SIR ROBERT ANDERSON
Secret Service Theologian
ENTAIL OF THE COVENANT
CHAPTER III
"TRAIN up a child in the way he should
go, and when he is old he will be converted." This strange perversion of
Scripture represents the settled belief of multitudes. "Being converted" is a
cumbersome synonym for "being turned"; and the Revisers have done well in
adopting the simpler phrase. If one is walking in the right way, from what is
he to be turned? That conversion is essential to salvation is indeed a popular
belief. And it is a belief that is the bane of many a Christian home.
Christians who in early childhood were "nurtured in the chastening and
admonition of the Lord" may be able to specify a time when first they
intelligently grasped "the word of the truth of the Gospel." But that is not
what Scripture means by conversion. And in the case of many the dawning of the
light was so gradual that they are unable to say when the sun actually appeared
above the horizon. But they know with certainty that it has risen, and that it
is shining on them. And that is the essential thing.
But does not the
Lord Himself declare that conversion is essential to salvation ? The question
is based on a misreading of a gospel narrative already noticed on a preceding
page.1 On His way to Capernaum, after His rejection by the Jewish authorities,
He said to His disciples, "The Son of Man is delivered up into the hands of
men, and they shall kill Him." And with these tragically solemn words still
ringing in their ears, they fell to disputing which of them would be greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. And to them it was, and in these circumstances, He
said, pointing to a little child who was standing in their midst, " Except ye
be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven " that earthly Messianic kingdom upon which, at that time,
their hopes were set. And on the only other occasion on which the Lord is
reported to have used the word, He said to Peter, " When thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren."
1 P. 29, ante.
But the Apostles were not
unregenerate sinners in need of eternal life : they were unfaithful disciples
who had fallen out of communion with the Lord. What a lesson is here for the
Christian ! For we are ever prone to stray into some wrong path ; and when we
wander thus, and cease to follow Him, we need to be "turned round about." For
this is what being converted signifies in Scripture.1 Indeed the technical
theological term, as popularly used, has no counterpart in the language of the
New Testament. Therefore is it that in the Revised Version it has disappeared,
save in James v. 19, 20, where its meaning is unequivocal; for it is certain
that, in the theological sense, no man can "convert" his fellow.
1 See ex.
gr. Matt. ix. 22. " Jesus turned Him about" (Luke vii. 9). In every one of the
seven occurrences of the word strepho in Luke's gospel, it is used of the Lord
Himself. In Matt. ix. 22 the word is epistrepho.
It is important
to keep in view the distinction between the saved and the unsaved in their
relations with God; we must not shut off Divine truths in water-tight
compartments. For the saved are apt to go astray " like lost sheep " ; and on
the other hand, some who are really lost may be seeking the Lord, " if haply
they might feel after Him and find Him." And He is not far from such. But
though the prodigal was turned about while in the far country amid the swine
troughs, he was not saved till he reached his father's house. It is the walls
of the City of God, not the roads which lead to it, that typify
salvation.1
1 Isa. Ix. 18. 2 See ex. gr. Matt. iv. 23-25. 3 Matt. xii.
14.
There is one Scripture which ought to make an end of controversy
here. And it is a passage not only of principal importance, but of extreme
solemnity. In the earlier period of the Lord's ministry there was no element
whatever of reserve. His teaching was plain and clear, and His mighty deeds of
mercy were as free to all as were His words of grace.2 But what was the
response of that impenitent and guilty people ? The Hebrew Gospel records the
terrible and shameful story: His destruction was decreed by the great Council
of the nation.3 From that time His ministry assumed a new phase. He charged the
disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ.1 His beneficent acts of mercy
became less frequent, and He desired to conceal them from the Jewish leaders;
and His teaching became veiled in parables.
And when the disciples
sought an explanation of the change, Isaiah's prophetic word supplied the
answer. Those evil men had had their day of visitation. But they had wilfully
closed their eyes to His works of power, and dulled their ears against His
words of grace. And now a sentence of judicial blindness and deafness had been
Divinely passed upon them. In future they were to see without perceiving, and
to hear without understanding - mark the Saviour's words -"lest they should be
converted (lest they should turn again) and I should heal them."2 For He could
neither hide Himself, nor yet be silent. And to refuse a sinner who turned to
Him was impossible, for that would be to deny Himself.
1 Matt, xvi. 20
(R.V.). 2 Matt. xiii. 15.
These awfully solemn words are entirely in
keeping with the great principle enunciated in the preceding verse. It is a
principle which Bible story abundantly exemplifies; a principle moreover which
explains the mystery of many a life. Appeals that used to move the heart no
longer reach it: appeals that used to rouse the conscience now fall upon the
ear unheeded. It is not that God is changed. He is the Lord God, merciful and
gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness. But " God is not mocked " :
and no one may treat Him as he would not dare to treat a fellow-man.
For
" There is a time, we know not
when,
A point, we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men
To
glory or despair. "
There is a line, by us unseen,
That crosses
every path,
The hidden boundary between
God's patience and His wrath.
"Oh, where is that mysterious bourne,
By which man's path is
crossed,
Beyond which God Himself hath sworn
That he who goes is
lost?
"How long may I go on in sin?
How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end, and where begin
The confines of despair ?
'An answer from the skies is sent -
Ye who from God depart, While it is
called to-day, repent And harden not your heart." To these same proud religious
Jews it was that the Lord addressed the words, "No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him." We miss their significance because we
have forgotten that it is in the spiritual sphere that the ruin of our race is
absolute and hopeless. Therefore is it that religion blinds men to the truth of
God, and shuts them out from Christ. Therefore was it that publicans and
harlots entered the Kingdom, and men of blameless life, like Saul the Pharisee,
became persecutors and blasphemers. "The common people heard Him gladly,"
because they knew that they were 'blind, and therefore they welcomed the light;
but to Priests and Pharisees the light was an offence. So the blind received
their sight, and those that claimed to see were blinded.1 How different His
words to the abandoned Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar! " If thou knewest
the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou
wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water." Thou
wouldest have asked, and He would have given. Is it possible that blessing
could be made more free ? Yes, indeed, for Divine grace is infinite ; and on
the very last page of Holy Writ we have a final proclamation : " Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely." And entirely in keeping with this
are the charter words He uttered upon the eve of His passion: "I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." For " before the
glorification of Christ, the Father drew men to the Son ; but now the Son
Himself draws all to Himself."2
1 John ix. 39. It was not merely that they
remained blind, but that, as the result of a judicial sentence, they were
blinded.
2 Dean Alford's Commentary ; John xii. 32.
Flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore the new birth is as essential for
the infant as for the adult. If then it depends on an intelligent receiving of
Christ, no infant can possibly be saved. But the new birth must not be
confounded with conversion, which, being a conscious turning to God, is
experienced only by those who have reached an age at which they can realise the
need of it. And, as already noticed, there are many Christians who have known
and loved the Lord from such a tender age, that they cannot recollect passing
through any such experience as conviction of sin and subsequent conversion. But
all who are born of the Spirit are children of God. Such is the subtilty of
error in these days that this seemingly obvious truth needs to be plainly
stated. Looking back for tokens or proofs that we have been born of God, or
converted, may take our eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and plunge us into
darkness. Moreover the remembrance of a change experienced at some past epoch
of life is no safe anchorage for faith. Indeed it may prove as perilous and
false as would dependence on the fact of having been subjected to a religious
ordinance or rite in infancy. The Christian is one who believes in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has a present faith in Christ, and not in Christ as Saviour
only, but as Saviour and Lord.1
"The Shepherd found me in His
boundless grace
Before I even knew that I was lost;
My tiny footsteps
scarcely had begun
To tread the path of danger ere I saw
The Shepherd
close beside me. 'Twas enough!
No sense of danger made me seek His
arms,
I did but catch a glimpse of His dear Face,
Then gladly let Him
lift me to His breast.
And only after that, when I was safe,
And felt
His arms encircling me with love
Did He Himself point out the road
beneath,
And make me see the precipice below.
I saw His love before I
saw my need,
I knew my safety long before I knew
The awful death from
which He rescued me ;
And though I cannot tell when this took
place,
Or when I first was clasped in His embrace,
I only know He found
meI am His."
ADA R. HABERSHON.
* These last two paragraphs are taken
from a paper written some years ago for a symposium which has since been
published under the title How and When ? The Editors begged me to omit them,
but I could not comply, nor could I identify myself with a publication which
rejected " seemingly obvious truth " of such great practical importance.
Go To Chapter Four
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