from the world ? Because he imparts to the soul that trusts him a power, a purity, a peace, which are beyond all that nature can give." (e) Union with Christ brings about a fellowship of Christ with the believer, — Christ takes part in all the labors, temptations, and sufferings of his people ; a fellowship of the believer with Christ, — so that Christ's whole experience on earth is in some measure reproduced in him ; a fellow ship of all believers with one another, — furnishing a basis for the spiritual unity of Christ's people on earth, and for the eternal communion of heaven. The doctrine of Union with Christ is therefore the indispensable prepara tion for Ecclesiology, and for Eschatology. UNION WITH CHRIST. 807 Fellowship of Christ with the believer : PhiL 4 : 13 — " I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me"; Heb. 4:15 — "For we have not a high priost that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities''; cf. Is. 63:9 — "In all their affliction he was afflicted," Heb. 2 : 18 — "in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted "=are being tempted, are under temptation. Bp. Words worth : " By his passion he acquired compassion." 2 Cor. 2 : 14— " thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ " = Christ leads us in triumph, but his triumph is ours, even if it be a triumph over us. One with him, we participate in his joy and in his sovereignty. Rev. 3 :21 — "He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne," W. F. Taylor on Rom. 8 : 9 — "The Spirit ofGod dwelleth in you .... if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" — "Christ dwells in us, says the apostle. But do we accept him as a resident, or as a ruler ? England was first represented at King Thebau's court by her resident. This official could rebuke, and even threaten, but no more,— Thebau was sovereign. Burma knew no peace, till England ruled. So Christ does not consent to be represented by a mere resident. He must himself dwell within the soul, and he must reign." Christina Rossetti, Thee Only : " Lord, we are rivers running to thy sea, Our waves and ripples all derived from thee ; A nothing we should have, a nothing be. Except for thee. Sweet are the waters of thy shoreless sea ; Make sweet our waters that make haste to thee ; Pour in thy sweetness, that ourselves may be Sweetness to thee 1 " Of the believer with Christ : Phil. 3 : 10 — " that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death"; Col. 1 : 24 — "fill up on my part that whioh is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the ohurch "; 1 Pet 4 : 13 — "partakers of Christ's sufferings." The Christian reproduces Christ's life in miniature, and, in a true sense, lives it over again. Only upon the principle of union with Christ can we explain how the Christian instinctively applies to himself the prophecies and promises which origi nally and primarily were uttered with reference to Christ : " thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol ; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption " ( Ps. 16 : 10, 11 ). This fellowship is the ground of the promises made to believing prayer : John 14 : 13 — "whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do "; Wescott, Bib. Com., in loco : " The meaning of the phrase L' in my name '] is ' as being one with me even as I am revealed to you.* Its two correlatives are 'inme' and the Pauline 'in Christ'." "All things are yours" (i Cor. 3:21), because Christ is universal King, and all believers are exalted to fellowship with him. After the battle of Sedan, King William asked a wounded Prussian officer whether it were well with him. " All is well where your majesty leads 1 " was the reply. Phil. 1 : 21 — "For to me to live is Christ, and to die it gain." Paul indeed uses the words ' Christ ' and ' church ' as interchangeable terms : 1 Cor 12 : 12 — "as the body is one, and hath many members so also is Christ." Denney, Studies in The-, ology, 171— "There is not in the N. T. from beginning to end, in the record of the original and genuine Christian life, a single word of despondency or gloom. It is the most buoyant, exhilerating and joyful book in the world." This is due to the fact that the writers believe in a living and exalted Christ, and know themselves to be one with him. They descend crowned into the arena. In the Soudan, every morning for half an hour before General Gordon's tent there lay a white handkerchief. The most pressing message, even on matters of life and death, waited till that handkerchief was with drawn. It was the signal that Christ and Gordon were in communion with each other. Of all believers with one another: John 17: 21 —"that they may all be one"; 1 Cor. 10 : 17 — "we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the one bread "; Eph, 2 : 15 — " create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace " ; 1 John 1 : 3 — " that ye also may have fellowship with us : yea, and our fellow ship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ " — here the word noivtavia is used. Fellowship with each other is the effect and result of the fellowship of each with God In Christ. Compare John 10 :16 — "they shall become one flock, one shepherd"; Westcott, Bib. Com., in loco: "The bond of fellowship is shown to lie in the common relation to one Lord Nothing is said of one ' fold ' under the new dispensation." Here is a unity, not of external organization, but of common life. Of this the visible church is the consequence and expression. But this communion is not limited to earth,— it is perpetuated beyond death: 1 Thess. 4 : 17 — "so shall we ever he with the Lord"; Heb. 12 : 23 — "to the general assembly and ohurch of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect "; Rev. 21 and 22 — the city of God, the new Jerusalem, is the image of perfect society, as well as of intensity and fulness of life in Christ. The ordinances express the essence of Ecclesiology — union with Christ — for Baptism symbolizes the incorporation of the believer in Christ, while the Lord's Supper symbolizes the incorporation of Christ in the believer. Christianity is a social matter, and the true Christian feels the need of being with and among his brethren. The Romans could not understand why " this new sect " must be holding meetings all the time— even daily meetings. Why could they not go singly, or in families, to the temples, and make offerings to their God, and then come 808 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. away, as the pagans did ? It was this meeting together which exposed them to persecu tion and martyrdom. It was the natural and inevitable expression of their union with Christ and so of their union with one another. The consciousness of union with Christ gives assurance of salvation. It is a great stimulus to believing prayer and to patient labor. It is a duty to "know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the eioeeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe " (Eph, 1 : 18, 19 ). Christ's command, " Abide in me, and I in you " ( John 15 : 4 ), implies that we are both to realize and to confirm this union, by active exertion of our own wills. We are to abide in him by an entire consecration, and to let him abide in us by an appropriating faith. We are to give ourselves to Christ, and to take in return the Christ who gives himself to us,— in other words, we are to believe Christ's promises and to act upon them. All sin consists in the sundering of man's life from God, and most systems of falsehood in religion are attempts to save man without merging his life in God's once more. The only religion that can save mankind is the religion that fills the whole heart and the whole life with God, and that aims to interpenetrate universal humanity with that same living Christ who has already made himself one with the believer. This consciousness of union with Christ gives "boldness" (irapprjcria — Aots4:13; 1 John 5 : 14) toward men and toward God. The word belongs to the Greek democracies. Freemen are bold. Demosthenes boasts of his frankness. Christ frees us from the hide bound, introspective, self-conscious spirit. In him we become free, demonstrative, outspoken. So we find, in John's epistles, that boldness in prayer is spoken of as a virtue, and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews urges us to " draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace ' ' ( Heb. 4 : 16 ). An engagement of marriage is not the same as marriage. The parties may be still distant from each other. Many Christians get just near enough to Christ to be engaged to him. This seems to be the experience of Christian in the Pil grim's Progress. But our privilege is to have a present Christ, and to do our work not only for him, but in him. " Since Christ and we are one, Why should we doubt or fear?" " We two are so joined, He '11 not be in heaven, And leave me behind." We append a few statements with regard to this union and its consequences, from noted names in theology and the church. Luther : "By faith thou art so glued to Christ that of thee and him there becomes as it were one person, so that with confidence thou canst say : ' I am Christ,— that is, Christ's righteousness, victory, etc., are mine ; and Christ in turn can say : 'I am that sinner,— that is, his sins, his death, etc., are mine, because he clings to me and I to him, for we have been joined through faith into one flesh and bone.' " Calvin ; " I attribute the highest importance to the connection between the head and the members ; to the inhabitation of Christ in our hearts ; in a word, to the mystical union by which we enjoy him, so that, being made ours, he makes us partakers of the blessings with which he is furnished." John Bunyan : " The Lord led me into the knowledge of the mystery of union with Christ, that I was joined to him, that I was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. By this also my faith in him as my righteousness was the more confirmed ; for if he and I were one, then his righteous ness was mine, his merits mine, his victory also mine. Now could I see myself in heaven and on earth at once — in heaven by my Christ, my risen head, my righteousness and life, though on earth by my body or person." Edwards : " Faith is the soul's active uniting with Christ. God sees fit that, in order to a union's being established between two intelligent active beings, there should be the mutual act of both, that each should receive the other, as entirely joining themselves to one another." Andrew Fuller : " I have no doubt that the imputation of Christ's righteousness presupposes a union with him; since there is no preceivable fitness in bestowing benefits on one for another's sake, where there is no union or relation between." See Luther, quoted, with other references, in Thomasius, Christ! Person und Werk, 3 : 325. See also Calvin, Institutes, 1 : 660 ; Edwards, Works, 4 : 66, 69, 70; Andrew Fuller, Works, 2 : 685; Pascal, Thoughts, Eng. trans., 429; Hooker, Eccl. Polity, book 6, ch. 56 ; TiUotson, Sermons, 3 : 307 ; Trench, Studies in Gospels, 284, and Christ the True Vine, in Hulsean Lectures; Schiiberlein, in Studien und Kritlken, 1847 : 7-69; Caird, on Union with God, in Scotch Sermons, sermon 2 ; Godet, on the Ultimate Design of Man, in Princeton Rev., Nov. 1880 — the design is "God in man, and man in God"; Baird, Elohim Revealed, 590-617; Upham, Divine Union, Interior Life, Life of Madame Guyon andFenelon; A. J. Gordon, In Christ; McDuff, In Christo; J. Denham Smith, Life- truths, 25-98 ; A. H. Strong, Philosophy and Religion, 220-325 ; Bishop Hall's Treatise on The Church Mystical ; Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ ; Stearns, Evidence of Christian Experience, 145, 174, 179 ; F. B. Meyer, Christian Living— essay on Appropriation of REGENERATION 809 Christ, vs. mere imitation of Christ ; Sanday, Epistle to the Romans, supplementary essay on the Mystic Union ; H. B. Smith, System of Theology, 531 ; J. M. Campbell, The Indwelling Christ. LT. Eegenebation. Eegeneration is that act of God by which the governing disposition of the soul is made holy, and by whioh, through the truth as a means, the first holy exercise of this disposition is secured. Eegeneration, or the new birth, is the divine side of that change of heart which, viewed from the human side, we call conversion. It is God's turn ing the soul to himself, — conversion being the soul's turning itself to God, of which God's turning it is both the accompaniment and cause. It will be observed from the above definition, that there are two aspects of regener ation, in the first of which the soul is passive, in the second of which the soul is active. God changes the governing disposition, — in this change the soul is simply acted upon. God secures the initial exercise of this disposi tion in view of the truth, — in this change the soul itself acts. Yet these two parts of God's operation are simultaneous. At the same moment that he makes the soul sensitive, he pours in the light of his truth and induces the exercise of the holy disposition he has imparted. This distinction bctweeen the passive and the active aspects of regeneration is neces sitated, as we shall see, by the twofold method of representing the change in Scripture. In many passages the change is ascribed wholly to the power of God ; the change is a change in the fundamental disposition of the soul ; there is no use of means. In other passages we find truth referred to as an agency employed by the Holy Spirit, and the mind acts in view of this truth. The distinction between these two aspects of regen eration seems to be intimated in Eph. 2 : 5, 6 — "made us alive together with Christ," and "raised us up with him." Lazarus must first be made alive, and in this he could not coSperate ; but he must also come forth from the tomb, and in this he could be active. In the old photog raphy, the plate was first made sensitive, and in this the plate was passive ; then it was exposed to the object, and now the plate actively seized upon the rays of light which the object emitted. Availing ourselves of the illustration from photography, we may compare God's initial work in the soul to the sensitizing of the plate, his next work to the pouring in of the light and the production of the picture. The soul is first made receptive to the truth ; then it is enabled actually to receive the truth. But the illustration fails In one respect, — it represents the two aspects of regeneration as successive. In regeneration there is no chronological succession. At the same instant that God makes the soul sensitive, he also draws out its new sensibility in view of the truth. Let us notice also that, as in photography the picture however perfect needs to be developed, and this development takes time, so regeneration is only the beginning of God's work ; not all the dispositions, but only the governing disposition, is made holy ; there is still need that sanctification should follow regeneration ; and sanctification is a work of God which lasts for a whole lifetime. We may add that " heredity affects regeneration as the quality of the film affects photography, and environment affects regeneration as the focus affects photography " ( W. T. Thayer). Sacramentarianism has so obscured the doctrine of Scripture that many persons who gave no evidence of being regenerate are quite convinced that they are Christians. Uncle John Vassar therefore never asked : " Are you a Christian ? " but always : " Have you ever been born again 1 " E. G. Robinson : " The doctrine of regeneration, aside from sacramentarianism, was not apprehended by Luther or the Reformers, was not indeed wrought out till Wesley taught that God instantaneously renewed the affections and the will." We get the doctrine of regeneration mainly from the apostle John, as we get the doctrine of justification mainly from the apostle Paul. Stevens, Johannine Theology, 366— "Paul's great words are, justification, and righteousness; John's are, birth from God, and life. But, for both Paul and John, faith is life-union with Christ." Stearns, Evidence of Christian Experience, 134— "The sinful nature is not gone, but its power is broken ; sin no longer dominates the life ; it has been thrust from the centre 810 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. to the circumference ; it has the sentence of death in itself ; the man is freed, at least in potency and promise. 218— An activity may be immediate, yet not unmediated. God's action on the soul may be through the sense, yet still be immediate, as when finite spirits communicate with each other." Dubois, in Century Magazine, Dec. 1894: 233— *' Man has made his way up from physical conditions to the consciousness of spiritual needs. Heredity and environment fetter him. He needs spiritual help. God provides a spiritual environment in regeneration. As science is the verification of the ideal in nature, so religion is the verification of the spiritual in human life." Last sermon of Seth K. Mitchell on Rev. 21 : 5 — " Behold, I make all things new "— " God first makes a new man, then gives him a new heart, then a new commandment. He also gives a new body, a new name, a new robe, a new song, and a new home." 1. Scripture Representations. (a) Eegeneration is a change indispensable to the salvation of the sinner. John 3 : 7 — " Te must be born anew "; GaL 6 : 15— "neither is circumcision anything, nor unoiroumcision, but a new oreature " ( marg. — " oreation " ) ; cf. Heb. 12 : 14 — " the sanctification without whioh no man shall see the Lord " — regeneration, therefore, is yet more necessary to salvation ; Eph. 2:3—" by nature children of wrath, even as the rest "; Rem. 3 : 11 — "There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God "; John 6 : 44, 65 — "No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him .... no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father"; Jer. 13 : 23 — "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also de good, that are accustomed to do evil." ( 6 ) It is a change in the inmost principle of life. John 3 : 3— "Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God "; 5:21 — "as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, even so the Son also giveth life to whom he will "; Rom. 6 : 13 — "present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead "; Eph. 2 : 1 —"And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins "; 5 : 14 — " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee." In John 3:3 — "born anew"=not, "altered," "influenced," "reinvigorated," "reformed"; but a new beginning, a new stamp or character, a new family likeness to God and to his children. " So is every one that is born of the Spirit " ( John 3 : 8 ) = 1. secrecy of process ; 2. independence of the will of man ; 3. evidence given in results of conduct and life. It is a good thing to remove the means of gratifying an evil appetite ; but how much better it is to remove the appetite itself ! It is a good thing to save men from frequenting dangerous resorts by furnishing safe places of recreation and entertainment ; but far better is it to Implant within the man such a love for all that is pure and good, that he will instinc tively shun the impure and evil. Christianity aims to purify the springs of action. (e ) It is a change in the heart, or governing disposition. Mat. 12 : 33, 35 — " Either make the tree good, and its fruit good ; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt : for the tree is known by its fruit The good man out of his good treasure briugeth forth good things : and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things "; 15 : 19 — " For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings" ; Acts 16 : 14 — "And a certain woman named Lydia .... hoard us : whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul"; Rom. 6 : 17 — "But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching where- unto ye were delivered "; 10 : 10 — " with the hear^ man believeth unto righteousness " ; cf. Ps. 51 : 10 — " Create in me a clean heart, 0 God ; And renew a right spirit within me "; Jer. 31 : 33 — "I will put my law in their inward parts, and \n their hearts will I write it"; Ez. 11 : 19 — "And I will give them one heart, andl will put a new spirit within you; aid I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.' ' Horace Mann : " One former is worth a hundred reformers." It is often said that the redemption of society is as important as the regeneration of the individual. Yes, we reply ; but the regeneration of society can never be accomplished except through the regeneration of the individual. Reformers try in vain to construct a stable and happy community from persons who are selfish, weak, and miserable. The first cry of such reformers is : " Get your circumstances changed ! " Christ's first call is : " Get your selves changed, and then the things around you will be changed." Many college settle ments, and temperance societies, and self -reformations begin at the wrong end. They are like kindling a coal-fire by lighting kindlings at the top. The fire soon goes out. We need God's work at the very basis of character and not on the outer edge, at the very beginning, and not simply at the end. Mat. 6 : 33 — " seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteous ness ; and all these things shall be added unto you. ' ' ( d ) It is a change in the moral relations of the soul. REGENERATION. 811 Eph. 2 : 5 — "when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive us together with Christ "; 4 : 23, 24 — " that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after Cod hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth"; Col. 1 : 13 — "who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love." -William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 508, finds the features belonging to all religions : 1. an uneasiness ; and 2. its solution. 1. The uneasiness, reduced to its simplest terms, is a sense that there is something wrong about us, as we naturally stand. 2. The solution is a sense that we are saved from the wrongness by making proper connection with the higher powers. ( e ) It is a change -wrought in connection -with the use of truth as a means. James 1 : 18 — " Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth "— here in connection with the special agency of God ( not of mere natural law ) the truth is spoken of as a means ; 1 Pet 1 : 23 — " having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, whioh liveth and abideth"; 2 Petl : 4 — "his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature "; cf. Jer. 23 : 29 — "Is not my word like fire ? saith Jehovah ; and like a hammer that breaketh the rook in pieces ? " John 15 : 3 — "Already ye are clean bocause of the word which I have spoken unto you"; Eph. 6:17 — "the sword of the Spirit, whioh is the word of God"; Eeb. 4 : 12— "For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart " ; 1 Pet. 2:9 — " called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." An advertising sign reads : " Por spaces and ideas, apply to Johnson and Smith." In regeneration, we need both the open mind and the truth to instruct it, and we may apply to God for both. (/) It is a change instantaneous, secretly wrought, and known only in its results. John 5 : 24 — "He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and eometh not into judg ment, but hath passed out of death into life "; cf. Hat. 6 : 24 — "No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other," John 3 : 8 — "The wind bloweth where it will and and thou nearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it eometh, and whither it goeth : so is everyone that is born of the Spirit "; cf. Phil. 2: 12, 13- "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure " ; 2 Pet. 1 : 10 — " Therefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure." ( g ) It is a change wrought by God. John 1 : 13 — " who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God "; 3 : 5 — "Eicept one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ;" 3 : 8, marg. — "The Spirit breatheth where it will"; Eph. 1 : 19, 20 — "the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at bis right hand in the heavenly places "; 2 : 10 — "Por we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them "; 1 Pet. 1 : 3 — " Blessed bo the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great merey begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"; cf. 1 Cor. 3 : 6, 7 — "I planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase." We have seen that we are "begotten again .... through the word "( 1 Pet. 1 : 23 ). Intherevealed truth with regard to the person and work of Christ there is a divine adaptation to the work of renewing our hearts. But truth in itself is powerless to regenerate and sanctify, unless the Holy Spirit uses it— "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God " ( Eph. 6 : 17 ). Hence regeneration is ascribed preeminently to the Holy Spirit, and men are said to be "born of the Spirit" (John 3 : 8). When Robert Morrison started for China, an incred. ulous American said to him : " Mr. Morrison, do you think you can make any impres sion on the Chinese ? " " No," was the reply ; " but I think the Lord can." ( h ) It is a change accomplished through the union of the soul with Christ. Rom. 8 : 2 — "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death"; 2 Cor. 5:17 — "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature" (marg. — "there is a new creation") ; Gal. 1:15, 16 — "it was the good pleasure of God .... to reveal his Son in me "; Eph. 2 : 10 — "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." On the Scriptural representations, see E. D. Griffin, Divine Efficiency, 117-164 ; H. B. Smith, System of Theology, 553-569—" Regeneration involves union with Christ, and not a change of heart without relation to him." Eph. 3 : 14, 15 — "the Father, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named." But even here God works through Christ, and Christ himself is called "Everlasting Father" (Is.9:6). The real 812 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OE SALVATION. basis of our sonship and unity is in Christ, our Creator, and Upholder. Sin is repudi ation of this filial relationship. Regeneration by the Spirit restores our sonship by joining us once more, ethically and spiritually, to Christ the Son, and so adopting us again into God's family. Hence the Holy Spirit does not reveal himself, but Christ. The Spirit is light, and light does not reveal itself, but all other things. I may know that the Holy Spirit is working within me whenever I more clearly perceive Christ. Sonship in Christ makes us not only individually children of God, but also members of a commonwealth. Ps. 87:4— "Tea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her"="the most glorious thing to be said about them is not something pertaining to their separate history, but that they have become members, by adoption, of the city of God " ( Perowne ). The Psalm speaks of the adoption of nations, but it is equally true of Individuals. 2. Necessity of Regeneration. That all men without exception need to be changed in moral character, is manifest, not only from Scripture passages already cited, but from the fol lowing rational considerations : ( a ) Holiness, or conformity to the fundamental moral attribute of God, is the indispensable condition of securing the divine favor, of attaining peace of conscience, and of preparing the soul for the associations and employments of the blest. Phillips Brooks seems to have taught that regeneration is merely a natural forward step in man's development. See his Life, 2 : 353 — " The entrance into this deeper con sciousness of sonship to God and into the motive power which it exercises is Regenera tion, the new birth, not merely with reference to time, but with reference also to profoundness. Because man has something sinful to cast away in order to enter this higher life, therefore regeneration must begin with repentance. But that is an incident. It is not essential to the idea. A man simply imperfect and not sinful would still have to be born again. The presentation of sin as guilt, of release as forgiveness, of conse quence as punishment, have their true meaning as the most personal expressions of man's moral condition as always measured by, and man's moral changes as always dependent upon, God." Here imperfection seems to mean depraved condition as dis tinguished from conscious transgression ; it is not regarded as sinful ; it needs not to be repented of. Tet it does require regeneration. In Phillips Brooks's creed there is no article devoted to sin. Baptism he calls " the declaration of the universal fact of the sonship of man to God. The Lord's Supper is the declaration of the universal fact of man's dependence upon God for supply of life. It is associated with the death of Jesus, because in that the truth of God giving himself to man found its completest manifes tation." Others seem to teach regeneration by education. Here too there is no recognition of inborn sin or guilt. Man's imperfection of nature is innocent. He needs training in order to fit him for association with higher intelligences and with God. In the evolu tion of his powers there comes a natural crisis, like that of graduation of the scholar, and this crisis may be called conversion. This educational theory of regeneration is represented by Starbuck, Psychology of Religion, and by Coe, The Spiritual Life. What human nature needs however is not evolution, but involution and revolution — involu tion, the communication of a new life, and revolution, change of direction resulting from that life. Human nature, as we have seen in our treatment of sin, is not a green apple to be perfected by mere growth, but an apple with a worm at the core, which left to itself will surely rot and perish." President G. Stanley Hall, in his essay on The Religious Affirmations of Psychology, says that the total depravity of man is an ascertained fact apart from the teachings of the Bible. There had come into his hands for inspection several thousands of letters written to a medical man who advertised that he would give confidential advice and treatment to all, secretly. On the strength of these letters Dr. Hall was prepared to say that John Calvin had not told the half of what is true. He declared that the neces sity of regeneration in order to the development of character was clearly established from psychological investigation. A. H. Strong, Cleveland Sermon, 1904—" Here is the danger of some modern theories of Christian education. They give us statistics, to show that the age of puberty is the REGENERATION. 813 age of strongest religious impressions ; and the inference is drawn that conversion is nothing but a natural phenomenon, a regular stage of development. The free will, and the evil bent of that will, are forgotten, and the absolute dependence of perverse hum an nature upon the regenerating spirit of God. The age of puberty is the age of the Strongest religious impressions? Yes, but it is also the age of the strongest artistic and social and sensuous impressions, and only a new birth from above can lead the soul to seek first the kingdom of God." ( 6 ) The condition of universal humanity as by nature depraved, and, when arrived at moral consciousness, as guilty of actual transgression, is precisely the opposite of that holiness without which the soul cannot exist in normal relation to God, to self, or to holy beings. Plutarch has a parable of a man who tried to make a dead body stand upright, but who finished his labors saying: "Deest aliquid intus " — " There's something lacking inside." Ribot, Diseases of the Will, 53— " In the vicious man the moral elements are lacking. If the idea of amendment arises, it is involuntary. . . . But if a first element is not given by nature, and with it a potential energy, nothing results. The theologi cal dogma of grace as a free gift appears to us therefore founded upon a much more exact psychology than the contrary opinion." " Thou art chained to the wheel of the foe By links which a world cannot sever : With thy tyrant through storm and through calm thou shall go, And thy sentence is bondage forever." Martensen, Christian Ethics : " When Kant treats of the radical evil of human nature, he makes the remarkable statement that, if a good will is to appear in us, this cannot happen through a partial improvement, nor through any reform, but only through a revolution, a total overturn within us, that is to be compared to a new creation." Those who hold that man may attain perfection by mere natural growth deny this radical evil of human nature, and assume that our nature is a good seed which needs only favorable external influences of moisture and sunshine to bring forth good fruit. But human nature is a damaged seed, and what comes of it will be aborted and stunted like itself. The doctrine of mere development denies God's holiness, man's sin, the need of Christ, the necessity of atonement, the work of the Holy Spirit, the justice of penalty. Kant's doctrine of the radical evil of human nature, like Aristotle's doctrine that man is born on an inclined plane and subject to a downward gravitation, is not matched by a corresponding doctrine of regeneration. Only the apostle Paul can tell us how we came to be in this dreadful predicament, and where is the power that can deliver us ; see Stearns, Evidence of Christian Experience, 274. Dean Swift's worthy sought many years for a method of extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. We cannot cure the barren tree by giving it new bark or new branches, —it must have new sap. Healing snakebites is not killing the snake. Poetry and music, the uplif ting power of culture, the inherent nobility of man, the general mercy of God — no one of these will save the soul. Horace Bushnell : " The soul of all improve ment is the improvement of the soul." Frost cannot be removed from a window pane simply by scratching it away, — you must raise the temperature of the room. It is as impossible to get regeneration out of reformation as to get a harvest out of a field by mere plowing. Reformation iB plucking bitter apples from a tree, and in their place tying good apples on with a string ( Dr. Pentecost ). It is regeneration or degradation —the beginning of an upward movement by a power not man's own, or the continu ance and increase of a downward movement that can end only in ruin. Kidd, Social Evolution, shows that in humanity itself there resides no power of prog ress. The ocean steamship that has burned its last pound of coal may proceed on its course by virtue of its momentum, but it is only a question of the clock how soon it will cease to move, except as tossed about by the wind and the waves. Not only is there power lacking for the good, but apart from God's grace the evil tendencies con stantly became more aggravated. The settled states of the affections and will practi cally dominate the life. Charles H. Spurgeon : " If a thief should get into heaven unchanged, he would begin by picking the angels' pockets." The land is full of exam ples of the descent of man, not from the brute, but to the brute. The tares are not degenerate wheat, which by cultivation will become good wheat, —they are not only useless but noxious, and they must be rooted out and burned. " Society never will be better than the individuals who compose it. A sound ship can never be made of rotten timber. Individual reformation must precede social reconstruction." Sociahsm will 814 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. always be a failure until it becomes Christian. We must be born from above, as truly as we have been begotten by our fathers upon earth, or we cannot see the kingdom of God. ( c ) A radical internal change is therefore requisite in every human soul — a change in that which constitutes its character. Holiness cannot be attained, as the pantheist claims, by a merely natural growth or develop ment, since man's natural tendencies are wholly in the direction of selfish ness. There must be a reversal of his inmost dispositions and principles of action, if he is to see the kingdom of God. Men's good deeds and reformation may be illustrated by eddies in a stream whose general current is downward ; by walking westward in a railway-car while the train is going east ; by Capt. Parry's traveling north, while the ice-floe on which he walked was moving southward at a rate much more rapid than his walking. It is possible to be "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim, 3:7). Better never have been born, than not be born again. But the necessity of regeneration implies its pos sibility : John 3:7 — "Ye must be born anew" = ye may be born anew, — the text is not merely a warning and a command, — it is also a promise. Every sinner has the chance of making a new start and of beginning a new life. J. D. Robertson, The Holy Spirit and Christian Service, 57 — " Emerson says that the gate of gifts closes at birth. After a man emerges from his mother's womb he can have no new endowments, no fresh increments of strength and wisdom, joy and grace within. The only grace is the grace of creation. But this view is deistic and not Christian." Emerson's saying is true of natural gifts, but not of spiritual gifts. He forgot Pentecost. He forgot the all-encompassing atmosphere of the divine person ality and love, and its readiness to enter in at every chink and crevice of our voluntary being. The longing men have to turn over a new leaf in life's book, to break with the past, to assert their better selves, is a preliminary impulse of God's Spirit and an evi dence of prevenient grace preparing the way for regeneration. Thus interpreted and yielded to, these impulses warrant unbounded hope for the future. " No star is ever lost we once have seen ; We always may be what we might have been ; The hopes that lost in some far distance seem May be the truer life, and this the dream." The greatest minds feel, at least at times, their need of help from above. Although Cicero uses the term 'regeneration ' to signify what we should call naturalization, yet he recognizes man's dependence upon God : " Nemo vir magnus, sine aliquo divino afflatu, unquamfuit." Seneca: "Bonus vir sine illo nemo est." Aristotle: "Wicked ness perverts the judgment and makes men err with respect to practical principles, so that no man can be wise and judicious who is not good." Goethe : " Who ne'er his bread in sorrow ate, Who ne'er the mournful midnight hours Weeping upon his bed has sate, He knows you not, ye heavenly Powers." Shakespeare, King Lear : " Is there a reason in nature for these hard hearts?" Robert Browning, in Halbert and Hob, replies : " O Lear, That a reason out of nature must turn them soft, seems clear." John Stuart Mill (see Autobiography, 132-142) knew that the feeling of interest in others' welfare would make him happy,— but the knowledge of this fact did not give him the feeling. The "enthusiasm of humanity "—unselfish love, of which we read in"Bcce Homo"— is easy to talk about; but how to produce it,— that is the question. Drummond, Natural Law in the Spiritual World, 61-94 — " There is no abiogenesis in the spiritual, more than in the natural, world. Can the stone grow more and more living until it enters the organic world ? No, Christianity is a new life, — it is Christ in you." As natural life comes to us mediately, through Adam, so spiritual life comes to us mediately, through Christ. See Bushnell, Nature and the Supernatural, 220-249 ; Ander son, Regeneration, 51-88 ; Bennet Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, 340-354. 3. The Efficient Cause of Regeneration. Three views only need be considered, — all others are modifications of these. The first view puts the efficient cause of regeneration in the human will ; the second, in the truth considered as a system of motives ; the third, in the immediate agency of the Holy Spirit. John Stuart Mill regarded cause as embracing all the antecedents to an event. Hazard, Man a Creative First Cause, 12-15, shows that, as at any given instant the REGENERATION. 815 Whole past is everywhere the same, the effects must, upon this view, at each instant be everywhere one and the same. "The theory that, of every successive event, the real cause is the whole of the antecedents, does not distinguish between the passive condi tions acted upon and changed, and the active agencies which act upon and change them ; does not distinguish what produces, from what merely precedes, change." We prefer the definition given by Porter, Human Intellect, 592— Cause is " the most conspiouous and prominent of the agencies, or conditions, that produce a result " ; or that of Dr. Mark Hopkins : " Any exertion or manifestation of energy that produces a change is a cause, and nothing else is. We must distinguish cause from occasion, or material. Cause is not to be defined as ' everything without which the effect could not be realized.' " Better still, perhaps, may we say, that efficient cause is the competent producing power by which the effect is secured. James Martineau, Types, 1 : preface, xiii— " A cause is that which determines the indeterminate." Not the light, but the photographer, is the cause of the picture ; light is but the photographer's servant. So the " word of God " is the " sword of the Spirit ' ' ( Eph. 6:17); the Spirit uses the word as his instru ment ; but the Spirit himself is the cause of regeneration. A. The human will, as the efficient cause of regeneration. This view takes two forms, according as the will is regarded as acting apart from, or in conjunction with, special influences of the truth applied by God. Pelagians hold the former • Arminians the latter. ( a ) To the Pelagian view, that regeneration is solely the act of man, and is identical with self -reformation, we object that the sinner's depravity, since it consists in a fixed state of the affections which determines the settled character of the volitions, amounts to a moral inability. Without a renewal of the affections from which all moral action springs, man will not choose holiness nor accept salvation. Man's volitions are practically the shadow of his affections. It is as useless to think of a man's volitions separating themselves from his affections, and drawing him towards God, as it is to think of a man's shadow separating itself from him, and leading him in the opposite direction to that in which he is going. Man's affections, to use Calvin's words, are like horses that have thrown off the charioteer and are running wildly, —they need a new hand to direct them. In disease, we must be helped by a physician. We do not stop a locomotive engine by applying force to the wheels, but by reversing the lever. So the change in man must be, not in the transient volitions, but in the deeper springs of action —the fundamental bent of the affections and will. See Hens- low, Evolution, 134. Shakespeare, All 's Well that Ends Well, 2 : 1 : 149 — " It is not so with Him that all things knows, As 't is with us that square our guess with shows ; But most it is presumption in us when The help of heaven we count the act of men." Henry Clay said that he did not know for himself personally what the change of heart spoken of by Christians meant ; but he had seen Kentucky family feuds of long standing healed by religious revivals, and that whatever could heal a Kentucky family feud was more than human. — Mr. Peter Harvey was a lifelong friend of Daniel Web ster. He wrote a most interesting volume of reminiscenses of the great man. He tells how one John Colby married the oldest sister of Mr. Webster. Said Mr. Webster of John Colby : " Finally he went up to Andover, New Hampshire, and bought a farm, and the only recollection I have about him is that he was called the wickedest man in the neighborhood, so far as swearing and impiety went. I used to wonder how my sister could marry so profane a man as John Colby." Years afterwards news comes to Mr. Webster that a wonderful change has passed upon John Colby. Mr. Harvey and Mr. Webster take a journey together to visit John Colby. As Mr. Webster enters John Colby's house, he sees open before him a large-print Bible, which he has just been read ing. When greetings have been interchanged, the first question John Colby asks of Mr. Webster is, " Are you a Christian 1 " And then, at John Colby's suggestion, the two men kneel and pray together. When the visit is done, this is what Mr. Webster says to Mr. Harvey as they ride away : " I should like to know what the enemies of religion would say to John Colby's conversion. There was a man as unlikely, humanly speaking, to become a Christian as any man I ever saw. He was reckless, heedless, impious, never attended church, never experienced the good influence of associating with religious people. And here he has been living on in that reckless way until he 816 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. has got to be an old man, until a period of life when you naturally would not expect his habits to change. And yet he has been brought into the condition in which we have seen him to-day, — a penitent, trusting, humble believer." " Whatever people may say," added Mr. Webster, " nothing can convince me that anything short of the grace of Almighty God could make such a change as I, with my own eyes, have wit nessed in the life of John Colby." When they got back to Franklin, New Hampshire, in the evening, they met another lifelong friend of Mr. Webster's, John Taylor, stand ing at his door. Mr. Webster called out : " Well, John Taylor, miracles happen in these latter days as well as in the days of old." " What now, Squire 1 " asked John Taylor. " Why," replied Mr. Webster, " John Colby has become a Christian. II that is not a miracle, what is? " ( b ) To the Arminian view, that regeneration is the act of man, cooper ating with divine influences applied through the truth (synergistic the ory ), we object that no beginning of holiness is in this way conceivable. Por, so long as man's selfish and perverse affections are unchanged, no choosing God is possible but such as proceeds from supreme desire for one's own interest and happiness. But the man thus supremely bent on self-gratification cannot see in God, or his service, anything productive of happiness ; or, if he could see in them anything of advantage, his choice of God and his service from such a motive would not be a holy choice, and therefore could not be a beginning of holiness. Although Melanchthon ( 1497-1560 ) preceded Arminlus ( 1560-1609 ), his view was sub stantially the same with that of the Dutch theologian. Melanchthon never experienced the throes and travails of a new spiritual life, as Luther did. His external and internal development was peculiarly placid and serene. This Preceptor Germanise had the modesty of the genuine scholar. He was not a dogmatist, and he never entered the ranks of the ministry. He never could be pursuaded to accept the degree of Doctor of Theology, though he lectured on theological subjects to audiences of thousands. Dorner says of Melanchthon : " He held at first that the Spirit of God is the primary, and the word of God the secondary, or instrumental, agency in conversion, while the human will allows their action and freely yields to it." Later, he held that " conversion is the result of the combined action ( copulatio ) of three causes, the truth of God, the Holy Spirit, and the will of man." This synergistic view in his last years involved the theo logian of the German Reformation in serious trouble. Luthardt : " He made a facultas out of a mere capacitas." Dorner says again : " Man's causality is not to be coordi nated with that of God, however small the influence ascribed to it. It Is a purely receptive, not a productive, agency. The opposite is the fundamental Romanist error." Self-love will never induce a man to give up self-love. Selfishness will not throttle and cast out selfishness. " Such a choice from a selfish motive would be unholy, when judged by God's standard. It is absurd to make salvation depend upon the exer cises of a wholly unspiritual power " ; see Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 2 : 716-720 ( Syst. Doct., 4:179-183). Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2:505 — "Sin does not first stop, and then holiness come in place of sin ; but holiness positively expels sin. Darkness does not first cease, and then light enter ; but light drives out darkness." On the Arminian view, see Bib. Sac, 19 : 265, 266. John Wesley's theology was Ta modified Arminiamsm, yet it was John Wesley who did most to establish the doctrine of regeneration. He asserted that the Holy Spirit acts through the truth, in distinction from the doctrine that the Holy Spirit works solely through the ministers and sacraments of the church. But in asserting the work of the Holy Spirit in the individual soul, he went too far to the opposite extreme of emphasizing the ability of man to choose God's service, when without love to God there was nothing in God's service to attract. A. H. Bradford, Age of Faith : " It is as if Jesus had said : If a sailor will properly set his rudder the wind will fill his sails. The will is the rudder of the character; if it is turned in the right direction, all the winds of heaven will favor ; if it is turned in the wrong direction, they will oppose." The question returns : What shall move the man to set his rudder aright, if he has no desire to reach the proper haven? Here is the need of divine power, not merely to cooperate with man, after man's will is set in the right direction, but to set it in the right direction in the first place. Phil. 2 : 13 — " it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure." REGENERATION. 817 Still another modification of Arminian doctrine is found in the Revealed Theology of N. W. Taylor of New Haven, who maintained that, antecedently to regeneration, the selfish principle is suspended in the sinner's heart, and that then, prompted by self- love, he uses the means of regeneration from motives that are neither sinful nor holy. He held that all men, saints and sinners, have their own happiness for their ultimate end. Regeneration involves no change in this principle or motive, but only a change in the governing purpose to seek this happiness in God rather than in the world. Dr. Taylor said that man could turn to God, whatever the Spirit did or did not do. He could turn to God if he would ; but he could also turn to God if he would n't. In other words, he maintained the power of contrary choice, while yet affirming the certainty that, without the Holy Spirit's influences, man would always choose wrongly. These doctrines caused a division in the Congregational body. Those who opposed Taylor withdrew their support from New Haven, and founded the Bast Windsor Seminary in 1834. For Taylor's view, see N. W. Taylor, Revealed Theology, 369-406, and in The Christian Spectator for 1829. The chief opponent of Dr. Taylor was Dr. Bennet Tyler. He replied to Dr. Taylor that moral character has its seat, not in the purpose, but in the affections back of the purpose. Otherwise every Christian must be in a state of sinless perfection, for his governing purpose is to serve God. But we know that there are affections and desires not under control of this purpose— dispositions not in conformity with the predomi nant disposition. How, Dr. Tyler asked, can a sinner, completely selfish, from a selfish motive, resolve not to be selfish, and so suspend his selfishness? "Antecedently to regeneration, there can be no suspension of the selfish principle. It is said that, in suspending it, the sinner is actuated by self-love. But is it possible that the sinner, while destitute of love to God and every particle of genuine benevolence, should love himself at all and not love himself supremely? He loves nothing more than self. He does not regard God or the universe, except as they tend to promote his ultimate end, his own happiness. No sinner ever suspended this selfishness until subdued by divine grace. We can not become regenerate by preferring God to the world merely from regard to our own interest. There is no necessity of the Holy Spirit to renew the heart, if self-love prompts men to turn from the world to God. On the view thus com bated, depravity consists simply in ignorance. All men need is enlightenment as to the best means of securing their own happiness. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is, therefore, not necessary." See Bennet Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, 316-381, esp. 334, 370, 371 ; Letters on the New Haven Theology, 21-72, 143-163 ; review of Taylor and Fitch, by E. D. Griffin, Divine Efficiency, 13-54 ; Martineau, Study, 2 : 9 — " By making it a man's interest to be disinterested, do you cause him to forget himself and put any love into his heart? or do you only break him in and cause him to turn this way and that by the bit and lash of a driving necessity 1 " The sinner, apart from the grace of God, cannot see the truth. Wilberforce took Pitt to hear Cecil preach, but Pitt declared that he did not understand a word that Cecil said. Apart from the grace of God, the sinner, even when made to see the truth, resists it the more, the more clearly he sees it. Then the Holy Spirit overcomes his opposition and makes him willing in the day of God's power ( Psalm 110 : 3 ). B. The truth, as the efficient cause of regeneration. According to this view, the truth as a system of motives is the direct and immediate cause of the change from unholiness to holiness. This view is objectionable for two reasons : ( a ) It erroneously regards motives as wholly external to the mind that is influenced by them. This is to conceive of them as mechanically con straining the will, and is indistinguishable from necessitarianism. On the contrary, motives are compounded of external presentations and internal dispositions. It is the soul's affections which render certain suggestions attractive and others repugnant to us. In brief, the heart makes the motive. ( 6 ) Only as truth is loved, therefore, can it be a motive to holiness. But we have seen that the aversion of the sinner to God is such that the truth is hated instead of loved, and a thing that is hated, is hated more 52 818 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. intensely, the more distinctly it is seen. Hence no mere power of the truth can be regarded as the efficient cause of regeneration. The contrary view implies that it is not the truth which the sinner hates, but rather some element of error which is mingled with it. Lyman Beecher and Charles G. Finney held this view. The influence of the Holy Spirit differs from that of the preacher only in degree,— both use only moral suasion ; both do nothing more than to present the truth ; both work upon the soul from without. " Were I as eloquent as the Holy Ghost, I could convert sinners as well as he," said a popular preacher of this sohool (see Bennet Tyler, Letters on New Haven Theology, 164-171 ). On this view, it would be absurd to pray to God to regenerate, for that is more than he can do,— regeneration is simply the effect of truth. Miley, in Meth. Quar., July, 1881 : 434-462, holds that "the will cannot rationally aot without motive, but that it has always power to suspend action, or defer it, for the purpose of rational examination of the motive or end, and to consider the 'opposite motive or end. Putting the old end or motive out of view will temporarily break its power, and the new truth considered will furnish motive for right action. Thus, by using our faculty of suspending choice, and of fixing attention, we can realize the permanent eligibility of the good and choose it against the evil. This is, however, not the realization of a new spiritual life in regeneration, but the election of its attain ment. Power to do this suspending is of grace [ grace, however, given equally to all ]. Without this power, life would be a spontaneous and irresponsible development of evil." The view of Miley, thus substantially given, resembles that of Dr. Taylor, upon which we have already commented ; but, unlike that, it makes truth itself, apart from the affections, a determining agency in the change from sin to holiness. Our one reply is that, without a change in the affections, the truth can neither be known nor obeyed. Seeing cannot be the means of being born again, for one must first be born again in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). The mind will not choose God, until God appears to be the greatest good. Edwards, quoted by Griffin, Divine Efficiency, 64—" Let the sinner apply his rational powers to the contemplation of divine things, and let his belief be speculatively cor rect ; still he is in such a state that those objects of contemplation will excite in him no holy affections." The Scriptures declare (Rom. 8 :7) that "the mind of the flesh is enmity" — not against some error or mistaken notion of God — but "is enmity against God." It is God's holiness, mandatory and punitive, that is hated. A clearer view of that holiness will only increase the hatred. A woman's hatred of spiders will never be changed to love by bringing them close to her. Magnifying them with a compound oxy-hydrogen micro scope will not help the matter. Tyler : " All the light of the last day will not subdue the sinner's heart." The mere presence of God, and seeing God face to face, will be hell to him, if his hatred be not first changed to love. See E. D. Griffin, Divine Efficiency, 105-116, 203-221 ; and review of Griffin, by S. R. Mason, Truth Unfolded, 383-407. Bradford, Heredity and Christian Problems, 239— "Christianity puts three motives before men : love, self-love, and fear." True, but the last two are only preliminary motives, not essentially Christian. The soul that is moved only by self-love or by fear has not yet entered into the Christian life at all. And any attention to the truth of God which originates in these motives has no absolute moral value, and cannot be regarded as even a beginning of salvation. Nothing but holiness and love are entitled to be called Christianity, and these the truth of itself cannot summon up. The Spirit of God must go with the truth to impart right desires and to make the truth effeotive. E. G. Robinson : " The glory of our salvation can no more be attributed to the word of God only, than the glory of a Praxiteles or a Canova can be ascribed to the chisel or the mallet with which he wrought into beauty his immortal creations." C. The immediate agency of the Holy Spirit, as the efficient cause of regeneration. In ascribing to the Holy Spirit the authorship of regeneration, we do not affirm that the divine Spirit accomplishes his work without any accom panying instrumentality. We simply assert that the power which regen erates is the power of God, and that although conjoined with the use of means, there is a direct operation of this power upon the sinner's heart REGENERATION. 819 ¦which changes its moral character. We add two remarks by way of further explanation : ( a ) The Scriptural assertions of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and of his mighty power in the soul forbid us to regard the divine Spirit in regeneration as coming in contact, not with the soul, but only with the truth. The phrases, "to energize the truth," "to intensify the truth," " to illuminate the truth," have no proper meaning ; since even God cannot make the truth more true. If any change is wrought, it must be wrought, not in the truth, but in the soul. The maxim, " Truth is mighty and will prevail," is very untrue, if God be left out of the account. Truth without God is an abstraction, and not a power. It is a mere instru ment, useless without an agent. " The sword of the Spirit, whioh is the word of God " ( Eph, 6 : 17 ), must be wielded by the Holy Spirit himself. And the Holy Spirit comes in contact, not simply with the instrument, but with the soul. To all moral, and especially to all relig ious truth, there is an inward unsusceptibility, arising from the perversity of the affec tions and the will. This blindness and hardness of heart must be removed, before the soul can perceive or be moved by the truth. Hence the Spirit must deal directly with the soul. Denovan : " Our natural hearts are hearts of stone. The word of God is good seed sown on the hard, trodden, macadamized highway, which the horses of passion, the asses of self-will, the wagons of imaginary treasure, have made impene trable. Only the Holy Spirit can soften and pulverize this soil." The Psalmist prays : " Inoline my heart unto thy testimonies " ( Ps. 119 : 36 ), while of Lydia it is said : " whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul " ( Acts 16 : 14 ). We may say of the Holy Spirit : " He freezes and then melts the soil, He breaks the hard, cold stone, Kills out the rooted weeds so vile,— All this he does alone ; And every virtue we possess. And every victory won, And every thought of holiness, Are his, and his alone." Hence, in Ps. 90 : 16, 17, the Psalmist says, first : " Let thy work appear unto thy servants"; then "establish thou the work of our hands upon us" — God's work is first to appear, — then man's work, which is God's work carried out by human instruments. At Jericho, the force was not applied to the rams' horns, but to the walls. When Jesus healed the blind man, his power was applied, not to the spittle, but to the eyes. The impression is prepared, not by heating the seal, but by softening the wax. So God's power acts, not upon the truth, but upon the sinner. Ps. 59 : 10 —"By God with his lovingkindness will meet me "; A. V. — "The God of my mercy shall prevent me," i. e., go before me. Augustine urges this text as proof that the grace of God precedes all merit of man : " What didst thou find in me but only sins ? Before I do anything good, his mercy will go before me. What will unhappy Pelagius answer here ? " Calvin how ever says this may be a pious, but it is not a fair, use of the passage. The passage does teach dependence upon God ; but God's anticipation of our action, or in other words, the doctrine of prevenient grace, must be derived from other portions of Scripture, such as John 1 : 13, and Eph. 2 : 10. " The enthusiasm of humanity " to which J. R. Seeley, the author of Ecce Homo, exhorts us, is doubtless the secret of happiness and usefulness,— unfortunately he does not tell us whence it may come. John Stuart Mill felt the need of it, but he did not get it. Arthur Hugh Clough, Clergyman's First Tale : " Would I could wish my wishes all to rest, And know to wish the wish that were the best." Bradford, Heredity, 228 — " God is the environment of the soul, yet man has free will. Light fills the spaces, yet a man from ignorance may remain in a cave, or from choice may dwell in darkness." Man needs therefore a divine influence which will beget in him a disposition to use his opportunities aright. We may illustrate the philosophy of revivals by the canal boat which lies before the gate of a lock. No power on earth can open the lock. But soon the lock begins to fill, and when the water has reached the proper level, the gate can be opened almost at a touch. Or, a steamer runs into a sandbar. Tugs fail to pull the vessel off. Her own engines cannot accomplish it. But when the tide comes in, she swings free without effort. So what we need in religion is an influx of spiritual influence which will make easy what before is difficult if not impossible. The Superintendent of a New York State Prison tells us that the common schools furnish 83 per cent., and the colleges and academies over i per cent., of the inmates of Auburn and Sing Sing. Truth without the Holy Spirit to apply it is like sunshine without the actinic ray which alone can give it vitalizing energy. 820 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. ( 6 ) Even if truth could be energized, intensified, illuminated, there would still be needed a change in the moral disposition, before the soul could recognize its beauty or be affected by it. No mere increase of hght can enable a blind man to see ; the disease of the eye must first be cured before external objects are visible. So God's work in regeneration must be performed within the soul itself. Over and above all influence of the truth, there must be a direct influence of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. Although wrought in conjunction with the presentation of truth to the intellect, regeneration differs from moral suasion in being an immediate act of God. Before regeneration, man's knowledge of God is the blind man's knowledge of color- The Scriptures call such knowledge " ignorance " ( Eph. 4 : 18 ). The heart does not appreciate God's mercy. Regeneration gives an experimental or heart knowledge ; see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 495. Is. 50 : 4 — God " wakeneth mine ear to hear." It is false to say that soul can come in contact with soul only through the influence of truth. In the intercourse of dear friends, or in the discourse of the orator, there is a personal influence, distinct from the word spoken, which persuades the heart and conquers the will. We sometimes call it "magnetism,"— but we mean simply that soul reaches soul, in ways apart from the use of physical intermediaries. Compare the facts, imperfectly known as yet, of second sight, mind-reading, clairvoyance. But whether these be accepted or not, it still is true that God has not made the human soul so that it is inaccessible to himself. The omnipresent Spirit penetrates and pervades all spirits that have been made by him. See Lotze, Outlines of Psychology ( Ladd ), 142, 143. In the primary change of disposition, which is the most essential feature of regene ration, the Spirit of God acts directly upon the spirit of man. In the securing of the initial exercise of this new disposition — which constitutes the secondary feature of God's work of regeneration — the truth is used as a means. Hence, perhaps, in JameB 1:18, we read: "Ofhis own will he brought us forth by the word of truth" instead of "he begat us by the word of truth," — the reference being to the secondary, not to the primary, feature of regeneration. The advocates of the opposite view — the view that God works only through the truth as a means, and that his only influence upon the soul is a moral influence — very naturally deny the mystical union of the soul with Christ. Squier, for example, in his Autobiog., 343-378, esp. 360, on the Spirit's influences, quotes John 16 : 8 — he " will convict the world in respect of sin " — to show that God regenerates by applying truth to men's minds, so far as to convince them, by fair and sufficient arguments, that they are sinners. Christ, opening blind eyes and unstopping deaf ears, illustrates the nature of God's operation in regeneration, — in the case of the blind, there Is plenty of light, — what is wanted is sight. The negro convert said that bis conversion was due to himself and God : he fought against God with all his might, and God did the rest. So our moral successes are due to ourselves and God, —we have done only the fighting against God, and God has done the rest. The sand of Sahara would not bring forth flowers and fruit, even if you turned into it a hundred rivers like the Nile. Man may hear sermons for a lifetime, and still be barren of all spiritual growths. The soil of the heart needs to be changed, and the good seed of the kingdom needs to be planted there. For the view that truth is "energized" or "intensified" by the Holy Spirit, see Phelps, New Birth, 61, 121 ; Walker, Philosophy of Plan of Salvation, chap. 18. Per con tra, see Wardlaw, Syst. Theol., 3 : 24, 25 ; E. D. Griffin, Divine Efficiency, 73-U6 ; Ander son, Regeneration, 123-168 ; Edwards, Works, 2 : 647-597 ; Chalmers, Lectures on Romans, chap. 1; Payne, Divine Sovereignty, lect. 23:363-367; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 3:3-37, 466- 485. On the whole subject of the Efficient Cause of Regeneration, see Hopkins, Works, 1:454; Dwight, Theology, 2:418-429; John Owen, Works, 3:282-297, 366-538; Robert Hall, Sermon on the Cause, Agent, and Purpose of Regeneration. 4. The Instrumentality used in Regeneration. A. The Roman, English and Lutheran churches hold that regeneration is accomplished through the instrumentality of baptism. The Disciples, or followers of Alexander Campbell, make regeneration include baptism, REGENERATION. 821 as well as repentance and faith. To the view that baptism is a means of regeneration we urge the following objections : ( a ) The Scriptures represent baptism to be not the means but only the sign of regeneration, and therefore to presuppose and follow regeneration. Por this reason only behevers — that is, persons giving credible evidence of being regenerated— were baptized (Acts 8 : 12). Not external baptism, but the conscientious turning of the soul to God which baptism symbolizes, saves US ( 1 Pet. 3 : 21 — ain>eiSrjaeag ayaSrJQ iwep&Trijia ). Texts like John 3 : 5, Acts 2 : 38, Col. 2 : 12, Tit. 3 : 5, are to be explained upon the princi ple that regeneration, the inward change, and baptism, the outward sign of that change, were regarded as only different sides or aspects of the same fact, and either side or aspect might therefore be described in terms derived from the other. ( 6 ) Upon this view, there is a striking incongruity between the nature of the change to be wrought and the means employed to produce it. The change is a spiritual one, but the means are physical. It is far more rational to suppose that, in changing the character of intelligent beings, God uses means which have relation to their intelligence. The view we are considering is part and parcel of a general scheme of mechanical rather than moral salvation, and is more consistent with a materialistic than with a spiritual philosophy. ActB 8 : 12 — " when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised " ; 1 Pet. 3 : 21 — " which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation [ marg. — ' inquiry ', ' appeal '] of a good conscience toward God" = the inquiry of the soul after God, the conscientious turning of the soul to God. Plumptre, however, makes eTrepw-nijia a forensic term equivalent to " examination," and including both question and answer. It means, then, the open answer of alle giance to Christ, given by the new convert to the constituted officers of the church. " That which is of the essence of the saving power of baptism is the confession and the profession which precede it. If this comes from a conscience that really renounces sin and believes on Christ, then baptism, as the channel through which the grace of the new birth is conveyed and the convert admitted into the church of Christ, ' saves us,' but not otherwise." We may adopt this statement from Plumptre's Commentary, with the alteration of the word "conveyed" into "symbolized" or "manifested." Plumptre's intepretation is, as he seems to admit, in its obvious meaning inconsistent with infant baptism ; to us it seems equally inconsistent with any doctrine of bap tismal regeneration. Scriptural regeneration is God's (1) changing man's disposition, and (2) securing its first exercise. Regeneration, according to the Disciples, is man's ( 1 ) repentance and faith, and (2) submission to baptism. Alexander Campbell, Christianity Restored: " We plead that all the converting power of the Holy Spirit is exhibited in the divine Record." Address of Disciples to Ohio Baptist State Convention, 1871 : " With us regeneration includes all that is comprehended in faith, repentance, and baptism, and so far as it is expressive of birth, it belongs more properly to the last of these than to either of the former." But if baptism be the instrument of regeneration, it is difficult to see how the patriarchs, or the penitent thief, could have been regenerated. Luke 23 : 43 — " This day sbalt thou be with me in Paradise." Bossuet : " ' This day ' — what promptitude I 'With me' — what companionship 1 'In Paradise' —what rest!" Bersier: "'This day' — what then ? no flames of Purgatory ? no long period of mournful expiation ? ' This day ' -r pardon and heaven I " Baptism is a condition of being outwardly in the kingdom ; it is not a condition of being inwardly in the kingdom. The confounding of these two led many in the early church to dread dying unbaptized, rather than dying unsaved. Even Pascal, in later times, held that participation in outward ceremonies might lead to real conversion. He probably meant that an initial act of holy will would tend to draw others in its train. Similarly we urge unconverted people to take some step that will manifest religious 822 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. interest. We hope that in taking this step a new decision of the will, inwrought by the Spirit of God, may reveal itself. But a religion which consists only in such out ward performances is justly denominated a cutaneous religion, for it is only skin-deep. On John 3:5—" Eicept one be born of water and the Spirit, he oanuot enter into the kingdom of God "; Acts 2 : 38 — "Repent ye, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" ; Cob. 2:12 — " buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith " ; Tit. 3 : 5 — " saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit " — see further discussion and expo sition in our chapter on the Ordinances. Adkins, Disciples and Baptists, a booklet published by the Am. Bap. Pub. Society, is the best statement of the Baptist position, as distinguished from that of the Disciples. It claims that Disciples overrate the externals of Christianity and underrate the work of the Holy Spirit. Per contra, see Gates, Disciples and Baptists. B. The Scriptural view is that regeneration, so far as it secures an activity of man, is accomplished through the instrumentality of the truth. Although the Holy Spirit does not in any way illuminate the truth, he does ihuminate the mind, so that it can perceive the truth. In conjunc tion with the change of man's inner disposition, there is an appeal to man's rational nature through the truth. Two inferences may be drawn : ( a ) Man is not wholly passive at the time of his regeneration. He is passive only with respect to the change of his ruling disposition. With respect to the exercise of this disposition, he is active. Although the effi cient power which secures this exercise of the new disposition is the power of God, yet man is not therefore unconscious, nor is he a mere machine worked by God's fingers. On the other hand, his whole moral nature under God's working is alive and active. We reject the "exercise-system," which regards God as the direct author of all man's thoughts, feelings, and volitions, not only in its general tenor, but in its special application to regeneration. Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2:503— "A dead man cannot assist in his own resurrection." This is true so far as the giving of life is concerned. But once made alive, man can, like Lazarus, obey Christ's command and " come forth " ( John 11 : 43 ), In fact, if he does not obey, there is no evidence that there is spiritual life. " In us is God ; we burn but as he moves" — "Est deus in nobis; agitante calescimus illo." Wireless telegraphy requires an attuned receiver ; regeneration attunes the soul so that it vibrates respon- sively to God and receives the communications of his truth. When a convert came to Rowland Hill and claimed that she had been converted in a dream, he replied : " We will see how you walk, now that you are awake." Lord Bacon said he would open every one of Argus's hundred eyes, before he opened one of Briareus's hundred hands. If God did not renew men's hearts in connection with our preaching of the truth, we might well give up our ministry. E. G. Robinson : " The conversion of a soul is just as much according to law as the raising of a crop of turnips." Simon, Reconciliation, 377 — " Though the mere preaching of the gospel is not the cause of the conversion and revivification of men, it is a necessary condition — as necessary as the action of light and heat, or other physical agencies, are on a germ, if it is to develop, grow, and bear its proper fruit." ( 6 ) The activity of man's mind in regeneration is activity in view of the truth. God secures the initial exercise of the new disposition which he has wrought in man's heart in connection with the use of truth as a means. Here we perceive the link between the efficiency of God and the activity of man. Only as the sinner's mind is brought into contact with the truth, does God complete his regenerating work. And as the change of inward disposition and the initial exercise of it are never, so far as we know, separated by any interval of time, we can say, in general, that Christian work is successful only as it commends the truth to every man's conscience in the sight of God ( 2 Cor. 4:2). REGENERATION. 823 In Eph. 1 : 17, 18, there is recognized the divine illumination of the mind to behold the truth — " may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him ; having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling. " On truth as a means of regenera tion, see Hovey, Outlines, 192, who quotes Cunningham, Historical Theology, 1:617 — " Regeneration may be taken in a limited sense as including only the first impartation of spiritual life .... or it may be taken in a wider sense as comprehending the whole of that process by which he is renewed or made over again in the whole man after the image of God, — i. e., as including the production of saving faith and union to Christ. Only in the first sense did the Reformers maintain that man in the process was wholly passive and not active ; for they did not dispute that, before the process in the second and more enlarged sense was completed, man was spiritually alive and active, and con tinued so ever after during the whole process of his sanctification." Dr. Hovey suggests an apt illustration of these two parts of the Holy Spirit's work and their union in regeneration : At the same time that God makes the photographic plate sensitive, he pours in the light of truth whereby the image of Christ is formed in the soul. Without the " sensitizing " of the plate, it would never fix the rays of light so as to retain the image. In the process of " sensitizing," the plate is passive ; under the influence of light, it is active. In both the " sensitizing " and the taking of the pic ture, the real agent is not the plate nor the light, but the photographer. The photog rapher cannot perform both operations at the same moment. God can. He gives the new affection, and at the same instant he secures its exercise in view of the truth. For denial of the instrumentality of truth in regeneration, see Pierce, in Bap. Quar., Jan. 1872 : 52. Per contra, see Anderson, Regeneration, 89-122. H. B. Smith holds mid dle ground. He says : " In adults it [ regeneration j is wrought most frequently by the word of God as the instrument. Believing that infants may be regenerated, we cannot assert that it is tied to the word of God absolutely." We prefer to say that, if infants are regenerated, they also are regenerated in conjunction with some influence of truth upon the mind, dim as the recognition of it may be. Otherwise we break the Script ural connection between regeneration and conversion, and open the way for faith in a physical, magical, sacramental salvation. Squier, Autobiog., 368, says well, of the theory of regeneration which makes man purely passive, that it has a benumbing effect upon preaching : " The lack of expectation unnerves the efforts of the preacher ; an impression of the fortuitous presence neutralizes his engagedness. This antinomian dependence on the Spirit extracts all vitality from the pulpit and sense of responsi bility from the hearer, and makes preaching an opus operatum, like the baptismal regeneration of the formalist." Only of the first element in regeneration are Shedd's words true : " A dead man cannot assist in his own resurrection " ( Dogm. Theol., 2 : 503 ). Squier goes to the opposite extreme of regarding the truth alone as the cause of regeneration. His words are none the less a valuable protest against the view that regeneration is so entirely due to God that in no part of it is man active. It was with a better view that Luther cried : " O that we might multiply living books, that is, preachers 1 " And the preacher is successful only as he possesses and unfolds the truth. John took the little book from the Covenant-angel's hand and ate it ( Rev. 10 : 8- 11). So he who is to preach God's truth must feed upon it, until it has become his own. For the Exercise-system, see Emmons, Works, 4 : 339-411 ; Hagenbach, Hist. Doct., 2 : 439. 5. The Nature of the Change wrought in Regeneration. A. It is a change in which the governing disposition is made holy. This implies that : ( a ) It is not a change in the substance of either body or soul. Eegen eration is not a physical change. There is no physical seed or germ implanted in man's nature. Eegeneration does not add to, or subtract from, the number of man's intellectual, emotional or voluntary faculties. But regeneration is the giving of a new direction or tendency to powers of affection which man possessed before. Man had the faculty of love before, but his love was supremely set on self. In regeneration the direc tion of that faculty is changed, and his love is now set supremely upon God. 824 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. Eph. 2:10— "created in Christ Jesus for good works" — does not imply that the old soul is anni hilated, and a new soul created. The "old man" which is "oruoiied" — (Rom. 6:6) and "put away " ( Eph. 4 : 22 ) is simply the sinful bent of the affections and will. When this direc tion of the dispositions is changed, and becomes holy, we can call the change a new birth of the old nature, because the same faculties that acted before are acting now, the only difference being that now these faculties are set toward God and purity. Or, regarding the change from another point of view, we may speak of man as having a "new nature," as "recreated," as being a "new creature," because this direction of the affection and will, which ensures a different life from what was led before, is some thing totally new, and due wholly to the regenerating act of God. In 1 Pet. 1 : 23 — " begot ten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible" — all materialistic inferences from the word " seed," as if it implied the implantation of a physical germ, are prevented by the follow ing explanatory words : " through the word of God, which liveth and abideth." So, too, when we describe regeneration as the communication of a new life to the soul, we should not conceive of this new life as a substance imparted or infused into us. The new life is rather a new direction and activity of our own affections and will. There is, indeed a union of the soul with Christ; Christ dwells in the renewed heart; Christ's entrance into the soul is the cause and accompaniment of its regeneration. But this entrance of Christ into the soul is not itself regeneration. We must distin guish the effect from the cause ; otherwise we shall be in danger of a pantheistic con founding of our own personality and life with the personality and life of Christ. Christ is indeed our life, in the sense of being the cause and supporter of our hf e, but he is not our life in the sense that, after our union with him, our individuality ceases. The effect of union with Christ is rather that our individuality is enlarged and exalted (John 10:10 — "I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." See page 799, (c). We must therefore take with a grain of allowance the generally excellent words of A. J. Gordon, Twofold Life, 22 — "Regeneration is the communication of the divine nature to man by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the word ( 2 Pet. 1 : 4 ). . . . As Christ was made partaker of human nature by incarnation, that so he might enter into truest fellowship with us, we are made partakers of the divine nature, by regeneration, that we may enter into truest fellowship with God. Regeneration is not a change of nature, i. e., a natural heart bettered. Eternal life is not natural life prolonged into endless duration. It is the divine life imparted to us, the very life of God communi cated to the human soul, and bringing forth there its proper fruit." Dr. Gordon's view that regeneration adds a new substance or faculty to the soul is the result of literalizing the Scripture metaphors of creation and life. This turning of symbol into fact accounts for his tendency toward annihilation doctrine in the case of the unre- generate, toward faith cure and the belief that all physical evils can be removed by prayer. E. H. Johnson, The Holy Spirit : " Regeneration is a change, not in the quan tity, but in the quality, of the soul." E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 320— " Regeneration consists in a divinely wrought change in the moral affections." So, too, we would criticize the doctrine of Drummond, Nat. Law in the Spir. World : " People forget the persistence of force. Instead of transforming energy, they try to create it. We must either depend on environment, or be self-sufficient. The 'cannot bear fruit of itself' ( John 15 : 4 ) is the ' cannot ' of natural law. Natural fruit flourishes with air and sunshine. The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is the difference between the organic and the inorganic. The Christian has all the characteristics of life : assimilation, waste, reproduction, spontaneous action." See criticism of Drum mond, by Murphy, in Brit. Quar., ]884 : 118-125 — " As in resurrection there is a physical connection with the old body, so in regeneration there is a natural connection with the old soul." Also, Brit. Quar., July, 1880, art. : Evolution Viewed in Relation to Theol ogy — " The regenerating agency of the Spirit of God is symbolized, not by the vital- ization of dead matter, but by the agency of the organizing intelligence which guides the evolution of living beings." Murphy's answer to Drummond is republished. Murphy's Natural Selection and Spiritual Freedom, 1-33 — "The will can no more create force, either muscular or mental, than it can create matter. And it is equally true that for our spiritual nourishment and spiritual force we are altogether depend ent on our spiritual environment, which is God." In " dead matter " there is no sin. Drummond would imply that, as matter has no promise or potency of life and is not responsible for being without life (or " dead," to use his misleading word), and if it ever is to live must wait for the life-giving influence to come unsought, so the human soul is not responsible for being spiritually dead, cannot seek for life, must passively wait for the Spirit. Plymouth Brethren generally hold the same view with REGENERATION. 825 Drummond, that regeneration adds something— as vitality— to the substance of the soul. Christ is transsubstantiated into the soul's substance ; or, the m/eOna is added. But we have given over talking of vitality, as if it were a substance or f aoulty. We regard it as merely a mode of aotion. Evolution, moreover, uses what already exists, so far as it will go, instead of creating new ; as in the miracle of the loaves, and as in the original creation of man, so in his recreation or regeneration. Dr. Charles Hodge also makes the same mistake in calling regeneration an " origination of the principle of the spirit of life, just as literal and real a creation as the origination of the principle of natural life." This, too, literalizes Scripture metaphor, and ignores the fact that the change accomplished in regeneration is an exclusively moral one. There is indeed a new entrance of Christ into the soul, or a new exercise of his spiritual power within the soul. But the effect of Christ's working is not to add any new faoulty or sub stance, but only to give new direction to already existing powers. ( 6 ) Eegeneration involves an enlightenment of the understanding and a rectification of the volitions. But it seems most consonant with Scripture and with a correct psychology to regard these changes as immediate and necessary consequences of the change of disposition already mentioned, rather than as the primary and central facts in regeneration. The taste for truth logically precedes perception of the truth, and love for God logically precedes obedience to God; indeed, without love no obedience is possible. Beverse the lever of affection, and this moral locomotive, without further change, will move away from sin, and toward truth and God. Texts which seem to imply that a right taste, disposition, affection, logically precedes both knowledge of God and obedience to God, are the following : Ps. 34 : 8— " Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good " ; 119:36 — "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies"; Jer. 24:7 — "I will give them a heart to know me"; Mat. 5:8 — "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God"; John 7:17 — "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God " ; Acts 16 : 14 — of Lydia it is said : "whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things whioh were spoken by Paul"; Eph. 1:18 — "having the Byes of your heart enlightened." " Change the centre of a circle and you change the place and direction of all its radii." The text John 1 : 12, 13 — " But as many as received him, to them gave him the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name : who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God " — seems at flrBt sight to imply that faith is the condition of regeneration, and therefore prior to it. " But if ejovow here signifies the 'right' or 'privilege' of sonship, it is a right which may presuppose faith as the work of the Spirit in regenera tion—a work apart from which no genuine faith exists in the soul. But it is possible that John means to say that, in the case of all who received Christ, their power to believe was given to them by him. In the original the emphasis is on ' gave,' and this is shown by the order of the words" ; see Hovey, Manual of Theology, 345, and Com. on John 1 : 12, 13 — " The meaning would then be this : ' Many did not receive him ; but some did ; and as to all who received him, he gave them grace by which they were enabled to do this, and so to become God's children.' " Ruskin : " The first and last and closest trial question to any living creature is, ' What do you like ? ' Go out into the street and ask the first man you meet what his taste is, and, if he answers candidly, you know him, body and soul. What we like determines what we are, and is the sign of what we are ; and to teach taste is inevitably to form character." If the taste here spoken of is moral and spiritual taste, the words of Ruskin are sober truth. Regeneration is essentially a changing of the fundamental taste of the soul. But by taste we mean the direction of man's love, the bent of his affections, the trend of his will. And to alter that taste is not to impart a new faculty, or to create a new substance, but simply to set toward God the affections which hitherto have been set upon self and sin. We may illustrate by the engineer who climbs over the cab into a runaway locomotive and who changes its course, not by adding any new rod or cog to the machine, but simply by reversing the lever. The engine slows up and soon moves in an opposite direction to that in which it has been going. Man needs no new faculty of love ; he needs only to have his love set in a new and holy direction ; this is virtually to give him a new birth, to make him a new crea ture, to impart to him a new life. But being born again, created anew, made alive from the dead, are physical metaphors, to be interpreted not literally but spiritually. 826 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. (c) It is objected, indeed, that we know only of mental substance and of mental acts, and that the new disposition or state just mentioned, since it is not an act, must be regarded as a new substance, and so lack all moral quality. But we reply that, besides substance and acts, there are habits, tendencies, proclivities, some of them native and some of them acquired. They are voluntary, and have moral character. If we can by repeated acts originate sinful tendencies, God can surely originate in us holy ten dencies. Such holy tendencies formed a part of the nature of Adam, as he came from the hand of God. As the result of the Fall, we are born with tendencies toward evil for which we are responsible. Eegeneration is a restoration of the original tendencies toward God which were lost by the Fall. Such holy tendencies ( tastes, dispositions, affections ) are not only not unmoral — they are the only possible springs of right moral action. Only in the restoration of them does man become truly free. Mat. 12 : 33 — " Make the tree good, and its fruit good " ; Eph. 2 : 10 — " created in Christ Jesus for good works." The tree is first made good — the character renewed in its fundamental prinoiple, love to God — in the certainty that when this is done the fruit will be good also. Good works are the necessary result of regeneration by union with Christ. Regeneration introduces a new force into humanity, the force of a new love. The work of the preacher is that of coSperation with God in the impartation of a new life — a work far more radical and more noble than that of moral reform, by as much as the origination of a new force is more radical and more noble than the guidance of that force after it has been originated. Does regeneration cure disease and remove physical ills ? Not primarily. Mat. 1 :21 — "thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins." Salvation from sin lb Christ's first and main work. He performed physical healing only to illustrate and further the healing of the soul. Hence in the case of the para lytic, when he was expected to cure the body, he said first: "thy sins are forgiven "( Mat. 9:2); but, that they who stood by might not doubt his power to forgive, he added the raising up of the palsied man. And ultimately in every redeemed man the holy heart will bring in its train the perfected body : Rom. 8 : 23 — " we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." On holy affection as the spring of holy action, see especially Edwards, Religious Affections, in Works, 3 : 1-21. This treatise is Jonathan Edwards's Confessions, as much as if it were directly addressed to the Deity. Allen, his biographer, calls it " a work which will not suffer by comparison with the work of great teachers in theology, whether ancient or modern." President Timothy Dwight regarded it as most worthy of preservation next to the Bible. See also Hodge, Essays and Reviews, 1 : 48 ; Owen on the Holy Spirit, in Works, 3 : 297-336 ; Charnock on Regeneration ; Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:461-471, 512-660, and 3:796; Bellamy, Works, 2:502; Dwight, Works, 2:418; Woods, Works, 3 : 1-21 ; Anderson, Regeneration, 21-50. B. It is an instantaneous change, in a region of the soul below con sciousness, and is therefore known only in its results. ( a ) It is an instantaneous change. — Eegeneration is not a gradual work. Although there may be a gradual work of God's providence and Spirit, preparing the change, and a gradual recognition of it after it has taken place, there must be an instant of time when, under the influence of God's Spirit, the disposition of the soul, just before hostile to God, is changed to love. Any other view assumes an intermediate state of indeci sion which has no moral character at all, and confounds regeneration either with conviction or with sanctification. Conviction of sin is an ordinary, if not an invariable, antecedent of regeneration. It results from the contemplation of truth. It is often accompanied by fear, remorse, and cries for mercy. But these desires and fears are not signs of regeneration. They are selfish. They are quite consistent with manifest and dreadful enmity to God. REGENERATION. 827 They have a hopeful aspect, simply because they are evidence that the Holy Spirit is striving with the soul. But this work of the Spirit is not yet regeneration ; at most, it is preparation for regeneration. So far as the sinner is concerned, he is more of a sin ner than ever before ; because, under more light than has ever before been given him, he is still rejecting Christ and resisting the Spirit. The word of God and the Holy Spirit appeal to lower as well as to higher motives ; most men's concern about religion is determined, at the outset, by hope or fear. See Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 512. All these motives, though they are not the highest, are yet proper motives to influ ence the soul ; it is right to seek God from motives of self-interest, and because we desire heaven. But the seeking which not only begins, but ends, upon this lower plane, is never successful. Until the soul gives itself to God from motives of love, It is never saved. And so long as these preliminary motives rule, regeneration has not yet taken place. Bible-reading, and prayers, and church-attendance, and partial reformations, are certainly better than apathy or outbreaking sin. They may be signs that God is working in the soul. But without complete surrender to God, they may be accompa nied with the greatest guilt and the greatest danger ; simply because, under such influences, the withholding of submission implies the most active hatred to God, and opposition to his will. Instance cases of outward reformation that preceded regenera tion, —like that of John Bunyan, who left off swearing before his conversion. Park : " The soul is a monad, and must turn all at once. If we are standing on the line, we are yet uuregenerate. We are regenerate only when we cross it." There is a preve nient grace as well as a regenerating grace. Wendelius indeed distinguished five kinds of grace, namely, prevenient, preparatory, operant, coo'perant, and perfecting. While in some cases God's preparatory work occupies a long time, there are many cases in which he cuts short his work in righteousness (Rom. 9:28). Some persons are regenerated in infancy or childhood, cannot remember a time when they did not love Christ, and yet take long to learn that they are regenerate. Others are convicted and converted suddenly in mature years. The best proof of regeneration is not the mem ory of a past experience, however vivid and startling, but rather a present inward love for Christ, his holiness, his servants, his work, and his word. Much sympathy should be given to those who have been early converted, but who, from timidity, self- distrust, or the faults of inconsistent church members, have been deterred from join ing themselves with Christian people, and so have lost all hope and joy in their religious lives. Instance the man who, though converted in a revival of religion, was injured by a professed Christian, and became a recluse, but cherished the memory of his dead wife and child, kept the playthings of the one and the clothing of the other, and left directions to have them buried with him. As there is danger of confounding regeneration with preparatory influences of God's Spirit, so there is danger of confounding regeneration with sanctification. Sancti fication, as the development of the new affection, is gradual and progressive. But no beginning is progressive or gradual ; and regeneration is a beginning of the new affection. We may gradually come to the knowledge that anew affection exists, but the knowledge of a beginning is one thing ; the beginning itself is another thing. Luther had experienced a change of heart, long before he knew its meaning or could express his new feelings in scientific form. It is not in the sense of a gradual regeneration, but in the sense of a gradual recognition of the fact of regeneration, and a progressive enjoyment of its results, that " the path of the righteous " is said to be " as the dawning light "— the morning-dawn that begins in faintness, but— "that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18). Cf. 2 Cor. 4:4 — "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light ol the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them." Here the recognition of God's work is described as gradual ; that the work itself is instantaneous, appears from the following verse 6 — "Seeing it is God, that said, light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Illustrate by the unconscious crossing of the line which separates one State of the Federal Union from another. From this doctrine of instantaneous regeneration, we may infer the duty of reaping as well as of sowing : John 4: 38 — "I Bent you to reap." " It is a mistaken notion that it takes God a long time to give increase to the seed planted in a sinner's heart. This grows out of the idea that regeneration is a matter of training ; that a soul must be educated from a lost state into a state of salvation. Let us remem ber that three thousand, whom In the morning Peter called murderers of Christ, were before night regenerated and baptized members of his church." Drummond, in his Nat. Law in the Splr. World, remarks upon the humaneness of sudden conversion. As 828 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. self -limitation, self -mortification, suicide of the old nature, it is well to have It at once done and over with, and not to die by degrees. ( b ) This change takes place in the region of the soul below conscious ness. — It is by no means true that God's work in regeneration is always recognized by the subject of it. On the other hand, it is never directly perceived at all. The working of God in the human soul, since it contra venes no law of man's being, but rather puts him in the full and normal possession of his own powers, is secret and inscrutable. Although man is conscious, he is not conscious of God's regenerating agency. We know our own natural existence only through the phenomena of thought and sense. So we know our own spiritual existence, as new creatures in Christ, only through the new feelings and experiences of the soul. " The will does not need to act solitarily, in order to act freely." God acts on the will, and the resulting holiness is true freedom. John 8:36 — "If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." We have the consciousness of freedom ; but the act of God in giving us this freedom is beyond or beneath our consciousness. Both Luther and Calvin used the word regeneration in a loose way, confounding it with sanctification. After the Federalists made a distinct doctrine of it, Calvinists in general came to treat it separately. And John Wesley rescued it from identification with sacraments, by showing its connection with the truth. E. G. Robinson : " Regen eration is in one sense instantaneous, in another sense not. There is necessity of some sort of knowledge in regeneration. The doctrine of Christ crucified is the fit instru ment. The object of religion is to produce a sound rather than an emotional experi ence. Revivals of religion are valuable in just the proportion in which they produce rational conviction and permanently righteous action." But none are left unaffected by them. " An arm of the magnetic needle must be attracted to the magnetic pole of the earth, or it must be repelled, —there is no such thing as indifferenoe. Modern materialism, refusing to say that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, is led to declare that the hate of God is the beginning of wisdom " ( Diesselhoff , Die klassiscbe Poesie, 8). ( e) This change, however, is recognized indirectly in its results. — At the moment of regeneration, the soul is conscious only of the truth and of its own exercises with reference to it. That God is the author of its new affection is an inference from the new character of the exercises which it prompts. The human side or aspect of regeneration is Conversion. This, and the Sanctification which follows it ( including the special gifts of the Holy Spirit ), are the sole evidences in any particular case that regenera tion is an accomplished fact. Regeneration, though it is the birth of a perfect child, is still the birth of a child. The child is to grow, and the growth is sanctification ; in other words, sanctification, as we shall see, is simply the strengthening and development of the holy affection which begins its existence in regeneration. Hence the subject of the epistle to the Romans- salvation by faith— includes not only justification by faith (chapters 1-7), but sanctifica tion by faith ( chapters 8-16 ). On evidences of regeneration, see Anderson, Regeneration, 169-214, 227-295 ; Woods, Works, 44-56. The transition from justification by faith to sanotiflcation by faith is in chapter 8 of the epistle to the Romans. That begins by declaring that there is no condemnation in Christ, and ends by declaring that there is no separa tion from Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit follows upon the work of Christ. See Godet on the epistle. The doctrine of Alexander Campbell was a protest against laying an unscriptural emphasis on emotional states as evidences of regeneration — a protest which certain mystical and antinomian exaggerations of evangelical teaching very justly provoked. But Campbell went to the opposite extreme of practically excluding emotion from religion, and of confining the work of the Holy Spirit to the conscious influence of the truth. Disciples need to recognize a power of the Holy Spirit exerted below conscious ness, in order to explain the conscious acceptance of Christ and of his salvation. CONVERSION. 829 William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 271 — " If we should conceive that the human mind, with its different possibilities of equilibrium, might be like a many sided solid with different surfaces on which it could lie flat, we might liken mental revolutions to the spatial revolutions of such a body. As it is pried up, say by a lever, from a position in which it lies on surface A, for instance, it will linger for a time unstably half way up, and if the lever cease to urge it, it will tumble back or relapse, under the continued pull of gravity. But if at last it rotate far enough for its centre of gravity to pass beyond the surface A altogether, the body will fall over, on surface B, say, and will abide there permanently. The pulls of gravity towards A have van ished, and may now be disregarded. The polyhedron has become immune against further attraction from this direction." Ut. Conversion. Conversion is that voluntary change in the mind of the sinner, in which he turns, on the one hand, from sin, and on the other hand, to Christ. The former or negative element in conversion, namely, the turning from sin, we denominate repentance. The latter or positive element in conver sion, namely, the turning to Christ, we denominate faith. For account of repentance and faith as elements of conversion, see Andrew Fuller, Works, 1 : 666 ; Luthardt, Compendium der Dogmatik, 3d ed., 201-206. The two elements of conversion seem to be in the mind of Paul, when he writes in Rom. 6 : 11 — " reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus " ; CoL 3 :3 — "ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God," Cf. an-oo-rpeaW, in Acts 3: 26 — "in turning away every one of you from your iniquities," with eTTLa-rpi^ta in Acts 11 : 21 — " believed " and " turned unto the Lord." A candidate for ordination was once asked which came first : regeneration or conversion. He replied very correctly : "Regeneration and conversion are like the cannon-ball and the hole— they both go through together." This is true however only as to their chronological relation. Logically the ball is first and causes the hole, not the hole first and causes the ball. ( a ) Conversion is the human side or aspect of that fundamental spirit ual change which, as viewed from the divine side, we call regeneration. It is simply man's turning. The Scriptures recognize the voluntary activ ity of the human soul in this change as distinctly as they recognize the causative agency of God. While God turns men to himself ( Ps. 85 : 4 ; Song 1:4; Jer. 31 : 18 ; Lam. 5 : 21 ), men are exhorted to turn themselves to God ( Prov. 1 : 23 ; Is. 31 : 6 ; 59 : 20 ; Ez. 14 : 6 ; 18 : 32 ; 33 : 9, 11 ; Joel 2 : 12-14). While God is represented as the author of the new heart and the new spirit ( Ps. 51 : 10 ; Ez. 11 : 19 ; 36 : 26 ), men are commanded to make for themselves a new heart and a new spirit ( Ez. 18 : 31 ; 2 Cor. 7 : 1 ; cf. Phil. 2 : 12, 13 ; Eph. 5 : 14). Ps. 85:4 — "Turn us, 0 God of our salvation"; Song 1:4— "Draw me, we will run after thee"; Jer. 31:18 — "turn thou me, and I shall he turned " ; lam. 5 : 21 — "Turn thou us unto thee, 0 Jehovah, and we shall be turned" Prov. 1:23 — "Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you"; Is. 31:6 — "Turn ye unto him from whom ye have deeply revolted, 0 children of Israel " ; 59 : 20 — " And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob " ; Ez. 14 : 6 — " Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols " ; 18 : 32 — " turn yourselves and live " ; 33 : 9 — "if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way, he shall die in his iniquity " ; 11 — "turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel?" Joel 2: 12-14 — "turn ye unto me with all your heart." Ps. 51:10 — "Create in me a dean heartj OGod; And renew a right spirit within me"; Ez. 11:19— "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you ; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh " ; 36 : 26 — "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Ez. 18 : 31 — " Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed ; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel?" 2 Cor. 7:1 — "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God " ; cf. Phil 2 : 12, 13 — " work out your own salvation with fear and trembEng ; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure " ; Eph. 5 : 14 — " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Chris shall shine upon thee." 830 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. When asked the way to heaven, Bishop Wilberf orce replied : " Take the first turn to the right, and go straight forward." Phillips Brooks's conversion is described by Pro fessor Allen, Life, 1 : 266, as consisting in the resolve " to be true to himself, to renounce nothing which he knew to be good, and yet bring all things captive to the obedience of God, .... the absolute surrender of his will to God, in accordance with the exam ple of. Christ : 'Lo, I am come .... to do thy will 0 God ' (Heb. 10 : 7)." (&) This twofold method of representation can be explained only when we remember that man's powers may be interpenetrated and quickened by the divine, not only without destroying man's freedom, but with the result of making man for the first time truly free. Since the relation between the divine and the human activity is not one of chronological succession, man is never to wait for God's working. If he is ever regenerated, it must be in and through a movement of his own will, in which he turns to God as unconstrainedly and with as little consciousness of God's operation upon him, as if no such operation of God were involved in the change. And in preaching, we are to press upon men the claims of God and their duty of immediate submission to Christ, with the certainty that they who do so submit will subsequently recognize this new and holy activity of their own wills as due to a working within them of divine power. Ps. 110 : 3 — "Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power." The act of God is accom panied by an activity of man. Dorner : " God's act initiates action." There is indeed an original changing of man's tastes and affections, and in this man is passive. But this is only the first aspect of regeneration. In the second aspect of it— the rousing of man's powers— God's action is accompanied by man's activity, and regeneration is but the obverse side of "con version. Luther's word : " Man, in conversion, is purely pas sive," is true only of the first part of the change ; and here, by " conversion," Luther means " regeneration." Melanchthon said better : " Non est enim coactio, ut voluntas non possit repugnare : trahitDeus, sed volentem trahit." See Meyer on Rom. 8:14— "led by the Spirit of God " : " The expression," Meyer says, " is passive, though without prejudioe to the human will, as verse 13 proves : ' by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body.' " As, by a well known principle of hydrostatics, the water contained in a little tube can balance the water of a whole ocean, so God's grace can be balanced by man's will. As sunshine on the sand produces nothing unless man sow the seed, and as a fair breeze does not propel the vessel unless man spread the sails, so the influences of God's Spirit require human agencies, and work through them. The Holy Spirit is sovereign, — he bloweth where he listeth. Even though there be uniform human conditions, there will not be uniform spiritual results. Results are often independent of human conditions as such. This is the truth emphasized by Andrew Fuller. But this does not prevent us from saying that, whenever God's Spirit works in regeneration, there is always accom panying it a voluntary change in man, which we call conversion, and that this change is as free, and as really man's own work, as if there were no divine influence upon him. Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch forth his hand ; it was the man's duty to stretch it forth, not to wait for strength from God to do it. Jesus told the man sick of the palsy to take up his bed and walk. It was that man's duty to obey the command, not to pray for power to obey. Depend wholly upon God ? Yes, as you depend wholly upon wind when you sail, yet need to keep your sails properly set. " ¥ork out your own salvation" comes first in the apostle's exhortation; "foritisGodwhoworkoth in you " follows ( Phil. 2 : 12, 13 ) ; which means that our flrBt business is to use our wills in obedience ; then we shall find that God has gone before us to prepare us to obey. Mat. 11 : 12 — " the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by foroe." Conversion is like the invasion of a kingdom. Men are not to wait for God's time, but to act at once. Not bodily exercises are required, but impassioned earnestness of soul. Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, 2 : 49-56 — " Not injustice and violence, but energetic laying hold of a good to which they can make no claim. It is of no avail to wait idly, or to seek labor iously to earn it ; but it is of avail to lay hold of it and to retain it. It is ready as a gift of God for men, but men must direct their desire and will toward it The man who put on the wedding garment did not earn his share of the feast thereby, yet he did show the disposition without which he was not permitted to partake of it." CONVERSION. 831 James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 12 — " The two main phenomena of religion, they will say, are essentially phenomena of adolescence, and therefore synchronous with the development of sexual life. To which the retort is easy: Even were the asserted synchrony unrestrictedly true as a fact (which it is not ), it is not only the sexual life, but the entire higher mental life, which awakens during adolescence. One might then as well set up the thesis that the interest in mechanics, physics, chemistry, logic, physiology and sociology, which springs up during adolescent years along with that in poetry and religion, is also a perversion of the sexual instinct, but this would be too absurd. Moreover, if the argument from synchrony is to decide, what is to be done with the fact that the religious age par excellence would seem to be old age, when the uproar of the sexual life is past ? " ( c ) Prom the fact that the word * conversion ' means simply ' a turning,' every turning of the Christian from sin, subsequent to the first, may, in a subordinate sense, be denominated a conversion ( Luke 22 : 32 ). Since regeneration is not complete sanctification, and the change of governing disposition is not identical with complete purification of the nature, such subsequent turnings from sin are necessary consequences and evidences of the first (c/. John 13 : 10). But they do not, like the first, imply a change in the governing disposition, — they are rather new manifestations of a disposition already changed. For this reason, conversion proper, like the regeneration of which it is the obverse side, can occur but once. The phrase ' second conversion,' even if it does not imply radical misconception of the nature of conversion, is misleading. We prefer, therefore, to describe these subsequent experiences, not by the term 'conversion,' but by such phrases as 'breaking off, forsaking, returning from, neglects or transgressions,' and 'coming back to Christ, trusting anew in him.' It is with repentance and faith, as elements in that first and radical change by which the soul enters upon a state of salvation, that we have now to do. Luke 22 : 31, 32 — " Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat : but I made sup plication for thee, that thy faith fail net; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again [A. V.: 'art converted'], establish thy brethren " ; John 13 : 10 — " le that is bathed L has taken a full bath ] ueedeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit [ as a whole ]." Notice that Jesus here announces that only one regeneration is needed, — what follows is not conversion but sanctification. Spurgeon said he believed in regeneration, but not in re-regeneration. Second blessing ? Ves, and a forty-second. The stages in the Christian life are like ice, water, invisible vapor, steam, all successive and natural results of increasing temperature, seemingly different from one another, yet all forms of the same element. On the relation between the divine and the human agencies, we quote a different view from another writer : " God decrees to employ means which in every case are sufficient, and which in certain cases it is foreseen will be effectual. Human action converts a sufficient means into an effectual means. The result is not always according to the varying use of means. The power is all of God. Man has power to resist only. There is a universal influence of the Spirit, but the influences of the Spirit vary in different cases, just as external opportunities do. The love of holiness is blunted, but it still lingers. The Holy Spirit quickens it. When this love is wholly lost, sin against the Holy Ghost results. Before regeneration there is a desire for holiness, an apprehension of its beauty, but this is overborne by a greater love for sin. If the man does not quickly grow worse, it is not because of positive action on his part, but only because negatively he does not resist as he might. ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' God leads at first by a resistible influence. When man yields, God leads by an irresistible influence. The second influence of the Holy Spirit confirms the Christian's choice. This second influence is called ' sealing.' There is no necessary interval of time between the two. Prevenient grace comes first; conversion comes after." To this view, we would reply that a partial love for holiness, and an ability to choose it before God works effectually upon the heart, seem to contradict those Scriptures which assert that "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God " ( Rom. 8:7), and that all good works are the result of God's new creation ( Eph. 2 .- 10 ). Conversion does not precede regenera tion,— it chronologically accompanies regeneration, though it logically follows it. 832 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. 1. Repentance. Eepentance is that voluntary change in the mind of the sinner in which he turns from sin. Being essentially a change of mind, it involves a change of view, a change of feeling, and a change of purpose. We may therefore analyze repentance into three constituents, each succeeding term of which includes and implies the one preceding : A. An intellectual element, — change of view — recognition of sin as involving personal guilt, defilement, and helplessness (Ps. 51 : 3, 7, 11). If unaccompanied by the following elements, this recognition may mani fest itself in fear of punishment, although as yet there is no hatred of sin. This element is indicated in the Scripture phrase emyvuoic auapriac (Bom, 3 : 20 ; cf. 1 : 32 ). Ps. 51 : 3, 11 — "For I know my transgressions ; And my sin is ever before me. ... . Cast me not away from thy presence, And take not thy My Spirit from me " ; Rom. 3 : 20 — " through the law eometh the knowledge of sin " ; cf. 1 : 32 — " who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practise such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practise them." It Is well to remember that God requires us to cherish no views or emotions that contradict the truth. He wants of us no false humility. Humility ( humus ) = ground- ness— a coming down to the hard-pan of facts — a faoing of the truth. Repentance, therefore, is not a calling ourselves by hard names. It is not cringing, or exaggerated self-contempt. It is simple recognition of what we are. The " 'umble " Uriah Heep is the arrant hypocrite. If we see ourselves as God sees us, we shall say with Job 42 : 5, 6 — " I bail heard of thee by the hearing of the ear ; But now mine eye seeth thee : Wherefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes." Apart from God's working in the heart there is no proper recognition of sin, either in people of high or low degree. Lady Huntington invited the Duchess of Bucking ham to come and hear Whitefleld, when the Duchess answered : " It is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl on the earth, —it is highly offensive and insulting." Mr. Moody, after preaching to the prisoners in the jail at Chicago, visited them in their cells. In the first cell he found two, playing cards. They said false witnesses had testified against them. In the second cell, the convict said that the guilty man had escaped, but that he, a mere accomplice, had been caught. In the last cell only Mr. Moody found a man crying over his sins. Henry Drummond, after hearing the confessions of inquirers, said : " I am sick of the sins of these men, — how can God. bear it ? " Experience of sin does not teach us to recognize sin. We do not learn to know chlo roform by frequently inhaling it. The drunkard does not understand the degrading effects of drink so well as his miserable wife and children do. Even the natural con science does not give the recognition of sin that is needed in true repentance. The confession " I have sinned " is made by hardened Pharaoh ( Ei. 9 : 27 ), double minded Balaam ( Num. 22 : 34 ), remorseful Achan ( Josh. 7 : 20 ), insincere King Saul ( 1 Sam. 15 : 24 ), despairing Judas ( Mat. 27 : 4 ) ; but in no one of these cases was there true repentance. True repent ance takes God's part against ourselves, has Bympathy with God, feels how unworthily the Ruler, Father, Friend of men has been treated. It does not ask, " What will my sin bring to me ? " but, " What does my sin mean to God ? " It involves, in addition to the mere recognition of sin : B. An emotional element, — change of feeling — sorrow for sin as com mitted against goodness and justice, and therefore hateful to God, and hateful in itself ( Ps. 51 : 1, 2, 10, 14 ). This element of repentance is indi cated in the Scripture word /^era^/lo^ai; If accompanied by the following element, it is a Mm? Kara Be6v. If not so accompanied, it is a /\virp tov k6o/wv = remorse and despair ( Mat. 27 : 3 ; Luke 18 : 23 ; 2 Cor. 7 : 9, 10 ). Ps. 51:1, 2, 10, 14 — "Have mercy upon me ... . blot out my transgressions, -Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, And cleanse mi from my sin Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; ... . Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, 0 God " ; Mat. 27 : 3 — "Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent CONVERSION. 833 blood"; Lake 18:23 — "when he heard these things, he became exceeding sorrowful; for he was very rich " ; 2Cor. 7:9, 10 — "I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort .... Por godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret : but the sorrow of the world worketh death." We must distinguish sorrow for sin from shame on account of it and fear of its consequences. These last are selfish, while godly sorrow is disinterested. " A man may be angry with himself and may despise himself without any humble prostration before God or oonfession of his guilt " ( Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 535, note ). True repentance, as illustrated in Ps. 51, does not think of 1. consequences, 2. other men, 3. heredity, as an excuse ; but it sees sin as 1. transgression against God, 2. per sonal guilt, 3. defiling the inmost being. Perowne on Ps. 51 : 1 — " In all godly sorrow there is hope. Sorrow without hope may be remorse or despair, but it is not repent ance." Much so-called repentance is illustrated by the little girl's prayer : " O God, make me good,— not real good, but just good enough so that I won't have to be whipped I " Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, 2 : 3 — " 'T is meet so, daughter ; but lest you do repent As that the sin hath brought you to this shame, Which sorrow is always towards ourselves, not heaven, Showing we would not spare heaven as we love it, But as we stand in fear I do repent me as it is an evil, And take the shame with joy." Tempest, 3:3—" For which foul deed, the Powers delaying, not forgetting, Have incensed the seas, and shores, yea, all the creatures, Against your peace Whose wrath to guard you from .... is nothing but heart's sorrow And a clear life ensuing." Simon, Reconciliation, 195, 379— "At the very bottom it is God whose claims are advocated, whose part is taken, by that in us which, whilst most truly our own, yea, our very selves, is also most truly his, and of him. The divine energy and idea which constitutes us will not let its own root and source suffer wrong unatoned. God intends us to be givers as well as receivers, givers even to him. We share in his image that we may be creators and givers, not from compulsion, but in love." Such repentance as this is wrought only by the Holy Spirit. Conscience indeed is present in every human heart, but only the Holy Spirit convinces of sin. Why is the Holy Spirit needed ? A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 189-201 — " Conscience is the witness to the law ; the Spirit is the witness to grace. Conscience brings legal conviction ; the Spirit brings evangelical conviction. The one begets a conviction unto despair; the other a conviction unto hope. Conscience convinces of sin committed, of righteousness impossible, of judgment impending; the Comforter convinces of sin committed, of righteousness imputed, of judgment accomplished — in Christ. God alone can reveal the divine view of sin, and enable man to understand it." But, however agonizing the sorrow, it will not constitute true repentance, unless it leads to, or is accompanied by : C. A voluntary element, — change of purpose — inward turning from sin and disposition to seek pardon and cleansing ( Ps. 51 : 5, 7, 10 ; Jer. 25 : 5 ). This includes and implies the two preceding elements, and is therefore the most important aspect of repentance. It is indicated in the Scripture term peravota (Acts 2 : 38 ; Bom. 2:4). Ps. 51 : 5, 7, 10 — " Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity ; And in sin did my mother conceive me Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be dean : Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow Create in me a dean heart, 0 God; And renew a right spirit within me " ; Jer. 25 : 5 — " Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings " ; Acts 2 : 38 — " And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ " ; Rom. 2:4 — " despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? " Walden, The Great Meaning of Metanoia, brings out well the fact that " repentance " is not the true translation of the word, but rather " change of mind " ; indeed, he would give up the word " repentance " altogether in the N. T., except as the translation of ueraiiiKeia. The idea of p-erivoia is abandonment of sin rather than sorrow for sin, — an act of the will rather than a state of the sensibility. Repentance is participation in Christ's revulsion from sin and suffering on account of it. It is repentance from sin, not of sin, nor for sin — always i™ and lie, never fepi or eiri. The true illustrations of repentance are found in Job ( 42 : 6 — " I abhor myself And repent in dust and ashes " ) ; in David ( Ps. 51 : 10 — " Create in me a clean heart; And renew a right spirit within me"); in Peter (John 21: 17— "thou knowest that I love thee " ) ; in the penitent thief ( luke 23 : 42 — " Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom " ) ; in the prodigal son ( Luke 15:18 — "I will arise and go to my Father " ). 53 834 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. Repentance implies free will. Hence Spinoza, who knows nothing of free will, knows nothing of repentance. In book 4 of his Ethics, he says : " Repentance is not a virtue, that is, it does not spring from reason ; on the contrary, the man who repents of what he has done is doubly wretched or impotent." Still he urges that for the good of society it is not desirable that vulgar minds should be enlightened as to this matter ; see Tipton, Hibbert Lectures, 315. Determinism also renders it irrational to feel right eous indignation either at the misconduct of other people or of ourselves. Moral admiration is similarly irrational in the determinist; see Balfour, Foundations of Belief, 24. In broad distinction from the Scriptural doctrine, we find the Eomanist view, which regards the three elements of repentance as the following: (1) contrition; (2) confession; (3) satisfaction. Of these, contrition is the only element properly belonging to repentance ; yet from this contri tion the Eomanist excludes all sorrow for sin of nature. Confession is con fession to the priest ; and satisfaction is the sinner's own doing of outward penance, as a temporal and symbolic submission and reparation to violated law. This view is false and pernicious, in that it confounds repentance with its outward fruits, conceives of it as exercised rather toward the church than toward God, and regards it as a meritorious ground, instead of a mere condition, of pardon. On the Romanist doctrine of Penance, Thornwell (Collected Writings, 1:423) remarks : " The culpa may be remitted, they say, while the poena is to some extent retained." The priest absolves, not declaratively, but judicially. Denying the great ness of the sin, it makes man able to become his own Savior. Christ's satisfaction, for sins after baptism, is not sufficient ; our satisfaction is sufficient. But performance of one duty, we object, cannot make satisfaction for the violation of another. We are required to confess one to another, and specially to those whom we have wronged: James5:16 — "Confess. therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." This puts the hardest stress upon our natural pride. There are a hundred who will confess to a priest or to God, where there is one who will make frank and full confession to the aggrieved party. Confession to an official religious superior is not penitence nor a test of penitence. In the Confessional women expose their inmost desires to priests who are forbidden to marry. These priests are sometimes, though gradually, corrupted to the core, and at the same time they are taught in the Confes sional precisely to what women to apply. In France many noble families will not permit their children to confess, and their women are not permitted to incur the danger. Lord Salisbury in the House of Lords said of auricular confession : " It has been injurious to the moral independence and virility of the nation to an extent to which probably it has been given to no other institution to affect the character of mankind." See Walsh, Secret History of the Oxford Movement ; A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 111— " Asceticism is an absolute inversion of the divine order, since it seeks life through death, instead of finding death through life. No degree of mortification can ever bring us to sanctification." Penance can never effect true repentance, nor be other than a hindrance to the soul's abandonment of sin. Penance is something exter nal to be done, and it diverts attention from the real inward need of the soul. The monk does penance by sleeping on an iron bed and by wearing a hair shirt. When Anselm of Canterbury died, his under garments were found alive with vermin which the saint had cultivated in order to mortify the flesh. Dr. Pusey always sat on a hard chair, traveled as uncomfortably as possible, looked down when he walked, and when ever he saw a coal-fire thought of hell. Thieves do penance by giving a part of their ill-gotten wealth to charity. In all these things there is no transformation of the inner life. In further explanation of the Scripture representations, we remark : (a) That repentance, in each and all of its aspects, is wholly an inward act, not to be confounded with the change of lif e which proceeds from it. True repentance is indeed manifested and evidenced by confession of sin before God ( Luke 18 : 13 ), and by reparation for wrongs done to men CONVERSION. 835 (Luke 19 : 8). But these do not constitute repentance ; they are rather fruits of repentance. Between ' repentance ' and « fruit worthy of repent ance,' Scripture plainly distinguishes (Mat. 3:8). Luke 18 : 13 — " But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so muoh as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner [ ' be propitiated to me the sinner ' ] " ; 19 : 8 — " And Zacohxus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold ' ' ; Mat. 3:8 — " Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance." Fruit worthy of repentance, or fruits meet for repentance, are : 1. Confession of sin ; 2. Sur render to Christ ; 3. Turning from sin ; 4. Reparation for wrong doing ; 5. Right moral conduct ; 6. Profession of Christian faith. On Luke 17:3— "if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him"— Dr. B. H. Carroll remarks that the law is uniform which makes repentance indispensable to forgiveness. It applies to man's forgiveness of man, as well as to God's forgiveness of man, or the church's forgiveness of man. But I must be sure that I cherish toward the offender the spirit of love, whether he repents or not. Freedom from all malice toward him, however, and even loving prayerful labor to lead him to repentance, is not forgiveness. This I can grant only when he actually repents. If I do forgive him without repent ance, then I impose my rule on God when I pray : "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Mat. 6:12). On the question whether the requirement that we forgive without atonement implies that God does, see Brit, and For. Evang. Rev., Oct. 1881:678-691— "Answer: 1. The present constitution of things is based upon atonement. Forgiveness on our part is required upon the ground of the Cross, without which the world would be hell. 2. God is Judge. We forgive, as brethren. When he forgives, it is as Judge of all the earth, of whom all earthly judges are representatives. If earthly judges may exact justice, much more God. The argument that would abolish atonement would abolish all civil government. 3. I should forgive my brother on the ground of God's love, and Christ's bearing of his sins. 4. God, who requires atonement, is the same being that provides it. This is ' handsome and generous.' But I can never provide atonement for my brother. I must, therefore, forgive freely, only upon the ground of what Christ has done for him." (&) That repentance is only a negative condition, and not a positive means of salvation. This is evident from the fact that repentance is no more than the sinner's present duty, and can furnish no offset to the claims of the law on account of past transgression. The truly penitent man feels that his repentance has no merit. Apart from the positive element of conversion, namely, faith in Christ, it would be only sorrow for guilt unremoved. This very sorrow, moreover, is not the mere product of human will, but is the gift of God. Acts 5 : 31 — "Him did God exalt with his right hand to he a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins"; 11:18 — "Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life " ; 2 Tim. 2:25 — "if peradventnre God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth." The truly penitent man recognizes the fact that his sin deserves punishment. He never regards his penitence as offsetting the demands of law, and as making his punishment unjust. Whitefleld : " Our repentance needeth to be repented of, and our very tears to be washed in the blood of Christ." Shakespeare, Henry V, 4 : 1 — " More will I do : Though all that I can do is nothing worth, Since that my penitence comes after all, Imploring pardon " — imploring pardon both for the crime and for the imperfect repentance. (c) That true repentance, however, never exists except in conjunction with faith. Sorrow for sin, not simply on account of its evil consequences to the transgressor, but on account of its intrinsic hatef ulness as opposed to divine holiness and love, is practically impossible without some confidence in God's mercy. It is the Cross which first makes us truly penitent ( cf. John 12 : 32, 33 ). Hence all true preaching of repentance is implicitly a preach- 836 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. ing of faith (Mat. 3 : 1-12 ; cf. Acts 19 : 4), and repentance toward God involves faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20 : 21 ; Luke 15 : 10, 24 ; 19:8,9; cf. Gal. 3 : 7). John 12 : 32, 33 — " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. But this he said, signify ing by what manner of death he should die." Mat. 3 : 1-12 — John the Baptist's preaching of repent ance was also a preaching of faith ; as is shown by Acts 19:4 — "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus," Repentance involves faith : Acts 20 : 21 — " testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our lord Jesus Christ ' ' ; Luke 15 : 10, 24 — " there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sin ner that repenteth this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found" ; 19:8, 9 — "the half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, To-day is salvation come to this house, forasmuoh as he also is a son of Abraham " — the father of all believers ; cf. GaL 3 : 6, 7 — " Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham." Luke 3: 18 says of John the Baptist : "he preached the gospel unto the people," and the gospel mes sage, the glad tidings, is more than the command to repent, — it is also the offer of salvation through Christ ; see Prof. Wm. Arnold Stevens, on John the Baptist and his Gospel, in Studies on the Gospel according to John. 2 Chron. 34 : 19 — " And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes." Moberly , Atonement and Personality, 44:46— "Just in proportion as one sins, does he render it impossible for him truly to repent. Repentance must be the work of another in him. Is it not the Spirit of the Crucified which is the reality of the penitence of the truly penitent ? " If this be true, then it is plain that there is no true repentance which is not accompanied by the faith that unites us to Christ. (d) That, conversely, wherever there is true faith, there is true repent ance also. Since repentance and faith are but different sides or aspects of the same act of turning, faith is as inseparable from repentance as repentance is from faith. That must be an unreal faith where there is no repentance, just as that must be an unreal repentance where there is no faith. Yet because the one aspect of his change is more prominent in the mind of the convert than the other, we are not hastily to conclude that the other is absent. Only that degree of conviction of sin is essential to salvation, which carries with it a forsaking of sin and a trustful surrender to Christ. Bishop Hall : " Never will Christ enter into that soul where the herald of repentance hath not been before him." 2 Cor. 7 : 10 — " repentance unto salvation." In consciousness, sensa* tion and perception are in inverse ratio to each other. Clear vision is hardly conscious of sensation, but inflamed eyes are hardly conscious of anything besides sensation. So repentance and faith are seldom equally prominent in the consciousness of the con verted man ; but it is important to know that neither can exist without the other. The truly penitent man will, sooner or later, show that he has faith ; and the true believer will certainly show, in due season, that he hates and renounces sin. The question, how much conviction a man needs to Insure his salvation, may be answered by asking how much excitement one needs on a burning steamer. As, in the latter case, just enough to prompt persistent effort to escape ; so, in the former case, just enough remorseful feeling is needed, to induce the sinner to betake himself believ- ingly to Christ. On the general subject of Repentance, see Anderson, Regeneration, 279-288 ; Bp. Ossory, Nature and Effects of Faith, 40-48, 311-318; Woods, Works, 3:68-78; Philippi, Glaubenslehre, 5:1-10, 208-246; Luthardt, Compendium, 3d ed., 206-208; Hodge, Out lines of Theology, 376-381; Alexander, Evidences of Christianity, 47-60 j Crawford, Atonement, 413-419. 2. Faith. Faith is that voluntary change in the mind of the sinner in which he turns to Christ. Being essentially a change of mind, it involves a change CONVERSION. 837 of view, a change of feeling, and a change of purpose. We may therefore analyze faith also into three constituents, each succeeding term of which includes and implies the preceding : A. An intellectual element {notitia, credere Deum), — recognition of the truth of God's revelation, or of the objective reality of the salvation provided by Christ. This includes not only a historical belief in the facts of the Scripture, but an intellectual belief in the doctrine taught therein as to man's sinfulness and dependence upon Christ. John 2 : 23, 24 — " Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men " ; cf. 3 : 2 — Nicodemus has this external faith : "no one can do these signs that thou doest, eicept God be with him." James 2 : 19 — " Thou believest that God is one ; thou doest well : the demons also believe, and shudder," Even this historical faith is not without its fruits. It is the spring of much philanthropic work. There were no hospitals in ancient Rome. Much of our modern progress is due to the leavening influence of Christianity, even in the case of those who have not personally accepted Christ. McLaren, S. S. Times, Feb. 22, 1902 : 107 — " Luke does not hesitate to say, in Aots 8 : 13, that 'Simon Magus also himself believed,' But he expects us to understand that Simon's belief was not faith that saved, but mere credence in the gospel narrative as true history. It had no ethical or spiritual worth. He was 'amazed,' as the Samaritans had been at his juggleries. It did not lead to repentance, or confession, or true trust. He was only 'amased' at Philip's miracles, and there was no salvation in that." Merely historical faith, such as Disciples and Ritschlians hold to, lacks the element of affection, and besides this lacks the present reality of Christ himself. Faith that does not lay hold of a present Christ is not saving faith. B. An emotional element ( assensus, credere Deo ), — assent to the revelation of God's power and grace in Jesus Christ, as applicable to the present needs of the soul. Those in whom this awakening of the sensibili ties is unaccompanied by the fundamental decision of the will, which con stitutes the next element of faith, may seem to themselves, and for a time may appear to others, to have accepted Christ. Hat. 13 : 20, 21 — "he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself but endureth for a while ; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth " ; cf. Ps. 106 : 12, 13 — " Then believed they his words ; they sang his praise. They soon forgat his works ; they waited not for his counsel " ; Ez. 33 : 31, 32 — " And they come unto thee as the people eometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not ; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument ; for they hear thy words, but they do them not " ; John 5:35 — Of John the Baptist : " le was the lamp that burneth and shineth ; and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light " ; 8 : 30, 31 — " As he spake these things, many believed on him ( eis avrov ). Jesus there fore said to those Jews that had believed him ( avrw ), If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples." They believed him, but did not yet believe on him, that is, make him the foundation of their faith and life. Vet Jesus graciously recognizes this first faint foreshadowing of faith. It might lead to full and saving faith. '• Proselytes of the gate " were so called, because they contented themselves with sitting in the gate, as it were, without going into the holy city. " Proselytes of right eousness" were those who did their whole duty, by joining themselves fully to the people of God. Not emotion, but devotion, is the important thing. Temporary faith is as irrational and valueless as temporary repentance. It perhaps gained temporary blessing in the way of healing in the time of Christ, but, if not followed by complete surrender of the will, it might even aggravate one's sin; see John 5:14— "Behold, thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee." The special faith of miracles was not a high, but a low, form of faith, and it is not to be sought in our day as indispensable to the progress of the kingdom. Miracles have ceased, not because of decline in faith, but because the Holy Spirit has changed the method of his manifestations, and has led the church to seek more spiritual gifts, 838 CHRISTOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTION. Saving faith, however, includes also : C. A voluntary element (fiducia, credere in Deum ), — trust in Christ as Lord and Savior ; or, in other words — to distinguish its two aspects : (a) Surrender of the soul, as guilty and defiled, to Christ's governance. Mat. 11 : 28, 29 — " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me " ; John 8 : 12 — " I am the light of the world : he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness" ; 14 : 1 — "Let not your heart be troubled : believe in God, believe also in me " ; Acts 16 : 31 — "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." Instances of the use of wio-reiim, in the sense of trustful committance or surrender, are : John 2 : 24— "But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men"; Rom. 3:2 — "they were intrusted with the oracles of God"; GaL 2:7 — "when they saw that I had been intrusted with tie gospel of the uncircumcision." m'o-Tis—" trustful self -surrender to God" (Meyer). In this surrender of the soul to Christ's governance we have the guarantee that the gospel salvation is not an unmoral trust which permits continuance in sin. Aside from the fact that saving faith is only the obverse side of true repentance, the very nature of faith, as submission to Christ, the embodied law of God and source of spiritual life, makes a life of obedience and virtue to be its natural and necessary result. Faith is not only a declaration of dependence, it is also a vow of allegiance. The sick man's faith in his physician is shown not simply by trusting him, but by obeying him. Doing what the doctor says is the very proof of trust. No physician will long care for a patient who refuses to obey his orders. Faith is self -surrender to the great Physician, and a leaving of our case in his hands. But it is also the taking of his prescriptions, and the active following of his directions. We need to emphasize this active element in saving faith, lest men get the notion that mere indolent acquiescence in Christ's plan will save them. Faith is not simple receptiveness. It gives itself, as well as receives Christ. It is not mere passivity,— it is also self -committal. As all reception of knowledge is active, and there must be attention if we would learn, so all reception of Christ is active, and there must be intel ligent giving as well as taking. The Watchman, April 30, 1896—" Faith is more than belief and trust. It is the action of the soul going out toward its object. It is the exercise of a spiritual faculty akin to that of sight ; it establishes a personal relation between the one who exercises faith and the one who is its object. When the intel lectual feature predominates, we call it belief ; when the emotional element predomi nates, we call it trust. This faith is at once ' An affirmation and an act Which bids eternal truth be present fact.' " There are great things received in faith, but nothing is received by the man who does not first give himself to Christ. A conquered general came into the presence of his conqueror and held out to him his hand : " Tour sword first, sir 1 " was the response. But when General Lee offered his sword to General Grant at Appomattox, the latter returned it, saying : " No, keep your sword, and go to your home." Jacobi said that " Faith is the reflection of the divine knowing and willing in the finite spirit of man." G. B. Foster, in Indiana Baptist Outlook, June 19, 1902 — " Catholic orthodoxy is wrong in holding that the authority for faith is the church ; for that would be an external authority. Protestant orthodoxy is wrong in holding that the authority for faith is the book ; for that would be an external authority. Liberalism is wrong in holding that the reason is the authority for faith. The authority for faith is the revelation of God." Faith in this revelation is faith in Christ the Revealer. It puts the soul in con nection with the source of all knowledge and power. As the connection of a wire with the reservoir of electric force makes it the channel of vast energies, so the smallest measure of faith, any real connection of the soul with Christ, makes it the recipient of divine resources. While faith is the act of the whole man, and intellect, affection, and will are involved in it, will is the all-inclusive and most important of its elements. No other exercise of will is such a revelation of our being and so decisive of our destiny. The voluntary element in faith is illustrated in marriage. Here one party pledges the future in per manent self-surrender, commits one's self to another person in confidence that this future, with all its new revelations of character, will only justify the decision made. Yet this is rational ; see Holland, in Lux Mundi, 46-48. To put one's hand into molten iron, even though one knows of the " Bpheroidal state " that gives impunity, requires an exertion of will ; and not all workmen in metals are courageous enough to make the venture. The child who leaped into the dark cellar, in confidence that her father's arms would be open to receive her, did not act irrationally, because she had heard her CONVERSION. 839 father's command and trusted his promise. Though faith in Christ is a leap in the dark, and requires a mighty exercise of will, it is nevertheless the highest wisdom, because Christ's word is pledged that "him that eometh to me I will in no wise oast out" (John6:37). J. W. A. Stewart : " Faith is 1. a bond between persons, trust, confidence ; 2. it makes ventures, takes much for granted ; 3. its security is the character and power of him in whom we believe, — not our faith, but his fidelity, is the guarantee that our faith is rational." Kant said that nothing in the world is good but the good will which freely obeys the law of the good. Pfleiderer defines faith as the free surrender of the heart to the gracious will of God. Kaftan, Dogmatik, 21, declares that the Christian religion is essentially faith, and that this faith manifests itself as 1. doctrine ; 2. worship ; 3. morality. ( 6 ) Beception and appropriation of Christ, as the source of pardon and spiritual life. John 1 : 12 — "as many as received him, to them gave he the right to beoome children of God, even to them that believe on his name " ; 4 : 14 — " whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall beoome in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life " ; 6 : 53 — " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves " ; 20 : 31 — " these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye may have life in his name " ; Eph. 3 : 17 — ' ' that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith ' ' ; Heb. 11:1 — " Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen " ; Rev, 3 : 20 — " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." The three constituents of faith may be illustrated from the thought, feeling, and action of a person who stands by a boat, upon a little island which the rising stream threatens to submerge. He first regards the boat from a purely intellectual point of view,— it is merely an actually existing boat. As the stream rises, he looks at it, sec ondly, with some accession of emotion,— his prospective danger awakens in him the conviction that it is a good boat for a time of need, though he is not yet ready to make use of it. But, thirdly, when he feels that the rushing tide must otherwise sweep him away, a volitional element is added,— he gets into the boat, trusts himself to it, accepts it as his present, and only, means of safety. Only this last faith in the boat is faith that saves, although this last includes both the preceding. It is equally clear that the get ting into the boat may actually save a man, while at the same time he may be full of fears that the boat will never bring him to shore. These fears may be removed by the boatman's word. So saving faith is not necessarily assurance of faith ; but it becomes assurance of faith when the Holy Spirit "heareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God " ( Rom. 8 : 16 ). On the nature of this assurance, and on the distinction between it and saving faith, see pages 844-846. " Coming to Christ," " looking to Christ," " receiving Christ," are all descriptions of faith, as are also the phrases : " surrender to Christ," " submission to Christ," " closing in with Christ." Paul refers to a confession of faith in Rom. 10: 9 — "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord." Faith, then, is a taking of Christ as both Savior and Lord ; and it includes both appropriation of Christ, and consecration to Christ. The voluntary ele ment in faith, however, is a giving as well as a taking. The giving, or surrender, is illustrated in baptism by submergence ; the taking, or reception, by emergence. See further on the Symbolism of Baptism. McCosh, Div. Government : " Saving faith is the consent of the will to the assent of the understanding, and commonly accompanied with emotion." Pres. Hopkins, in Princeton Rev., Sept. 1878 : 511-540 — " In its intellectual element, faith is receptive, and believes that God is ; in its affectional element, faith is assimilative, and believes that God is a rewarder ; in its voluntary element, faith is operative, and actually comes to God ( Heb. 11 : 6 )." Where the element of surrender is emphasized and the element of reception is not understood, the result is a legalistic experience, with little hope or joy. Only as we appropriate Christ, in connection with our consecration, do we realize the full blessing of the gospel. Light requires two things : the sun to shine, and the eye to take in its shining. So we cannot be saved without Christ to save, and faith to take the Savior for ours. Faith is the act by which we receive Christ. The woman who touched the border of Jesus' garment received his healing power. It is better still to keep in touch with Christ so as to receive continually his grace and life. But best of all is taking him into our inmost being, to be the soul of our soul and the life of our life. This is the essence of faith, though many Christians do not yet realize it. Dr. Curry said well that faith can never be denned because it is a fact of life. It is a merging of our life in the 840 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. life of Christ, and a reception of Christ's life to interpenetrate and energize ours. In faith we must take Christ as well as give ourselves. It is certainly true that surrender without trust will not make us possessors of God's peace. F. L. Anderson : " Faith is submissive reliance on Jesus Christ for salvation: 1. Reliance on Jesus Christ — not mere intellectual belief; 2. Reliance on him for Balvation — we can never undo the past or atone for our sins ; 3. Submissive reliance on Christ. Trust without surrender will never save." The passages already referred to refute the view of the Romanist, that saving faith is simply implicit assent to the doctrines of the church ; and the view of the Disciple or Campbellite, that faith is merely intellectual belief in the truth, on the presentation of evidence. The Romanist says that faith can cofe'xist with mortal sin. The Disciple holds that faith may and must exist before regeneration, — regeneration being completed in bap tism. With these erroneous views, compare the noble utterance of Luther, Com. on Galatdans, 1 : 191, 247, quoted in Thomasius, m, 2 : 183 — " True faith," says Luther, " is that assured trust and firm assent of heart, by which Christ is laid hold of,— so that Christ is the object of faith. Yet he is not merely the object of faith ; but in the very faith, so to speak, Christ is present. Faith lays hold of Christ, and grasps him as a pres ent possession, just as the ring holds the jewel." Edwards, Works, 4 : 71-73 ; 2 : 601-641 — " Faith," says Edwards, " includes the whole act of unition to Christ as a Savior. The entire active uniting of the soul, or the whole of what is called coming to Christ, and receiving of him, is called faith in the Scripture." See also Belief, What Is It ? 150-179, 290-298. Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, 530— "Faith began by being: 1. a simple trust in God; then followed, 2. a simple expansion of that proposition into the assent to the proposi tion that God is good, and, 3. a simple acceptance of the proposition that Jesus Christ was his Son ; then, 4. came in the definition of terms, and each definition of terms involved a new theory ; finally, 5. the theories were gathered together into systems, and the martyrs and witnesses of Christ died for their faith, not outside but inside the Christian sphere ; and instead of a world of religious belief which resembled the world of actual fact in the sublime unsymmetry of its foliage and the deep harmony of its discords, there prevailed the most fatal assumption of all, that the symmetry of a system is the test of its truth and the proof thereof." We regard this statement of Hatch as erroneous, in that it attributes to the earliest disciples no larger faith than that of their Jewish brethren. We claim that the earliest faith involved an implicit acknowledgement of Jesus as Savior and Lord, and that this faith of simple obedience and trust became explicit recognition of our Lord's deity and atonement just so soon as persecution and the Holy Spirit disclosed to them the real contents of their own consciousness. An illustration of the simplicity and saving power of faith is furnished by Principal J. R. Andrews, of New London, Conn., Principal of the Bartlett Grammar School. When the steamer Atlantic was wrecked off Fisher's Island, though Mr. Andrews could not swim, he determined to make a desperate effort to save his lif e. Binding a life-preserver about him, he stood on the edge of the deck waiting his opportunity, and when he saw a wave moving shoreward, he jumped into the rough breakers and was borne safely to land. He was saved by faith. He accepted the conditions of salvation. Forty perished in a scene where he was saved. In one sense he saved himself ; in another sense he depended upon God. It was a combination of personal activity and dependence upon God that resulted in his salvation. If he had not used the life-preserver, he would have perished ; if he had not cast himself into the sea, he would have perished. So faith in Christ is reliance upon him for salvation ; but it is also our own making of a new start in life and the showing of our trust by action. Tract 357, Am. Tract Society —"What is it to believe on Christ? It is : To feel your need of him ; To believe that he is able and willing to save you, and to save you now ; and To cast yourself unreservedly upon his mercy, and trust in him alone for salvation." In further explanation of the Scripture representations, we remark : ( a ) That faith is an act of the affections and will, as truly as it is an act of the intellect. CONVERSION. 841 It has been claimed that faith and unbelief are purely intellectual states, which are necessarily determined by the facts at any given time presented to the mind ; and that they are, for this reason, as destitute of moral quahty and as far from being matters of obligation, as are our instinctive feelings of pleasure and pain. But this view unwarrantably isolates the intellect, and ignores the fact that, in all moral subjects, the state of the affections and will affects the judgment of the mind with regard to truth. In the intellectual act the whole moral nature expresses itself. Since the tastes determine the opinions, faith is a moral act, and men are responsible for not believing. John 3 : 18-20 — " He that believeth on him is not judged : he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God, And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light ; for their works were eviL For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and eometh not to the light, lest bis works should be reproved " ; 5 : 40 — "ye will not come te me, that ye may have life " ; 16 : 8, 9 — " And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin .... of sin, because they believe not on me"; Rev.2:21 — " she willeth not to repent," Notice that the Revised Ver sion very frequently substitutes the voluntary and active terms "disobedience" and "disobe dient " for the " unbelief" and " unbelieving " of the Authorized Version,— as in Rom. 15 : 31 ; leb. 3 : 18 ; 4 : 6, 11 ; 11 : 31. See Park, Discourses, 45, 46. Savages do not know that they are responsible for their physical appetites, or that there is any right and wrong in matters of sense, until they come under the influence of Christianity. In like manner, even men of science can declare that the intellectual sphere has no part in man's probation, and that we are no more responsible for our opinions and beliefs than we are for the color of our skin. But faith is not a merely intellectual act,— the affections and will give it quality. There is no moral quality in the belief that 2 + 2 = 4, because we can not help that belief. But in believing on Christ there is moral quality, because there is the element of choice. Indeed it may be ques tioned, whether, in every judgment upon moral things, there is not an act of will. Hence on John 7 : 17 —"If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself"— F. L. Patton calls attention to the two common errors : ( 1 ) that obedience will certify doctrine,— which is untrue, because obedience is the result of faith, not vice versa ; ( 2 ) that personal experience is the ultimate test of faith,— which is untrue, because the Bible is the only rule of faith, and it is one thing to receive truth through the feelings, but quite another to test truth by the feelings. The text really means, that if any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know whether it be of God ; and the two lessons to be drawn are : ( 1 ) the gospel needs no additional evidence ; ( 2 ) the Holy Ghost is the hope of the world. On responsibility for opinions and beliefs, see Mozley, on Blanco White, in Essays Philos. and Historical, 2 : 142 ; T. T. Smith, Hul sean Lectures for 1839. Wilfrid Ward, The Wish to Believe, quotes Shakespeare : " Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought " ; and Thomas Arnold : " They dared not lightly believe what they so much wished to be true." Pascal : " Faith is an act of the will." Emerson, Essay on Worship : " A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples. Man's religious faith is the expression of what he is." Bain : " In its essential character, belief is a phase of our active nature, otherwise called the will." Nash, Ethics and Revelation, 257 — " Faith is the creative human answer to the creative divine offer. It is not the passive acceptance of a divine favor. .... By faith man, laying hold of the personality of God in Christ, becomes a true person. And by the same faith he becomes, under God, a creator and founder of true society." Inge, Christian Mysticism, 52 — " Faith begins with an experiment and ends with an experience. But even the power to make the experiment is given from above. Eternal life is not v>w«, but the state of acquiring .knowledge — Iva yiyvi»wis." Crane, Religion of To-morrow, 148 — " ' I will not obey, because I do not yet know'? But this is making the intellectual side the only side of faith, whereas the most important side is the will-side. Let a man follow what he does believe, and he shall be led on to larger faith. Faith is the reception of the personal Influence of a living Lord, and a corresponding action." William James, Will to Believe, 61— "This life is worth living, since it is what we make it, from the moral point of view Often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the only thing that makes the result come true If your heart 842 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. does not want a world of moral reality, your head will assuredly never make you believe in one Freedom to believe covers only living options which the intellect cannot by itself resolve We are not to put a stopper on our heart, and meantime act as if religion were not true"; Psychology, 2:282, 321— "Belief is consent, willingness, turning of our disposition. It is the mental state or function of cognizing reality. We never disbelieve anything except for the reason that we believe something else which contradicts the first thing. We give higher reality to whatever things we select and emphasize and turn to with a will We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in question were real, and keep acting as if it were real, and it will infallibly end by growing into such a connection with our life that it will become real. Those to whom God and duty are mere names, can make them much more than that, if they make a little sacrifice to them every day." E. G. Robinson : " Campbellism makes intellectual belief to be saving faith. But sav ing faith is consent of the heart as well as assent of the intellect. On the one hand there is the intellectual element : faith is belief upon the ground of evidence ; faith without evidence is credulity. But on the other hand faith has an element of affection ; the element of love is always wrapped up in it. So Abraham's faith made Abraham like God ; for we always become like that which we trust." Faith therefore is not chronologically subsequent to regeneration, but is its accompaniment. Ab the soul's appropriation of Christ and his salvation, it is not the result of an accomplished renewal, but rather the medium through which that renewal is effected. Otherwise it would follow that one who had not yet believed (i.e., received Christ ) might still be regen erate, whereas the Scripture represents the privilege of sonship as granted only to believers. See John 1 : 12, 13 — "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name : who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"; also 3 : 5, 6, 10-15 ; Gal. 3:26; 2 Pet. 1:3; cf. 1 John 5 : 1. ( 6 ) That the object of saving faith is, in general, the whole truth of God, so far as it is objectively revealed or made known to the soul ; but, in par ticular, the person and work of Jesus Christ, which constitutes the centre and substance of God's revelation (Acts 17 : 18 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 23 ; Col. 1 : 27 ; Eev. 19 : 10). The patriarchs, though they had no knowledge of a personal Christ, were saved by believing in God so far as God had revealed himself to them ; and whoever among the heathen are saved, must in like manner be saved by casting themselves as helpless sinners upon God's plan of mercy, dimly shadowed forth in nature and providence. But such faith, even among the patriarchs and heathen, is implicitly a faith in Christ, and would become explicit and conscious trust and submission, whenever Christ were made known to them ( Mat. 8 : 11, 12 ; John 10 : 16 ; Acts 4 : 12 ; 10 : 31, 34, 35, 44; 16:31). Acts 17 : 18 — "he preached Jesus and the resurrection " ; 1 Oor. 1 : 23 — "we preach Christ oruoifled " j CoL 1 : 27— "this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we proclaim " ; Rev. 19:10 "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Saving faith is not belief in a dogma, but personal trust in a personal Christ. It is, therefore, possible to a child. Dorner: "The object of faith is the Christian revelation— God in Christ Faith is union with objective Christianity — appropriation of the real contents of Christianity." Dr. Samuel Hop kins, the great uncle, defined faith as " an understanding, cordial receiving of the divine testimony concerning Jesus Christ and the way of salvation by him, in which the heart accords and conforms to the gospel." Dr. Mark Hopkins, the great nephew, defined it as " confidence in a personal being." Horace Bushnell : " Faith rests on a person. Faith is that act by which one person, a sinner, commits himself to another person, a Savior." In John 11 : 25 —"I am the resurrection and the life "— Martha is led to substitute belief in a person for belief in an abstract doctrine. Jesus is "the resurrection," because he is "the life." All doctrine and all miracle is significant and important only because it is the expression of the living Christ, the Revealer of God. The object of faith is sometimes represented in the N. T., as being God the Father. John 5 : 24 — " He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal lift " ; Rom, 4 : 5 — " to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." We can CONVERSION. 843 explain these passages only when we remember that Christ is God " manifested in the flesh ' (1 Tim, 3 : 16 ), and that " he that hath seen me hath seen the Father ' ' ( John 14:9), Man may receive a gift without knowing from whom it comes, or how much it has cost. So the heathen, who casts himself as a sinner upon God's mercy, may receive salvation from the Cruci fied One, without knowing who is the giver, or that the gift was purchased by agony and blood. Denney, Studies in Theology, 154 — " No N. T. writer ever remembered Christ. They never thought of him as belonging to the past. Let us not preach about the his torical Christ, but rather, about the living Christ ; nay, let us preach him, present and omnipotent. Jesus could say : ' Whither I go, ye know the way ' ( John 14 : 4 ) ; for they knew Mm, and he was both the end and the way." Dr. Charles Hodge unduly restricts the operations of grace to the preaching of the incarnate Christ : Syst. Theol., 2 : 648 — " There is no faith where the gospel is not heard ; and where there is no faith, there is no salvation. This is indeed an awful doctrine." And yet, in 2 : 668, he says most Inconsistently : " As God is everywhere present in the material world, guiding its operations according to the laws of nature ; so he is every where present with the minds of men, as the Spirit of truth and goodness, operating on them according to laws of their free moral agency, inclining them to good and restrain ing them from evil." This presence and revelation of God we hold to be through Christ, the eternal Word, and so we interpret the prophecy of Caiaphas as referring to the work of the personal Christ : John 11 : 51, 52— "he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God that are scattered abroad." Since Christ is the Word of God and the Truth of God, he may be received even by those who have not heard of his manifestation in the flesh. A proud and self-righteous morality is inconsistent with saving faith ; but a humple and penitent reliance upon God, as a Savior from sin and a guide of conduct, is an implicit faith in Christ ; for such reliance casts itself upon God, so far as God has revealed himself, — and the only Revealer of God is Christ. We have, therefore, the hope that even among the heathen there may be some, like Socrates, who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit working through the truth of nature and conscience, have found the way of life and salvation. The number of such is so small as in no degree to weaken the claims of the missionary enterprise upon us. But that there are such seems to be intimated in Scripture : Mat. 8 : 11, 12 — " many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven : but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness " ; John 10:16—" And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd "; Acts 4 : 12— "And in none other is there salvation : for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved "; 10 : 31, 34, 35, 44 — " Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God, .... Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons : hut in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word" ; 16: 31 — "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. " And instances are found of apparently regenerated heathen ; see in Godet on John 7:17, note ( vol. 2 : 277 ), the account of the so-called " Chinese hermit," who accepted Christ, Baying : " This is the only Buddha whom men ought to worship I " Edwards, Life of Brainard, 173-175, gives an account " of one who was a devout and zealous reformer, or rather restorer, of what he supposed was the ancient religion of the Indians. " After a period of distress, he says that God " comforted his heart and showed him what he should do, and since that time he had known God and tried to serve him ; and loved all men, be they who they would, so as he never did before. " See art. by Dr. Lucius E. Smith, in Bib. Sac, Oct. 1881 : 622-645, on the question : "Is salvation possible without a knowledge of the gospel ? " H. B. Smith, System, 323, note, rightly bases hope for the heathen, not on morality, but on sacrifice. A chief of the Camaroons in S. W. Africa, fishing with many of his tribe long before the missionaries came, was overtaken by a storm, and while almost all the rest were drowned, he and a few others escaped. He gathered his people together afterwards and told the story of disaster. He said : " When the canoes upset and I found myself battling with the waves, I thought : To whom shall I cry for help ? I knew that the god of the hills could not help me ; I knew that the evil spirit would not help me. So I cried to the Great Father, Lord, save me I At that moment my feet touched the sand of the beach, and I was safe. Now let all my people honor the Great Father, and let no man speak a word against him, for he can help us. " This chief afterwards used every effort to prevent strife and bloodshed, and was remembered by those who came after as a peace-maker. His son told this story to Alfred Saker, the missionary, saying : 844 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. " Why did you not come sooner? My father longed to know what you have told us; he thirsted for the knowledge of God." Mr. Saker told this in England in 1879. John Fiske appends to his book. The Idea of God, 168, 169, the following pathetio words of a Kafir, named Sekese, in conversation with a French traveler, M. Arbrou- Beffle, on the subject of the Christian religion : " Your tidings, " said this uncultured barbarian, "are what I want, and I was seeking before I knew you, as you shall hear and judge for yourself. Twelve years ago I went to feed my flocks ; the weather ivas hazy. I sat down upon a rock, and asked myself sorrowful questions ; yes, sorrowful, because I was unable to answer them. Who has touched the stars with his hands— on what pillars do they rest? I asked myself. The waters never weary, they know no other law than to flow without ceasing from morning till night and from night till morning ; but where do they stop, and who makes them flow thus ? The clouds also come and go, and burst in water over the earth. Whence come they — who sends them ? The diviners certainly do not give us rain ; for how could they do it ? And why do I not see them with my own eyes, when they go up to heaven to fetch it ? I cannot see the wind; but what is it? Who brings it, makes it blow and roar and terrify us? Do I know how the corn sprouts? Yesterday there was not a blade in my field ; to-day I returned to my field and found some ; who can have given to the earth the wisdom and the power to produce it ? Then I buried my head in both hands. " On the question whether men are ever led to faith, without intercourse with living Christians or preachers, see Life of Judson, by his son, 84. The British and Foreign Bible Society publish a statement, made upon the authority of Sir Bartle Frere, that he met with " an instance, which was carefully investigated, in which all the inhabi tants of a remote village in the Deccan had abjured idolatry and caste, removed from their temples the idols which had been worshiped there time out of mind, and agreed to profess a form of Christianity which they had deduced from the careful perusal of a single Gospel and a few tracts. " Max Miiller, Chips, 4: 177-189, apparently proves that Buddha is the original of St. Josaphat, who has a day assigned to him in the calendar of both the Greek and the Roman churches. " Sancte Socrates, ora pro nobis. " The Missionary Review of the World, July, 1896: 519-523, tells the story of Adiri, afterwards called John King, of Maripastoon in Dutch Guiana. The Holy Spirit wrought in him mightily years before he heard of the missionaries. He was a coal-black negro, a heathen and a fetish worshiper. He was convicted of sin and apparently con verted through dreams and visions. Heaven and hell were revealed to him. He was sick unto death, and One appeared to him declaring himself to be the Mediator between God and man, and telling him to go to the missionaries for instruction. He was perse cuted, but he won his tribe from heathenism and transformed them into a Christian community. S. W. Hamblen, missionary to China, tells of a very earnest and consistent believer who lived at rather an obscure town of about 2800 people. The evangelist went to visit him and found that he was a worthy example to those around him. He had become a Christian before he had seen a single believer, by reading a Chinese New Testament. Although till the evangelist went to his house he had never met a Baptist and did not know that there were any Baptist churches in existence, yet by reading the New Tes tament he had become not only a Christian but a strong Baptist in belief, so strong that he could argue with the missionary on the subject of baptism. The Rev. K. E. Malm, a pioneer Baptist preacher in Sweden, on a journey to the dis trict as far north as Gestrikland, met a woman from Lapland who was on her way to Upsala in order to visit Dr. Fjellstedt and converse with him as to how she might obtain peace with God and get rid of her anxiety concerning her sins. She said she had traveled 60 ( = 240 English) miles, and she had still far to go. Malm improved the opportunity to speak to her concerning the crucified Christ, and she found peace in believing on his atonement. She became so happy that she clapped her hands, and for joy could not sleep that night. She said later : " Now I will return home and tell the people what I have found." This she did, and did not care to continue her journey to Upsala, in order to get comfort from Dr. Fjellstedt. (c) That the ground of faith is the external word of promise. The ground of assurance, on the other hand, is the inward witness of the Spirit that we fulfil the conditions of the promise ( Rom. 4 : 20, 21 ; 8 : 16 ; Eph. 1 : 13 ; 1 John 4 : 13 ; 5 : 10 ). This witness of the Spirit is not a new reve- CONVERSION. 845 lation from God, but a strengthening of faith so that it becomes conscious and indubitable. True faith is possible without assurance of salvation. But if Alexander's view were correct, that the object of saving faith is the proposition : "God, for Christ's sake, now looks with reconciling love on me, a sinner," no one could believe, without being at the same time assured that he was a saved person. Upon the true view, that the object of saving faith is not a propo sition, but a person, we can perceive not only the simplicity of faith, but the possibility of faith even where the soul is destitute of assurance or of joy. Hence those who already believe are urged to seek for assurance (Heb. 6:11; 2 Peter 1:10). Rom. 4 : 20, 21 — " looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waied strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform " ; 8:16 — "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God" ; Eph. 1: 13 — "in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the My Spirit of promise" ; 1 John 4 : 13 —"hereby we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit " ; 5 : 10 — "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him." This assurance is not of the essence of faith, because believers are exhorted to attain to it : Heb. 6:11 — " And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope [ marg. —'full assurance'] even to the end"; 2 Pet, 1:10 — "Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure." Cf. Prov. 14 : 14 — " a good man shall be satisfied from himself." There is need to guard the doctrine of assurance from mysticism. The witness of the Spirit is not a new and direct revelation from God. It is a strengthening of pre viously existing faith until he who possesses this faith cannot any longer doubt that he possesses it. It is a general rule that all our emotions, when they become exceed ingly strong, also become conscious. Instance affection between man and woman. Edwards, Religious Affections, in Works, 3 : 83-91, says the witness of the Spirit is not a new word or suggestion from God, but an enlightening and sanctifying influence, so that the heart is drawn forth to embrace the truth already revealed, and to perceive that it embraces it. " Bearing witness " is not in this case to declare and assert a thing to be true, but to hold forth evidence from which a thing may be proved to be true : God " heareth witness by signs and wonders " ( Heb. 2 : 4 ) So the " seal of the Spirit " is not a voice or suggestion, but a work or effect of the Spirit, left as a divine mark upon the soul, to be an evidence by which God's children may be known. Seals had engraved upon them the image or name of the persons to whom they belonged. The " seal of the Spirit, " the " earnest of the Spirit," the " witness of the Spirit, " are all one thing. The childlike spirit, given by the Holy Spirit, is the Holy Spirit's witness or evidence in us. See also illustration of faith and assurance, in C. S. Robinson's Short Studies for S. S. Teachers, 179, 180. Faith should be distinguished not only from assurance, but also from feeling or joy. Instance Abraham's faith when he went to sacrifice Isaac ; and Madame Guyon's faith, when God's face seemed hid from her. See, on the witness of the Spirit, Short, Bampton Lectures for 1846 ; British and For. Evan. Rev., 1888 : 617-631. For the view which confounds faith with assurance, see Alexander, Discourses on Faith, 63-118. It is important to distinguish saving faith from assurance of faith, for the reason that lack of assurance is taken by so many real Christians as evidence that they know nothing of the grace of God. To use once more a well-worn illustration : It is getting into the boat that saves us, and not our comfortable feelings about the boat. What saves us is faith in Christ, not faith in our faith, or faith in the faith. The astronomer does not turn his telescope to the reflection of the sun or moon in the water, when he can turn it to the sun or moon itself. Why obscure our faith, when we can look to Christ ? The faith in a distant Redeemer was the faith of Christian, in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Only at the end of his journey does Christian have Christ's presence. This representation rests upon a wrong conception of faith as laying hold of a promise or a doctrine, rather than as laying hold of the living and present Christ. The old Scotch woman's direction to the inquirer to " grip the promise " is not so good as the direction to "grip Christ." Sir Francis Drake, the great English sailor, had for his crest an 846 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. anchor with a cable running up into the sky. A poor boy, taught in a mission school in Ireland, when asked what was meant by saving faith, replied : " It is grasping God with the heart." The view of Charles Hodge, like that of Alexander, puts doctrine before Christ, and makes the formal principle, the supremacy of Scripture, superior to the material prin ciple, justification by faith. The Shorter Catechism is better : " Faith in Christ is a sav ing grace, whereby we receive and rest on Mm alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel. " If this relation of faith to the personal Christ had been kept in mind, much religious despondency might have been avoided. Murphy, Natural Selection and Spiritual Freedom, 30, 31, tells us that Frances Ridley Havergal could never fix the date of her conversion. From the age of six to that of fourteen she suffered from relig ious fears, and did not venture to call herself a Christian. It was the result of con founding being at peace with God and being conscious of that peace. So the mother of Frederick Denison Maurice, an admirable and deeply religious woman, endured long and deep mental suffering from doubts as to her personal election. There is a witneSB of the Spirit, with some sinners, that they are not children of God, and this witness is through the truth, though the sinner does not know that it is the Spirit who reveals it to him. We call this work of the Spirit conviction of sin. The witness of the Spirit that we are children of God, and the assurance of faith of which Scripture speaks, are one and the same thing, the former designation only emphasizing the source from which the assurance springs. False assurance is destitute of humility, but true assurance is so absorbed in Christ that self is forgotten. Self-consciousness, and desire to display one's faith, are not marks of true assurance. When we say : " That man has a great deal of assurance," we have in mind the false and self-centered assur ance of the hypocrite or the self -deceiver. Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 231 — ' ' It has been said that any one who can read Edwards's Religious Affections, and still believe in his own conversion, may well have the highest assurance of its reality. But how few there were In Edwards's time who gained the assurance, may be inferred from the circumstance that Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Emmons, disciples of Edwards and religious leaders in New England, remained to the last uncer tain of their conversion." He can attribute this only to the semi-deistic spirit of the time, with its distant God and imperfect apprehension of the omnipresence and omni potence of Christ. Nothing so clearly marks the practical progress of Christianity as the growing faith in Jesus, the only Revealer of God in nature and history as well as in the heart of the believer. As never before, faith comes directly to Christ, abides in him, and finds his promise true : "lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world " ( Mat 28 : 20 ). " Nothing before, nothing behind ; The steps of faith Fall on the seeming void and find The Rock beneath." (d) That faith necessarily leads to good works, since it embraces the whole truth of God so far as made known, and appropriates Christ, not only as an external Savior, but as an internal sanctifying power (Heb. 7 : 15, 16 ; Gal. 5:6). Good works are the proper evidence of faith. The faith which does not lead men to act upon the commands and promises of Christ, or, in other words, does not lead to obedience, is called in Scripture a "dead," that is, an unreal, faith. Such faith is not saving, since it lacks the voluntary ele ment — actual appropriation of Christ (James 2 : 14-26). Heb. 7 : 15, 16 — " another priest, who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life " ; Gal. 5 : 6 — " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith working through love ' ' ; James 2 : 14, 26 — " What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works ? Can that faith save him 7 . , . . For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead." The best evidence that I believe a man's word is that I act upon it. Instance the bank-cashier's assurance to me that a sum of money is deposited with him to my account. If I am a millionaire, the communication may cause me no special joy. My faith in the cashier's word is tested by my going, or not going, for the money. So my faith in Christ is evidenced by my acting upon his commands and promises. We may illustrate also by the lifting of the trolley to the wire, and the resulting light and heat and motion to the car that before stood dark and cold and motionless upon the track. CONVERSION. 847 Salvation by works is like getting to one's destination by pushing the car. True faith depends upon God for energy, but it results in activity of all our powers. Rom. 3 : 28— " We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." We are saved only by faith, yet this faith will be sure to bring forth good works ; see GaL 5 : 6 — " faith working through love." Dead faith might be illustrated by Abraham Lincoln's Mississippi steam boat, whose whistle was so big that, when it sounded, the boat stopped. Confession exhausts the energy, so that none is left for action. A. J. Gordon, The First Thing in the World, or The Primacy of Faith : " David Brain- ard speaks with a kind of suppressed astonishment of what he observed among the degraded North American Indians ; how, preaching to them the good news of salvation through the atonement of Christ and persuading them to accept it by faith, and then hastening on in his rapid missionary tours, he found, on returning upon his track a year or two later, that the fruits of righteousness and sobriety and virtue and broth erly love were everywhere visible, though it had been possible to impart to them only the slightest moral or ethical teaching." (e) That faith, as characteristically the inward act of reception, is not to be confounded with love or obedience, its fruit. Faith is, in the Scriptures, called a work, only in the sense that man's active powers are engaged in it. It is a work which God requires, yet which God enables man to perform (John 6 : 29 — Ipyov tov Qeov. Cf. Bom. 1 : 17 — ducawovvij 6eoi). As the gift of God and as the mere taking of unde served mercy, it is expressly excluded from the category of works upon the basis of which man may claim salvation (Eom. 3 : 28 ; 4 : 4, 5, 16 ). It is not the act of the full soul bestowing, but the act of an empty soul receiv ing. Although this reception is prompted by a drawing of heart toward God inwrought by the Holy Spirit, this drawing of heart is not yet a con scious and developed love: such love is the result of faith (Gal. 5:6). What precedes faith is an unconscious and undeveloped tendency or dispo sition toward God. Conscious and developed affection toward God, or love proper, must always follow faith and be the product of faith. So, too, obedience can be rendered only after faith has laid hold of Christ, and with Viim has obtained the spirit of obedience (Horn. 1 : 5 — iiraicoi)v iriorea( = "obedience resulting from faith " ). Hence faith is not the procuring cause of salvation, but is only the instrumental cause. The procuring cause is the Christ, whom faith embraces. John 6 : 29 — " This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent " ; cf. Rom. 1 : 17 — " Por therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith : as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith " ; Rom, 3:28 — " We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law"; 4:4, 5, 16 — "Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace " ; Gal. 5:6 — "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith working through love " ; Rom. 1:5—" through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations." Faith stands as an intermediate factor between the unconscious and undeveloped tendency or disposition toward God inwrought in the soul by God's regenerating act, on the one hand, and the conscious and developed affection toward God which is one of the fruits and evidences of conversion, on the other. Illustrate by the motherly instinct shown in a little girl's care for her doll,— a motherly instinct which becomes a developed mother's love, only when a child of her own is born. This new love of the Christian is an activity of his own soul, and yet it is a " fruit of the Spirit " ( Gal. 5 : 22 ). To attribute it wholly to himself would be like calling the walking and leaping of the lame man ( Acts 3 : 8 ) merely a healthy activity of his own. For illustration of the priority of faith to love, see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 533, note ; on the relation of faith to love, see Julius MUller, Doct. Sin, 1 : 116, 117. The logical order is therefore : 1. Unconscious and undeveloped love ; 2. Faith in Christ and his truth; 3. Conscious and developed love; 4. Assurance of faith. Faith 848 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. and love act and react upon one another. Each advance in the one leads to a corre sponding advance in the other. But the source of all is in God. God loves, and there fore he gives love to us as well as receives love from us. The unconscious and undeveloped love which he imparts in regeneration is the root of all Christian faith. The Roman Catholic is right in affirming the priority of love to faith, if he means by love only this unconscious and undeveloped affection. But the Protestant is also right in affirming the priority of faith to love, if he means by love a conscious and developed affection. Stevens, Johannine Theology, 368 — " Faith is not a mere passive receptivity. As the acceptance of a divine life, it involves the possession of a new moral energy. Faith works by love. In faith a new life-force is received, and new life-powers stir withiu the Christian man." We must not confound repentance with fruits meet for repentance, nor faith with fruits meet for faith. A. J. Gordon, The First Thing in the World : " Love is the great est thing in the world, but faith is the first. The tree is greater than the root, but let it not boast : 'if thou gloriest, it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee ' ( Rom. 11 : 18 ). Love has no power to branch out and bear fruit, except as, through faith, it is rooted in Christ and draws nourishment from him. 1 Pet. 1:5—' who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time ' ; 1 Cor. 13 : 13 — ' now abideth faith, hope, love ' ; Heb. 10 : 19-25 — ' draw near .... in fulness of faith .... hold fast the confession of our hope .... provoke unto love and good works ' ; Rom. 5 : 1-5 — 'justified by faith .... rejoice in hope .... love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts ' ; 1 Thess. i : 1, 2 — ' work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope.' Faith is the actinio ray, hope the luminiferous ray, love the calorific ray. But faith contains the principle of the divine likeness, as the life of the parent given to the child contains the principle of like ness to the father, and will insure moral and physical resemblance in due time." A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 112 — " ' The love of the Spirit' ( Rom. 15 : 30 ) is the love of the Spirit of Christ, and it is given us for overcoming the world. The divine life is the source of the divine love. Therefore the love of God is ' shed abroad in our hearte by the My Spirit who is given unto us ' ( Rom. 5:5). Because we are by nature so wholly without heavenly affection, God, through the indwelling Spirit, gives us his own love with which to love himself." A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 286, 287, points out that in 2 Cor. 5 : 14 — " the love of Christ constraineth us " — the love of Christ is " not our love to Christ, for that is a very weak and uncertain thing ; nor even Christ's love to us, for that is still something external to us. Each of these leaves a separation between Christ and us, and fails to act as a moving power within Not simply our love to Christ, nor simply Christ's love to us, but rather Christ's love in us, is the love that constrains. This is the thought of the apostle." The first fruit of this love, in its still unconscious and undeveloped state, is faith. (/) That faith is susceptible of increase. This is evident, whether we consider it from the human or from the divine side. As an act of man, it has an intellectual, an emotional, and a voluntary element, each of which is capable of growth. As a work of God in the soul of man, it can receive, through the presentation of the truth and the quick ening agency of the Holy Spirit, continually new accessions of knowledge, sensibility, and active energy. Such increase of faith, therefore, we are to seek, both by resolute exercise of our own powers, and above all, by direct application to the source of faith in God ( Luke 17:5). Luke 17:5— "And the apostles said unto the lord, Increase our faith." The adult Christian has more faith than he had when a child,— evidently there has been increase. 1 Oor. 12 : 8, 9 — " For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom .... to another faith, in the same Spirit" In this latter passage, it seems to be intimated that for special exigencies the Holy Spirit gives to his servants special faith, so that they are enabled to lay hold of the general promise of God and make special application of it. Rom. 8 ; 26, 27 — " the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity .... maketh intercession for us ... . maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God " ; 1 John 5 : 14, 15 — "And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us : and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him." Only when we begin to believe, do we appreciate our lack of faith, and the great need of its increase. The little beginning of light makes known the greatness of the sur rounding darkness. Mark 9:24— "I believe; help thou mine unbelief"— was the utterance of one who recognized both the need of faith and the true source of supply. JUSTIFICATION. 849 On the general subject of Faith, see KBstlin, Die Lehre von dem Glauben, 13-85, 301- 341, and in Jahrbuch f . d. Theol., 4 : 177 eg. ; Romalne on Faith, 9-89 ; Bishop of Ossory, Nature and Effects of Faith, 1-40; Venn, Characteristics of Belief, Introduction; Nitzsch, System of Christ. Doot., 294. IV. Justification. 1. Definition of Justification. By justification we mean that judicial act of God by which, on account of Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith, he declares that sinner to be no longer exposed to the penalty of the law, but to be restored to his favor. Or, to give an alternative definition from which all metaphor is excluded : Justification is the reversal of God's attitude toward the sinner, because of the sinner's new relation to Christ. God did condemn ; he now acquits. He did repel ; he now admits to favor. Justification, as thus defined, is therefore a declarative act, as distin guished from an efficient act ; an act of God external to the sinner, as dis tinguished from an act within the sinner's nature and changing that nature ; a judicial act, as distinguished from a sovereign act ; an act based upon and logically presupposing the sinner's union with Christ, as distinguished from an act which causes and is followed by that union with Christ. The word 'declarative' does not imply a ' spoken ' word on God's part,— much less that the sinner hears God speak. That justification is sovereign, is held by Arminians, and by those who advocate a governmental theory of the atonement. On any such theory, justification must be sovereign ; since Christ bore, not the penalty of the law, but a substituted suffering which God graciously and sovereignly accepts in place of our suffering and obedience. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1100, wrote a tract for the consolation of the dying, who were alarmed on account of sin. The following is an extract from it : " Question. Dost thou believe that the Lord Jesus died for thee 1 Answer. I believe it. Qu. Dost thou thank him for his passion and death ? Ans. I do thank him. Qu. Dost thou believe that thou canst not be saved except by his death ? Ans. I believe it." And then Anselm addresses the dying man : " Come then, while life remaineth in thee ; in his death alone place thy whole trust ; in naught else place any trust ; to his death commit thyself wholly ; with this alone cover thyself wholly ; and if the Lord thy God will to judge thee, say, ' Lord, between thy judgment and me I present the death of our Lord Jesus Christ ; no otherwise can I contend with thee.' And if he shall say that thou art a sinner, say thou : ' Lord, I interpose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between my sins and thee.' If he say that thou hast deserved condemnation, say : ' Lord, I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between my evil deserts and thee, and his merits I offer for those which I ought to have and have not.' If he say that he is wroth with thee, say : ' Lord, I oppose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between thy wrath and me.' And when thou hast completed this, say again : ' Lord, I set the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between thee and me.' " See Anselm, Opera (Migne), 1:686, 687. The above quotation gives us reason to believe that the New Testament doctrine of justi fication by faith was implicitly, if not explicitly, held by many pious souls through all the ages of papal darkness. 2. Proof of the Doctrine of Justification. A Scripture proofs of the doctrine as a whole are the following : Rom, 1 : 17 — "a righteousness of God from faith unto faith " ; 3 : 24-30 — " being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus .... the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. .... justify the circumcision by Mth, and the uncir- cumcision through faith " ; GaL 3 : 11 — " Sow that no man is justified by the law before God, is evident : for, The right eous shall live by faith ; and the law is not of Mth; but, He that doeth them shall live in them"; Eph.l:7— "in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace " ; 54 850 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. Heb. 11:4, 7— "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent saorifice than Cain, through whioh he had witness borne to him that he was righteous. .... By faith Noah .... moved with godly fear, prepared an ark ... . became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith " ; cf. Gen. 15 : 6 — " And he believed in Jehovah ; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness"; Is, 7: 9— "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established"; 28:16— "he that believeth shall not be in haste " ; Hah. 2 : 4 —"the righteous shall live by his faith." Ps. 85 : 8 — "He will speak peace unto his people." God's great word of pardon includes all else. Peace with him implies all the covenant privileges resulting therefrom. lCor.3:21-23— "all things are yours, " because "ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. " This is not salvation by law, nor by ideals, nor by effort, nor by character ; although obedience to law, and a loftier ideal, and unremitting effort, and a pure character, are consequences of justification. Justification is the change in God's attitude toward the sinner which makes all these consequences possible. The only condition of justification is the sinner's faith in Jesus, which merges the life of the sinner in the life of Christ. Paul expresses the truth in Gal 2 : 16, 20 — " Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law I have been crucified with Christ ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me : and that life which I now live in the fiesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me." With these observations and qualifications we may assent to much that is said by Whiton, Divine Satisfaction, 64, who distinguishes between forgiveness and remission : " Forgiveness is the righting of disturbed personal relations. Remission is removal of the consequences which in the natural order of things have resulted from our fault. God forgives all that is strictly personal, but remits nothing that is strictly natural in sin. He imparts to the sinner the power to bear his burden and work off his debt of consequences. Forgiveness is not remission. It is introductory to remission, just as conversion is not salvation, but introductory to salvation. The prodigal was received by his father, but he could not recover his lost patrimony. He could, however, have been led by penitence to work so hard that he earned more than he had lost. " Here is an element in justification which Protestantism has ignored, and which Romanism has tried to retain. Debts must be paid to the uttermost farthing. The scars of past sins must remain forever. Forgiveness converts the persistent energy of past sin from a destructive to a constructive power. There is a transformation of energy into a new form. Genuine repentance spurs us up to do what we can to make up for time lost and for wrong done. The sinner is clothed anew with moral power. We are all to be judged by our works. That Paul had been a blasphemer was ever stimulating him to Christian endeavor. The faith which receives Christ is a peculiar spirit, a certain moral activity of love and obedience. It is not mere reliance on what Christ was and did, but active endeavor to become and to do like him. Human justice takes hold of deeds ; divine righteousness deals with character. Justification by faith is justification by spirit and inward principle, apart from the merit of works or per formances, but never without these. God's charity takes the will for the deed. This is not justification by outward conduct, as the Judaizers thought, but by the godly spirit." If this new spirit be the Spirit of Christ to whom faith has united the soul, we can accept the statement. There is danger however of conceiving this spirit as purely man's own, and justification as not external to the sinner nor as the work of God, but as the mere name for a subjective process by which man justifies himself. B. Scripture use of the special words translated " justify " and " justifi cation" in the Septuagint and in the New Testament. ( a ) SiKaida — uniformly, or with only a single exception, signifies, not to make righteous, but to declare just, or free from guilt and exposure to pun ishment. The only O. T. passage where this meaning is questionable is Dan. 12 : 3. But even here the proper translation is, in all probability, not •they that turn many to righteousness,' but 'they that justify many,' i. e., cause many to be justified. For the Hiphil force of the verb, see Girdle- stone, O. T. Syn., 257, 258, and Delitzsch on Is. 53 : 11 ; cf. James 5 :19, 20. O. T. texts : Ei. 23 : 7 — " I will not justify the wicked ' ' ; Beut. 25 : 1 — " they [ the judges ] shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wioked "; Job 27 : 5 — " Far be it from me that I should justify you " ; Ps. 143 : 2 — " in thy Bight no man living is righteous " ; Prov. 17 : 15 — " le that justifieth the wioked, and he that oondemneth the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah "; Is. 5 : 23 —"that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the ighteousness of the righteous from him"; 50:8 — "He is near that justifieth me " ; 53 : 11 — " by the knowledge of JUSTIFICATION. 851 himself shall my righteous servant justify many ; and he shall bear their iniquities " ; Dan. 12 : 3 — " and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever " ( ' they that justify many,' i. e., cause many to be justified ) ; cf . James 5 : 19, 20 — " My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him ; let him knew, that he who oonverteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins," The Christian minister absolves from sin, only as he marries a couple : he does not Join them, — he only declares them joined. So he declares men forgiven, if they have complied with the appointed divine conditions. Marriage may be invalid where these conditions are lacking, but the minister's absolution is of no account where there is no repentance of sin and faith in Christ ; see G. D. Boardman, The Church, 178. We are ever to remember that the term justification is a forensic term which presents the change of God's attitude toward the sinner in a pictorial way derived from the pro cedure of earthly tribunals. The fact is larger and more vital than the figure used to describe it. McConnell, Evolution of Immortality, 134, 135 — " Christ's terms are biological ; those of many theologians are legal. It may be ages before we recover from the misfortune of having had the truth of Christ interpreted and fixed by jurists and logicians, instead of by naturalists and men of science. It is much as though the rationale of the circula tion of the blood had been wrought out by Sir Matthew Hale, or the germ theory of disease interpreted by Blackstone, or the doctrine of evolution formulated by a legis lative council The Christ is intimately and vitally concerned with the eternal life of men, but the question involved is of their living or perishing, not of a system of judi cial rewards and penalties." We must remember however that even biology gives us only one side of the truth. The forensic conception of justification furnishes its com plement and has Its rights also. The Scriptures represent both sides of the truth. Paul gives us the judicial aspect, John the vital aspect, of justification. In Bom. 6:7 — !> yap airo^avbrv ieSmalurrai atrb ttJc dfiaprlac; = ' he that once died with Christ was acquitted from the service of sin considered as a pen ality.' In 1 Cor. 4 : 4 — ovdiv yap k^avrijt avvoida. a/XV ova kv Tovrt^ deditcaiofuu = ' I am conscious of no fault, but that does not in itself make certain God's acquittal as respects this particular charge. ' The usage of the epistle of James does not contradict this ; the doctrine of James is that we are justi fied only by such faith as makes us faithful and brings forth good works. " He uses the word exclusively in a judicial sense ; he combats a mistaken view of kIotic, not a mistaken view of 6mat6o "; see James 2 : 21, 23, 24, and Cremer, N. T. Lexicon, Eng. trans., 182, 183. The only N. T. passage where this meaning is questionable is Bev. 22 :11 ; but here Alford, with X, A and B, reads diKaioaivjjv iroiT/aaTa. N. T. texts : Mat. 12 : 37— "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned"; Luke 7: 29 — "And all the people .... justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John"; 10:29 — "But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor ? " 16 : 15 — " Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men ; but God knoweth your hearts " ; 18 : 14 — " This man went down to his house justified rather than the other"; cf. 13 (lit.) "God, be thou propitiated toward me the sinner"; Rom. 4:6-8 — "Even as David also pronounoeth blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works, saying, Blessed are they whcse iniqui ties are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin " ; cf. Ps. 32 : 1, 2, — "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity. And in whose spirit there is no guile." Rom. 5:18, 19 — "So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation ; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous " ; 8 : 33, 34 — " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth ; who is he that oondemneth 7 " 2 Cor. 5 : 19, 21 — "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses. .... Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God [ God's justi fied persons ] in him "; Rom. 6 : 7 — " he that hath died is justified from sin " ; 1 Cor. 4:4—" For I know nothing against myself ; yet am I not hereby justified : but he that judgeth me is the lord " ( on this last text, see Expositor's Greek Testament, in loco ). James 2 : 21, 23, 24 — " Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaao his son upon the altar? .... Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness le see that by works 852 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OE SALVATION. a man is justified, and not only by faith. " James is denouncing a dead faith, while Paul is speak ing of the necessity of a living faith; or, rather, James is describing the nature of faith, while Paul is describing the instrument of justification. " They are like two men beset by a couple of robbers. Back to back each strikes out against the robber oppo site him,— each having a different enemy in his eye " ( Wm. M. Taylor ). Neander on James 2 : 14-26 — " James is denouncing mere adhesion to an external law, trust in intellect ual possession of it. With him, law means an inward principle of life. Paul, contrast ing law as he does with faith, commonly means by law mere external divine requisition, .... James does not deny salvation to him who has faith, but only to him who falsely professes to have. When he says that 'by works a man is justified,' he takes into account the outward manifestation only, speaks from the point of view of human consciousness. In works only does faith show itself as genuine and complete." Rev. 22:11 — "he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still " — not, as the A. V. seemed to imply, " he that is just, let him be justified still " — i. e., made subjectively holy. Christ is the great Physician. The physician says : " If you wish to be cured, you must trust me." The patient replies : " I do trust you fully." But the physician con tinues : " If you wish to be cured, you must take my medicines and do as I direct." The patient objects : ' ' But I thought I was to be cured by trust in you. Why lay such stress on what I do ? " The physician answers : " Tou must show your trust in me by your action. Trust in me, without action in proof of trust, amounts to nothing " ( S. S. Times ). Doing without a physician is death ; hence Paul says works cannot save. Trust in the physician implies obedience ; hence James says faith without works is dead. Crane, Religion of To-morrow, 152-155— "Paul insists on apple-tree righteousness, and warns us against Christmas-tree righteousness." Sagebeer, The Bible in Court, 77, 78— " By works, Paul means works of law ; James means by works, works of faith." Hovey, in The Watchman, Aug. 27, 1891 — " A difference of emphasis, occasioned chiefly by the different religious perils to which readers were at the time exposed." (&) iucalamt — is the act, in process, of declaring a man just, — that is, acquitted from guilt and restored to the divine favor ( Bom. 4 : 25 ; 5 : 18 ). Rom. 4 : 25 — " who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification " ; 5 : 18 — " onto at men to justification of life." GrifBth-Jones, Ascent through Christ, 367, 368— " Raised for our justification"— Christ's death made our justification possible, but it did not consum mate it. Through his rising from the dead he was able to come into that relationship to the believer which restores the lost or interrupted sonship. In the church the fact of the resurrection is perpetuated, and the idea of the resurrection is realized. (c) 6imioua — is the act, as already accomplished, of declaring a man just, — that is, no longer exposed to penalty, but restored to God's favor ( Bom. 5 : 16, 18 ; cf. 1 Tim. 3 : 16 ). Hence, in other connections, Simiafia has the meaning of statute, legal decision, act of justice ( Luke 1:6; Bom. 2:26; Heb. 9:1). Rom. 5: 16, 18— "of many trespasses unto justification .... through one act of righteousness"; cf. 1 Tim. 3: 16 "justified in the spirit." The distinction between SunuWi; and iucaiaiLa. may be illustrated by the distinction between poesy and poem,— the former denoting something in process, an ever-working spirit; the latter denoting something fully accomplished, a completed work. Hence Suauupa is used in Luke 1:6 — "ordinances of the Lord"; Rom. 2: 26 "ordinances of the law " ; lob. 1 : 9 — " ordinances of divine service." (d) duauoovvy — is the state of one justified, or declared just ( Rom. 8 : 10 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 30). In Bom. 10 : 3, Paul inveighs against ttjv ISlav 6imiooimiv as insufficient and false, and in its place would put rfp> tov Qeov Suauoavviyv, that is, a ducaioavvtj which God not only requires, but provides ; which is not only acceptable to God, but proceeds from God, and is appropriated by faith, — hence called dimioovwi vr/ureac or sk Ktoreag, "The primary significa tion of the word, in Paul's writings, is therefore that state of the behever which is called forth by God's act of acquittal,— the state of the behever as justified," that is, freed from punishment and restored to the divine favor. JUSTIFICATION. 853 Rom. 8:10— "the spirit is life because of righteousness" 1 Cor. 1 : 30 —"Christ Jesus, who was made unto us .... righteousness " ; Rom. 10 : 3 — " being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God." Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 512 — " The 'righteousness of God ' is the active and passive obedience of incarnate God." See, on Suauaavvri, Cremer, N. T. Lexicon, Eng. trans., 174; Meyer on Romans, trans., 68-70 — " Sutaioo-uio) 0eoS (gen. of origin, emanation from ) = Tightness whioh proceeds from God — the relation of being right into which man is put by God ( by an act of God declaring him righteous )." E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 304 — " When Paul addressed those who trusted in their own righteousness, he presented salvation as attainable only through faith in another ; when he addressed Gentiles who were conscious of their need of a helper, the forensic imagery is not employed. Scarce a trace of it appears in his discourses as recorded in the Acts, and it is noticeably absent from all the epistles except the Romans and the Galatians." Since this state of acquittal is accompanied by changes in the character and conduct, Simioavvrj comes to mean, secondarily, the moral condition of the behever as resulting from this acquittal and inseparably connected with it ( Bom. 14 : 17 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 21 ). This righteousness arising from justifica tion becomes a principle of action ( Mat. 3 : 15 ; Acts 10 : 35 ; Bom. 6 : 13, 18). The term, however, never loses its implication of a justifying act upon which this principle of action is based. Rom. 14: 17 — "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"; 2 Cor. 5 : 21 — "that we might beoome the righteousness of God in him"; Mat.3:15 — "Suffer it now: for thus it beoometh us to fulfil all righteousness" ; Acts 10: 35 — "in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him " ; Rom. 6:13 — "present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Meyer on Rom. 3:23 — " Every mode of concep tion which refers redemption and the forgiveness of sins, not to a real atonement through the death of Christ, but subjectively to the dying and reviving with him guar anteed and produced by that death ( Schleiermacher, Nitzsch, Hof mann ), is opposed to the N. T.,— a mixing up of justification and sanctification." On these Scripture terms, see Bp. of Ossory, Nature and Effects of Faith, 436-496 ; Lange, Com., on Romans 3 : 24 ; Buchanan on Justification, 226-249. Versus Moehler, Sym bolism, 102 — " The forgiveness of sins .... is undoubtedly a remission of the guilt and the punishment which Christ hath taken and borne upon himself ; but it is likewise the transfusion of his Spirit into us " ; Newman, Lectures on Justification, 68-143 ; Knox, Remains ; N. W. Taylor, Revealed Theology, 310-372. It is a great mistake in method to derive the meaning of Sucaiot from that of Sucaioo-wij, and not vice versa. Wm. Arnold Stevens, In Am. Jour. Theology, April, 1897 — " Si/caioo-uVij, righteousness, in all its meanings, whether ethical or forensic, has back of it the idea of law ; also the idea of violated law ; it derives its forensic sense from the verb Siieaidw and its cognate noun SiKaitaais ; SiKaioovvrt therefore is legal acceptableness, the status before the law of a pardoned sinner." Denney, in Expos. Gk. Test., 2:565— "In truth, 'sin,' 'the law,' 'the curse of the law,' ' death,' are names for something which belongs not to the Jewish but to the human conscience ; and it is only because this is so that the gospel of Paul is also a gospel for us. Before Christ came and redeemed the world, all men were at bottom on the same footing : Pharisaism, legalism, moralism, or whatever it is called, is in the last resort the attempt to be good without God, to achieve a righteousness of our own, without an initial aJl-inclusive immeasurable debt to him ; in other words, without submitting, as sinful men must submit, to be justified by faith apart from works of our own, and to find in that justification, and in that only, the spring and impulse of all good." It is worthy of special observation that, in the passages cited above, the terms "justify" and "justification" are contrasted, not with the process of depraving or corrupting, but with the outward act of condemning ; and that the expressions used to explain and illustrate them are all derived, not from the inward operation of purifying the soul or infusing into it righteousness, but from the procedure of courts in their judgments, or of offended persons in their forgiveness of offenders. We conclude that these terms, wherever 854 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE 01 SALTATION. they have reference to the sinner's relation to God, signify a declarative and judicial act of God, external to the sinner, and not an efficient and sovereign act of God changing the sinner's nature and making him subjectively righteous. In the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, session 6, chap. 9 is devoted to the refutation of the " inanis haereticorum flducia " ; and Canon 12 of the session anathe matizes those who say: "fidem justificantem nihil aliud esse quam nduciam divinse misericordiae, peccata remittentis propter Christum"; or that "justifying faith is nothing but trust in the divine mercy which pardons sins for Christ's sake." The Roman Catholio doctrine on the contrary maintains that the ground of justification is not simply the faith by which the sinner appropriates Christ and his atoning work, but is also the new love and good works wrought within him by Christ's Spirit. This intro duces a subjective element which is foreign to the Scripture doctrine of justification. Dr. E. G. Robinson taught that justification consists of three elements : 1. Acquittal ; 2. Restoration to favor ; 3. Infusion of righteousness. In this he accepted a fundamental error of Romanism. He says : " Justification and sanctification are not to be distin. guished as chronologically and statically different. Justification and righteousness are the same thing from different points of view. Pardon is not a mere declaration of for giveness — a merely arbitrary thing. Salvation introduces a new law into our sinful nature which annuls the law of sin and destroys its penal and destructive consequences. Forgiveness of sins must be in itself a gradual process. The final consequences of a man's sins are written indelibly upon his nature and remain forever. When Christ said : 'Thy sins are forgiven thee ', it was an objective statement of a subjective fact. The person was already in a state of li ving relation to Christ. The gospel is damnation to the damnable, and invitation, love and mercy to those who feel their need of it. We are saved through the enforcement of law on every one of us. Forgiveness consists in the removal from consciousness of a sense of ill-desert. Justification, aside from its forensic use, is a transformation and a promotion. Sense of forgiveness is a sense of relief from a hated habit of mind." This seems to us dangerously near to a denial that j ustlflcation is an act of God, and to an affirmation that it is simply a subjective change in man's condition. E. H. Johnson : " If Dr. Robinson had been content to say that the divine flat of justification had the man ward effect of regeneration, he would have been correct ; for the verdict would be empty without this manward efficacy. But unfortunately, he made the effect a part of the cause, identifying the divine justification with its human fruition, the clearance of the past with the provision for the future." We must grant that the words inward and outward are misleading, for God is not under the law of space, and the soul itself is not in space. Justification takes place just as much in man as outside of him. Justification and regeneration take place at the same moment, but logically God's act of renewing is the cause and God's act of approving is the effect. Or we may say that regeneration and justification are both of them effects of our union with Christ. Luke 1 : 37 —"For no wordfrom God shall be voidof power." Regeneration and justifica tion may be different aspects of God's turning — his turning us, and his turning himself. But it still is true that justification is a change in God and uot in the creature. 3. Elements of Justification. These are two : A. Bemission of punishment. ( a ) God acquits the ungodly who believe in Christ, and declares them just. This is not to declare them innocent, — that would be a judgment contrary to truth. It declares that the demands of the law have been satis fied with regard to them, and that they are now free from its condemnation. Rom. 4 : 5 — "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness"; cf. John 3: 16 —"gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish " ; see page 856, (a), and Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 549. Rom. 5:1— "Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God " — not subjective peace or quietness of mind, but objective peace or reconciliation, the opposite of the state of war, In which we are subject to the divine wrath. Dale, Ephesians, 67— "Forgiveness may be defined: 1. in personal terms, as JUSTIFICATION. 855 a cessation of the anger or moral resentment of God against sin ; 2. in ethical terms, as a release from the guilt of sin which oppresses the conscience ; 3, in legal terms, as a remission of the punishment of sin, which is eternal death." ( b ) This acquital, in so far as it is the act of God as judge or executive, administering law, may be denominated pardon. In so far as it is the act of God as a father personally injured and grieved by sin, yet showing grace to the sinner, it is denominated forgiveness. Uicah 7 : 18 — " Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage 7 " Ps. 130 : 4 — "But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayst be feared." It is hard for us to understand God's f eeling toward sin. Forgiveness seems easy to us, largely because we are indifferent toward sin. But to the holy One, to whom sin is the abominable thing which he hates, forgiveness involves a fundamental change of relation, and nothing but Christ's taking the penalty of sin upon him can make it possible. B. Fay Mills : "A tender spirited follower of Jesus Christ said to me, not long ago, that it had taken him twelve years to forgive an injury that had been committed against him." How much harder for God to forgive, since he can never become indifferent to the nature of the transgression I ( c ) In an earthly tribunal, there is no acquittal for those who are proved to be transgessors, — for such there is only conviction and punishment. But in God's government there is remission of punishment for believers, even though they are confessedly offenders ; and, in justification, God declares this remission. There is no forgiveness in nature. F. W. Robertson preached this. But he ignored the vis medicatrix of the gospel, in which forgiveness is offered to all. The natural con science says : " I must pay my debt." But the believer finds that " Jesus paid it all." Illustrate by the poor man, who on coming to pay his mortgage finds that the owner at death had ordered it to be burned, so that now there is nothing to pay. Ps. 34:22— "Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants, And none of them that take refuge in him shall be condemned." A child disobeys his father and breaks his arm. His sin involves two penalties, the alienation from his father and the broken arm. The father, on repentance, may forgive his child. The personal relation is re-established, but the broken bone is not therefore at once reknit. The father's forgiveness, however, will assure the father's help toward complete healing. So justification does not ensure the immediate removal of all the natural consequences of our sins. It does ensure present reconciliation and future perfection. Clarke, Christian Theology, 364 — " Justification is not equivalent to acquit tal, for acquittal declares that the man has not done wrong. Justification is rather the acceptance of a man, on sufficient grounds, although he has done wrong." As the Ply mouth Brethren say : "Itisnotthe sin-question, but the Sow-question." "Their sinsand their iniquities will I remember no more " ( leb. 10:17). The father did not allow the prodigal to com plete the confession he had prepared to make, but interrupted him, and dwelt only upon his return home ( Luke 15 : 22 ). ( d ) The declaration that the sinner is no longer exposed to the penalty of law, has its ground, not in any satisfaction of the law's demand on the part of the sinner himself, but solely in the bearing of the penalty by Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith. Justification, in its first element, is therefore that act by which God, for the sake of Christ, acquits the transgressor and suffers him to go free. Acts 13 : 38, 39 — " Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto yon remission of sins : and by him [lit. : ' in him ' ] every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses ' ' ; Rom. 3 : 24, 26 — " being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus .... that he might himself e just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" ; 1 Cor. 6 : 11 — " but ye were justified In the name of the Lord Jesus"; Eph. 1:7 — "in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace." This acquittal is not to be conceived of as the sovereign act of a Governor, but rather as a judicial procedure. Christ secures a new trial for those already condemned — a trial 856 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. in which he appears for the guilty, and sets over against their sin his own righteous ness, or rather shows them to be righteous in him. C. H. M. : " When Balak seeks to curse the seed of Abraham, it is said of Jehovah : ' He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Neither halh he seen perverseness in Israel ' ( Num. 23 : 21 ). When Satan stands forth to rebuke Joshua, the word is: 'Jehovah rebuke thee, 0 Satan .... is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?' (Zeoh.3:2). Thus he ever puts himself between his people and every tongue that would accuse them. 'Touch not mine anointed ones,' he says, 'and do my prophets no harm' (Ps. 405:15). 'It is God that justifieth ; who is he that oondemneth?' (Rom. 8 : 33, 34)." It is not sin, then, that condemns,— it is the failure to ask pardon for sin, through Christ. Hlustrate by the ring presented by Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex. Queen Elizabeth did not forgive the penitent Countess of Notting ham for withholding the ring of Essex which would have purchased his pardon. She shook the dying woman and cursed her, even while she was imploring forgiveness. There is no such failure of mercy in God's administration. Kaftan, in Am. Jour. Theology, 4:698 — "The peculiar characteristic of Christian experience is the forgiveness of sins, or reconciliation— a forgiveness which is con ceived as an unmerited gift of God, which is bestowed on man independently of his own moral worthiness. Other religions have some measure of revelation, but Chris tianity alone has the clear revelation of this forgiveness, and this is accepted by faith. And forgiveness leads to a better ethics than any religion of works can show." B. Bestoration to favor. (a) Justification is more than remission or acquittal. These would leave the sinner simply in the position of a discharged criminal, — law requires a positive righteousness also. Besides deliverance from punish ment, justification implies God's treatment of the sinner as if he were, and had been, personally righteous. The justified person receives not only remission of penalty, but the rewards promised to obedience. Luke 15 : 22-24 — " Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him ; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet : and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry : for this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found ' ' ; John 3 : 16 — " gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should .... have eternal life " ; Rom. 5:1,2 — " Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesns Christ ; through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand ; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God " — " this grace " being a permanent state of divine favor ; 1 Cor. 1 : 30 — " But of nun are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemp tion : that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord " ; 2 Cor. 5 : 21 — " that we might become the righteousness of God in him." Gal, 3 : 6 — " Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness " ; Eph. 2:7 — " the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus"; 3: 12 — "in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him " ; Phil. 3: 8, 9 — "I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord .... the righteousness which is from God by faith " ; CoL 1 : 22 — " reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreprovable before him " ; Tit. 3 : 4, 7 — "the kindness of God our Savior .... that, being justified by bis grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" ; Rev. 19 : 8 — " And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure : for the fine linen is ene righteous acts of the saints." Justification is setting one right before law. But law requires not merely freedom from offence negatively, but all manner of obedience and likeness to God positively. Since justification is in Christ and by virtue of the believer's union with Christ, it puts the believer on the same footing before the law that Christ is on, namely, not only acquittal but favor. 1 Tim. 3 : 16— Christ was himself "justified in the spirit," and the believer partakes of his justification and of the whole of it, i. e., not only acquittal but favor. Acts 13 : 39— "in him every one that believeth is justified " i. e., in Christ ; 1 Cor. 6 :li — "justified in the name Of the Lord Jesns Christ" ; Gal. 4:5 — "that we might receive the adoption of sons" — a part of justification ; Rom. 5:11 — "through whom we have now received the reconciliation" — in justification ; 2 Cor, 5:21 — "that we might become the righteousness of God in him " ; PhiL 3:9— 'the righteousnes whioh is from God by faith " ; John 1:12— "to them gave he the right to become children of God"— emphasis on "gave" — intimation that the "becoming ohildren" is not subsequent to the justification, but is a part of it. Ellicott on Tit. 3 : 7 — " Bucaiodivres, 'justified,' in the usual and more strict theological sense ; not however as implying only a mere outward non-imputation of sin, but as involving a ' mutationem status,' an acceptance into new privileges, and an enjoyment of the benefits thereof ( Waterland, Justif , vol. vi, p. 5 ) ; in the words of the same writer : JUSTIFICATION. 857 ' Justification cannot be conceived without some work of the Spirit in conferring a title to salvation.' " The prisoner who has simply served out his term escapes without fur ther punishment and that is all. But the pardoned man receives back in his pardon the full rights of citizenship, can again vote, serve on juries, testify in court, and exer cise all his individual liberties, as the discharged convict cannot. The Society of Friends is so called, not because they are friends to one another, but because they regard them selves as friends of God. So, in the Middle Ages, Master Eckart, John Tauler, Henry Suso, called themselves the friends of God, after the pattern of Abraham ; 2 Chron. 20:7 — " Abraham thy friend " ; James 2: 23 — "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness ; and he was called the friend of God " , i. e. , one not merely acquitted from the charge of sin, but also admitted into favor and intimacy with God. ( 6 ) This restoration to favor, viewed in its aspect as the renewal of a broken friendship, is denominated reconciliation ; viewed in its aspect as a renewal of the soul's true relation to God as a father, it is denominated adoption. John 1 : 12 —"But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to beoome children of God, even to them tha believe on his name " ; Rom. 5 : 11 —"and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation " ; Gal. 4 : 4, 5 — "born under the law, that he might redeem them tha* were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons ' ' ; Eph. 1:5—" having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself" ; cf. Rom. 8 : 23 — " even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body " — that is, this adoption is completed, so far as the body is concerned, at the resurrection. Luther called Psalms32, 51, 130, 143, "the Pauline Psalms," because these declare forgive ness to be granted to the believer without law and without works. Ps. 130 : 3, 4— "If thou, Jehovah, shouldst mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee. That thou mayest be feared "is followed by verses 7, 8— "0 Israel, hope in Jehovah; For with Jehovah there is lovingkindness, And with him is plenteous redemption. And ho will redeem Israel Prom all his iniquities." Whitefleld was rebuked for declaring in a discourse that Christ would receive even the devil's castaways ; but that very day, while at dinner at Lady Huntington's, he was called out to meet two women who were sinners, and to whose broken hearts and blasted lires that remark gave hope and healing. ( c ) In an earthly pardon there are no special helps bestowed upon the pardoned. There are no penalties, but there are also no rewards ; law can not claim anything of the discharged, but then they also can claim nothing of the law. But what, though greatly needed, is left unprovided by human government, God does provide. In justification, there is not only acquittal, but approval ; not only pardon, but promotion. Eemission is never sepa rated from restoration. After serving a term in the penitentiary, the convict goes out with a stigma upon him and with no friends. His past conviction and disgrace follow him. He cannot obtain employment. He cannot vote. Want often leads him to commit crime again ; and then the old conviction is brought up as proof of bad character, and increases his punishment. Need of Friendly Inns and Refuges for discharged criminals. But the justified sinner is differently treated. He is not only delivered from God's wrath and eternal death, but he is admitted to God's favor and eternal life. The discovery of this is partly the cause of the convert's joy. Expecting pardon, at most, he is met with unmeasured favor. The prodigal finds the father's house and heart open to him, and more done for him than if he had never wandered. This overwhelms and subdues him. The two elements, acquittal and restoration to favor, are never separated. Like the expulsion of darkness and restoration of light, they always go together. No one can have, even if he would have, an incomplete justification. Christ's justification is ours ; and, as Jesus' own seamless tunic could not be divided, so the robe of righteousness which he provides cannot be cut in two. Failure to apprehend this positive aspect of justification as restoration to favor is the reason why so many Christians have little joy and little enthusiasm in their religious lives. The preaehing of the magnanimity and generosity of God makes the gospel "the power of God unto salvation "( Rom. 1:16). Edwin M. Stanton had ridden roughshod over Abra ham Lincoln in the conduct of a case at law in which they had been joint counsel. 858 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OE SALVATION. Stanton had become vindictive and even violent when Lincoln was made President. But Lincoln invited Stanton to be Secretary of War, and he sent the Invitation by Harding, who knew of all this former trouble. When Stanton heard it, he said with streaming eyes : " Do you tell me, Harding, that Mr. Lincoln sent this message to me? Tell him that such magnanimity will make me work with him as man was never served before ! " (d) The declaration that the sinner is restored to God's favor, has its ground, not in the sinner's personal character or conduct, but solely in the obedience and righteousness of Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith. Thus Christ's work is the procuring cause of our justification, in both its elements. As we are acquitted on account of Christ's suffering of the penalty of the law, so on account of Christ's obedience we receive the rewards of law. All this comes to us in Christ. We participate in the rewards promised to his obedi ence: John 20 .-31— "that believing ye may have life in his name"; ICor. 3:21-23— "For all things are yours; .... all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." Denovan, Toronto Baptist, Dec. 1883, maintains that " grace operates in two ways : ( 1 ) for the rebel it provides a scheme of justification,— this is judicial, matter of debt; (2) for the child it provides pardon,— fatherly forgiveness on repentance." Heb. 7:19— "the law made nothing perfect .... a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through whioh we draw nigh unto God." This " better hope " is offered to us in Christ's death and resurrection. The veil of the temple was the symbol of separation from God. The rending of that veil was the symbol on the one hand that sin had been atoned for, and on the other hand that unrestricted access to God was now permitted us in Christ the great forerunner. Bonar's hymn, " Jesus, whom angel hosts adore," has for its concluding stanza : "'T is finished all : the veil is rent. The welcome sure, the access free : — Now then, we leave our banishment, 0 Father, to return to thee ! " See pages 749 (b), 770 (7i). James Russell Lowell : " At the devil's booth all things are sold. Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold ; For a cap and bells our lives we pay : Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking ; 'T is heaven alone that is given away, 'T is only God may be had for the asking." John G. Whittier : " The hour draws near, howe'er delayed and late, When at the Eternal Gate, We leave the words and works we call our own, And lift void hands alone For love to fill. Our nakedness of soul Brings to that gate no toll ; Giftless we come to him who all things gives, And live because he lives." H. B. Smith, System of Christian Doctrine, 523, 524 — " Justification and pardon are not the same in Scripture. We object to the view of Emmons ( Works, vol. 5 ), that ' jus tification is no more nor less than pardon,' and that ' God rewards men for their own, and not Christ's, obedience,' for the reason that the words, as used in common life, relate to wholly different things. If a man is declared just by a human tribunal, he is not pardoned, he is acquitted ; his own inherent righteousness, as respects the charge against him, is recognized and declared. The gospel proclaims both pardon and justifi cation. There is no significance in the use of the word 'justify,' if pardon be all that is intended. . . . " Justification involves what pardon does not, a righteousness which is the ground of the acquittal and favor ; not the mere favor of the sovereign, but the merit of Christ, is at the basis — the righteousness which is of God. The ends of the law are so far sat isfied by what Christ has done, that the sinner can be pardoned. The law is not merely set aside, but its great ends are answered by what Christ has done in our behalf. God might pardon as a sovereign, from mere benevolence ( as regard to happiness ) ; but in the gospel he does more,— he pardons in consistency withhiB holiness,— upholding that as the main end of all his dealings and works. Justification involves acquittal from all the penalty of the law, and the inheritance of all the blessings of the redeemed state. The penalty of the law— spiritual, temporal, eternal death— is all taken away; and the opposite blessings are conferred, in and through Christ— the resurrection to blessed ness, the gift of the Spirit, and eternal life. . . . " If justification is forgiveness simply, it applies only to the past. If it is also a title to life, it includes the future condition of the soul. The latter alone is consistent with the plan and decrees of God respecting redemption — his seeing the end from the beginning. The reason why justification has been taken as pardon is two-fold : first, it does involve JUSTIFICATION. 859 pardon,— this is its negative side, while it has a positive side also— the title to eternal life ; secondly, the tendency to resolve the gospel into an ethical system. Only our acts of choice as meritorious could procure a title to favor, a positive reward. Christ might remove the obstacle, but the title to heaven is derived only from what we ourselves do. " Justification is, therefore, not a merely governmental provision, as it must be on any scheme that denies that Christ's work has direct respect to the ends of the law- Views of the atonement determine the views on justification, if logical sequence is observed. We have to do here, not with views of natural justice, but with divine methods. If we regard the atonement simply as answering the ends of a governmental scheme, our view must be that justification merely removes an obstacle, and the end of it is only pardon, and not eternal life." But upon the true view, that the atonement is a complete satisfaction to the holiness of God, justification embraces not merely pardon, or acquittal from the punishments of law, but also restoration to favor, or the rewards promised to actual obedience. See also Quenstedt, 3 : 524 ; Philippi, Active Obedience of Christ ; Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 432, 433. 4. Relation of Justification to God's Law and Holiness. A. Justification has been shown to be a forensic term. A man may, indeed, be conceived of as just, in either of two senses : ( a ) as just in moral character, — that is, absolutely holy in nature, disposition, and con duct; (6) as just in relation to law, — or as free from all obligation to suffer penalty, and as entitled to the rewards of obedience. So, too, a man may be conceived of as justified, in either of two senses : ( a) made just in moral character ; or, ( 6 ) made just in his relation to law. But the Scriptures declare that there does not exist on earth a just man, in the first of these senses ( Eccl. 7 : 20). Even in those who are renewed in moral character and united to Christ, there is a remnant of moral depravity. If, therefore, there be any such thing as a just man, he must be just, not in the sense of possessing an unspotted holiness, but in the sense of being delivered from the penalty of law, and made partaker of its rewards. If there be any such thing as justification, it must be, not an act of God which renders the sinner absolutely holy, but an act of God which declares the sinner to be free from legal penalties and entitled to legal rewards. Justus is derived from jus, and suggests the idea of courts and legal procedures. The fact that 'justify' is derived from Justus and /acio, and might therefore seem to imply the making of a man subjectively righteous, should not blind us to its forensic use. The phrases "sanctify the Holy One of Jacob" (Is. 29 : 23; cf. 1 Pet. 3: 15 — "sanctify in your hearts Christ as lord") and "glorify God" (1 Cor. 6:20) do not mean, to make God subjectively holy or glorious, for this he is, whatever we may do ; they mean rather, to declare, or show, him to be holy or glorious. So justification is not making a man righteous, or even pronouncing him righteous, for no man is subjectively righteous. It is rather to count him righteous so far as respects his relations to law, to treat him as righteous, or to declare that God will, for reasons assigned, so treat him ( Payne ). So long as any remnant of sin exists, no justification, in the sense of making holy, can be attributed to man : EccL 7 : 20— "Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." If no man is just, in this sense, then God cannot pronounce him just, for God cannot lie. Justification, therefore, must signify a deliverance from legal penalties, and an assignment of legal rewards. O. P. Gilford : There is no such thing as "salvation by character " ; what men need is salva tion from character. The only sense in which salvation by character is rational or Scriptural is that suggested by George Harris, Moral Evolution, 409— "Salvation by oharacter is not self -righteousness, but Christ in us. " But even here it must be remem bered that Christ in us presupposes Christ for us. The objective atonement for sin must come before the subjective purification of our natures. And justification is upon the ground of that objective atonement, and not upon the ground of the subjective cleansing. 860 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. The Jews had a proverb that if only one man could perfectly keep the whole law even for one day, the kingdom of Messiah would at once come upon the earth. This is to state in another form the doctrine of Paul, in Rom. 7:9—" When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." To recognize the impossibility of being justified by Pharisaic works was a preparation for the gospel ; see Bruce, Apologetics, 419. The Germans speak of Werk-, Lehre-, Buchstaben-, Negations-, Parteigerechtigkeit ; but all these are forms of self- righteousness. Berridge : " A man may steal some gems from the crown of Jesus and be guilty only of petty larceny, .... but the man who would justify himself by his own works steals the crown itself, puts it on his own head, and proclaims himself by his own conquests a king in Zion." B. The difficult feature of justification is the declaration, on the part of God, that a sinner whose remaining sinfulness seems to necessitate the vin dicative reaction of God's holiness against him, is yet free from such reaction of holiness as is expressed in the penalties of the law. The fact is to be accepted on the testimony of Scripture. If this testimony be not accepted, there is no deliverance from the condemnation of law. But the difficulty of conceiving of God's declaring the sinner no longer exposed to legal penalty is relieved, if not removed, by the three-fold consideration : ( a ) That Christ has endured the penalty of the law in the sinner's stead. Gal 3 : 13 — "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having beoome a curse for us." Denovan : " We are justified by faith, instrumentally, in the same sense as a debt is paid by a good note or a check on a substantial account in a distant bank. It is only the intelligent and honest acceptance of justification already provided." Rom. 8:3 — "God, sending his own Son .... condemned sin in the flesh "=the believer's sins were judged and condemned on Calvary. The way of pardon through Christ honors God's justice as well as God's mercy ; cf. Rom. 3:26 — " that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." (6) That the sinner is so united to Christ, that Christ's life already con stitutes the dominating principle within him. GaL 2 : 20 — "I have been crucified with Christ ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me." God does not justify any man whom he does not foresee that he can and will sanctify. Some prophecies produce their own fulfilment. Tell a man he is brave, and you help him to become so. So declaratory justification, when published in the heart by the Holy Spirit, helps to make men just. Harris, God the Creator, 2 : 332 — " The objection to the doctrine of justification by faith insists that justification must be conditioned, not on faith, but on right character. But justification by faith is itself the doctrine of a justi fication conditioned on right character, because faith in God is the only possible begin ning of right character, either in men or angels." Gould, Bib. Theol. N. T., 67-79, in a similar manner argues that Paul's emphasis is on the spiritual effect of the death of our Lord, rather than on its expiatory effect. The course of thought in the Epistle to the Romans seems to us to contradict this view. Sin and the objective atonement for sin are first treated ; only after justification comes the sanctification of the believer. Still it is true that justification is never the sole work of God in the soul. The same Christ in union with whom we are justified does at that same moment a work of regeneration which is followed by sanctification. (c) That this life of Christ is a power in the soul which will gradually, but infallibly, extirpate all remaining depravity, until the whole physical and moral nature is perfectly conformed to the divine holiness. PhiL 3:21 — " who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself"; Col. 3:1-4 — ' If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory." Truth of fact, and ideal truth, are not opposed to each other. F. W. Robertson, Lec tures and Addresses, 256 — " When the agriculturist sees a small, white, almond-like thing rising from the ground, he calls that an oak ; but this is not a truth of fact, it is JUSTIFICATION. 861 an ideal truth. The oak Is a large tree, with spreading branches and leaves and acorns; but that is only a thing an inch long, and imperceptible in all its development ; yet the agriculturist sees in it the idea of what it shall be, and, if I may borrow a Scriptural phrase, he imputes to it the majesty, and excellence, and glory, that is to be hereafter." This method of representation is effective and unobjectionable, so long as we remember hat the force which is to bring about this future development and perfection is not the force of unassisted human nature, but rather the force of Christ and his indwelling Spirit. See Philippi, Glaubenslehre, v, 1 : 201-208. Gore, Incarnation, 224 — " ' Looking at the mother,' wrote George Eliot of Mrs. Garth n The Mill on the Floss, ' you might hope that the-daughter would become like her — which is a prospective advantage equal to a dowry— the mother too often standing behind the daughter like a malignant prophecy: Such as I am, she will shortly be.' George Eliot imputes by anticipation to the daughter the merits of the mother, because her life is, so to speak, of the same piece. Now, by new birth and spiritual union, our life is of the same piece with the life of Jesus. Thus he, our elder brother, stands behind us, his people, as a prophecy of all good. Thus God accepts us, deals with us, 'in the Beloved,' rating us at something of his value, imputing to us his merits, because in fact, except we be reprobates, he himself is the most powerful and real force at work in us." 5. Relation of Justification to Union with Christ and the Work of the Spirit. A. Since the sinner, at the moment of justification, is not yet com pletely transformed in character, we have seen that God can declare In'm just, not on account of what he is in himself, but only on account of what Christ is. The ground of justification is therefore not, ( a ) as the Bomanists hold, a new righteousness and love infused into us, and now constituting our moral character ; nor, ( 6 ) as Osiander taught, the essential righteous ness of Christ's divine nature, which has become ours by faith ; but ( c ) the satisfaction and obedience of Christ, as the head of a new humanity, and as embracing in himself all behevers as his members. Ritschl regarded justification as primarily an endowment of the church, in which the individual participated only so far as he belonged to the church ; see Pfleiderer, Die Ritschl'sche Theologie, 70. Here Ritschl committed an error like that of the Romanist, — the church is the door to Christ, instead of Christ being the door to the church. Jus tification belongs primarily to Christ, then to all who join themselves to Christ by faith, and the church is the natural and voluntary aggregation of those who in Christ are thus justified. Hence the necessity for the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus. "For as the ministry of Enoch was sealed by his reception into heaven, and as the ministry of Elijah was also abundantly proved by his translation, so also the right eousness and innocence of Christ. But it was necessary that the ascension of Christ should be more fully attested, because upon his righteousness, so fully proved by his ascension, we must depend for all our righteousness. For if God had not approved him after his resurrection, and he had not taken his seat at his right hand, we could by no means be accepted of God " ( Cartwright ). A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 46, 193, 195, 206—" Christ must be justified in the Spirit and received up into glory, before he can be made righteousness to us and we can become the righteousness of God in him. Christ's coronation is the indispensable con dition of our justification Christ the High Priest has entered the Holy of Holies in heaven for us. Until he comes forth again at the second advent, how can we be assured that his sacrifice for us is accepted ? We reply : By the gift of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit in the church is the proof of the presence of Christ before the throne The Holy Spirit convinces of righteousness, 'because I go unto the Father, and ye see me no more ' ( John 16 : 10 ). We can only know that ' we have a Paraclete with the Father, even Jesus Christ the Righteous ' (1 John 2:1), by that 'other Paraclete' sent forth from the Father, even the Holy Spirit (John 14: 25, 26; 15:26). The church, having the Spirit, reflects Christ to the world. As Christ manifests the Father, so the church through the Spirit manifests Christ. So Christ gives to us his name, ' Christians,' as the husband gives his name to the wife." 862 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. As Adam's sin is imputed to us, not because Adam is in us, but because we were in Adam ; so Christ's righteousness is imputed to us, not because Christ is in us, but because we are in Christ, — that is, joined by faith to one whose righteousness and life are infinitely greater than our power to appropriate or contain. In this sense, we may say that we are justified through a Christ outside of us, as we are sanctified through a Christ within us. Edwards : " The justification of the behever is no other than his being admitted to communion in, or participation of, this head and surety of all behevers." 1 Tim. 1:14 — "faith and love whioh is in Christ Jesus"; 3:16 — " He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the spirit"; Acts 13: 39 — "and by him [lit. : 'in him' ] every one that believeth is justified from all things, from whioh ye could not be justified by the law of Moses ' ' ; Rom. 4 : 25 — " who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification"; Eph. 1:6— "accepted in the Beloved "—Rev. Vers.: " freely bestowed on us in the Beloved " ; 1 Cor. 6 : 11 — "justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." " We in Christ " is the formula of our justification ; " Christ in Us " is the formula of our sanctification. As the water which the shell contains is little compared with the great ocean which contains the shell, so the actual change wrought within us by God's sanctifying grace is slight com pared with the boundless freedom from condemnation and the state of favor with God into which we are introduced by justification ; Rom. 5 : 1, 2 — " Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand ; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Here we have the third instance of imputation. The first was the imputation of Adam's sin to us ; and the second was the imputation of our sins to Christ. The third is now the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. In each of the former cases, we have sought to show that the legal relation presupposes a natural relation. Adam's sin is imputed to us, because we are one with Adam ; our sins are imputed to Christ, because Christ is one with humanity. So here, we must hold that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us, because we are one with Christ. Justification is not an arbitrary trans fer to us of the merits of another with whom we have no real connection. This would make it merely a legal fiction ; and there are no legal fictions in the divine government. Instead of this external and mechanical method of conception, we should first set before us the fact of Christ's justification, after he had borne our sins and risen from the dead. In him, humanity, for the first time, is acquitted from punishment and restored to the divine favor. But Christ's new humanity is the germinal source of spiritual life for the race. He was justified, not simply as a private person, but as our representative and head. By becoming partakers of the new life in him, we share in all he is and all he has done ; and, first of all, we share in his justification. So Luther gives us, for sub stance, the formula : " We in Christ = justification ; Christ in us = sanctification." And in harmony with this formula is the statement quoted in the text above from Edwards, Works, 4 : 66. See also H. B. Smith, Presb. Rev., July, 1881 — " Union with Adam and with Christ is the ground of imputation. But the parallelism is incomplete. While the sin of Adam is imputed to us because it is ours, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us simply because of our union with him, not at all because of our personal righteousness. In the one case, character is taken into the account ; in the other, it is not. In sin, our demerits are included ; in justification, our merits are excluded." For further state ments of Dr. Smith, see his System of Christian Theology, 524-553. C. H. M. on Genesis, page 78 — " The question for every behever is not ' What am I? ' but ' What is Christ ? ' Of Abel it is said : ' God testified of his gifts ' ( Heb. 11 : 4, A. V. ). So God testifies, not of the behever, but of his gift,— and his gift is Christ. Tet Cain was angry because he was not received in his sins, while Abel was accepted in his gift. This was right, if Abel was justified in himself ; it was wrong, because Abel was justified only in Christ." See also Hodge, Outlines of Theology, 384-388, 392 ; Baird, Elohim Revealed, 448. B. The relation of justification to regeneration and sanctification, more over, delivers it from the charges of externality and immorality. God does not justify ungodly men in their ungodliness. He pronounces them just only as they are united to Christ, who is absolutely just, and who, by his JUSTIFICATION. 863 Spirit, can make them just, not only in the eye of the law, but in moral character. The very faith by which the sinner receives Christ is an act in whioh he ratifies all that Christ has done, and accepts God's judgment against sin as his own (John 16 : 11). John 16 : 11 —"of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged "— the Holy Spirit leads the believer to ratify God's judgment against sin and Satan. Accepting Christ, the believer accepts Christ's death for sin, and resurrection to life for his own. If it were otherwise, the first act of the believer, after his disoharge, might be a repetition of his offences. Such a justification would offend against the fundamental principles of justice and the safety of government. It would also fail to satisfy the conscience. This clamors not only for pardon, but for renewal. Union with Christ has one legal fruit— justification ; but it has also one moral fruit — sanctification. A really guilty man, when acquitted by judge and jury, does not cease to be the vic tim of remorse and fear. Forgiveness of sin is not in itself a deliverance from sin. The outward acquittal needs to be accompanied by an inward change to be really effect ive. Pardon for sin without power to overcome sin would be a mockery of the criminal. Justification for Christ's sake therefore goes into effect through regeneration by the Holy Spirit ; see E. H. Johnson, in Bib. Sac, July, 1892 : 362. A Buddhist priest who had studied some years in England printed in Shanghai not long ago a pamphlet entitled " Justification by Faith the only true Basis of Morality." It argues that any other foundation is nothing but pure selfishness, but that morality, to have any merit, must be unselfish. Justification by faith supplies an unselfish motive, because we accept the work done for us by another, and we ourselves work from grat itude, which is not a selfish motive. After laying down this Christian foundation, the writer erects the structure of faith in the Amida incarnation of Buddha. Buddhism opposes to the Christian doctrine of a creative Person, only a creative process ; sin has relation only to the man sinning, and has no relation to Amida Buddha or to the eter nal law of causation ; salvation by faith in Amida Buddha is faith in one who is the product of a process, and a product may perish. Tennyson : " They are but broken lights of Thee, And thou, O Christ, art more than they." Justification is possible, therefore, because it is always accompanied by regeneration and union with Christ, and is followed by sanctification. But this is a very different thing from the Eomanist confounding of justification and sanctification, as different stages of the same process of making the sinner actually holy. It holds fast to the Scripture distinction between justification as a declarative act of God, and regeneration and sanctification as those efficient acts of God by which justification is accompanied and fol lowed. Both history and our personal observation show that nothing can change the life and make men moral, like the gospel of free pardon in Jesus Christ. Mere preaching of morality will effect nothing of consequence. There never has been more insistence upon morality than in the most immoral times, like those of Seneca, and of the English deists. As to their moral fruits, we can safely compare Protestant with Roman Catho lic systems and leaders and countries. We do not become right by doing right, for only those can do right who have become right. The prodigal son is forgiven before he actually confesses and amends (Luke 15:20, 21). Justification is always accompanied by regeneration, and is followed by sanctification ; and all three are results of the death of Christ. But the sin-offering must precede the thank-offering. We must first be accepted ourselves before we can offer gifts ; Heb. 11 : 4 — "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excel lent sacrifice (ban Cain, through whioh he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts." Hence we read in Eph. 5 : 25, 26 — " Christ also loved the ohurch, and gave himself up for it ; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed = [ after he had cleansed ] it by the washing of water with the word " [ = regen eration]; 1 Pet 1:1, 2 — "elect .... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit [regeneration], unto obedience [ conversion] and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ [justifica tion ] " ; 1 John 1:7 " if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son oleanseth us from all sin " —here the ' cleansing ' refers primarily and mainly to 864 SOTERIOLOGT, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. justification, not to sanctification ; for the apostle himself declares in verse 8 — "If we saj that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Quenstedt says well, that " justification, since it is an act, outside of man, in God, cannot produce an intrinsic change in us." And yet, he says, " although faith alone justifies, yet faith is not alone." Melanchthon : " Sola fides justiflcat ; sed fides non est sola." With faith go all manner of gifts of the Spirit and internal graces of character. But we should let go all the doctrinal gains of the Reformation if we did not insist that these gifts and graces are accompaniments and consequences of justification, instead of being a part or a ground of justification. See Girdlestone, O. T. Synonyms, 104, note—" Justification is God's declaration that the individual sinner, on account of the faith which unites him to Christ, is taken up into the relation which Christ holds to the Father, and has applied to him personally the objective work accomplished for humanity by Christ." 6. Relation of Justification to Faith. A. We are justified by faith, rather than by love or by any other grace : (a) not because faith is itself a work of obedience by which we merit justification, — for this would be a doctrine of justification by works ; ( 6) nor because faith is accepted as an equivalent of obedience, — for there is no equivalent except the perfect obedience of Christ ; ( c ) nor because faith is the germ from which obedience may spring hereafter, — for it is not the faith which accepts, but the Christ who is accepted, that renders such obedience possible ; but ( d ) because faith, and not repentance, or love, or hope, is the medium or instrument by which we receive Christ and are united to him. Hence we are never said to be justified Sid irionv, = on account of faith, but only did wioTeoe, = through faith, or tic iriareag, = by faith. Or, to express the same truth in other words, while the grace of God is the efficient cause of justification, and the obedience and suffer ings of Christ are the meritorious or procuring cause, faith is the mediate or instrumental cause. Edwards, Works, 4:69-73 — "Faith justifies, because faith includes the whole act of unition to Christ as a Savior. It is not the nature of any other graces or virtues directly to close with Christ as a mediator, any further than they enter into the con stitution of justifying faith, and do belong to its nature" ; Observations on Tri ity 64-67 — " Salvation is not offered to us upon any condition, but freely and for nothing. We are to do nothing for it, —we are only to take it. This taking and receiving is faith." H. B. Smith, System, 524 — "An internal change is a sine qua non of justifica tion, but not its meritorious ground." Give a man a gold mine. It is Ms. He has not to work for it ; he has only to work it. Working for life is one thing ; working from life is quite another. The marriage of a poor girl to a wealthy proprietor makes her possessor of his riches despite her former poverty. Yet her acceptance has not pur chased wealth. It is hers, not because of what she is or has done, but because of what her husband is and has done. So faith is the condition of justification, only because through it Christ becomes ours, and with him his atonement and righteousness. Sal vation comes not because our faith saves us, but because it links us to the Christ who saves ; and believing is only the link. There is no more merit in it than in the beggar's stretching forth his haud to receive the offered purse, or the drowning man's grasping the rope that is thrown to him. The Wesleyan scheme is inclined to make faith a work. See Dabney, Theology, 637. This is to make faith the cause and ground, or at least to add it to Christ's work as a joint cause and ground, of justification ; as if justification were Sia. m'o-Tiv, instead of SiA mo-Tews or e/t m'o-Teios. Since faith is never perfect, this is to go back to the Roman Catholic uncertainty of salvation. See Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 2:744, 745 (Syst. Doct* 4 : 206, 207 ). C. H. M. on Gen. 3 : 7 — " They made themselves aprons of fig-leaves, before God made them coats of skin. Man ever tries to clothe himself in garments of his own righteousness, before he will take the robe of Christ's. But Adam felt liimapif naked when God visited him, even though he had his fig-leaves on him." JUSTIFICATION. 865 We are justified efficiently by the grace of God, meritoriously by Christ, instrument- ally by faith, evidentially by works. Faith justifies, as roots bring plant and soil together. Faith connects man with the source of life in Christ. " When the boatman with his hook grapples the rock, he does not pull the shore to the boat, but the boat to the shore ; so, when we by faith lay hold on Christ, we do not pull Christ to us, but our selves to him." Faith is a coupling ; the train is drawn, not by the coupling, but by the locomotive ; yet without the coupling it would not be drawn. Faith is the trolley that reaches up to the electric wire ; when the connection is sundered, not only does the oar cease to move, but the heat dies and the lights go out. Dr. John Duncan : " I have married the Merchant and all his wealth is mine 1 " H. C. Trumbull : " If a man wants to cross the ocean, he can either try swimming, or he can trust the captain of a ship to carry him over in his vessel. By or through his faith in that captain, the man is carried safely to the other shore; yet it is the ship's captain, not the passenger's faith, which is to be praised for the carrying." So the sick man trusts his case in the hands of his physician, and his life is saved by the physi cian,— yet by or through the patient's faith. This faith is indeed an inward act of allegiance, and no mere outward performance. Whiton, Divine Satisfaction, 92— " The Protestant Reformers saw that it was by an inward act, not by penances or sac raments that men were justified. But they halted in the crude notion of a legal court room process, a governmental procedure external to us, whereas it is an educational, inward process, the awakening through Christ of the filial spirit in us, which in the midst of imperfections strives for likeness more and more totheSonof God. Justifi cation by principle apart from performance makes Christianity the religion of the spirit." We would add that such justification excludes education, and is an act rather than a process, an act external to the sinner rather than internal, an act of God rather than an act of man. The justified person can say to Christ, as Ruth said to Boaz : "Why have I found favor in thy sight, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing lam a foreigner?" (Ruth2:10). B. Since the ground of justification is only Christ, to whom we are united by faith, the justified person has peace. If it were anything in ourselves, our peace must needs be proportioned to our holiness. The practical effect of the Romanist mingling of works with faith, as a joint ground of justification, is to render all assurance of salvation impossible. ( Council of Trent, 9th chap.: "Every man, by reason of his own weak ness and defects, must be in fear and anxiety about his state of grace. Nor can any one know, with infallible certainty of faith, that he has received forgiveness of God. " ). But since justification is an instantaneous act of God, complete at the moment of the sinner's first believing, it has no degrees. Weak faith justifies as perfectly as strong faith ; although, since justification is a secret act of God, weak faith does not give so strong assurance of salvation. Foundations of our Faith, 216—" The Catholic doctrine declares that justification is not dependent upon faith and the righteousness of Christ imputed and granted thereto, but on the actual condition of the man himself. But there remain in the man an undeni able amount of fleshly lusts or inclinations to sin, even though the man be regenerate. The Catholic doctrine is therefore constrained to assert that these lusts are not in them selves sinful, or objects of the divine displeasure. They are allowed to remain in the man, that he may struggle against them ; and, as they say, Paul designates them as sin ful, only because they are derived from sin, and incite to sin ; but they only become sin by the positive concurrence of the human will. But is not internal lust displeasing to God? Can we draw the line between lust and will ? The Catholic favors self here, and makes many things lust, which are really wCU. A Protestant is necessarily more earnest in the work of salvation, when he recognizes even the evil desire as sin, accord ing to Christ's precept." All systems of religion of merely human origin tend to make salvation, in larger or smaller degree, the effect of human works, but only with the result of leaving man in despair. See, in Ecclesiasticus 3 : 30, an Apocryphal declaration that alms make atone ment for sin. So Romanism bids me doubt God's grace and the forgiveness of sins. 55 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. See Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theol., 228, 229, and his quotations from Luther. " But if the Romanist doctrine is true, that a man is justified only in such measure as he is sanoti- fied, then : 1. Justification must be a matter of degrees, and so the Council of Trent declares it to be. The sacraments which sanctify are therefore essential, that one may be increasingly justified. 2. Since justification is a continuous process, the redeeming death of Christ, on which it depends, must be a continuous process also ; hence its pro longed reiteration in the sacrifice by the Mass. 3. Since sanctification is obviously never completed In this life, no man ever dies completely justified ; hence the doctrine of Purgatory." For the substance of Romanist doctrine, see Moehler, Symbolism, 79- 190; Newman, Lectures on Justification, 253-345; Ritschl, Christian Doctrine of Justi fication, 121-226. A better doctrine is that of the Puritan divine ; " It is not the quantity of thy faith that shall save thee. A drop of water is as true water as the whole ocean. So a little faith is as true faith as the greatest. It is not the measure of thy faith that saves thee,— it is the blood that it grips to that saves thee. The weak hand of the child, that leads -the spoon to the mouth, will feed as well as the strong arm of a man ; for it is not the hand that feeds, but the meat. So, if thou canst grip Christ ever so weakly, he will not let thee perish." I am troubled about the money I owe in New York, until I find that a friend has paid my debt there. When I find that the objective account against me is cancelled, then and only then do I have subjective peace. A child may be heir to a vast estate, even while he does not know it ; and a child of God may be an heir of glory, even while, through the weakness of his faith, he Is oppressed with painful doubts and fears. No man is lost simply because of the great ness of his sins ; however ill-deserving he may be, faith in Christ will save him. Luther's climbing the steps of St. John Lateran, and the voice of thunder : " The just shall live by faith," are not certain as historical facts ; but they express the substance of Luther's experience. Not obeying, but receiving, is the substance of the gospel. A man cannot merit salvation ; he cannot buy it ; but one thing he must do,— he must take it. And the least faith makes salvation ours, because it makes Christ ours. Augustine conceived of justification as a continuous process, proceeding until love and all Christian virtues fill the heart. There is his chief difference from Paul. Augus tine believes in sin and grace. But he has not the freedom of the children of God, as Paul has. The influence of Augustine upon Roman Catholic theology has not been wholly salutary. The Roman Catholic, mixing man's subjective condition with God's grace as a ground of justification, continually wavers between self -righteousness and uncertainty of acceptance with God, each of these being fatal to a healthful and stable religious life. High-church Episcopalians, and Sacramentalists generally, are afflicted with this distemper of the Romanists. Dr. R. W. Dale remarks with regard to Dr. Pusey : " The absence of joy in his religious life was only the inevitable effect of his conception of God's method of saving men ; in parting with the Lutheran truth con cerning justification, he parted with the springs of gladness." Spurgeon said that a man might get from London to New York provided he took a steamer ; but it made much difference in his comfort whether he had a first class or a second class ticket. A new realization of the meaning of justification in our churches would change much of our singing from the minor to the major key ; would lead us to pray, not for the pres ence of Christ, but from the presence of Christ ; would abolish the mournful upward inflections at the end of sentences which give such unreality to our preaching ; and would replace the pessimistic element in our modern work and worship with the notes of praise and triumph. In the Pilgrim's Progress, the justification of the believer is symbolized by Christian's lodging in the Palace Beautiful whose window opened toward thesunrising. Even Luther did not fully apprehend and apply his favorite doctrine of justification by faith. Harnack, Wesen des Christenthums, 168 sq., states the fundamental princi ples of Protestantism as : " 1. The Christian religion is wholly given in the word of God and in the inner experience which answers to that word. 2. The assured belief that the Christian has a gracious God. ' Nun weisz und glaub' ich 's f este, Ich riihm 's auch ohne Scheu, Dasz Gott, der hb'chst' und beste, Mein Freund und Vater sei ; Und dasz in alien Fallen Er mir zur Rechten steh', Und dampfe Sturm und Wellen, Und was mir bringet Weh'.' 3. Restoration of simple and believing worship, both public and private. But Luther took too much dogma into Christianity ; insisted too much on the authority of the written word ; cared too much for the means of grace, such as the Lord's Supper ; identified the church too much with the organized body." JUSTIFICATION. 86? Yet Luther talked of beating the heads of the Wittenbergers with the Bible, so as to get the great doctrine of justification by faith into their brains. " Why do you teach your child the same thing twenty times?" he said. "Because I find that nineteen times is not sufficient." C. Justification is instantaneous, complete, and final : instantaneous, since otherwise there would be an interval during which the soul was neither approved nor condemned by God ( Mat. 6 : 24 ) ; complete, since the soul, united to Christ by faith, becomes partaker of his complete satis faction to the demands of law ( Col. 2 : 9, 10 ) ; and final, since the union with Christ is indissoluble ( John 10 : 28, 29). As there are many acts of sin in the lif e of the Christian, so there are many acts of pardon following them. But all these acts of pardon are virtually implied in that first act by which he was finally and forever justified ; as also successive acts of repentance and faith, after such sins, are virtually implied in that first repentance and faith which logically preceded justification. ' Mat. 6 : 24 — " No man can serve two masters " ; Col. 2 : 9, 10 — "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power " ; John 10 : 28, 29 — " they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My lather, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all ; and no one is able to snatch them ont of the Father's hand." \ Plymouth Brethren say truly that the Christian has sin in him, but not on him, because Christ had sin on him, but not in him. The Christian has sin but not guilt, because Christ had guilt but not sin. All our sins are buried in the grave with Christ, and Christ's resurrection is our resurrection. Toplady : " From whence this fear and unbelief? Hast thou, 0 Father, put to grief Thy spotless Son for me? And will the righteous Judge of men Condemn me for that debt of sin, Which, Lord, was laid on thee ? If thou hast my discharge procured, And freely in my room endured The whole of wrath divine, Payment God cannot twice demand, First at my bleeding Surety's hand, And then again at mine. Complete atonement thou hast made, And to the utmost farthing paid Whate'er thy people owed ; How then can wrath on me take place, If sheltered in thy righteousness And sprinkled with thy blood ? Turn, then, my soul, unto thy rest ; The merits of thy great High-priest Speak peace and liberty ; Trust in his efficacious blood. Nor fear thy banishment from God, Since Jesus died for thee!" Justification, however, is not eternal in the past. We are to repent unto the remis. sion of our sins (Aot2.-38). Remission comes after repentance. Sin is not pardoned before it is committed. In justification God grants us actual pardon for past sin, but virtual pardon for future sin. Edwards, Works, 4 : 104 — ' ' Future sins are respected, in that iirsb justification, no otherwise than as future faith and repentance are respected in it ; and future faith and repentance are looked upon by him that justifies as virtually implied in that first repentance and faith, in the same manner that justification from future sins is implied in that first justification." A man is not justified from his sins before he has committed them, nor is he saved before he is born. A remarkable illustration of the extreme to which hyper-Calvinism may go is found in Tobias Crisp, Sermons, 1 : 358 — " The Lord hath no more to lay to the charge of an elect person, yet in the height of iniquity, and in the excess of riot, and committing all the abomination that can be committed .... than he has to the charge of the saint triumphant in glory." A far better statement is found in Moberly, Atone ment and Personality, 61— "As there is upon earth no consummated penitence, so neither is there any forgiveness consummated Forgiveness is the recognition, by anticipation, of something which is to be, something toward which it is itself a mighty quickening of possibilities, but something which is not, or at least is not perfectly, yet. .... Present forgiveness is inchoate, is educational It reaches its final and perfect consummation only when the forgiven penitent has become at last personally and completely righteous. If the consummation is not reached but reversed, then for giveness is forfeited (Mat. 18: 32-35)." This last exception, however, as we shall see in our discussion of Perseverance, is only a hypothetical one. The truly forgiven do not finally fall away. 868 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. 7. Advice to Inquirers demanded by a Scriptural View of Justification. ( a ) Where conviction of sin is yet lacking, our aim should be to show the sinner that he is under God's condemnation for his past sins, and that no future obedience can ever secure his justification, since this obedience, even though perfect, could not atone for the past, and even if it could, he is unable, without God's help, to render it With the help of the Holy Spirit, conviction of sin may be roused by presentation of the claims of God's perfect law, and by drawing attention, first to particular overt transgressions, and then to the manifold omissions of duty, the general lack of supreme and all-pervading love to God, and the guilty rejection of Christ's offers and commands. " Even if the next page of the copy book had no blots or erasures, its cleanness would not alter the smudges and misshapen letters on the earlier pages." God takes no notice of the promise "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee " (Mat. 18: 29), for he knows it can never be fulfilled. (6) Where conviction of sin already exists, our aim should be, not, in the first instance, to secure the performance of external religious duties, such as prayer, or Scripture-reading, or uniting with the church, but to induce the sinner, as his first and all-inclusive duty, to accept Christ as his only and sufficient sacrifice and Savior, and, committing himself and the matter of his salvation entirely to the hands of Christ, to manifest this trust and submission by entering at once upon a life of obedience to Christ'? commands. A convicted sinner should be exhorted, not first to prayer and then to faith, but first to faith, and then to the immediate expression of that faith in prayer and Christian activity. He should pray, not for faith, but in faith. It should not be forgotten that the sinner never sins against so much light, and never is in so greet danger, as when he is convicted but not converted, when he is moved to turn br ' „ et refuses to turn. No such sinner should be allowed to think that he has the rig'1 - to do any other thing what ever before accepting Christ. This accepting Christ is not an outward act, but an inward act of mind and heart and will, although believing is naturally evidenced by Immediate outward action. To teach the sinner, however apparently well disposed, how to believe on Christ, is beyond the power of man. God is the only giver of faith. But Scripture instances of faith, and illustrations drawn from the child's te'ilag the father at his word and acting upon it, have often been used by the Holy Spirit as means of leading men themselves to put faith in Christ. Bengel : "Those who are secure Jesus refers to the law ; those who are contrite he consoles with the gospel." A man left work and came home. His wife asked why. " Because I am a sinner." " Let me send for the preacher." " I'm too far gone for preachers. If the Lord Jesus Christ does not save me, I am lost." That man needed only to be pointed to the Cross. There he found reason for believing that there was salvation for him. In surrendering himself to Christ he was justified. On the general subject of Justification, see Edwards, Works, 4:64-132; Buchanan on Justification, 250-411 ; Owen on Justification, in Works, vol. 5; Bp. of Ossory, Nature and Effects of Faith, 48-152; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 3 : 114-212; Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, 3:133-200; Herzog, EncyclopSdie, art. : Rechtf ertigung ; Bushnell, Vicarious Sacrifice, 116-420, 435. SECTION III. — THE APPLICATION OF CHRIST'S REDEMPTION IN ITS CONTINUATION. Under this head we treat of Sanctification and of Perseverance. These two are but the divine and the human sides of the same fact, and they bear to each other a relation similar to that which exists between Begeneration and Conversion. SANCTIFICATION. 869 I. Sanottfioation. 1. Definition of Sanctification. Sanctifioation is that continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which the holy disposition imparted in regeneration is maintained and strength ened. Godet : " The work of Jesus in the world is twofold. It is a work accomplished for us, destined to effect reconciliation between God and man ; it is a work accomplished in us, with the object of effecting our sanctification. By the one, a right relation is estab lished between God and us ; by the other, the fruit of the reestablished order is secured. By the former, the condemned sinner is received into the state of grace ; by the latter, the pardoned sinner is associated with the life of God How many express them selves as if, when forgiveness with the peace which it procures has been once obtained, all is finished and the work of salvation is complete I They seem to have no suspicion that salvation consists in the health of the soul, and that the health of the soul consists in holiness. Forgiveness is not the reSstablishment of health ; it is the crisis of con valescence. If God thinks fit to declare the sinner righteous, it is in order that he may by that means restore him to holiness." O. P. Giff ord : " The steamship whose machinery is broken may be brought into port and made fast to the dock. She is safe, but not sound. Repairs may last a long time. Christ designs to make us both safe and sound. Justification gives the first— safety ; sanctification gives the second— soundness." Bradford, Heredity and Christian Problems, 220— "To be conscious that one is for given, and yet that at the same time he is so polluted that he cannot beget a child with out handing on to that child a nature which will be as bad as if his father had never been forgiven, is not salvation in any real sense." We would say : Is not salvation in any complete sense. Justification needs sanctification to follow it. Man needs God to continue and preserve his spiritual life, just as much as he needed God to begin it at the first. Creation in the spiritual, as well as in the natural world, needs to be supple mented by preservation ; see quotation from Jonathan Edwards, in Allen's biography of him, 371. Regeneration is instantaneous, but sanctification takes time. The " developing " of the photographer's picture may illustrate God's process of sanctifying the regenerate soul. But it is development by new access of truth or light, while the photographer's picture is usually developed in the dark. This development cannot be accomplished in a moment. " We try in our religious lives to practise instantaneous photography. One minute for prayer will give us a vision of God, and we think that is enough. Our pic tures are poor because our negatives are weak. We do not give God a long enough sitting to get a good likeness." Salvation is something past, something present, and something future ; a past fact, justification; a present process, sanctification; a future consummation, redemption and glory. David, in Ps. 51:1, 2, prays not only that God will blot out his transgressions (justification), but that God will wash him thoroughly from his iniquity (sanctifica tion ). E. G. Robinson : " Sanctification consists negatively, in the removal of the penal consequences of sin from the moral nature ; positively, in the progressive implanting and growth of a new principle of lif e The Christian church is a succession of copies of the character of Christ. Paul never says : ' be ye imitatorsof me ' ( 1 Cor. 4 : 16 ), except when writing to those who had no copies of the New Testament or of the Gospels." Clarke, Christian Theology, 366— "Sanctification does not mean perfection reached, but the progress of the divine life toward perfection. Sanctification is the Christianiz ing of the Christian." It is not simply deliverance from the penalty of sin, but the development of a divine life that conquers sin. A. A. Hodge, Popular Lectures, 343— " Any man who thinks he is a Christian, and that he has accepted Christ for justification, when he did not at the same time accept him for sanctification, is miserably deluded in that very experience." This definition implies : (a) That, although in regeneration the governing disposition of the soul is made holy, there still remain tendencies to evil which are unsubdued. John 13 : 10 —"He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit [ i. e., as a whole ] " ; Bom, 6 : 12— "let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof" — sin dwells 870 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. in a believer, but it reigns in an unbeliever ( C. H. M. ). Subordinate volitions in the Christian are not always determined in character by the fundamental choice ; eddies in the stream sometimes run counter to the general course of the current. This doctrine is the opposite of that expressed in the phrase : " the essential divinity of the human." Not culture, but crucifixion, is what the Holy Spirit prescribes for the natural man. There are two natures in the Christian, as Paul shows in Romans 7, The one flourishes at the other's expense. The vine dresser has to cut the rank shoots from self, that all our force may be thrown into growing fruit. Deadwood must be cut out ; living wood must be out back ( John 15 : 2 ). Sanctification is not a matter of course, which will go on whatever we do, or do not do. It requires a direct superintendence and surgery on the one hand, and, on the other hand a practical hatred of evil on our part that coHperates with the husbandry of God. ( b ) That the existence in the behever of these two opposing principles gives rise to a conflict which lasts through life. Gal, 5 : 17 —" For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; for these are contrary the one to the other ; that ye may not do the things that ye would ' — not, as the A. V. had it, ' so that ye cannot do the things that ye would ' ; the Spirit who dwells in believers is represented as enabling them successfully to resist those tendencies to evil which naturally exist within them ; James 4 : 5 ( the marginal and better reading ) — " That spirit whioh he made to dwell in us yearnefli for us even unto jealous envy" — i. e., God's love, like all true love, longs to have its objects wholly for Its own. The Christian is two men in one ; but he is to "put away the old man" and "put on the new man " ( Eph. 4 : 22, 23 ). Compare Ecclesiasticus 2:1—" My son, if thou dost set out to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation." 1 Tim. 6 : 12 — " Fight the good fight of the faith " — aytavi£ov rbv ko\ov aymva rrji iriVrews = the beau tiful, honorable, glorious fight ; since it has a noble helper, incentive, and reward. It is the commonest of all struggles, but the issue determines our destiny. An Indian received as a gift some tobacco in which he found a half dollar hidden. He brought it back next day, saying that good Indian had fought all night with bad Indian, one tell ing him to keep, the other telling him to return. ( c ) That in this conflict the Holy Spirit enables the Christian, through increasing faith, more fully and consciously to appropriate Christ, and thus progressively to make conquest of the remaining sinfulness of his nature. Rom. 8:13, 14 — "for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God " ; 1 Cor. 6 : 11 — " but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God " ; James 1 : 26 — " If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deoeiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain"— see Com. of Neander, in loco—" That religion is merely imaginary, seem ing, unreal, which allows the continuance of the moral defects originally predominant in the character." The Christian is "oruoifled with Christ " ( Gal. 2 : 20 ) ; but the crucified man does not die at once. Yet he is as good as dead. Even after the old man is crucified we are still to mortify him, or put him to death (Rom 8 : 13; Col. 3:5). We are to cut down the old rosebush and cultivate only the new shoot that is grafted into it. Here is our probation as Christians. So "die Scene wird zum Tribunal"— the play of life becomes God's judgment. Dr. Hastings : " When Bourdaloue was probing the conscience of Louis XIV, apply ing to him the words of St. Paul and intending to paraphrase them : ' For the good whioh I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do,' 'I find two men in me ' — the King interrupted the great preacher with the memorable exclamation : 'Ah, these two men, I know them well I ' Bourdaloue answered : ' It is already something to know them, Sire ; but it is not enough,— one of the two must perish.' " And, in the genuine believer, the old does little by little die, and the new takes its place, as "David waied stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul waied weaker and weaker" (2 Sam. 3:1). As the Welsh minister found himself after awhile thinking and dreaming in English, so the language of Canaan becomes to the Christian his native and only speech. 2. Explanations and Scripture Proof. (a) Sanctification is the work of God. 1 ThesB. 5 : 23 — " And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly." Much of our modern literature ignores man's dependence upon God, and some of it seems distinctly intended to teach SANCTIEICATION'. 871 the opposite doctrine. Auerbach's " On the Heights," for example, teaches that man can make his own atonement; and "The Villa on the Rhine," by the same author, teaches that man can sanctify himself. The proper inscription for many modern French novels is : " Entertainment here for man and beast." The Tendenznovelle of Germany has its imitators in the sceptical novels of England. And no doctrine in these novels is so common as the doctrine that man needs no Savior but himself. ( b ) It is a continuous process. Phil 1 : 6 — " being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in yon will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ" ; 3:15 — "Let us therefore, as many as are perfect^ be thus minded : and if in anything ye are other wise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you"; Col. 3 : 9, 10 — "lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him"; cf. Acts 2: 47 —"those that were being saved"; 1 Cor. 1:18 — "unto us who are being saved"; 20or. 2:15— "in them that are being saved"; 1 Thess. 2:12— "God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory." C. H. Parkhurst : " The yeast does not strike through the whole lump of dough at a flash. We keep finding unsuspected lumps of meal that the yeast has not yet seized upon. We surrender to God in instalments. We may not mean to do it, but we do it. Conversion has got to be brought down to date." A student asked the President of Oberlin College whether he could not take a shorter course than the one prescribed. " Oh yes," replied the President, " but then it depends on what you want to make of yourself. When God wants to make an oak, he takes a hundred years, but when he wants to make a squash, he takes six months." ( c ) It is distinguished from regeneration as growth from birth, or as the strengthening of a holy disposition from the original impartation of it. Eph. 4:15 — "speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, even Christ"; 1 Thess. 3:12 — " the Lord make yon to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men " ; 2 Pet. 3 : 18 — "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" ; cf. 1 Pet 1 : 23 —"begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth " ¦ 1 John 3 : 9 —"-Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is begot ten of God." Not sin only, but holiness also, is a germ whose nature is to grow. The new love in the believer's heart follows the law of all life, in developing and extending itself under God's husbandry. George Eliot : " The reward of one duty done is the power to do another." J. W. A. Stewart : " When the 31st of March has come, we say ' The back of the winter is broken.' There will still be alternations of frost, but the progress will be towards heat. The coming of summer is sure, — in germ the summer is already here." Begeneration is the crisis of a disease ; sanctification is the progress of convalescence. Yet growth is not a uniform thing iu the tree or in the Christian. In some single months there is more growth than in all the year besides. During the rest of the year, however, there is solidification, without which the green timber would be useless. The period of rapid growth, when woody fibre is actually deposited between the bark and the trunk, occupies but four to six weeks in May, June, and July. 2 Pet 1 : 5 — " adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue ; and in your virtue knowledge ' ' = adding to the central grace all those that are complementary and subordinate, till they attain the harmony of a chorus ( imxoprrriaare ). ( d) The operation of God reveals itself in, and is accompanied by, intel ligent and voluntary activity of the believer in the discovery and mortifica tion of sinful desires, and in the bringing of the whole being into obedience to Christ and conformity to the standards of his word. John 17:17 — "Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth"; 2 Cor. 10:5 — "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ " ; PhiL 2 : 12, 13 — " work out your own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure " ; 1 Pet. 2 : 2 — " as new-born babes, long for the spiritual milk whioh is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation." John 15 : 3 — "Already ye are clean because of the word whioh I have spoken unto yon." Begeneration through the word is followed by sanctification through the word. Eph. 5 :1 —"Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children." Imitation is at first a painful effort of will, as in learning the piano ; afterwards it becomes pleasurable and even unconscious. Children unconsciously imitate the handwriting of their par ents. Charles Lamb sees in the mirror, as he is shaving, the apparition of his dead 872 SOTEBIOLOGY, OB THE DOCTEINE OF SALVATION. father. So our likeness to God comes out as we advance in years. Col. 3:4—" When Christ who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory." Horace Bushnell said that, if the stars did not move, they would rot in the sky. The man who rides the bicycle must either go on, or go off. A large part of sanctification consists in the formation of proper habits, such as the habit of Scripture reading, of secret prayer, of church going, of efforts to convert and benefit others. Baxter: " Every man must grow, as trees grow, downward and upward at once. The visible outward growth must be accompanied by an invisible inward growth." Drummond : "The spiritual man having passed from death to life, the natural man must pass from life to death." There must be increasing sense of sin : " My sins gave sharpness to the nails, And pointed every thorn." There must be a bringing of new and yet newer regions of thought, feeling, and action, under the sway of Christ and his truth. There is a grain of truth even in Macaulay's jest about " essentially Christian cookery." A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 63, 109-111— "The church is Christian no more than as it is the organ of the continuous passion of Christ. We must suffer with sinning and lost humanity, and so 'fill up ... . that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ' (Col 1:24), Christ's crucifixion must be prolonged side by side with his resurrection. There are three deaths : 1. death in Bin, our natural condition ; 3. death for sin, our judicial con dition ; 3. death to sin, our sanctified condition As the ascending sap in the tree crowds off the dead leaves which in spite of storm and frost cling- to the branches al' the winter long, so does the Holy Spirit within us, when allowed full sway, subdue and expel the remnants of our sinful nature." (e) The agency through which God effects the sanctification of the behever is the indwelling Spirit of Christ. John 14 : 17, 18 — " the Spirit of truth .... he abideth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate I come unto you"; 15:3-5 — " Already ye are clean .... Abide in me ... . apart from me ye can do nothing " Rom. 8.-9, 10 — "the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the spirit is life because of righteousness " ; 1 Cor. 1 : 2, 30 — " sanctified in Christ Jesus .... Christ Jesus, who was made unto us ... . sanctification" ; 6 : 19 — "know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, whioh ye have from God?" Gal. 5 : 16 — "Walkbythe Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the fiesh " ; Eph. 5 : 18 — " And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit " ; Col. 1 : 27-29 —"the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory : whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ ; whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily"; 2 Tim. 1:14— "That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Eoly Spirit which dwelleth in us." Christianity substitutes for the old sources of excitement the power of the Holy Spirit. Here is a source of comfort, energy, and joy, infinitely superior to any which the sinner knows. God does not leave the soul to fall back upon itself. The higher up we get in the scale of being, the more does the new life need nursing and tending,— compare the sapling and the babe. God gives to the Christian, therefore, an abiding presence and work of the Holy Spirit,— not only regeneration, but sanctification. C. E. Smith, Baptism of Fire : " The soul needs the latter as well as the former rain, the sealing as well as the renewing of the Spirit, the baptism of fire as well as the baptism of water. Sealing gives something additional to the document, an evidence plainer than the writing within, both to one's self and to others." " Pew flowers yield more honey than serves the bee for its daily food." So we must first live ourselves off from our spiritual diet ; only what is over can be given to nour ish others. Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ : " Have peace in thine own heart; else thou wilt never be able to communicate peace to others." Godet : " Man is a ves sel destined to receive God, a vessel which must be enlarged in proportion as it is filled, and filled in proportion as it is enlarged." Matthew Arnold, Morality: " We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides ; The Spirit bloweth and is still ; In mystery our soul abides. But tasks in hours of Insight willed Can be in hours of gloom fulfilled. With aching hands and bleeding feet, We dig and heap, lay stone on stone ; We bear the burden and the heat Of the long day, and wish 't were done. Not till the hours of light return All we have built do we discern." (/) The mediate or instrumental cause of sanctification, as of justifica tion, is faith. SANCTIFICATION. 873 Acts 15:9—" cleansing their hearts by faith ' ' ; Rom. 1:17—" Por therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith : as it is written, But the righteous shall live from faith." The righteousness includes sanc tification as Well as justification ; and the subject of the epistle to the Romans is not simply justification by faith, but rather righteousness by faith, or salvation by faith. Justification by faith is the subject of chapters 1-7 ; sanctification by faith is the subject of chapters 8-16. We are not sanctified by efforts of our own, any more than we are justified by efforts of our own. God does not share with us the glory of sanctification, any more than he shares with us the glory of justification. He must do all, or nothing. William Law : " A root set in the finest soil, in the best climate, and blessed with all that sun and air and rain can do for it, is not in so sure a way of its growth to perfection, as every man may be whose spirit aspires after all that which God is ready and infinitely desirous to give him. Eor the sun meets not the springing bud that stretches toward him with half that certainty as God, the source of all good, communicates himself to the soul that longs to partake of him." (g) The object of this faith is Christ himself, as the head of a new humanity and the source of truth and life to those united to him. 2 Cor. 3 : 18 — " we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit"; Eph. 4:13 — "till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Faith here is of course much more than intellectual faith, — it is the reception of Christ himself. As Christianity furnishes a new source of lif e and energy — in the Holy Spirit : so it gives a new object of attention and regard — the Lord Jesus Christ. As we get air out of a vessel by pouring in water, so we can drive sin out only by bring ing Christ in. See Chalmers' Sermon on The Expulsive Power of a New Affection. Drummond, Nat. Law in the Spir. World, 123-140— "Man does not grow by making efforts to grow, but by putting himself into the conditions of growth by living in Christ." 1 John 3 : 3 — " every one that hath this hope set on him (en-' avr&> ) purifieth himself, even as he is pure." Sanc tification does not begin from within. The objective Savior must come first. The hope based on him must give the motive and the standard of self-purification. Likeness comes from liking. We grow to be like that which we like. Hence we use the phrase " I like," as a synonym for " I love." We cannot remove frost from our window by rubbing the pane ; we need to kindle a fire. Growth is not the product of effort, but of life. "Taking thought," or "being anxious" (Mat. 6: 27), is not the way to grow. Onlytake the hindrances out of the way, and we grow without care, as the tree does. The moon makes no effort to shine, nor has it any power of its own to shine. It is only a burnt out cinder in the sky. It shines only as it reflects the light of the sun. So we can shine "as lights in the world " (Phil. 2 : 15 ), only as we reflect Christ, who is "the Sun of Righteousness" ( Mai. 4:2) and "the Light of the world " ( John 8 : 12 ). (h) Though the weakest faith perfectly justifies, the degree of sanctifica tion is measured by the strength of the Christian's faith, and the persist ence with which he apprehends Christ in the various relations which the Scriptures declare him to sustain to us. Mat. 9 : 29 — " Acoording to your faith be it done unto you"; Luke 17:5— "Lord, inoreaseouriaith"; Rom, 12:2 — " be not fashioned according to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God " ; 13 : 14 — " But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulll the lusts thereof" ; Eph. 4 : 24 — "put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth"; iTim.4:7 — "eieroise thyself unto godliness." Leighton: "Noneof the children of God are born dumb." Milton : " Good, the more communicated, the more abundant grows." Faith can neither be stationary nor complete ( Westcott, Bible Com. on John 15:8— "so shall ye become my disciples"). Luther: "Hewhoisa Christian is no Christian " ; " Christianus non in esse, sed in fieri." In a Bible that belonged to Oliver Cromwell is this inscription : " O. C. 1644. Qui cessat esse melior cessat esse bonus "— " He who ceases to be better ceases to be good." Story, the sculptor, when asked which of his works he valued most, replied : " My next." The greatest work of the Holy Spirit is the perfecting of Christian character. Col. 1:10— "Increasing by the knowledge of God"— here the instrumental dative represents the knowledge of God as the dew or rain which nurtures the growth of the plant (Light- 874 SOTEEIOLOGY, OB THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. foot ). Mr. Gladstone had the habit of reading the Bible every Sunday afternoon to old women on his estate. Tholuck : " I have but one passion, and that is Christ." This Is anechoof Paul's words: "to me to live is Christ "(Phil. 1:21). But Paul is far from thinking that he has already obtained, or is already made perfect. He prays " that I may gain OnriBt, . . . that I may know him " (Phil. 3:8, 10). («) From the lack of persistence in using the means appointed for Christian growth — such as the word of God, prayer, association with other believers, and personal effort for the conversion of the ungodly — sanctifi cation does not always proceed in regular and unbroken course, and it is never completed in this life. Phil 3 : 12 — " Hot that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect : but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Jesus Christ"; 1 John 1:8— "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Carlyle, in his Life of John Sterling, chap. 8, says of Coleridge, that " whenever natural obligation or voluntary undertaking made it his duty to do anything, the fact seemed a sufficient reason for his not doing it." A regular, advancing sanctification is marked, on the other hand, by a growing habit of instant and j oy f ul obedience. The intermittent spring depends upon the reservoir in the moun tain cave,— only when the rain fills the latter full, does the spring begin to flow. So to secure unbroken Christian activity, there must be constant reception of the word and Spirit of God. Galen : "If diseases take hold of the body, there is nothing so certain to drive them out as diligent exercise." Williams, Principles of Medicine: "Want of exercise and sedentary habits not only predispose to, but actually cause, disease." The little girl who fell out of bed at night was asked how it happened. She replied that she went to Sleep too near where she got in. Some Christians lose the joy of their religion by ceas ing their Christian activities too soon after conversion. Yet others cultivate their spiritual lives from mere selfishness. Selfishness follows the line of least resistance. It is easier to pray in public and to attend meetings for prayer, than it is to go out into the unsympathetic world and engage in the work of winning souls. This is the fault of monasticism. Those grow most who forget themselves in their work for others. The discipline of life is ordained in God's providence to correct tendencies to indolence. Even this discipline is often received in a rebellious spirit. The result is delay in the process of sanctification. Bengel : " Deus habet horas et moras "—•' God has his hours and his delays." German proverb: "Gut Ding will Weile haben"— "A good thing requires time." ( j ) Sanctification, both of the soul and of the body of the believer, is completed in the life to come, — that of the former at death, that of the latter at the resurrection. Phil 3 : 21 — " who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of bis glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself"; Col, 3:4 — "When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall we also with him be manifested in glory" ; Eeb. 12 : 14, 23 —"Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord .... spirits of just men made perfect " ; 1 John 3:2 — " Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him even as he is " ; Jude 24 — " able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy " ; Rev. 14 : 5 — " And in their mouth was found no lie : they are without blemish." A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 121, puts the completion of our sanctification, not at death, but at the appearing of the Lord "a second time, apart from sin, ... . unto salvation" (Heb. 9 : 28 ; 1 Thess. 3 : 13 ; 5:23). When we shall see him as he is, instantaneous photograph ing of his image in our souls will take the place of the present slow progress from glory to glory (2 Cor.3:18; 1 John3:2). If by sanctification we mean, not a sloughing off of remaining depravity, but an ever increasing purity and perfection, then we may hold that the process of sanctification goes on forever. Our relation to Christ must always be that of the imperfect to the perfect, of the finite to the infinite ; and for finite spirits, progress must always be possible. Clarke, Christian Theology, 373—" Not even at death can sanctification end The goal lies far beyond deliverance from sin There is no such thing as bringing the divine life to such completion that no further progress is possible to it Indeed, free and unhampered progress can scarcely begin until SANCTIFICATION. 875 sin islef t behind." " 0 snows so pure, 0 peaks so high 1 I shall not reach you till I die I " As Jesus' resurrection was prepared by holiness of life, so the Christian's resurrection is prepared by sanctification. When our souls are freed from the last remains of sin, then it will not be possible for us to be holden by death ( cf. Acts 2 : 24 ). See Gordon, The Twofold Life, or Christ's Work for us and in us ; Brit, and For. Evang. Rev., April, 1884 : 205-229 ; Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics, 657-662. 3. Erroneous Views refuted by these Scripture Passages. A. The Antinomian, — which holds that, since Christ's obedience and Bufferings have satisfied the demands of the law, the believer is free from obligation to observe it. The Antinomian view rests upon a misinterpretation of Rem. 6 : 14 — "Te are not under law, but under graoe." Agricola and Amsdorf (1559 ) were representatives of this view. Ams- dorf said that "good works are hurtful to salvation." But Melanchthon's words fur nish the reply : " Sola fides justiflcat, sed fides non est sola." F. W. Robertson states it : " Faith alone justifies, but not the faith that is alone." And he illustrates : " Light ning alone strikes, but not the lightning which is without thunder ; for that is summer lightning and harmless." See Browning's poem, Johannes Agricola in Meditation, in Dramatis Persona?, 300 — " I have God's warrant. Could I blend All hideous sins as in a cup, To drink the mingled venoms up, Secure my nature will convert The draught to blossoming gladness." Agricola said that Moses ought to be hanged. This is Sanc tification without Perseverance. Sandeman, the founder of the sect called Sandemanians, asserted as his fundamental principle the deadliness of all doings, the necessity for inactivity to let God do his work In the soul. See his essay, Theron and Aspasia, referred to by Allen, in his Life of Jonathan Edwards, 114. Anne Hutchinson was excommunicated and banished by the Puritans from Massachusetts, in 1637, for holding "two dangerous errors : 1. The Holy Spirit personally dwells in a justified person ; 2. No sanctification can evidence to us our justification." Here the latter error almost destroyed the influence of the former truth. There is a little Antinomianism in the popular hymn : " Lay your deadly doings down, Down at Jesus' feet ; Doing is a deadly thing ; Doing ends in death." The colored preacher's poetry only presented the doctrine in the concrete : " You may rip and te-yar, You may cuss and swe-yar. But you 're jess as sure of heaven, ' S if you 'd done gone de-yar." Plain Andrew Fuller in England ( 1754-1815 ) did excellent service in overthrowing popular Antinomianism. To this view we urge the following objections : ( a ) That since the law is a transcript of the holiness of God, its demands as a moral rule are unchanging. Only as a system of penalty and a method of salvation is the law abolished in Christ's death. Hat. 5 : 17-19 — " Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets : I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished, -Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven " ; 48 — " Te therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect " ; 1 Pet. 1 : 16 — " Te shall be holy ; for I am holy " ; Rom. 10 : 4 — "For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth " ; Gal. 2 : 20 — "I have been crucified with Christ " ; 3 : 13 — " Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having baoome a curse for us " ; Col, 2:14 — "having blotted out the bond written in ordinanoes that was against us, whioh was contrary to us : and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross " ; Heb. 2 : 15 — " deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." ( b ) That the union between Christ and the believer secures not only the bearing of the penalty of the law by Christ, but also the impartation of Christ's spirit of obedience to the behever, — in other words, brings him into communion with Christ's work, and leads him to ratify it in his own experience. Rom. 8: 9, 10, 15 — "ye are not inthe flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in yon. Butif any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin ; but 876 SOTERIOLOGY, OS THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. the spirit is life because of righteousness For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear: but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father " ; Gal 5 : 22-25 — " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control ; against such there is no law, And they that are of Christ Jesus have omoifled the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof " ; 1 John 1:6 — "If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth " ; 3:6—" Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him." (c) That the freedom from the law of which the Scriptures speak, is therefore simply that freedom from the constraint and bondage of the law, which characterizes those who have become one with Christ by faith. Ps. 119 : 97 —" 0 how love I thy law 1 it is my meditation all the day"; Rom. 3:8, 31 — "and why not (as we are j slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? whose condemnation is ust Do we then make the law of none effect through faith 7 God forbid : nay, we establish the law " ; 6 : 14, 15, 22 — " For sin shall not have dominion over you : for ye are not under law, but under grace. What then ? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace ? God forbid .... now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life " ; 7:6 — " But now we have been dis charged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held ; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter " ; 8:4 — " that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit " ;1 Cor. 7: 22 — "he that was called in the Lord being a bondservant, is the Lord's freedmau"; Gal,5:l — "For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bond age"; 1 Tim. 1: 9 — "law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and unruly"; James 1:25 — "the perfect law, the law of liberty." To sum up the doctrine of Christian freedom as opposed to Antinomian ism, we may say that Christ does not free us, as the Antinomian believes, from the law as a rule of hfe. But he does free us ( 1 ) from the law as a system of curse and penalty ; this he does by bearing the curse and penalty himself. Christ frees us ( 2 ) from the law with its claims as a method of salvation ; this he does by making his obedience and merits ours. Christ frees us ( 3 ) from the law as an outward and foreign compulsion ; this he does by giving to us the spirit of obedience and sonship, by which the law is progressively realized within. Christ, then, does not free us, as the Antinomian believes, from the law as a rule of life. But he does free us ( 1 ) from the law as a system of curse and penalty. This he does by bearing the curse and penalty himself. Just as law can do nothing with a man after it has executed its death-penalty upon him, so law can do nothing with us, now that its death-penalty has been executed upon Christ. There are some insects that expire in the act of planting their sting ; and so, when the law gathered itself up and planted its sting in the heart of Christ, it expended all its power as a judge and avenger over us who believe. In the Cross, the law as a system of curse and penalty exhausted itself ; so we were set free. Christ frees us (2) from the law with its claims as a method of salvation : in other words, he frees us from the necessity of trusting our salvation to an impossible future obedience. As the sufferings of Christ, apart from any sufferings of ours, deliver us from eternal death, so the merits of Christ, apart from any merits of ours, give us a title to eternal life. By faith in what Christ has done and simple acceptance of his work for us, we secure a right to heaven. Obedience on our part is no longer rendered painfully, as if our salvation depended on it, but freely and gladly, in gratitude for what Christ has done for us. Illustrate by the English nobleman's invitation to his park, and the regulations he causes to be posted up. Christ frees us ( 3 ) from the law as an outward and foreign compulsion. In putting an end to legalism, he provides against license. This he does by giving the spirit of obedience and sonship. He puts love in the place of fear ; and this secures an obedi ence more intelligent, more thorough, and more hearty, than could have been secured by mere law. So he frees us from the burden and compulsion of the law, by realizing the law within us by his Spirit. The freedom of the Christian is freedom in the law, such as the musician experiences when the scales and exercises have become easy, and work has turned to play. See John Owen, Works, 3:366-651; 6:1-313; Campbell, The Indwelling Christ, 73-8L SANCTIFICATION. 877 Gould, Bib. Theol. N. T., 195— "The supremacy of those books which contain the words of Jesus himself [i. c, the Synoptic Gospels] is that they incorporate, with the other elements of the religious life, the regulative will. Here for instance [in John] is the gospel of the contemplative life, which, 'beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord is changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord ' ( 2 Cor. 3 : 18 ). The belief is that, with this beholding, life will take care of itself. Life will never take care of Itself. Among other things, after the most perfect vision, it has to ask what aspirations, prin ciples, affections, belong to life, and then to cultivate the will to embody these things. Here is the common defect of all religions. They fail to marry religion to the common life. Christ did not stop short of this final word ; but if we leave him for even the great est of his disciples, we are in danger of missing it." This utterance of Gould is sur prising in several ways. It attributes to John alone the contemplative attitude of mind, which the quotation given shows to belong also to Paul. It ignores the constant appeals in John to the will: "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, heitisthatlovethme" (John 14:21). It also forgets that "life " in John is the whole being, including intellect, affection, and will, and that to have Christ for one's life is absolutely to exclude Anti nomianism. B. The Perfectionist, — which holds that the Christian may, in this life, become perfectly free from sin. This view was held by John Wesley in England, and by Mahan and Finney in America. Finney, Syst. Theol., 600, declares regeneration to be " an Instantaneous change from entire sinfulness to entire holiness." The claims of Perfectionists, however, have been modified from "freedom from all sin," to "freedom from all known sin," then to "entire consecration," and finally to " Christian assurance." H. W. Webb-Peploe, in S. S. Times, June 25, 1898—" The Keswick teaching is that no true Christian need wil fully or knowingly sin. Yet this is not sinless perfection. It is simply according to our faith that we receive, and faith only draws from God according to our present possibilities. These are limited by the presence of indwelling corruption ; and, while never needing to sin within the sphere of the light we possess, there are to the last hour of our life upon the earth powers of corruption within every man, which defile his best deeds and give to even his holiest efforts that ' nature of sin ' of which the 9th Article in the Church of England Prayerbook speaks so strongly." Yet it is evident that this corruption is not regarded as real sin, and is called ' nature of sin ' only in some non-natural sense. Dr. George Peck says : " In the life of the most perfect Christian there is every day renewed occasion for self -abhorrence, for repentance, for renewed application of the blood of Christ, for application of the rekindling of the Holy Spirit." But why call this a state of perfection ? F. B. Meyer : " We never say that self is dead ; were we to do so, self would be laughing at us round the corner. The teaching of Romans 6 is, not that self is dead, but that the renewed will is dead to self, the man's will saying Yes to Christ, and No to self ; through the Spirit's grace it constantly repudiates and morti fies the peer of the flesh." For statements of the Perfectionist view, see John Wesley's Christian Theology, edited by Thornley Smith, 265-273 ; Mahan, Christian Perfection, and art. in Bib. Bepoc. 2d Series, vol. rv, Oct. 1840 : 408-428 ; Finney, Systematic Theol ogy, 586-766 ; Peck, Christian Perfection ; KitschL, Bib. Sac, Oct, 1878 : 656 ; A. T. Pierson, The Keswick Movement. In reply, it will be sufficient to observe : ( a ) That the theory rests upon false conceptions : first, of the law, — as a sliding-scale of requirement graduated to the moral condition of creatures, instead of being the unchangeable reflection of God's holiness ; secondly, of sin, — as consisting only in voluntary acts instead of embracing also those dispositions and states of the soul which are not conformed to the divine holiness ; thirdly, of the human will, — as able to choose God supremely and persistently at every moment of life, and to fulfil at every moment the obligations resting upon it, instead of being corrupted and enslaved by the Fall. This view reduces the debt to the debtor's ability to pay, — a short and easy method of discharging obligations. I can leap over a church steeple, if I am only permitted to 878 SOTEEIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. make the church steeple low enough ; and I can touch the stars, if the stars will only come down to my hand. The Philistines are quite equal to Samson, if they may only cut off Samson's locks. So I can obey God's law, if I may only make God's law what I want it to be. The fundamental error of perfeotionism is its low view of God's law ; the second is its narrow conception of sin. John Wesley : " I believe a person filled with love of God is still liable to involuntary transgressions. Such transgressions you may call sins, if you please ; I do not." The third error of perfectionism is its exaggerated estimate of man's power of contrary choice. To say that, whatever may have been the habits of the past and whatever may be the evil affections of the present, a man is perfectly able at any moment to obey the whole law of God, is to deny that there are such things as character and depravity. Finney, Gospel Themes, 383, indeed, disclaimed " all expectations of attaining this state ourselves, and by our own independent, unaided efforts." On the Law of God, see pages 537-544. Augustine : " Every lesser good has an essential element of sin." Anything less than the perfection that belongs normally to my present stage of development is a coming short of the law's demand. K. W. Dale, Fellowship with Christ, 359— " For us and in this world, the divine is always the impossible. Give me a law for individual conduct which requires a perfection that is within my reach, and I am sure that the law does not represent the divine thought. 'Hot that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect : but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which alse I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus ' ( Phil. 3 :12 )— this, from the beginning, has been the confession of saints." The Perfectionist is apt to say that we must " take Christ twice, once for justification and once for sanc tification." But no one can take Christ for justification without at the same time taking him for sanctification. Dr. A. A. Hodge calls this doctrine " Neonomianlsm," because it holds not to one unchanging, ideal, and perfect law of God, but to a second law given to human weakness when the first law has failed to secure obedience. ( 1 ) The law of God demands perfection. It is a transcript of God's nature. Its object is to reveal God. Anything less than the demand of perfection would misrepresent God. God could not give a law which a sinner could obey. In the very nature of the case there can be no sinlessness in this life for those who have once sinned. Sin brings incapacity as well as guilt. All men have squandered a part of the talent intrusted to them by God, and therefore no man can come up to the demands of that law which requires all that God gave to humanity at its creation together with interest on the investment. (2) Even the best Christian comes short of perfection. Regeneration makes only the dominant disposition holy. Many affections still remain unholy and require to be cleansed. Only by lowering the demands of the law, making shallow our conceptions of sin, and mistaking temporary volition for permanent bent of the will, can we count ourselves to be perfect. ( 3 ) Absolute perfection is attained not in this world but in the world to come. The best Christians count themselves still sin ners, strive most earnestly for holiness, have imputed but not inherent sanctification, are saved by hope. (6) That the theory finds no support in, but rather is distinctly contra dicted by, Scripture. First, the Scriptures never assert or imply that the Christian may in this life live without sin ; passages like 1 John 3 : 6, 9, if interpreted consist ently with the context, set forth either the ideal standard of Christian living or the actual state of the behever so far as respects his new nature. 1 John 3:6—" Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him " • 9 — " Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him : and he cannot sin because he is begotten of God." Ann. Par. Bible, in loco : — " John is contrasting the states in which sin and grace severally predominate, without reference to degrees in either, showing that all men are in one or the other." Neander : " John recognizes no intermediate state no gradations. He seizes upon the radical point of difference. He contrasts the two states in their essential nature and principle. It is either love or hate, light or darkness truth or a lie. The Christian life in its essential nature is the opposite of all sin. If there be sin, it must be the afterworking of the old nature." Yet aU Christians are required in Scripture to advance, to confess sin, to ask forgiveness, to maintain warfare, to assume the attitude of ill desert in prayer, to receive chastisement for the removal of imper fections, to regard full salvation as matter of hope, not of present experience. SANCTIFICATION. 879 John paints only in black and white ; there are no intermediate tints or colors. Take the words in 1 John 3 : 6 literally, and there never was and never can be a regenerate per son. The words are hyperbolical, as Paul's words in Rom. 6 : 2 — " We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein"— are metaphorical ; see E. H. Johnson, in Bib. Sac, 1892 : 375, note. The Emperor William refused the request for an audience prepared by a German- American, saying that Germans born in Germany but naturalized in America became Americans : " Ich kenne Amerikaner, Ich kenne Deutsche, aber Deutsch-Amerikaner kenne Ich nicht "—"I know Americans, I know Germans, but German-Americans I do not know." Lowrie, Doctrine of St. John, 110 — " St. John uses the noun sin and the verb to sin in two senses : to denote the power or principle of sin, or to denote concrete acts of sin. The latter sense he generally expresses by the plural sins The Christian is guilty of particular acta of sin for which confession and forgiveness are required, but as he has been freed from the bondage of sin he cannot habitually practise it nor abide in it, still less can he be guilty of sin in its superlative form, by denial of Christ." Secondly, the apostolic admonitions to the Christians and Hebrews show that no such state of complete sanctification had been generally attained by the Christians of the first century. Rom. 8 : 24 — " For in hope were we saved : but hope that is seen is not hope : for who hopeth for that whioh he seeth ? " The party feeling, selfishness, and immorality found among the members of the Corin thian ohurch are evidence that they were far from a state of entire sanctification. Thirdly, there is express record of sin committed by the most perfect characters of Scripture — as Noah, Abraham, Job, David, Peter. We are urged by perfectionists " to keep up the standard." We do this, not by calling certain men perfect, but by calling Jesus Christ perfect. In proportion to our sancti fication, we are absorbed in Christ, not in ourselves. Self -consciousness and display are a poor evidence of sanctification. The best characters of Scripture put their trust in a standard higher than they have ever realized in their own persons, even in the righteousness of God. Fourthly, the word reteioi, as applied to spiritual conditions already attained, can fairly be held to signify only a relative perfection, equivalent to sincere piety or maturity of Christian judgment. 1 Cor. 2 : 6 — " We speak wisdom, however, among the perfect," or, as the Am. Revisers have it, "among them that are fullgrown"; Phil. 3:15 — "Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded." Men are often called perfect, when free from any fault which strikes the eyes of the world. See Gen. 6:9 — " Noah was a righteous man, and perfect"; Job 1:1 — "that man was perfect and upright." On reAeios, see Trench, Syn. N. T., 1 : 110. The WAeioi are described in Heb. 5 : 14 — "Solid food is for the mature ( re\eiW ) who on account of habit have their perceptions disciplined for the discriminating of good and evil" (Dr. Kendrick's translation). The same word "perfect " is used of Jacob in Gen. 25 : 27 — "Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents " = a harmless man, exemplary and well-balanced, as a man of business. Genung, Epic of the Inner Life, 132 — " 'Perfect' in Job —Horace's 'integer vita?,' being the adjective of whioh 'integrity' is the substantive." Fifthly, the Scriptures distinctly deny that any man on earth hves with out sin. 1 I. 8 : 46 — " there is no man that sinneth not" ; Keel. 7 : 20 — "Surely there is net a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not"; James 3 : 2 — "For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also " ; 1 John 1 : 8 — " If we say that we have no sin, wo deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." T. T. Eaton, Sanctification : " 1. Some mistake regeneration for sanctification. They have been unconverted church members. When led to faith in Christ, and finding peace and joy, they think they are sanctified, when tbey are simply converted. 2. Some mistake assurance of faith for sanctification. But joy is not sanctification. 3. Some mistake the baptism of the Holy Spirit for sanctification. But Peter sinned grievously at Antioch, after he had received that baptism. 4. Some think that doing the best one can is sanctification. But he who measures by inches, for feet, can measure up well. 880 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. 5. Some regard sin as only a voluntary act, whereas the sinful nature is the fountain. Btripping off the leaves of the Upas tree does not answer. 6. Some mistake the power of the human will, and fancy that an act of will can free a man from sin. They ignore the settled bent of the will, which the act of will does not change." Sixthly, the declaration : "ye were sanctifled " ( 1 Cor. 6 : 11 ), and the designation : " saints " ( 1 Cor. 1:2), applied to early behevers, are, as the whole epistle shows, expressive of a holiness existing in germ and anticipa tion ; the expressions deriving their meaning not so much from what these early behevers were, as from what Christ was, to whom they were united by faith. When N. T. believers are said to be "sanctified," we must remember the O. T. use of the word. ' Sanctify ' may have either the meaning ' to make holy outwardly,' or ' to make holy inwardly.' The people of Israel and the vessels of the tabernacle were made holy in the former sense ; their sanctification was a setting apart to the sacred use. Hum. 8 : 17 — " all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine .... I sanctified them for myself" ; Deut. 33 : 3 — " Yea, he loveth the people ; all his saints are in thy hand"; 2 Chron. 29:19 — "all the vessels .... have we prepared and sanctifled." The vessels mentioned were first immersed, and then sprinkled from day to day according to need. So the Christian by his regeneration is set apart for God's service, and in this sense is a " saint " and " sanctified." More than this, he has in him the beginnings of purity,— he is "dean as a whole," though he yet needs " to wash his feet " (John 13 : 10) — that is, to be cleansed from the recurring defilements of his daily life. Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2 : 551 — " The error of the Perfectionist is that of confounding imputed sanctification with inherent sanctification. It is the latter which is mentioned in 1 Cor. 1 : 30 — ' Christ Jesus, who was made unto us ... . sanctification.' " Water from the Jordan is turbid, but it settles in the bottle and seems pure — until it is shaken. Some Christians seem very free from sin, until you shake them, — then they get "riled." Clarke, Christian Theology, 371— "Is there not a higher Christian life? Yes, and a higher life beyond it, and a higher still beyond. The Christian life is ever higher and higher. It must pass through all stages between its beginning and its per fection." C. D. Case : " The great objection to [ this theory of ] complete sanctification is that, if possessed at all, it is not a development of our own character." ( c ) That the theory is disapproved by the testimony of Christian expe rience. — In exact proportion to the soul's advance in holiness does it shrink from claiming that holiness has been already attained, and humble itself before God for its remaining apathy, ingratitude, and unbelief. Phil. 3 : 12-14 — "Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect : but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for whioh also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus." Some of the greatest advocates of perfectionism have been furthest from claiming any such perfection ; although many of their less instructed followers claimed it for them, and even professed to have attained it themselves. In Luke 7 : 1-10, the centurion does not think himself worthy to go to Jesus, or to have him come under his roof, yet the elders of the Jews say : " le is worthy that thou shouldest do this"; and Jesus himself says of him : " I have not found so great feith, no, not in Israel." "Holy toJeho- vah " was inscribed upon the mitre of the high priest ( Ei. 28 : 36 ). Others saw it, but he saw it not. Moses knew not that his face shone ( Ex. 34 : 29 ). The truest holiness is that of which the possessor is least conscious ; yet it is his real diadem and beauty ( A. J. Gordon ). " The nearer men are to being sinless, the less they talk about it " ( Dwight L. Moody ). " Always strive for perfection : never believe you have reached it " ( Arnold of Kugby ). Compare with this, Ernest Renan's declaration that he had nothing to alter in his life. " I have not sinned for some time," said a woman to Mr. Spurgeon. " Then you must be very proud of it," he replied. " Indeed lam!" said she. A pastor says : "No one can attain the ' Higher Life,' and escape making mischief." John Wesley lamented that not one in thirty retained the blessing. Perfectionism is best met by proper statements of the nature of the law and of sin ( Ps. 119 : 96 ). While we thus rebuke spiritual pride, however we should be equally careful to point out the inseparable connection between justification and sanctification, and their equal importance as together mak- PERSEVERANCE. 881 ing up the Bibhcal idea of salvation. While we show no favor to those who would make sanctification a sudden and paroxysmal act of the human will, we should hold forth the holiness of God as the standard of attainment, and the faith in a Christ of infinite fulness as the medium through which that standard is to be gradually but certainly realized in us ( 2 Cor. 3 : 18 ). We should imitate Lyman Beecher's method of opposing perfectionism — by search ing expositions of God's law. When men know what the law is, they will say with the Psalmist : " I have seen an end of all perfeotion ; thy commandment is exceeding broad " ( Ps. 119 : 96 ), And yet we are earnestly and hopefully to seek in Christ for a continually increasing measure Of sanctification: 1 Cor. 1:30 — "Christ Jesus, who was made unto us ... . sanctification"; 2 Cor. 3:18 — "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit." Arnold of Rugby : " Always expect to succeed, and never think you have succeeded." Mr. Finney meant by entire sanctification only that it is possible for Christians in this life by the grace of God to consecrate themselves so unreservedly to his service as to live without conscious and wilful disobedience to the divine commands. He did not claim himself to have reached this point ; he made at times very impressive confessions of his own sinfulness ; he did not encourage others to make for themselves the claim to have lived without conscious fault. He held however that such a state is attainable, and therefore that its pursuit is rational. He also admitted that such a state is one, not of absolute, but only of relative, sinlessness. His error was in calling it a state of entire sanctification. See A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 377-384. A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 116—" It is possible that one may experience a great crisis in his spiritual life, in which there is such a total surrender of self to God and such an infilling of the Holy Spirit, that he is freed from the bondage of sinful appetites and habits, and enabled to have constant victory over self instead of suffering constant defeat If the doctrine of sinless perfection is a heresy, the doctrine of contentment with sinful imperfection is a greater heresy It is not an edifying spectacle to see a Christian worldling throwing stones at a Christian perfectionist." Caird, Evolution of Religion, 1 : 138 — " If , according to the German proverb, it is pro vided that the trees shall not grow into the sky, it is equally provided that they shall always grow toward it ; and the sinking of the roots into the soil is inevitably accom panied by a further expansion of the branches." See Hovey, Doctrine of the Higher Christian Life, Compared with Scripture , also Hovey, Higher Christian Life Examined, in Studies in Ethics and Theology, 344-427 ; Snodgrass, Scriptural Doctrine of Sanctification ; Princeton Essays, 1 : 335-365 ; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 3 : 213-258 ; Calvin, Institutes, m, 11 : 6 ; Bib. Repos., 2d Series, 1 : 44-58 ; 2 : 143-166 ; Woods, Works, 4 : 465-523 ; H. A. Boardman, The " Higher Life " Doctrine of Kanctiflcation; William Law, Practical Treatise on Christian Perfection; E.H.John son, The Highest Life. LL Perseverance. The Scriptures declare that, in virtue of the original purpose and contin uous operation of God, all who are united to Christ by faith will infallibly continue in a state of grace and will finally attain to everlasting life. This voluntary continuance, on the part of the Christian, in faith and well-doing we call perseverance. Perseverance is, therefore, the human side or aspect of that spiritual process which, as viewed from the divine side, we call sanc tification. It is not a mere natural consequence of conversion, but involves a constant activity of the human will from the moment of conversion to the end of life. Adam's holiness was mutable ; God did not determine to keep him. It is otherwise with believers in Christ ; God has determined to give them the kingdom (Luke 12: 32). Yet this keeping by God, which we call sanctification, is accompanied and followed by a keeping of himself on the part of the believer, which we call perseverance. The former is alluded to in John 17 : 11, 12 — " keep them in thy name .... I kept them in thy name .... I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition " ; the latter is alluded to in 1 John 5 : 18 — " he that was 56 882 80TERI0L0GY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. begotten of God keepeth himself" Both are expressed in Jude 21, 24— "Keep yourselves in the love of God .... Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling . . . ." A German treatise on Pastoral Theology is entitled: " Keep What Thou Hast "— an allusion to 2 Tim. 1:14 —"That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us," Not only the pastor, but every believer, has a charge to keep ; and the keeping of ourselves is as important a point of Christian doctrine as is the keeping of God. Both are expressed in the motto : Teneo, Teneor — the motto on the front of the Y. M. C. A. building in Boston, underneath a stone cross, firmly clasped by two hands. The colored preacher said that " Perseverance means : 1. Take hold ; 2. Hold on ; 3. Never let go." Physically, intellectually, morally, spiritually, there is need that we persevere. Paul, in 1 Cor. 9 : 27, declares that he smites his body under the eye and makes a slave of it, lest after having preached to others he himself should be rejected ; and in 2 Tim. 4 : 7, at the end of his career, he rejoices that he has "kept the Mtk" A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 115 — " The Christian is as ' a tree planted by the streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season' ( Ps. 1 : 3 ), but to conclude that his growth will be as irresistible as that of the tree, coming as a matter of course simply because he has by regeneration been planted in Christ, is a grave mistake. The disciple is required to be consciously and intelligently active in his own growth, as the tree is not, ' to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure ' ( 2 Pet 1 : 10 ) by surrendering himself to the divine action. ' ' Clarke, Christian Theology, 379—" Man is able to fall, and God is able to keep him from falling; and through the various experiences of life God will so save his child out of all evil that he will be morally incapable of falling." 1. Proof of the Doctrine of Perseverance. A. From Scripture. John 10:28, 29 — "they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out ot my hand. My Father, who hath given them unto me, is greater than all ; and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand " ; Rom. 11 : 29 — "For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance"; 1 Cor, 13:7 — "endureth all things"; C/.13 — "But now abideth faith, hope, love " ; Phil. 1 : 6 — "being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ " ; 2 Thess. 3 : 3 — " But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and guard yen from the evil one " ; 2 Tim. 1:12 — "I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day"; 1 Pet. 1:5 — "who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time " ; Rev. 3 : 10 — " Because thou didst keep the word ofmy patience, I also will keep thee from the hour cf trial, that hour whioh is to oome upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." 2 Tim. 1 : 12 — t?i» napa&i\ictpi aav — Ellicott translates : " the trust committed to me," or "my deposit " = the office of preaching the gospel, the stewardship entrusted to the apostle ; cf. 1 Tim. 6 : 20 — "0 Timothy, keep thy deposit "— tiji/ irapaifcjmjv ; and 2 Tim. 1 : 14 — " Keep the good deposit " — where the deposit seems to be the faith or doctrine delivered to him to preach. Nicoll, The Church's One Foundation, 211 — " Some Christians waken each morning with a creed of fewer articles, and those that remain they are ready to surrender to a process of argument that convinces them. But it is a duty to keep. 'Te have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know ' ( 1 John 2:20) Ezra gave to his men a treasure of gold and silver and sacrificial vessels, and he charged them : ' Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them .... in thy chambers of the house of Jehovah' (Eira8:29)." See in the Autobiography of C. H. Spurgeon, 1 : 225, 256, the outline of a sermon on John 6 : 37 — " All that whioh the father giveth me shall come unto me ; and him that eometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Mr. Spurgeon remarks that this text can give us no comfort unless we see : 1. that God has given us his Holy Spirit ; 2. that we have given ourselves to him. Christ will not cast us out because of our great sins, our long delays, our trying other saviors, our hardness of heart, our little faith, our poor dull prayers, our unbelief, our inveterate corruptions, our frequent backslidings, nor finally because every one else passes us by. B. From Beason. (a) It is a necessary inference from other doctrines, — such as election, union with Christ, regeneration, justification, sanctification. Election of certain individuals to salvation is election to bestow upon them such influences of the Spirit as will lead them not only to accept Christ, but to persevere and be saved. Union with Christ is indissoluble ; regeneration is the beginning of a work of new creation, which is declared in justification, and completed in sanctification. All PERSEVERANCE. 883 these doctrines are parts of a general scheme, which would come to naught if any single Christian were permitted to fall away. ( 6 ) It accords with analogy, — God's preserving care being needed by, and being granted to, his spiritual, as well as his natural, creation. As natural life cannot uphold itself, but we " live, and move, and have our being " in God ( Acts 17 : 28 ), so spiritual life oannot uphold itself, and God maintains the faith, love, and holy activity which he has originated. If he preserves our natural life, muoh more may we expect him to preserve the spiritual. 1 Tim. 6 :13 — "I charge thee before God who preserveth all things alive" (R. V. marg. )— ^woyovovpT-os t« navra«a the great Preserver of all enables us to persist in our Christian course. ( c ) It is implied in all assurance of salvation, — since this assurance is given by the Holy Spirit, and is based not upon the known strength of human resolution, but upon the purpose and operation of God. S. R. Mason : " If Satan and Adam both fell away from perfect holiness, it is a million to one that, in a world full of temptations and with all appetites and habits against me, I shall fall away from imperfect holiness, unless God by his almighty power keep me." It is in the power and purpose of God, then, that the believer puts his trust. Butsince this trust is awakened by the Holy Spirit, it must be that there is a divine fact corre sponding to it; namely, God's purpose to exert his power in such a way that the Christian shall persevere. See Wardlaw, Syst. Theol., 2 : 550-578 ; N. W. Taylor, Revealed Theology, 445-460. Job 6: 11 — "What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is mine end, that I should be patient?" " Here is a note of self -distrust. To be patient without any outlook, to endure with out divine support— Job does not promise it, and he trembles at the prospect; but none the less he sets his feet on the toilsome way " ( Genung ). Dr. Lyman Beecher was asked whether he believed in the perseverance of the saints. He replied : " I do, except when the wind is from the East." But the value of the doctrine is that we can believe jt even when the wind is from the East. It is well to hold on to God's hand, but it is better to have God's hand hold on to us. When we are weak, and forgetful and asleep, we need to be sure of God's care. Like the child who thought he was driving, but who found, after the trouble was over, that his father after all had been holding the reins, we too find when danger comes that behind our hands are the hands of God. The Per severance of the Saints, looked at from the divine side, is the Preservation of the Saints, and the hymn that expresses the Christian's faith is the hymn: "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word 1 " 2. Objections to the Doctrine of Perseverance. These objections are urged chiefly by Arminians and by Bomanists. A. That it is inconsistent with human freedom. — Answer : It is no more so than is the doctrine of Election or the doctrine of Decrees. The doctrine is simply this, that God will bring to bear such influences upon all true believers, that they will freely persevere. Moule, Outlines of Christian Doctrine, 47 — " Is grace, in any sense of the word, ever finally withdrawn ? Yes, if by grace is meant any free gift of God tending to salvation ; or, more specially, any action of the Holy Spirit tending in its nature thither But if by grace be meant the dwelling and working of Christ in the truly regenerate, there is no indication In Scripture of the withdrawal of it." B. That it tends to immorality. — Answer : This cannot be, since the doctrine declares that God will save men by securing their perseverance in holiness. 2 Tim. 2 : 19 — " Howbeit the Arm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his : and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness " ; that is, the temple of Christian character has upon its foundation two significant inscriptions, the one declar ing God's power, wisdom, and purpose of salvation ; the other declaring the purity and holy activity, on the part of the believer, through whioh God's purpose istobeful- 884 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. filled ; 1 Pet. i : 1, 2 — " eleot .... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanotiloation of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ "; 2 Pet. 1 : 10, 11 — " Wherefore, brethren, give the more dili gence to make your calling and election sure : fo r if ye do these things, ye shall never stumble : for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom cf our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." C. That it leads to indolence. — Answer: This is a perversion of the doctrine, continuously possible only to the unregenerate ; since, to the regenerate, certainty of success is the strongest incentive to activity in the conflict with sin. i John 5 : 4 — "For whatsoever is begotten of God over eometh the world : and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith." It is notoriously untrue that confidence of success inspires timid ity or indolence. Thomas Fuller : " Your salvation is his business ; his service your business." The only prayers God will answer are those we ourselves cannot answer. For the very reason that " it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure," the apostle exhorts : "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling " ( Phil, 2 : 12, 13 ). D. That the Scripture commands to persevere and warnings against apostasy show that certain, even of the regenerate, will fall away. — Answer : ( a ) They show that some, who are apparently regenerate, will fall away. Hat. 18:7 — " Woo unto the world because of occasions of stumbling 1 for it must needs be that the occasions come ; but woe to that man through whom the occasion eometh"; 1 Cor. 11:19 — "For there must be also actions [lit. ' heresies ' ] among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you " ; 1 John 2 : 19 — "They went out from us, but they were not of ns ; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us : but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us." Judas probably experienced strong emotions, and received strong impulses toward good, under the influence of Christ. The only falling from grace which is recognized in Scripture is not the falling of the regenerate, but the falling of the unregenerate, from influences tending to lead them to Christ. The Rabbins said that a drop of water will suffice to purify a man who has accidently touched a creeping thing, but an ocean will not suffice for his cleansing so Jong as he purposely keeps the creeping thing in his hand. ( 6 ) They show that the truly regenerate, and those who are only appar ently so, are not certainly distinguishable in this life. Hal. 3:18 — "Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him thatserveth God and him that serveth him not " ; Mat. 13 : 25, 47 — " while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away .... Again, the kingdom of heaven Is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind"; Rom. 9:6,7 — "For they are not ail Israel, that are of Israel: neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children " ; Rev, 3:1 — "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead." The tares were never wheat, and the bad ash never were good, in spite of the fact that their true nature was not for a while recognized. ( c ) They show the fearful consequences of rejecting Christ, to those who have enjoyed special divine influences, but who are only apparently regenerate. Heb. 10:26-29 — "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of Are which shall devour the adversaries. A man that hath set at nought Hoses' law diets without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ? " Here " sanctifled " = external sanctification, like that of the ancient Israel ites, by outward connection with God's people ; cf. 1 Cor. 7 : 14— "the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the with." In considering these and the following Scripture passages, much will depend upon our view of inspiration. If we hold that Christ's promise was fulfilled and that his apostles were led into all the truth, we shall assume that there is unity in their teach ing, and shall recognize in their variations only aspects and applications of the teach ing of our Lord ; in other words, Christ's dootrine in John 10 : 28, 29 will be the norm for the PERSEVERANCE. 885 interpretation of seemingly diverse and at first sight inconsistent passages. There was a "faith whioh was onoe for all delivered unto the saints," and for this primitive faith we are exhorted " to contend earnestly " (Jude3). ( d) They show what the fate of the truly regenerate would be, in case they should not persevere. Heb. 6:4-6 — "For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." This is to be understood as a hypothetical case, — as is clear from verse 9 which follows : " But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things whioh accompany salva tion, though we thus speak." Dr. A. C. Kendrick, Com. in loco: "In the phrase 'onoe enlightened,' the ' onoe ' is «ira£ = once for all. The text describes a condition subjectively possible, and therefore needing to be held up in earnest warning to the believer, while objectively and in the absolute purpose of God, it never occurs If passages like this teach the possibility of falling from grace, they teach also the impossibility of restoration to it. The saint who once apostatizes has apostatized forever." So Ez. 18:24 — "when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and oommitteth iniquity .... in them shall he die " ; 2 Pet. 2 : 20 — " For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is beoome worse with them than the first." So, in Mat. 5 : 13 — "if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted ? "— if this teaches that the regenerate may lose their religion, it also teaches that they can never recover it. It really shows only that Christians who do not perform their proper functions as Christians become harmful and contemptible ( Broadus, in loco ). (e) They show that the perseverance of the truly regenerate may be secured by these very commands and warnings. 1 Cor. 9 : 27 — "I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage : lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected" — or, to bring out the meaning more fully: " I beat my body blue [ or, 'strike it under the eye ' ], and make it a slave, lest after having been a herald to others, I myself should be rejected" ('unapproved,' 'counted unworthy of the prize'); 10:12— "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Quarles, Emblems : " The way to be safe is never to be secure." Wrightnour: "Warning a traveler to keep a certain path, and by this means keeping him in that path, is no evidence that he will ever fall into a pit by the Bide of the path simply because he is warned of it." (/) They do not show that it is certain, or possible, that any truly regenerate person will fall away. The Christian is like a man making his way up-hill, who occasionally slips back, yet always has his face set toward the summit. The unregenerate man has his face turned downwards, and he is slipping all the way. C. H. Spurgeon : " The believer, like aman on shipboard, may fall again and again on the deck, but he will never fall overboard." E. That we have actual examples of such apostasy. — We answer : (a) Such are either men once outwardly reformed, like Judas and Ananias, but never renewed in heart ; But, per contra, instance the experience of a man in typhoid fever, who apparently repented, but who never remembered it when he was restored to health. Sick-bed and death-bed conversions are not the best. There was one penitent thief, that none might despair ; there was but one penitent thief, that none might presume. The hypocrite Is like the wire that gets a second-hand electricity from the live wire running parallel with it. This second-hand electricity is effective only within narrow limits, and its efficacy is soon exhausted. The live wire has connection with the source of power in the dynamo. ( 6 ) Or they are regenerate men, who, like David and Peter, have fallen into temporary sin, from which they will, before death, be reclaimed by God's discipline. Instance the young profligate who, in a moment of apparent drowning, repented, was then rescued, and afterward lived a long life as a Christian. If he had not been 886 SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. rescued, his repentance would never have been known, nor the answer to his mother's prayers. So, in the moment of a backslider's death, God can renew repentance and faith. Cromwell on his death-bed questioned his Chaplain as to the doctrine of final perseverance, and, on being assured that it was a certain truth, said : " Then I am happy, for I am sure that I was once in a state of grace." But reliance upon a past experience is like trusting in the value of a policy of life insurance upon which several years' premiums have been unpaid. If the policy has not lapsed, it is because of extreme grace. The only conclusive evidence of perseverance is a present experience of Christ's presence and indwelling, corroborated by active service and purity of life. On the general subject, see Edwards, Works, 3 : 509-532, and 4 : 104 ; Ridgeley, Body of Divinity, 2:164-194; John Owen, Works, vol. 11; Woods, Works, 8:221-246; Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics, 662-666. PAET VII. ECCLESIOLOGT, OE THE DOCTEINE OF THE CHUECH. CHAPTEE I. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH. OR CHURCH POLITY. I. Definition op the Chtjkoh. ( a ) The church of Christ, in its largest signification, is the whole com pany of regenerate persons in all times and ages, in heaven and on earth (Mat. 16:18 ; Eph. 1 :22, 23 ; 3 : 10 ; 5 :24, 25 ; Col. 1 :18 ; Heb. 12 :23). In this sense, the church is identical with the spiritual kingdom of God ; both signify that redeemed humanity in which God in Christ exercises actual spiritual dominion ( John 3:3, 5 ). Mat. 16 : 18 — " thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my ohurch ; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it " ; Eph. 1 : 22, 23 — " and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the ohurch, whioh is his body, the fulness of him that fllleth all in all " ; 3 : 10 — "to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God " ; 5 : 24, 25 — " But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it " ; Col 1 : 18 — " And he is the head of the body, the ohurch : who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; that in all things he might have the preeminence " ; Heb, 12 : 23 — "the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven " ; John 3 : 3, 5 — " Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. .... Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Cicero's words apply here : "Una navis est jam bonorum omnium " — all good men are in one boat. CSoero speaks of the state, but it is still more true of the church invisible. Andrews, in Bib. Sac, Jan. 1883 : 14, mentions the following differences between the church and kingdom, or, as we prefer to say, between the visible church and the invisible church: (1) the church began with Christ, —the kingdom began earlier; (2) the church is confined to believers in the historic Christ,— the kingdom includes all God's children ; (3) the church belongs wholly to this world— not so the kingdom; (4) the church is visible, — not so the kingdom; (5) the church has quasi organic character, and leads out into local churches, — this is not so with the kingdom. On the universal or invisible church, see Cremer, Lexicon N. T., transl., 113, 114, 331 ; Jacob, Eccl. Polity of N. T., 18. H. C. Vedder : " The church is a spiritual body, consisting only of those regenerated by the Spirit of God." Yet the Westminster Confession affirms that the church " consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together with their children." This definition includes in the church a multitude who not only give no evidence of regeneration, but who plainly show themselves to be unregenerate. In many lands it practically identifles the church with the world. Augustine indeed thought that "the field," in Hat. 13:38, is the church, whereas Jesus says very distinctly that it "is the world. " Augustine held that good and bad alike were to be permitted to 887 888 ECCLESIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. dwell together in the church, without attempt to separate them; see Broadus, Com. in loco. But the parable gives a reason, not why we should not try to put the wicked out of the church, but why God does not immediately put them out of the world, the tares being separated from the wheat only at the final judgment of mankind. Yet the universal church includes all true believers. It fulfils the promise of God to Abraham in Gen. 15 : 5 — "Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them : and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." The church shall be immortal, since it draws its life from Christ: Is. 65:22 — "as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people " ; Zeoh. 4:2,3 — "a candlestick all of gold . and two olive-trees by it." Dean Stanley, Life and Letters, 2 : 242, 243 — " A Spanish Roman Catholic, Cervantes, said : 'Many are the roads by which God carries his own to heaven.' DSllinger : ' Theology must become a science not, as heretofore, for mak ing war, but for making peace, and thus bringing about that reconciliation of churches for which the whole civilized world is longing.' In their loftiest moods of inspiration, the Catholic Thomas a Kempis, the Puritan Milton, the Anglican Keble, rose above their peculiar tenets, and above the limits that divide denominations, into the higher regions of a common Christianity. It was the Baptist Bunyan who taught the world that there was ' a common ground of communion which no difference of external rites could efface.' It was the Moravian Gambold who wrote : ' The man That could sur round the sum of things, and spy The heart of God and secrets of his empire, Would speak but love. With love, the bright result Would change the hue of intermediate things, And make one thing of all theology.' " ( 6 ) The church, in this large sense, is nothing less than the body of Christ — the organism to which he gives spiritual life, and through which he manifests the fulness of his power and grace. The church therefore cannot be defined in merely human terms, as an aggregate of individuals associated for social, benevolent, or even spiritual purposes. There is a transcendent element in the church. It is the great company of persons whom Christ has saved, in whom he dwells, to whom and through whom he reveals God (Eph. 1 : 22, 23 ). Eph, 1 : 22, 33 — "the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that fllleth all in all." He who is the life of nature and of humanity reveals himself most fully in the great company of those who have joined themselves to him by faith. Union with Christ is the presupposition of the church. This alone transforms the sinner into a Christian, and this alone makes possible that vital and spiritual fellowship between individuals which constitutes the organizing principle of the church. The same divine life which ensures the pardon and the perseverance of the believer unites him to all other believers. The indwelling Christ makes the church superior to and more permanent than all humanitarian organi zations; they die, but because Christ lives, the church lives also. Without a proper conception of this sublime relation of the church to Christ, we cannot properly appre ciate our dignity as church members, or our high calling as shepherds of the flock. Not "ubi ecclesia, ibi Christus," but "ubi Christus, ibi ecclesia," should be our motto. Because Christ is omnipresent and omnipotent, "the same yesterday, and to-day, yea and forever" ( Heb. 13 : 8 ), what Burke said of the nation is true of the church : It is " indeed a partner ship, but a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are yet to be born." McGiffert, Apostolic Church, 501— "Paul's conception of the church as the body of Christ was first emphasized and developed by Ignatius. He reproduces in his writings the substance of all the Paulinism that the church at large made permanently its own : the pregxistence and deity of Christ, the union of the believer with Christ without which the Christian life is impossible, the importance of Christ's death, the churoh the body of Christ. Rome never fully recognized Paul's teachings, but her system rests upon his doctrine of the church the body of Christ. The modern doctrine however makes the kingdom to be not spiritual or future, but a reality of this world." The redemption of the body, the redemption of institutions, the redemption of nations, are indeed all purposed by Christ. Christians should not only strive to rescue individ ual men from the slough of vice, but they should devise measures for draining that Slough and making that vice impossible ; in other words, they should labor for the coming of the kingdom of God in society. But this is not to identify the church with politics, prohibition, libraries, athletics. The spiritual fellowship is to be the fountain DEFINITION OF THE CHURCH. 889 from whioh all these activities spring, while at the same time Christ's " kingdom is not of this world" (John 18: 36). A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 24, 25, 207 — " As Christ is the temple of God, so the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. As God could be seen only through Christ, so the Holy Spirit can be seen only through the church. As Christ was the image of the invisible God, so the church is appointed to be the image of the invisible Christ, and the members of Christ, w hen they are glorified with him, shall be the express image of his person The church and the kingdom are not identical terms, if we mean by the kingdom the visible reign and government of Jesus Christ on earth. In another sense they are identical. As is the king, so is the kingdom. The king is present now in the world, only invisibly and by the Holy Spirit ; so the kingdom is now present invisibly and spiritually in the hearts of behevers. The king is to come again visibly and gloriously ; so shall the kingdom appear visibly and gloriously. In other words, the kingdom is already here in mystery : it is to be here in manifestation. Now the spiritual kingdom is administered by the Holy Spirit, and it extends from Pentecost to Parousia. At the Parousia— the appearing of the Son of man in glory— when he shall take unto himself his great power and reign (Hev. 11:17), when he who has now gone into a far country to be invested with a kingdom shall return and enter upon his government ( Luke 19 : 15 ) , then the invisible shall give way to the visible, the kingdom in mystery shall emerge into the kingdom in manifestation, and the Holy Spirit's admin istration shall yield to that of Christ." ( c ) The Scriptures, however, distinguish between this invisible or uni versal church, and the individual church, in which the universal church takes local and temporal form, and in which the idea of the church as a whole is concretely exhibited. Hat, 10 : 32 — " Every one therefore, who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who isinheaven"; 12:34,35 — "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak eth. Thegoodmanoutofhisgood treasure bringeth forth good things " ; Rom. 10 : 9, 10 — " if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved : for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" ; James 1:18 — "Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures ' ' — we were saved, not for ourselves only, but as parts and beginnings of an organic kingdom of God ; believers are called "nrstfruits, " because from them the blessing shall spread, until the whole world shall be pervaded with the new life ; Pentecost, as the feast of first-fruits, was but the beginning of a stream that shall continue to flow until the whole race of man is gathered in. R. S. Storrs : " When any truth becomes central and vital, there comes the desire to utter it," — and we may add, not only in words, but in organization. So beliefs crystal lize into institutions. But Christian faith is something more vital than the common beliefs of the world. Linking the soul to Christ, it brings Christians into living fellow ship with one another before any bonds of outward organization exist ; outward organization, indeed, only expresses and symbolizes this inward union of spirit to Christ and to one another. Horatius Bonar : " Thou must be true thyself, If thou the truth wouldst teach ; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul wouldst reach ; It needs the overflow of heart To give the lips full speech. Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world's famine feed ; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed ; Live truly, and thy life shall be A great and noble creed." Contentio Veritatis, 128, 129 — " The kingdom of God is first a state of the individual soul, and then, secondly, a society made up of those who enjoy that state." Dr. F. L. Patton : " The best way for a man to serve the church at large is to serve the church to which he belongs." Herbert Stead : " The kingdom is not to be narrowed down to the church, nor the church evaporated into the kingdom." To do the first is to set up a monstrous ecclesiasticism ; to do the second is to destroy the organism through which the kingdom manifests itself and does its work in the world (W. R. Taylor). Prof. Dalman, in his work on The Words of Jesus in the Light of Postbiblical Writing and the Aramaic Language, contends that the Greek phrase translated " kingdom of God " should be rendered " the sovereignty of God." He thinks that it points to the reign of God, rather than to the realm over which he reigns. This rendering, if accepted, takes away entirely the support from the Ritschlian conception of the kingdom of God as an earthly and outward organization. 890 ECCLESIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. (d) The individual church may be defined as that smaller company of regenerate persons, who, in any given community, unite themselves volun tarily together, in accordance with Christ's laws, for the purpose of secur ing the complete estabhshment of his kingdom in themselves and in the world. Hat. 18 : 17 — " And if he refuse to hear them, toll it unto the church : and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican"; Acts 14:23— "appointed for them elders in every church"; Rom. 16:5 —"salute the church that is in their house" ; 1 Cor. 1:2 — "the church of God whioh is at Corinth"; 4:17— "even as I teaoh everywhere in every ohurch " ; 1 Thess. 2:14 — "the churches of God whioh are in Judsea in Christ Jesus." We do not define the church as a body of " baptized believers," because baptism is but One of " Christ's laws," in accordance with which believers unite themselves. Since these laws are the laws of church-organization contained in the New Testament, no Sunday School, Temperance Society, or Young Men's Christian Association, is properly a church. These organizations 1. Lack the transcendent element — they are instituted and managed by man only ; 2. they are not confined to the regenerate, or to those alone who give credible evidence of regeneration ; 3. they presuppose and require no partic ular form of doctrine ; 4. they observe no ordinances ; 5. they are at best mere adjuncts and instruments of the church, but are not themselves churches ; 6. their decisions therefore are devoid of the divine authority and obligation which belong to the decis ions of the church. The laws of Christ, in accordance with which believers unite themselves into churches, may be summarized as follows : 1. the sufficiency and sole authority of Scripture as the rule both of doctrine and polity j (2) credible evidence of regeneration and conversion as prerequisite to church-membership ; ( 3 ) immersion only, as answering to Christ's command of baptism, and to the symbolic meaning of the ordinance ; ( 4 ) the order of the ordinances, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, as of divine appointment, as well as the ordinances themselves ; ( 5 ) the right of each member of the church to a voice in its government and discipline ; ( 6 ) each church, while holding fellowship with other churches, solely responsible to Christ ; ( 1 ) the freedom of the individual conscience, and the total independence of church and state. Hovey in his Restatement of Denom inational Principles ( Am. Bap. Pub. Society ) gives these principles as follows : 1. the supreme authority of the Scriptures in matters of religion ; 2. personal accountability to God in religion ; 3. union with Christ essential to salvation ; 4. a new life the only evidence of that union ; 5. the new life one of unqualified obedience to Christ. The most concise statement of Baptist doctrine and history is that of Vedder, in Jackson's Dictionary of Religious Knowledge, 1 : 74-85. With the lax views of Scripture which are becoming common among us there is a tendency in our day to lose sight of the transcendent element in the church. Let us remember that the church is not a humanitarian organization resting upon common human brotherhood, but a supernatural body, which traces its descent from the second, not the first, Adam, and which manifests the power of the divine Christ. Mazzini in Italy claimed Jesus, but repudiated his church. So modern socialists cry : " Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," and deny that there is need of anything more than human unity, development, and culture. But God has made the church to sit with Christ "in the heavenly places " ( Eph. 2:6). It is the regeneration which comes about through union with Christ which constitutes the primary and most essential element in ecclesiology. " We do not stand, first of ail, for restricted communion, nor for immersion as the only valid form of baptism, nor for any particular theory of Scripture, but rather for a regenerate church membership. The essence of the gospel is a new life in Christ, of which Chris tian experience is the outworking and Christian consciousness is the witness. Christian life is as important as conversion. Faith must show itself by works. We must seek the temporal as well as spiritual salvation of men, and the salvation of society also " ( Leighton Williams ). E. G. Robinson : " Christ founded a church only proleptically. In Mat 18 : 17, ixxhricrCa is not used technically. The church is an outgrowth of the Jewish synagogue, though its method and economy are different. There was little or no organization at first. Christ himself did not organize the church. This was the work of the apostles after Pentecost. The germ however existed before. Three persons may constitute a church, and may administer the ordinances. Councils have only advisory authority. Diocesan episcopacy is antiscriptural and antichristian." DEFINITION OF THE CHURCH. 891 The principles mentioned above are the essential principles of Baptist churches, although other bodies of Christians have come to recognize a portion of them. Bodies of Christians which refuse to accept these principles we may, in a somewhat loose and modified sense, call churohes ; but we cannot regard them as churches organized in all respects according to Christ's laws, or as completely answering to the New Testament model of church organization. We follow common usage when we address a Lieutenant Colonel as " Colonel," and a Lieutenant Governor as " Governor." It is only courtesy to speak of pedobaptist organizations as " churches," although we do not regard these ohurohes as organized in full accordance with Christ's laws as they are indicated to us in the New Testament. To refuse thus to recognize them would be a discourtesy like that of the British Commander in Chief, when he addressed General Washington as " Mr. Washington." As Luther, having found the doctrine of justification by faith, could not recognize that doctrine as Christian which taught justification by works, but denounced the church which held it as Antichrist, saying, " Here I stand ; I cannot do otherwise, God help me," so we, in matters not indifferent, as feet-washing, but vitally affecting the existence of the church, as regenerate church-membership, must stand by the New Testament, and refuse to call any other body of Christians a regular church, that is not organized according to Christ's laws. The English word ' church ' like the Scotch ' kirk ' and the German ' Ki/rehe,'' is derived from the Greek Kvpuunj, and means ' belonging to the Lord.' The term itself should teach us to regard only Christ's laws as our rule of organization. (e) Besides these two significations of the term "church,' there are properly in the New Testament no others. The word ItaQaicia is indeed used in Acts 7 : 38 ; 19 : 32, 39 ; Heb. 2 : 12, to designate a popular assem bly ; but since this is a secular use of the term, it does not here concern us. In certain passages, as for example Acts 9 : 31 [iiMfaiaia, sing., N a bo), 1 Cor. 12 : 28, Phil. 3 : 6, and 1 Tim. 3 : 15, iiuibjoia appears to be used either as a generic or as a collective term, to denote simply the body of indepen dent local churches existing in a given region or at a given epoch. But since there is no evidence that these churches were bound together in any outward organization, this use of the term kmhiaia cannot be regarded as adding any new sense to those of ' the universal church ' and ' the local church ' already mentioned. Acts 7:38 — "the church [ marg. ' congregation'] in the wilderness "=> the whole body of the people of Israel; 19:32— "the assembly was in confusion "—the tumultuous mob in the theatre at Ephesus; 39 — "the regular assembly"; 9:31 — "So the church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified " ; 1 Cor. 12 : 28 — " And God hath set some in the ohurch, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers ' ' ; Phil. 3:6 — "as touching zeal persecuting the church " ; 1 Tim. 3 : 15 — " that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the ohurch of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." In the original use of the word eunAijo-ia, as a popular assembly, there was doubtless an allusion to the derivation from U and /caAeu, to call out by herald. Some have held that the N. T. term contains an allusion to the fact that the members of Christ's church are called, chosen, elected by God. This, however, is more than doubtful. In common use, the term had lost its etymological meaning, and signified merely an assembly, howver gathered or summoned. The church was never so large that it could not asc^mble. The church of Jerusalem gathered for the choice of deacons ( Acts 6 : 2, 5 ), and the church of Antioch gathered to hear Paul's account of his missionary journey ( Acts 14 : 27 ). It is only by a common figure of rhetoric that many churches are spoken of together in the singular number, in such passages as Acts 9:31. We speak generically of 'man,' meaning the whole race of men ; and of ' the horse,' meaning all horses. Gibbon, speak ing of the successive tribes that swept down upon the Roman Empire, uses a noun in the singular number, and describes them as " the several detachments of that immense army of northern barbarians," — yet he does not mean to intimate that these tribes had any common government. So we may speak of " the American college " or " the Amer ican theological seminary," but we do not thereby mean that the colleges or the seminaries are bound together by any tie of outward organization. So Paul says that God has set in the church apostles, prophets, and teachers (1 Cor. 12 : 28 ), but the word ' church ' is only a collective term for the many independent churches. 892 ECCLESIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. In this same sense, we may speak of " the Baptist church " of New York, or of Amer ica ; but it must be remembered that we use the term without any such implication of common government as is involved in the phrases ' the Presbyterian church,' or ' the Protestant Episcopal church,' or 'the Roman Catholio church' ; with us, in this con nection, the term ' church ' means simply * churches.' Broadus, in his Com. on Mat., page 359, suggests that the word ewt\i)o-i'a in Acts 9 : 31, " denotes the original church at Jerusalem, whose members were by the persecution widely scattered throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and held meetings where- ever they were, but still belonged to the one original organization When Paul wrote to the Galatians, nearly twenty years later, these separate meetings had been organized into distinct churches, and so he speaks ( Gal 1 : 22 ) in reference to that same period, of "the churches of Judsa whioh were in Christ." On the meaning of eKuAjjo-ia, see Cremer, Lex. N. T., 329 ; Trench, Syn. N. T., 1 : 18 ; Girdlestone, Syn. O. T., 367 ; Curtis, Progress of Baptist Principles, 301 ; Dexter, Congregationalism, 25 ; Dagg, Church Order, 100- 120 ; Robinson, N. T. Lex., sub voce. The prevailing usage of the N. T. gives to the term ituCkno-ia the second of these two significations. It is this local church only which has definite and temporal existence, and of this alone we henceforth treat. Our defini tion of the individual church implies the two following particulars : A. The church, like the family and the state, is an institution of divine appointment. This is plain: (a) from its relation to the church universal, as its concrete embodiment ; ( 6 ) from the fact that its necessity is grounded in the social and religious nature of man ; ( c ) from the Script ure, — as for example, Christ's command in Mat. 18 : 17, and the designa tion ' church of God,' applied to individual churches ( 1 Cor. 1:2). President Wayland: "The universal church comes before the particular church. The society which Christ has established is the foundation of every particular associa tion calling itself a church of Christ." Andrews, in Bib. Sao., Jan. 1883 : 35-58, on the conception iiac\ri