Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the laws of that religion they do profess. And to assert and maintain that they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested.
Those whom God has not chosen, or has passed over, for salvation--the reprobate--may and often do receive the outward call of God as mediated through the preaching of the word. They may even benefit from what the Confession calls "some common operations of the Spirit," by which is meant the benefits that non-Christians enjoy as members of a Christian society. Here the scoffer is likely to sneer, "What benefits?" Persons who know their history of Western civilization should be able to answer that without difficulty. Several good books have been written recently on this subject and may be consulted with profit. Rodney Stark is probably the best author to give to a skeptic because he writes from a position of neutrality more so than advocacy.
However, because the Spirit does not work sovereignly within the hearts of the reprobrate to regenerate them and give them repentance and faith, these never truly come to Christ (even despite outward appearances) and cannot be saved. Apart from Christ there is no salvation. It matters not how well the non-Christian practices his or her religion. All of those efforts are literally dead ends. We must be on our guard here. It is a most "pernicious" thing--a very bad thing--to tell non-Christians otherwise. It is never a kindness to avoid offense by offering false hope.
Tomorrow: The parable of the pit.
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4 comments:
Are you sure "common operations of the Spirit" refers to temporal benefits of living in a Christian society?
I've thought the Westminster divines were referring to how people are designed and created to worship, meaning some people will profess Christianity simply because it's what they grew up with and had been exposed to, not because they've been regenerated. Were these same people planted in Jewish households they'd be Jewish, in Muslim households they'd be Muslim, etc. and if presented the gospel, they'd reject it.
Plus the Holy Spirit works to some extent in all of us, at least to keep us from behaving as wretchedly as would be our wont otherwise. Were it not for the Holy Spirit's influence (common grace), the planet wouldn't be habitable, and we'd have killed each other off long ago.
Inside we're all a bunch of Japanese fighting fish.
Anne in Fort Worthwrwn
There is, of course, the concept of common grace--the rain falls on the just and the unjust, etc--as well as the moderating effect against sin that God provides graciously to which you refer above. This prevents a literal hell on earth (and it's a condition we take very much for granted).
But ISTM that the Spirit of God is most present and active in and among the people of God. Where two or three are gathered in the Name there is Christ. Through his church Christ exerts a benevolence that would probably be lacking in its absence. This is especially so when Christians live up to their name and behave as "little Christs." I don't mean to limit this to temporal benefits as you term them. There are substantial spiritual benefits, even if not salvific (and I think this is the Confession's point here), accorded the non-believer who lives amidst the community of Christ.
But the WSC uses the term when referring to those who, although looking on the outside as Christians, "never truly come to Jesus Christ."
ISTM the Westminster divines were attempting to explain the spiritual state of those who are part of the Church externally but who will be found excluded from eternal life.
Undoubtedly. The concept of wheat and tares is definitely here. I cast the net a bit more widely in that I believe there is some exposure to the gospel and "the common operations of the Spirit" within a culture influenced by Christianity. This paragraph of the Confession deals with several categories of the reprobate, starting with false (albeit sincere) professors within the visible church and leading into sincere practioners of non-Christian religions.
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