Day 121

Of God’s Covenant.

Chapter 7, Paragraph 2.

“…and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal Life, His holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.“

Scripture Lookup

Ezekiel 36:26,27

John 6:44,45

Psalm 110:3

Reflection

In the Covenant of Grace, God freely offers life and salvation by Jesus Christ. In order to receive this salvation, however, there is a requirement: faith in Christ. Easy peasy, right? Make a decision today, get eternal life tomorrow? Some churches would have you think that if we simply mustered up our will, we could be saved.

There is a problem with the requirement of faith. We can’t do it on our own. Remember, Adam and Eve’s transgression resulted in our being utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to evil. Our very nature is corrupted. How can we have faith in Christ when we are unable to do good? If salvation was determined by our decision alone, the covenant would not be gracious. It would be a dangling, taunting opportunity ever out of our reach.

But God doesn’t just offer the covenant of grace with an outstretched hand, waiting to see who will take Him up on it. He raises those who are ordained to eternal life and regenerates them. The Holy Spirit makes them willing to believe. Not only that, the Holy Spirit makes them able to believe. You know what that means? Before the working of the Spirit, no one is able to believe. No one is willing to believe. The only reason why anyone trusts in Jesus is because the Holy Spirit has already done a work in them.

Salvation is all of Him! His covenant is not mostly grace, or 99.9% grace, but a covenant of grace, pure and simple.

At every point of the process of salvation this word is appropriate—“not of yourselves.” From the first desire after it to the full reception of it by faith, it is evermore of the Lord alone, and not of ourselves. The man believes, but that belief is only one result among many of the implantation of divine life within the man’s soul by God Himself.

-Charles Spurgeon, All of Grace

Questions to Consider

• Have you ever considered how the Spirit worked in you even before you believed in Christ?