There is a form of preaching that specializes in appeals to the will. It possesses little intellectual and doctrinal content, and there is nothing about it that ever moves the emotions; but tremendous pressure is brought to bear on people in the realm of their wills. They are made to ‘decide’, and to do something – all the pressure is on the will. The point I am making is that any of these partial emphases is unworthy of the name of the Gospel, this Gospel which the Apostle describes elsewhere as ‘the glorious gospel of the blessed God’ [1 Timothy 1:11]. It is so big, it is so great, that it takes in the whole man, it engages the entire personality. If our minds and hearts and wills are not engaged we are not Christians. ‘Thank God’, says the Apostle, ‘ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered you’. The whole personality of these Romans was involved in this change. You cannot be converted in your mind only, you cannot be converted in your heart only, you cannot be converted in your will only; if you are truly converted and born again, the three are involved, the whole man is involved.[1]
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