Systematic Theology (Volume 3 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 3 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
Dr. Hastings: “When Bourdaloue was probing the conscience of Louis
XIV, applying to him the words of St. Paul and intending to
paraphrase them: ‘_For the good which I would, I do not, but the
evil which I would not, that I do,_’ ‘_I find two men in me_’—the
King interrupted the great preacher with the memorable
exclamation: ‘Ah, these two men, I know them well!’ Bourdaloue
answered: ‘It is already something to _know_ them, Sire; but it is
not enough,—one of the two must perish.’ ” And, in the genuine
believer, the old does little by little die, and the new takes its
place, as “_David waxed stronger and stronger, but the house of
Saul waxed weaker and weaker_” (_2 Sam. 3:1_). As the Welsh
minister found himself after awhile thinking and dreaming in
English, so the language of Canaan becomes to the Christian his
native and only speech.
2. Explanations and Scripture Proof.
(_a_) Sanctification is the work of God.
_1 Thess. 5:23_—“_And the God of peace himself sanctify you
wholly._” Much of our modern literature ignores man’s dependence
upon God, and some of it seems distinctly intended to teach the
opposite doctrine. Auerbach’s “On the Heights,” for example,
teaches that man can make his own atonement; and “The Villa on the
Rhine,” by the same author, teaches that man can sanctify himself.
The proper inscription for many modern French novels is:
“Entertainment here for man and beast.” The _Tendenznovelle_ of
Germany has its imitators in the sceptical novels of England. And
no doctrine in these novels is so common as the doctrine that man
needs no Savior but himself.
(_b_) It is a continuous process.
_Phil. 1:6_—“_being confident of this very thing, that he who
began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus
Christ_”; _3:15_—“_Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be
thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also
shall God reveal unto you_”; _Col. 3:9, 10_—“_lie not one to
another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,
and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge
after the image of him that created him_”; _cf._ _Acts
2:47_—“_those that were being saved_”; _1 Cor. 1:18_—“_unto us who
are being saved_”; _2 Cor. 2:15_—“_in them that are being saved_”;
_1 Thess. 2:12_—“_God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and
glory._”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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