THE AGENCY OF GOD IN CARRYING ON THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, AND THE
MANNER IN WHICH THAT AGENCY IS EXERTED.
God having thus devised the plan, and manifested the truth, and
instituted the means of redemption, the inquiry naturally presents
itself: In what way would he put the plan into operation, and give
efficiency to the means of grace?
We cannot suppose that God would put his own institution beyond his
power, or that he would leave it to be managed by the imperfect wisdom
and the limited power of human instruments. God would not prepare the
material, devise the plan, adapt the parts to each other, furnish the
instruments for building, and then neglect to supervise and complete
the structure. God has put none of his works beyond his power; and
especially in a plan of which he is the Author and Architect, reason
suggests that he would guide it to its accomplishment. The inquiry
is--By what agency, and in what way, would the power of God be exerted
in carrying into efficient operation upon the souls of men the system
of saving mercy?
In relation to the character of the agency, the solution is clear. The
agency by which the plan of salvation would be carried forward to its
ultimate consummation would be spiritual in its nature, because God is a
Spirit, and the soul of man is a spirit, and the end to be accomplished
is to lead men to worship God 'in spirit and in truth.'
In relation to the mode of the Spirit's operation, some things belong to
that class of inquiries upon which the mind may exert its powers in
vain.--The mode by which God communicates life to any thing in the
vegetable, animal, or spiritual world lies beyond the reach of the human
intellect. But although man cannot understand the _modus operandi_ of
the Divine mind in communicating life, yet the manifestations of life,
and the medium through which it operates, are subjects open to human
examination. Whether the influence of the Spirit be directly upon the
soul, or mediately by means of truth, the end accomplished would be the
same. The soul might be quickened to see and feel the power of the
truth; or, by the spirit, truth might be rendered powerful to affect the
soul. The wax might be softened to receive the impression, or the seal
heated, or a power exerted upon it, to make the impression on the wax;
or both might be done, and still the result would be the same. It is not
only necessary that the metal should be prepared to receive the
impression of a die, but it is likewise necessary that the die should be
prepared and adapted to the particular kind of metal--the image and the
superscription of the king put upon it--the machinery prepared and
adapted to hold the die and apply it to the metal; and after all these
things necessary are done, the coin can never be made unless power is
exerted to strike the die into the metal, or the metal into the die. So
it is in the processes of the spiritual world; the material [mankind]
must be prepared. The die [the truth of the gospel system] must be
revealed and adapted to the material; and the image to be impressed upon
human nature [the Lord Jesus Christ] and the superscription [glory to
God and good-will to men] must be cut upon the die. Then the means of
bringing the truth into contact with the material must be provided; and
after all these preparations and adaptations, there must be the power
of the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process, and to form the image of
Christ in the soul.
The foregoing is a complicated analogy, but not more complicated than
are the processes of the animal and spiritual world. Look at the human
body, with its thousands of adaptations, all of them necessary to the
system, the whole dependent upon the use of means for the supply of
animal life, and yet deriving from God its rational life, which operates
through and actuates the whole. In like manner the Spirit of God
operates through and guides the processes of the plan of salvation.
The Scriptures reveal the truth clearly, that the Spirit of God gives
efficiency to the means of grace. And not only this, but he operates
in accordance with those necessary principles which have been
developed in the progress of these chapters. Christ instructed his
disciples to expect that he would send the Holy Spirit; and when he is
come, said Jesus, 'He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment;' that is, the Holy Spirit will produce conviction of
sin in the hearts of the unsanctified and impenitent:--the office-work
of the Spirit of God in relation to the world is to convince of sin.
In relation to the saints he exercises a different office. He is their
Comforter. He takes of the things that belong to Jesus, and shows them
to his people.[42] That is, he causes the people of God to see more
and more of the excellency, and the glory, and the mercy manifested in
a crucified Saviour; and by this blessed influence they 'grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.' Christ, by his ministry
and death, furnished the facts necessary for human salvation: the Holy
Spirit uses those facts to convict and sanctify the heart. Paul, in a
passage already noticed, alludes to the influence of the Spirit
operating by the appointed means of prayer, or devout meditation. 'But
we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.'
[42] John xvi. 7-14.
Further: At what juncture, in the progress of the great plan of
salvation, would this agency be most powerfully exerted? We answer, at
the time when the whole moral machinery of the dispensation through
which the effect was to be produced was completed. Whatever is
designed and adapted to produce a definite result as an instrument
must be completed before it is put into operation, otherwise it will
not produce the definite effect required. An imperfect system put into
operation would produce an imperfect result. Here a special effect was
to be produced; it was necessary, therefore, that the truth should be
revealed, and the manifestations all made, before the power was
imparted to give them effect.
Under the new dispensation the greatest and most imposing manifestations
were the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus: had the system
been put into operation before these crowning manifestations were made,
the great end of the gospel would not have been accomplished. It
follows, then, that the material would be first prepared, the
manifestations made and adapted to the material, the appropriate means
ordained, and then the agency of the Spirit would be introduced to guide
the dispensation to its ultimate triumphs, and to give efficiency to its
operations.
These deductions harmonise with the teachings of the Scriptures.
First, they expressly teach that without the agency of God no perfect
result is accomplished.
Secondly, they everywhere represent that the Divine agency is exerted
through the truth upon the soul, or exerted to awaken the soul to
apprehend and receive the truth.
Thirdly, the Spirit was not fully communicated until the whole economy
of the gospel dispensation was completed. The apostles were instructed
to assemble at Jerusalem after the ascension, and wait till they were
endued with power from on high. On the day of Pentecost the promised
Spirit descended. The apostles at once perceived the spiritual nature
of Christ's kingdom. They spoke in demonstration of the Spirit, and
with power. Men were convicted of sin in their hearts. Sinners were
converted to Christ by repentance and faith; and under the guidance
of that Divine Spirit, the plan of salvation moves on to its high and
glorious consummation when 'the kingdoms of this world shall become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.' 'Amen: even so, come
Lord Jesus.'