On a talk show recently an editor of this magazine was asked, “How come you preachers seem to have so little influence on the lives of your people? Many of them just don’t appear to be what you say they should be.” The second question bore down on Billy Graham’s friendship with several presidents and the host asked, “How come he didn’t have more influence on what these presidents did?”
No one can expect the unconverted person to live a Christian life. Moreover, there are people who though they profess the Christian faith have never been regenerated. But we are talking about Christians who are truly justified and who are faced by the second aspect of the salvatory process: sanctification.
Christians generally choose one of two options concerning santification. The regenerated man becomes a partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), is a new man in Christ, and is called to a life of holiness; does he continue to have an old nature along with a new nature, or does he have an old nature that has been quickened, made alive?
Lewis Sperry Chafer in his massive Systematic Theology asserts that the converted man has two natures. So does C. I. Scofield in the Scofield Bible. Chafer says:
“Into this whole ‘natural man’ a new divine nature is imparted when the individual is saved. Salvation is more than a change of heart. It is more than a transformation of the old. It is a regeneration or creation of something wholly new which is possessed in conjunction with the old nature so long as the child of God is in this body. The presence of two opposing natures (not two personalities) in one individual results in conflict” (II, 357).
Over against this view stands that of theologians such as Charles Hodge, a classical Presbyterian great. In his Systematic Theology Hodge says:
“They who are in Christ, are new creatures.… We learn that in every Christian there is a mixture of good and evil; that the original corruption of nature is not entirely removed by regeneration; that although the believer is made a new creature … he is but partially sanctified.
“As all men since the fall are in a state of sin, not only sinners because guilty of specific acts of transgression, but also as depraved, their nature perverted and corrupted, regeneration is the infusion of a new principle of life in this corrupt nature” (III, 221–4).
Chafer says that the Christian man has two natures existing side by side: one is a divine nature that cannot sin, the other the old nature that can sin, and they are in conflict. Hodge on the other hand says that the old nature was dead in trespasses and sins, but that the old nature has been quickened and made alive in Jesus Christ so that there is but one nature in the new man. This nature has been positionally sanctified, but it has not experientially been made perfect in holiness and never will be until glorification occurs.
The two views of sanctification face a common problem. They admit the existence of a battle within the life of every Christian, they lay down the principle that Christians are to slough off the old and put on the new, and they agree that a life of holiness is God’s objective in the believer and should be the believer’s objective as well. The nagging problem is, Why do so few believers act like saints?
In Romans 7 Paul alludes to his own struggle. He seems to be very discouraged by the difficulty of it. With his mind he wants to serve Christ, but with his flesh he wants to serve the old nature. He knows what he ought to do but he doesn’t do it. All believers face the same problem. Is there no resolution?
The classical biblical explanation of sainthood is that it is something toward which we must strive and something we can attain to a degree that will distinguish us from those who walk in the flesh.
Acts 6 throws light on the matter. The deacons to be chosen in the early Church were to be men full of wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit. If all believers had been filled with the Spirit and all had wisdom, it would have been needless to lay down such qualifications. Apparently, some were filled and had wisdom, while others may have had one or the other of the qualifications but not both. And apparently there was some way by which those who were to choose the deacons could tell which candidates were filled with the Spirit and had the gift of wisdom.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18) is the key to a holy life. Every believer can and ought to be Spirit-filled. This will not solve all of life’s problems, but it will go a long way toward helping us be what we ought to be. And when we are filled with the Spirit his fruit will be produced in our lives. Our hallmarks will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Churches must do more to help their members live the holy life. Failure on the part of some Christians is no reason for the churches to abandon the fight to help all believers live Spirit-filled lives. The result will be the best possible advertisements for the faith.
Synod Squabble In The Spotlight
The spotlight is on the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) these days, and they are difficult days for that denomination. Crucial sessions of four LCMS districts are scheduled to be held next month. Their presidents were removed from office in April for failing to observe new synod rules (i.e., for ordaining graduates of a seminary started by former faculty of the official seminary in St. Louis). The synod president, J.A.O. Preus, named replacements. Believing they have grass-roots support, the four ousted men declared they would continue to conduct business as usual. They are taking their cases to their district conventions.
Up to now the complicated LCMS squabble has been mostly at the synodical and institutional level; the latest developments bring it closer to the pew. Decisions at these district conventions will affect people and property at the local level, as well as the denomination’s international ministry.
The situation in the LCMS is different from that in most communions where there has been a threat of schism. Control of the church hierarchy is in the hands of a more conservative group. It has attempted to halt doctrinal drift by administrative and legislative means. If this happens, an important new chapter in ecclesiastical history will have been written.
Worthy Of Her Hire?
Is any human being worth a salary of a million dollars a year? That’s a reservation of no small import. But presuming one comes down on the affirmative side, Barbara Walters deserves it. As an interviewer on NBC-TV’s “Today” show she has been a major shaper of public opinion, and she has performed responsibly. She has worn well in the process of making important and complex issues and personages understandable and interesting. Those who are critical of the high salary that helped to lure her to ABC on the grounds that it taints journalism with entertainment overlook the fact that she has attained popularity without stooping to obtrusive histrionics.
One of the major assets of the “Today” show has been its generous interest in religious affairs; probably no other leading TV journalists have talked with as many clergymen as Barbara Walters has. We wish her well in her forthcoming work with ABC and hope for similar breadth and competency.
Negotiating For Nothing?
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s hop, skip, and jump tour of Africa last month was a belated expression of the United States government’s appreciation of that continent’s potential. As one veteran African leader put it, the trip was too late to prevent war since war is already a fact of life. It is to be hoped that the Kissinger diplomacy could help to bring an early and honorable peace.
No person or nation of goodwill wants military operations in Africa to continue. There are too many other battles to be fought there, battles against underdevelopment of all kinds, and especially against hunger, disease, and illiteracy.
North American (and European) Christians have expressed their appreciation of Africa’s potential over a long period. They have particular reasons for hoping the continent gets on with peaceful development. As a whole, it is one of the bright spots of Christianity. Response to the Gospel has been nothing short of spectacular. In some nations south of the Sahara the Church has been growing at a much faster rate than the population. The East African revival (discussed in the interview with Festo Kivengere that begins on page 10 of this issue) is one example of the kind of leadership that Africans are providing. The missionary investment has begun to pay off in the emergence of evangelical leaders of international stature. Because of the recent Christian developments on the continent, world attention will be focused this December on the Pan African Christian Leadership Assembly in Nairobi.
Many African Christians have already suffered during convulsions of their continent. Some have suffered solely because they were confessing Christians. Others have been hurt (or killed) because of alleged loyalties to foreign powers or ideologies. In Mozambique, for instance, the charge against believers seems to be that they learned worship patterns from aliens. Said a recent announcement from President Samora Machel’s FRELIMO government: “The people must be made to understand that to attend church services or to obey the preachings of the missionaries will mean to work against Mozambique and to serve the imperialist power.” Two of three American missionaries imprisoned by Mozambique were released last month, but that still leaves more than 140 church workers in jail there.
How much more of an ordeal must Christians endure in Africa? As the diplomats (and agencies such as the World Council of Churches that have shown great interest in the liberation of Southern Africa) continue their negotiations, they must keep asking what kind of freedom they envision. As a minimum, it ought to include religious liberty.
