A Circular Letter on The Christian Warfare


To The Churches composing the Licking Association of Particular Baptists, their messengers wish grace, mercy and peace be multiplied.

1846 Session- by Elder Thomas P. Dudley


Dearly Beloved:
It occurs to us that we could not select a more appropriate subject, because none possesses more intrinsic merit for our annual Address, than the Origin, Nature, and Effects of that warfare which so painfully disturbs the peace and quiet of the children of the Regeneration.
It is confidently believed that much embarrassment and many doubts and fears with regard to their interest in the Saviour's shed blood, have resulted from misconception of this important subject. How often does the troubled saint exclaim:

"If I love, why am I thus?
Why this dull and lifeless frame?
Hardly sure can they be worse,
Who have never heard His name."

That the warfare invariably follows regeneration, or being "born again," is not, we believe, controverted by any experimental Christian, but while some of us maintain that the warfare results from a conflict of elements within; others, and perhaps the larger number contend that, in regeneration, the man is changed from the love of sin to the love of holiness.

We inquire, by what power is the supposed change affected? The answer is, "By the Spirit of God." Moses informs us, "He is the Rock, His work is perfect." (Deut.32:4) Now we ask, if indeed, in regeneration, the man is changed from the love of sin to the love of holiness, and this change is perfect; does it not necessarily follow, that he will be as wholly and entirely devoted to holiness subsequently, as he had been to sin antecedently to regeneration? If, as is contended by many, the enmity of the heart is slain in regeneration, whence arises opposition to the dispensations of God's sovereign providence? Irreconciliation to His will? and whence the exclamation, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24) That the Christian is a compound being, is a truth so fully taught in his history, as given in the Holy Scriptures, that we wonder it should be controverted by any who have "tasted that the Lord is gracious." "But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." (II Cor. 4:16). "For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man." (Rom. 7:22) "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. (II Cor. 5:17)

"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (II Cor. 5:17) "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." (Gal. 6:15) Whence these various distinctions between the old and new man, if indeed there are not two men? or, if man is only changed in regeneration?

If the language that "man is changed" were appropriate, there would be but one man; his feelings and affections having been changed; there would be no conflict and hence no Christian warfare. But this is contrary to our experiences.

We presume that none will contend that the old man is the new man, or that the new is the old man. This would be to confound language and make it unintelligible.

We affectionately ask brethren to consider that, the matter of making Christians, is nowhere, in the Scripture, represented as re-formation, but as creation. Hence it is said, "But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. . . for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." (Isa. 65:18-23) None, we presume, will deny, that the last quotation has exclusive reference to Galatians 4:26. "But Jerusalem which is above if free, which is the mother of us all." "But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel. Fear not: for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name: thou art Mine." "Fear not: for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth;" "even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." (Isa. 43:1-7) "How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man." (Jer. 31:22) "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10) "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

But why need we to multiply proofs on the point, when they are set forth so palpably in the scriptures, and realized in the Christian's experience?

The Bible furnishes the following history of the natural family. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created him; male and female created He them." (Gen.1:27) "And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7) "Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Gen. 5:2) Hence we learn that all "living souls," were created in, and simultaneously with their natural progenitor.

They all descend from Adam by ordinary or natural generation. They necessarily partake of his nature, and subsist upon the same elements upon which he subsisted. The breath of life communicated to man, whence he became a "living soul," constituted him a rational, intelligent, accountable being - the subject of law and of earthly enjoyments - capable of subsisting upon the products of the earth; but incapable of other alien and higher enjoyments.

Deprive him of the soul, the mind, or his rational faculties; and what would distinguish him from the brute? Deprived him of life, and he would be like other dead matter. In the absence of soul, or of body, he would have been incapable of filling up his destiny upon the earth. It is said in the Scripture; "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it, and keep it. . . And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (The life, therefore, which Adam had, could be forfeited by transgressions.)

"And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone: I will make him a help meet for him." "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." (Gen. 2:15-18; 22-24.)

Now, we ask, if the woman had been different in nature and disposition, if she had been incapable of earthly enjoyment - of subsisting upon earthly productions - of breathing a natural atmosphere; in a word, had her susceptibilities been entirely different from Adam's would she have been an "help meet" for Adam? But she was part of him, possessed the same nature, and was, consequently, an "help meet." Here too, we see the declaration, "Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam," carried out.

"And unto Adam He said: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying: Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." (Gen. 3:17-20.) Did God address a rational intelligent being in the foregoing quotation, and was the being capable of realizing the curse pronounced?

The characteristics of this natural family are strikingly marked in the Scriptures: "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and his own image; and called his name Seth." (Gen. 5:3.) "Behold," said David, "I was shapen in inquity; and in sin did my mother conceived me." (Psa. 51)

"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." (Psa. 58:3) "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12.)

From the preceding facts and arguments it is manifest that the family of the "first Adam" is not capable of rendering acceptable service to God, but the antagonistic nature and principle of the two families - the natural family and the spiritual family - out of which grows the warfare, are made still more manifest by the contrast introduced by an Apostle.

And so it is written: "The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam (Christ) was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which was spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterwards that which is spiritual. . . The first man is of the earth, earthy; the last man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (I Cor. 15:45-50.) Is it not evident, then, that all "living souls" were created in and simultaneously with the "first man Adam;" that they all, being born of him, necessarily partake of his nature - "and He called their name Adam"?

And, is it not also evident that all "quickened spirits" were created in and simultaneously with the "last Adam", that they all, being born of Him - "born of God," - and as necessarily partake of His nature? That the seed of the "first man Adam" disclose his nature, and the seed of the "last Adam" (Christ) disclose His nature.

The children of the "first Adam" are born of the flesh and are earthy in all their feelings and affections; the children of the "last Adam", are born of the Spirit and are necessarily heavenly or spiritual in all their feelings and affections. The children of the first are born for the earth; the children of the last Adam, are born for heaven. Those of the "first" are born of corruptible seed; and those of the "last" are born of incorruptible seed. The "first" necessarily partake of human nature; the "last" of the divine nature. The antagonistic principles attached to the two men necessarily result in the warfare. If all living souls were not vitally united to the first Adam, how could they be so greatly and fatally affected by the first transgression?

How could the original act of transgression be, by the Bible, considered their act? "And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." "There is none righteous, no not one." (Rom. 3:10.) If all quickened spirits were not vitally united to the "last Adam," how could His mediatorial work effect them in their deliverance from the wrath to come? "This is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness." (Jer. 23:6.)

The transgression of the "first man Adam" involved all his family in guilt and ruin. The mediatorial work of the "last Adam" met all the claims of the law and satisfied divine justice in behalf of the chosen seed. But as the transgression of the "first Adam" did not disqualify his family for heaven (through the redemption of Christ), neither did the obedience and death of the "last Adam" impart to His chosen seed a qualification for the enjoyment of heaven - much more was needed for this.

The earth being the natural abode of the "first Adam's" family, they are necessary born of the flesh in order to its enjoyment; likewise, heaven being the ultimate abode of the saints, they are as necessarily born of the Spirit in order to its enjoyments.

"Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) Here we are presented with two distinct births of two distinct elements, which necessarily produce two distinct beings. The first, of the flesh, producing beings incapable of entering the kingdom of God; the second, of the Spirit, producing beings capable of entering into the kingdom of God. The first producing simple beings; the second producing compound beings. The first having but one nature; the second having two natures.

Of those born of the flesh, it is said, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot see God." (Rom. 7:7.) Of those born of the Spirit it is said: "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." (Rom. 8:7-9) "All men hath not faith." "But without faith it is impossible to please Him." Faith is a "fruit of the Spirit" - "the gift of God" to the "new creature."

The development of the natural family has been progressing for near six thousand years, and yet the last one born, like the first, gives proof, - demonstrable proof - of the source whence he sprang. The spiritual family has been developing with and since the days of Abel, and each "born of the Spirit" gives evidence of the source whence he sprang. "I delight in the law of God after the inward man." No contingency can prevent the entire development of each, the natural family and the spiritual family: and we are warranted to believe that the last one who shall be developed of each shall be like the first of that family from whence he sprang.

The sturdy oak of the forest, with all its roots, its huge trunk, every limb, every twig, yea, and every leaf, which has been, is now being and shall be developed, were once enclosed in a small acorn, whence they all sprang - all are of the same nature - each a part of the whole. Had not the acorn been providentially committed to the ground when it underwent decomposition and germination, there had been no development; so with the corn of wheat. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. "He that loveth his life (his natural life) shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:24-25.) Adam the first could no more produce a spiritual being, than the "thorn" could produce grapes; or the "thistle" figs.

We learn from the Bible that the Husband was composed of two whole and distinct natures, divine and human. The human composed no part of the divine; nor yet, did the divine compose any part of His human nature; yet the God-Man was one Person. Now examine the figure; - if the bride is not composed of two whole and distinct natures, or if the human composes any part of the divine, or the divine composes any part of the human in her, can she be "an help meet for Him"? Unless she partake of the same distinct natures, can she enjoy Him, or He her, in this world: or in that world which is to come? But we find the "two men" sustained upon radically different elements. The earth which is the mother of the "old man" now, as formerly, feeds the "old man" still. The "new man" is fed upon that "bread which cometh down from heaven." "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." (John 6:51,53.)

The creation and development of those destined to inhabit both the natural and spiritual world, are distinct propositions. Hence the Psalmist, personating Christ, says: "My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth; Thine eyes did see My substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psa. 139:15-16.) "For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." (Eph. 5:30.)

Creation was instantaneous. Formation is progressive. Though we were created simultaneously with and lay dormant in the "first Adam," for thousands of years. Yet the time arrived as the purpose of God is carried out, and we were born of the flesh, elemented alone for a natural state of being; susceptible alone of fleshly enjoyments; adapted to a natural world; capable alone of being sustained upon earthly food, and possessed alone of natural life, all of this family "bear the image of the earthly" Adam.

This includes Adam the first and all his natural seed. "And He called their name Adam." We should not forget that Adam the first, is said to be "the figure of Him that was to come."

What then do we learn from the figure? That the bride, and all the spiritual children were created in and simultaneously with the "last Adam," i.e., "before the foundation of the world." (Eph. 1:4-6.) That, they are of the same nature with Him, and being "born of the Spirit," they possessed of eternal life, which qualifies them for a knowledge of "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom, Thou hast sent." (John 17:3.)

Antecedently to this spiritual birth, and the imparting to them this life (which it is the province of their spiritual Father to impart, (John 17:2), they are entirely ignorant of the "true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent." "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." "No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. 12:3.)

Although all the spiritual seed were "chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) and had "Grace given them in Christ Jesus before the world began"; and were "sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Christ Jesus;" though they were "hidden" in their spiritual Father as the first Adam's children were in him, the time comes when they are "born of the Spirit". It is then the "hidden ones" are made known to each other. This is when their hearts being fashioned alike, the "Sun of Righteousness" shines in their hearts, "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor. 4:6.)

As the light of the sun, the great luminary of day, shines upon the sons and daughters of the natural world, so the "Sun of Righteousness" affords light to the spiritual world. "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth: even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." (Isa. 43:6,7.)

Here, again, we see the figure carried out. All the family of the "first Adam," created in him, are called by his name: "and called their name Adam;" and all the spiritual family of the "last Adam," are also called by His name: "Even every one that is called by My name."

Here we have two distinct families, propagated by two distinct heads; each deriving the nature of his progenitor, and each looking to his appropriate elements for sustenance. The first, mortal beings, are sustained upon corrupted elements; the second, immortal beings are sustained upon uncorrupted elements. The first, are earthly beings; the second are heavenly beings. We ask, Is not the "old man" sustained upon the same identical elements, subsequently upon which he was fed and sustained antecedently to regeneration?

Can those elements sustain the "new man"? Do we not partake of earthly food until our soul is satisfied, without imparting a particle of nourishment to the "new man"? Does not the "new man," "setting under the droppings of the sanctuary" feed sumptuously upon the provision of the Gospel, without imparting a particle of food to the "old man"? "Feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28.) "Feed My lambs, feed My sheep."

Being "born of the flesh," we are born into a natural state of consciousness, capable of investigating natural subjects; of participating in natural enjoyments; sustained upon natural elements, so long as we retain, and until we yield up that natural life, which we received in our head, "Adam the first". Being "born of the Spirit," "born of God, " we are made partakers of the divine nature; are susceptible of spiritual instruction, of investigating spiritual subjects; participating in spiritual enjoyments; sustained upon spiritual elements; nor can the being thus born, cease to be. "I will give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." (John 10:28.)

"Because I live, ye shall live also." ((John 14:19.) "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory." (Col. 3:4.) Hence we see, that the death of the "old man," cannot destroy the life of the "new man."

The law was violated, and the curse incurred by the man in the flesh. The law was magnified and made honorable, and the curse removed from His chosen seed (who sinned in their Adamic, or natural relation) by "God manifested in the flesh." "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham." (Heb. 2:14-16.) The whole humanity of the Lord Jesus, both soul and body, was involved in that deliverance: because the whole "old man" both soul and body, was involved in transgression.

"When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands." (Isa. 53:10) "Now is My soul troubled." "My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death." "Who His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (I Peter 2:24.)

We have said, Christians are compound beings; by which we mean, there are "two men"; two, whole and distinct natures, inhabiting the same tenement. The "old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts," whose genealogy we trace back to the "first Adam," who "was made a living soul;" and who discloses the corrupt nature of the fountain from whence he sprang. Adam "begat a son in his own likeness (as fallen); after his (fallen) image; an enemy to holiness; a hater of God. The "new man" within which after "God is created in righteousness and true holiness," and who exemplifies the declaration: "If the root be holy, so are the branches."

"And they shall call them, the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, a city not forsaken." (Isa. 62:12.) "Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (I John 3:2.) Will He appear with two whole and distinct natures in one Person? If He shall so appear, shall we be like Him, unless we too, have two whole and distinct natures? Hence it is seen, that the two men derive their nature and disposition from two distinct sources.

Each man has a life peculiar to himself, yet common to his species. The first man, a natural life; the second man, a spiritual life. The first is a corporal being; the second, an incorporeal being. The first, is an earthly being; the second, is a heavenly being. "As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." "As He is, so are we in this world." (I John 4:17.)

Nothing pure or holy is attached to the "old man." "But even their mind and conscience is defiled." (Titus 1:15.) Nothing impure or unholy is attached to the "new man." "Unto the pure, all things are pure." (Titus 1:15.) "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8.) It is contended by some, yea, many professors of religion, that the soul is regenerated. We confess we know but little about the soul.

But we inquire, what is it, that renders man a rational, intelligent, accountable being? What is it, that exercises volition (the will) for the body? "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:15.) "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." (Gen. 6:5-6.) If the soul were regenerated, would it not be as wholly devoted to God, subsequently, as it had been to sin, antecedently to regeneration? If it be the soul that exercises volition for the body, and that soul is "born of God," and consequently "cannot sin," (I John 3:9) how are we to account for the wicked actions of David, of Peter, and thousands of other Christians, even down to the present day?

But, it is contended, that the same soul, exercises wicked volition for the "old man," and holy volition for the "new man." If so, is not the soul divided against itself? Others tell us, It is the mind which exercises volition for the body. We have heretofore proven that "their mind and conscience is defiled."

But we are asked, When, and how, are the "old man" and the "new man," to be united: and how will they appear hereafter? We answer, "Now we see through a glass darkly," but when we shall learn how the soul and body of the "Redeemer," "Husband," "Friend," now appears; and how they are gloriously united to His divinity, then, and not till then, may we undertake to say more in regard to the future state of soul and body, and the "new man," composing the "Bride, the Lamb's wife."

It is sufficient for the present, for her to know, that "when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (I John 3:2.) Until which event shall roll on, the wise man describes her thus, "What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies." (S.S. 6:13.) It is vain to tell us, that the flesh, independently of an intelligent principle, call it soul, mind, or what you may; will rebel against God.

Some brethren conclude that the warfare is to be explained by "mind and matter." Have they forgotten that it requires both, to constitute an intelligent accountable being? We have shown that even their "mind and conscience is defiled."

That the "carnal mind is enmity against God." Matter would be incapable of vice or virtue, in the absence of the mind!

Nor are those more successful, who attempt to explain the Christian warfare, by the different colors blended in the rainbow. Have they forgotten that those colors harmonize, and that it is the entire want of harmony between the "old and new man" which necessarily produces the warfare. Have they forgotten the declaration, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (I John 2:16.) If the "old man" is "born of God" he cannot sin, and there would be no warfare.

But is this true? Let the Christian experience answer: "For what I do, I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." (Rom. 7:15.)

In conclusion, we submit to your serious and prayerful consideration, the foregoing pages, hoping that God may bless us with an understanding of the truth; and dispose us to reduce it into practice; that He may guide us with His counsel and afterwards receive us to glory, is our prayer for the Redeemer's sake.

Amen.