by Arthur Pink
April, 1942
Once more we employ a term which does not occur in so
many letters and syllables on the pages of Holy Writ. Though its sound is
not heard there—the sense and substance of it most certainly
is—and it is one which we can scarcely avoid using if we are to express
ourselves accurately and intelligently. While all men are essentially
"legalistic" by nature—none but those to whom the Gospel of Christ has been
made the power of God unto salvation, are possessed of a truly "evangelical"
spirit. The terms are antithetical, as much so as are darkness and light,
bondage and liberty. A "legal" spirit is the product of the Fall; an
"evangelical" spirit is the fruit of regeneration. A "legal" spirit is the
breathing of self-righteousness; an "evangelical" spirit is the outcome of
self-renunciation. A "legal" spirit is the work of pride and independence;
an "evangelical" spirit is the outflow of humility and dependence. A "legal"
spirit is the enmity which the carnal mind has against the grace of God; an
"evangelical" spirit is the acquiescence of the renewed mind in undeserved
mercy.
An evangelical spirit is found where the heart
beats in accord with the essence and substance of the Gospel. The Gospel
makes nothing of man—and everything of Christ. The Gospel comes to us on the
assumption, or rather the fully demonstrated fact—that we are lost
creatures—hopelessly, helplessly, irretrievably lost in ourselves. It comes
unto us as those who are justly condemned by the holy Law of God—as those
who are even now under the Divine curse—as those who are rushing headlong to
eternal destruction! The Gospel tells of the amazing provision which God has
made for depraved and vile sinners! It announces the exceeding riches of
grace—unto those who are His inveterate enemies. It proclaims a full and
perfect salvation for all who are willing to receive it. It not only
publishes a full pardon and deliverance from Hell—but it promises eternal
life and everlasting glory to all who believe its glad tidings! And it
offers these inestimable blessings freely, "without money and without
price!"
The Gospel makes known how God can show mercy unto the
rebellious—without compromising His justice; how He can receive the
ungodly—without sullying His holiness; how He can remit the penalty of
sin—without dishonoring His Law; how He can save the very chief of
sinners—to the praise of the glory of His grace. God has not shown mercy—at
the expense of justice, for He set forth Christ to be an atoning sacrifice
rendered to Divine justice. God has not sullied His holiness—but rather has
He exemplified and glorified it by refusing to spare His own dear Son—when
He bore the sins of His people. God has not slighted the Law—for it was
magnified and made honorable by Immanuel's rendering unto it a perfect and
perpetual obedience in thought, word and deed. God can save the very chief
of sinners unto the praise of the glory of His grace—without requiring any
price from them, because He has received full payment of his debts in the
sacrifice of Calvary, which was and is of infinite value!
Where the Gospel is applied by the supernatural power of
the Spirit, beating down all opposition thereto—the mind cordially assents
to its contents, the heart rejoices therein, the will responds thereto—and
thus an "evangelical spirit" is born in the soul. The sinner not only throws
down the weapons of his warfare against God—but he repudiates the filthy
rags of his own righteousness. He has been made to see and feel himself so
condemned by the Law—as to know there is no help in himself. He has been
brought to realize that his soul is mortally sick—and that none but the
great Physician can do him any good. He now knows himself to be a pauper,
utterly dependent upon Divine charity—and therefore the Gospel of the grace
of God is most suited to his need, and most glorious good tidings unto his
heart. It is as truly welcome to him—as food to a starving man; or as a cup
of cold water would be—to one who was suffering the fires of Hell.
Wherever an understanding has been Divinely enlightened,
wherever a heart has been opened to receive the Gospel of God—there an
"evangelical spirit" prevails. The language of such a one is, "You O Christ
are all I want—more than all in You I find. Your righteousness prevails to
justify me before God. Your holiness is my sanctification. Your blood
removes my foulness. Your merits meet my unworthiness. Your power is
sufficient for my weakness. Your riches supply all my need. I have heard
Your voice, Lord Jesus, tell me not of ought beside. I have seen Your face,
Lord Jesus, all my soul is satisfied."
Such a one has been accepted in the Beloved, given a
standing before God which neither the Law nor Satan can challenge, and made
nearer and dearer to God than are the holy angels. Tell such a one that
something else is still required from him before God can regard him with
approbation—that the redemption of Christ must be added to by his own good
works—and he rejects such an aspersion with the utmost abhorrence, as the
Devil's lie!
It is, however, to be pointed out that whereas an
"evangelical spirit" is the opposite of a "legal" one; it is also the very
reverse of a licentious spirit. Christ saves His people "from their
sins" (Matthew 1:21), that is, from the love and dominion of sins—as
well as from the pollution and penalty of their sins. The
Gospel announces the amazing grace of God—but His grace is not exercised at
the expense of righteousness, rather does it "reign through righteousness"
(Romans 5:21). The very grace which proclaims a free and full salvation
without money and without price—also works mightily and transformingly in
its recipients, "teaching us (effectually, not theoretically) that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly
in this present world" (Titus 2:12). The Gospel is very far from inculcating
lawlessness. When the Apostle asked, "Do we then (by preaching salvation by
grace alone) make void the Law through faith?" he answered, "God forbid—yes
we establish the Law" (Romans 3:31), for the believer is "under the Law of
Christ" (1 Cor. 9:21).
The more the Gospel works effectually in those who
believe, the more are they conformed, both inwardly and outwardly, unto the
image of Christ. And the Lord Jesus declared, "I delight to do Your will, O
My God—yes Your Law is within My heart" (Psalm 40:8). This, too, in their
measure, is the experience and acknowledgment of each one saved by Him. Said
the Apostle, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Romans
7:22), which was the voicing of an essential element in an "evangelical
spirit." Where the heart beats true to the Gospel, the possessor is not only
delivered from legality or self-righteousness, but he is also preserved from
spiritual lawlessness. While no sinner is or can be saved on account of his
own doings, so far from the Gospel and salvation by grace being the enemy of
good works, it inculcates them, "For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should
walk in them" (Eph. 2:10 and cf. Titus 2:14).
An "evangelical spirit," then, is one which cleaves to
the Scriptural balance between two evil and fatal extremes—legality and
lawlessness; self-righteousness and self-pleasing. Against these two
evils—the Christian needs to be constantly on his guard both in doctrine and
practice. For while on the one hand there is ever a tendency in him to
"frustrate the grace of God" (Gal. 2:21), to "fall from grace" (Gal. 5:4),
which is done whenever we bring in anything of our own as the ground of our
acceptance with God. On the other hand we are ever prone to "turn the grace
of our God into lasciviousness" (Jude 4), which is done when we
presumptuously give license to the flesh and follow a course of self-will,
on the pretext that this cannot jeopardize our eternal security in Christ.
To counter the uprisings of the 'spirit of legality' we must constantly
remind ourselves that we have nothing good—but what God has wrought in
us—and therefore we have no cause for boasting—that we are what we are—by
the grace of God. To oppose the 'workings of licentiousness' we must
continually ponder the fact that we are not our own—but "purchased at a high
price," and that we most glorify Christ as we follow the example which He
has left us.