And
how is this miracle of grace accomplished, or rather, exactly what does it
consist of? Negatively, not by eradicating the evil nature, nor even by
refining it. Positively, by communicating a new nature, a holy nature, which
loathes that which is evil, and delights in all that is truly good. To be more
specific. First, God save His people from the pleasure or love of sin by
puffing His holy awe in their hearts, for "the fear of the Lord is to hate
evil" (Pro_8:13), and again,
"the fear of the Lord is to depart from evil" (Pro_6:16). Second. God saves His people from the
pleasure of sin by communicating to them a new and vital principle: ‘the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom_5:5), and where the love of God rules the
heart, the love of sin is dethroned. Third, God saves His people from the love
of sin by the Holy Spirit’s drawing their affections unto things above, thereby
taking them off the things which formerly enthralled them.
If
on the one hand the unbeliever hotly denies that lit is in love with sin, many
a believer is often hard put to persuade himself that he has been saved from
the love
thereof With an understanding that has in part been enlightened by the
Holy Spirit, he is the better able to discern things in their true colors. With
a heart that has been made honest by grace, he refuses to call sweet bitter.
With a conscience that has been sensitized by the new birth, he the more
quickly feels the workings of sin and the hankering of his affections for that
which is forbidden. Moreover, the flesh remains in him, unchanged, and as the
raven constantly craves carrion, so this corrupt principle in which our mothers
conceived us, lusts after and delights in that which is the opposite of
holiness. It is these things which occasion and give rise to the disturbing
questions that clamour for answer within the genuine believer.
The
sincere Christian is often made to seriously doubt if he has been delivered
from the love of sin. Such questions as these plainly agitate his mind: Why do
I so readily yield to temptation? Why do some of the vanities and pleasures of
the world still possess so much attraction for me? Why do I chafe so much
against any restraints being placed upon my lusts? Why do I find the work of
mortification so difficult and distasteful? Could such things as these be if I
were a new creature in Christ? Could such horrible experiences as these happen
if God had saved me from taking pleasure in sin? Well do we know that we are
here giving expression to the very doubts which exercise the minds of many of
our readers, and those who are strangers thereto are to be pitied. But what
shall we say in reply? How is this distressing problem to be resolved?
How
may one be assured that he has been saved from the love of sin? Let us point
out first that the presence of that within us which still lusts after and takes
delight in some evil things, is not incompatible with our having been saved
from the love of sin, paradoxical as that may sound. It is part of the mystery
of the Gospel that those who be saved are yet sinners in themselves. The point
we are here dealing with is similar to and parallel with faith. The Divine
principle of faith in the heart does not cast out unbelief. Faith and doubts
exist side by side within a quickened soul, which is evident from those words,
"Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mar_9:24). In like manner the Christian may
exclaim and pray, "Lord, I long after holiness, help Thou my lustings
after sin." And why is this? Because of the existence of two separate
natures, the one at complete variance with the other within the Christian.
How,
then, is the presence of faith to be ascertained? Not by the ceasing of
unbelief, but by discovering its own fruit and works. Fruit may grow amid
thorns as flowers among weeds, and yet it is fruit nonetheless. Faith exists
amid many doubts and fears. Notwithstanding opposing forces within as well as
from without us, faith still reaches out after God. Notwithstanding innumerable
discouragements and defeats, faith continues to fight. Notwithstanding many
refusals from God, it yet clings to Him and says, Except Thou bless me I will
not let Thee go. Faith may be fearfully weak and fitful, often eclipsed by the
clouds of unbelief, nevertheless the Devil himself cannot persuade its
possessor to repudiate God’s Word, despite His Son, or abandon all hope. The
presence of faith, then, may be ascertained in that it causes its possessor to
come before God as an empty-handed beggar beseeching Him for mercy and
blessing.
Now
just as the presence of faith may be known amid all the workings of unbelief,
so our salvation from the love of sin may be ascertained notwithstanding all
the lustings of the flesh after that which is evil. But in what way? How is
this initial aspect of salvation to be identified? We have already anticipated
this question in an earlier paragraph, wherein we stated that God saved us from
delighting in sin by imparting a nature that hates evil and loves holiness,
which takes place at the new birth. Consequently, the real question to be
settled is, How may the Christian positively determine whether that new and
holy nature has been imparted to him? The answer is, By observing its
activities, particularly the opposition it makes (under the energizings of the
Holy Spirit) unto indwelling sin. Not only does the flesh (that principle of
sin) lust against the spirit, but the spirit (the principle of holiness) lusts
and wars against the flesh.
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