From Faith To Faith
by Robert Brush
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.” —Romans 1:17
Suppose a hospital did away with its prenatal care unit and its pediatrics
department. What if they had no interest in the child's development either before
or after birth. "We will devote all of our attention to see to it that new babies are
being born," the hospital states. Would those babies be as healthy as they could
be if they had supervision and direction throughout the developmental process?
Many churches which emphasize being born again neglect to care for the new
life either before or after birth. Most of their pastors would report a high infant
mortality rate among converts.
38% of all Americans claim to be born again. Research by George Gallup, Jr.
indicates that most of them do not know the basic teachings of the faith. They do
not act significantly different from non Christians in their daily lives. The
practice of both groups includes cheating, tax evasion and petty theft. Gallup
found fewer than 10% of all Americans are committed Christians.
Our generation has reduced conversion to four spiritual laws presented by a
high-pressure salesperson. We have not said enough about God's grace at work
even before conversion. Wherever you are in the salvation process, God's grace
is at work in your life. I'm inviting you to ask yourself what God is doing in
your life and what you can do to cooperate with His program.
Grace which precedes salvation
We are sinful and powerless to do good on our own. We need a new beginning.
Everything which can be called good in us before that new beginning is the
work of the Holy Spirit. God in His goodness brings us to salvation (Titus 2:11).
He does not bring full restoration in one broad sweep. Grace comes in smaller
intervals which we can absorb. Prevenient grace is the grace which goes before
or precedes salvation. Sometimes it is also called preliminary grace.
Several references in Acts are to God fearing people who worshipped God
before they experienced the new birth. The list includes the disciples before
Pentecost (Acts 1:14), the Samaritans (Acts 8:1417), Saul (Acts 9:4-5),
Cornelius (Acts 10:2), Jews and proselytes (Acts 13:43), Lydia (Acts 16:14),
Apollos (Acts 18:25), and the Ephesians (Acts 19:2-5). In each instance the
Holy Spirit led them into a more comprehensive understanding of salvation.
Natural birth/Spiritual birth
The answer the questions of Nicodemus, Jesus used being born as a baby to
teach him about being born as a baby Christian. We often quote "You must be
born again" (John 3:7) without considering all that is involved.
When does life begin? Life exists in the womb before birth. 'Today expectant
mothers can even watch that life move on a screen in their doctor's office.
Paul wrote to the Galatians that he was in the pains of childbirth until Christ was
formed in them (Galatians 4:19). Peter called the Word of God a "seed" which
leads to the new birth (1 Peter 1:23-the original word was "sperm").
As we hear the Word of God, truth is planted in our mind. And as we hear the
Word,. the Spirit of God calls us to salvation. This awareness of the will of God
leads to a conviction that we are sinners and unable to do His will.
We are aware that we are guilty and may attempt some feeble reformation of our
life. We may start going to church. We may go forward at church and "accept
Christ" or even be baptized without yet experiencing the new birth. We are in a
pre-birth state like a developing fetus in the womb.
Not only does the Bible use birth to describe the salvation process; Paul uses
adoption to explain the same process in Galatians 4:1-7. An underage child
represents pre-Christian experience. Although a son, he is treated more like a
servant. The child is enslaved by the ways of the world and held prisoner
because he breaks God's law.
But when the child reaches a set age there is an adoption ceremony, he receives
the full rights of a son and is no longer a servant. God's Spirit assures him of his
adoption into God's family.
Let's look in more detail at the salvation process.
STAGE 1
Unaware
Like a fetus having never experienced life outside the womb, we cannot grasp
"the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness" (1
Corinthians 2:14).
Even after birth, an infant perceives the world is centered in him. He cannot
even make a distinction between himself and the rest of the world. Like a
newborn child, we are only aware of our own impulses and appetites.
Are you indifferent to God? Are you living only for the here and now? God's
word to you is, 'Wake up, 0h sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine
on you!' (Ephesians 5:14).
Careless
As children grow older they become more aware of the outside world. They may
conform when they are forced to do so, but they have no internal conscience.
They are driven by self-interests and will only do what they must do to get what
they want in return.
People who are in this spiritual condition are careless. They violate God's law
regularly, sinning more or less every day with little remorse. Their spiritual
senses are not alert. They are ignorant of God and have no concept of holiness.
Those who fall under stage 1 are called in Scripture "natural people." They are
unaware of God.
STAGE 2
Awakened
When God gives us a "wake-up call" we become conscious of our sins. We
begin to feel sorry because of them. We realize we are in a condition of bondage
and fear (Romans 8:15). This leads to a desire for the forgiving and renewing
grace of God. The process is called awakening.
The Bible tells about people whose alarm clock" went off. The prodigal son
woke up in a pigpen. When Jesus looked at Peter just after Peter denied he knew
Jesus, Peter was "awakened." Saul got his "wake-up call" on the Damascus
Road.
The Holy Spirit may use circumstances such as sickness or the loss of a loved
one to get through to us. He may work through the influence of a godly person
or the struggles of youth with all its confusion. He may speak to our mind
through the reading of biographies or the influence of good music. We may
wake up as we meditate or hear a gospel sermon.
Something happens as you are growing up. You become conscious of how
important people really are. "Being good" is now important. For the first time
ever you think about how other people see you and how they must feel. The
world runs according to rules. The desire to please others drives you and when
you fail your first response is to justify yourself.
We also sense a growing awareness of God and we really want to please Him.
But people often try to please God through "legalism." Legalism is an attempt to
earn God's favor through our good deeds. For the legalist, religion consists in
keeping the rules we have made about how we should please God.
A certain amount of time must be spent here to develop a conscience, but we are
not to remain here. While many Christians accept this condition as the normal
Christian life, it is only the servant stage. The Bible makes a distinction between
a servant who works for God and a child of God who is part of God's family.
If this description fits your condition, then you have made progress. Remember
that change does not occur without pain. Your discouragement and doubt should
not be misread as symptoms of failure. They are signs of life and promise. We
do not grow when we are contented. Becoming conscious of your performance
is necessary in order to change it.
However, Paul warned that the letter of the law kills (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). Don't
get bogged down in legalism. Paul wrote in Romans 7 that the harder he tried to
do right, the more conscious he was of his sin. Paul points us to a higher
level-life in the Spirit. We will not receive spiritual life until we die to
self-righteousness. We will not know resurrection until we have first suffered
and died (Philippians 3:10). We cannot bypass conviction.
Guilty
At this state we fear God and make a real effort to obey Him, but we fail over
and over. Paul confessed, "When I want to do good, evil is right there with me"
(Romans 7:21).
Have you experienced this? I certainly remember when I did! I was under the
condemnation of the law. I felt I was a guilty, lost sinner deserving hell. I was
scared to death not wanting to do one thing to offend God. I worried whether
every move I made met with God's approval. I watched every word I said and
condemned myself over the slightest action that did not quite measure up.
The effects of awakening and guilt differ according to personality. With quiet
persons, the effect may be slow and gentle. However, with strong personalities,
it can be forceful and even sudden. If our sense of right and wrong has become
blurred, we may receive a loud wake-up call!
We cannot judge the impact of the Spirit's work by our tears or distressed
actions. Some temperaments may appear more deeply convicted, but the
impression may be as quickly forgotten.
Other types may show little emotion, but may be driven to overreact. They may
become super strict or even despondent. They may go to extremes to make sure
every restitution is made. When salvation came to Zacchaeus, the Bible tells that
he did what he could to correct the imbalance which his greed had caused. We
may need to correct a lie we have told, return stolen property, or replace
damaged property. While we must repent and make restitution where possible,
we can never remember every sin for which we need to repent. We cannot
correct every wrong we have done. Our acceptance with God can never be based
on what we do. We are saved by grace through faith. God will give us faith
when we turn from sin and turn toward Christ.
We need not seek to duplicate someone else's experience. Testimonies which
emphasize "what I had to do to get saved" are misleading. You need enough
conviction to turn from sin and to turn toward Christ.
Losing ground
Just when it seems we are making progress things often go from bad to worse. I
tried hard to reform my ways, but then under stress and pressure I lost it
becoming angry and exploding. Sometimes I used bad language while angry.
Under pressure, I told a lie. I would feel guilty and depressed for days, even
after I repented. Paul explained, "Once I was alive apart from law; but when the
commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died" (Romans 7:9). With Paul, I
could also say, "What a wretched man I am!" (Romans 7:24).
Are you awakened, but attempting to serve God out of fear? God wants to pour
out His love. "Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God
and knows God" (I John 4:7). John Wesley, an evangelist God used in the
eighteenth century, explained, A natural man has neither fear nor love; one that
is awakened, fear without love; a-babe in Christ, love and fear; a father in
Christ, love without fear [notes on 1 John 4:181.
Servant or Son?
John Wesley also said that the distinction between a servant and a son was "a
point of no small importance" ["On the Discoveries of Faith"]. In Galatians 4,
Paul compares a servant to a son by comparing the old way with the new and
living way from the life of Abraham. He makes four contrasts:
1. Those under the old way were not born from above. Ishmael, Abraham's son
was born naturally; Isaac was born to Abraham supernaturally.
2. Those under the old way did not have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our
guarantee of an inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). Servants do not have the Holy
Spirit and have no assurance (Galatians 4:30).
3. Those under the old way do not see continued growth (Galatians 4:27).
Abraham had two wives. I-His wife, Hagar, represents the old way. Sarah, @s
other wife, represents the new way. Although Hagar's son, Ishmael, was born
first, Sarah's descendants outnumber Hagar's.
4. Those under the old way persecute the new way (Galatians 4:29). When they
hear that all their good deeds cannot earn God's favor, they become angry.
Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants" (John 15:15). Seek Christ to give the
assurance of salvation as a divine revelation from God. 0 servant of God press
your claim until God reveals His Son in you.
If you are guilty, cry out to God for mercy. All who call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved (Acts 2:21). You can pass from a servant to a son with the Spirit
of adoption in your heart crying, "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15). God will pour
out his love into your heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Then, we are no
longer under the condemnation of the law.
STAGE 3
The new birth
The final giving up of our efforts to change ourselves, of trying to believe on our
own, that final abandonment of ourselves and complete trust in the merits of
Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection does not come without struggle and
pain. When people struggle to find God, they are trying to save themselves,
although they may not realize this. Often they are confused over the guilt of sin
and they try to reform their life and quit sinning. Sometimes they are
encouraged to "exercise" a faith they have not received.
A child will not be born without pain, but when it is ready it will be born. In a
final act of faith, deliverance will come'
Many people claim to be born again before they are. The scriptures teach that it
is the Spirit who produces the new birth. Through the Spirit of adoption, we
become the children of God. 'For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one
body" (1 Corinthians 12:13). The baptism by Christ with the Holy Spirit results
in our adoption into the body of Christ or the church. As a child of God, we
belong because of our relationship, not because of our works.
A born again Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit. According to 'Titus 3:5-6
we are saved by the washing of regeneration "and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior." "And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" as a
child of God (Romans 8:9).
For the born again Christian the law of God has been internalized. You may
have once done right because you wanted to please other people. Jeremiah 31:33
indicates that God wants to write His law on our heart and Ezekiel 11:19; 36:27
ties this inner principle with receiving the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit
leads us to conform to God's law and empowers us to say "no" to sin.
Spiritual retardation
Growth is not automatic. Some do not develop past a certain point. In brain
development when a person becomes "stuck" at a certain level he is said to be
"retarded." Furthermore, it is possible to lose ground. Psychologists observe that
people who cannot accept traumatic events tend to regress-returning to immature behavior patterns.
Even in some traditional churches people may be awakened to their need.
But where leaders do not understand or accept the new birth, they may be
"stuck" and only much later go on to a crisis experience of the new birth.
In churches which pride themselves in their doctrine of salvation, there is also a
danger that we mistake human effort for the work of the Holy Spirit. Didn't I
start coming to church? Didn't I accept Jesus? Wasn't I baptized? Am I not
sincere? Yes, all this can be true without the new birth. Jesus warned that except
we are born again we cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
Even churches which emphasize a changed lifestyle can have a problem. You
might adopt certain standards of the church and even change your conduct. This
emphasis on careful living can become a substitute for a real inner change
produced by God's work in your heart.
Among certain churches, the awakened state is often confused with
regeneration. It is possible to be convicted of sin, to see truths taught in the
scriptures, and begin to serve God without the Spirit of adoption. Living in a
legalistic state they realize a deeper need. They are taught that they need a
second work of grace. When they are given saving faith they sincerely think
they have the "second blessing."
So you see, there are two or three ways to get "stuck" or mixed up. We may
speed up the process, slow it down, or stop it. In each case, we get out of step
with the Spirit and fall into confusion.
Premature deliveries
None of us can respond to God until He calls. When God calls anyone to follow
Him that person becomes His responsibility. From the moment we determine to
seek God the Holy Spirit will lead and protect us until we are brought into the
kingdom.
Everyone is saved who dies seeking God. Our hunger for God shows that God's
life is at work in us already. The statement made by Jesus that we cannot enter
the kingdom unless we are born again is a general statement usually true under
normal conditions. It does not include infants, children, the mentally retarded, or
other unusual conditions. Though children are not born again Jesus said of them,
"The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14; Luke
18:16). While infants and small children are not born again or regenerated, they
are safe within the kingdom of God until they consciously choose to rebel. We
are saved until we have enough knowledge to choose to be lost.
The awakened sinner seeking God is under what we call "the prevenient grace"
of God. You are safe, however, only while you are seeking God. You must do
all within your power to respond to this Prevenient grace. Some "ran well" but
became discouraged and development was blocked. It is possible to experience a
spiritual miscarriage.
Romans 1:17 tells us that God has revealed in the gospel a righteousness that is
"by faith from first to last." Literally it reads "from faith to faith." Preaching "on
the discoveries of faith," Wesley exhorted the hearer to "press on by all possible
means, till he passes 'from faith to faith; from the faith of a servant to the faith
of a son; from the spirit of bondage unto fear, to the spirit of childlike love."
Just as God revealed Himself to the world a little at a time, so He reveals
Himself in our lives the same way. John divides the family of God into three
groups: young children, young men, and fathers (1 John 2:12-14).
It is possible to receive even more grace than we experience in the new birth.
We can reach a point of - maturity in - the will of God where the Spirit of God
perfects what He has already been developing. "Instead of remaining infants, let
us grow up in every respect" (Ephesians 4:14-15). "Let us go on unto maturity"
(Hebrews 6:1). It is a mistake for people to claim this perfecting grace, however,
when they barely have grasped what it means to be justified by grace through
faith.
'In the New Jerusalem," a gospel song about heaven declares that we will
continue to 'grow in perfect love in the new Jerusalem." Do not limit the
possibilities of God's grace. Wherever you find yourself in this blueprint of
God's grace, remember there is more grace for you. Paul wrote that he could
pray with joy because he was "confident of this, that he who began a good work
in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians
1:6).
FOR FURTHER READING:
Engel, James F. and H. Wilbert Norton. What's Gone Wrong with the Harvest?
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975. Especially note chapter 4, "The Great
Commission in Modern Dress" and model on p. 45 that lists eight stages before
regeneration.
Fletcher, John. "The New Birth: A Discourse." The Works of the Reverend John
Fletcher 1833; Rpt. Salem, OH: Schmul, 1974. 4 vols. 4:97-117. Also published
in booklet form by Allegheny Publishers.
Fowler, James W Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian. San Francisco: Harper,
1984.
Joy, Donald M. "Toward Christian Holiness: John Wesley's Faith Pilgrimage."
Moral Development Foundations. Ed. Donald M. Joy. Nashville: Abingdon,
1983. pp. 207-232.
McClintock, John and James Strong, eds. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological,
and Ecclesiastical Literature. 1867-1887; Rpt. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981. 12
vols. 1:570-571.
Reasoner, Vic. The Hole in the Holiness Movement. Evansville, IN:
Fundamental Wesleyan, 1991. pp. 21-24.
Seamands, David A. Healing Grace.