The following citations are from Charles Spurgeon's sermon "DESPISED LIGHT WITHDRAWN" (here). In it he shows that he believed that sinners are born again by faith. His text is the following:
“While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.” John 12:36
On this text Spurgeon said (emphasis mine):
"The point is, how to come to a practical decision. Spirit of the Living
God, make this the day and this the hour when many shall believe in the great light, and shall be made the children of light once and for all!"
"We have always with us the Gospel of Jesus Christ that you can read in this Book whenever you will, but the Holy Ghost must go with the Gospel to make it the power of God unto salvation. You cannot see the light that is in the Word unless the Holy Ghost reveals it to you. Some of you have been under the influence of the Holy Ghost in some measure and degree."
"Now, secondly, I take you a little further into our theme. Here is AN ACT OF GRACE COMMENDED—“While ye have the light, believe in the light.” This believing is the most essential act of a man’s life. Therefore our Lord said, “Believe in the light.”
"He had not only believed in Christ, but he had believed Christ. I want you, dear friend, if you are sincerely seeking salvation, to believe Christ. Believe Him to be what He says He is—believe that everything He says is true—believe that He Himself does save, and can save, and will save you. So believe Him as to hand yourself over to Him and take Him to be your Savior. In a word, as our text says, “While ye have light, believe in the light.”"
"I want you now to advance another step. I have almost anticipated this third point—“While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.” Here is, A RESULT OF FAITH MENTIONED."
"They who believe in Christ receive a change of nature. They were born heirs of wrath, but by grace they become children of the light of God. “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord,” as soon as you have believed in Jesus Christ. This new birth, this regeneration, is a great puzzle to many poor sinners."
"One asks, “How can I make myself a new creature in Christ?” Of course, you can do nothing of the kind. This is a miracle—it is as much a work of God to make us children of light as it was to make light at the first. Only God can work this miracle, but mark you this, there never was a soul yet that truly believed in Christ, but at the same time it underwent the change called the new birth or regeneration."
"Christians have often been asked about which is first, faith or regeneration, belief in Christ or being born again. I will tell you when you answer me this question—When a wheel moves, which spoke moves first? “Oh, they all start together!” say you. So these other things all start together, whether it is the hub of the wheel, which is regeneration, or the spokes of the wheel, which are faith, and repentance, and hope, and love, and so on—when the wheel moves, it all moves at once."
"If you believe in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in the moment that you believe, this great change of nature is effected in you, for faith has in itself a singularly transforming power. It is a fact in everyday experience that, when a man comes to believe in his master, he becomes at once a better servant. A person whom I disliked, because I suspected him, becomes at once pleasing to me as soon as I trust him. So, faith towards God in itself produces a total change of mind in the man who has it...But beside that, there goes with faith a divine energy which changes the heart of man."
"Now, that is exactly what God can do for you. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you shall receive a new and childlike nature. There shall be created in you something better than what is called the primitive innocence of infancy—it shall be a really pure and holy life that shall be given to you and you shall become a new creature in Christ Jesus."
I do not want anyone to say that Spurgeon taught regeneration before faith!
11 comments:
Obviously, Spurgeon did not believe that regeneration precedes faith. However, he DID believe that true faith in Christ and regeneration occur SIMULTANEOUSLY, according to this which you quoted from Spurgeon above: "Only God can work this miracle, but mark you this, there never was a soul yet that truly believed in Christ, but AT THE SAME TIME it underwent the change called the new birth or regeneration." Since they occur AT THE SAME TIME, it is then a matter of CAUSE and EFFECT. Regeneration is the CAUSE, faith is the EFFECT. This MUST be so because a SPIRITUALLY DEAD sinner does not have the ability to exercise true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spurgeon may be quoted to support each view. This blog and the Baptist Gadfly blog has numerous citations where Spurgeon taught that faith is the means of regeneration.
Further, what he says in this posting shows that he thought faith was the means of effecting regeneration. Faith is the means of union with Christ and regeneration follows after union, and not before as you say. Faith is logically before regeneration. This is what both Luther and Calvin taught. It is also what Wuest taught, whom you have cited before on the adoption question.
Spurgeon endorsed fully two works from Abraham Booth and John Stock and in those works Booth and Stock say sinners are born again by faith. See this posting:
https://old-baptist-test.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-word-regenerates-prior-to-faith-in.html
I have no problem with the view that faith precedes regeneration as long as you hold a MONERGISTIC view of salvation: That saving, justifying faith does not originate in the so-called "free will" of man, but that it is a GIFT OF GOD to His elect, according to Ephesians 2:8-9. The weight of the Biblical evidence clearly supports the MONERGISTIC view of salvation—Jesus is the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our faith, according to Hebrews 12:2. There is no room for us to boast, and all the glory goes to God our Savior (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)! "He that glorieth, LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD!" (vs. 31)
It depends on what you mean by "monergistic." Do you believe that ongoing salvation (perseverance or preservation) is likewise monergistic? I believe that the "will to" be saved is of God and so he gets the credit for it. (Phil. 2: 13)
Amen, Brother! Yes, every aspect of our salvation is by the sovereign grace of God, from election to glorification (Romans 8:29-30). Our triune God gets all the glory in our sanctification, perseverance, and preservation as well as our justification (Philippians 1:6, 2:13, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
You didn't answer the questions. First, what do you mean by "monergistic"? Second, is perseverance also monergistic?
I like "Got Questions" definition of monergism as opposed to synergism: "Monergism claims that God does all that is necessary for our salvation and that He is sufficient to save; synergism claims that God is necessary but insufficient. The synergistic system ultimately places all the responsibility for salvation on us. Monergism places the responsibility for our salvation wholly on God. It is God who has “predestined . . . called . . . justified . . . glorified” us in Christ (Romans 8:30). It is He who began and will complete the work of salvation in us (Philippians 1:6). It is He who keeps the sheep secure in His hand (John 10:27–30)."
Since true faith and genuine repentance are gifts of God to His elect, we cannot boast or glory in our faith and repentance. The apostle Paul wrote, "by the GRACE OF GOD I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).
HOWEVER, monergism does not EXCLUDE action, responsibility and perseverance on our part, but ASCRIBES ALL THE GLORY TO GOD, in our repentance and faith, and even in our obedience and perseverance. Perseverance is what WE DO, our responsibility to obey, but with the understanding that it is GOD WORKING IN US which ENABLES us to obey and persevere in the faith. Perseverance and enablement are 2 sides of the same coin. Our responsibility to persevere in obedience and the work of God the Holy Spirit within us are both set forth in Philippians 2:12-13, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is GOD which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
While it is our responsibility to persevere, in the final analysis GOD GETS ALL THE GLORY because it is HIS WORK OF SOVEREIGN GRACE within us which ENABLES us to persevere. In THAT SENSE, yes, even our perseverance is MONERGISTIC!
I agree that God gets 100% of the credit for everything necessary for our salvation. But, how would you answer the objector who would say that in such a case God gets the blame for the lost not having faith, repentance, etc.? You also say God is the one responsible for our salvation and then say it does not exclude our responsibility. But, this is all synergism says. It says sinners and saints are responsible for their salvation.
You wrote: “How would you answer the objector who would say that in such a case God gets the blame for the lost not having faith, repentance, etc.?”
My answer is that this objection is in the SAME ARROGANT SPIRIT as the objection raised in Romans 9:19 against THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN SALVATION, “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?” And in this case, I would give the SAME ANSWER to that objection that the Holy Spirit gave in Romans 9:20-21: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”
Now, with regard to the definition of synergism, as it is opposed to monergism: Synergism says A LOT MORE than “sinners and saints are responsible for their salvation,” as you put it. The truth is that synergism denies the grace of God and attempts to give mankind some credit. I agree with the article on GotQuestions.com titled “What is synergism in relationship to salvation?” You can read that article at this link:
https://www.gotquestions.org/synergism-and-salvation.html
Here is a quote from it: “Synergism is unbiblical because it starts with a person who has at least a spark of spiritual life; Scripture says we are dead in sin (Colossians 2:13). Synergism says we are able to take a step toward God apart from grace; Scripture says that “there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:11). Synergism says we can meet God in the middle; Scripture pictures us as sheep that need gathering, prisoners who need freedom, and blind people who need a miracle (Matthew 9:36; Luke 4:18). So much as a single idea can attempt to describe salvation, monergism is the only biblically viable option. Salvation is God’s work, pure and simple. “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8, ESV; cf. Jonah 2:9; Revelation 7:10). Synergism denies the grace of God and attempts to give mankind some credit.”
With regard to the relationship between the preservation and the perseverance of God’s elect, I refer you to my book, “THE SOVEREIGN GRACE OF GOD IN SALVATION,” which is available for purchase on Amazon but can also be read FREE ONLINE at this link:
https://www.angelfire.com/va/sovereigngrace/SovGrace14b.pdf
See pages 153-173, the chapter titled “The Sovereign Grace of God in Securing Salvation.”
Brother, I urge you to read these pages carefully, which will help you gain a BETTER UNDERSTANDING of these tremendous truths revealed in God’s Word! Here is a quote from it:
“As we begin to study this part of our subject, it is important that we never lose sight of the fact that salvation is by the sovereign grace of God from beginning to end, from election to glorification. The perseverance of born-again believers is ultimately due to their preservation by the grace of the triune God, leaving us with NOTHING of which we can boast or glory in (1 Corinthians 1:26-31, 15:10; Ephesians 2:8-10). We will persevere to the end ONLY because we are preserved and kept by the work of the triune God in us and in our behalf. If left to our own strength, none of us would persevere, but would not only fall into sin, but fall away completely. Dear friend, keep this truth in mind: God will ultimately get all the glory in every part of our salvation, even in our own perseverance!”
Post a Comment