The chief cause of misapprehension in regard to the subject of Spiritual influence, is, as it appears to me, to be found in the fact, that most persons confound the agency of the Spirit in conversion,with the influence he exerts as indwelling in the heart of the believer. Hence the confused and unscriptural notion, that the Spirit may be received before faith, and that faith itself is something wrought in the heart by a special and supernatural operation of the Spirit. This, indeed, seems to be, with many, the beginning and the end of all Spiritual influence, and they depend, accordingly, upon certain mental or emotional impressions, of which they have once been the subjects, for their evidence of conversion, their assurance of pardon, their means of sanctification, and their hope of heaven.

      We regard, however, the conversion of the sinner and the sanctification of the believer, as distinct matters, accomplished, indeed, by the same spirit, but in a different manner, and from a widely different position. We conceive the Holy Spirit to stand to the sinner in a relation very distinct from that in which he stands to him who is a member of the family of God. With the former, he is an outward witness for the truth; but the latter "has the witness in himself." To the first he is an unknown visitant or stranger; to the last, he is an indwelling and cherished guest. To the sinner, he is as the rain which falls upon the surface of the earth; to the believer, he is as a fountain from within, springing up into everlasting life. In short, to bring the matter at once to issue, we deny that there is any Scriptural authority for the notion that the unbeliever or man of the world, can receive the Spirit of God. We hold this dogma to be in direct opposition to the Divine testimony, since Christ himself [351] declares to his disciples that he could pray the Father, and He would give to them another Comforter, "even the Spirit of Truth," continues he, "WHOM THE WORLD CANNOT RECEIVE" (John xiv. 17).

      That which is pure, must be received into a pure vessel; and it is not until the heart is "purified by faith," that the Holy Spirit may enter to dwell therein. This is the view everywhere given in the Scriptures. Peter said to the believing penitents on the day of Pentecost, "Reform and be baptized for the remission of sins, and you shall [then] receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "In Christ ye also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." And also to the Galatians: "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father." It is, on the other hand, no where stated that the Holy Spirit was given to any one to make him a believer, or a child of God.

      But you may ask, is not every convert born of the Spirit? Must not every one be regenerated before entering the kingdom of heaven? True, but being "born of the Spirit," or regenerated, and receiving the Spirit, are matters quite different. No one can be born by receiving the Spirit. No one can be born of any thing that he receives, for the simple reason that he must be first born before he can receive any thing. Hence the Scriptures say that the Spirit is given to those who "are sons." How, then, you will inquire, is an individual "born of the Spirit"? In order to comprehend this, we must be careful to maintain consistency in our interpretation of the figure, and must remember that, in the Scriptures, comparisons are employed with the utmost suitableness and accuracy, in illustration of the particular points to which they are applied.

      The figure of a spiritual birth is drawn from a natural or literal birth; a regeneration from a generation. Hence, in all leading points., a just resemblance must be preserved between the fact and the figure. This we find, accordingly, in the language which the Scripture uses wherever this striking figure is introduced. James says, "God, according to his own will, hath begotten us by the word of truth." Peter says, we are "regenerated, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, even of the word of God, which lives and abides forever. Paul says to the Corinthians: "Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." And John says: "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is begotten [born] of God." It is the gospel, then, which constitutes the incorruptible seed of which the [352] children of God are born; as in the parallel figure of the sower, (Matt. xiii.) it is the gospel of the kingdom which is sown by the Son of man, and which, falling into good and honest hearts, brings forth abundant fruit to God. To believe that great proposition, that Jesus is the Christ, is, in John's expressive language, to be "begotten of God." It is thus with this sublime proposition and its proofs, as we formerly stated, that God first meets the sinner. In a word, it is the gospel that is received by the sinner, and not the Holy Spirit. Yet if he receive that gospel, spoken by the Apostles in words inspired by the Holy Spirit; preached by them "with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven," and "confirmed by demonstrations of the Spirit and of power," he is justly said to be "begotten of God," or of the Spirit, "through the word of truth;" and when at his baptism he comes forth from the water as from the womb, the figure of regeneration is complete; he is born of water and Spirit;¹ he is born again "from above." Being thus born from above, he is prepared to receive that Spirit of adoption, that Holy Spirit or Comforter, which God bestows upon all his children, and which becomes to them an internal indwelling witness, and an earnest of their eternal inheritance, and produces in them, through its sanctifying influences and those of the truth it has revealed, the precious fruits of love, joy, peace, and righteousness.

      This, I presume, is a sufficient explanation of our views upon the subject legitimately before us. That there are various obstacles and hindrances which often prevent the gospel from reaching the heart of the sinner; and that there are, on the other hand, various agencies, ministerial and providential, human and divine, general and special, which tend to remove these obstacles, and thus enable the gospel to exert its power, we freely admit. And hence it is necessary to seek these agencies, and proper to expect that God will, in answer to prayer, cause his word to be glorified in the conversion of those in whose behalf it is our duty and our privilege to ask his gracious interposition.

[ROBERT RICHARDSON.]      

Source:

Robert Richardson. "Principles and Purposes of the Reformation: A Brief Account of the Principles and Purposes of the Religious Reformation Urged by A. Campbell, and Others.--VII. The Agency of the Holy Spirit in Conversion and Sanctification." The Millennial Harbinger 23 (December 1852): 703-706.

NOTE: Included in Robert Richardson's The Principles and Objects of the Religious Reformation, Urged by A. Campbell and Others, Briefly Stated and Explained. 2d ed., rev. and enl. Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1853, pp. 74-83.

[MHA2 351-353]