Chapter 20: Application
Chapter 20
APPLICATION.
USE 1: See the woeful misery sin has brought us into; humiliation for sin is necessary This improvement of all that has been discussed now follows in the application to ourselves. Indeed, a great part of what has been previously insisted upon, though it has been done by way of explanation, has also been applicable. But there are still further points by way of application to be presented to you, all flowing naturally from what has been taught. Neither shall I need to be lengthy, because it is simply a matter of impressing upon your hearts the same truths that I have already elaborated on in opening up the subject.
First, from this point—that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself—there is presented before us the woeful misery that sin has brought us into. Nothing sets out the breach between God and man more than this: that the making up of that breach must be through Christ.
There is a great question currently being discussed: whether humiliation is necessary or not; whether men must be made aware of their natural condition, be humbled, and thereby be brought to Jesus
Christ. Many people seize upon the misuse of this concept of humiliation and, as a result, completely dismiss it (though very ignorantly), because some have treated humiliation as though it were a condition of the covenant, which indeed it is not. And when they hear us say that it is not a condition, they immediately conclude that
there is no need for it at all, because, they say, humiliation does not grant us an interest in Jesus Christ. Moreover, because some may perhaps place too much trust in their humiliation and rely upon it, others seek to remove it entirely.
However, although humiliation is not the condition of the covenant, though it does not grant us an interest in Jesus Christ, and though it is not something we are to rely upon, yet there is a great need for it.
We must be made aware of our lost condition due to sin; and from what has been explained, you can see the necessity of it.
Consider this: I assume that if you believe God will pardon your sins and that He will be reconciled to you, you believe that this is through Christ. "Yes," you will say, "that is certain." And therefore, since
Christ has accomplished our reconciliation, why do we need to be humbled for our sin?
Certainly, my brethren, in what you say, if you truly understand it, there is implied the deepest work of humiliation and the strongest argument for it that any creature could be capable of in this world.
How is that, you might ask? This way: "I believe that God is reconciled to me in Christ." What? Has God worked my reconciliation through His Son? Has He brought it about through Jesus Christ and chosen this way above all others to accomplish it?
Then, certainly, the breach between God and me, due to my sin, must have been such that all the angels in heaven and all the people in the world could never have made it right. Such was the breach that my sin had caused between God and my soul that it required so great a mystery of godliness to repair it, a mystery that even the angels themselves are not able to comprehend. Indeed, it is the greatest work that God has ever done, or that He will ever do, for all eternity.
Consider what it cost to make up the breach that sin had caused between God and your soul.
And again, if you believe that you are reconciled to God in Christ, you do not only see and are convinced of the greatness of that breach, but you must also be aware of it. For can I look beyond myself and exercise such a glorious act of faith in Christ as Mediator, and yet not be aware of what Christ has done? Certainly, the work of faith can never be established in the heart unless it is done in such a way that the sinner knows what he is doing when he believes and is conscious of his actions.
And if this is so, consider these two things: when a person believes in Christ as Mediator, he knows what he is doing; when he believes, he is aware of his actions. Take these two things for granted, and I will guarantee that this soul will be humbled. It follows naturally and need not be required as a condition—it is as necessary to the work of faith as light is to the sun when it shines or as heat is to the fire; indeed, it is implied.
For example, when I am to go to a certain place or attend to a particular matter, it is true that going is not a condition explicitly required. It is not demanded that I should travel a specific number of steps, but rather that I should be at a certain place on a certain day to fulfil a particular task. Though this is not stated as a condition, the act of going is as necessary as the other; and even if it is not explicitly required, it is implied in the action that is required and should be regarded as necessary, just as if it were a condition.
In the same way, it is true that humiliation is not a condition of the second covenant; it is not what grants us an interest in Jesus Christ, but it is something that the nature of faith necessarily implies. For faith is a rational grace, and indeed, it is the most glorious work of
the soul that has ever been. For a soul to believe in God through Christ, to believe that God is reconciled to it in Christ, is the most glorious act under heaven.
Now, when I believe in Christ as a Saviour, what is He a Saviour from? A Saviour from my sin, a Saviour from the wrath of God, and this the soul must necessarily be conscious of; otherwise, how can it exercise such an act of faith? And I know of no faithful preacher in the world who has ever emphasised humiliation more than this: that when people believe in Christ, they must understand and be aware of what they are doing. You must understand that Christ is a Mediator, and if He is a Mediator, what is He mediating for? Why, to repair a breach between God and you. Then you must understand what that breach is—the breach that your sin has caused. And you must know what that sin is: that your sin has provoked the justice of God and placed you under the curse of the law.
So, you see the necessity of explaining the law. Although it is not something that gives us an interest in Christ, it follows naturally as a necessary consequence; without it, you cannot understand Christ as a Reconciler.
Therefore, this is the first use: if God will never be reconciled to any soul but through Christ, then that soul which comes to be saved must come to see itself in a most woeful condition. For a creature that requires such a Mediator must be in an utterly wretched, damnable, miserable, and cursed condition within itself; otherwise, it could never require such a Mediator.
And certainly, there is no better way to honour Christ than this.
When people speak of Christ and of free grace, unless they teach others about the breach that sin has caused between God and them, how can their audience understand what Christ is? Christ is a