The Oberlin Evangelist
April 24, 1839
Professor Finney's Letters--No. 5.
For The Oberlin Evangelist.
Beloved, In today’s letter, I plan to
present just eleven of the reasons why the converts
of the great revivals have not grown more in grace.
1. The older members of the Church, that
were professing Christians before their conversion, have been a stumbling block
to them. In many instances, old
professing Christians have told young converts, that they shouldn’t expect to
enjoy religion all the time. They tell
the young Christians that they cannot always be on the mount of
transfiguration; but must descend into the valley of humiliation. Because they say things like that, and give
them similar instructions, converts have been prepared to expect a decline in
religion; and as a result, they are not shocked or alarmed when they begin to
decline spiritually. Hardly anything
can be more destructive to the piety of young converts, than for old professing
Christians to tell them things like that.
That is exactly the opposite of the truth. And if old professing Christians have declined in religion, they
should confess their sins to young converts, and warn them against following in
their footsteps. They should assure the
young Christian, on the authority of the word of God, that no such spiritual
decline is necessary, but instead, it is extremely criminal and horrible.
2. Often these young converts have been
taught such notions of the sovereignty that God uses to bestow His grace, that
they conclude, that maintaining communion with God is completely out of the
question. They feel that they cannot
even expect to maintain communion with God, unless God, in a way so sovereign,
bestows on them the graces of His Spirit while they are in some kind of passive
state. All ideas of passivity in
religion are a deathblow to a life of piety in one’s soul. And all such antinomian notions of the
sovereignty of God, are sure to overthrow the piety of converts.
3. Right over against these ideas about the
sovereignty of God, is an error that is just as destructive to real piety, even
though it leaves much of the bustle, the apparent zeal, and the form of
godliness in the absence of its power.
This error is the opposite extreme from those ideas about the arbitrary
sovereignty of God that I just mentioned.
Instead of becoming passive, thinking that’s the way to receive
sovereign grace, this error places an undue reliance on human efforts. It places so much emphasis on human
involvement and ability, that it practically excludes the need for God’s
sovereign grace. Such people will
usually confess that they depend on the Holy Spirit, and I believe they very
generally think that they exercise a right dependence. And yet, they are almost as far from feeling
their helplessness as possible. They
maintain much of their outward works, and they bustle, and become involved in
what they call working for God. But the
deep communion of their hearts with God is something that they know very little
about, and they really don’t consider it very important anyway.
4. Another reason converts of the great
revival have not grown in grace is, as I suggested in my last letter, that they
haven’t had the right kind of food to nourish and strengthen their souls, in
the divine life. The preaching, perhaps,
which they heard, was on such ambiguous subjects, or so legal, or so sectarian,
or perhaps so exclusively to the impenitent, that they have not, in reality,
grown in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and, as a result,
they have not grown in grace. For, as I
basically said in my last letter, I don’t believe that it is possible for
persons to grow in grace, if the first principles of the doctrine of Christ
occupy their minds. Others must feed
them “with the sincere milk of the word”, in order for them to begin growing in
Christ. Others must lead them to
consider, and understand all that Christ is to the souls of His people, in all
the relations He sustains to them. I
had been in the ministry several years before I decided to thoroughly examine
the Bible, with the purpose of understanding all the relations that Christ
sustained to me, and all that I might expect from Him.
Now beloved, let me ask you, have you ever
searched the Bible, from end to end, with the purpose and desire to understand
all the offices, and relationships, and titles of Christ. Have you sought to discover all that Christ
is, all that He offers to be to you, and to the Church, and all that you and
the Church may expect from him? If you
have never undertaken this, and pursued Christ on your knees, or in some other
attitude, with the Bible before you, and whatever helps and aids that are
available to you, with mighty prayer for the enlightening influences of the
Spirit of God, there is no chance that you have grown a lot in grace. You may have a great deal of talk, and
bustle, and activity in promoting, as you suppose, the conversion of sinners,
while your heart is, after all, like an un-weeded garden; and all of this is
often very deceptive. And in searching
after the sins of others, you overlook your own sins.
5. Other people allow spiritual pride to eat
up the piety of many young converts.
When people do not discriminate between real piety, and the outward
bustle that I’ve been talking about, they lead young converts to believe that
they have a lot more grace than they really have from the fact that God has
appeared to bless their labors to convert sinners.
6. Others prevent many converts from growing
in grace, by allowing them to read too much about the ecclesiastical
controversies, and bickering, that have existed in the Church for so many
years. That is miserable food for young
converts; and I would just as easily expect them to grow in grace under the
influence of reading novels.
7. Reading much of the bitter and caustic
articles that have filled religious newspapers for so many years poisons their
piety. People cannot allow themselves to read such things, without tremendous
danger of drinking in that same spirit; and becoming censorious and sarcastic
themselves. And I should recommend that
Christians refuse to allow such papers into their homes.
8. Many converts have not been on their
guard against evil speaking enough. It
is impossible to enjoy the presence of Christ, and grow in grace, without
extreme caution on this point. Paul
says, “speak evil of no one, be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all
men”. This is the command of God, and
you can no more enjoy God’s presence, and grow in grace, if you disobey this
command, than if you lived in adultery, drunkenness, or profanity.
9. Many people have not been careful enough
concerning the books they choose to read.
There are many books on shelves today that are very seductive; and among
these are religious romances. Books
like these may stir up strong emotions; but I believe they generally weaken the
power of religion in one’ heart.
Some who have been truly
converted, although I honestly believe that there aren’t many of them, have
been seduced into reading novels. I say
that I believe there are not many of them, because I cannot believe that
someone who has ever known the love of God can relish secular novels. As wicked as I have been, since my
conversion, although I was very fond of romances, and especially of plays,
before, I have never been able to read a play or a novel since then. A page or two of the best of them, that I
have seen, was enough to fill me with loathing. Now knowing, as I do, the low state of piety that I have been in
since my conversion, I cannot believe, with my experience on this subject, and
with my Bible in my hands, that a novel reader can have any religion at
all. Still, as I said, temptation may
prevail on some converts, to dip more or less into these filthy pools. Now, beloved, don’t expect to grow in grace,
as long as you hold communion with the spirit of novel writers. It is the very opposite of piety. It “is earthly, sensual, and devilish”.
10. Others have erred, by mingling in party
politics; and have allowed themselves to be swept away into a political party,
instead of universally voting for good men, or refusing to vote altogether.
11. Others, and I fear that many, have been
prevented from growing in grace, by the shipwreck that so many Perfectionists
have made of the faith. Failing to make
some of the most important discriminations, the perfectionists have connected
some of the most harmful and destructive errors, with one of the most important
truths of the Bible, which is the need and practicality of entire
sanctification in this life. Many young
converts, who have embraced the doctrine of entire sanctification, have coupled
with it the errors of the perfectionists, so that multitudes have concluded,
that, in some way, this doctrine is naturally and necessarily connected with
those errors. And I have been amazed to
see how many minds, that should certainly know better, express this
opinion. Now there is no more necessary
or natural connection between the doctrine of entire sanctification, and the
peculiarities of modern perfectionism, than there is between the doctrine of
the new birth, and the most loathsome form of fanaticism that ever
existed. This I plan to show, in due
time, the Lord willing. However, the
fact, that modern perfectionists support this doctrine, has been a great
obstacle to many Christians today. It
would be just about as appropriate if their belief in the Divinity of Christ
gave an encouragement to Unitarians, and become an obstacle to the orthodox
Church. It was a stumbling block to me
for a short time, until I gave sufficient attention to the subject to see, that
there was no sort of natural connection between this truth, and those
errors. People have insisted again, and
again, that the doctrine of entire sanctification naturally tends to the monstrous
absurdities of modern perfectionism. It
is much easier to say this, than to prove it.
And that person assumes a fearful responsibility who dares to assert
this without proving it. I believe that
bringing up an evil report against one of the most important and gracious
truths of the Bible is horrible and disastrous. I am confident that such people have not thought about what they
are saying, nor have they thought about the tendency of what they are doing.
I must stop here, and save what else I have
to say on this subject, for another time.
C.G. FINNEY,
A Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.