TRADITIONS OF THE
ELDERS
SERMON III.
By the Rev.
Charles G Finney
“Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” (Matthew 15: 6)
God’s government over
our mind and our soul is a moral government.
That means that He doesn’t use any physical means to compel our mind to
act. He uses motives and incentives to
get our minds to willfully respond.
God’s moral government
is made up of considerations and persuasions that are designed and calculated
to influence our minds to pursue that course of conduct, which will promote the
glory of God, and the happiness of the universe. God’s government lays down a definite and perfect rule of feeling
and of action. God’s laws show us, with
the clear light of sunbeams, exactly what God wants us to do. His law comes with both rewards and
penalties. The rewards offer all the
blessedness of everlasting life. The
penalties offer the offenders all the pains of everlasting death. Thus God places in front of the sinner, the
clear lamp of truth; and in its awful penalty, gathering around him on every
hand, over his head, and beneath his feet, God places all the moving considerations
that heaven, earth, and hell can present to hold his mind on the exact course
of obedience. The law of God was
clearly revealed to the Jews, but its power was often broken, and its influence
over their minds were paralyzed and destroyed by a variety of oral traditions,
which were handed down from one generation to the next; which were considered
to have equal authority with the written law.
They were often deceptively attractive substitutes of God’s moral law,
created by Jewish theologians. Very
often, they evaded the spirit and meaning of the written law. We have an example of this in the verses
that connected with today’s passage, that I’ve just read to you.
The Jewish doctors had a
tradition that said that it was unlawful to eat unless they first washed their
hands. Christ’s disciples didn’t pay
any attention to this tradition.
Nevertheless, because these traditions were held in great respect and
reverence by the multitude, the Scribes and Pharisees turned the disciples’
disregard of such traditions into an opportunity to reproach Christ. Demanding an answer to why they ignored
their traditions, they asked Jesus “Why do Your disciples transgress the
tradition of the elders? For they do
not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
Christ rebuked them by answering, “Why do you also transgress the
commandment of God because of your tradition?
For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He
who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or
mother, “whatever profit you might have received from me has been dedicated to
the temple” is released from honoring his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of
no effect by your tradition”. (Matt
15:2-5) The commandment to honor your
father and mother includes the fact that you have an obligation to provide for
them in case they ended up in a needy situation. But the tradition of the elders evaded this requirement, and
taught that if the child would give his property to God, or dedicated his
property for religious purposes, and made no provision for his elderly parents,
he was blameless. Thus, by this law, he
could evade and set aside the commandment of God.
Since the world began, the policy of Satan
has always been to break the power that God’s moral government has over the
mind. It has always been Satan’s policy
to introduce confusion, rebellion, and damnation into the universe of God. The influence that motivates our mind is
like the law of gravity in the material universe. Although it does not operate by a physical force, like the law of
gravity; still, the influences that motivate us are designed to hold the same
place in our mind that gravity holds in the world of matter. Just as universal desolation would be the
result of breaking the power of gravity in the physical world; destroy the
power that motivates us to obey God and you will have disorder, anarchy, and
lawless confusion filling the universe.
The power that motivates us to obey God can be damaged or destroyed by
anything that tends to hide the truth, clouds the minds of ignorant men, and
gives them erroneous ideas of obedience and the requirements of God. All evasions and misrepresentations of the
true nature and tendency of God’s commands, are designed to make God’s commands
worthless, to undermine their tendency, and to defeat the reason why these
commands are law. Thus, the corrupt
twisting of God’s law, and traditional evasions of the Jews had totally blinded
the Jewish nation.
Their carnal
interpretations of the law, their traditional explanations of the prophets and
of the commandments of God, had so shaped and modified the views and doctrinal
sentiments of their nation, that they had entirely misrepresented the nature,
the plan, and the purpose of the kingdom of their long awaited Messiah. The Jews had the sacrifices of the
ceremonial law and all the institutions that were designed to point out the
nature and plan of the coming of Christ.
Yet, their traditional delusions had been so great, and their
expectations and views of what the Messiah would be like were so far off base,
that when He came, they did not know Him.
They considered His doctrine pure heresy. They considered all His claims as Messiah, blasphemous. As a result, the nation rose up. They rejected, persecuted, and murdered
Him. Nevertheless, after His
resurrection and the pouring out of His Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
the Christian Church discarded the traditions of the Jewish scholars. For a short time, the clear, pure truth of
God shone upon the world. Its power was
instantly manifested. When separated
from error, it poured its steady light in on the darkness of the moral world,
like the mid-day sun. Converts to
Christianity were multiplied like drops of morning dew. Judaism gave way before it; the multiform
systems of pagan idolatry shrunk away before its glories; and earth caught and
echoed back the hallelujahs of heaven.
But in the midst of this bright day, even while some of the inspired
apostles were still alive, the corrupt philosophy of men began to introduce new
traditions to break the power of truth.
Men began to interpret the Scriptures by the corrupt standards of their
erroneous philosophies. The truth
became obscured, its power began to break down, its influence over the mind
became less and less visible; until a day of darkness came, which spread the
darkness of midnight over generations of this world’s history, and populated
hell with millions of our race.
When the gospel had lost
its power, they refused to admit that it was corrupted, and human
interpretations and the traditions of men had broken its influence over the
mind. Instead of understanding that
their own traditions had shackled the gospel, had palsied the arm of its power,
and blighted the prospects of the church, they went on with their speculations,
quietly sat down, and very learnedly tried to account for the fact that its
glory had left, by attributing it to the mysterious sovereignty of God.
These traditions were
greatly multiplied in the Roman church, until it became so bad that true
conversions to God were hardly known among them. Many of these traditions were rejected during the reformation,
and enough light broke in on the world to wake it from its slumber. There is reason to believe that many souls
came to Christ during this time. Still
the effects were limited. The
reformation was only a partial reformation.
The gospel still lacked the power it had in apostolic days. Something was desperately needed to remove
the clouds from before the glorious sun of righteousness, that through the gospel,
Christ might shine forth in all of His strength and power.
But, many systems of
mental philosophy still prevailed, and it was by these philosophies that men
were continually interpreting the word of God, introducing embarrassments,
contradictions, mysteries, and absurdities into the gospel, and perplexing and
confusing the human mind. Right up to
the present day, they have clogged the chariot wheels of His mercy, and, for
the most part, they have set aside and destroyed the power of the commandment of
God.
A. I will now mention a few of the many reasons
why God’s moral law is necessary, together with some of the doctrines and
dogmas of men that have broken its power.
The following are among the most basic reasons why God’s moral law is so
important.
1. God’s moral law
exhibits the unselfish love of God. A
law is the expressed will of the lawgiver.
God’s law is a
declaration of how He feels towards his subjects, embodying, and holding forth
His real sentiments and feelings concerning them. God’s law is a portrait of His heart. We have only to examine the two great precepts that summarize the
whole law and the prophets to learn that God is love. These two precepts call for pure and perfect love. It calls us to love God with all our heart,
and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
This is the universal rule of right for the government of God’s
kingdom. If everybody obeyed this law,
there would be universal happiness. Our
mind is so constituted, that unselfish, loving affections are sources of our
happiness. Therefore, if the unselfish
love that the law requires were universally exercised, and in the degree that
the law prescribes, universal good will, peace, and joy would fill the earth.
2. We also see God’s
justice in His moral law. God’s law
only requires that we love ourselves with a love that is reasonable and right;
and that we have a pure concern in our heart and life for the welfare of our
fellow men. Nothing more or less than
this is right.
3. Another purpose of the moral law is to
convince men of sin. It does this by
putting in the hands of every one of us, a perfect rule of action. The moral law acts just like a mirror. By holding this pure moral mirror strongly
right in front of our eyes, it reflects the exact moral character of our every
thought, word, and deed. It is the rule
by which we must measure every action.
It is the delicate scale of the sanctuary, in which every thought and affection
must be weighed.
4. The purpose of God’s
law is also to promote humility. By
comparing ones life, thought and affections with this holy law, the sinner
finds that everything is wrong. When he
is weighed in this balance, he finds himself wanting. His self-complacency is destroyed, and his pride is humbled.
5. Another purpose of
the law is to destroy self-righteousness, and to teach men their need for
atonement, and their need for a Savior.
6. Another purpose is to
promote holiness and happiness among all mankind. God’s law shows them that it is impossible to be truly happy
without being holy, and that without perfect holiness no man shall see the
Lord.
7. Another purpose is to
engrave on the hearts and consciences of people everywhere, their obligation to
manifest universal and perfect unselfish love, and to convict them of sin every
time they fall into selfishness. In
short, moral law is designed and calculated to declare God’s perfection and the
total depravity of the entire human race.
For just as it is a faithful portrait of God’s perfect moral character
on one hand; so it is also a faithful witness of the entire depravity of every
human being on the other hand.
But all these plans have
been defeated in innumerable ways by people’s traditions. Pharisees, both the ancient and modern kind,
have defeated these plans by changing God’s law. Some of them have made obedience consist in simply conforming
outwardly to the law of God, no matter what condition their hearts are in. They say and do all of this in spite of the
fact that the law considers the condition of the heart to be more important
than physical behavior. It is the
heart, or the reason why something is done, that the law is interested in. The law gives no credit for outward actions
unless they are done for the right reason.
The promptings of a heart filled with the love of God must produce the
action. The action must be performed at
the bidding of a holy principle before it can be recognized as virtue by the
law of God. Does a person pray, preach,
give alms to the poor, read his Bible, or go to church? Unless these actions are prompted by the
love of God in his heart, he is not obedient.
Unless these actions are prompted by the love of God in his heart, he is
not virtuous, because the law still thunders forth its claims, “And you shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
mind, and with all your strength and you shall love your neighbor as
yourself”. (Mark 12:30-31) No outward conduct then, no matter how
pious, can be considered obedience to God’s law unless it flows from love. Therefore, it must be clear, that to make
outward morality constitute obedience to God’s law is to defeat one of its
principal purposes. Instead of convicting
one of sin, outward morality fosters pride.
Instead of exhibiting the true character of God, outward morality
presents God as the promoter of a cold, dry morality. Instead of making men humble, and showing them their need for a
Savior, it leads them into become self-complacent. They will stumble at the doctrine of atonement, and they will
misunderstand and finally reject the gospel.
It was this view of the
moral law, so extensively embraced, and promoted by the Pharisees, that led the
Jewish nation to reject and crucify our Savior. They rejected God’s righteousness, and then they went around
establishing their own righteousness by outwardly conforming to the law. And because they thought that they were
obedient to the law, how could they understand the need for atonement? How could they understand the righteousness
of Christ, and justification by faith alone?
The same is true with the Pharisees today. They overlook the spirituality of God’s law, and believe that
their cold dry, outward morality is acceptable in the sight of God. What the law requires; they wrap in the
filthy garments of their own righteousness.
They walk in the light of their own fire, warm themselves with sparks of
their own kindling, and must lie down in sorrow.
Again there are others
who turn God’s law into something worthless, simply by treating the law as a
bunch of negative rules designed to prohibit positive selfishness, rather than
requiring the existence and practice of all positive unselfish love and
virtue. These people love to condemn
sins. They see the law as nothing more
than a long list of don’ts. They spend
their time resisting the tide of corruption, without insisting on the positive
character of the law, which requires every creature of God to devote all his
powers to His service and give himself up to do good and to promote the
interest of Christ's kingdom.
Of course, the religion
of these individuals corresponds with their view of the law. Their religion is all negative. They don’t do anything that is very wicked because
they abstain from any sinful activity that would disgrace them in the eyes of
others. They imagine that they are
Christians. They are aware that they
don’t love the Lord their God with all their heart. They know that they don’t deny themselves, nor do they take up
their cross daily and follow Christ.
They do not handle their possessions as good stewards of God. They do not consider their time, talents,
and all they have and are as belonging to Christ, and to be used only for the
glory of God. They know that they
produce little or no good in the world, but they content themselves with doing
nothing very bad. Now this imagination,
that this is true religion and that they are Christians, is based on their sad
and fundamental error of the nature of the law of God.
Right views of God’s law
would annihilate these false hopes.
Right views of the law would immediately sweep away their refuge of
lies, and bring them into a better acquaintance with God and with themselves. But it is clear that much of what is called
religion these days, is this spurious negative kind of piety, that contents
itself with doing nothing openly wrong, without doing what is right. Ask such a professing Christian whether he
is doing any good, he will tell you no, not that he knows of, but he is doing
nothing very bad. Thus, the high claims
of the law are set aside, its purpose is perverted and the hypocrite rests
quietly in his sins.
Then there are those who
proclaim that we are now in the age of grace and we are no longer under the
law. These people void the commandment
of God, by setting it aside as a rule that, as Christians, we no longer have to
obey. This concept originated with a
sect that formed in the early days of the church. They were called Antinomians.
Antinomian is a compound word that means ‘without law’. Their peculiarity lies in believing that the
gospel was designed to release Christians from their obligation to obey the
moral law. It grew out of a perversion
of the doctrine of justification by faith.
The Jewish scholars taught that men were to be saved only by outwardly
conforming to the moral and ceremonial laws.
In opposition to this, Paul taught, that by the works of the law, no
flesh can be justified for two reasons; first, because all men had broken the
law already, and second, because no subsequent obedience however perfect, could
make restitution for past disobedience.
Therefore, the law already condemns all men. Justification, in the New Testament, is synonymous with pardon
and acceptance. The atonement of Christ
is therefore, the only ground of pardon, and those who are saved, are
justified, solely by faith in Christ, irrespective of any real righteousness of
their own. This sentiment was soon
perverted by the Antinomians who maintained that if men are justified by faith
alone without the works of the law, that good works were unnecessary, that
faith in Christ is substituted for obedience to the law of God. As a result, they overlooked the fact that
the Bible says that without personal holiness no man shall see the Lord.
This sect has existed in different forms almost completely throughout the Church ever since. They have not always been known by this name, but thousands have and still manifest their peculiar beliefs and practices. One way you can tell who they are is that when you insist that we must be holy in our heart and in our life, they complain that they are not fed. They say that this is legal preaching, that it is not the gospel, but that it is going back to the law. They seem to entertain the vain imagination that the gospel is designed to repeal the moral law, and not just to set aside executing its penalty in the case of believers in Christ. They think that the Gospel discharges them from any obligation to obey the law. They render the commandments worthless. They turn Christ and His gospel into enemies of God’s moral government. They settle down in their self-righteousness. They make it impossible for either the law or the gospel to sanctify them, and therefore, they totally perish in their own corruption. If a person, who claims that he has faith in Christ, does not live as holy and blamelessly as if he expected to be saved by his works, if he is sloppy with his life and indulges in more sin than he would if he was to be saved by the law, he is turning the grace of God into licentiousness. He makes Christ the minister of sin, and perverts and abuses the gospel. In heart, that person is virtually an Antinomian. He turns the gospel into a license to sin and break the law. He presents Christ as arguing in favor of sin, as saving those who make His gospel a source of encouragement to commit sins, sins which they would not dare commit if they depended on their own obedience for justification.
Others void the law of God,
and render it useless, by denying its penalty.
There are two kinds of people who cling to traditions that nullify the
power of moral government. The penalty
of a Jew is the reason presented by the lawgiver, to encourage obedience to the
law. The greater the penalty, the more
weighty, and influential is his reason to obey. The smaller the penalty, the feebler, and the more inoperative
are those reasons. Destroy the penalty,
and you destroy his reason to obey, except what is contained in the nature of
the precept of the law itself. If the
penalty is destroyed or taken away, it is no longer a law. For all practical purposes, the law no
longer exists, because any law without a penalty is only advice, which you can
receive or reject as you please.
The two kinds of people
I’ve just referred to, I will call the no hellites, and the
restorationists. The no hellites
believe that men neither deserve, nor receive, any other punishment for sin
than what they receive in this life.
The restorationists believe that there will be a limited punishment in a
future world; that when they have been punished according to their sins, they
will be translated from hell (or purgatory, as many of them call it) to
heaven. Both groups of people agree
that the whole human race will be saved.
The no hellites completely set aside the penalty of the law of God, and
regard the sufferings of this life as the natural and only evil consequences of
sin to man. The restorationists fritter
away the penalty, and reduce the penalty to something small and indefinite, the
amount or duration of which they don’t even pretend to know. If it is not eternal, however, it must be a
finite instead of an infinite penalty.
No matter how long it may be, if it has an end, it is infinitely less than
eternal. If it is only a temporary
penalty, it is infinitely less solemn, awful, impressive, commanding, and
influential than an eternal penalty.
I’ve already said that
the sanctions of moral law, which are its rewards and penalties, are designed to
have the same place in the moral world that the law of gravity has in the
material world. The way they operate is
different, of course, because gravity acts by force. Gravity is a law of matter, and can only be administered by
force. Moral law is the law that
governs our mind. Its rewards and
punishments are designed and calculated to secure a voluntary obedience. Just as the law of gravity holds the earth,
moon, and planets in their orbits, so the motives to obey God’s moral
government are designed to preserve in their orbits, all voluntary agents under
the government of God. Thus, as long as
the reality of the threatened penalty was kept continually before Adam’s mind,
he persevered in obedience; he stood like a planet in its orbit, balanced by
the universal law of gravity. But, as
soon as his confidence in God’s moral law was lost, he fell. Annihilate the law of gravity, and suns,
moons, and planets, would fly from their orbits, and hurdle lawlessly through
the universe. Universal disorder and confusion
would be the instantaneous result. Wave
after wave of desolation would roll over the universe of God. In the same way, as long as Adam, standing
at the head of the human race, stood fast, as long as the deep conviction of
the threatened penalty weighed upon his mind, he stood firm before his God like
a planet before its sun. But, alas, in
an evil hour, Adam doubted the penalty of God’s law and the law lost its
influence. And, just like the earth
flying out of its orbit, and plunging the earth into chaos and death; so Adam,
as soon as the force of moral government was broken, rushed from the orbit of
his obedience, and filled the world, with crime, sorrow, and desolation.
These people seem like
they want to relieve the world of its anxieties either by completely denying or
infinitely lessening the penalty of the law of God. However, it is very clear that if they could succeed in producing
universal conviction of the truth of their opinions, they would completely
annihilate the power of God’s moral government. If they could convince the world that God never threatened men
with eternal death; if they could convince people that the sufferings of this
world are all, or nearly all that sin deserves; if they could convince you that
God never planned to punish in a future world; does their opinion promote
obedience to the law of God? You might
as well say that taking away the penalties of human laws will secure obedience
to them. Is annihilating your motives,
or the reasons that motivate you to obey, designed to secure obedience? Suppose a congressional representative
should go through the country, proclaiming that all the penalties that are
attached to laws are totally unnecessary, that this nation would be better off
if we did not threaten people with punishment if they disobeyed. The only thing that should be required is to
simply exhibit the pleasant nature of virtue and the mildness and humanity of
the government. Penalty against murder
is unnecessary; and the accusations of one’s own conscience, and the pains,
trouble, and distresses that remembering a crime would bring on it’s the one
who commits the crime, is all that the crime deserves. He finishes by saying that to exhibit any
other penalties is unnecessary, unwise, and unjust. Wouldn’t you call that congressional representative a
lunatic? Wouldn’t everyone regard his
doctrine as dangerous, or that it is so incredible and ridiculous that nobody
would take it seriously? Would you vote
for him? Would he do our country a
favor by persuading everyone to act on this principle to eliminate all our
legal penalties? Think about it. We could shut the doors of all our
courthouses, eliminate all the judges, and throw our prison doors wide
open. Instead, wouldn’t he be regarded
as the common enemy of man, as aiming to open the floodgates of iniquity and
inundate this nation with crime?
It is a well-known fact
that even the death penalty is often not enough incentive to prevent people
from committing murder; and does it make any sense to believe that doing away
with this penalty, or easing its pain, or substituting a more humane motive in
its place would be enough to prevent the crime? It is a matter of fact, that, even in those cases where people
admit that the penalty is eternal, the penalty of eternal death does not
restrain people from sinning. Even this
infinite penalty does not carry enough weight and power to counteract the
selfishness of the human heart. Therefore,
by what mad logic on earth or in hell, do these people arrive at the fantastic
conclusion that doing away with this penalty has a tendency to promote
obedience to God? It is stupid to say
that the excellence and blessedness of the law is a sufficient reason to secure
obedience. This is not only contrary to
fact, but also contrary to all philosophy.
I admit that there is a high and powerful motive contained in the law
itself. The happiness of virtue is a
great encouragement to be virtuous all by itself. Nevertheless, this still is only one part of the sanction of the
law. From the nature of our mind, it is
indispensable, not only that rewards for obedience should be offered, but also
that evil should be threatened for disobedience. We should really see this the most in a universe where virtue is
to be tested by temptation. Isn’t it
certain then, that if they could succeed in establishing the doctrine of that
old serpent, that the wicked shall not die; they would make the commandment of
God useless, and introduce universal rebellion and misrule throughout the
empire of Jehovah? If an infinite
penalty does not sufficiently restrain the selfishness of the human heart, what
delirious babble is it to say that a finite penalty would restrain the
selfishness of the human heart? If the
threatened pains of eternal death are not enough to hold back the tide of sin;
shall the simple consideration of a little suffering in this short life, roll
back the insurgent waves of rebellion against high heaven, and bring peace to
earth and good-will to men? It is
impossible!
It is time for me to say
that the penalty of eternal death only appeals to the fears of men. Can we be frightened into obeying God? The truth is, that both fear and hope exists
together in every human mind, and both are implanted there as principles upon
which God’s moral government can act.
Self-love, or the love of happiness and the dread of misery, differs
entirely in its nature from selfishness.
The law and the gospel continually make their appeals to both hope and
fear. We have before us a remarkable
illustration of the deathblow given by Universalist opinions to the law of
God. Their preaching of universal
salvation never makes anyone holier or better.
Their preaching of universal salvation never convinces men of their
sin. Their opinions never promote revivals
of religion. Noting that they believe
in will engage their followers in prayer and efforts for enlightening the world
or saving immortal souls. Who ever knew
the law of God, robbed of its penalty as exhibited by the Universalists, to
reform a drunkard, or rebuke and reclaim a pervert; to bring the high-handed
sinner down to his knees, and humble him as a little child. Perhaps some of you have seen something like
this happen. You knew a member of an
evangelistic Bible believing church who had been a praying man. He once attended church regularly. He was sober, honest, virtuous, and
apparently religious. But, as time went
on, he stopped attending prayer meetings.
Soon, he avoided going to church on Sundays. When someone asked his wife about it, they learned that he
neglected praying with his family. On
further investigation, it was discovered that he drank too much. He began to doubt whether there was an
eternal hell; and after he was excommunicated and left the church, he became a
Universalist.
Now who ever saw the
opposite of this happen? A
Universalist, a man of prayer, sober, prayerful, religious, who attended
Universalist prayer meetings, and who tried to promote religious revivals among
them. He maintained family and closet
prayer, and as time passed by, be began to relax in his efforts. His zeal grew cold. He began to neglect their prayer meetings
and stayed away from the house of God.
He drank too much, embraced the belief of an eternal hell, and on being
excommunicated from the Universalists, joined an on fire evangelistic
church? I say, who ever saw this? Nobody!
There is no tendency in their beliefs and in their doctrines to reform
the human race. This is obviously true
in philosophy, and it is abundantly supported by facts. They may exhibit their traditions until the
day of judgment, and they will be so far from promoting holiness among men,
that the only thing they will accomplish is that they will open up the
flood-gates of iniquity.
B. The gospel has been made worthless by the
traditions of men. Overlooking its
two-fold purpose has done this. First,
the gospel is designed first to establish the law. The gospel lays down the same rule of action, it requires the
same holiness of heart and life, and it aims at restoring men to perfect
obedience to the moral law. It does not
do away with or repeal the law, but enforces obedience, by exhibiting not only
the original rewards and punishments of the law, but by adding the peculiar,
solemn, moving, melting sanctions of the gospel.
Second, the gospel
provides a substitute for executing its penalty. It offers pardon on terms that are consistent with the honor of
the moral governor. It offers pardon on
terms that are calculated to promote the stability and influence of His government. To lose sight of either of these purposes
turns the gospel into something worthless.
Some have viewed the
gospel, as merely some kind of system of mercy, as offering a pardon for sin
without any thought about its design and tendency to make men holy. They have talked, and preached and prayed
about the mercy of God. They have
presented mercy as a remedy, without convincing the sinner that he was sick. They have urged him to accept a pardon
without convincing him of his sin; and thus by overlooking the holiness that
the gospel teaches and imposes on us with authority and emphasis; by exhibiting
the pardon of the gospel without requiring its duties; they have made the
gospel worthless. Once the gospel is
perverted like this, it has no tendency to save the lost. When you overlook its morality, its mercy
and its pardon can never save the souls of lost sinners. Justification without sanctification,
forgiveness without holiness is not only absurd, but salvation under such
conditions is impossible. These people
place a lot of importance on the atonement.
They admit that Jesus Christ is divine.
However, they exalt a dead faith even above obedience to the law of
God. We may generally know these
religious professing Christians by their great zeal for what they call sound
doctrine, and at the same time, they manifest a reluctance to hear about the
self-denying duties that the gospel teaches.
The doctrines of God’s sovereignty, the perseverance of the saints, and
their related doctrines are the only truths that they relish, and only a
distorted and perverted view of these can feed them. They place more importance on doctrine than on that practice
which the doctrine is designed to produce.
It is clear that they rest on the shadow and reject the substance. They are only hearers, but not doers of the
word, deceiving their own selves, who will utterly perish in their own
corruption.
There is another
tradition over and against this, which professes to recognize the morality of
the gospel, but denies, and nullifies its most moving reasons to encourage us
to obey. This tradition preaches good
works, but denies the power of faith and the atonement of the Son of God. But here, the power of the gospel is just as
sadly marred as in the other situation because this tradition professedly
admits the morality of the gospel, but it denies its sanctions and annihilates
its power. The most moving motive of
the gospel is presented in the doctrine of atonement. Blot out what Christ did for us in dying on the cross to pay the
penalty for our sins, and the gospel has no power to save and reclaim, as facts
abundantly testify. The fact is, that
both these parties are equally removed from the truth. One denies the morality of the gospel; the
other rejects the leading motives of the gospel. Thus, the power of the blessed gospel is destroyed, and the
supporters of both these systems remain in their sins. Any system that admits the morality, but
rejects the atonement, is a system of self-righteousness. While on the other hand any system that
admits the atonement, but overlooks the need for personal holiness, turns the
grace of God into licentiousness.
C. Others have nullified and broken the power of
the gospel by introducing traditions that hinder the gospel from being
accepted. One of these is the doctrine
of a physical depravity. This tradition
teaches that depravity is constitutional; that it enters into the very
substance of the human soul. It is
something that is created in them. It
is a natural appetite or a natural craving for sin, like the appetite for food
in the body.
Directly related to
this, growing out of it, and based on it, is the tradition of the inability on
the part of the sinner to accept the gospel.
These people maintain that the sinner is no more able to embrace the
gospel than he is to create his own world.
Some of these people call on sinners to repent, but they make sure they
tell those sinners that they cannot repent.
They call on them to believe, but they make sure they remind them that
they are unable to believe, and thus as some have humorously and truly said,
that they preach:
You can, and you
can't.
You shall, and you
shan't
You will, and you
won't.
You’ll be damned if you
don't.
Now add to this the
doctrine of a physical regeneration, which is another death dealing tradition
of the elders. This is a necessary part
of the same system, for if man’s nature is depraved and sinful all by itself;
if moral depravity is constitutional, and something physically created with the
mind itself; then regeneration, or new birth, or being born again, must also be
physical. Regeneration must remedy the
defect in man’s physical or natural constitution. It must destroy our natural constitutional craving for sin, and
alter the powers of moral agency in order to make obedience and holiness
possible. Now it is clear, that no
greater obstacles could be presented to receiving the gospel than are found in
these three doctrines just named, which are, physical depravity, consequent
inability, and constitutional regeneration.
They all lead inevitably, and logically to the exercise of a spirit of
self-justification.
Please, think about
this. A man has no right to blame
himself for his depravity if it is constitutional. If it is something created in him and born with him, the
irresistible conclusion is that, this sinful nature is something that he really
cannot be blamed for. If this idea of
depravity is true, then God must, and God should justify that person. To repent of such depravity is impossible
because your sins really aren’t your fault.
A man might as well be called on to repent of the color of his skin, of
the color of his eyes, or for any of the bodily senses that he possesses. If his depravity is constitutional, it is
not just, reasonable, or possible for him to repent of his actual
transgressions. If they are the natural
results of a depraved and defective constitution, he is no more to blame for
them, than for the effects of any bodily disease that he may be born with. Now what would you think of a gospel that
calls on man to repent of constitutional depravity under pain of eternal death;
and to complete the absurdity and the insult, informs him at the same time that
he has no power to repent? To hang a
person’s salvation on impossible conditions insults his understanding and mocks
his hopes. Is this the gospel of the
blessed God? Impossible! It is a lie against Almighty God!
But, another inevitable
tendency of these traditions is to lead those who embrace them to adopt the
waiting system. If he is really unable
to obey God, then his efforts to obey God are useless. As long as he believes that he is unable to
obey God, he must feel that it is no use to even try. His efforts are worthless.
The fact that he must quietly wait for God to change his heart is both
the logical, and the irresistible conclusion from such premises, and God alone
is to blame for his continued impenitence.
Universalism is another
logical, and irresistible conclusion that comes from these teachings. Once you assume that it is a fact that men
are constitutionally depraved and unable to obey the gospel because the human
race has to wait to be physically regenerated before they can obey the gospel,
one must either adopt the conclusion that God is an infinite tyrant, or that
everyone will be saved. Poof, there you
have it, guaranteed salvation. No
repentance, no atonement! And all our
sins are God’s fault!
These traditions have a clear
tendency to lead a thinking mind into the regions of infidelity. “What!”
Exclaims an intelligent man. “Am
I to believe that a book, containing such absurdities as these, is from
God? That God has made men sinners;
incapable of serving Him, hung their salvation on impossible conditions, made
it mandatory that they should receive some kind of physical regeneration, and
then damns them for being sinners, and for not complying with these impossible
conditions. Monstrous! Blasphemous! Who can believe this garbage”?
Thus having neither the desire, or perhaps the time to examine the Bible
for himself, and hearing unending variations of these doctrines, he becomes
disgusted, and very naturally concludes that if these are the doctrines of the
Bible, its religion is nothing but a dream.
These doctrines are
designed to produce and they often actually do produce some of the most
high-handed and dreadful rebellions against Almighty God. Many sinners believe that these doctrines
are true. They believe that God will
damn them if they do not repent, and yet believe that they are unable to repent
because God has created them sinners.
They also believe that the very nature they were created with is morally
depraved, and because of this depravity, they are exposed to and threatened
with eternal death. Those sinners, who
believe in such doctrines, are often led to actually curse God to His
face. And what is amazing about all of
this is that this is a very natural, and I must say, a very reasonable response
under the assumption that these doctrines are true. Some of the supporters of these doctrines even look at this as
evidence these doctrines are indeed true.
The last tradition that
I’ll talk about today is generally called irresistible grace. This doctrine maintains that sinners are
irresistibly converted. If they are one
of the elect, or one of those chosen by God, as the Bible says, God will
convert them in spite of themselves. By
irresistible grace, I understand and mean nothing more than that it is not
resisted in these situations. In fact,
some people believe that this grace cannot be resisted. This doctrine is distantly related to the
doctrine of physical regeneration. If
that is true, this must be true also.
But, nothing is better suited to quiet someone in his sins, than the
idea of irresistible grace in regeneration.
He can do whatever he wants to do.
He can live as wants to live. He
can resist God as hard as he wants to resist; and yet, if God is going to
convert him, God will irresistibly change his heart, convert him, and save him
in spite of himself. I cannot conceive
of a state of mind more directly designed to break the power of the gospel, to
strengthen the sinner’s hands in his rebellion, and to settle him quietly down
in his sins until he sinks into the depths of hell.
I believe that the
traditions of a physical or constitutional depravity, and inability, with their
related errors, have led millions of people to justify themselves in their
sins, and condemn God. As a result, when
they are called on to repent and believe the gospel, they reply that they were
willing and waiting for God’s time. The
conclusion from their premises was irresistible, that they must wait, and, as a
result, the sinner and God reach a stalemate.
Instead of ministers calling on the sinner, and insisting that he
immediately repents, he is told to pray, and to take the appropriate course of
action. Well, what is the appropriate
course of action? Instead of urging
that sinner to make to him a new heart and a new spirit on pain of eternal
death, he is urged to call on God to influence his spirit, and to wait for some
kind of sovereign grace to change his heart.
Thus, when the sinner becomes severely distressed, the minister eases
his conscience. When he is forced to
face where he stands with the Lord, the minister relieves the pressure of his
obligation. And when he is ready to
break down under the pressure of the requirement to repent and believe the
gospel, the minister defers his agonizing obligation to instantly submit to
God. The sinner finds his pains
removed, his obligation to immediately repent is postponed indefinitely. He has turned away, quenched the Spirit,
prayed himself to sleep, and sunk into the depths of hell. And, how can anyone be surprised; because
the requirements of God are set aside, and another rule of duty is substituted
in its place.
The requirement of the
gospel is, repent now, and believe, so that your soul may live. The gospel does not give the sinner one
extra second to wait. It presses on him
with all the weight of Jehovah’s authority, to immediately throw down his
weapons and completely submit to God.
The sinner feels hedged in, as if a wall of fire surrounds him. He pants, and he struggles, and is he driven
to his limit. He prays, but still the
gospel cries, “repent, and believe”. He
goes to church, reads his Bible, and tries to obey God; but his conscience
finds no relief, the commandment comes thundering in his ear “repent and
believe the gospel”. Whatever he does,
or does not do, wherever he goes; the requirement still follows him, and his
distress gets worse. But, wait a
minute. Here comes the charming,
soothing opiate of inability. He meets
someone who tells him to take the “appropriate” course of action. They tell him that God is sovereign, that he
cannot repent all by himself; that he must not even think about taking the work
out of Gods hands. They tell him that
if he prays, and waits at the gospel pool, he has no reason to be
discouraged. They tell him that
by-and-by; he has every reason to hope that God will change his heart.
“Oh”, says the sinner;
“is it true? Is it really true? I feel so relieved! I felt as if ten thousand voices were crying
in my ears. Repent! Repent!
And the more I prayed and tried to do this thing and that thing, the
guiltier I felt: because I thought that God required nothing less than
absolute, unconditional, and instantaneous submission to him. But, I thank you for your comforting
conversation. If this is all I have to
do, if all I have to do is to pray, and to do the best I can possibly do, and
wait for God’s time, well I can do that without distraction.” Thus, another requirement is substituted for
God’s requirement. The power of the
gospel is broken, and the commandment that was about to crush the sinner in the
dust, that had hedged him in, and gave him no gleam of hope, except to
instantly submit to God is rendered useless by this tradition. The sinner breathes easier, feels relieved
from the pressure of his present obligation, takes a lethal swig of the
soul-killing poison, and goes down to hell.
If the sinner believes
that he is performing his duty when he uses what he believes is the proper
means to accomplish his goal; the more industriously he uses those means, the
less real conviction of sin he will have if he believes that this is what God
requires of him. Of course, as long as
the sinner is doing what believes is he duty; he feels that he is improving. The more he multiplies his impenitent
prayers, his tears, and his efforts: the more he thinks that God will accept
him. Thus, his fears gradually subside;
his good opinion of himself increases; his delusions deepen; but “his judgment
of a long time does not linger, and his damnation does not slumber”. He is gradually, but surely sinking into the
slumbers of a stifled conscience and a hardened heart; and he is about to cry
peace and safety, when suddenly, destruction comes on him and he cannot escape.
INFERENCES AND REMARKS.
1. You can clearly see,
from what I have said today, why some people deny total depravity. There are two main reasons. The first reason is based on a lack of
attention to the spirituality of God’s law.
They focus their attention on the letter of the law that prohibits men
to do this or to do that, as contained in the Ten Commandments. They believe that the law was only designed
to keep people from sinning.
Overlooking the absolute, positive perfection that the law commands, in
thought, word, and deed, they substitute another rule of conduct in place of
the law of God. Thus comparing
themselves with a false standard, they of course mistake their own
character. Instead of closely weighing
their thoughts, their affections, and all the movements of their minds, in the
delicate scales of the sanctuary; instead of bringing their whole heart and
soul under the clear blaze of the law of God; they weigh themselves in the
corrupt scale of their own imagination, and sink down to death.
2. Another reason why people
deny total depravity, is, that they cannot see how the constitutional powers of
the mind should be sinful; nor can they see how a God of justice could make men
with a nature that is totally depraved.
Neither can I. If this is what
is meant by depravity, I not only deny total depravity, but according to this
view of it, I deny all depravity.
3. Do you see why some
don’t see any need for atonement for sin?
They have completely misunderstood the nature of God’s law. This was the reason why the Scribes and
Pharisees appeared to have been ignorant about their need for atonement. Their system was a system of
self-righteousness. Therefore, they
considered the announcement of the Deity of Jesus Christ, and the doctrine of
His atonement as blasphemous.
4. Do you see from today’s subject why the
doctrines of grace, as they are called, lead to a pure morality? Some have regarded the doctrine of the
vicarious sufferings of Jesus Christ, His making atonement for sin, and making
the conditions of our salvation to be faith and repentance, as being a very
dangerous doctrine. They believe that
these doctrines of grace encourage men to remain in their sins, by holding out
to them the hope of heaven, even though they may continue to the last hour of
their lives rebelling against God.
Thus, they think that the doctrines of grace are calculated to overthrow
the very foundations of morality, and are highly prejudicial to the overall
good of society. But, the fact is, as
all experience shows, that those who most cordially embrace the doctrines of
grace exhibit the purest morality. The
reason that they demonstrate the purest morality is because they have right
views of the spirituality of God’s law; and because of that, they understand
the conditions of the gospel to be repentance and faith; still they regard
God’s law, in all the length and breadth of its spirituality, as the rule of
their lives. Upon this, they keep their
eye, as on a mirror. In this, they see
their exact moral image. This leads
them to watchfulness, prayer, and walking with God. And while the purity of its precepts annihilates every hope of
being saved by their own works; they see and feel, that until they are
perfectly conformed to the full length and breadth of its requirements, they
never can be perfectly happy.
5. Do you see why those who reject the
doctrine of atonement, and depend on their own works, and the general mercy of
God for salvation, exhibit a spurious and lax morality? The truth is, it is their loose and vague
ideas of the spirituality of God’s law, which lies at the foundation of their
rejecting the doctrine of atonement.
Since their views of what God requires them to do is defective; their
morality will also be defective.
6. Now you can see from this subject, why some
professing Christians, when they hear that thy are to live a holy life, and
their sins are pointed out, and they are required to obey the law of God; cry
out, “This is not the gospel. You are
preaching the law. Tell me about the
mercy of God. I want to hear about
Christ, not about the law.” The fact is
such people regard the gospel simply as a system of pardon, and they overlook
the great purpose of the gospel is to make them holy, and bring them back into
perfect obedience to the law of God.
7. From what I’ve said,
we can understand, why it’s been, that for hundreds of years, the gospel has
had so little influence over the minds of men.
For many centuries, very little of the real gospel has been preached. It has been so mixed with the traditions of
men, it has been mixed with so much that is human and so much that is false, so
much has been added to it, and intermingled with it, that its power has been
broken. Multitudes of errors and false
notions that have centered on the doctrine of physical depravity, has served to
shield the sinner from the arrows of the Almighty. Physical depravity, physical regeneration, the sinner’s
inability, and all their related errors, have formed so many hiding places
under which millions upon millions have entrenched until the hail has swept
away their refuges of lies, and the waters of Almighty wrath have overflowed
their hiding places and washed them away in God’s overflowing flood. I don’t doubt, that millions of our race are,
right now, groaning in hell, who could have been saved, if it wasn’t for these
traditions of the elders that have made void the commandment of God. The purpose, and the tendency of the gospel,
is to bring men to immediately repent.
It lays no requirement on them short of this. It never calls on them to do anything less than to repent and
obey the gospel. But men, insisting
that sinners are unable to do this, have turned to doing things that God never
required them to do as a condition of salvation. And by doing such things, they put off repentance, sin away their
day of grace, and loose their souls. I
have already mentioned that people began corrupting the gospel even in the days
of the apostles. These corruptions have
continued in a greater or lesser degree, mingling with the pure gospel. And precisely in proportion, as more or less
error has been mingled with the truth, the gospel has been more or less
successful. The power of the gospel
depends on its purity.
8. Many have preached
the substance of the gospel, but unfortunately, they have added something of
their own to it. They have preached,
and boldly called on men to repent, but before they left the pulpit, they would
make sure they would admonish their listeners that they had no power to
obey. Suppose the Apostles on the day of
Pentecost, when the alarmed Jews cried out, “Sirs, what shall we do to be
saved”, instead of saying, “repent every one of you”, suppose Peter had said,
“You can’t repent, you are dependent on the spirit of God. You must pray, obey as best as you can, and
wait for God's time”. If the multitude
had believed Peter, not one of them would have been converted on the spot.
9. Again, the day of earth’s redemption can
never come, until the traditions of the elders are done away with. The world will never be converted until all
those doctrines that provide hiding places for the enemies of God are rejected
as having no place in the gospel of Christ.
When ministers of all denominations finally see eye to eye, when they
strip the glorious gospel of all those man made traditions, when they take the
pure commandment of God and bring it with an uncompromising spirit to bear on
the rebellious hearts of dying men, when they call on sinners to instantly
repent and treat them as if they expected them to repent, when they live,
labor, pray, preach, and exhibit the true gospel in everything they say and do,
then, and not until then, will the full power of God’s moral government be felt
on earth.
10. These traditions of the elders are the major sources of most of the fatal errors today. Universalism, as I have mentioned earlier, has had its origin in the notion of inability and physical depravity. They reason like this: If men came into being with a depraved nature, physically and naturally inclined to all evil; if they are unable to obey God, as they are required to do, if this is their nature then surely a God of justice cannot condemn them. Now this conclusion is irresistible from their propositions. For God to make men physically incapable of obeying, and then damn them for disobeying, would be infinite tyranny and injustice. From the love, and even on the ground of the justice of God, if you apply the principles of physical depravity and inability, the arguments for Universalism are irresistible. Based on their hypothesis, they are right in rejecting mercy from their system, and placing the salvation of men on the ground of justice.
But take away the foundation, and the whole structure tumbles to the ground. Annihilate the doctrine of physical depravity and inability! Show the sinner that he has created his depravity, that his wicked heart is voluntarily selfish and he rejects God and His commandments. Impress upon the sinner’s mind that it is not because of his nature, but because of his conduct, that he is worthy of eternal damnation. Show him that what he claims he cannot do is really what he is not willing to do, and you destroy the very foundation on which his Universalism is built. Then, you convince him of his sin, and bring him into the faith of Christ.
11. Let me say once
more, as I have said earlier, you can see the foundation of modern infidelity
in the doctrine of physical depravity, and its related doctrines. Intelligent men, hearing those doctrines so
often repeated from the pulpit, become disgusted when they hear men called on
to repent and at the same time told that they cannot repent. They become confused when they hear the
doctrine of the new birth darkened by words without knowledge, when everything
is covered with mystery; the depravity of nature, the infusion of a new holy
taste or principle, the mysterious and mystical nature of sin, holiness,
depravity, and regeneration. This
confusion of mind and matter, of body and soul, of heaven, earth, and hell is
looked on as un-philosophical, ridiculous, absurd, and impossible. They turn away from such loathsome
exhibitions of it, as something impossible for them to understand, and conclude
that it is all a bunch on nonsense.
12.
It is easy to see why revivals make so little progress these
days. Many revivalists stubbornly
insist on these crippling errors. Such
constant efforts to maintain these traditions of the elders paralyze the
influence of large portions of the church today. Many good men are stopping and questioning whether they should
reject these traditions or not; and they are in that in-between state where
they can’t heartily support one thing or the other. Many come out boldly and strenuously in support of these
doctrines, and as long as they dwell on these topics, we cannot expect revivals
to prevail. It is true that men have
had great and powerful revivals who have believed and sometimes exhibited these
views; but it was not when they exhibited them that their preaching took
effect. But, the revival took place
when they chose to lay aside their own personal beliefs, and simply pour the
gospel out on the hearts and the consciences of men.
Let
me close with this story. A lady, who
had been under conviction for a long time, had often called on her minister to learn
what she should do to be saved. Every
time, he reminded her of her helplessness and dependence on God. He exhorted her to pray, take the
appropriate course of action, and wait patiently for God to change her
heart. On Sunday, he would frequently call
on sinners to repent; but before he closed the service, he would make sure to
caution them against self-confidence, and depending on their own strength. He would end by solemnly reminding them that
they had no power within themselves to repent and embrace the gospel. But one day, when this agonized woman was
present, he happily forgot his accustomed inconsistency, and after pressing
sinners to repent immediately, he sat down without adding that they could not. Before the last hymn had ended, the gospel
had done its work in the woman’s heart; and after the congregation was
dismissed, she was seen standing, weeping, and waiting as he passed by her on
his way towards the door. As soon as he
came close to her, she exclaimed, “my dear Reverend. Why did you not tell me this before?”
“Tell you this before?” replied the astonished
pastor, “why I have preached this to you every Sunday”.
“Yes”, she replied, “but always until now, you told
me before you sat down, that I could not repent.”
“I hope”, said the pastor, “you have not gone on in
your own strength.”
“No” she replied, “not in my own, but in the
strength of God I have repented, and I would have done it before if you not
told me that I could not.”
This is the legitimate tendency of
‘cannotism’. If sinners believe it,
they certainly will not repent: and how can revivals prevail, how can the world
be converted, while so many are vehemently contending for these traditions of
the elders. These teachings are exalted
into fundamental doctrines, and anyone who does not keep these traditions is
considered a heretic. If Christ walked
this earth today, he might turn on them with the rebuke, “you have made the commandment of God worthless by
your tradition.” Oh! When will the day arrive, when the spurious philosophy
on which these dogmas are based, are given up?
When will our feelings and opinions agree? When will our views become clear and simple? When will brotherly love prevail? On that day, righteousness will run down our
streets, and salvation will flow across the land as an overflowing stream.