Andrew
Fuller
Sovereign Grace Baptist
Preacher, Author and
Theologian
(1754-1815)
Election
Consistent
The doctrine of election, as it is taught in the Scriptures, is of humbling
and holy tendency. The whole difference between the saved and the lost
being ascribed to sovereign grace, the pride of man is abased.
Upon every other principle, it is the sinner that makes himself to differ;
and who must, therefore, find whereof to glory. We may allow ourselves
to be unable to repent and believe without the aids of the Holy Spirit;
but while we maintain that these aids are afforded to sinners in common,
and that faith, instead of being "the gift of God," is the effect of our
having improved the help afforded, while others neglected it, if we think
we do not ascribe the very turning point of salvation to our own virtue,
we greatly deceive ourselves.
But election, while it places no bar in the way of any man which would
not have been there without it, resolves the salvation of the saved into
mere grace: "and if of grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace
is no more grace." ( Romans 11:6 )
Such a view of things tends to humble us in the dust. It is frequently
the last point which a sinner yields to God; it is the giving up of every
other claim and ground of hope from his own good endeavors, and falling
into the arms of sovereign mercy. And having here found rest to his soul,
he will not be less, but more attentive to the means of salvation than
he was before. His endeavors will be more ardent, and directed to a better
end. Then he was trying to serve himself; now he will serve the Lord.
Election
and Means
But if election be viewed in certain connections, it will cease to be a
doctrine according to godliness. If faith and works foreseen be connected
with it as the effects, the interests of sobriety, righteousness, and godliness
are relinquished. If we take our views of this great subject with simplicity
from the word of God, we shall consider it, like other Divine purposes,
not as a rule of conduct to us, but to Himself. We shall agonize through
life that we may at last enter in at the strait gate, no less than if all
was in itself uncertain. Nay, more so: for as Paul's assuring the mariners
that there "should be no loss of any man's life" ( Acts 27:22 )
would, if believed, inspire them with hope; so our being predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ furnishes encouragement to be pressing
on towards the mark. And as they were told, nevertheless, that except certain
means were used they "could not be saved," ( Acts 27:31 ) so we
can have no evidence of our "election to salvation," but as being the subjects
of "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." ( II Thessalonians
2:13 )
Thus, while the blessing itself is an antidote to despair, the means connected
with it are a preservative from presumption. In short, we shall view the
doctrine of election in much the same light as we do other Divine appointments
concerning our lot in the present life. We are given to believe that what
we enjoy in this life is so ordered by the will of God, and so much the
effect of providence, that there is no ground whatever of boasting in any
creature; yet we do not on this account neglect to plough or sow, or pursue
the good and avoid the evil.
Believe
the Word; Fret Not About "Consistency"
A "fleshly mind" may ask, How can these things be? How can predestination
be made to comport with human agency and accountableness? But a truly humble
Christian, finding both in the Bible, will believe both, though he may
be unable to fully conceive of their consistency, and will find in the
one a motive to depend upon God, and in the other a caution against slothfulness
and a presumptuous neglect of duty.
A Christian minister also, if he takes his views simply from the Scriptures,
will find nothing in this doctrine to hinder the free use of warnings,
invitations, and persuasions, either to the converted or to the unconverted.
Not that he will found his hopes of success on the pliability of the human
mind; but on the power and grace of God, who, while he prophesieth to the
dry bones as he is commanded, is known to inspire many with the breath
of life.
Thus, while the apostle, in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of
his Epistle to the Romans, traces the Divine sovereignty in his calling
some from among the Jews, and leaving the greater part of them to perish
in unbelief; he nevertheless, so long as they were in the world, was deeply
concerned for them. Even in his preaching to the Gentiles he had an eye
to them, "if by any means he might provoke to emulation them that were
his flesh, and might save some of them." ( Romans 11:14 ) And though
he taught believers from among them to
ascribe
their salvation entirely to electing grace, and spoke of the rest as being
blinded, yet he represents that blindness as being their own fault, to
which they were judicially given up of God. ( Romans 11:7-10)
