Arthur Pink, 1938
It is in this way we are experimentally taught to look off from
the present to the future, for our rest is not here. "We are saved by
hope. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already
has?" (Romans 8:24). Let it be duly noted that this comes immediately
after "we ourselves groan within ourselves." Thus to be "saved
by hope" respects our present salvation from the power of sin.
Complete salvation is now the Christian's—only in title and
expectation. It is not here said that we, "shall be saved by
hope," but we are saved by hope—that hope which looks for the
fulfilling of God's promises. Hope has to do with a future good, with something
which as yet "is not seen"—we "hope" not for something
which is already enjoyed. Herein hope differs from faith. Faith, as it is
an assent, is in the mind; but hope is seated in the affections,
stirred by the desirability of the things promised.
And, my reader, the bitter disappointments of life are nothing
but a dark background upon which hope may shine forth the more
brightly. Christ does not immediately take to Heaven the one who puts his trust
in Him. No, He keeps him here upon earth for a while to be exercised and tried.
While he is awaiting his complete blessedness, there is such a
difference between him and it, and he encounters many difficulties and trials.
Not having yet received his inheritance, there is need and occasion of hope,
for only by its exercise can things future be sought after. The stronger our
hope, the more earnestly shall we be engaged in the pursuit of it. We have to
be weaned from present things—in order for the heart to be fixed upon a future
good.
Fourth, by the gift of the Spirit and His
operations within us. God's great gift of Christ for us—is
matched by the gift of the Spirit in us; for we owe as much to the One as
we do to the Other. The new nature in the Christian is powerless, apart from
the Spirit's daily renewing. It is by His gracious operations—that we have made
known to us the nature and extent of sin, are made to strive against it, and
are brought to grieve over it. It is by the Spirit—that faith, hope and prayer
are kept alive within the soul. It is by the Spirit—that we are moved to use
the means of grace which God has appointed for our spiritual preservation and
growth. It is by the Spirit—that sin is prevented from having complete dominion
over us, for as the result of His indwelling us, there is something else
besides sin in the believer's heart and life, namely, the fruits of holiness
and righteousness.
To sum up this aspect of our subject—salvation from the power of
indwelling sin is not the taking of the evil nature out of the believer in this
life, nor by effecting any improvement in it, "that which is born of the
flesh is flesh" (John 3:6), and it remains so, unchanged to the end. Nor
is it by the Spirit so subduing indwelling sin that it is rendered less active,
for the flesh not merely lusts—but "lusts (ceaselessly) against the
spirit"—it never sleeps, not even when our bodies do, as our dreams
evidence. No, and in some form or other, the flesh is constantly producing its
evil works. It may not be in external acts, seen by the eyes of our fellows—but
certainly so internally, in things seen by God—such as covetousness,
discontent, pride, unbelief, self-will, ill-will towards others, and a hundred
other evils. No, none is saved from sinning in this life.
Present salvation from the power of sin consists in, first,
delivering us from the love of it, which though begun at our
regeneration, is continued throughout our practical sanctification.
Second, from its blinding delusiveness, so that it can no
more deceive as once it did.
Third, from our excusing it, "that which I do—I
allow not" (Romans 7:15 ). This is one of
the surest marks of regeneration. In the fullest sense of the word, the
believer "allows" it not before he sins, for every real
Christian, when in his right mind, desires to be wholly kept from sinning. He
"allows" it not fully when doing it, for in the
actual committing thereof, there is an inward reserve—the new nature consents
not. He "allows" it not afterwards, as Psalm 51 evidences
so plainly of the case of David.
The force of this word "allow" in Romans 7:15 may be
seen from "truly you bear witness that you allow the deeds of
your fathers—for they killed them (the Prophets) and you build their sepulchers"
(Luke 11:48). So far from those Jews being ashamed of their fathers and
abhorring their wicked conduct, they erected a monument to their honor. Thus,
to "allow" is the opposite of to be ashamed of and sorrow over—it is
to condone and vindicate.
