The Oberlin Evangelist

June 5, 1839

Lecture XII.

THE PROMISES--No. 2

by the Rev. Charles G. Finney

Modernized by Cliff Collins

“By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:4)

In continuing this subject, I plan to show,

II. What is the purpose of the promises?

The purpose of the promises, as stated in our passage, is to make us partakers of God’s divine nature. I will state what I do not believe, and what I do believe about being made partakers of the divine nature.

1. I don’t believe that we become partakers of the spiritual essence or the natural attributes of God.

(1) This would destroy our personal identity.

(2) This would be naturally impossible, because it would essentially make us divine beings.

(3) There is no such change promised in the Bible.

(4) Such a change would not be a moral, but a physical change.

(5) The promises have no tendency to change our constitution, to destroy our personal identity, or to make our spiritual existence identical with that of God.

I understand that becoming partakers of God’s divine nature means,

1. We become partakers of the moral nature, or the attributes and perfections of God. By this I mean, that the moral perfections of God produce similar moral perfections in us; so that the exercises in God’s mind are produced, in our minds, by the Holy Spirit through the promises. In other words, the exhibition of the moral character, nature, and attributes of God, as exhibited by the Holy Spirit, transforms us into the same image. I like the way the Apostle expresses it in 2 Cor. 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The Bible everywhere abounds with declarations and representations to this effect. It represents us as participating deeply in what God does, partaking in both His holiness and His happiness. I will quote a few of the many passages that could be given to support this position.

(1) We are called partakers of God’s holiness. “For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.” (Heb 12:10)

(2) We are made partakers of His love. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

(3) We are called partakers of His fullness. “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16) By this, I understand that the graces in Christians correspond to the graces in Jesus Christ; that is, that the Christian graces are the same in kind that existed in the Son of God.

(4) We are partakers of His joy. “Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matt. 25:21)

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

“And these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” (John 17:13)

(5) We are made partakers of His rest.

“So I swore in My wrath, ‘they shall not enter My rest’.” (Ps. 95:11)

“Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” (Ps. 116:7)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28,29)

“So I swore in My wrath, ‘they shall not enter My rest’.” (Heb. 3:11)

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For we who have believed do enter that rest. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest.” (Heb. 4:1,3,9,11)

(6) We are made partakers of His peace.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27)

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7)

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body” (Col 3:15)

(7) We are made partakers of His happiness.

“How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore, the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.” (Psalms 36:7-8)

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalms 16:11)

Let these serve as scriptural examples showing that we should become partakers of the divine nature. By carefully examining the Bible, we will find that every feature of God’s moral nature and character is produced in the Christian by the provisions of the gospel.

2. A state of complete sanctification is also included in the idea of being made partakers of the divine nature. I will prove this in the next section, when I show that the promises are adequate for their purpose. But for now, I would suggest the following considerations to support the position that entire sanctification is included in being made partakers of the divine nature.

(1) The sanctification of the saints must be accomplished through the influence of the promises, including the complete revealed will of God. No one who seriously reads the Bible can deny that the truth, and especially the truth contained in the promises, is the Spirit’s great and indispensable instrument for the saint’s sanctification.

(2) If Christians are not sanctified in this life, there is no Biblical reason to believe that they will ever be sanctified. The provisions made for the sanctification of the Church, whether adequate or inadequate, are for this life: and I have no reason to believe that these means will follow them into eternity to change their characters there.

(3) In Eph. 4:11-13 we have the following declaration, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Now here the perfecting of the saints is said to take place under earthly ministry, and God’s promises are the means to accomplish this work, until they come “to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”. Where is this ministry exercised? This work is to be completed in the same world where the ministry of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers is exercised.

(4) If the gospel hasn’t provided for the entire and permanent sanctification of the saints, then no such provision is made anywhere that we know about.

(5) If the gospel has made such provision, then sanctification must take place in this life because it is in this life that the gospel must do its work.

(6) I recently read a letter which had a remark that basically said this, “that she [the writer] had seen so much of the depravity of her nature, that she believed she could not be totally sanctified, except by the sickle of death”. Perhaps the way she expressed this is unusual; but the idea is common. Many believe that death must complete the work of sanctification. This common belief is that one of the most important reasons why so many are willing to die; because, by dying, they will get rid of sin. Now, let me ask you, do any of the inspired writers ever urge this as a reason to want to die; that by death, or at death, we will get rid of sin? “ ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on’. ‘Yes’, says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them’. (Rev 14:13) Now it is clear what follows them into eternal rest. John says that that their good works, not their sins follow them into eternity.

The only reason that I can think of as to why so many believe that our sins terminate in death is if they believe that our bodily appetites are sinful all by themselves; and that every excitement of our constitutional tendencies is sin all by itself. This opinion would naturally lead us to conclude that only the destruction of our body, and the annihilation of our bodily appetites, could free us from sin. I don’t believe that we have any promise in the gospel, or any means that can produce a physical or constitutional change in our soul or body. And those who believe that the change required is a physical change will naturally conclude that death and not the promises is the means of our sanctification.

III. The promises are sufficient to produce the results attributed to them.

It appears to me that the reason why so much doubt is entertained on the subject of the entire sanctification of the saints in this life is that the most important distinction insisted on in the Bible between the Old and New Covenants is overlooked. Just because saints under the Old Testament were not perfect does not mean that they won’t be perfect under the New Testament. Just because the legal dispensation of the Old Testament was not able to completely and permanently sanctify saints, many conclude that the Gospel Dispensation can’t sanctify them, even when administered by the Holy Ghost. If I understand the Bible, the difference between the two dispensations and covenants is very great. What was lacking under the Old Covenant, is abundantly supplied by the New Covenant. The New Covenant was designed to secure what the Old required but failed to secure. Because the Old Covenant made nothing perfect, it was therefore set aside, and the New was introduced, based on better promises.

To clearly show the difference between the two covenants, I will place before you the scriptures declaring the peculiarities of each. By comparing them step-by-step, you will be able to see whether the promises are adequate to the perfecting of the saints.

The first or Old Covenant was the law written on the tablets of stone. This was the substance of the covenant, to which was added the Ceremonial Law. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel’. So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” (Exodus 34:27-28)

“When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it happened, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’ Furthermore the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.” (Deut 9:9-15)

“Which had the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.” (Hebrews 9:4)

These three passages, along with many other passages that could be quoted, show what we should understand by the first or Old Covenant. Please remember that the words covenant and testament mean the same thing, and are only different translations of the same original word.

I will now show what we should understand by the New Covenant.

“Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days”, says the Lord, “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them”, says the Lord. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer 31:31-34)

“Then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jer 32:39:40)

“Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:8-12)

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Here, then, we have the two covenants clearly spread before us.

I will now refer you to those passages that set them in contrast; and point out, step by step, where they differ, as laid down in the Bible itself.

1. The Old Covenant was mere law, to which was added a representation of the gospel using a symbolic sacrifice. “For the LAW, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offered continually year after year, make those who approach perfect.” (Hebrews 10:1)

The second or New Covenant is the writing of this law in the heart.

The first Covenant said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your HEART, with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deut 6:5)

The New, as promised in Jer. 31:31-34, is the fulfillment of what the Old required. “Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days”, says the Lord, “I will put My LAW in their minds, and write it on their HEARTS; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them”, says the Lord. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

“Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My LAWS in their mind and write them on their HEARTS; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:8-12)

Here, then, it is clear that the New Covenant is the fulfillment, in the heart, of what the Old Covenant required, and of all that the Old required.

2. The Old Covenant required perfect obedience on pain of death.

“CURSED is the one who does not CONFIRM all the words of this law. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen’!” (Deut 27:26)

But it shall come to pass, if you do not OBEY the voice of the Lord your God, to OBSERVE carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these CURSES will come upon you and overtake you.” (Deut 28:15)

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘CURSED is everyone who does not CONTINUE in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them’.” (Gal 3:10)

The New Covenant provides the reason that enables God’s people to render perfect obedience.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will GIVE you a new heart and PUT a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and GIVE you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

“Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days,” says the Lord, “I will PUT My laws in their mind and WRITE them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. (Hebrews 8:8-11)

“Then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will MAKE an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will PUT My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jer 32:39:40)

Now please notice that the New Covenant is not a promise, but it is the thing promised; that is, the promise is not the New Covenant itself, but the state of mind produced by the Spirit of God writing the law in our hearts, and CAUSING us “to walk in His statutes, keep His judgments and do them”. The “new heart” and the “new spirit” are the New Covenant itself, and the promise of this New Covenant is something else. The New Covenant and the promise differ as a promise and its fulfillment differ. The New Covenant is the fulfillment of this promise. “Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” (Jer 31:31) Here is the promise of a covenant to be made. Now what is the covenant to be made? This is that covenant, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people”. It can’t be too clearly understood that the New Covenant is neither law nor promise, but the very spirit required by the law produced in the heart by the Holy Ghost.

3. The Old Covenant required a holy heart. “Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and GET YOURSELVES a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die O house of Israel?” (Ezek 18:31)

The New Covenant is the giving of this holy heart. “I will GIVE YOU a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I WILL TAKE the heart of stone out of your flesh and GIVE YOU a heart of flesh.” (Ezek 36:26)

“Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” says the Lord. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days”, says the Lord, “I will put My law in their minds, and WRITE IT ON THEIR HEARTS; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them”, says the Lord. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer 31:31-34)

4. Obedience was enforced under the Old Covenant by penal sanctions. “The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezek 18:4) The Spirit of God, in the New Covenant produces this obedience in the heart. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and DO them.” (Ezek 36:27)

Also, read Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:8-11 above.

5. The Old Covenant promised life only on the conditions of perfect and perpetual obedience.

“You shall therefore KEEP My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” (Lev 18:5)

“And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man DOES, he shall live by them’.” “Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, which, if a man DOES, he shall live by them; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.” “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man DOES, he shall live by them’; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.” (Ezek 20:11,13,21)

“And He said to him, ‘you have answered rightly; DO this and you will live’.” (Luke 10:28)

“For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ‘the man who DOES those things shall live by them’.” (Romans 10:5)

“Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who DOES them shall live by them’.” (Gal 3:12)

The New Covenant is the producing of this perfect and perpetual obedience. That it is perfect, look at these passages.

“And the Lord your God WILL circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deut 30:6)

“Then I WILL sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I WILL cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.” (Ezek 36:25)

“In those days and in that time”, says the Lord, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; for I WILL pardon those whom I preserve”. (Jer 50:20)

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also WILL do it.” (1 Thess 5:23-24)

“Then I WILL give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I WILL be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.” (Jer 24:7)

“I WILL cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I WILL pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.” (Jer 33:8)

The New Covenant is perpetual.

“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezek 36:27)

“Then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me FOREVER, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an EVERLASTING covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jer 32:39:40)

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be PRESERVED blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thess 5:23-24)

Now, if this covenant is to be everlasting, so that “they shall fear Him forever”, so that “they shall not depart from Him”. If this covenant cleanses the Church from “all her idols” and from “ALL iniquities and ALL sins”, so that when her “iniquities are sought for, NONE shall be found”. If this covenant gives the Church “a new heart and a new spirit”, and “causes her to walk in His statutes”. If, thanks to this covenant, the Church becomes sanctified wholly, body, soul, and spirit, and is preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus. If these things do not describe perfect and perpetual obedience, I don’t know how you would describe obedience.

Many object, saying that the promises in the Old Testament were made to the Jews, and should only apply to the Jews. My response is that it is clear that these promises concern the whole Church under the New Covenant dispensation, and that the New Covenant included the Gentile nations. The Christian Church is the Israel of God, as I showed in an earlier lecture.