" The Christian will always be filled while he is making the work of the Holy Spirit possible in his life "
In a review of the first edition of this book, which appeared in The Princeton Theological Review for April, 1919, the reviewer, Dr. Benjamin B. Warfield, D.D. , objects to this statement, and to all similar teachings in this book. This teaching, he points out, " subjects the gracious working of God to human determination. " Is this teaching Biblical ?
The Scripture gives unquestionable emphasis to the sovereignity of God. God has perfectly determined what will be, and His determined purpose will be realized, for it is impossible that God should ever be either surprised or disappointed. So, also , there is equal emphasis in the Scriptures upon the fact that lying between these two undiminished aspects of His sovereignity- His eternal purpose and its perfect realization- He has permitted sufficient latitude for some exercise of the human will. In so doing, His determined ends are in no way jeopardized. There is difficulty here, but what, in Scripture, is difficult for the finite mind to harmonize, is doubtless harmonized in the mind of God.
Though it is revealed that God must impart the moving, enabling grace whereby one may believe unto salvation ( John 6:44, cf. 12:32 ) , or whereby one may yield into spiritual life ( Philippians 2:13 ) , it is as clearly revealed that, within His sovereign purpose and power, God has everywhere conditioned both salvation and the spiritual life upon these human conditions. Both believing and yielding are presented as injuctions. The fact that " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him " is invariably true, yet it is equally true that some resourcefulness of the human will, though it be divinely enabled, is appealed to by the words, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. " So, again : " This is the will of God, even your sanctification, " is a revelation which is invariably true; yet it is equally true that the believer's will is appealed to when he is besought to " yield himself unto God . " One aspect of this truth without the other will lead, in the one case, to fatalism, wherein there is no room for petition in prayer, no motive for the wooing of God's love, no ground for condemnation, no occasion for evangelistic appeal, and no meaning to much of Scripture: in the other case, it will lead to the dethroning of God. Though the will be moved upon by the enabling power of God, spirituality, according to God's Word, is made to depend upon that divinely enabled choice; Romans 12:1,2 ; Galations 5:16; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 John 1:9 being sufficient evidence. Men are said to be " condemned " " because they have not believed " ( John 3:18 ) , and sin will reign in the Christian's life unless appeal is heeded : " Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. " To state that spirituality is made possible, on the human side, by well-defined human acts and attitudes may seem " a quite terrible expression " ( to quote the reviewer ) as viewed by an abitrary theological theory; however, it is evidently Biblical.
The same reviwer objects to the teaching that there is any sudden change possible from the carnal state to the spiritual state. To quote: " He who believes in Jesus is under grace, and his whole course, in its process and in its issue alike, is determined by grace, and therefore, having been predestined to be conformed to the image of God's Son, he is surely being conformed to that image, God Himself seeing to it that he not only called and justified but also glorified. You may find Christians at every stage of this process, for it is a process through which all must pass; but you will find none who will not in God's own good time and way pass through every stage of it. There are not two kinds of Christians, although there are Christians at every conceivable stage of advancement towards the one goal to which all are bound and at which all shall arrive. "
Doubtless there are varying degrees of carnality as there are varying degrees of spirituality, but the positive denial of the statement that there are two well-defined classes of believers- " carnal " and " spiritual " - would be better supported by conclusive exposition of a large body of Scripture in which this two-fold classification of Christians seems to be taught.
In this reviewer's mind, the change from carnality to spirituality is evidently confused with Christian growth. Christian growth is undoubtedly a process of development under the determined purpose of God which will end, with the certainty of the Infinite, in a complete likeness to Christ; but spirituality is the present state of blessing and power of the believer who, at the same time, may be very immature. A Christian can and should be spiritual from the moment he is saved. Spirituality, which is the unhindered manifestations of the Spirit in life, is provided to the full for all believers who " confess " their sins, " yield " to God, and " walk not after flesh, but after the Spirit. " When these conditions are complied with, the results are immediate; for no process is indicated. Jacob, an Old Testament type, was completely changed in one night.
Christian experience bears infailing testimony to two outstanding facts: ( 1 ) There is an abrupt change from carnal to the spiritual when the Biblical conditions are met. And ( 2 ) there is an abrupt lose of spiritual blessing whenever there has been yielding to sin. ( He That Is Spiritual A Classical Study Of The Biblical Doctrine Of Spiritualty by Lewis Sperry Chafer , pg. 67-68 )
