THE FIRST WORK OF GRACE

Its Fourfold Aspect (1) Sovereign -- Forgiveness (2) Judicial-- Justification (3) Parental -Regeneration (4) Family -- Adoption

By general usage, we have come to speak of the two outstanding crises of spiritual experience as being "saved" and "sanctified," but under both of these general terms must be grouped numerous Biblical and theological conceptions, each having its own distinctive emphasis. Under this first great experience the outstanding aspects are: sovereign, the act of forgiveness; judicial, the fact of justification; parental, the work of regeneration; family, the position of adoption.

1. The sovereign aspect. The act of forgiveness. In this, God is to be regarded as Sovereign, dealing with a rebel. The rebellion has been broken and the rebel sues for mercy. This is granted on Calvary ground, and the soul receives a pardon which is abundant, full, and free (see Isa. 55:7; Eph. 4:32, b).

"Great God of wonders! all Thy ways Are matchless, godlike, and divine, But the fair glories of Thy grace More godlike and unrivaled shine: Who is a pardoning God like Thee?

Or who has grace so rich and free?

"Such dire offenses to forgive,
Such guilty, daring worms to spare;
This is Thy grand prerogative,
And in this honor who can share:
Who is a pardoning God like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?

"In wonder lost, with trembling joy
We take the pardon from our God;
Pardon for sins of deepest dye,
A pardon sealed with Jesus' blood:
Who is a pardoning God, like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?"

-- Samuel Davies, 1723-61

2. The judicial aspect. The fact of justification. Justification has to do with the sinner in his legal relationships. The word at once carries us into the Court of Divine Justice, before which he is arraigned, and wonder of wonders, the verdict goes in his favor and he is honorably discharged, although he has been proved guilty and has confessed to all the charges laid against him. What then, is the secret here? See Acts 13:38-39; Rom. 1:17; 3:19-31; 5:1; 8:33, 34; 1 Cor. 6:11; Gal. 2:16; 3:11, 24. On the basis of these and other Scriptures the doctrine may be stated thus: Justification is that judicial act by which God, on account of a new faith relationship to Jesus Christ, declares the sinner to be no longer exposed to the penalty of a broken law, but restored to the divine favor. It is a reversal of the divine attitude, bringing the sinner into harmony with the law of God, and thereby securing peace. Justification presupposes some preliminary facts, namely:

a. Concerning the past. A radical repentance, with all that this involves. A complete renunciation. The sinner has now turned his face in an opposite direction, and refuses even to consider the things left behind (see Gal. 2:17, 18). A willing restitution. If wrongs toward others existed, he has made an honest effort to make them right (see Luke 19:1-10). A full reliance on the Calvary work of Jesus (see Rom. 3:25,26).

b. Concerning the present. An honesty of purpose as to daily walk with God. Justification cannot be obtained while there is a background of unconfessed sin (see Psa. 32:5; I John 1:9). Justification cannot be retained while there is a conscious present committing of sin (Gal. 2:17,18; I John 3: Conscious sinfulness and Divine favor never coexist. Rev. J. A. Wood:

"No state of grace admits of committing sin. A state of justification implies freedom from the guilt of sin by pardon, and freedom from the commission of sin by renewing, assisting grace. The lowest type of Christian sinneth not and is not condemned. The minimum of salvation is salvation from sinning. The maximum is salvation from pollution -- the inclination to sin. The conditions of receiving justification and of retaining it are the same. Christ is received by penitential submission and faith. 'As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.'

Justification cannot be retained with less consecration and faith than that by which it was received. Conscious confidence and conscious guilt cannot coexist in the same heart. There is a vital union between justifying faith and an obedient spirit. While obedience makes faith perfect, disobedience destroys it. Salvation is by appropriating faith, and such faith or trust can be exercised only when there is a consciousness of complete surrender to God. A justified state can exist only in connection with a serious, honest intention to obey all the commands of God. "The standard of justification is too low among many professors of religion. It should be ever borne in mind that believers cannot commit sin without forfeiting justification and laying the foundation for repentance from dead works. There must be a continued obedience to all the known will of God if we would retain His favor" (Perfect Love, pp. 12-14).

Justification has been stated as being fivefold in its aspect: The spring of our justification is grace (Rom. 3:24). The principle of our justification is faith (Rom. 5:1; Gal. 3:24-26) The ground of our justification is "His blood" (Rom. 5:9). The guarantee of our justification is His resurrection (Rom. 4:25). The outcome of our justification is good works (James 2:21-26).

"Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

"Bold shall I stand in that great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully through these absolved I am,
From sin and fear, and guilt and shame.

"The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,
Who from the Father's bosom came,
Who died for me, even me, to atone,
Now for my Lord and God I own.

"Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which at the Mercy-Seat of God
For ever doth for sinners plead,
For me, even for my soul was shed.

"Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.

"When from the dust of death I rise
To claim my mansion In the skies,
Even then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died for me. "

-- Count Zinzendorf, 1700-1760

In our previous study, we named the four outstanding aspects of the first work of grace, and dealt with the first two. We now take up the others.

3. The parental aspect. The work of regeneration. Thus far we have dealt with divine "acts" on the sinner's behalf, having to do with his standing before God. These, however, are not wrought alone, but are complementary to a divine operation within the soul itself, by which the believer is "begotten again." It is called being "born again," "quickened," also "passing from death unto life" (see John 1:13; 3:1-8; 5:24; Eph. 2:1; Tit. 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23; 1 John 3:14; 5:4, 13. Defining regeneration the following quotations will be helpful: Dr. Luther Lee: "Regeneration is a renewal of our fallen nature by the power of the Holy Spirit, received through faith in Jesus Christ, whereby the regenerate are delivered from the power of sin which reigns over all the unregenerate ... Regeneration reverses the current of the affections, and so renews the whole soul that all the Christian graces exist. ... The power of sin is broken; the principle of obedience is planted in the heart" (Theology, pp. 194-200).

Bishop Foster: "With respect to regeneration, that is a work done in us, in the way of changing our inward nature; a work by which a spiritual life is infused into the soul, whereby he (the regenerate) brings forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness, has victory over sin, is enabled to resist corrupt tendencies, and has peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; a radical change by which the preponderating tendencies of the soul are turned towards God, whereas they were previously from Him-by which the love of sin is destroyed, its dominion broken, and a desire and relish for and longing after holiness implanted" (Christian Purity, p. 43).

Rev. J. A. Wood: "Regeneration is the impartation of spiritual life to the human soul, in which God imparts, organizes and calls into being the capabilities, attributes and functions of the new nature. It is a change from death to life, from the dominion of sin to the reign of grace, and restores the spiritual life which was lost by the fall. It is instantaneously wrought by the Holy Spirit, and always accompanies justification" (Perfect Love, p. 17).

Rev. John Wesley: "From hence it manifestly appears what is the nature of the new birth. It is that great change which God works in the soul when He brings it into life; when He raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God when it is 'created anew in Christ Jesus'; when it is renewed after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness; when the love of the world is changed into the love of God; pride into humility; passion into meekness; and hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind. In a word, it is that change whereby the earthly, sensual, devilish mind is turned into the 'mind which was in Christ Jesus.' This is the nature of the new birth: 'so is everyone that is born of the spirit' (Sermon on "The New Birth"). This experience of the new birth is set forth in John's first epistle as having seven decided characteristics: A righteous life (2:29): victory over sin (3:9): brotherly love (3:14): a compassionate spirit (3:17): recognition of the Lordship of Jesus (5:1): victory over the world (5:4): the Spirit's inward witness (5:10).

"Soon as my all I ventured on the atoning blood, The Holy Spirit entered, and I was born of God; My sins are all forgiven, I feel the blood applied, And I shall go to heaven if I in Christ abide. "

4. The family aspect -- The position of adoption. The thought behind the position of adoption is the putting of a stranger in the place of a son. Its relation to regeneration differs from that of justification, although, like justification, it is a legal idea. In the case of justification the thought is that of the criminal being treated as righteous, whereas in adoption it is the stranger being treated as a son. This is the legal privilege of the second birth, the heritage of saving grace. Here we have a spiritual counterpart of what was frequently happening among men in Bible times: e. g. , Mordecai adopted Esther as his own daughter (Esther 2:7). The daughter of Pharaoh adopted Moses as her own son (Ex. 2:10). This "adoption" was familiar among both Greeks and Romans at the period at which the New Testament was penned, and Paul, ever on the lookout for current illustrations of the gospel which he preached, seized upon the fact as illustrative of that act of free grace whereby the soul, pardoned, justified, and twice born, becomes a member of the divine family and is made an heir of God by faith.

The term "adoption" is found five times in the Pauline Epistles, but nowhere else in the entire Scriptures. It is distinctly a revelation of God to the Apostle Paul. See Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5. Here, then, under four great aspects we have this magnificent "first work of divine grace." The soul's relation to sin is now such that most extraordinary figures are used to express it. They are pardoned, forgiven, covered (Psa. 32:1; Isa. 55:7; Jer. 33:8; I John 1:9) removed as far as the east is from the west (Psa. 103:12): cast into the depth of the sea (Mic. 7:19): cast behind God's back (Isa. 38:17): blotted out (Isa. 44:22-23): sought for and not fond (Jer. 50:20): and remembered no more (Jer. 31:34).

"Now I have found the ground wherein

Sure my soul's anchor may remain,

The wounds of Jesus, for my sin

Before the world's foundation slain;

Whose mercy shall unshaken stay,

When heaven and earth are fled away.

 

"O Love, thou bottomless abyss,

My sins are swallowed up in Thee!

Covered is my unrighteousness,

No spot of guilt remains on me,

While Jesus' blood, through earth and skies,

Mercy, free, boundless mercy cries.

 

"With faith I plunge me in this sea;

Here is my hope, my joy, my rest;

Hither, when hell assails, I flee,

I look into my Savior's breast;

Away, sad doubt and anxious fear!

Mercy is all that's written there.

 

"Fixed on this ground will I remain,

Though my heart fail and flesh decay;

This anchor shall my soul sustain,

When earth's foundations melt away:

Mercy's full power I then shall prove,

Loved with an everlasting love. "

--Johann Andreas Rothe, 1688-1756 Trans. by John Wesley