91. “An Enquirer, “Newbury. We cannot at all agree with you in your remark that, “ It appears a yea and nay gospel” to call upon men to believe. Our blessed Master called upon men to “repent and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:1515And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15).) And when asked by the men of His time, “ What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” His reply was, “ This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:28, 2928Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:28‑29).) Again, He challenges the Jews with this pungent, question, “ If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (John 8:4646Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? (John 8:46).) Then, when we turn to the Acts of the Apostles we find Peter calling upon the Jews to repent and be converted. We find Paul telling the Philippian jailor to “ Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” He tells the Athenians that “God commandeth all men, everywhere to repent.” We read in 2 Thessalonians that our Lord Jesus Christ will take vengeance on them that obey not the gospel, and further that “ God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth.”
Now, we must confess it seems to us a very serious thing, in the face of all these passages, to call it, “ a yea and nay gospel” to press upon men their responsibility to believe. But the fact is, dear friend, your difficulty is occasioned by the influence of a one-sided theology—a system which we can only compare to a bird with one wing or a boat with one oar. When we turn to the sacred page of God’s word, we find the truth, not one side of truth, but the whole truth in all its bearings. We find, lying side by side, the truth of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Are we called to reconcile them? Nay, they are reconciled already because they are both set forth in the word. We are to believe and obey. It is a fatal mistake for men to frame systems of divinity. You can no more systematize the truth of God than you can systematize God Himself. Let us abandon, therefore, all systems of theology and schools of divinity, and take the truth. There is not a single theological system under the sun that contains the truth. All may contain some truth, not one contains all. And very often you find that whatever little truth the system contains is misplaced and turned the wrong way, to the serious damage of truth as a whole, and the stumbling and injury of souls. Every day we live we are more and more struck with the vast difference between the dogmas of divinity and the heart—the word—the Christ of God.