God Glorified In Man's Dependence

1 Cor. 1:30-31 : "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

(The following sermon was delivered in Back Free Church on Sunday 23 February 2003.)

As we continue to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Jonathan Edwards this year, I want us to look this evening at a very significant sermon which Edwards preached on the words of our text. There are perhaps two reasons which I could advance for spending time looking at this sermon.

First, it is of marked historical interest. One reason for this is that it was the first published work which came from Edwards. It was published by two Boston ministers, Thomas Prince and William Cooper, who had heard Edwards deliver it. In their preface to the printed sermon they wrote: "It was with no small difficulty that the author's youth and modesty were prevailed on to let him appear a preacher in our public lecture, and afterwards to give us a copy of his discourse, at the desire of divers ministers and others who heard it." Another reason was that this sermon was really the first opportunity Edwards had to state clearly before other ministers and his peers what his distinctive message was.

The occasion was the 'Thursday lecture', a weekly lecture in Boston which was attended by the city's ministers and students from Harvard University. It was a daunting task for a young minister -- Edwards was 28 at the time -- to stand before such a company. Usually it was older ministers or academics who were invited to speak. But Edwards' grandfather, Samuel Stoddard, whom Edwards succeeded, was held in high regard in Boston, and the invitation was given to him to speak.

There was another difficulty. Edwards was not a graduate of Harvard, but of Yale, a smaller college which had begun in the neighbourhood with a strong commitment to Calvinism, when it was felt by many that Harvard had left the Reformed faith. In the 1720s Yale, too, embraced views and opinions which were hardly in accord with Calvinism, but Edwards had resisted these changes. As Stephen Williams puts it, "Where this particular Yale graduate stood theologically was something the Bostonians were anxious to know".

Which brings me to the second reason for studying this sermon -- it is of marked theological interest. It was the first indication that the public of New England heard Edwards on so wide a stage, and his concern as he preached was to nail his theological colours to the mast.

There is, I think, an important lesson there itself for us. How do we judge a church? Or even a minister or a sermon? Do we judge a church by its activities? By its finances? By its social programme, or children's activities, or its ministry to older people? Is its financial position and its power base, its reputation or its prospects enough to measure it? What about a minister? What do we look for in a minister? How do we judge the quality of the ministry? Is it personality? Approachableness? Community involvement? Casual dress? Open manse? Are these enough?

You may be aware of a recent book written by Harry Reid, the former editor of The Herald newspaper, which was a long look at the Church of Scotland. The book is entitled Outside Verdict: An old Kirk in a new Scotland, and was to be a refreshing outside view of the Church of Scotland in its current situation. The author, however, makes it clear that the one standard he will not use is a theological one. "Readers will note," he says, "that I have shied away from, rather than engaged in, theology" (Outside Verdict, p227). Yet that is exactly the issue. The test of a gospel church is in its theology, not in its practice. You cannot judge the biblical nature of a church's practice unless you know where a church stands theologically.

And, specifically, what Edwards' 1731 sermon in Boston calls us to is to whether or not our preaching and our teaching have as their focal point, around which everything else revolves, the fact that we are absolutely dependent on God for our salvation. When the sermon was published in 1731, the publishers attached a text from Judges 7:2 to the preface: "Lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me". Because running through this sermon was an emphasis on the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. Edwards says at the beginning of the sermon that the words of 1 Corinthians 1:9-31 proclaim a twofold message:

1. What God aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption, viz. that man should not glory in himself, but alone in God; That no flesh should glory in his presence ? that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

2. How this end is attained in the work of redemption, viz. by that absolute and immediate dependence which men have upon God in that work, for all their good.

Edwards points out that Paul wrote this letter to a place famed for its intellectual power and academic advancement; Corinth had been "for many ages the most famous seat of philosophy and learning in the world". Yet God had brought the Gospel to Corinth, and couched the good news of salvation in terms that were an offence to these Corinthians. The reason God spoke his message of salvation in this way was so that no flesh should glory in his presence.

And, at last, that is the supreme test of all biblical religion and preaching. That is the test of what we are and what we do as a church. What is our message? Is it that men can contribute to their own salvation? That it is enough for us before God that we live our lives in a way that does not offend anyone? That at last God will be bound to take us to Heaven because we have lived well? Not at all! Boston heard Edwards say quite clearly that day that if we are to be saved at all, it must be all of God and all of grace or it is nothing. If I am a believer, I have come to God with absolutely no merit or righteousness of my own, totally and utterly dependent on what God has done in Jesus Christ.

Edwards says: "Listen to the text". Here is the great New Testament statement of the four things that are indispensable to being saved. We need wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. What Boston needed almost three hundred years ago we need today. We need the wisdom to realise what we truly are before God and what the depth of our need is. We need righteousness if we are to enjoy God's favour, because our sin means that we are out of favour with him. We need sanctification, because Heaven is for holy people and we are sinful people. We are unfit for Heaven unless we are made new people. We can see God without health or wealth, without education or class, without culture or style, but the Bible says that we cannot see God without HOLINESS. And we need redemption, because sin has enslaved us, and unless we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb we cannot be saved.

And where are these indispensable things to be found? Verse 30 answers: they are found in Christ Jesus. They are not native to ourselves, nor are they in the power of the church to give. They do not come through sacraments or religious rituals. There is only one place in the whole world where what we need in order to be saved is available to us. And that is in Jesus Christ. So, says Edwards, because the Father gave the Son for us, and because the Son is the one in whom these good things are to be found, and because it is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we are united to Christ, we are shown here "our dependence on each person in the Trinity for all our good."

I want at this point just to comment on the way Edwards arranged this sermon. It was very simple and in many ways typical of the Puritan approach to preaching. After the introduction there are two sections, one entitled "DOCTRINE" and the other entitled "USE". In the section on the doctrine, Edwards is simply telling us what the text is saying. And that is always where we must begin. What does the Scripture say? What is the doctrine, the teaching, that is taught here? It is not simply 'What impression does it make on me?' or 'What do I get out of it?' The Bible conveys to us objective, propositional truth which refers to something outwith itself.

But doctrine on its own is not enough. James warns us against being mere hearers of the word and not doers of it. Preaching not only draws out the doctrine but shows us what use we are to make of it. The best biblical preaching both shows to us what the Word of God is actually saying, and also leaves the impression on our minds that we need to make use of it. As R.L. Dabney puts it, "every rhetorical discourse aims at a practical determination of the hearer's will" (Evangelical Eloquence, p174).

Take Heed To the Doctrine

What, then, is this passage telling us? This is how Edwards summarises it: "God is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in it so absolute and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him."

Now, it is one of the great themes of Edwards' preaching that everything God does terminates upon his own glory. What he does for us he does in the first instance for himself. How often does he say in the Scriptures that he saves his people for the sake of own great name. We will return to this theme later in our studies, but it is important to stress it here. All that God ever did for us, he did for himself, in order that his glory would be manifested in the world through the salvation of his people. And the point of the Boston sermon was this: that God is glorified in his people through their absolute dependence on him for their salvation. Wherever you find a true Christian, you find someone whose hope and confidence are solely in God and what God has done for them.

Edwards then draws out the implications of this. What does it mean for us to be totally dependent on God?

It means, first, that he is the author of every spiritual blessing that we have ever received: it was all FROM HIM. He is, in Edwards' words, the first cause, and the only proper cause. Every element of our salvation and redemption are gifted to us by God: HE gave the Redeemer, HE gives the faith to believe, HE bestows the blessings, HE justifies, adopts and sanctifies, HE gives his word, HE appoints the ordinances of the church, HE provides preachers for the church. It was all of grace, not of obligation:

It was what God was under no obligation to bestow. He might have rejected fallen man, as he did the fallen angels. It was what we never did anything to merit. It was given while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. It was from the love of God who saw no excellency in us to attract it, and it was without expectation of ever being requited for it.

Edwards argues that if Adam was dependent on the grace of God before he fell, we are dependent on a much greater supply of grace. And as we depend on God's grace we also depend on his power. We cannot make Christians of ourselves or of others, but he can. We cannot keep ourselves, but he can. Which, of course, is why Paul in this chapter argues that the preaching of the cross is the POWER of God unto salvation. And again it is true that redeemed man needs far more of the power of God to keep him and to bring him to Heaven than Adam needed for preserving him in a state of innocence:

So it is a more glorious work of power to uphold a soul in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is brought to glory, when there is so much sin remaining in the heart resisting, and Satan with all his might opposing, than it would have been to have kept man from falling at first, when Satan had nothing in man.

It means, secondly, that God is the means of every good and spiritual gift. It is not only from Him, but it is through Him that sinners are saved. God gives the blessings, and he gives them through a Mediator. God gave the Mediator, and the Mediator is God, so that we are saved through what Jesus did for us.

That is the emphasis of the text. We need wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, and Christ is made these things for us. God, according to Edwards, is both the purchaser and the price. He provides the salvation we need by becoming, in Christ, all that we need for that salvation.

It is impossible, therefore, to have a Christless Christianity, or a crossless Christianity. Eternal love provided an atonement by the giving of the eternal son to secure our eternal salvation. We are absolutely dependent on what took place at Calvary if we are to have peace with God in our souls.

And thirdly, it means that God himself is our salvation: it is not only from him, and through him, but it is also in him. God's people delight in God, and see glory and majesty in him. He is the source of all their life, and what is in God is what pleases them most. And because they participate in his life through grace, they enjoy his divine life in their souls.

So Christianity without the Holy Spirit is impossible also. We depend on God the Father to give the Son; we depend on God the Son to make atonement; and we depend on God the Holy Spirit to seal these blessings to our soul, and to give us communion with God, and a share in his very life. Edwards argument is: God is the purchaser of our salvation; he is the price of our salvation; and he is the benefit that is purchased. We have salvation from him, through him, and in him.

And this is how God is glorified: when all his people depend entirely on him for the salvation their souls need. The more dependent we are, the more he is glorified. This, says Edwards, is "what God aims at in the disposition of things in redemption ... that God should appear full, and man in himself empty, that God should appear all, and man nothing".

Put the Doctrine To Use

So we might well ask -- what use do we make of this teaching of man's dependence being the way to give God the glory in the matter of our salvation? Edwards makes four practical points in conclusion.

First, "we may here observe the marvellous wisdom of God in the work of redemption". Here is the Triune God working to lift man out of the pit of sin into which he has fallen. He can do nothing for himself. Yet it is into our condition that God comes with this rescue plan, of which he is the alpha and omega. It is all of sheer, sovereign grace.

Second, "those doctrines and schemes of divinity that are in any respect opposite to such an absolute and universal dependence on God, derogate from his glory, and thwart the design of our redemption." Edwards knew that he had the advocates of such schemes before him -- he was really talking about Arminianism -- but no matter. Any preaching, or doctrine, that says we have any part in this salvation at all, that says we are only a little dependent on God, or not at all, is not the Gospel of the glory of God.

Third, "we may learn a reason why faith is that by which we come to have an interest in this redemption. For there is included in the nature of faith, a sensible acknowledgment of absolute dependence on God in this affair." Here is Edwards' corrective to the thought that absolute dependence means we do nothing. The Bible calls us to believe. What is faith? Edwards answers:

Faith is a sensibility of what is real in the work of redemption, and the soul that believes does entirely depend on God for all salvation, in its own sense and act. Faith abases men, and exalts God. It gives all the glory of redemption to him alone.

Fourth, "Let us be exhorted to exalt God alone, and ascribe to him all the glory of redemption. Let us endeavor to obtain, and increase in, a sensibility of our great dependence on God, to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a self-dependent and self-righteous disposition." Do you believe, Edwards asks, that your sins are forgiven? That you are fit now for Heaven? There is a way to test the reality of your condition: what do you think of yourself? And what do you think of God? Are you nothing in his sight? Is he everything in yours?

A Gospel of Free Grace

We are not sure what effect this sermon had on those who heard it; but for the ministers who published it, it had a combination of power and passion which gave all the glory in the Gospel to God alone. "We hope," they wrote of Edwards' doctrines in their introduction, "they will never grow unfashionable among us, for we are well assured, if those which we call the doctrines of grace ever come to be contemned or disrelished, vital piety will proportionably languish and wear away". Take away the fact of man's complete dependence on God and God's glory in that dependence, and you destroy the only hope of man. The Gospel must be all of grace or it is nothing at all.

This is the Gospel which has set sinners free down through the ages, given them new life in Christ, and enabled them to entertain the hope that they would go to Heaven at last. Their hope was not in their own works, or merits, or good living -- not even in their faith; but in the grace and power of God: from him, through him, and in him. The sad thing is that these doctrines of grace ARE growing unfashionable; but we lose them at our eternal peril. There is no use telling a man in sin's bondage that he can live a decent life, or that he can go to a human priest and confess his sins, or that he has time enough to worry about salvation when he is older. We cannot depend either on ourselves, or on others, or on time. We cannot depend on church, or religion, or morality. All of these leave room for boasting. No-one going to Heaven will say "My own hand has saved me." No; those who are in Heaven learned on earth that the only salvation worth having was focussed entirely upon God.

© Iain D. Campbell 2003