I.
WE speak not here of the regeneration of elect infants dying in their infancy; God has his own way of dealing with them; but of the regeneration of those who are capable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word, which we may thus describe.
- This is an extract from “Therapeutica Sacra” by the famous Covenanting minister, Rev. David Dickson, Irvine.
Regeneration (being one in effect with effectual calling) is the work of God’s invincible power and mere grace, wherein, by His Spirit accompanying His Word, He quickens a redeemed person lying dead in his sins, and renews him in his mind, will, and all the powers of his soul; convincing him savingly of sin, righteousness and judgment, and making him heartily to embrace Christ and salvation, and to consecrate himself to the service of God in Christ all the days of his life.
The main thing we must take heed to in this work is to give God entirely the glory of His grace, and power and wisdom, so that the glory of man’s regeneration be neither given to man, nor man made sharer of the glory with God; but God may have the whole glory of His free grace, because out of His own good will, not for anything at all foreseen in man, He lets forth His special love on the redeemed in a time acceptable. And the glory of His almighty power, because by His omnipotent and invincible working, He makes the man dead in sins to live, opens his eyes to take up savingly the things of God, takes away the heart of stone, and makes him a new creature, to will and to do His holy will. And the glory of His wisdom, who deals so with His creature, as He doth not destroy, but perfect the natural power of man’s will; making the man regenerated, most freely, deliberately, and heartily to embrace Christ, and to consecrate himself to God’s service. The reason why we urge this is, because Satan, by corrupting the doctrine of regeneration, and persuading men that they are able of themselves, by the common and the natural strength of their own free will, without the special and effectual grace of God, both to convert themselves and others also, doth foster the native pride of men; hinders them from emptying and humbling themselves before God: keeps them from self-denial; mars the regeneration of them that are deluded with this error, and obscures what he can, the shining of the glory of God’s grace, power and wisdom, in the conversion of men. For whatsoever praise proud men let go toward God for making men’s conversion possible, yet they give the whole glory of actual conversion to the man himself, which Christ ascribes to God only, and leaves no more for man to glory in his spiritual regeneration than he has to glory in his own natural generation (John iii. 5-8). And the same doth the Apostle teach (Ephes. ii. 8-10) and (Phil. ii. 13). “It is God (saith he) which worketh in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure,” and therefore it is the duty of all Christ’s disciples, but chiefly their duty who are consecrated to God, to preach up the glory of God’s free grace, omnipotent power, and unsearchable wisdom; to live in the sense of their own emptiness, and to depend upon the furniture of grace for grace, out of Christ’s fulness; and zealously to oppose the proud error of man’s natural ability for converting himself; as they love to see and find the effectual blessing of the ministry of the Gospel, and themselves accepted for true disciples, at the day of their meeting with Christ the Judge at His second coming.
For opening up of regeneration, these five propositions must be holden.
I. The first is this—”The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for, they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I. Cor. ii. 14.)
II. The second is this—It is the Spirit of God which convinces man of sin, of true righteousness, and of judgment (John xvi., 9, 10, 11).
III. The third is this—In the regeneration, conversion and quickening of a sinner, God, by His invincible power, creates and infuses a new life, and principles thereof—”Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power” (Psalm ex., 3; John v., 21, vi., 63).
IV. The fourth is this—The invincible grace of God, working regeneration and a man’s conversion, doth not destroy the freedom of man’s will, but it makes it truly free and perfects it. “I will make a covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, and will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (Jer. xxxi., 31).
V. The fifth is this—Albeit a man, in the act of God’s quickening and converting of him, be passive, and in a spiritual sense dead in sins and trespasses, yet for exercising external means, whereof God makes use unto his conversion, for fitting him, and preparing him for a gracious change (such as are, hearing of the Word, reading it, meditating on it, inquiring after the meaning of it), the natural man has a natural power thereunto as to other external actions; which suffices to take away excuse from them who have occasion of using the means, and will not use them (Matt. xxiii., 37).
I. For clearing of the first proposition, we must remember
that the object of actual regeneration, conversion, and effectual calling is the man elected or redeemed by Christ, lying in the state of defection from God, destitute of original righteousness, at enmity with God, bently inclined to all evil, altogether unfit and impotent, yea, even spiritually dead to every spiritual good, and specially to convert, regenerate, or quicken himself. For albeit after the fall of Adam there are some sparks of common reason remaining, whereby he may confusedly know that which is called spiritual good, acceptable and pleasant unto God, and fit to save his soul; yet the understanding of the unrenewed man judges of that good, and of the truth of the Evangel wherein that good is proposed, to be mere foolishness; and doth represent the spiritual object, and sets it before the will as a thing uncertain or vain: and the will of the unrenewed man, after deliberation and comparison made of objects, some honest, some pleasant, and some profitable in appearance, naturally is inclined to prefer and choose any seemingly pleasant and profitable thing, whether the object be natural or civil, rather than that which is truly honest and morally good. But, if it fall out that a spiritual good be well, and in fair colours described unto the unrenewed man, yet he sees it not, but under the notion of a natural good, and as it is clothed with the image of some natural good, and profitable for preserving its standing in a natural being and welfare therein. So did the false prophet Balaam look upon the felicity of the righteous in their death, when he did separate eternal life from faith and sanctification, and did rend asunder the means from the end appointed of God, saying, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.”
After this manner the woman of Samaria apprehended the gift and grace of the Holy Ghost, and saving grace offered to her by Christ: “Lord,” saith she, “give me of that water that I may not thirst again, and may not come again to draw water” (John iv., 15). So also did the misbelieving Jews judge of the application of Christ’s incarnation and suffering for their spiritual feeding (John vi., 33-35); for, “the natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned,” and the natural man is destitute of the Spirit of illumination (I. Cor. ii., 14). And the wisdom of the flesh is enmity to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, yea, it cannot be subject unto it (Rom. viii., 7). The power, therefore, of the natural or unrenewed man is not fitted for the discerning and loving of a spiritual good, because he is altogether natural and not spiritual, for a supernatural object requires a supernatural power of the understanding and will to take it up, and rightly conceive of it. But of this supernatural faculty the unrenewed man is destitute, and in respect of spiritual discerning he is dead, that he cannot discern spiritual things spiritually.
II. As for the second proposition anent a man’s regeneration,
the Lord, that He may break the carnal confidence of the person whom he is to convert, first, shows him his duty by the doctrine of the law and covenant of works, making him to see the same by the powerful illumination of the Holy Spirit, and so, takes away all pretext of ignorance. Secondly, He shows him his guiltiness and deserved damnation wherein he is involved, and so takes away all conceit and imagination of his innocence. Thirdly, He doth convince him of his utter inability to satisfy the law, or to deliver himself from the curse thereof, either by way of action and obedience, or by way of suffering and paying of the penalty of the violated law of God; and so overturns all confidence in himself, or in his own works. Whence follows the elect man’s desperation to be delivered by himself, because he sees himself a sinner, and that all hope of justification by his own deeds or sufferings is cut off. Now, that this is the work of the Holy Spirit is plain: “when the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, shall come, He shall convince the world of sin” (John xvi., 8). And in this condition sundry of God’s dear children, for a time, are kept under the bonds of the law, under the spirit of bondage and sad conviction.
III. As for the third proposition—the Lord, after He has laid the sin of His elect child who is to be converted, to his charge, by the doctrine of the law,
first, opens up a light unto him in the doctrine of the Gospel, and lets him see that his absolution from sin and his salvation is possible, and may be had, by fleeing unto Christ the Redeemer. Secondly, the Lord drawing near the humbled self-condemned soul, deals with him by way of moral persuasion, sweetly inviting him in the preaching of the Gospel to receive the Redeemer, Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God manifested in the flesh, that by receiving of Him as He is offered in the Evangel, for remission of sin, renovation of life, and eternal salvation, he may close the covenant of grace and reconciliation with God. Thirdly, because the fall of Adam has bereft man of all spiritual and supernatural power till he be supernaturally quickened and converted by the omnipotent power of God’s grace, therefore, the Lord superadds to moral persuasion, effectual operation, and forms in the soul a spiritual faculty and ability for doing what is pleasant unto God, and tends to save himself according to the will of God. This infusion of a new life sometimes is called the forming of a new creature; sometimes regeneration; sometimes rising from the dead, and vivification, or quickening of the man; sometimes saving grace, and the life of God, and the seed of God; having in it the principle of all saving graces and habits, which are brought out afterwards to acts and exercise.
Meantime, true it is that all men, because of their inborn corruption, have an inclination and bent disposition to resist the Holy Ghost; but when the Lord will actually convert the man, he overcomes and takes away actual resistance, and doth so break the power of natural rebellion that it doth not forever after reign in him. For if God did not take away actual resistance of the man in his conversion, no conversion would certainly follow, and God would be disappointed if His purpose to convert the man, even when He hath put forth His almighty power to work conversion. But God doth so wisely and powerfully stir up this newly-infused life of grace, and sets it so to work, that the understanding and judgment, like a counsellor, and the will, like a commanding emperor, and the active power of the new-infused faculty, as an officer, do all bestir themselves to bring forth supernatural operations. Whence it comes to pass that the new creature begins to look kindly on Christ the Redeemer, and to desire to be united unto Him; and doth stretch forth itself to embrace Him heartily for obtaining in Him righteousness and salvation as He is offered in the Gospel. And so he casts himself over on Christ, with full purpose never to shed [separate] from Him, but by faith to draw out of Him grace for grace, till he be perfected. And here the man that was merely passive in his quickening and regeneration begins presently to be active in his conversion, and following conversation, for God gives to him to will and to do of His good pleasure; and he, having obtained by God’s effectual operation to will and to do, doth formally will and do the good which is done.
(To be continued.)