The Holy Spirit as Lifegiver
There are different ways of looking at the significance of divine calling to salvation in the Bible. Sometimes, it is described as the action of God the Father, at other times it is the action of Jesus, and at other times it is described as an action of the Holy Spirit. There has been some debate in recent years about which divine person is involved the most, but since the Bible indicates that each of them is involved, we should be content to accept that is the case and discover the benefit that comes from considering the information and experiencing the information.
There are also different ways in the Bible of using the idea of a divine call. For example, people are called to believe in Jesus, others are called to be saints, and they are also called to glory. The Father calls us to share the glory of Jesus; Jesus called Peter and Andrew into his service as disciples; the Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul to the work of travelling missionaries when they were in Antioch. Obviously, we need to distinguish between those different kinds of call.
One of the best definitions of the work of the Holy Spirit is found in the Shorter Catechism 31 and I want to use it in thinking about how the Holy Spirit leads us to possess spiritual life: ‘Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.’
Some theologians have criticised the statement because it does not say that calling is an act of the Father. Yet it can also be said that what the statement does is say how the Father calls his people – he calls them through the work of the Holy Spirit. From another point of view, it could also be said that he calls them through the work of Jesus in building his church as he adds them to it by the work of the Holy Spirit.
General comments
The first detail that we can consider is the significance of the word ‘effectual’. I suppose that today we would use the word ‘effective’ or the word ‘successful’. The obvious use of this word is to indicate a distinction because there is a calling from God that does not result in conversion. This is true of virtually every person who has heard the gospel, except for those who believed the moment they first heard it. Many who are Christians today had rejected the gospel numerous times previous to when they were converted.
Nevertheless we must affirm that God makes a genuine offer of salvation on each occasion when it is rejected. As far as the content of the call is concerned, there is no difference between what God says in the effectual call and in the general call. But there is a difference in what God does, however; this answer tells us what he does by the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing sinners to faith in Jesus.
The second detail that this answer indicates is that the Holy Spirit deals with sinners as rational creatures. That is obvious from the verbs that are used – he convicts, he enlightens, he persuades. Those word tells us that he interacts with their minds. The answer also indicates that he deals with us as rebellious and resistant sinners – it is a process from our point of view. And it also indicates that he deals with us as spiritually dead because eventually he enables sinners to believe in Jesus, or to receive him and rest on him alone.
The third detail connected to this answer is that this activity is described as a work rather than an act. There may be two reasons for this description. One is that an act, such as the act of justification and the act of adoption, is external to us whereas the activity of the Holy Spirit is internal. When God justifies us, the act does not change our character, although our characters will be changed as a consequence because the work of sanctification has begun. The other reason is that while an act is instantaneous, the activity of the Spirit described here is a process.
It is important to say that the three actions of the Holy Spirit in giving life to spiritually dead sinners are usually working together to some extent. His work of convicting, enlightening and enabling to believe are inter-connected. The American theologian Ashbel Green described it in this way: ‘It should however be observed and recollected, that the several steps or gradations of advance in this work, although capable of being separately considered, are not so separated in experience, as that one is always completed before another is begun. In discourse we can distinguish them, and it is useful to do so. But when they take place in the mind of an individual, the exercises which constitute them, are often, to a certain degree, mingled together.’
Conviction of sin
As far as Christians are concerned, they experience conviction of sin before conversion and after conversion. They are different in the sense that the second one is connected to the possession of spiritual life whereas the first is experienced by a believer before he has spiritual life. Obviously, there are degrees of conviction of sin in both kinds.
An example of deep conviction of sin in a believer is seen in two psalms written by David after his sin with Bathsheba. In Psalms 32 and 51, David describes the depth of spiritual feeling that he went through as well as the physical effects of conviction of sin. David had lesser depths of conviction at other times, although that does not negate the reality of each time of conviction. All believers experience differences of degree of conviction of sin. Often, they sense their sins when sitting at the Lord’s Table as their thoughts dwell lovingly on the Saviour who died for them on the cross.
Conviction of sin before conversion has degrees as well, although sometimes a person can mistake thoughts that accompany conviction as being part of it. It is natural for fear to accompany it when one considers the punishment that God says will be enacted on the unforgiven. Also a person’s personality may affect their reactions – they may be more emotional than others. Yet we also know that some people who experience such strong reactions never become believers in Jesus. The important detail about conviction of sin is that it should lead to faith in Christ.
Jesus defined the ways that unconverted people will experience conviction of sin when he informed his disciples in John 16:8-11 about this work of the Holy Spirit: ‘And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.’ So we can expect the Holy Spirit to convince people about the three truths that are mentioned in that passage:
(1) He will convict sinners about the sin of unbelief, of not trusting in Jesus. We might expect him to major on other sins, but his work of conviction has to do with leading to salvation. The sin that really prevents salvation is a failure to trust in Christ, so we should not be surprised that such unbelief is the sin he focuses on.
(2) He will convict them about the availability of righteousness from heaven. The proof that Jesus is the Saviour is that he has returned to heaven able to provide sinners with the righteousness that they need in order to be accepted by God. This righteousness is the life of obedience that he lived on earth. The Holy Spirit points sinners to this great reality as well as to the work that Jesus did on the cross when he paid the penalty for the sins of his people. This obviously is a spiritual experience, dealing with something that cannot be seen in the visible world.
(3) He will convict about the reality of the devil’s defeat at the cross by Jesus. People usually dismiss the existence of the devil, but not after they come under conviction of sin. They realise that they have been led astray by him, doing his will even although they had not realised that he existed. But through listening to the gospel they discover and become convinced of his defeat at Calvary.
People outside of Christ are in a state of misery. That does not mean that they are unhappy in sin prior to conviction. Some people are happy in a poorhouse, others are happy in a prison. They do not realise that there is another kind of world in which they can live at a higher level. Unconverted people do not realise that their world is one of misery until the Holy Spirit convicts them about the truths connected to the work of Christ.
Enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ
For example, the Holy Spirit enables us to grasp with our minds what it means when saying that Jesus was crucified. When that happens, we don’t focus on the physical aspects of crucifixion, but on the fact that Jesus became a curse instead of us and paid the penalty of our sins. The Spirit reveals to us that Jesus is God’s Son whom the Father sent to be the Saviour of the world. This enlightenment takes into account that Jesus is the answer to the conviction that the Holy Spirit has caused us to experience.
Renews our wills
In addition to convincing sinners about their need of Jesus and enlightening sinners about the suitability of Jesus, the Holy Spirit also renews their wills. How do we know when this is happening? We know it once we have been persuaded and enabled to come to Jesus. In what ways does the Spirit persuade us? We have already thought of the answer to that question. He persuades us by convicting us about our sins and by showing us that Jesus is the Saviour that we need.
This divine persuasion is accompanied by a remarkable display of divine power in the souls of sinners. They are spiritually dead, incapable of any spiritual action that will bring divine blessing into their lives. Paul likens this giving of life to the way that God brought light and life at the beginning when he transformed the darkness that covered the world (2 Cor. 4:6). Each person who has undergone this experience is a new creation. It is important to note that Paul says that the Holy Spirit shines in our heart, not into our heart. If he shines into our hearts, it means that he is outside our hearts; if he shines in our hearts, it means that he is present in them. Our hearts were like a dark room, darkened by sin, but because of the work of the Spirit they are marked by light and life. The presence of life is revealed by the sinner coming to Jesus. Such coming is the proof of divine enablement.
What is faith?
We should note that faith is said to be an embracing of Jesus. When we embrace someone, it is usually an expression of love. We don’t normally embrace strangers, even when we are kind to them. Embracing indicates nearness. As Calvin put it, ‘Faith is not a distant view but a warm embrace of Christ.’ Embracing indicates delight and joy that such a Saviour can be approached and identified with by sinners. Faith is not a clinical activity like paying a bill in a shop. When Jesus and a sinner meet, it is a meeting of lovers. There is no other kind of true faith in Jesus.
We can see that this is the case from the account of what took place on the Day of Pentecost. Those individuals came under conviction and received enlightenment when they heard the message of Peter and he counselled them to embrace Jesus. Or we can take the experiences of Lydia and the Philippian jailer, which initially seem very different, but which also have similarities. Lydia was a seeker after truth, the jailer probably had not given it a thought. Both heard the gospel: Lydia had a calm conversion; the jailer was greatly disturbed. Yet both embraced the Saviour.
We should not assume that conviction comes days or weeks before enlightenment, and that conviction and enlightenment will exist for a while without embracing Jesus. A sinner can undergo various experiences in the process that we may describe as seeking; but seeking in that sense is no guarantee of finding. Salvation has come to a person when a convicted and enlightened sinner embraces the Saviour.
Freely offered to us in the gospel
What is the environment in which all this takes place? The environment is the gospel, the good news of salvation. Obviously, this means that if we desire conversions to occur, we should speak about the gospel, whether in preaching or in conversation. A crucial question is, what is the gospel?
Is it the gospel merely to tell a person about their sins? No, it is not. The gospel is about what Jesus did for sinners. But it also requires it to be told in such a way that makes clear anyone can have the forgiveness that God offers. Is it the gospel to say, ‘God has provided salvation for his elect?’ It is a true statement, but is it a description of the gospel? There is not an offer of salvation in it, and there has to be in order for a statement to qualify as the gospel.
The gospel offer is to tell a sinner that he can receive salvation right now if he believes in Jesus. What is offered to us in the gospel? That is the wrong question. The right question is, who is offered to us in the gospel? And the answer is that Jesus in all his fullness is offered to us in the gospel.
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