Be Careful! Don't find assurance of salvation in the mere fact that you have been convicted of, or feel remorse for, your sin! That can lead you to a false sense of salvation and thus your eternal ruin.
Many of today's PBs, like many of their forefathers, struggle to find assurance of salvation. They seek it in all the wrong places, however. One hymn that captures the essence of their thinking on this subject is the song "Tis A Point I Long To Know," the title being in answer to the song's question - "am I his or am I not?" This is a favorite traditional hymn with them and one which many scholars of their denomination find appropo to their group psyche in regard to assurance.
They are also often heard denouncing other Christians who profess to "know" that they are saved, saying of them - "they are just saying that because that is what they are supposed to say. If they were honest, however, they would tell you how they often have doubts about the matter." Father used to say that the Hardshells were just being honest about the matter. Anyone who professes to know that they are saved are immediately viewed with suspicion.
They often talk about how that they only have a "hope" of salvation, a hope that they are one of the elect. To the degree they have hope, to that degree they have peace and joy. Where hope is lacking they experience grief and woe. They define biblical "hope" of salvation as meaning "wish" and cannot think of having "hope" without at the same time having "doubt." Thus, by this definition, they cannot have hope without having doubt and fear! Ironic, is it not? But, in scripture, hope rather implies knowledge and faith.
One of the reasons why I have written so much on the subject of conviction of sin in relation to salvation is to help to turn my Hardshell brothers away from attempting to find assurance of salvation in their doubts and fears, and in the conviction and remorse that they feel on account of their sins. There are many souls in Hell who had such in their lifetimes.
So, where is assurance to be found? Is it in our feelings? Or, is it not rather in the fact that we "know in whom we have believed"? (II Tim. 1: 12) My Hardshell brothers, look not to the fact of your conviction of sin and condemnation for assurance, but look to the fact of your conversion to Christ, to the time of your espousal to him. By itself conviction of sin is no assurance of salvation. To be convicted that Jesus is the Christ, and that you need to go to him for salvation and a perfect righteousness, this, this is the source of assurance. This in scripture is called "the full assurance of faith." (Heb. 10: 22)
Remember, if you can have salvation and not know it, then you can lose it and not miss it!
Said Spurgeon:
"In whom we have redemption." Whether others have it or not, we have "redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." We do not hope for it, but we have it. We do not merely think so, but we know that we have it. We are redeemed; we are free from bondage; we are forgiven, and are no longer under condemnation." (A Sermon Intended for Reading on Lord's-Day, June 7th, 1891 - see here)
In the same sermon he said:
"I remember the astonishment with which I sat in a ministers' meeting, and heard one, who professed to be a preacher of the gospel, assert that he did not think that any one of us could be sure that he was forgiven. I ventured at once to say that I was sure; and I was pleased, but by no means surprised, to find that others dared to say the same. I hope I have hundreds before me who enjoy the same assurance."
And
"Beloved, there are thousands, there are tens of thousands, on earth still who know that the Son of God has power on earth to forgive sins; and there are myriads in heaven who passed to their felicity confident that they had been forgiven, and they sang on earth the same song that they sing in heaven, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They know it, they have no doubt about it. Many of us know it here, and rejoice therein at this moment."
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Redemption (xvi)
"...who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 14)
Commenting upon these words of the apostle, F. B. Meyer wrote:
"We are, therefore, taught that the death of Jesus was intended, not for our forgiveness and justification merely, but for our sanctification, and our deliverance from the power of all our besetting sins."
In the previous chapter we focused on what it means to be "redeemed from all lawlessness" and showed how redemption has a past, present, and future aspect to it. In this chapter we will focus our attention on "and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (kjv)
I like the Amplified rendering of the passage, which says:
"Who gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people [to be peculiarly His own, people who are] eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with] beneficial deeds."
What I like about this translation are these things:
1) the explaining of "redeem us" by the parenthetical "purchase our freedom"
2) using the words "for himself" instead "unto himself"
3) "a people to be peculiarly His own" is superior to "a peculiar people"
4) "eager and enthusiastic" is better than "zealous"
5) the parenthetical thought "living a life that is good and filled with" helps bring out the meaning
6) "beneficial deeds" is better than "good works"
λυτρόω (Lutroo) "redeem" is in middle voice which indicates that the person who carries out the action (of redemption), i.e. the "redeemer," has a special interest in the transaction. He is both viewed as doing the redemptive work as well as the one for whose interest and benefit the work is done. Though the redeemed slave benefits, of course, from being redeemed, yet the Redeemer also is benefited by it, receiving the praise of his Father, of the holy angels, and of all redeemed humanity. It was all done with a view to the glory of the Son of God who chose to condescend to become man for the purpose of redemption.
As emphasized throughout this series, enslavement to sin is bondage, whereas enslavement to God is freedom. While we are enslaved to sin, while unconverted, we are "free" from God and righteousness, as Paul said: "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness." (Rom. 6: 20 NKJV)
John Calvin in his Commentary wrote:
"Let us then remember that the Apostle still reasons on the principle of contraries, and in this manner, “While ye were the servants of sin, ye were freed from righteousness; but now a change having taken place, it behoves you to serve righteousness; for you have been liberated from the yoke of sin. He calls those free from righteousness who are held by no bridle to obey righteousness. This is the liberty of the flesh, which so frees us from obedience to God, that it makes us slaves to the devil. Wretched then and accursed is this liberty, which with unbridled or rather mad frenzy, leads us exultingly to our destruction."
"Righteousness" does not have dominion and control over the slave of sin. Sin is a shackle, but so is righteousness. The former binds and keeps men in their servitude to sin, the latter however binds and keeps them in their servitude to righteousness.
The slave of sin has no restraints from righteousness to hinder his movements in sin. All the restraints of his sin keep him from God, truth, and righteousness. All the restraints of righteousness, however, keep the slave of righteousness from Satan, error, and unrighteousness. One thing or the other will rule and dominate the lives of every sinner. Will it be sin or righteousness? God or the world? The flesh or the Spirit? Freedom, like bondage, are both relational. One may be free in regard to one thing but be in bondage in regard to another thing.
Those who are "redeemed" or "set free by purchase" are being delivered from "lawlessness." What is the essence of this "lawlessness"? Wrote one writer:
Lawlessness is living as though your own ideas are superior to God's.
Lawlessness says, "God may demand it but I don't prefer it."
Lawlessness says, "God may promise it but I don't want it."
Lawlessness replaces God's law with my contrary desires. I become a law to myself.
Lawlessness is rebellion against the right of God to make laws and govern His creatures. (Expositor's Greek - here)
Looking over these characteristics of lawlessness, we are able to see well how Satan first taught lawlessness to Eve in his encounter with her at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Purification & Possession
In redeeming from all lawlessness or iniquity, there must be
1) purification, for both body and soul, but chiefly for the latter, and
2) possessing of the "purchased possession," (taking ownership of the newly redeemed slave), and
3) equipping and making an enthusiastic servant out of the redeemed slave
The need for purification arises from the fact of moral filth and defilement. Sin makes us not only guilty but also unclean before a holy God. Purify is from the Greek word "katharizo" (from katharos) and denotes what is pure, cleansed, without stain or spot. We have English words derived from this Greek term, such as "catharsis" (emotional or physical purging), "cathartic" (substance used to induce a purging). Simply, the word means to "free from stains or shame" and "free from adulteration."
Says Expositor's Greek Testament:
"καθαρίσῃ ἑαυτῷ λαόν: This is a pregnant expression for “purify and so make them fit to be his people”. St. Paul has in mind Ezekiel 37:23, “I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.”
Notice the progression in Paul's words to Titus (which are in harmony with Ezekiel):
1) redeemed (or freed by payment)
2) separation and release from lawlessness
3) purification
4) becoming God's people
5) becoming enthusiastic workers for the Lord
All these elements are part of the redemptive process.
In all purification or purging there is "riddance" and "separation." What was formerly a mixture of items (joined together as one) is divided or separated out. This separation is the essence of the purification process. In purifying metals or chemicals it is necessary that the "bond" that holds the elements together be broken.
Filth in all its forms adheres, is bonded to, or otherwise clings to the flesh. To remove it one must wash, bath, or be cleansed. Metaphorically speaking, moral filth in a like manner clings to the soul and spirit, to the heart and mind. In the words "redeemed from all iniquity" the Greek preposition "apo" (from) indicates effective removal from (or separation from).
Redemption has as one of its ends the cleansing of the redeemed slave. Slaves and prisoners, when they are first emancipated and released from their bondage, come forth with the filth of their confinement upon them (most prisons have historically been filthy places). They must be thoroughly cleansed and their filthy garments removed.
This purification is not done in an instant. It is true that first conversion brings a washing in the blood of Jesus (I John 1:7), and a "washing of water by the word" (Eph. 5: 26), but two things must be said about this cleansing, purging, or purification:
1) It is both objective and subjective, and
2) It is both a) instantaneous and complete and 2) linear and progressive.
Objective
- "legal purging" involving "expunging from the record" a person's sins (crimes)
- theological terms are "justification" (exoneration and "freedom" from prosecution) and "forgiveness"
- this is an instantaneous event and is complete
Subjective
- moral cleansing of the conscience, purifying of the heart by ridding it of "uncleanness" and guilt
- in theological terms this first occurs in regeneration (rebirth) and conversion and sanctification
- this is a linear or progressive experience
The cleansing of the believer, though begun in initial conversion, and is, in some respects, completed at that moment, yet is in other respects continuous in the life of the saint and is not completed till the soul enters heaven at death. Saints are daily and regularly being cleansed by the blood and word of the Lord. Of this the scriptures are clear, and on this I will have a few more things to say as we look at how "redemption," via sanctification, is linear and progressive in the life of the released slave.
A People For His Own Possession
On the words in the KJV "purify unto himself a peculiar people" Spurgeon comments:
"The translation “peculiar people” is unfortunate, because “peculiar” has come to mean odd, strange, singular. The passage really means that believers are Christ’s own people, His choice and select portion. Saints are Christ’s crown jewels, His box of diamonds; His very, very, very own...He desires that you, who are being disciplined by his grace, should know that you are altogether His. You are Christ’s men. You are each one to feel, “I do not belong to the world; I do not belong to myself; I belong only to Christ. I am set aside by Him for Himself only, and His I will be.” The silver and the gold are His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills are His; but He makes small account of them, “the Lord’s portion is His people.” ("The Two Appearings and the Discipline of Grace")
Did Jesus die to make us “strange” or “queer” or “odd”? No, but he did die and does save sinners via conversion, thus making them his special people. Converts to Jesus no longer "belong" to Satan, nor to the world, to depravity, nor to self. Recall the words of the apostle to believers - "you are not your own," i.e. "you do not belong to yourself," but you belong to Christ, having been "bought with a price." (See I Cor. 6: 20)
The translation "peculiar people" does not justify anyone being a religious oddball in order to prove that he is holy or orthodox. The thought that the apostle wishes to convey to us is this: God's redeemed people are Christ's costly possession and His distinctive treasure. In other words, believers are those that belong in a special sense to Christ. Below are other translations for comparison, and which are superior to the KJV:
people to be peculiarly His own - Amplified
His own special possession - Analyzed Literal Translation
so that we can be His special people GWT
a people who are truly His - NET
a people that are his very own - NIV
His own special people - NKJV
a people of his own - Phillips paraphrase
a people as his own treasure - Rotherham
people who belong to Him alone - TEV
a people who should be specially His own - Weymouth
a people of His own private possession, - Wuest
Vincent's Word Studies says that "peculiar" is
"derived from peculium, a private purse, a special acquisition of a member of a family distinct from the property administered for the good of the whole family. Accordingly the sense is given in Ephesians 1:14, where believers are said to have been sealed εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῆς περιποιήσεως with a view to redemption of possession, or redemption which will give possession, thus = acquisition. So 1 Peter 2:9, where Christians are styled λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν a people for acquisition, to be acquired by God as his peculiar possession."
What I hope the reader sees is the fact that "redemption" involves finally "acquiring" or "taking possession" or "reclaiming" what had been disponed away or a repossessing of what are called "lost inheritances."
When does Christ "takes possession" of what he has purchased or redeemed? That is one of the chief questions we have been studying in this series. He first takes possession of the slaves that he has acquired by purchase in conversion. And, again, this action of "taking possession" of property can be viewed as both instantaneous and linear (progressive). By Christ's death on the cross, he paid the price of redemption, and immediately obtained legal title (ownership) of the slave. But, legal possession and actual possession are two different things.
Wrote F. B. Meyer:
"ἑαυτῷ corresponds with λυτρώσηται ἀπό. The sentence is pregnantly expressed, and its meaning is: “that He by the purifying power of His death might acquire for Himself (ἑαυτῷ) a people for a possession.”
That I think is an excellent translation of the passage and brings out several important points involved in the work of redemption.
In I Peter 2: 9 we have another place where we find the words "a peculiar people." There again we have a misleading translation of the Greek term, as we have seen. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people..."
As we compare the different English translations of this verse and consider the alternative meaning of the word peculiar, it becomes clear that "peculiar" in this verse also denotes that believers are a “special people.” This is because they were chosen from before the foundation of the earth to be “God’s own possession,” and purchased by Christ via his sacrificial death, and have been taken possession of in being born again. This is what makes them different from the world around them. Further, because they are being transformed by the indwelling Spirit, they are more and more being "taken over," or more and more fully possessed, influenced, and controlled.
Better translations say of I Peter 2:9 say:
"A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION" (NASB)
"His own special people" (NKJV)
"a people for his own possession" (RSV)
"a people belonging to God" (NIV)
Happy To Be His People
Those who have been redeemed by purchase and have become the special and treasured possession of Christ, are a cleansed people, a people who are no longer enslaved to moral depravity, but are happy and zealous in their new status as the people of God. To be "zealous of good works" is a sure result of having been redeemed. It is one of the objects of their having been redeemed.
"God's end in election," said Spurgeon, or "the end of all his purposes, is not answered until they become a people "zealous of good works.""("Good Works" delivered on March 16, 1856)
In Paul's letter to Titus, there are several references to doing good. We are told that a church leader is to be "a lover of what is good" (Titus 1:8). Christians are to be "zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14) and "ready for every good work" (Titus 3:1). Believers must "maintain good works" (Titus 3:8). Dorcas...was full of good works and charitable deeds. —Acts 9:36
When a slave is graciously freed by a redeemer or deliverer, he is sure to be thankful to the one who set him free, and be eager to please him, especially considering the severity of the bondage and the immense enjoyment of the freedom that a strong and kind Redeemer has brought. Anyone who truly appreciates this freedom in Christ will be eager to please their new master.
Good works do not mean that you must have been a soup kitchen worker at a place for feeding the poor, or that you put money in the collection plate, etc. These things are good, but they are not the only nor the chief good that redeemed sinners practice. The most important good works are daily activities that Christians do, often without conscious thought, it becoming more of a habit, such as praying, meditating, reading and studying the word of God, praising and worshipping, helping your neighbor, being a kind and wise father, brother, husband, friend, etc. These things are a delight to the new man who has been made the peculiar possession of the Lord Jesus.
Commenting upon these words of the apostle, F. B. Meyer wrote:
"We are, therefore, taught that the death of Jesus was intended, not for our forgiveness and justification merely, but for our sanctification, and our deliverance from the power of all our besetting sins."
In the previous chapter we focused on what it means to be "redeemed from all lawlessness" and showed how redemption has a past, present, and future aspect to it. In this chapter we will focus our attention on "and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (kjv)
I like the Amplified rendering of the passage, which says:
"Who gave Himself on our behalf that He might redeem us (purchase our freedom) from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people [to be peculiarly His own, people who are] eager and enthusiastic about [living a life that is good and filled with] beneficial deeds."
What I like about this translation are these things:
1) the explaining of "redeem us" by the parenthetical "purchase our freedom"
2) using the words "for himself" instead "unto himself"
3) "a people to be peculiarly His own" is superior to "a peculiar people"
4) "eager and enthusiastic" is better than "zealous"
5) the parenthetical thought "living a life that is good and filled with" helps bring out the meaning
6) "beneficial deeds" is better than "good works"
λυτρόω (Lutroo) "redeem" is in middle voice which indicates that the person who carries out the action (of redemption), i.e. the "redeemer," has a special interest in the transaction. He is both viewed as doing the redemptive work as well as the one for whose interest and benefit the work is done. Though the redeemed slave benefits, of course, from being redeemed, yet the Redeemer also is benefited by it, receiving the praise of his Father, of the holy angels, and of all redeemed humanity. It was all done with a view to the glory of the Son of God who chose to condescend to become man for the purpose of redemption.
As emphasized throughout this series, enslavement to sin is bondage, whereas enslavement to God is freedom. While we are enslaved to sin, while unconverted, we are "free" from God and righteousness, as Paul said: "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness." (Rom. 6: 20 NKJV)
John Calvin in his Commentary wrote:
"Let us then remember that the Apostle still reasons on the principle of contraries, and in this manner, “While ye were the servants of sin, ye were freed from righteousness; but now a change having taken place, it behoves you to serve righteousness; for you have been liberated from the yoke of sin. He calls those free from righteousness who are held by no bridle to obey righteousness. This is the liberty of the flesh, which so frees us from obedience to God, that it makes us slaves to the devil. Wretched then and accursed is this liberty, which with unbridled or rather mad frenzy, leads us exultingly to our destruction."
"Righteousness" does not have dominion and control over the slave of sin. Sin is a shackle, but so is righteousness. The former binds and keeps men in their servitude to sin, the latter however binds and keeps them in their servitude to righteousness.
The slave of sin has no restraints from righteousness to hinder his movements in sin. All the restraints of his sin keep him from God, truth, and righteousness. All the restraints of righteousness, however, keep the slave of righteousness from Satan, error, and unrighteousness. One thing or the other will rule and dominate the lives of every sinner. Will it be sin or righteousness? God or the world? The flesh or the Spirit? Freedom, like bondage, are both relational. One may be free in regard to one thing but be in bondage in regard to another thing.
Those who are "redeemed" or "set free by purchase" are being delivered from "lawlessness." What is the essence of this "lawlessness"? Wrote one writer:
Lawlessness is living as though your own ideas are superior to God's.
Lawlessness says, "God may demand it but I don't prefer it."
Lawlessness says, "God may promise it but I don't want it."
Lawlessness replaces God's law with my contrary desires. I become a law to myself.
Lawlessness is rebellion against the right of God to make laws and govern His creatures. (Expositor's Greek - here)
Looking over these characteristics of lawlessness, we are able to see well how Satan first taught lawlessness to Eve in his encounter with her at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Purification & Possession
In redeeming from all lawlessness or iniquity, there must be
1) purification, for both body and soul, but chiefly for the latter, and
2) possessing of the "purchased possession," (taking ownership of the newly redeemed slave), and
3) equipping and making an enthusiastic servant out of the redeemed slave
The need for purification arises from the fact of moral filth and defilement. Sin makes us not only guilty but also unclean before a holy God. Purify is from the Greek word "katharizo" (from katharos) and denotes what is pure, cleansed, without stain or spot. We have English words derived from this Greek term, such as "catharsis" (emotional or physical purging), "cathartic" (substance used to induce a purging). Simply, the word means to "free from stains or shame" and "free from adulteration."
Says Expositor's Greek Testament:
"καθαρίσῃ ἑαυτῷ λαόν: This is a pregnant expression for “purify and so make them fit to be his people”. St. Paul has in mind Ezekiel 37:23, “I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.”
1) redeemed (or freed by payment)
2) separation and release from lawlessness
3) purification
4) becoming God's people
5) becoming enthusiastic workers for the Lord
All these elements are part of the redemptive process.
In all purification or purging there is "riddance" and "separation." What was formerly a mixture of items (joined together as one) is divided or separated out. This separation is the essence of the purification process. In purifying metals or chemicals it is necessary that the "bond" that holds the elements together be broken.
Filth in all its forms adheres, is bonded to, or otherwise clings to the flesh. To remove it one must wash, bath, or be cleansed. Metaphorically speaking, moral filth in a like manner clings to the soul and spirit, to the heart and mind. In the words "redeemed from all iniquity" the Greek preposition "apo" (from) indicates effective removal from (or separation from).
Redemption has as one of its ends the cleansing of the redeemed slave. Slaves and prisoners, when they are first emancipated and released from their bondage, come forth with the filth of their confinement upon them (most prisons have historically been filthy places). They must be thoroughly cleansed and their filthy garments removed.
This purification is not done in an instant. It is true that first conversion brings a washing in the blood of Jesus (I John 1:7), and a "washing of water by the word" (Eph. 5: 26), but two things must be said about this cleansing, purging, or purification:
1) It is both objective and subjective, and
2) It is both a) instantaneous and complete and 2) linear and progressive.
Objective
- "legal purging" involving "expunging from the record" a person's sins (crimes)
- theological terms are "justification" (exoneration and "freedom" from prosecution) and "forgiveness"
- this is an instantaneous event and is complete
Subjective
- moral cleansing of the conscience, purifying of the heart by ridding it of "uncleanness" and guilt
- in theological terms this first occurs in regeneration (rebirth) and conversion and sanctification
- this is a linear or progressive experience
The cleansing of the believer, though begun in initial conversion, and is, in some respects, completed at that moment, yet is in other respects continuous in the life of the saint and is not completed till the soul enters heaven at death. Saints are daily and regularly being cleansed by the blood and word of the Lord. Of this the scriptures are clear, and on this I will have a few more things to say as we look at how "redemption," via sanctification, is linear and progressive in the life of the released slave.
A People For His Own Possession
On the words in the KJV "purify unto himself a peculiar people" Spurgeon comments:
"The translation “peculiar people” is unfortunate, because “peculiar” has come to mean odd, strange, singular. The passage really means that believers are Christ’s own people, His choice and select portion. Saints are Christ’s crown jewels, His box of diamonds; His very, very, very own...He desires that you, who are being disciplined by his grace, should know that you are altogether His. You are Christ’s men. You are each one to feel, “I do not belong to the world; I do not belong to myself; I belong only to Christ. I am set aside by Him for Himself only, and His I will be.” The silver and the gold are His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills are His; but He makes small account of them, “the Lord’s portion is His people.” ("The Two Appearings and the Discipline of Grace")
Did Jesus die to make us “strange” or “queer” or “odd”? No, but he did die and does save sinners via conversion, thus making them his special people. Converts to Jesus no longer "belong" to Satan, nor to the world, to depravity, nor to self. Recall the words of the apostle to believers - "you are not your own," i.e. "you do not belong to yourself," but you belong to Christ, having been "bought with a price." (See I Cor. 6: 20)
The translation "peculiar people" does not justify anyone being a religious oddball in order to prove that he is holy or orthodox. The thought that the apostle wishes to convey to us is this: God's redeemed people are Christ's costly possession and His distinctive treasure. In other words, believers are those that belong in a special sense to Christ. Below are other translations for comparison, and which are superior to the KJV:
people to be peculiarly His own - Amplified
His own special possession - Analyzed Literal Translation
so that we can be His special people GWT
a people who are truly His - NET
a people that are his very own - NIV
His own special people - NKJV
a people of his own - Phillips paraphrase
a people as his own treasure - Rotherham
people who belong to Him alone - TEV
a people who should be specially His own - Weymouth
a people of His own private possession, - Wuest
Vincent's Word Studies says that "peculiar" is
"derived from peculium, a private purse, a special acquisition of a member of a family distinct from the property administered for the good of the whole family. Accordingly the sense is given in Ephesians 1:14, where believers are said to have been sealed εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῆς περιποιήσεως with a view to redemption of possession, or redemption which will give possession, thus = acquisition. So 1 Peter 2:9, where Christians are styled λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν a people for acquisition, to be acquired by God as his peculiar possession."
What I hope the reader sees is the fact that "redemption" involves finally "acquiring" or "taking possession" or "reclaiming" what had been disponed away or a repossessing of what are called "lost inheritances."
When does Christ "takes possession" of what he has purchased or redeemed? That is one of the chief questions we have been studying in this series. He first takes possession of the slaves that he has acquired by purchase in conversion. And, again, this action of "taking possession" of property can be viewed as both instantaneous and linear (progressive). By Christ's death on the cross, he paid the price of redemption, and immediately obtained legal title (ownership) of the slave. But, legal possession and actual possession are two different things.
Wrote F. B. Meyer:
"ἑαυτῷ corresponds with λυτρώσηται ἀπό. The sentence is pregnantly expressed, and its meaning is: “that He by the purifying power of His death might acquire for Himself (ἑαυτῷ) a people for a possession.”
That I think is an excellent translation of the passage and brings out several important points involved in the work of redemption.
In I Peter 2: 9 we have another place where we find the words "a peculiar people." There again we have a misleading translation of the Greek term, as we have seen. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people..."
As we compare the different English translations of this verse and consider the alternative meaning of the word peculiar, it becomes clear that "peculiar" in this verse also denotes that believers are a “special people.” This is because they were chosen from before the foundation of the earth to be “God’s own possession,” and purchased by Christ via his sacrificial death, and have been taken possession of in being born again. This is what makes them different from the world around them. Further, because they are being transformed by the indwelling Spirit, they are more and more being "taken over," or more and more fully possessed, influenced, and controlled.
Better translations say of I Peter 2:9 say:
"A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION" (NASB)
"His own special people" (NKJV)
"a people for his own possession" (RSV)
"a people belonging to God" (NIV)
Happy To Be His People
Those who have been redeemed by purchase and have become the special and treasured possession of Christ, are a cleansed people, a people who are no longer enslaved to moral depravity, but are happy and zealous in their new status as the people of God. To be "zealous of good works" is a sure result of having been redeemed. It is one of the objects of their having been redeemed.
"God's end in election," said Spurgeon, or "the end of all his purposes, is not answered until they become a people "zealous of good works.""("Good Works" delivered on March 16, 1856)
In Paul's letter to Titus, there are several references to doing good. We are told that a church leader is to be "a lover of what is good" (Titus 1:8). Christians are to be "zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14) and "ready for every good work" (Titus 3:1). Believers must "maintain good works" (Titus 3:8). Dorcas...was full of good works and charitable deeds. —Acts 9:36
When a slave is graciously freed by a redeemer or deliverer, he is sure to be thankful to the one who set him free, and be eager to please him, especially considering the severity of the bondage and the immense enjoyment of the freedom that a strong and kind Redeemer has brought. Anyone who truly appreciates this freedom in Christ will be eager to please their new master.
Good works do not mean that you must have been a soup kitchen worker at a place for feeding the poor, or that you put money in the collection plate, etc. These things are good, but they are not the only nor the chief good that redeemed sinners practice. The most important good works are daily activities that Christians do, often without conscious thought, it becoming more of a habit, such as praying, meditating, reading and studying the word of God, praising and worshipping, helping your neighbor, being a kind and wise father, brother, husband, friend, etc. These things are a delight to the new man who has been made the peculiar possession of the Lord Jesus.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Does Emancipation Make Slaves Happy or Sad?
As I have been writing on the subject of Redemption and how regeneration and conversion are described by the metaphor of slaves and prisoners being set free, I thought I would share this thought.
When people get out of slavery and prison, does it make them happy?
Almost universally it does. Then why do Hardshells say that regeneration makes sinners sad (as a result of deep conviction of sin and fear of divine judgement)? If they are being set free, ought they not to be happy in the act? I have written on this subject many times, generally in connection with the work or experience of "conviction." For instance see my posting
Does Regeneration Make Sinners Happy?
When people get out of slavery and prison, does it make them happy?
Almost universally it does. Then why do Hardshells say that regeneration makes sinners sad (as a result of deep conviction of sin and fear of divine judgement)? If they are being set free, ought they not to be happy in the act? I have written on this subject many times, generally in connection with the work or experience of "conviction." For instance see my posting
Does Regeneration Make Sinners Happy?
Why Do PBs Sing This Song?
In the song "Home Of The Soul" and sung by PBs (here) we find them singing these words.
If for the prize we have striven, after our labors are over, we shall enter into rest? Do you see how these words are not believed by today's Hardshells? Do they teach that one must strive and labor for the prize, for the rest that is Heaven? The word "if" is so important. It implies a "then." If we have striven and labored and run for the prize (Phill. 3: 14), then we will enter into God's rest (unlike the Israelites who fell in the wilderness).
Hardshell apologist Jason Brown and I debated the issue of the "rest" of Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 and whether the words "let us labor therefore to enter into that rest" denoted entering into heaven.
See these postings
Lessons From Israelite Carcasses
Entering God's Rest
Entering God's Rest Conclusion
Resting From Christian Labor
But, it is no new thing that Hardshells sing songs that are contrary to their theology.
If for the prize we have striven,
After our labors are o’er,
Rest to our souls will be given,
On the eternal shore.
After our labors are o’er,
Rest to our souls will be given,
On the eternal shore.
Refrain
Home of the soul, beautiful home,
There we shall rest, never to roam;
Free from all care, happy and bright,
Jesus is there, He is the light!
Oft, in the storm, lonely are we,
Sighing for home, longing for Thee,
Beautiful home of the ransomed,
Beside the crystal sea.
Refrain
There we shall rest, never to roam;
Free from all care, happy and bright,
Jesus is there, He is the light!
Oft, in the storm, lonely are we,
Sighing for home, longing for Thee,
Beautiful home of the ransomed,
Beside the crystal sea.
Refrain
Yes, a sweet rest is remaining
For the true children of God,
Where there will be no complaining,
Never a chastening rod.
For the true children of God,
Where there will be no complaining,
Never a chastening rod.
Refrain
Soon, the bright homeland adorning,
We shall behold the glad dawn;
Lean on the Lord till the morning,
Trust till the night is gone.
We shall behold the glad dawn;
Lean on the Lord till the morning,
Trust till the night is gone.
Hardshell apologist Jason Brown and I debated the issue of the "rest" of Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 and whether the words "let us labor therefore to enter into that rest" denoted entering into heaven.
See these postings
Lessons From Israelite Carcasses
Entering God's Rest
Entering God's Rest Conclusion
Resting From Christian Labor
But, it is no new thing that Hardshells sing songs that are contrary to their theology.
Friday, January 11, 2019
Broken Promises - Still Waiting
In the comment section to my posting Hardshells Lose Another Again Elder David Montgomery, who I have critiqued before in this blog, and who use to have a leading PB web page, made a promise to send me information that I had requested of him a few years before this posting. In my comment I wrote this to Montgomery:
"Do you remember that I asked you to send me historical proof that the present views of the Hardshells on salvation were the views of your Baptist forefathers? Why did you not send me that information?"
In his comment he replied by saying:
"No I don't remember you asking me for that but I will do so. I am sure you will disagree but that's ok."
Well, it has been six months since this promise was made and I have not as yet received the historical proof that the Hardshell no means view was the view of his Baptist ancestors prior to the rise of the Hardshells in the 19th century and that it was the view of the founding fathers of the PB denomination. What does this say?
I challenged father years ago to give me the historical evidence that the ancestors of the Hardshell churches believed in the no means view. He said he could give it to me but never did. What does that say?
A year or so ago I was on the telephone with a Hardshell preacher and we were talking about the Puritans. He told me that the Puritans held to the same views as the PBs on no means regeneration or new birth. I told him that I would love to see that evidence. He said he would send me that information, but I never got it.
Now, I could multiply examples. But, what does all this show? It shows that they have no proof that any of their ancestors held to their aberrant views on effectual calling. They are anything but "primitive," "old school," or "original" on this point of doctrine. They are only deceiving themselves to think that "the old church has always believed this way."
"Do you remember that I asked you to send me historical proof that the present views of the Hardshells on salvation were the views of your Baptist forefathers? Why did you not send me that information?"
In his comment he replied by saying:
"No I don't remember you asking me for that but I will do so. I am sure you will disagree but that's ok."
Well, it has been six months since this promise was made and I have not as yet received the historical proof that the Hardshell no means view was the view of his Baptist ancestors prior to the rise of the Hardshells in the 19th century and that it was the view of the founding fathers of the PB denomination. What does this say?
I challenged father years ago to give me the historical evidence that the ancestors of the Hardshell churches believed in the no means view. He said he could give it to me but never did. What does that say?
A year or so ago I was on the telephone with a Hardshell preacher and we were talking about the Puritans. He told me that the Puritans held to the same views as the PBs on no means regeneration or new birth. I told him that I would love to see that evidence. He said he would send me that information, but I never got it.
Now, I could multiply examples. But, what does all this show? It shows that they have no proof that any of their ancestors held to their aberrant views on effectual calling. They are anything but "primitive," "old school," or "original" on this point of doctrine. They are only deceiving themselves to think that "the old church has always believed this way."
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Redemption (xv)
C. H. Spurgeon said - "Redemption is the top of covenant blessings." (comments on Psalm 130: 8 in Treasury of David) This is in agreement with other such statements made by others on the subject of the redemption or ransoming of sinners. Keeping this in mind, we proceed in this chapter with a continued focus on how sinners are redeemed when converted, and as they are progressively transformed in a life of sanctification.
Spurgeon also said:
"That word “redemption” sounds in my ears like a silver bell. We are ransomed, purchased back from slavery, and this at an immeasurable price; not merely by the obedience of Christ, nor the suffering of Christ, nor even the death of Christ, but by Christ’s giving Himself for us. All that there is in the great God and Savior was paid down that he might “redeem us from all iniquity.” The splendor of the Gospel lies in the redeeming sacrifice of the Son of God, and we shall never fail to put this to the front in our preaching. It is the gem of all the Gospel gems. As the moon is among the stars, so is this great doctrine among all the lesser lights which God hath kindled to make glad the night of fallen man. Paul never hesitates; he has a divine Savior and a divine redemption, and he preaches these with unwavering confidence. Oh that all preachers were like him!" (As cited here)
These words are pregnant with truth on this subject. Redemption is, as we have observed in our earlier chapters in this series, a "ransoming" or repurchasing of a slave by the payment of the stipulated price. And, according to Spurgeon, this act of payment by Christ shedding his blood, and with all that it entails, is the very "splendor of the Gospel." It is "the gem of all the Gospel gems." Yes, indeed! It must therefore be put "to the front in our preaching."
Our propositions are these:
1. The aim of redemption was to redeem, not merely from the penalty, but from the presence, control, and tyranny of iniquity.
2. Redemption has not been fully realized until what was intended to be effected by it has been accomplished.
3. Redemption is actualized or realized first in conversion, but is not then complete.
4. Redemption, denoting actual freedom from bondage, and restoration, is progressive.
5. Redemption is not complete till the body is resurrected and glorified with immortality.
Redemption is not realized until there has been a complete moral transformation of the soul and spirit, and until there has been a transformation of the body to fit it for immortality and eternal life.
Redemption, like salvation, is described in the scriptures by the use of all tenses; past, present, future. We have been saved and redeemed. We are being redeemed. We shall be redeemed.
Redemption Involves Moral Transformation
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-15)
Moral transformation is the end design in God's work of redemption. This is clearly seen in these words of the apostle. The "grace" or gospel of God brings salvation, and that results, when received, in being "taught" or "disciplined" progressively in regard to moral and spiritual life in Christ. Redemption, which is deliverance from the bondage of moral corruption and depravity is begun in conversion, continued in the life of the new born soul in sanctification, and is completed in "the day of redemption" when we experience "the redemption of our bodies," when the body is also transformed along with "the whole creation."
In commenting upon the words "redeemed from all iniquity" Whedon's Commentary says: "The moralizing and sanctifying effect of Christ’s death is here alone specified, because it is the moral model of 1-10 that St. Paul is here illustrating."
Christ became the sacrificial lamb on the cross of Calvary, the new covenant altar of sacrifice. His sacrificial death and the blood of it, staining the cross, was in order to effect atonement and redemption. Redemption, as we have seen, sometimes refers to the transaction that takes place when the redeemer pays to the creditor the stipulated price for the redemption or deliverance of a slave or prisoner. But, redemption also sometimes refers to the actual experience of redemption by the slave or prisoner, to the time when he is freed from his bondage and loss, and when his possessions and rights are restored.
Sometimes, as in the text before us, both aspects of redemption seem to be in view, though the focus seems to be on complete redemption.
Redemption is the means to bring about justification (Romans 3: 24), something done for us, something objective; But it is also the means to bring about our complete sanctification (involving regeneration and continuous moral transformation), something done in us, something subjective. Whatever is lacking or incomplete in moral purity at death will be supplied and completed upon entering Paradise. Purification for the body will not occur until it is glorified and immortalized in "the day of redemption."
The Greek words ινα λυτρωσηται (hina lutrōsētai) means “that he might set free by means of a ransom.” In this liberating of bond slaves the thing binding or imprisoning is "iniquity," (Greek "anomos") meaning lawlessness.
Redemption, like deliverance, involves being saved or redeemed "from" something as well as being saved or redeemed "to" something. This is true in both objective (legal) and subjective (experiential) aspects of redemption. In simplest terms these words of the apostle denote the release of someone held captive (prisoner, slave) on receipt of a ransom payment. As we have seen, the "ransom" was the technical term for money (or compensation) paid to "buy back" a slave or prisoner of war; but, the word "redeem" was never divorced in thought from the actual freeing or "releasing" of a slave or prisoner. Complete redemption necessitated actual or an experienced liberation, deliverance, and restoration.
Said Spurgeon:
"Paul looks upon recovery from sin as being a wonderful proof of divine grace. He does not talk about a kind of grace that would leave men in sin, and yet save them from its punishment. No, his salvation is salvation from sin. He does not talk about a free grace which winks at iniquity, and makes nothing of transgression, but of a greater grace by far, which denounces the iniquity and condemns the transgression, and then delivers the victim of it from the habit which has brought him into bondage."
To say a man is "redeemed" when he still has all his shackles binding him, and when he still has not been released or freed in the least degree from his confinement, is to betray an ignorance on this subject of redemption. To "redeem from iniquity" includes the idea of being saved from the shackles and prison of sin. The end purpose in redemption was to restore holiness and likeness (conformity) to Christ, whose "face" is the very "face" of the Father, and the very "face of God."
Octavius Winslow commented upon our text, said (emphasis mine):
"There is no victory over the indwelling power of sin, and there is no pardon for the guilt of sin, but as the soul deals with the blood of Christ. The great end of our dear Lord's death was to destroy the works of the devil. Sin is the great work of Satan. To overcome this, to break its power, subdue its dominion, repair its ruins, and release from its condemnation, the blessed Son of God suffered the ignominious death of the cross. All that bitter agony which He endured, all that mental suffering, the sorrow of His soul in the garden, the sufferings of His body on the cross--all was for sin.
See, then, the close and beautiful connection between the death of Christ--and the death of sin. All true sanctification comes through the cross! Seek it there. The cross brought into your soul by the eternal Spirit will be the death of your sins. Go to the cross! Oh, go to the cross of Jesus! In simplicity of faith, go with the strong corruption; go with the burden of guilt; go to the cross! You will find nothing but love there, nothing but welcome there, nothing but purity there. The precious blood of Jesus "cleanses us from all sin." And while you are kept low beneath the cross, your enemy dares not approach you, sin shall not have dominion over you, nor shall Satan, your accuser, condemn you!" (see here)
In the "DOCTRINE OF SANCTIFICATION" by A.W Pink, we have these excellent words showing how redemption involves sanctifying the redeemed slave (emphasis mine):
"The salvation that Christ purchased for His people includes both justification and sanctification. The Lord Jesus saves not only from the guilt and penalty of sin, but from the power and pollution of it. Where there is genuine longing to be freed from the love of sin, there is a true desire for His salvation; but where there is no practical deliverance from the service of sin, then we are strangers to His saving grace. Christ came here to “Perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (Luk 1:72-75). It is by this we are to test or measure ourselves: are we serving Him “in holiness and righteousness”? If we are not, we have not been sanctified; and if we are unsanctified, we are none of His!" (pg. 20 - see here)
I think the scriptures are very clear on this point! So have our Calvinistic and Baptist forefathers except for some Hyper Calvinists, and other Antinomians.
Pink wrote:
"One principal end of the design of God in sending His Son into the world was to recover us unto that state of holiness that we had lost: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1Jo 3:8). Among the principal of the works of the devil was the infecting of our natures and persons with a principle of sin and enmity against God, and that evil work is not destroyed but by the introduction of a principle of holiness and obedience. The image of God in us was defaced by sin; the restoration of that image was one of the main purposes of Christ’s mediation. Christ’s great and ultimate design was to bring His people unto the enjoyment of God to His eternal Glory, and this can only be by grace and holiness, by which we are made “meet for the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12)." (pg. 28)
Along the same line Pink wrote:
"Now the exercise of Christ’s mediation is discharged under His threefold office. As to His priestly, the immediate effects were the making of satisfaction and reconciliation, but the mediate effects are our justification and sanctification: “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Ti 2:14)--no unholy people, then, have any sure evidence of an interest in Christ’s sacrifice."
"There are two things in sin inseparably connected and yet clearly distinguishable, namely, its criminality and its pollution." (pg. 41)
Yes, and "redemption" involves both salvation from the penalty (criminality) and from the pollution (moral depravity) of "anomia." To say a person is every way "redeemed" when he has not yet been converted or sanctified is to state a falsehood. Also, not even the redeemed souls in heaven can lay claim to having been fully redeemed, for their bodies wait their redemption in the coming "day of redemption."
Pink wrote:
"Fourth, scriptural sanctification is not something wholly objective in Christ, which is not in anywise in ourselves. In their revolt against sinless perfectionism, there have been some who have gone to an opposite extreme: Antinomians argue for a holiness in Christ which produces no radical change for the better in the Christian. This is another deceit of the devil, for a deceit it certainly is for anyone to imagine that the only holiness he has is in Christ. There is no such thing in reality as a perfect and inalienable standing in Christ that is divorced from heart purity and a personal walk in righteousness. What a flesh-pleasing dogma is it, that one act of faith in the Lord Jesus secures eternal immunity from condemnation and provides a lifelong license to wallow in sin. My reader, a faith that does not transform character and reform conduct is worthless. Saving faith is only proved to be genuine by bearing the blossoms of experimental godliness and the fruits of personal piety (Jam 2:17-26)." (pg. 47)
The "Primitive Baptists" (aka "hardshells") have had their troubles historically with the "no change" view of regeneration, and they are typically "Antinomian." Some in the "free grace movement" today, and those who oppose "Lordship salvation" and the "perseverance of the saints," also have a "regeneration" or "new birth" that produces no radical moral change.
Pink wrote:
"Once it be clearly perceived that God’s salvation is not only a rescue from the penalty of sin, but is as well, and chiefly, deliverance from the pollution and power of sin - ultimating in complete freedom from its very presence, there will be no difficulty in seeing that sanctification occupies a central place in the process. Alas that while there are many who think of Christ dying to secure their pardon, so few today consider Christ dying in order to renew their hearts, heal their souls, bring them unto obedience to God." (pg. 50)
This is exactly the truth that I have been laboring to prove in this treatise of redemption. Yes, we can sing "I have been redeemed" (past tense) because we look back to 1) Calvary and to the cross when and where the "redemption price" was paid in the blood of the innocent Lamb of God, and 2) the time when we were first converted and joined to Christ, when the Lord "broke the power of canceled sin." But, we can also sing "I am being redeemed" as well as "I will be redeemed."
Pink wrote:
"That one of the great ends of the death of Christ was the moral purification of His people is clear from many Scriptures. “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2Co 5:15); “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Ti 2:14); “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:14); “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1Pe 2:24). From these passages it is abundantly plain that the purpose of the Savior in all that He did and suffered was not only to deliver His people from the penal consequences of their sins, but also to cleanse them from the pollution of sin, to free them from its enslaving power, to rectify their moral nature." (pg. 52)
From All Iniquity
Redemption payment having been made by Christ's blood, the next thing is to actually liberate the slave, bring him out of his state of bondage, and to bring him into the service of Christ. Redemption will deliver the slave “from all unlawfulness.” (ἀπὸ πάσης ἀνομίας). "Iniquity" being the translation of "a-nomos" where "nomos" means "law" and the negative article "a" denoting "lawlessness."
No one who has been converted to Christ will ever become completely obedient, or lawful, in this life. "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." (Eccl. 7:20)
Yes, after conversion, what characterizes him are such negatives as 1) does not "continue any longer in sin" or lawlessness (Rom. 6: 1,2), and 2) "walks not after the flesh" (Rom. 8: 1). Positively, he will "walk after the Spirit" (Rom. 8: 1) and the words "patient continuance in well doing" (Rom. 2: 7) will characterize him. He will daily be delivered and redeemed as he lives the Christian life and more and more appetite for sin will be removed from him, like filth is removed from the body or lint is removed from clothing. But, Christ redeems from "all" sin, iniquity, and lawlessness, so that, though all iniquity is not conquered in this life, yet all will be conquered in death for the soul when it escapes the body and enters the presence of the Lord. The body's deliverance awaits the "day of redemption."
Wrote Gill:
"that he might redeem us from all iniquity: sin brings into bondage and, slavery, redemption is a deliverance from it; sin binds guilt upon the sinner, and lays him under obligation to punishment, and renders him liable to the curse and condemnation of the law; Christ was made sin, and a curse for his people, that he might redeem them from both, and deliver them from the punishment due to sin; which he has done by bearing it in his own body on the tree, whereby he has redeemed them from all iniquity, that so it shall not be their ruin, or they come into condemnation on account of it; even from original sin, and from all actual transgressions; from all which his blood cleanses, and his righteousness justifies, and which God, for his sake, freely and fully forgives. Christ was called to this work by his Father, to which he agreed; and the plan of redemption being drawn in the everlasting council, and the whole adjusted and fixed in the covenant of peace; promises and prophecies were given out of it, and in the fulness of time Christ was sent, and came to effect it; and he has obtained eternal redemption for us, through the price of his own blood, which could have never been wrought out by any creature; and wherein all the divine perfections are glorified and is a plenteous and complete one; it includes in it, or connects with it, the blessings of justification, peace, pardon, adoption, and eternal life. It follows as another end of Christ's giving himself, or what is a branch of redemption, or consequent upon it."
I think it more as a "branch" or stage of redemption, rather than "consequent upon it." This is because, the latter expression implies that redemption is complete, and that redemption is not occurring now nor will it in the future. "The day of redemption" is not the day Christ died and provided the ransom but is the day of Christ's return.
Spurgeon also said:
"That word “redemption” sounds in my ears like a silver bell. We are ransomed, purchased back from slavery, and this at an immeasurable price; not merely by the obedience of Christ, nor the suffering of Christ, nor even the death of Christ, but by Christ’s giving Himself for us. All that there is in the great God and Savior was paid down that he might “redeem us from all iniquity.” The splendor of the Gospel lies in the redeeming sacrifice of the Son of God, and we shall never fail to put this to the front in our preaching. It is the gem of all the Gospel gems. As the moon is among the stars, so is this great doctrine among all the lesser lights which God hath kindled to make glad the night of fallen man. Paul never hesitates; he has a divine Savior and a divine redemption, and he preaches these with unwavering confidence. Oh that all preachers were like him!" (As cited here)
These words are pregnant with truth on this subject. Redemption is, as we have observed in our earlier chapters in this series, a "ransoming" or repurchasing of a slave by the payment of the stipulated price. And, according to Spurgeon, this act of payment by Christ shedding his blood, and with all that it entails, is the very "splendor of the Gospel." It is "the gem of all the Gospel gems." Yes, indeed! It must therefore be put "to the front in our preaching."
Our propositions are these:
1. The aim of redemption was to redeem, not merely from the penalty, but from the presence, control, and tyranny of iniquity.
2. Redemption has not been fully realized until what was intended to be effected by it has been accomplished.
3. Redemption is actualized or realized first in conversion, but is not then complete.
4. Redemption, denoting actual freedom from bondage, and restoration, is progressive.
5. Redemption is not complete till the body is resurrected and glorified with immortality.
Redemption is not realized until there has been a complete moral transformation of the soul and spirit, and until there has been a transformation of the body to fit it for immortality and eternal life.
Redemption, like salvation, is described in the scriptures by the use of all tenses; past, present, future. We have been saved and redeemed. We are being redeemed. We shall be redeemed.
Redemption Involves Moral Transformation
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus 2: 11-15)
Moral transformation is the end design in God's work of redemption. This is clearly seen in these words of the apostle. The "grace" or gospel of God brings salvation, and that results, when received, in being "taught" or "disciplined" progressively in regard to moral and spiritual life in Christ. Redemption, which is deliverance from the bondage of moral corruption and depravity is begun in conversion, continued in the life of the new born soul in sanctification, and is completed in "the day of redemption" when we experience "the redemption of our bodies," when the body is also transformed along with "the whole creation."
In commenting upon the words "redeemed from all iniquity" Whedon's Commentary says: "The moralizing and sanctifying effect of Christ’s death is here alone specified, because it is the moral model of 1-10 that St. Paul is here illustrating."
Christ became the sacrificial lamb on the cross of Calvary, the new covenant altar of sacrifice. His sacrificial death and the blood of it, staining the cross, was in order to effect atonement and redemption. Redemption, as we have seen, sometimes refers to the transaction that takes place when the redeemer pays to the creditor the stipulated price for the redemption or deliverance of a slave or prisoner. But, redemption also sometimes refers to the actual experience of redemption by the slave or prisoner, to the time when he is freed from his bondage and loss, and when his possessions and rights are restored.
Sometimes, as in the text before us, both aspects of redemption seem to be in view, though the focus seems to be on complete redemption.
Redemption is the means to bring about justification (Romans 3: 24), something done for us, something objective; But it is also the means to bring about our complete sanctification (involving regeneration and continuous moral transformation), something done in us, something subjective. Whatever is lacking or incomplete in moral purity at death will be supplied and completed upon entering Paradise. Purification for the body will not occur until it is glorified and immortalized in "the day of redemption."
The Greek words ινα λυτρωσηται (hina lutrōsētai) means “that he might set free by means of a ransom.” In this liberating of bond slaves the thing binding or imprisoning is "iniquity," (Greek "anomos") meaning lawlessness.
Redemption, like deliverance, involves being saved or redeemed "from" something as well as being saved or redeemed "to" something. This is true in both objective (legal) and subjective (experiential) aspects of redemption. In simplest terms these words of the apostle denote the release of someone held captive (prisoner, slave) on receipt of a ransom payment. As we have seen, the "ransom" was the technical term for money (or compensation) paid to "buy back" a slave or prisoner of war; but, the word "redeem" was never divorced in thought from the actual freeing or "releasing" of a slave or prisoner. Complete redemption necessitated actual or an experienced liberation, deliverance, and restoration.
Said Spurgeon:
"Paul looks upon recovery from sin as being a wonderful proof of divine grace. He does not talk about a kind of grace that would leave men in sin, and yet save them from its punishment. No, his salvation is salvation from sin. He does not talk about a free grace which winks at iniquity, and makes nothing of transgression, but of a greater grace by far, which denounces the iniquity and condemns the transgression, and then delivers the victim of it from the habit which has brought him into bondage."
To say a man is "redeemed" when he still has all his shackles binding him, and when he still has not been released or freed in the least degree from his confinement, is to betray an ignorance on this subject of redemption. To "redeem from iniquity" includes the idea of being saved from the shackles and prison of sin. The end purpose in redemption was to restore holiness and likeness (conformity) to Christ, whose "face" is the very "face" of the Father, and the very "face of God."
Octavius Winslow commented upon our text, said (emphasis mine):
"There is no victory over the indwelling power of sin, and there is no pardon for the guilt of sin, but as the soul deals with the blood of Christ. The great end of our dear Lord's death was to destroy the works of the devil. Sin is the great work of Satan. To overcome this, to break its power, subdue its dominion, repair its ruins, and release from its condemnation, the blessed Son of God suffered the ignominious death of the cross. All that bitter agony which He endured, all that mental suffering, the sorrow of His soul in the garden, the sufferings of His body on the cross--all was for sin.
See, then, the close and beautiful connection between the death of Christ--and the death of sin. All true sanctification comes through the cross! Seek it there. The cross brought into your soul by the eternal Spirit will be the death of your sins. Go to the cross! Oh, go to the cross of Jesus! In simplicity of faith, go with the strong corruption; go with the burden of guilt; go to the cross! You will find nothing but love there, nothing but welcome there, nothing but purity there. The precious blood of Jesus "cleanses us from all sin." And while you are kept low beneath the cross, your enemy dares not approach you, sin shall not have dominion over you, nor shall Satan, your accuser, condemn you!" (see here)
In the "DOCTRINE OF SANCTIFICATION" by A.W Pink, we have these excellent words showing how redemption involves sanctifying the redeemed slave (emphasis mine):
"The salvation that Christ purchased for His people includes both justification and sanctification. The Lord Jesus saves not only from the guilt and penalty of sin, but from the power and pollution of it. Where there is genuine longing to be freed from the love of sin, there is a true desire for His salvation; but where there is no practical deliverance from the service of sin, then we are strangers to His saving grace. Christ came here to “Perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (Luk 1:72-75). It is by this we are to test or measure ourselves: are we serving Him “in holiness and righteousness”? If we are not, we have not been sanctified; and if we are unsanctified, we are none of His!" (pg. 20 - see here)
I think the scriptures are very clear on this point! So have our Calvinistic and Baptist forefathers except for some Hyper Calvinists, and other Antinomians.
Pink wrote:
"One principal end of the design of God in sending His Son into the world was to recover us unto that state of holiness that we had lost: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1Jo 3:8). Among the principal of the works of the devil was the infecting of our natures and persons with a principle of sin and enmity against God, and that evil work is not destroyed but by the introduction of a principle of holiness and obedience. The image of God in us was defaced by sin; the restoration of that image was one of the main purposes of Christ’s mediation. Christ’s great and ultimate design was to bring His people unto the enjoyment of God to His eternal Glory, and this can only be by grace and holiness, by which we are made “meet for the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col 1:12)." (pg. 28)
Along the same line Pink wrote:
"Now the exercise of Christ’s mediation is discharged under His threefold office. As to His priestly, the immediate effects were the making of satisfaction and reconciliation, but the mediate effects are our justification and sanctification: “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Ti 2:14)--no unholy people, then, have any sure evidence of an interest in Christ’s sacrifice."
"There are two things in sin inseparably connected and yet clearly distinguishable, namely, its criminality and its pollution." (pg. 41)
Yes, and "redemption" involves both salvation from the penalty (criminality) and from the pollution (moral depravity) of "anomia." To say a person is every way "redeemed" when he has not yet been converted or sanctified is to state a falsehood. Also, not even the redeemed souls in heaven can lay claim to having been fully redeemed, for their bodies wait their redemption in the coming "day of redemption."
Pink wrote:
"Fourth, scriptural sanctification is not something wholly objective in Christ, which is not in anywise in ourselves. In their revolt against sinless perfectionism, there have been some who have gone to an opposite extreme: Antinomians argue for a holiness in Christ which produces no radical change for the better in the Christian. This is another deceit of the devil, for a deceit it certainly is for anyone to imagine that the only holiness he has is in Christ. There is no such thing in reality as a perfect and inalienable standing in Christ that is divorced from heart purity and a personal walk in righteousness. What a flesh-pleasing dogma is it, that one act of faith in the Lord Jesus secures eternal immunity from condemnation and provides a lifelong license to wallow in sin. My reader, a faith that does not transform character and reform conduct is worthless. Saving faith is only proved to be genuine by bearing the blossoms of experimental godliness and the fruits of personal piety (Jam 2:17-26)." (pg. 47)
The "Primitive Baptists" (aka "hardshells") have had their troubles historically with the "no change" view of regeneration, and they are typically "Antinomian." Some in the "free grace movement" today, and those who oppose "Lordship salvation" and the "perseverance of the saints," also have a "regeneration" or "new birth" that produces no radical moral change.
Pink wrote:
"Once it be clearly perceived that God’s salvation is not only a rescue from the penalty of sin, but is as well, and chiefly, deliverance from the pollution and power of sin - ultimating in complete freedom from its very presence, there will be no difficulty in seeing that sanctification occupies a central place in the process. Alas that while there are many who think of Christ dying to secure their pardon, so few today consider Christ dying in order to renew their hearts, heal their souls, bring them unto obedience to God." (pg. 50)
This is exactly the truth that I have been laboring to prove in this treatise of redemption. Yes, we can sing "I have been redeemed" (past tense) because we look back to 1) Calvary and to the cross when and where the "redemption price" was paid in the blood of the innocent Lamb of God, and 2) the time when we were first converted and joined to Christ, when the Lord "broke the power of canceled sin." But, we can also sing "I am being redeemed" as well as "I will be redeemed."
Pink wrote:
"That one of the great ends of the death of Christ was the moral purification of His people is clear from many Scriptures. “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2Co 5:15); “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Ti 2:14); “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:14); “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1Pe 2:24). From these passages it is abundantly plain that the purpose of the Savior in all that He did and suffered was not only to deliver His people from the penal consequences of their sins, but also to cleanse them from the pollution of sin, to free them from its enslaving power, to rectify their moral nature." (pg. 52)
From All Iniquity
Redemption payment having been made by Christ's blood, the next thing is to actually liberate the slave, bring him out of his state of bondage, and to bring him into the service of Christ. Redemption will deliver the slave “from all unlawfulness.” (ἀπὸ πάσης ἀνομίας). "Iniquity" being the translation of "a-nomos" where "nomos" means "law" and the negative article "a" denoting "lawlessness."
No one who has been converted to Christ will ever become completely obedient, or lawful, in this life. "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." (Eccl. 7:20)
Yes, after conversion, what characterizes him are such negatives as 1) does not "continue any longer in sin" or lawlessness (Rom. 6: 1,2), and 2) "walks not after the flesh" (Rom. 8: 1). Positively, he will "walk after the Spirit" (Rom. 8: 1) and the words "patient continuance in well doing" (Rom. 2: 7) will characterize him. He will daily be delivered and redeemed as he lives the Christian life and more and more appetite for sin will be removed from him, like filth is removed from the body or lint is removed from clothing. But, Christ redeems from "all" sin, iniquity, and lawlessness, so that, though all iniquity is not conquered in this life, yet all will be conquered in death for the soul when it escapes the body and enters the presence of the Lord. The body's deliverance awaits the "day of redemption."
Wrote Gill:
"that he might redeem us from all iniquity: sin brings into bondage and, slavery, redemption is a deliverance from it; sin binds guilt upon the sinner, and lays him under obligation to punishment, and renders him liable to the curse and condemnation of the law; Christ was made sin, and a curse for his people, that he might redeem them from both, and deliver them from the punishment due to sin; which he has done by bearing it in his own body on the tree, whereby he has redeemed them from all iniquity, that so it shall not be their ruin, or they come into condemnation on account of it; even from original sin, and from all actual transgressions; from all which his blood cleanses, and his righteousness justifies, and which God, for his sake, freely and fully forgives. Christ was called to this work by his Father, to which he agreed; and the plan of redemption being drawn in the everlasting council, and the whole adjusted and fixed in the covenant of peace; promises and prophecies were given out of it, and in the fulness of time Christ was sent, and came to effect it; and he has obtained eternal redemption for us, through the price of his own blood, which could have never been wrought out by any creature; and wherein all the divine perfections are glorified and is a plenteous and complete one; it includes in it, or connects with it, the blessings of justification, peace, pardon, adoption, and eternal life. It follows as another end of Christ's giving himself, or what is a branch of redemption, or consequent upon it."
Monday, January 7, 2019
Hardshells Alone Preach The Gospel?
Elder S. N. Redford, a leading Hardshell in the early 20th century, said that the PBs "are the only people in the world who are preaching the gospel."
That statement also shows them to be a cult.
For the rest of this citation and others from Redford, see my posting Redford's Hardshell Apology.
That statement also shows them to be a cult.
For the rest of this citation and others from Redford, see my posting Redford's Hardshell Apology.
First PBs Preached To Dead Sinners
Elder John M. Watson, medical doctor, and first generation leader of the newly formed "Primitive Baptist" church, and author of that important book "The Old Baptist Test," wrote these words (see here for these and other citations from Watson):
"Upon this principle, the Gospel is preached to all, repentance and an interest in a Saviour's blood is offered to all. The charitable invitation "whosoever will" goes out to all inviting them to "take the water of life freely."
That was the view of most of the first generation of "Primitive" Baptists. Did you know that my Hardshell brothers?
There is, strange to say, an error entertained by some brethren, that the minister of the Lord should not call on “all men every where to repent;” of sinners to look to Christ and be saved; nor on unbelievers to believe. They are constantly saying, to preach in this way betrays Arminianism on the part of the ministry which thus exhorts its hearers, and also on the part of the Church which tolerates such preaching! Observe, shall we become Arminians by faithfully preaching according to the commission given by the Savior? Some, indeed seem to think so! For when the minister discharges his duty zealously, faithfully and in a gospel manner, there are certain ones who cry out, he is an Arminian! The great error, that this is one of the varieties of Arminianism, is affecting both our pulpits and Churches; for instead of requiring this kind of preaching, and sustaining it as a Church, we fear some are opposed to it, and use their influence to suppress it?
such preaching was commanded by the Lord; and that the preaching of his servants as long as we have a Scriptural history of it furnishes a practical example of this mode of preaching the gospel.
A gospel without exhortation; without a call on the sinner to repent and believe; a gospel which does not in word address itself to all; is not the gospel which Christ ordained subordinately for the bringing in of his “other sheep.” (Pages 84-86)
My Hardshell brothers, I preached and visited in some of the churches that Elder Watson pastored in middle Tennessee. The name "John M. Watson" was well known to the churches in the Cumberland Association. His book title is so important to consider! "Old Baptist Test"! Will you, my PB brothers, take the test? Maybe you are afraid that you will discover that you are really not "Old" or "Primitive" Baptist?
"Upon this principle, the Gospel is preached to all, repentance and an interest in a Saviour's blood is offered to all. The charitable invitation "whosoever will" goes out to all inviting them to "take the water of life freely."
That was the view of most of the first generation of "Primitive" Baptists. Did you know that my Hardshell brothers?
There is, strange to say, an error entertained by some brethren, that the minister of the Lord should not call on “all men every where to repent;” of sinners to look to Christ and be saved; nor on unbelievers to believe. They are constantly saying, to preach in this way betrays Arminianism on the part of the ministry which thus exhorts its hearers, and also on the part of the Church which tolerates such preaching! Observe, shall we become Arminians by faithfully preaching according to the commission given by the Savior? Some, indeed seem to think so! For when the minister discharges his duty zealously, faithfully and in a gospel manner, there are certain ones who cry out, he is an Arminian! The great error, that this is one of the varieties of Arminianism, is affecting both our pulpits and Churches; for instead of requiring this kind of preaching, and sustaining it as a Church, we fear some are opposed to it, and use their influence to suppress it?
such preaching was commanded by the Lord; and that the preaching of his servants as long as we have a Scriptural history of it furnishes a practical example of this mode of preaching the gospel.
A gospel without exhortation; without a call on the sinner to repent and believe; a gospel which does not in word address itself to all; is not the gospel which Christ ordained subordinately for the bringing in of his “other sheep.” (Pages 84-86)
My Hardshell brothers, I preached and visited in some of the churches that Elder Watson pastored in middle Tennessee. The name "John M. Watson" was well known to the churches in the Cumberland Association. His book title is so important to consider! "Old Baptist Test"! Will you, my PB brothers, take the test? Maybe you are afraid that you will discover that you are really not "Old" or "Primitive" Baptist?
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