September 8 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).

Devotional

The presentation of truth to the unrenewed mind, either in the form of threatening or of promise, can never—by itself—produce any saving or sanctifying effect.

In its unrenewed state, the soul of man is spiritually dead. It is insensible to all holy, spiritual activity. In that case, what impression is to be produced upon such a mind by merely holding up the truth before its eye? What life, what emotion, what effect will be accomplished? We might as well spread out a painting before the glazed eye of a corpse and expect that by the beauty of its design, the brilliancy of its colors, and the genius of its execution, we would animate the body with life, heave its bosom with emotion, and cause its eye to swim with delight, as to look for similar moral effects to result from merely holding up divine truth before a carnal mind, "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1).

And yet there are those who maintain that divine truth, unaccompanied by any extraneous power, can effect all these wonders! Against such a theory we simply cite God's Word: "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). "Except one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

The sacred Word, inspired though it be, seems only a dead letter when it is not clothed with the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. No matter how awful the truths it unfolds are, no matter how solemn the revelations it discloses are, no matter how touching the scenes it portrays are, no matter how persuasive the motives it supplies are, yet when it is left to its own unaided operation, divine truth will not produce spiritual life, love, and holiness in the soul of man. Its influence depends upon a divine influence outside of itself to render its teaching efficacious.

The three thousand who were converted on the day of Pentecost were doubtless awakened under one sermon. Some would declare that it was the power of the truth that wrought those wonders of grace. With this we perfectly agree, only adding that it was truth in the mighty hand of God that pricked them to the heart, and wrung from them the cry, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). The Eternal Spirit was the efficient cause, and the preached truth the instrument employed to produce the effect. Except for his accompanying and effectual power, they would—as multitudes do now—have turned their backs on the sermon of Peter, though it was full of Christ crucified. They would have derided the truth, and rejected the Savior of whom it spoke. But it pleased God, in the sovereignty of his will, to call them by his grace. And this he did by the effectual, omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the preached gospel.

This, then, is why we plead for a personal experiential acquaintance with and reception of the truth before it can produce anything like holiness in the soul. The Holy Spirit must effectually apply the Word to the soul.

That it has found an entrance merely to the intellect will not do. Advancing no further—not arresting the will, not touching the heart, not renewing the whole soul—it can never erect the empire of holiness in man. The reign of sanctification cannot have begun. The mental eye may be clear, but the moral eye closed. The mind may be all light, but the heart is all dark. The creed may be orthodox, but the whole life is at variance with the creed. Such is the discordant effect of divine truth, simply settled in the human understanding, unaccompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit in the heart.

But if you receive the truth in your heart by the power of God himself—if it enters there, disarming and dethroning the strong man—if Jesus enters, and the Holy Spirit takes possession, renewing, sealing, and sanctifying your soul—then "the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life" (Rom. 6:22).

What tho' I cannot break my chain
or e'er throw off my load,
the things impossible to men
are possible to God.

Who, who shall in thy presence stand,
or match Omnipotence;
unfold the grasp of thy right hand
and pluck the sinner thence?

Faith to be healed I fain would have,
O might it now be giv'n;
thou canst, thou canst the sinner save,
and make me meet for heav'n.

Bound down with twice ten thousand ties,
yet let me hear thy call;
my soul in confidence shall rise,
shall rise and break through all.

Thou canst o'ercome this heart of mine,
thou wilt victorious prove;
but everlasting strength is thine,
and everlasting love.

(Augustus M. Toplady, 1740–1778)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.