John Bunyan (Part 2)
Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners
In the previous article in this series we looked at John Bunyan’s classic autobiographical work, Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners. A few books are worth reading twice and even fewer books are worth revisiting over and over. In my estimation this book is worth reading over and over as it examines with microscopic detail the journey of this ‘chief of sinners’ being saved by God’s grace.
The focus in the last issue was on how God works through his divine providence, even during our unbelieving years, shaping us through our friendships, education and circumstances. We also saw how God gives us common grace on the road to effectual grace.
This time we are going to look at Bunyan as he wrestled with doubt and assurance that he was forgiven and was secure in God’s hands. His brokenness over his sin is only finally resolved when he rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Assurance is one of the biggest struggles which many Christians have and the thought of our sin being too great for God to ever forgive can cause great anxiety for even those with the strongest faith. Bunyan shows that our assurance is not in what we do but what Christ has done; it is not by works but by grace alone that we are saved.
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners John Bunyan
There was nothing now that I longed for more than to be put out of doubt, as to this thing in question; and, as I was vehemently desiring to know if there was indeed hope for me, these words came rolling into my mind, ‘Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favourable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’ (Psalm 77:7-9). And all the while they run in my mind, methought I had this still as the answer, It is a question whether He had or no; it may be He has not. Yea, the interrogatory (questioning) seemed to me to carry in it a sure affirmation that indeed He had not, nor would so cast off, but would be favourable; that His promise did not fail, and that He had not forgotten to be gracious, nor would in anger shut up His tender mercy. Something, also, there was upon my heart at the same time, which I now cannot call to mind; which, with this text, did sweeten my heart, and made me conclude that His mercy might not be quite gone, nor clean gone for ever.
…Therefore I still did pray to God, that He would come in with this scripture more fully on my heart; to know, that He would help me to apply the whole sentence, for as yet I could not: that He gave, I gathered; but farther I could not go, for as yet it only helped me to hope there might be mercy for me, ‘My grace is sufficient’; and though it came no farther, it answered my former question; to know, that there was hope; yet, because ‘for you’ was left out, I was not contented, but prayed to God for that also. Wherefore, one day, as I was in a meeting of God’s people, full of sadness and terror, for my fears again were strong upon me; and as I was now thinking my soul was never the better; but my case most sad and fearful, these words did, with great power, suddenly break in upon me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, my grace is sufficient for you, my grace is sufficient for you,’ three times together; and, oh! methought that every word was a mighty word unto me; as my, and grace, and sufficient, and for you; they were then, and sometimes are still, far bigger than others be.
At which time my understanding was so enlightened, that I was as though I had seen the Lord Jesus look down from heaven through the tiles upon me, and direct these words unto me. This sent me mourning home, it broke my heart, and filled me full of joy, and laid me low as the dust; only it stayed not long with me, I mean in this glory and refreshing comfort, yet it continued with me for several weeks, and did encourage me to hope. But so soon as that powerful operation of it was taken off my heart, that other about Esau returned upon me as before; so my soul did hang as in a pair of scales again, sometimes up and sometimes down, now in peace, and once again in terror. Thus I went on for many weeks, sometimes comforted, and sometimes tormented…
So when I had thus considered, I found, that if they were fairly taken, they would amount to this, that I had freely left the Lord Jesus Christ to His choice, whether He would be my Saviour or not; for the wicked words were these, Let Him go if He will. Then that scripture gave me hope, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5). O Lord, said I, but I have left you. Then it answered again, ‘But I will not leave you.’ For this I thank God also. Yet I was grievously afraid He should, and found it exceedingly hard to trust Him, seeing I had so offended Him. I could have been exceeding glad that this thought had never befallen, for then I thought I could, with more ease and freedom in abundance, have leaned upon His grace. I see it was with me, as it was with Joseph’s brothers; the guilt of their own wickedness did often fill them with fears that their brother would at last despise them (Genesis 50:15-17)….
…But one day, as I was passing in the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, your righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal, I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God’s right hand; there, I say, is my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was a-doing, God could not say of me, He wants my righteousness, for that was just before Him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed, I was loosed from my affliction and irons, my temptations had fled away; so that, from that time, those dreadful scriptures of God left off to trouble me now; now went I also home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God. So when I came home, I looked to see if I could find that sentence, your righteousness is in heaven; but could not find such a saying, wherefore my heart began to sink again, only that was brought to my remembrance, He ‘who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption’ by this word I saw the other sentence true (1 Corinthians 1:30).
For by this scripture, l saw that the man Christ Jesus, as He is distinct from us, as touching His bodily presence, so He is our righteousness and sanctification before God. Here, therefore, I lived for some time, very sweetly at peace with God through Christ; Oh, methought, Christ! Christ! there was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes, I was not only for looking upon this and the other benefits of Christ apart, as of His blood, burial, or resurrection, but considered Him as a whole Christ! As He in whom all these, and all other His virtues, relations, offices, and operations met together, and that as He sat on the right hand of God in heaven. It was glorious to me to see His exaltation, and the worth and prevalency of all His benefits, and that because of this: now I could look from myself to Him, and should reckon that all those graces of God that now were green in me, were yet but like those cracked groats (kernels of cereal grain) and fourpence-halfpennies that rich men carry in their purses, when their gold is in their trunks at home! Oh, I saw my gold was in my trunk at home! In Christ, my Lord and Saviour! Now Christ was all; all my wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption. Further, the Lord did also lead me into the mystery of union with the Son of God, that I was joined to Him, that I was flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone, and now was that a sweet word to me in Ephesians 5:30. By this also was my faith in Him, as my righteousness, the more confirmed to me; for if He and I were one, then His righteousness was mine, His merits mine, His victory also mine. Now could I see myself in heaven and earth at once; in heaven by my Christ, by my head, by my righteousness and life, though on earth by my body or person.
Now I saw Christ Jesus was looked on of God, and should also be looked on by us, as that common or public person, in whom all the whole body of His elect are always to be considered and reckoned; that we fulfilled the law by Him, rose from the dead by Him, got the victory over sin, death, the devil, and hell, by Him; when He died, we died; and so of His resurrection. ‘Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise,’ says he (Isaiah 26:19). And again, ‘After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.’ (Hosea 6:2); which is now fulfilled by the sitting down of the Son of Man on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, according to that to the Ephesians, ‘He raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). Ah, these blessed considerations and scriptures, with many others of a like nature, were in those days made to spakle in my eyes, so that I have cause to say, ‘Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! (Psalm 150:1, 2).
Recommended Reading from John Bunyan
Pligrim’s Progress
The Holy War
