“What is the present spiritual state of my soul before God?” – Octavius Winslow
Backsliding is a topic that is often misunderstood. People tend to equate backsliding with a person losing their faith. While that may be true in some cases, it is also possible for a person who has not denied the faith to backslide as well. A person who still appears “active” in church activities.
I never really thought much of the backslidden person as one who not only still profess faith in Christ but can actually appear active in the things of the Lord until I began to read “Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul” by the puritan Octavius Winslow. I will be posting some excerpts from the book over the coming weeks, and I encourage you to read and discuss it with me.
In his preface to the book, Mr Winslow tells why he wrote the book. He observed that most of the preaching and teaching in his day centered around defending the faith and rousing a slumbering Church, but not much was being said about personal holiness.
This is what he said:
While other and abler writers are employing their pens, either in defending the outposts of Christianity, or in arousing a slumbering church to an increased intensity of personal and combined action in the great work of Christian benevolence, he has felt that it might but be instrumental, in ever so humble a way, of occasionally withdrawing the eye of the believer from the dazzling and almost bewildering movements around him, and fixing it upon the state of HIS OWN PERSONAL RELIGION, he would be rendering the Christian church a service, not the less needed and important in her present elevated and excited position.
It must be admitted, that the character and the tendencies of the age are not favorable to deep and mature reflection upon the hidden, spiritual life of the soul. Whirled along as the church of God is, in her brilliant path of benevolent enterprise, – deeply engaged in concerting and in carrying out new and far-reaching plans of aggression upon the dominion of sin, – and compelled in one hand to hold the spiritual sword in defense of the faith which, with the other, she is up-building, – but few energies are left, and but little time is afforded, for close, faithful, and frequent dealing with the personal and spiritual state of grace in the soul; which, in consequence of thus being overlooked and uncultivated, may fall into a state of the deepest and most painful declension. “They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard have I not kept.” (Song 1:6)
It is, then, the humble design of the writer in the present work, for a while to withdraw the mind from the consideration of the mere externals of Christianity, and to aid the believer in answering the solemn and searching inquiry, – “What is the present spiritual state of my soul before God?”
While we should definitely defend the Truths of the gospel and rouse a slumbering church, but we should never forget that the church is made up of individuals. The Church cannot be holier than the individual members within it.
As a member of the Church, I fear that I have contributed to the “slumbering” of the church in my sometimes lackluster attitude towards the things of God. I pray that the Lord will use this book together with His word to open my eyes to the declension within my heart and may He grant me the wisdom to use all the means of grace He has given to set my soul on fire for Him again.
How about you? If you’re saved, I would encourage you to take the time to ponder Mr. Winslow’s questions: “What is the present spiritual state of my soul before God?”
Soli Deo Gloria!