Works of John Bunyan Volume I Part 103

14. By this good Spirit we are sealed to the day of redemption (Eph 1:14).

15. And by this good Spirit we are made to wait with patience until the redemption of the purchased possession comes (Gal 5:5).

Now all these things are so necessary to our salvation, that I know not which of them can be wanting; neither can any of them be by any means attained but by this blessed Spirit.

And thus have I in few words showed you the grace of the Spirit, and how it putteth forth itself towards the saving of the soul.

And verily, Sirs, it is necessary that you know these things distinctly--to wit, the grace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of the Holy Ghost; for it is not the grace of one, but of all these three, that saveth him that shall be saved indeed.

The Father's grace saveth no man without the grace of the Son; neither doth the Father and the Son save any without the grace of the Spirit; for as the Father loves, the Son must die, and the Spirit must sanctify, or no soul must be saved.

Some think that the love of the Father, without the blood of the Son, will save them, but they are deceived; for "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb 9:22).

Some think that the love of the Father and blood of the Son will do, without the holiness of the Spirit of G.o.d; but they are deceived also; for "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his"; and again, "without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (Rom 8:9; Heb 12:14).

There is a third sort, that think the holiness of the Spirit is sufficient of itself; but they (if they had it) are deceived also; for it must be the grace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of the Spirit, jointly, that must save them.

But yet, as these three do put forth grace jointly and truly in the salvation of a sinner, so they put it forth, as I also have showed you before, after a diverse manner. The Father designs us for heaven, the Son redeems from sin and death, and the Spirit makes us meet for heaven; not by electing, that is the work of the Father; not by dying, that is the work of the Son; but by his revealing Christ, and applying Christ to our souls, by shedding the love of G.o.d abroad in our hearts, by sanctifying of our souls, and taking possession of us as an earnest of our possession of heaven.

QUEST. III.--WHO ARE THEY THAT ARE TO BE SAVED BY GRACE?

I come now to the third particular--namely, to show you who they are that are to be saved by grace.

[Who are not saved.]

First. Not the self-righteous, not they that have no need of the physician. "The whole have no need of the physician," saith Christ.

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:17). And again, "He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away" (Luke 1:53). Now when I say not the self-righteous nor the rich, I mean not that they are utterly excluded; for Paul was such an one; but he saveth not such without he first awaken them to see they have need to be saved by grace.

Second. The grace of G.o.d saveth not him that hath sinned the unpardonable sin. There is nothing left for him "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment,--which shall devour the adversaries" (Heb 10:26,27).

Third. That sinner that persevereth in final impenitency and unbelief shall be d.a.m.ned (Luke 13:3,5; Rom 2:2-5; Mark 16:15,16).

Fourth. That sinner whose mind the G.o.d of this world hath blinded, that the glorious light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of G.o.d, can never shine into him, is lost, and must be d.a.m.ned (2 Cor 4:3,4).

Fifth. The sinner that maketh religion his cloak for wickedness, he is a hypocrite, and, continuing so, must certainly be d.a.m.ned (Psa 125:5; Isa 33:14; Matt 24:50,51).

Sixth. In a word, every sinner that persevereth in his wickedness, shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven--"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of G.o.d? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of G.o.d." "Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of G.o.d upon the children of disobedience" (1 Cor 6:9-12; Eph 5:5,6).

[Who are saved.] Question. But what kind of sinners shall then be saved?

Answ. Those of all these kinds that the Spirit of G.o.d shall bring [to] the Father by Jesus Christ; these, I say, and none but these, can be saved, because else the sinners might be saved without the Father, or without the Son, or without the Spirit.

Now, in all that I have said, I have not in the least suggested that any sinner is rejected because his sins, in the nature of them, are great; Christ Jesus came into the world to save the chief of sinners. It is not, therefore, the greatness of, but the continuance in, sins that indeed d.a.m.neth the sinner. But I always exclude him that hath sinned against the Holy Ghost. That it is not the greatness of sin that excludeth the sinner is evident--

1. From the words before the text, which doth give an account of what kind of sinners were here saved by grace, as namely, they that were dead in trespa.s.ses and sins, those that walked in these sins, "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the l.u.s.ts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph 2:2,3).

2. It is evident also from the many sinners that we find to be saved, by the revealed will of G.o.d. For in the Word we have mention made of the salvation of great sinners, where their names and their sins stand recorded for our encouragement; as, (1.) You read of Mana.s.seh, who was an idolater, a witch, a persecutor, yea, a rebel against the word of G.o.d, sent unto him by the prophets; and yet this man was saved (2 Chron 33:2-13; 2 Kings 21:16). (2.) You read of Mary Magdalene, in whom were seven devils; her condition was dreadful, yet she was saved (Luke 8:2; John 20). (3.) You read of the man that had a legion of devils in him. O how dreadful was his condition! and yet by grace he was saved (Mark 5:1-10). (4.) You read of them that murdered the Lord Jesus, and how they were converted and saved (Acts 2:23). (5.) You read of the exorcists, how they closed with Christ, and were saved by grace (Acts 19:13).

(6.) You read of Saul the persecutor, and how he was saved by grace (Acts 9:15).

Object. But, thou sayest, I am a backslider.

Answ. So was Noah, and yet he found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 9:21,22). So was Lot, and yet G.o.d saved him by grace (Gen 19:35; 2 Peter 2:7-9). So was David, yet by grace he was forgiven his iniquities (2 Sam 12:7-13). So was Solomon, and a great one too; yet by grace his soul was saved (Psa 89:28-34). So was Peter, and that a dreadful one; yet by grace he was saved (Matt 26:69-74; Mark 16:7; Acts 15:7-11). Besides, for further encouragement, read Jeremiah 3, 33:25,26, 51:5, Ezekiel 36:25, Hosea 14:1-4; and stay thyself, and wonder at the riches of the grace of G.o.d.

Quest. But how should we find out what sinners shall be saved? All, it seems, shall not. Besides, for aught can be gathered by what you have said, there is as bad saved as d.a.m.ned, set him that hath sinned the unpardonable sin aside.

Answ. True, there are as bad saved as d.a.m.ned; but to this question: They that are effectually called, are saved. They that believe on the Son of G.o.d shall be saved. They that are sanctified and preserved in Christ shall be saved. They that take up their cross daily, and follow Christ, shall be saved.

Take a catalogue of them thus: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Mark 16:16; Acts 16:31). "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that G.o.d hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved"

(Rom 10:9). Be justified by the blood of Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Rom 5:9). Be reconciled to G.o.d by the death of his Son, and thou shalt be saved by his life (Rom 5:10). "And it shall come to pa.s.s, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21).

See some other scriptures. "He shall save the humble person" (Job 22:29). "Thou wilt save the afflicted people" (Psa 18:27). "He shall save the children of the needy" (Psa 72:4). "He shall save the souls of the needy" (Psa 72:13). "O thou, my G.o.d, save thy servant that trusteth in thee" (Psa 86:2). "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him, he also will hear their cry, and will save them" (Psa 145:19).

[Caution.] But, sinner, if thou wouldst indeed be saved, beware of these four things--

1. Beware of delaying repentance; delays are dangerous and d.a.m.nable; they are dangerous, because they harden the heart; they are d.a.m.nable, because their tendency is to make thee outstand the time of grace (Psa 95:7; Heb 3-12).

2. Beware of resting in the word of the kingdom, without the spirit and power of the kingdom of the gospel; for the gospel coming in word only saves n.o.body, for the kingdom of G.o.d or the gospel, where it comes to salvation, is not in word but in power (1 Thess 1:4-6; 1 Cor 4:19).

3. Take heed of living in a profession, a life that is provoking to G.o.d; for that is the way to make him cast thee away in his anger.

4. Take heed that thy inside and outside be alike;, and both conformable to the Word of his grace; labour to be like the living creatures which thou mayest read of in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, whose appearance and themselves were one 10 (Eze 10:22).

In all this, I have advertised you not to be content without the power and Spirit of G.o.d in your hearts, for without him you partake of none of the grace of the Father or Son, but will certainly miss of the salvation of the soul.

QUEST. IV.--HOW IT APPEARS THAT THEY THAT ARE SAVED, ARE SAVED BY GRACE?

This fourth question requireth that some demonstration be given of the truth of this doctrine--to wit, that they that are saved are saved by grace.

What hath been said before hath given some demonstration of the truth; wherefore, first repeating in few words the sum of what hath been said already, I shall come to further proof. 1. That this is true, the Scriptures testify, because G.o.d chose them to salvation before they had done good (Rom 9:11). 2. Christ was ordained to be their Saviour before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4; 1 Peter 1:19-21). 3. All things that concur and go to our salvation were also in the same laid up in Christ, to be communicated in the dispensation of the fullness of times, to them that shall be saved (Eph 1:3,4; 2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:10; 3:8-11; Rom 8:30).

[That salvation is by grace appears in its contrivance.] Again, as their salvation was contrived by G.o.d, so, as was said, this salvation was undertaken by one of the three; to wit, the Son of the Father (John 1:29; Isa 48:16).

Had there been a contrivance in heaven about the salvation of sinners on earth, yet if the result of that contrivance had been that we should be saved by our own good deeds, it would not have been proper for an apostle, or an angel, to say, "By grace ye are saved." But now, when a council is held in eternity about the salvation of sinners in time, and when the result of that council shall be, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost will themselves accomplish the work of this salvation, this is grace, this is naturally grace, grace that is rich and free; yea, this is unthought-of grace. I will say it again, this is unthought-of grace; for who could have thought that a Saviour had been in the bosom of the Father, or that the Father would have given him to be the Saviour of men, since he refused to give him to be the Saviour of angels? (Heb 2:16,17).

[Grace appears in the Son's undertaking this work.] Again; could it have been thought that the Father would have sent his Son to be the Saviour, we should, in reason, have thought also that he would never have taken the work wholly upon himself, especially that fearful, dreadful, soul-astonishing, and amazing part thereof!

Who could once have imagined that the Lord Jesus would have made himself so poor as to stand before G.o.d in the nauseous rags of our sins, and subject himself to the curse and death that were due to our sin? but thus he did to save us by grace.

"Blessed be the G.o.d and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph 1:3-7).

[Grace appears in the terms and conditions on which salvation is made over.] Again; if we consider the terms and conditions upon which this salvation is made over to them that are saved, it will further appear we are saved by grace.

1. The things that immediately concern our justification and salvation, they are offered, yea, given to us freely, and we are commanded to receive them by faith. Sinner, hold up thy lap. G.o.d so loved the world, that he giveth his Son, that he giveth his righteousness, that he giveth his Spirit, and the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16; Rom 5:17; 2 Cor 1:21,22; Luke 12:32).

2. He also giveth repentance, he giveth faith, and giveth everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace (Acts 5:30,31; Phil 1:29; 2 Thess 2:16).

3. He giveth pardon, and giveth more grace, to keep us from sinking into h.e.l.l, than we have sin to sink us in thither (Acts 5:31; Prov 3:34; John 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

4. He hath made all these things over to us in a covenant of grace.

We call it a covenant of grace, because it is set in opposition to the covenant of works, and because it is established to us in the doings of Christ, founded in his blood, established upon the best promises made to him, and to us by him. "For all the promises of G.o.d in him are yea, and in him amen, to the glory of G.o.d by us" (2 Cor 1:20).