2. Owen C. Watkins, The Puritan Experience (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,
Prepared by Grace, for Grace How we answer that last question determines the role of God's law in our evangelism. If we minimize the need for conviction of sin in conversion, the law may be regarded as a distraction or hindrance to unbelievers, keeping them from Christ. But if conviction of sin is part of God's normal way of leading a sinner to salvation, then we must preach the law with the gospel.
Many Puritans of England and New England answered these questions with the doctrine known as preparation. People must be prepared to believe in Christ before they exercise such faith. Such preparation of the heart may be viewed as a part of the process that leads to conversion.
Owen Watkins observes that, "The normal pattern of a Puritan conversion followed the sequence: peace, disturbance, and then peace again….
The casting down and raising up, the wounding and making whole, referred to the two landmarks already mentioned—conviction of sin and coming to Christ."2 Complacency in sin, conviction of sin, and conversion to Christ constituted the Puritan process of personal salvation.
Most Puritans believed that God uses the law to prepare the way for the gospel in men's souls, much as John the Baptist's preaching of divine wrath and repentance prepared the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus.
This doctrine of preparation for grace shaped their evangelistic preaching, their doctrine of assurance, and their personal piety. Because such preparation for salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit using the truths of God's Word, we have chosen to describe the Puritan doctrine as "preparation by grace, for grace."
Preparation for What?
The word preparation was used by the Puritans in many contexts. Charles Cohen writes, "Preparation has several definitions in Puritan theological discourse. While signifying the preliminaries to faith, the subject discussed here, it also refers to the activity of the Saints as they renew themselves for God's work or ready themselves to meet Christ in glory."3
The Puritans urged people to prepare for many things: prepare to hear the preaching of the Word, prepare for conversion, prepare to partake of 2. Owen C. Watkins, The Puritan Experience (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,
1972), 37.
3. Charles L. Cohen, God's Caress: The Psychology of Puritan Religious Experience (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1986), 78n9.