That it is the instrument of enlightening the
mind, of awakening the conscience, and of softening the heart.
"The entrance of thy word giveth light" -- Psalm
119:130.
"The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" --
Ephesians 6:17.
"Is not my word like as fire? saith the Lord; and like
a hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces?" -- Jeremiah
23:29.
Compare 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5; Revelation 1:16, 2:12, 16; 19:15,
21.
That it is the instrument, or seed, of
regeneration.
"The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they
that hear shall live" -- John 5:25.
"The words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit, and they are life" -- John 6:63.
"In Christ
Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" -- 1 Corinthians
4:15.
"My son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds" --
Philemon 10.
"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" -- James
1:18.
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" -- 1
Peter 1:23.
See also 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2:4.
That they only, who believe in Christ,
are the children of God.
"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" -- John
1:12.
"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" --
Galatians 3:26.
"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born
of God" -- 1 John 5:1.
That it is the mean, in the hand of the
Spirit,
of Conversion, of Sanctification, and of Salvation.
Of Conversion:
"The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul" -- Psalm 19:7.
"He called you by our gospel,
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" -- 2 Thesssalonians
2:14.
Of Sanctification:
"He that received seed into
the good ground, is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it; which also
beareth fruit" -- Matthew 13:23.
"Ye are clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you" -- John 15:3.
"Sanctify them through
thy truth: thy word is truth" -- John 17:17.
"That they also might
be sanctified through the truth" -- John 17:19.
"God be thanked,
that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed, from the heart, the model
of doctrine into which ye were delivered" -- Romans 6:17.
"The new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and holiness of the truth"
-- Ephesians 4:24.
"The gospel, which is come unto you, as it is
in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit" -- Colossians 1:5,
6.
"The word of God, which effectually worketh in you that
believe" -- 1 Thessalonians 2:13.
"You have purified your
souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit" -- 1 Peter
1:22.
Of Salvation:
"The gospel of Christ -- is the
power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth" -- Romans
1:16.
"The gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved" -- 1 Corinthians
15:1, 2.
"The word, or doctrine of the cross, is to us who are saved
the power of God" -- 1 Corinthians 1:18.
"The engrafted word,
which is able to save your souls" -- James
1:17.
>>
Booth continues on page
122:
>>
Such is the language of inspiration, relative to
the high importance of revealed truth, in the great phan of salvation by Jesus
Christ! Hence, it appears, that few things are more evidently contained, or more
strongly asserted, in sacred scripture, than the INSTRUMENTALITY OF DIVINE
TRUTH IN RENEWING THE HEARTS OF SINNERS.
For it is there
described as the honoured mean, as the seed of God (1 Peter 1:23-25), by
which the Holy Spirit effects regeneration, the sanctification, and the
consolation, of those that are saved.
But it is impossible for us
to conceive of the mind being enlightened, of the conscience being relieved, of
the will being regulated, and of the affections being purified by the word of
truth, any further than it is believed. It may therefore be concluded, that
regeneration is not, in order of time, prior to faith in Christ, and
justification by him.
To contend, indeed, that regeneration
must be prior to faith, and to justification, is like maintaining that the
eldest son of a nobleman must partake of human nature, before he can have the
filial relation to his father which constitutes him an heir to the paternal
estate, and entitles him to those honours which are hereitary in the family. For
the human nature, derived from his parents, and the relation of a son, being
completely of the same date; there is no such thing as priority, or
posteriority, respecting them, either as to the order of time, or the order of
nature. THEY ARE INSEPARABLE, NOR CAN ONE EXIST WITHOUT THE
OTHER.
Thus it is, I conceive, with regard to regeneration,
faith in Christ, and justification before God. For, to consider any man as born
of God, but not as a child of God; as a child of God, but not as believing in
Jesus Christ; as believing in Jesus Christ, but not as justified; or as
justified, but not as an heir of immortal felicity; is, either to the last
degree absurd, or manifestly contrary to the apostolic
doctrine.
Consequently, as they are the ungodly whom the Spirit
regenerates by the truth, so persons of that character are warranted to
believe in Jesus.
>>
Mr. Booth then gives the quotes from
Stephen Charnock, to whom we have often referred, contained in Charnock's
A Discourse of the Word, the Instrument of Regeneration
(online).
He follows the Charnock quotatation with the
following from Dr. John Owen:
>>
This [regeneration]
is wrought by the word. We are born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, by the word of God. Wherein, not only the thing
itself, of our regeneration by the word, but the manner of it also, is
declared. It is by the collation of a new spiritual life upon us, whereof the
word is the seed. As every life proceeds from some seed, that hath in itself
virtually the whole life to be deduced from it, by natural ways and means; so
the word in the hearts of men is turned into a vital principle, that,
cherished by suitable means, puts forth vital acts and operations. BY THIS
MEANS WE ARE BORN OF GOD, and quickened, who, by nature, are
children of wrath; dead in trespasses and sins. So Paul tells the Corinthians,
that he had begotten them, in Jesus Christ, by the gospel. It is
the INSTRUMENT OF GOD for this end; and mighty and powerful,
through God, it is for the accomplishment of it. (Owen on Hebrews 2:2, 3, 4,
Vol. I, page 178).
>>
Abraham Booth goes on in his book to
consider some of the objections and arguments of the hyper-Calvinists of his day
who taught "pre-faith regeneration." It is noteworthy that some of the
same thought is expressed today by some hypers, Hardshells, and hybrid
Calvinists. This theory became the very core of HARDSHELLISM, or the
PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH, from 1832 onward.
I looked in the index of
James White's book, The Potter's Freedom, and notihed he has no
reference to great passages used by Mr. Booth which teach the necessity of the
means of the Gospel or Word in regeneration. No reference to John
6:63; 1 Corinthians 2:4, 4:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13,
14; 1 Peter 1:23. The absence of such passages in White's books is
consistent with his "pre-faith regeneration" theory. -- Bob L. Ross
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