THE PRELIMINARY STATES OF GRACE

The finished atonement of Jesus Christ becomes ef­fective for the salvation of men, only when administered to believers by the Holy Spirit. The former is known in theological science as objective soteriology, the latter as subjective soteriology. The work of the Holy Spirit done in us, is as necessary to salvation, as the work of Christ done for us. But it would be truer to fact to say, that the redemption which Christ wrought for us in the flesh becomes effective only as He works in us through the Spirit. It is a mistake to view the work of the Holy Spirit as superseding that of Christ; it is to be viewed rather as a continuation of that work on a new and high­er plane. The nature of this work is now to be consid­ered, and consequently we turn our attention to what in theology is generally known as the benefits of the atone­ment. We shall consider these, first in their objective form as the words of the covenant, and second in their subjective aspect as the inner grace of the covenant. Our subjects then will be: (I) The VOCATION or CALL; and (II) PREVENIENT GRACE. Following this we shall consider (III) REPENTANCE, (IV) FAITH and (V) CONVERSION.

THE GOSPEL VOCATION

The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Christ, makes known His divine purpose for the salvation of the world, through a Proclamation, commonly known in theology, as the Vocation or Call. The word comes from the Greek icX’qois, which means a vocation or calling; hence the word RTLX ElY, to call, carries the thought backward to the Agency of that call; while the word KX~7TOV, the called, carries the thought forward to those who have accepted the invitation, and who are, therefore, the elect. In this sense, the Church is the ecclesia, or called out ones. The

Vocation or Call is further distinguished as the Indirect or universal call, and the Direct or immediate call—a distinction similar to that between General and Special Revelation. By the Universal Call, or Vocatio Catholica, is meant that secret influence exerted upon the con­sciences of men, apart from the revealed Word as found in the Holy Scriptures. We have already pointed out that in the earlier dispensation the Spirit strove with men (Gen. 6: 3); and St. Paul later affirms, both that the law of God was written in the hearts of the Gentiles (Rom. 1:19; 2:15), and that God has never, in any age, left Himself without a witness (Acts 14: 17). The Direct, or immediate call refers to that which is made through the Word of God revealed to mankind. “In the Old Testament it was limited to one race, first elected and then called; in the New Testament it is universally to all men, first called and then elected: a distinction of great importance” (POPE, Compend. Chr. Th. II, p. 338). The call of Abraham is the central point of vocation in the Old Testament (Cf. Amos 3: 1-2, Hosea 11: 1). How­ever, God’s choice of Abraham must be considered, both in relation to moral character, and in its prophetical con­nection with the universal call of the gospel. In the New Testament, especially after Pentecost, the gospel call is freed from the nationalism of the previous period, and consequently becomes the divine means of election for all people.

Election and Predestination—Vocation or Calling is closely related to predestination. Predestination as we have seen, has an intimate connection with the doctrine~ of the atonement in regard to the extent of its benefits. The elect in either the Arminian or Calvinistic view of grace are the called or chosen ones, but the two systems differ widely as to the manner of this électión. Those who hold to the former view regard it as dependent upon the personal acceptance of a universal call, and therefore conditional; the latter regard it as uncondii­tional and dependent upon predestination, or the exer­cise of sovereign grace. ‘Predestination,” says Calvin, “we call the eternal decree of God, by which he has determined in Himself what He would have become of every individual of mankind, for they are not all creat­ed with a similar destiny; but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say he is predestinated either to life or to death. . . . In conformity, therefore, to the clear doctrine of Scripture, we assert that, by an eternal and immut­able counsel God has once for all determined both whom He would admit to salvation and whom He would condemn to destruction” (CALVIN, Institutes, III, Chap. 21). Dr. Dick says that “It is applicable according to the import of the term, to all the purposes of God which determine beforehand what is come to pass; but it is usually limited to those purposes to which the spiritual and eternal state of man is the object” (DIcK, Lecture

Dr. Wakefield analyzes the Westminster teaching on election as follows: (I) That the decrees of God are eternal, being called “his eter­nal purpose.” (2) That predestination is all-comprehensive as to its objects, embracing “whatsoever comes to pass in time.” (3) That “some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore­ordained to everlasting death.” (4) That the decree both of election and reprobation is personal and definite, its objects being “particularly de­signed, and their number certain.” (5) That election to eternal life is unconditional, being “without any foresight of faith or good works, or any other thing in the creature.” (6) That Christ atoned for those only who were ordained to everlasting life, and (7) That faith and obedience are the fruits of election, while unbelief and sin result from reprobation.

—Wakefield, Christian Theology, p. 389.

The extent to which belief in reprobation was carried by earlier Calvinistic theologians may best be illustrated by a paragraph from the lectures of Dr. Hill. He says, “From the election of certain persons, it necessarily follows that all the rest of the race of Adam are left in guilt and misery. The exercise of the divine sovereignty in regard to those who are not elected is called reprobation; and the condition of all having been originally the same, reprobation is called absolute in the sense with election. In reprobation there are two acts which Calvinists are careful to distinguish. The one is called preterition, the passing by of those who are not elected, and withholding from them the means of grace which are provided for the elect, The other is called condemnation, the act of condemning those who have been passed by for the sins which they commit. In the former act God exercises His good pleasure, dis­pensing His benefits as He will; in the latter act He appears as a judge, inflicting upon men that sentence which their sins deserve, If He had bestowed upon them the same assistance which He prepared for others, they would have been preserved from that sentence; but as their sins proceeded from their own corruption, they are thereby rendered worthy of punishment, and the justice of the Supreme Ruler is manifested in condemning them, as His mercy is manifested in saving the elect.”—Hill, Lectures IV, 7. It was against such positions as these that the Remons­trants objected, and Arminian theologians since that time have lifted their voices in protest.

XXV). Predestination, according to this view, includes two great branches of the divine purpose toward man— Election and Reprobation. Election in the Calvinistic sense is defined by Dr. Dick as that “choice which God, in the exercise of sovereign grace, made of certain indi­viduals of mankind to enjoy salvation by Jesus Christ.” This necessarily involves the unctgndjjianaLteprobatien of all the rest. This is stated in the Westminster Confes­~ibii ~ follows: “The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious jus­tice.”

In opposition to this, Arminianism holds that predes­tination is the gracious purpose of God to save mankind from utter ruin. It is not an arbitrary, indiscriminate act of God intended to secure the salvation of so many and no more, It includes provisionally, all men~~•~ in~••~i~ scope, and is conditioned solely on faith in Jesus Christ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begot­ten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3: 16). Election differs from predestination i~i this~ that election implies a choice,. whereal predestination does not, In Eph. 1:4, 5, 11-13 it is said that God hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. This is election. The gracious plan by which this is to be accomplished is pre­destination, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Thus predestination is God’s general and gracious plan of saving men, by adopting. them as children through Christ; election pertains to the! chosen ones who are holy and blameless before Him in! love, The proofs of election are not in the secret counsels of God, but in the visible fruits of holiness. Election is the foundation of the Church, and predestination the basis of providence. The Church is both predestinated and elected, the former referring to the plan of redemp­tion as manifested in the universal call; the latter to the elect or chosen ones who have closed in with the offers of mercy. The elect are chosen, not by absolute decree,

Mr. Wesley published a pamphlet entitled, “Serious Considerations on Absolute Predestination” in which his views on this subject are stated as follows:

I.          God delighteth not in the death of a sinner, but would that all should live and be saved, and hath given His Son, that all that believe on Him should be saved. He is the true light which lighteth every man which cometh into the world. And this light would work out the salva­tion of all, if not resisted.

“2. But some assert, that God by an eternal and unchangeable decree, hath predestinated to eternal damnation the far greater part of mankind, and that absolutely, without any regard to their works, but only for the showing the glory of His justice; and that for the bringing this about, He hath appointed miserable souls necessarily to walk in their wicked ways, that so His justice may lay hold on them.

“3. This doctrine is novel, In the first four hundred years after Christ, no mention is made of it by any writer, great or small, in any part of the Christian Church. The foundations of it were laid in the later writings of Augustine, when unguardedly writing against Pelagius. It was afterward taught by Dominicus, a popish friar, and the monks of his order, and at last, it was unhappily taken~up by John Calvin. This doctrine is, First, injurious to God, because it makes Him the author of all sin. Second, it is injurious to God, because it represents Him as de­lighting in the death of sinners, expressly contrary to His own declara­tion (Ezek. 33:11; I Tim. 2:4). Third, this doctrine is highly injurious to Christ, our mediator, and to the efficacy and excellency of His gos­pel. It supposes His mediation to be necessarily of no effect with re­gard to the greater part of mankind. Fourth, the preaching of the gos­pel is a mere mockery and delusion, if many of those to whom it is preached, are by an irrevocable decree, shut out from being benefited by it. Fifth, this doctrine makes the coming of Christ, and His sacrifice upon the cross, instead of being a fruit of God’s love to the world, to be one of the severest acts of God’s indignation against mankind: it being only ordained (according to this doctrine) to save a very few, and for the hardening and increasing the damnation of the far greater number of mankind: namely, all those who do not believe: and the cause of this unbelief, according to this doctrine, is the counsel and decree of God, Sixth, this doctrine is highly injurious to mankind; for it puts them in a far worse condition than the devils in hell. For these *ere some time in a capacity to have stood, They might have kept their happy estate, but would not. Whereas, according to this doctrine, many millions of men are tormented forever, who never were happy, never could he and never can be. Again, devils will not be punished for neglecting a great salvation: but human creatures will. In direct opposition to this, we affirm, that God hath willed all to be saved; and hath given His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might be saved. There is hardly any other article of the Christian faith so frequently, plainly and positively asserted. It is that which makes the preaching of the gospel ‘Glad tidings to all,’ (Luke 10:2), otherwise, had this salvation been absolutely confined to a few, it had been ‘Sad tidings of great sor­row to most people.’ Read CoL 1:28; I Tim. 2:1-6; Heb. 2:9; John 3:17—12:47; 2 Peter 2:3, 9; Ezek. 33:11; 1 John 2:1, 2; Psalm 17:14; Isa. 13:11; Matt. 18:7; John 7:7, 8, 26; 12:19; 14:17; 15:18, 19; 18:20; I Cor. 1:21; 2:12; 6:2; GaL 6:14; James 1:27; 2 Peter 2:20; 1 John 2:15; 3:1; 4:4, 5.”

but by acceptance of the conditions of the call. And as the character of the elect consists of holiness and blame­lessness before Him in love, so election is by those means which make men righteous and holy. Hence our Lord says, I have chosen you out of the world (John 15: 19). St. Paul explains it by saying, God hath from the be gin­ning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (2 Thess. 2: 13). St. Peter’s teaching is to the same effect, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctif i­cation of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2).

Arminian theology has generally treated the subject of election under a threefold aspect as follows: (1) Elec­tion of individuals to perform some particular service. Thus Moses was chosen to lead Israel out of Egypt and Aaron to be the priest of the sanctuary. Cyrus was elected to aid in rebuilding the temple, Christ chose the twelve as apostles, and St. Paul was chosen as the apostle of the Gentiles. These offices were ordained to assist others, and not to exclude them from saving grace.

(2) Election of nations or other bodies of men to special religious privileges. Thus Israel was chosen as God’s first representative of the visible Church on earth. It is this to which St. Paul refers in Ephesians 1: 11-13. The words “who first trusted in Christ” refer to believing Israel; while the words in the following verse “In whom ye also trusted” refer to the extension of the Jewish privileges to the Gentiles. The calling and election of

Nothing is more grievous in the predestination theory than the way in which it shadows the love of God. Between love as a nature or dispo­sition, and an arbitrary choice of its beneficiaries, there is an irrecon­cilable antithesis. To assign to love its direction by fiat is to displace the very notion of love, and to put caprice in its stead. Suppose a father standing upon the deck of a ship should see his children struggling in the sea, in imminent peril of drowning. In the worth or worthiness of the children there is no ground of discrimination. The father has ample means to save all, for aplenty of life-preservers is immediately at hand. But instead of saving all he casts means of rescue to only two out of four, thus leaving half of his children to sink into the depths. Who would ascribe parental love to such a father? His unnatural conduct denies the very conception, and leaves in view only mad caprice and appalling eccentricity, It is not the nature of holy love to be subject to arbitrariness any more than it is the nature of sunlight to fill only selected portions of an open expanse.—Sheldon, Syst. Chr. Doct., pp. 43 2-43 3.

the Christian Church, therefore, was not the choice of another nation to succeed the Jews, but the election of believers in all nations, wherever the gospel should be preached. Thus the Christian Church rises above the narrow limits of nationalism and extends the call to all nations and tongues and people. (3) The election of particular individuals to be the children of God and hiiioflWnal life, which Arminianism always regards as conditional upon faith in Christ, and as including all who believe. Thus we are brought to the consideration of election as a factor in the beginnings of salvation.

The Beginnings of Salvation. The first step toward salvation in the experience of the soul, begins with voca­tion or the gracious call of God which is both direct through the Spirit and immediate through the Word, This is followed by awakening and conviction. Conver­sion, in the narrower sense of the term, is sometimes used in this connection also.

The vocation or call is God’s offer of salvation to all men through Christ. This is the gracious beginning of salvation. The call is universal and includes three things

—the proclamation, the conditions upon which the offer of salvation is made, and the command to submit to the authority of Christ. Thus St. Peter in speaking of the crucifixion and exaltation of Christ says, We are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him (Acts 5:32 cf, 13: 38-40). Here we have the testimony, the terms or conditions of salvation, and the command to submission. The Agent of the call is the Holy Spirit, and the Word is the instrument of His operations. The Word, however, is not limited to the letter but includes the Spirit of Truth as well. While the scriptures are God’s authoritative revelation, and the instrumentality which the Spirit ordinarily uses, these themselves seem to indicate that there is a substantial truth of which the Word itself is but the vehicle. This is indicated in St. Paul’s reference to the prophecy of Isaiah. He says, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me (Isaiah 65: 1). This seems to in­dicate that God’s Word is in some sense universally ut­tered, even when not recorded in a written language.

Awakening is a term used in theology to denote that operation of the Holy Spirit by which men’s minds are quickened to a consciousness of their lost estate. In this quickening, the Spirit not only works through the medium of objective truth, but by a direct influence upon the minds and hearts of men. There are two errors which should be mentioned in this connection. The first denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, and maintains that the truth is effective in and of itself. This reduces the power of the Word to the mere influence of the let­ter. The second does not deny the personality of the Holy Spirit, but holds that since Pentecost, His opera­tion is limited to a mediate and indirect influence through the Word. In this sense, the influence of a holy life goes on after the death of a saint. Thus Wesley and Fletcher, Luther and Melanchthon are still exerting an influence through their writings, although they have long since departed this life. The failure here, is to dis­tinguish between a medium as instrumental and passive on the one hand, or as efficient and active on the other, An officer may use his own sword to destroy an enemy, or he may order a company of soldiers into battle. In the first instance, the officer is the sole agent and his sword the passive instrument; in the second, he is only

The impulse to turn toward communion with God depends on the impact of divine agency upon the human spirit. This initial agency may be described by the term awakening, which thus denotes a pressure from the divine side which is unsought by men, but whose intent they can either follow or resist. Awakening is not so much regeneration as a preparation for the same, It is true that some theologians, especially of the strict Calvinistic school, have preferred to understand by regenera­tion the primary act of God in man’s spiritual recovery, in which al­mighty power operates upon a purely passive subject, and creates therein a new spiritual sensibility. But this view, as will be shown a lit­tle farther on, is not in harmony with the scriptural representation, which assumes a conditioning agency in man, or a consenting rather than a purely passive subject of regeneration. The office of awakening is to produce the sense of need and the measure of aspiration and desire which are requisite to make one a willing subject in the consummation of his spiritual sonship.—Sheldon, Syst. Chr. Doct, pp. 453, 454.

indirectly the agent. So, also, the apostle speaks of the Word as the sword of the Spirit, in which sense the Spirit is the sole Agent of operation, and the Word His instrument. Those, therefore, who hold that the influ­ence of the Spirit is limited solely to the mediate power )f the Word, thereby reject His direct spiritual influence ‘ipon the hearts of men. There is a third theory which we believe expresses the true scriptural doctrine. This admits the indirect influence of the Spirit through the Word, but maintains that in addition to this, there is an mmediate or direct influence upon the hearts of men iot only accompanying the Word, but also the prow­dences and the various means of grace In support of this, we may refer to the following Scriptures: The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord: as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will (Prov. 21: 1); Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Psalm 119: 18); Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51: 10). In the New Testament we find the following scriptures: Then opened he their un­derstanding, that they might understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45); and again, Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things that were spoken of Paul (Acts 16: 14). In these texts it is distinctly declared that the understanding and the heart were opened by the Lord and not by the Scriptures. Here then we have a direct influence exerted, first, in awakening to a knowl­edge of the truth; and second, in attendance upon the things which were spoken.

Conviction is That operation of the Spirit which pro­duces within men, a sense of guilt and condemnation because of sin. To the idea of awakening, there is added that of personal blame. Conviction is specifically stated to be one of the offices of the Spirit during the pentecost­al dispensation. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16: 8). The threefold conviction mentioned here has been previously discussed in connection with the offices of the Holy Spirit. There are, however, two things which need additional emphasis. (1) The word “con­vict” as here used, indicates a moral demonstration, and not merely a convincing of the intellect. It involves per­sonal relations with Christ, and hence applies to the conscience as well as the reason. (2) This conviction is one of hope and not of despair. The Spirit not only re­veals the sinfulness of human hearts, but the fullness and freeness of salvation through Christ. His purpose is not only to turn men from sin, but to lead them to a living faith in Christ. The conviction of the Spirit, there­fore, is one of hope for all who truly repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Effectual Calling and Contingency. Those who hear the proclamation and accept the call are known in the Scriptures as the elect. St. Paul speaks of the called of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1: 6); and St. Peter states that the nature of election is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1: 2). In the Old Testament the call was chiefly that of a nation or a people to some specific mis­sion. The call of the individual was subordinate, al­though we must believe that even then, the matter of character was important. In the New Testament the gospel call is mainly to the individual, the national or racial being subordinate. The gospel is committed to the Church as a whole, but especially to the ministry set apart for its proclamation. The word evanggelion (hiavyyiXtov) signifies a joyful announcement of Good Tidings, and the word evanggelizein (~vavyy€Xt~av) has reference to the preaching of those good tidings. In this sense the gospel has come to indicate the central idea of the Redeemer’s mission and work.

Of a Vocatio Interna, as distinguished from the Vocatio Externa, there is no trace in Scripture: internal calling and effectual calling are phrases never used. The distinction implies such a difference as would have been clearly stated if it existed; and all that is meant by the internal call finds its expression, as we shall see, in other offices of the Holy Spirit of enlightenment, conviction and conversion. Each of these terms carries the meaning of an external summons made effectual by interior grace; but never in the sense that sufficient interior grace is denied to any. It may be said that the true internal vocation is election in the strict sense. Pope, Compend. Chr. Th. II, p. 345.

Effectual calling, as the, term is used in Calvinistic theology, denotes an interior grace or compelling power, by which the mind is led to accept the mvitation of the gospel, and yield to the solicitations of the Spirit. A sharp distinction is usually made between the external call which is regarded as universal, and “effectual call­ing” which pertains only to the elect. Since the elect, in this use of the term indicates only those who by the decree of God are predestinated to salvation, efficacious grace is given only to them, and withheld from those who are not thus predestinated. This is one of the pivotal points in the controversy between Calvinism and Armin­ianism. We are not to believe that God gives a universal call to all men, and then secretly withholds the power to believe or accept the call from all those He has not especially chosen to salvation. The divine intention is that all men shall avail themselves of their blood bought privileges in Christ Jesus. The call is not fictitious but genuine. It is not only an external offer of salvation, but is accompanied by the internal grace of the Spirit suf­ficient for its acceptance.

The element of contingency also enters into the ques­tion of vocation or calling. The call may be resisted; and even after having been accepted, obedience may be f or­feited. Of such, the term reprobation is used, but never in the sense of a fiat or arbitrary decree. The reprobate, adokimoi (dS&cq.tot) are those who do not retain the knowledge of God, or who finally resist the truth. Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Cor. 13:5). The word has reference primarily, to failure under test. Since many of the vital problems connected with this subject will appear also in our discussion of “Prevenient Grace,” they may be properly reserved for later consideration.

PREVENIENT GRACE

Before taking up the discussion of prevenient grace, it may be well to call attention to the fact that the grace of God is in itself infinite, and therefore cannot be limit­ed to His redemptive work, unspeakably great as this may be. (1) Grace is an eternal fact in the inner rela­tions of the Trinity. (2) It existed in the form of sacri­ficial love before the foundation of the world. (3) Itex­tended order and beauty to the process and product of creation. (4) It devised the plan for the restoration of sinful man. (5) It is manifested specifically through re­vealed religion as the content of Christian theology; and, (6) it will find its consummation in the regeneration of all things, of which our Lord testified. The absolute holi­ness of the Creator determines the nature of divine grace. Its laws ever operate under this standard. Once grasp and hold this conception of the infinity of divine grace, and the regal and judicial acts of God in justifi­cation and adoption can never be questioned.

Prevenient grace, as the term implies, is that grace which “goes before” or prepares the soul for entrance into the initial state of salvation. It is the preparatory

Augustine and the theologians of his period distinguished five kinds of grace, as follows: (1) Prevenient grace which removed natural incapacity and invited to repentance; (2) Preparing grace which re­strained natural resistance and disposed the will to accept salvation by faith; (3) Operating grace which conferred the power of believing and kindled justifying faith; (4) Co-operating grace which followed justifica­tion, and served to promote sanctification and good works; and (5) Conserving grace, by which faith and holiness were conserved and con­firmed.

At a later period in the history of Christian thought, the thelogians regarded faith as constituting a fourfold office as follows: (1) Elench­tical, or the ‘awakening to a knowledge of sin; (2) Didactic, or instruc­tion in the way of salvation; (3) Pedagogical, or the conversion of the sinner; and (4) Paracletic, or the consoling and strengthening of the converted.

The Holy Ghost is here the Author of preliminary grace; that is, of the kind of preparatory influence which is imparted outside of the temple of Christ’s mystical body, or rather in the outer court of that temple. When He bestows the full blessings of personal salvation, as they are the result of a union with Christ, He is simply and solely the Administrator and Giver: the object of this grace in the nature of things can only receive. Forgiveness, adoption, sanctification are necessarily divine acts: nothing can be more absolute than the prerogative of God in conferring these blessings. This does not imply that the influences which prepare the soul for these acts of perfect grace are not from a divine Source alone. It must be remembered that it is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” flowing from and revealing the “love of God” that is dispensed even to the outer world in the communion of the Holy Ghost. But it must also be remembered that this prevenient influence is literally bound up with the human use of it being without meaning apart from that use; and, moreover, that of itself it is not saving, though it is unto salvation. The present department of theology is beset with peculiar difficulties, and has been the arena of some of the keenest con­troversies.—Pope, Compend. Chr. Th. II, pp. 358, 359.

grace of the Holy Spirit exercised toward man helpless in sin. As it respects the guilty, it may be considered mercy; as it respects the impotent, it is enabling power. It may be defined, therefore, as that manifestation of the divine influence which precedes the full regenerate life. The subject is beset with peculiar difficulties and should be given careful study. We shall consider, (1) the His­torical Approach to the Subject, and (2) the Nature of Prevenient Grace. following this we shall analyze the subject more carefully by considering (3) Prevenient Grace and Human Agency-

The Historical Approach to the Subject. The idea of grace or charis (~ctpcc) is fundamental in both the Old and the New Testaments. In the Old Testament it is found in such texts as My spirit shall not always strive with man (Gen. 6:3), and Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zech. 4:6). In the New Testament, the texts are numerous. Our Lord said, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him (John 6:44), and again, Without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5). St. Paul uses the term frequently. For when we were yet without strength j~a,-Ocv&v, helpless], in due time Christ died for the un­godly

that no part is free from sin and, therefore, whatever proceeds from him is accounted sin.” The true Arminian as fully as the Calvinist, admits the depravity of human nature, and thereby magnifies the grace of God in sal­vation. He is in fact able to carry through his system of grace with greater consistency than the Calvinist him­self. For while the latter is obliged, in order to account for certain good dispositions and occasional religious in­clinations in those who never give evidence of actual conversion, to refer them to nature or “common grace,” the former refers them to grace alone.

The state of nature is in some sense a state of grace, according to Arminian theology. Thus Mr. Wesley says, “Allowing that all the souls of men are dead in sin by na­ture, this excuses none, seeing there is no man that is in a mere state of nature; there is no man, unless he has quenched the Spirit, that is wholly devoid of the grace of God. No man living is entirely destitute of what is vulgarly called natural conscience. But this is not nat­ural: it is more properly termed preventing grace. Ev­ery man has a greater or less measure of this, which waiteth not for the call of man” (WESLEY, Sermon: Working Out Our Own Salvation).

Arminianism holds to a belief in the continuity of grace. This is another point to which Mr. Wesley at­taches peculiar emphasis. In his sermon on the Scrip­Arminianism holds “that there is a state of nature, as distinguished from the state of grace and the state of glory, that state of nature, how. ever, being itself a state of grace, preliminary grace, which is diffused throughout the world, and visits all the children of men: not merely the remains of good untouched by the faIl, but the remains as the effect and gift of redemption. The special grace of enlightenment and conversion, repentance and faith, it holds to be prevenient only, as resting short of regeneration; but as flowing into the regenerate life. It therefore as­serts, in a certain sense, the principle of a continuity of grace in the case of those who are saved. But in its doctrine all grace is not the same grace in its issues, though all is the same in its divine purpose. It dis­tinguishes measures and degrees of the Spirit’s influence, from the most universal and common benefit of the atonement in life and its advan­tages up to the consummation of the energy of the Holy Ghost which fits for the vision of God. It rejects the figment of a common grace not x4’~ oiur4ptos; and refuses to believe that any influence of the Divine Spirit procured by the atonement is imparted without reference to final salvation. The doctrine of a continuity of grace, flowing in some cases uninterruptedly from the grace of Christian birth, sealed in baptism, up to the fullness of sanctification, is alone consistent with Scripture.”— Pope, Compend. Chr. Th. 11, p. 390.

ture Way of Salvation, he says, “The salvation which is here spoken of might be intended to be the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul till it is consummated in glory. If we take this in its utmost extent it will include all that is wrought in the soul by what is frequently termed natural conscience, but, more properly, prevenient grace; all the drawings of the Fa­ther; the desires after God, which if we yield to them, increase more and more; all that is light, wherewith the Son of God ‘enlighteneth everyone that cometh into the world’; all the convictions which His Spirit, from time to time, works in every child of man; although it is true the generality of men stifle them as soon as possible, and after a while forget or at least deny, that they ever had them at all,”

Synergism, or the co-operation of divine grace and the human will, is another basic truth of the Arminian system. The Scriptures represent the Spirit as working through and with man’s concurrence. Divine grace, however, is always given the pre-eminence, and this for two reasons: (1) The capacity for religion lies deep in the nature and constitution of man. The so-called “natural. conscience” is due to the universal influence othe Spirit. It is preliminary grace in the very roots of man’s nature, to which he may yield, or which he may resist. The fact that man since the fall is a free moral-agent, is as much the effect of grace as it is a necessity of his moral nature. (2) The influence of the Spirit connected with the Word is irresistible as claim­ing the attention of the natural man, He may resist it, but he cannot escape it. This grace moves upon the will through the affections of hope and fear, and touching the deepest recesses of his nature, disposes him to yield to the appeals of the Word, whether presented directly or indirectly. But this divine grace always works within man in a manner that does not interfere with the free­dom of his will. “The man determines himself,” says Pope, “through divine grace to salvation; never so free as when swayed by grace.”

Finally, Arminianism holds that salvation is all of grace, in that every movement of the soul toward God is initiated by divine grace; but it recognizes also in a true sense, the co-operation of the human will, because in the last stage, it remains with the free agent, as to whether the grace thus proffered is accepted or rejected.

Prevenient Grace and Human Agency. The relation of free grace to personal agency demands a further analysis. This relation may be briefly summed up in the following propositions: (1) Prevenient grace is ex­ercised upon the natural man, or man in his condition subsequent to the fall, This grace is exercised upon his entire being, and not upon any particular element or power of his being. Pelagianism regards grace as acting solely upon the understanding, while Augustinianism falls into. the opposite error of supposing that grace deter­mines the will through effectual calling. Arminianism holds to a truer psychology. It insists that grace does not operate merely upon the intellect, the feelings or the will, but upon the person or central being which is be­neath and behind all affections and attributes. It thus preserves a belief in the unity of personality. (2) Pre­venient grace has to do with man as a free and respon­sible_agent. The fall did not efface the natural image of God in man, nor destroy any of the powers of his being. It did not destroy the power of thought which belongs to the intellect, nor the power of affection which per­tains to the feelings. So, also, it did not destroy the power of volition which belongs to the will. (3) Prevenient grace has to do further, with the person as en­slaved by sin. Not only is the natural heart depraved, God does not compel man by a mechanical force, but draws him on and moves him by the moral power of His love. Nowhere does either Scripture or the Church teach that the sinner is entirely passive at the commencement of his repentance. The voice which cries awake! comes not to corpses, but to the spiritually dead, in whom a capacity for life remained, a receptivity, even where we cannot think of any spontaneity without the influence of the preparing grace of God. The grace of God leads the sinner to faith, but always in such wise, that the latter’s be­lieving surrender to Christ is his own personal act.—Von Oosterzee, Chr. Dogm. II, p. 682.

Never does man appear to be more powerfully determined by God, than in the summons to grace, and yet it is that very summons which calls his freedom from its latent form into actual existence. .—Lange.

but added to this is the acquired depravity which at­taches to actual transgression. This slavery is not abso­lute, for the soul is conscious of its bondage and rebels against it. There is, however, a sinful bias, commonly known as a “bent to sinning” which determines the con­duct by influencing the will. Thus grace is needed, not to restore to the will its power of volition, nor thought and feeling to the intellect and sensibility, for these were never lost; but to awaken the soul to the truth upon which religion rests, and to move upon the affections by enlisting the heart upon the side of truth. (4) The con­tinuous co-operation of the human will with the origi­nating grace of the Spirit, merges prevenient grace di­rectly into saving grace without the necessity of any ar­bitrary distinction between “common grace” and “effi­cacious grace” as is done in the Calvinistic system. Be­cause of their insistence upon the co-operation of the hu­man will, Arminian theologians have been charged with being Pelagian, and of insisting upon human merit rath­er than divine grace in salvation. But they have always held that grace is, pre-eminent, and that the power by which man accepts God’s proffered grace is from God (Banks); and “the power by which man co-operates with grace is itself grace” (Pope). In opposition to Augustinianism which holds that man has no power to co-operate with God until after regeneration, Arminian­ism maintains that through the prevenient grace of the Spirit, unconditionally bestowed upon all men, the pow­er and responsibility of free agency exist from the first dawn of the moral life.

REPENTANCE

The doctrine of repentance is fundamental in the Christian system, and should be carefully studied in the light of God’s Word. Christ said of himself, I am not

Calvinism with its belief in predestination finds it necessary to make a distinction in kinds of grace and thereby breaks the continuity of the Spirit’s manifestations. It holds that the good in man before conversion is due to “common grace,” but holds also that this can never become saving grace. Common grace belongs to all, efficacious grace only to the elect. “Such a distinction,” says Dr. Banks, “can never be reconciled with Scripture, with divine justice or with human responsibility” (Banks, Manual Chr, Doct, p. 228).

come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt. 9: 13). Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached repentance as a basic condition of entrance into the king­dom of God (Matt. 3: 2, 8; 4: 17). God seeks to lead men to repentance, both by His admonitions (Rom. 2:4; 2 Tim, 2: 25; Rev. 2: 5, 16), and by His judgments (Rev. 9:20, 21; 16:9). As the conditions of salvation, how­ever, repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are always conjoined. Both proceed from preven­ient grace, but they differ in this, that the faith which saves is the instrument as well as the condition of salva­tion, and as such, must of necessity flow from grace and follow repentance. For this reason it is frequently stated that faith is the sole condition of salvation, and repent­ance the condition of faith. Thus Mr. Wesley says that “Repentance and its fruits are only remotely necessary; necessary in order to faith; whereas faith is immediately and directly necessary to justification. It remains that faith is the only condition which is immediately and proximately necessary to justification” (WESLEY, Ser­mon xliii). Both are properly introductory to the state of salvation, but Saving faith is alone the point of tran­sition where conviction passes into salvation.

The Greek word metanoia (/.tErdvota) which in Eng­lish is rendered repentance, properly “denotes the soul recollecting its own actions, and that in such a manner as to produce sorrow in the review, and a desire of amendment. It is strictly a change of mind, and includes the whole of that alteration with respect to views, dispo­sition and conduct which is effected by the power of the gospel.” The word metameleia (ji€rajx€’Xaa) is also trans­lated repent, as in Matt. 27: 3; 2 Cor. 7: 8; Heb. 7: 21. The distinction between the two verb forms ,icra~JXop.at and p~€ravo~w is this, the former refers more properly to con­trition, and signifies a sorrowful change of mind; while the latter carries with it the idea of a sorrow that leads to the forsaking and turning away from sin. Macknight says that “the word metanoia, properly denotes such a change of one’s opinion concerning some action which he hath done, as produceth a change in his conduct to the better. But the word metameleia, signifies the grief which one feels for what he hath done, though it is fol­lowed with no alteration of conduct.” In the Vulgate, the word metanoia is rendered “doing penance.” When Luther discovered that repentance meant a change of mind instead of “doing penance,” it changed his whole outlook upon religion, and was one of the chief factors in ushering in the Reformation.

Definitions of Repentance. Among the many defini­tions of repentance, we may note the following: Mr. Wesley says, “By repentance I mean conviction of sin, producing real desires and sincere resolutions of amend­ment” According to Mr Watson, “Evangelical repent­ance is a godly sorrow wrought in the heart of a sinful person by the Word and the Spirit of God, whereby from a séñse of his sin, as offensive to God, and defiling and endangering his own soul, and from an apprehen­sion of the mercy of God in Christ, he with grief and hatred of all his known sins, turns then to God as his Savior and Lord.” “Repentance,” says Dr. Adam Clarke, “implies that a measure of divine wisdom is communi­cated to the sinner, and that he thereby becomes wise to salvation; that his mind purposes opinions, and in­clinations, are changed; and that, in consequence, there is a total change in his conduct.” Dr. Pope gives us the following statement: “Repentance is a divinely wrought conviction of sin, the result of the Holy Spirit’s applica­tion of the condemning law to the conscience or heart. It approves itself in contrition, which distinguishes it from mere knowledge of sin; in submission to the judicial sentence, which is the essence of true confession; and in sincere effort to amend, which desires to make repara­tion to the dishonored law. Hence it must needs come from God and go back to Him: the Holy Spirit, using Dr. Nevin says that “Real repentance consists in the heart’s being broken for sin and from sin.” Mason, “Repentance begins in the hu­miliation of the heart and ends in the reformation of the life.” Dr. Field says that the two words translated “repent” and the two corresponding nouns derived from them, signify “after-concern” and “after.thought.” “After-concern” on account of something that has been amiss; and “afterthought” signifying such a change or alteration of mind as implies a return to right views, right feelings and right conduct.”

the law, being the Agent in producing this preliminary divine change.” These definitions sufficiently set forth the true nature of repentance.

The Divins and Human Elements, in Repentance. A study of the definitions just given, makes it clear that there are two factors involved in genuine repentance— the divine and the human To suppose that repentance is a purely human act, accomplished by the unassisted exercise of the sinner’s own powers, is to presume upon God; while to look upon it as the work of God alone, is to sink in carelessness or despair. A correct understanding of this subject is necessary in order to preserve one from either extreme. God is said to be the author of repent­ance. But He does not repent for us, He gives or grants repentance (Acts 4: 31; 11: 18) in the sense of making repentance possible. Thus as our creed expresses it, “The Spirit of God gives to all who will repent the gracious help of penitence of heart and hope of mercy, that they may believe unto pardon and spiritual life” (Article VIII). Several controversial points need atten­tion here.

1. Repentance presupposes the sinful condition of mankind It presupposes, also, both the total depravity Df man in his natural state, and the necessity of preven­ient. grace. Mr. Wesley and Mr. Watson emphasized both of these elements, never allowing themselves to slip over into the Calvinistic idea of irresistible grace on the one hand, or Pelagian moralism on the other. Allowing for the depravity of mankind, Mr. Watson de­clares that the “gift” comes upon all in preventing grace

—“the influences of the Holy Spirit removing so much of their spiritual death as to excite in them various de­grees of religious feeling, and enabling them to seek the face of God, to turn at His rebuke, and by improving that grace, to repent and believe the gospel.”

We believe that repentance, which is a sincere and thorough change of mind in regard to sin, involving a sense of personal guilt and a volun­tary turning away from sin, is demanded of all who by act or purpose become sinners against God. The Spirit of God gives to all who will repent the gracious help of penitence of heart and hope of mercy, that they may believe unto pardon and spiritual life.—Manunl, Article VIII.

2. Repentance is the result of the gracious work of the Holy Spirit upon the souls of men. The goodness of God leads to repentance (Rom, 2:4) - The means by which it is effected is the divinely wrought application of the holy law. The first effect of the Spirit’s work is con­trition, or godly sorrow for sin. In the Old Testament, this condition was known as “a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51: 17), the heart being the inmost personality and not merely the affections, the intellect or the will. Thus true repentance is not a sorrow for sin apart from forsaking it, which St. Paul terms “the sorrow of the world” (2 Cor. 7: 10); nor is it a reform apart from god­ly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation. Fur­thermore, contrition is a conviction of sin as universal, and not merely of particular sins, although the latter may be, and generally. are the focal points of the Spirit’s con­victing work. In its truest and deepest sense, however, contrition is a new moral consciousness of sin, in which the sinner identifies himself with God’s attitude toward sin, and thinks God’s thoughts about it. He hates sin, and from the center of his being, repudiates and abhors it. Herein lies the ethical significance of true repentance. The second effect of the Spirit’s work takes the form of confession. This in essence, is personal submission to the law as applied by the Spirit,, and must be viewed un­der two aspects, (1) as condemnation, in which the sin­ner accepts the judgment as just; and (2) as impotence, or a conviction of his utter helplessness before the law. When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died (Rom. 7: 9). True repentance therefore, “absolutely withers all hope in self as to present or future ability.”

3. Repentance is finally, an act of the sinner himself in response to the conviction and appeals of the Spirit.

Repentance, like conversion, is generic, comprehensive in its char­acter; it covers sin as sin. It is impossible to repent of a particular sin without repenting of sin as such—of all sin. The repentance may begin with a particular sin, probably often does; but when the sin is aban­doned it must be abandoned as sin; and this involves a renunciation of all sin; that is, of the carnal mind which is the essence of all sin. . .

Hence in repentance it cannot be necessary to recall every past sin; such repentance would be impossible. The sinful mind, the self-indulgent will, is renounced, and thus all sin is repudiated, even if a particular act of sin be not at the moment recalled.—Fairchild, Elements of Theology,

p.         250.

The power indeed is given to him of God, but the act is necessarily his own. This power is not given arbitrarily, nor is the agency of the Spirit one of compulsion. God by His Spirit, applies the truth to the sinner’s heart, and unveils to his mind the number and aggravations of the sins which he has committed, and the exposure to ever­lasting wrath which he has incurred. And in view of this revelation, and of the grace bestowed upon him, he is commanded to repent and turn to God. He may accept the truth or he may resist it; but if he does not repent, it is because he will not. We may say then that repent­anee.4mplies (1) a conviction that “we have done the things we ought not to have done, and left undone those things.which we ought to have done”; that we are guilty before God and if we die in this state must be turned into hell; (2) that repentance includes contrition of sin, and that the remembrance of sins will always be grievous and the burden intolerable; (3) that true repentance will produce confession of sin; and (4) that true rejent­ance implies reformation, a turning from sin to God and a bringing forth of. fruits meet .for. repentance. It is for thi~ reason that Mr. Finney defines repentance as “a turning from sin to holiness, or more strictly from a state of consecration to self, to a state of consecration to God”; while Dr. Steele says that “Evangelical repent­ance is called a repentance toward God because it con­sists in turning from sin to holiness, implying a sense of, and hatred of sin and a love of holiness.”

The State. of...~enitence. Repentance is an ~ tence is a state of. the soul consequent upon that. .act. Penitence, therefore, is that attitude which belongs to every moral being recovered from sin, and as such will not only exist in every subsequent stage of life, but will have place also in heaven. “It is generally supposed,” says Wesley, “that repentance and faith are only the gate of religion; that they are necessary only at the beginning of our Christian course, when we are setting out in the way to the kingdom. .. . But notwithstanding this, there is also a repentance and faith (taking the words in an­other sense, a sense not quite the same, nor yet entirely different) which are requisite after we have believed the gospel; yea, and in every subsequent stage of our Chris­tian course, or we cannot run the race which is set before us. And this repentance and faith are full as necessary, in order to our continuance and growth in grace, as the former faith and repentance were, in order to our enter­ing into the kingdom of God” (WESLEY, Sermon: The Repentance of Believers). True repentance works a radical change of mind—a change which is manifested in the intellect, the feelings and the will. In a literal sense of course, the true penitent has the same mind and the same mental faculties as before, but they have un­dergone an inner revolution. He has the same intellect, but this now functions in a different sphere. As a natural man, he was spiritually blind, but now he sees truths which had never before penetrated his mind. He also sees many things in a new light, for he now sees them in a new perspective. There is also a change--in his feel­ings or affections. Once he rested in a false security, and was callous to the threats of the law; now his feel­ings have been strangely reversed. He now hates what he once loved, and loves what he formerly hated. There is a change also in his will. Once he was bound by the chains of darkness and sin, now he finds his will freed from its fetters and able to function in the spiritual realm. Thus true repentance brings a change of mind, which followed by an act of saving faith, brings the soul into the state of initial salvation; and the continuance of penitence as a state makes possible the reception of fur­ther benefits and an abiding communion with God.

The Necessity of Repentance. Repentance is essen­tial to sãiv àHbii. - This has appeared from the previous discussion and needs no extended treatment here. From Christ, our highest possible authority, we have the words, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke 13: 3). This is not an arbitrary requirement, but arises from the nature of sin itself. Sin is rebellion against God. There can be no salvation, therefore, with­out a renunciation of sin and Satan. Sin is as inconsist­ent with happiness as it is with holiness. But there can be no deliverance from either without true repentance. Until there is a deep feeling of the evil of sin, and an utter renouncement of it, the soul is unprepared for spiritual exercises and holy joy. Repentance is indeed bitter; yet the remembrance of the bitter cup will be an occasion of praise to the redeemed forever. In its adap­tation to human needs, therefore, it strikingly exhibits the divine wisdom and benevolence.

SAVING FAITH

Repentance leads immediately to saving faith, which is at once the condition and the instrument of justifica­tion. Faith therefore forms the connecting link between prevenient grace and the initial state of salvation. The term saving faith, however, is used in a particular sense, and must be distinguished on the one hand, from the principle of faith generally as it belongs to human na­ture, and on the other, from the assurance of faith which is the outflow of the Christian life. We shall consider then, (1) The Nature of Faith in General; (2) Saving Faith, or Faith as the Condition and Instrument of Sal­vation; and (3) Faith as a Grace of the Christian life.

The Nature of Faith in General. Faith has been de­fined as “credit given to the truth,” or “a full assent of the mind to a declaration or promise, on the authority of the person who makes it” (Cf. WEAVER, Chr. Th., p. 156). It is that principle of human nature which accepts the unseen as existing, and which admits as knowledge, that which is received on evidence or authority. This general principle of faith, when directed to the gospel and exercised under the prevenient grace of the Spirit becomes saving faith. The Christian idea of faith roots

Impenitence is the state opposed to penitence. It is per8istence in sin—in an unbenevolent purpose and life; a state rather than an act; the state of the sinner under light and motives which should induce re~ pentance, and do not (Cf. Rom. 2:4, 5). Impenitence does not imply any special emotion or positive feeling of resistance or repugnance or opposition to God. Mere immobility, under motives which 8hOuld turn the soul from sin, from worldliness, is all that is necessarily involved. Every sinner has motives before him which should lead to repentance. Every persistent sinner is an impenitent sinner.—Fairchild, Elements of Theology, p. 25 I.

back into the Old Testament, and has been modified also by Greek and Roman usage. The Hebrew word translat­ed faith in its simple form, means “to support, to sus­tain, or to uphold.” In the passive form, it means “to be firm, stable and faithful.” The use of the word car­ries with it in almost every instance, the idea of reliance upon the Jehovah of the ancient covenant. For this reason Dr. Oehler defines faith as it is used in the Old Testament to be “the act of making the heart firm, stead­fast and sure in Jehovah.” The Greek word for faith is pistis (lTi’o-Ttc from ~-€Wco, to persuade), which means “t~ti~usf~oi~”to be persuaded” that its pbj~e~,. whether n is trustworthy. The Latin word ede?’e-mea~ns “toj Jiey”cr “to trust” another. From it we have our word ~ of another as true, or the placing confidence in another. This word is usually translated “believe” and refers more especially to the intellectual assent to truth. The word fides is another Latin term, and also means “to exercise trust in” or “place confidence in” another. It emphasizes, not so ~ tional and emotional aspects of faith. In its various forms, the word is usually translated “faith,” “faithful­ness” or “fidelity.” The English word “faith” is supposed to have come from the Anglo-Saxon faegan to covenant. From the derivation of these words, it is evident that the primary element of faith is trust. The older theo­Though much is said in the sacred Scriptures in regard to faith, there is only one passage in which it is particularly defined. This is Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evi­dence of things not seen.” As this is the only inspired definition of faith, it will be proper to examine with suitable attention the terms in which it is expressed. The word ~rao~r, which is rendered substance, means literally something placed under—a basis or foundation. But in its meta­phorical application it means a certain persuasion, an assured expecta­tion, a confident anticipation. We think the latter sense, “confident anticipation,” is the true import of the word in the passage before us, as the apostle connects it with “things hoped for.” So also, in Hebrews 3 :14, the same term is translated “confidence.” The term Aeyyos, which is rendered evidence, means primarily whatever serves to convince or confute—an argument, proof or demonstration. But when it is used metonymically, it means refutation or conviction—firm persuasion. The last we take as the true import of the word in the present case. The apostle’s definition, therefore, may be stated thus: Faith is the confident anticipation of things hoped for, the firm persuasion of things not seen.

—Wakefield, Chr. Th, pp. 481, 48L

logians commonly defined faith as (1) the assent of the mind; (2) the consent of the will; and (3)’ recumbency or reclining, by which was meant the element of trust. But the comprehensive meaning of faith must ever be trust—that which sustains our expectations and never disappoints us. It is, therefore, opposed to all that is false, unreal, deceptive, empty and worthless. Faith is what it purports to be, and is therefore worthy of both credence and trust.

Several deductions must be made in order to better understand the various elements entering into the true nature of belief or faith. (1) Faith implies a previous knowledge of its object. This applies to the intellectual element in faith, or the assent of the mind. It is in this sense of “belief” that knowledge must be regarded as an­tecedent to faith, but it is only so as to specific acts. A proposition to be believed, must be either expressed or implied; and it must carry with it sufficient evidence, either real or supposed. Faulty judgments are due to a failure to distinguish between real and supposed evi­dence. Furthermore, the constitution of the mind is such that it cannot withhold assent to a proposition, if it be sustained by a sufficient amount of evidence. (2) Faith operates in the emotional and volitional life to the degree that the, fact. or proposition believed is judged to be irn­portant. Thus a thing near at hand may be judged to be of more importance than a greater thing further removed. If faulty judgments arise from a failure to discriminate between real and supposed evidence, so the emotional and volitional elements of the mind may sometimes be moved more by false judgments than the true. Herein is the deceptiveness of the human heart. It puts far

Dr. Whedon says that saving faith is that “belief of the intellect, consent of the affections and act of the will, by which the soul places itself in the keeping of Christ as its ruler and Savior” . . . it is, therefore, “our self-commitment to God and to all goodness.”

Dr. Fairchild says that “there are three elements which may be distinguished in the general exercise called faith. (1) The intellectual element; that is, an apprehension and conviction of the truth, of some truth which involves obligation. (2) The moral acceptance of that truth, a voluntary treatment of it as true. (3) The emotional results, the peace and assurance and confidence which follow a yielding of the heart to truth.”—Fairchild, Elements of Theology pp. 255, 256.

away the evil day. It sells its birthright for a mess of pottage. Only grace can awaken the mind to the truth as it is in Jesus. It was under this illumination of the Spirit that St. Paul wrote, We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4: 18). (3) There are degrees in faith. This is due, not only to a limited ap­prehension of the truth but also to varying degrees of strength in faith itself. Our Lord said to His disciples, Oh ye of little faith (Matt. 6: 30); while to the woman of Canaan, He said, 0 woman, great is thy faith (Matt. 15: 28). St. Paul likewise speaks of Him that is weak in the faith (Rom. 14: 1); and again, of the righteousness of God being revealed from faith to faith, which can only mean, from one degree of faith to another. To his brethren at Thessalonica, he said, your faith groweth exceedingly (2 Thess. 1: 3). So, also, we find the dis­ciples praying, Lord, Increase our faith (Luke 17: 5) From this it follows that we must admit of different degrees of faith in the progress of the Christian life.

Saving Faith. By the term “saving faith” we do not mean a different kind of faith, but faith considered as the condition and instrument of salvation. We have seen that the primary element in faith is trust; hence saving faith is a personal trust in the Person of the Savior. We may say in this connection that the efficient cause of this faith is the operation of the Holy Spirit, and the instru­mental cause is the revelation of the truth concerning

Mr. Wesley says that the word iXeyxor translated in Heb. 11:1 means literally a divine evidence and conviction. , . , It implies both a supernatural evidence of God, and the things of God; a kind of spiritual light exhibited to the soul, and a supernatural sight or perception there­of     It is by this faith we are saved, justified and sanctified.” “Faith is the condition, and the only condition of justification. It is the condi­tion: none is justified but he that believes: without faith no man is justified. And it is the only condition: this alone is sufficient for justi­fication. Everyone that believes is justified, whatever else he has or ha8 not. In other words: no man is justified till he believes; every man, when he believes, is justified.” As to repentance and its fruits, he says, these “are only remotely necessary; necessary in order to faith; whereas faith is immediately and directly necessary to justification. It remains that faith is the only condition which is immediately and proximately necessary to justification.—Wesley, Sermon on the Scripture Way of Salvation, the need and possibility of salvation. Here we are in­debted to Mr. Wesley’s clear thought not only for a cor­rect theological statement, but for such a practical in­terpretation as renders it vital in the experiences of men. In his sermon on “The Scripture Way of Salvation” he deals with the subject of faith in relation to both justi­fication and sanctification. He says, “Faith is a divine evidence and conviction not only that ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,’ but also that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me,” Mr. Watson states that “the faith in Christ, which in the New Testament is connected with salvation is clearly of this nature; that is, it combines assent with reliance, belief with trust.” “The faith by which ‘the elders obtained a good report,’ united assent to the truth of God’s revelations, to a noble confession in His promises. ‘Our fathers trusted in Thee,

Man lives and moves and has his being, as a spiritual creature, in an element of belief or trust in the unseen; in that sense also, “We’ walk by faith, not by sight.” Belief is a primary condition of all knowledge and of all reasoning on knowledge. It may be said that without it there can be no full assent given to any proposition that deals with other than the matter of sense. Hence the propriety of Anseim’s “crede ut in­telligas,” in opposition to Abelard’s “intellige ut credas”; the two watch. words of Christian faith and rationalism respectively.—Pope, Compend, Chr. Th. II, p. 377.

He who will not believe till he receives what he calls a reason for it is never likely to get his soul saved. The highest, the most sovereign reason, that can be given for believing, is that God has commanded it.

—Dr. Adam Clarke, Chr. Th. p. 135.

Faith must be regarded as a form of knowledge. It deals with the invisible, while science deals with the natural and visible world. This, however, does not involve any contradiction between faith and knowl­edge. The underlying principles of science, such as the uniformity of nature, and the law of causation are, after all, not demonstrated knowl­edge, but great acts of faith. Faith in spiritual things, deals with realities as truly as does physical science. It is by faith that we know God, and enter into spiritual union with Christ. No form of knowledge can be more genuine than this.

Dr. Fairchild points out that the opposing of faith to reason is en­tirely without justification. Faith depends on reason, and is only follow­ing reasonable evidence; any belief beyond this is arbitrary presump­tion, or prejudice, not faith. The only foundation for the idea of such opposition is that in the exercise of faith we receive divine revelation, and thus reach truth which lies beyond our reason. We accept God’s Word, and take as true what He teaches us, instead relying on our own unaided reason. In doing this we do not abandon reason, or go in oppo­sition to it; we follow it. Reason brings us to God; we accept His Word as truth, because we have reason to do so in the evidence we have of its truth. A child who takes his father’s wisdom as his guide is following reason. He who reject8 a higher wisdom, and claims to walk only by his own, is commonly called a rationalist: but he is not following reason (Cf. Fairchild, Elements of Theology, p. 257).

and were not confounded’” (WATSON, Institutes, II,p. 244). Dr. Pope bears witness also to this twofold aspect of faith. “Faith as the instrument of appropriating sal­vation,” he says, “is a divinely wrought belief in the record concerning Christ and trust in His person as a personal Savior: these two being one” (POPE, Corn pend, Chr. Th., II, p. 376). We may analyze this subject fur­ther, as follows:

1. There is both a divine and a human element in faith. It is a “divine evidence and conviction” or a “~divine1y wrought belief.” The question immediately arises, “Is faith the. gift of God,, or. is. it the .act..of the creature?” The question itself is ambiguous, and each of its clauses has been carried to extreme lengths, the former to an Antinomian faith apart from any operation of the believer; the second to a mere mental assent to truth. Between these extremes of Calvinistic Antino­mianism, and Pelagian rationalism, both the earlier and later Arminian theologians have sought a mediating position. Dr. Adam Clarke gives perhaps the clearest and best statement of the Wesleyan position. He says, ~ “Is not faith the gift of God? Yes, as to ~ g~çey which it is produced; but the grace ‘o power to ‘believe, and the act of believing are two different things. With­out the grace or power to believe no man ever did or can believe; but with that power the act of faith is a I~ man’s own. God never believes for any man, no more than He repents for him; the penitent, through this grace

Dr. Harrison in his “Wesleyan Standards” sums up Mr. Wesley’s teaching on faith as follows: (I) A divine evidence and conviction that God hath promised this in His Holy Word. (2) A divine evidence and conviction that what He hath promised He is able to perform. (3) A divine evidence and conviction that He is able and willing to do it now.

(4) A divine evidence and conviction that He doeth it. In that hour it is done.—Harrison, Wesleyan Standards, II, p. 340.

In Scripture, faith is presented to us under two leading views. The first is that of assent or persuasion; the second that of confidence or reliance. That the former may be separated from the latter, is also plain, though the latter cannot exist without the former. Faith, in the sense of intellectual assent to truth, is allowed to be possessed by devils. A dead inoperative faith is also supposed, or declared, to be possessed by wicked men, professing Christianity (Cf. Matt. 25:41-46). As this distinction is taught in Scripture, so it is also observed in experience, that assent to the truths of revealed religion may result from examination and convic­tion, while yet the spirit and conduct may be unrenewed and wholly worldly.—Watson, Institutes, II, p. 245.

enabling him, believes for himself: Nor does he believe necessarily or impulsively when he has that power; the power to believe may be present long before it is exer­cised, else, why the solemn warnings with which we meet everywhere in the Word of God, and threatenings against those who do not believe? Is not this a proof that such persons have the power, but do not use it? They believe not, and therefore are not established. This, therefore, is the true state of the case: God gives the power, man uses the power thus given, and brings glory to God: Without the power no man can believe; with it, any man may” (Cf. CLARKE, Ch. Th., pp. 135, 136. Also Commentary, Heb. 11: 1).

2. Faith has both a negative and a positive aspect, that is, it is both receptive and active. As negative, faith makes the whole soul empty and ready for Jesus; as active, it reaches forth with all its powers to embrace Him and His salvation Faith m its negative aspect may be regarded as the understanding affecting the heart; in its active aspect, it is that of the understanding affect­ing the will. The former is the operation of the Holy Spirit, convincing the mind of sin and awakening in the heart strong desires after salvation; the latter, the active instrument by which the soul lays hold of Christ, and is enabled to believe unto the salvation of the soul.

Bishop Weaver simplifies this position by saying that we have the power to walk;’ that power is the gift of God. We have the power to see; this also is the gift of God. But God does not walk for us, nor see for us. We may refuse to walk, or we may close our eyes (Cf. Weaver, Chr. Th,, p. 158). Dr. Ralston, uses practically the same illustration, limiting the “gift of God” to what he terms a “merciful arrangement” not independent of, but in connection with, the free moral agency of man. In this sense, God is “the author and finisher of our faith” because through this merciful arrangement and by the aid of the divine grace imparted, we are enabled to believe. We may say then that in these acceptations faith is the gift of God; but this is far from admitting that faith is in no sense the act of the creature (Cf. Ralston—Elements of Divinity, p. 358).

Christ dwells in the heart only by faith, and faith lives only by love, and love continues only by obedience; he who believes loves, and he who loves obeys. He who obeys loves; he who loves believes; he who believes has the witness in himself; he who has this witness has Christ in his heart, the hope of glory; and he who believes, loves, and obeys, has Christ in his heart, and is a man of prayer.—Dr. Adam Clarke, Chr. Th. p. 141.

3. Faith is the act of the entire being under the in­fluence of the Holy Spirit. It is not merely the assent of the mind to truth, nor a feeling arising out of the sensi­bilities; nor is it alone the consent of the will to moral obligation. True faith is the act of the whole man. It is the highest act of his personal life—an act in which he gathers up his whole being, and in a peculiar sense goes out of himself and appropriates the merit of Christ. It is for this reason that the Scriptures declare, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness (Rom. 10: 10). Here the heart is understood as the center of personality, and as involving all of its powers. Thus, saving faith is far more than a mere assent of the mind to truth; it is more than the consent of the will giving rise to mere outward reformation; and it is more than a comfortable state of the emotions. It is admitted that saving faith must embrace all of these, but in its highest exercise it is an,unshaken trust in God. ~~...the”acceptance of the propitiatory. offering of Christ which is set forth for the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles, and a firm reliance upon the merits of the blood of atonement. This firm and unshaken trust in the atoning work of Jesus Christ must ever be the crowning exercise of saving faith.

4. Saving faith is based upon the truth revealed in the Word of God. It is for this reason that St. Paul de­fines the gospel as the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Rom. 1: 16). Our Lord laid the foundation for faith in revealed truth when He said, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word (John 17: 20). St. John says of his own gospel, that these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20: 31). St. Paul also declares that God hath chosen us to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (2 Thess. 2: 13); and conse­quently inquires, How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they be­lieve in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10: 14, 15, 17) - God, therefore, gives to mankind, through His providence and His grace, the ground of saving truth in His eternal and immutable Word. He gives, also, the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, to awaken, con­vict, and lead the soul to Christ. But the Word must not be understood in the sense of the letter only, which we are told, kills; but in the Spirit which gives life. Thus a firm belief in the Christian revelation leads the soul to trust in the Christ who is the object of that reve­lation. We may say then, that the proper and ultimate ideal of faith, is a Divine Person. “When a living faith has arisen in a Divine Person,” says Dr. Sheldon, “then, by necessary consequence, there follows reliance upon that which has rational warrant for being regarded as representative of His thought or good pleasure. Faith in the Bible can be, in advance of trust in God who is back of the Bible, only superficial and conventional. The greater here includes the less. Hearty reliance upon God first prepares for genuine repose upon His oracles. Through trustful self-surrender to a personal will we are made ready to rely upon everything which is approved to us as an authentic manifestation of that will” (SHEL­DON, System Chr. Doct., pp. 438, 439). In this sense, belief is often made perfect by personal trust; and per­sonal trust is the means of strengthening mere belief.

Dr. Fairchild defines faith “as the voluntary acceptance of truth which calls for moral action: or as treating truth as true; respecting as truth what we have reason to believe to be true in regard to God and our relations to Him, or to any moral duty. The truth must pertain to God, and to duty, because the acceptance of no other truth touches moral character, or can have any bearing on our acceptance with God,” In this connection, he points out that faith in its subjective moral nature involves not so much any particular form or amount of truth embraced, as the disposition to know and do the truth. The devils have more truth in their knowledge than many of the saints; they “believe and tremble,” but they have no faith; they do not treat the truth as true, are not adjusted to the truth in their voluntary attitude; they resist and reject it. Pilate and Herod knew much about Jesus. Pilate knew Him to be a righteous man; but he did not act according to his knowledge. It is not a question of more or less light or knowledge, but a disposition to obey the light. The feeblest light which is consistent with moral agency lays the foundation for faith. It is not necessary to know the gospel in its highest revelation, in order to the possibility and obligation of faith (Cf. Fairchild, Elements of Theology, pp. 254, 255).

5. Saving faith is vitally related to good works. The relation of faith to works has been the subject of much controversy in the history of the Church. Too frequent­ly, Calvinists in their insistence upon salvation by faith only, have denied works, both as a merit and as a condi­tion, Arminians deny the merit of good works but insist upon them as a condition of salvation. Mr. Wesley’s formula was, “works, not as a merit, but as a condition.” But it must be borne in mind that the works of which he speaks, are regarded, not as springing from unassist­ed human nature, but from the prevenient grace of the Spirit. This position is set forth in Article X of Method­ism, which with a few verbal changes, is the same as Article XII of the Anglican Confession. “A)thot~gli gqq.d worksr which, are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure

Mr. Wesley wisely omitted Article XIII of the Anglican Creed which follows this and is entitled “Of Works Before Justification.” This was probably written in opposition to the Romanist doctrine of merit, and reads as follows: “Works done before the grace of Christ, and the in­spiration of hi8 Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ: neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.”

Mr. Fletcher in his “Checks to Antinomianism” has given us per­haps our strongest argument for good works as a condition of salvation. These are not to be understood as meriting salvation; nor are they to be regarded as the immediate condition of salvation, which both Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Wesley held to be faith alone. They are however, remote conditions, and are set over against the Antinomian position, that the sinner is to do nothing toward his salvation. He says, “Please to answer the following questions, founded upon the express declarations of God’s Word. To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God. Is ordering our conversation aright, doing noth­ing? Repent ye and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. Are repentance and conversion nothing? Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest—I will justify you. Is coming doing nothing? Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Come now, let us reason together, and though your sins be red like crimson, they shall be as white as snow—you 8hall be justified. Is ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well doing nothing? Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God for He will abundantly par­don. Is seeking, calling, forsaking one’s way, and returning to the Lord a mere nothing? Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Yea, take the kingdom of heaven by force. Is seeking, asking, knocking, and taking by force absolutely nothing? When you have answered these questions, I will throw one or two hundred more of the like kind in your way.”

the severity of God’s judgment; yet they are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree is discerned by its fruit.” The good works here mentioned are pleasing to God, (1) beáause they are performed according to His will; (2) because they are wrought through the assist­ance of divine grace; and (3) because they are done for the glory of God.

Throughout the gospel, grace and faith are regarded as correlative terms. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Eph. 2: 8). The Jews had come to consider salvation as a matter of works, which carried with it the idea of debt on God’s part. St. Paul, however, set the idea of faith over against that of works, and the idea of grace over against that of debt. Faith on man’s part he did not regard as a work of merit, but as a condition of sal­vation. Hence man could be saved only by faith, apart from the meritorious deeds of the law. It may be well to note that this principle of faith operated in the Old Testament also. It is sometimes stated that men were saved by law in the Old Testament, but by grace in the New Testament. But salvation has always been by grace through faith. St. Paul distinctly states that the law could not annul the promise or make it of none effect. For him the idea of obedience as meriting salvation was inconceivable. In Galatians 3: 15-22, he sets forth the meaning of the law in relation to the gospel, but makes it clear that no law could have given life, for all are un­der sin. Hence the law could only serve as a school­master to bring us to Christ. If men had possessed the

Dr. Pope in his Higher Catechism expresses the relation of faith and works as follows:

(I) Faith is opposed to works as meritorious, and the formula is:

“A man is not justified by works of law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:16).

(2) Faith lives only in its works, and the formula is: “Faith with­out works is dead” (James 2:26).

(3) Faith is justified and approved by works, and the formula is:

“I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:8).

(4) Faith is perfected in works, and the formula is: “By works was faith made perfect” (James 2:22). (Cf. Pope, Higher Catechism, p. 233.)

moral power to perfectly obey the law, even then salva­tion would have been due to the living union with God through faith. Hence salvation is now, and always has been, by grace through faith. The act of faith by which man is saved, becomes the law of his being as saved; and hence good works flow from the principle of living faith.

Faith as a Grace of the Christian Life. Say ing faith is_thai act by which the prevenient grace of the Spirit passes over into the regenerate life of the believer. Thus the faith which saves becomes the faith which is a law of our being. The initial act becomes the permanent attitude of the regenerate man. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Root­ed and built up in him, and stablished in the faith (Col. 2: 6, 7). This faith becomes the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8: 2), which St. Paul declares works by love (Gal. 5: 6). He also mentions faith as the seventh fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22), and further cata­logs it as one of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12: 9). As the former, it is a quality of the regenerate life and, therefore, a gracious result and an abiding privilege of believers; as the latter, it is a special gift bestowed by the Spirit for the profit of those to whom it is given (1 Cor. 12: 7). Closely associated with saving faith is the so-called “assurance of faith.” Arminian theologians, however, have always regarded assurance as an indi­rect, or reflex action of saving faith, and not that faith

Concerning assurance, Mr. Wesley 8ays, “But is this faith of assur­ance, or the faith of adherence? The Scripture mentions no such distinc­tion. The apostle says, ‘There is one faith, and one hope of your call­ing’; one Christian saving faith: ‘as there is one Lord,’ in whom we be­lieve, and ‘one God and Father of us all.’ And it is certain, this faith necessarily implies an assurance (which is here only another word for evidence, it being hard to tell the difference between them) that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me. For ‘he that believeth’ with the true, living faith ‘hath the witness in himself’; ‘the Spirit witnesses with His Spirit that He is a child of God.’ ‘Because he is a son, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father’; giving him an assurance that he is so, and a childlike confidence in Him. But let it be observed, that in the very nature of the thing, the assurance goes before the confidence. For a man cannot have a childlike confidence in God till he knows he is a child of God. Therefore, confidence, trust, re­liance, adherence, or whatever else it be called, is not the first, as some have supposed, but the second branch or act of faith.—Wesley, Sermon:

The Scripture Way of Salvation.

itself. Thus Dr. Pope says, “Assurance belongs to this trust only in an indirect manner, as its reflex action and its gracious result, and its abiding privilege in the regenerate life. As faith is the highest negative work of repentance and passes into the energy of regeneration, so confidence in its object, relying upon it as an object­ive, passes into the faith of subjective assurance. But the assurance is the fruit, and not the essence of faith.

.That He is my actual Savior, and that my belief is saving, cannot be the object of faith direct; it is the re­flex benefit and ~gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the full assurance of faith, “the ~Xrjpoçbopta ino-r€’ojc in which worshipers are exhorted to draw near” (POPE, Corn­pend. Chr. Th., II, pp. 383, 384). Again, faith as the law of the Christian life, is always operative, “It works by love and purifies the heart.” Otherwise there is danger of faith becoming merely a formal assent to the condi­tions of salvation. It is this against which St. James warns us. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. . . . But wilt thou know, 0 vain man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2: 19, 20, 26). True faith is, therefore, a working faith.

CONVERSION

Conversion is the term used to designate the process by which the soul turns from sin to salvation. It is com­monly used in a narrower sense in theology, but in com­mon speech is used as a general term to express the initial state of salvation, as including in an undifferentiated manner, justification, regeneration and adoption. In the Scripture, however, conversion is generally used in the narrower sense of the term, sometimes being connected with repentance, and sometimes with faith. Once the term is used as the antecedent of repentance, Surely after that I was turned, I repented (Jer. 31: 19) -More frequently, however, it is used in close connection with repentance, as the human act in turning away from sin. Thus our Lord quotes the prophecy of Isaiah, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them (John 12: 40). He also said, Except ye be con­verted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18: 3). To Peter He said, When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (Luke 22: 32). St. Peter himself uses the term twice in his sermon at Pentecost—the first as an exhortation,

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out (Acts 3: 19); and once in recounting the mission of Jesus, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3: 26). It is used also in con­nection with the mission of St. Paul, to turn them from

darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and in­heritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Acts 26: 18). Usually, however, it is used in the Acts in connection with faith, to designate the com­pany of believers. Thus, all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord (Acts 9: 35); and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord (Acts 11: 21). St. Peter uses the term in the wider sense, when he said, But ye are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls (1 Peter 2: 25); while St. James uses it in the narrower sense of a

The term conversion stands here for a few equivalents in Hebrew and Greek which express the same religious idea: that of the change by which the soul is turned from sin to God. The fact that it is thus common to the two Testaments gives it great importance. It is the general de­scription of the restoration of the sinner that runs through the Bible;

4          and, therefore, has been very often regarded as including much more than the mere crisis of moral and religious change. Sometimes it is thought to represent the whole course, through all its stages, of the re­turn of the soul to God: this is the case especially in the works of rnys­4 tical writers, and of some who are not mystical. By those for instance,

who recognize no saving influence before regeneration, out of which repentance and faith flow, conversion is of necessity made to include all the moral blessings of the state of grace: In fact, it must have a very indeterminate meaning in every system of Calvinism. The theology that may be called Sacramentarian generally regards conversion as the process of recovery from a state in which the regenerating grace conferred in baptism has been neglected and might seem to be lost. Sometimes, by a very loose employment of the term, it is made synonymous with the experience of forgiveness and the assurance of reconciliation. But we must remember that it simply means the turning point of the religious life: its turning from a course of sin to the commencement of seeking God. Hence the crisis that it marks is not in the religious life of a be­liever, but in the life of the soul, redeemed indeed, but not yet a new creature in Christ.—Pope, Compend. Chr. Tb. II, pp. 367, 368.