What Are the Doctrines of Grace?
by Dr. J. D. Watson
Back Cover of
printed Sola Scriptura Publications booklet: Charles Spurgeon, preaching on
the subject of presumptuous-ness, said in 1855, “I have heard it asserted most
positively, that those high doctrines [of grace] which we love and which we
find in the Scriptures, are licentious ones. I do not know who has the
hardihood to make that assertion, when they consider that the holiest of men
have been believers in them. I ask the man who dares to say that Calvinism is a
licentious religion, what he thinks of the character of Augustine, or Calvin,
or Whitfield, who in successive ages were the great exponents of the system of
grace; or what will he say of those Puritans, whose works are full of them? Had
a man been an Arminian in those days, he would have been accounted the vilest
heretic breathing; but now we are looked upon as the heretics, and they the
orthodox. We have gone back to the old school, we can trace our
descent from the Apostles. It is that vein of free grace running through the
sermonising of Baptists, which has saved us as a denomination. Were it not for
that, we should not stand where we are. We can run a golden link from hence up
to Jesus Christ himself, through a holy succession of mighty fathers, who all
held these glorious truths; and we can say to them, where will you find holier
and better men in the world? We are not ashamed to say of ourselves, that
however much we may be maligned and slandered, ye will not find a people who
will live closer to God than those who believe that they are saved not by their
works, but by free grace alone.” [1]
“Salvation is of the Lord.” – Jonah 2:9
Introduction
I am
convinced that much of the abhorrence I used to have for the doctrines that
follow was caused by the same thing that causes this abhorrence in many others,
namely, misunderstanding. I believe
that one of the major reasons, if not the
major reason, for the controversy that has raged for years is the fundamental
misunderstanding of what the Doctrines of Grace represent.
A
perfect example of this is seen in an incident recounted by R. C. Sproul:
If we want to be understood, we must learn to say what we mean and
mean what we say. I once heard a theologian giving a lecture in Reformed
theology. Part way through his lecture a student raised his hand and said to
him, “Sir, should we assume as we are listening to you that you are a Calvinist?”
The scholar replied, “Yes, indeed I am,” and returned to his lecture. A few
moments later he stopped in the middle of a sentence with a sudden look of
understanding in his eyes and turned his attention back to the student who had
asked the question. He said, “What do you understand a Calvinist to be?” The
student answered, “A Calvinist is someone who believes that God brings some
people kicking and screaming against their will into His kingdom while
excluding others who desperately want in.” With that the lecturer’s mouth
dropped open with shock and he said, “Well, in that case, please do not assume
I am a Calvinist.” 2
As I read that incident, I thought to myself, “If I
didn’t know better, I would think that I was that student.” This indeed reveals
the general misunderstanding that exists concerning those who hold the
Doctrines of Grace.
What,
then, is it that people misunderstand? What are the Doctrines of Grace? Boiled
down to their bare essence, the Doctrines of Grace say only one thing: Salvation is of the Lord. That’s it.
It’s just that simple. It is this that provided the basis for the title of this
book, for as the prophet Jonah declared: Salvation
is of the Lord (Jon. 2:9).
This one
verse summarizes the very essence of the Bible. The Doctrines of Grace
demonstrate that man is a totally helpless sinner whom God alone has saved by
His love and grace. Isn’t this what evangelicals believe? Yes, but I am
convinced that many do not know that
they believe it, that they simply do not understand what the term “saved by
grace” really means. I in no way want
to imply that Arminians are not saved, rather what I am saying is that they do
not fully understand their salvation. I am convinced that if the Doctrines of
Grace are presented properly, God’s people will thankfully and lovingly embrace
them.
As a
former Arminian, I know this misunderstanding first hand; I know the arguments,
I know the mind set. This, then, is the first reason for this book and the
first thing that makes it unique. I know of no other “Arminian” who ever wrote
a defense of the Doctrines of Grace. My prayer is that this booklet—which is a
very short summary of the full-length book Salvation Is Of The Lord 3— will serve as a short introduction to The
Doctrines of Grace. be accepted by many who still believe as I used to. This
book is not meant to argue or to castigate, rather it is meant to teach, to teach that salvation is solely
of God, solely of grace from beginning to end. For if everything is not from God, then why do we need grace at all?
I am
convinced that most of the problems and controversies that arise when dealing
with the subject of the Doctrines of Grace come from two causes. First, much of
the problem comes from an inadequate foundation. Often pastors and other teachers
fail to show Christians how to look at these doctrines, that is, what attitudes
to hold as they consider them. It is this that we need to examine in this first
study. As the aforementioned full-length book on this subject details, we need
to look at four ways to approach these great doctrines: Biblically, Humbly,
Believingly, and Prayerfully.
The
second cause of difficulty arises from an inadequate view of God and man. Much
of the problem comes from the fact that God is no longer God. In the minds of
many, God is not an absolutely sovereign God who controls all things. He’s no
longer a God Who had a sovereign plan from before the foundation of the world
and is now providentially executing that plan. Man, on the other hand, is
elevated from one who was totally depraved and unable to respond to God in any
way to an only partially sinful being who has a totally free will to choose or
reject God. These will be the subjects of our second and third studies.
The Greatness
of God
I am
convinced more every day (as I’m sure are others) that the sovereignty of God is the cardinal doctrine of the Word of God.
As we will see, everything flows from God’s sovereign rule: His creation of the
universe, His upholding of that universe, His rule in the history of man, His
saving of the elect, His provision for His own, and all else.
But this
attitude is dying today. For example, one cannot read the Puritans without
seeing this doctrine vividly portrayed, but we are hard-pressed to find a
handful of authors today who boldly speak of it. If we may put the matter
another way, God doesn’t seem to be as “big” as He used to be in the minds of
many Christians. God doesn’t seem to be in control as much as He used to be.
Listening to the average sermon today on God, one gets the impression that
since Christians have “matured” so well and have such a good “self-esteem,”
that God can safely give them more control over their lives and step into the
background. But this is not what the Biblical doctrine of God’s sovereignty
teaches.
Basically,
sovereignty means that since God is the Creator
of all things, He then owns all
things and therefore rules all
things. To say that God is sovereign is to say that He is supreme. To say that
God is sovereign is to say that He is the Most High. To say that God is
sovereign is to say that He does everything according to His will. To say that
God is sovereign is to say that He is the Ruler over all things. To say that
God is sovereign is to say that no one can defeat His plan, thwart His purpose,
or resist His power.
In short, to say that God is sovereign is to
say that God IS God! I Chronicles 29:11-12 defines this sovereignty:
“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the
victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is
thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine
hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give
strength unto all.”
Notice that these verses are actually part of David’s
prayer of thanksgiving. May we examine our hearts and ask, “When was the last
time I prayed like this? Then again, have I ever
prayed like this?” Our prayer life is often wholly self-centered when primarily
it should praise God and manifest total submission to His sovereign will.
Understanding
this basic principle of sovereignty, which transcends “theological systems,”
clears up a lot of controversy. Does not an omnipotent, omniscient,
omnipresent, and immutable God have His own prerogatives? Does He not have His
own absolute will? Can He not do what He wishes to do? Can He not save whom He
wants to save when no one deserves salvation in the first place?
Think of
it! God controls all things. He controls all
things and controls them all equally well, perfectly, in fact.
God Controls the physical universe (Job 9:5-7, Gen. 41:32, Job
38:12-15, Ps. 104:14, 147:16-18, Amos 4:7, Nahum 1:3, Matt. 5:45-46, and Acts
14:17).
God controls the animal creation (Ps. 147:9, 104:21, Dan.
6:22, Matt. 6:26, and 10:29).
God controls the nations of the world.
He is “the Ruler over all the nations” (Ps. 22:28, Rom. 13:1, I Chron. 16:31,
Job 12:23, Ps. 47:7, 66:7, Is. 10:5-7, 15, Dan. 2:38‑39, 4:25, 35, and
Acts 17:26).
God controls man and his affairs (Ps. 37:23, Acts 17:26, I Sam.
2:6-7, Ps. 31:15, 75:6-7, Prov. 16:9, 21:1, Is. 45:5, 64:8, and Jas. 4:15).
What a
blessed truth, indeed, that God is sovereign in control. And it is is this
truth that is the very foundation of The Doctrines of Grace.
The Walking
Dead Man
There is
absolutely no doubt that many of the objections leveled against the Doctrines
of Grace come from a lack of understanding of the doctrine of man’s sinfulness.
The
Bible teaching that man is sinful is not hard to understand, rather it is hard to accept. Not only does man not want to admit he is a sinner, he doesn’t even want to consider the possibility. Further, man thinks he is fundamentally
good. Have we all not heard people say, “Well, I’m basically a good person.
Certainly I occasionally do something that I shouldn’t, but we all do that.”
Genesis
1:26-27 declare that God created man in His image and likeness, but then man
sinned. What really happened when
Adam sinned? How did the fall effect Adam and his descendants? What is man now
capable and incapable of doing? There is no better place to study the depravity
of man than in the opening chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. Specifically,
Romans 1:18-32 paints a grotesque picture of man. Briefly, this passage
outlines the six stages of man’s degeneration as a result of the Fall. Please
open your Bible and read.
First,
there is Man’s Past Intelligence (18b-20). While God can clearly be seen in
nature, and while man can know therefore know who God is, he continues to
suppress this truth in his sinfulness.
Second,
there is Man’s Present Ignorance (21-22). Having turned away from the truth,
man’s heart has been darkened so that he falls into still further darkness and
ignorance.
Third,
there is Man’s Practicing Idolatry (23-25). When man suppresses the knowledge
of the true God, he must then create another to take His place, and this is,
indeed, what man has done, whether it be the African who worships a carved idol,
the Indian who worships a cow, the intellectual who worships knowledge, or the
businessman who worships money.
Fourth,
there is Man’s Progressive Indulgence (26-31). Here are some of the most
terrible verses in all the Word of God. They describe how God abandoned man and
allowed him to go his own way because of his deification of himself. A simple
reading should be enough to show man’s wretchedness.
Fifth,
there is Man’s Passive Impenitence (32). After cataloging the sins of man, God
further reveals man’s corruption with four thoughts. (1) Man has an inner
knowledge of the reality of sin. (2) Man is conscious that God must hate and
punish sin. (3) Despite the warning of his own conscience, man persists in his
sin. (4) Man comes to the point where he not only condones, approves of, and
aids in sin, but even rejoices in the sins of others.
Sixth,
there is Man’s Paralyzing Inability (21). This verse reveals another truth:
man’s powerlessness and futility. “Vain” is mataioo
from the noun mataios, “devoid of
force, truth, success, result; speaks of that which is futile, without result
or success.” This word refers to the unsuccessful attempt to do or be anything. How did Solomon put it? “Vanity of vanities, all is
vanity,” or “Futility of futilities, all
is futile” (Ecc. 1:2). So, the plight of the human race is that in refusing
to glorify or thank God, it became futile (unsuccessful) in all its thoughts
and reasoning.
One of
the basic controversies concerning the Doctrines of Grace is the Biblical
doctrine of man’s inability. But the Word of God is clear: man’s will
has been so affected by sin that he has lost all will or ability to any
spiritual good. The key to understanding this is to realize that man is spiritually dead:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: Wherein in
time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others. (Eph. 2:1-3).
To say that man can do “good things” is contradictory.
Why? Because a dead man can’t do anything.
Can a drowning man who has taken water into his lungs help himself? Can he sit
up and say, “Oh, I’m not completely helpless. I have water in my lungs, but
I’ll be all right in a minute.” Of course not. He is totally helpless, totally
unable to give himself CPR. Likewise, the spiritually dead man can do nothing
to resuscitate himself spiritually. He can do nothing righteous, nothing good,
nothing to please God.
In
typical Hebrew fashion the prophet Isaiah pictures the sinfulness of man with
these words: “But we are all as an
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like
the wind, have taken us away (Is. 64:6). The Hebrew for “filthy rags” is the
word that literally means “a menstrual cloth” (Lev. 15:33; 20:18). Think of it!
All of man’s good deeds and good intentions are as useless and offensive to God
as a menstrual cloth is to us.
Such
language immediately brings us to the term “man’s free will.” The first thing
that the Word of God reveals about the term “free will” is that it appears in
the New Testament only in the context of stewardship. In II Corinthians 8:1-4,
for example, Paul praises the believers in Macedonia because they were “freely
willing” to give liberally to the work of the ministry even though they were
poor. Second, “free will” never appears in the context of coming to Christ in
faith. In fact, the Scripture’s entire emphasis regarding the will is its bondage, not its freedom. Romans 3:11-18
clearly shows that man runs from God, in no way seeks God, and does nothing to
please God. As one writer so ably puts it, the only way a man’s will is “free”
is “in the sense that it is not controlled by any force outside of himself. As
a bird with a broken wing is ‘free’ to fly but not able, so the natural man is free to come to God but not able. How can he repent of sin when he
loves it? How can he come to God when he hates Him?” 4 Indeed, nothing outside ourselves enslaves
us, rather our own will enslaves us.
With all
this in mind, is there any hope? What must happen for man to receive the
Gospel? The answer is simply this: salvation
is all of grace. When His disciples asked Him who can be saved, Jesus
answered: “With men it is impossible,
but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mk. 10:27).
If that doesn’t emphasize man’s total inability, nothing
does. Man contributes absolutely nothing to his salvation. As Luke tells us:
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk.
19:10). Can a lost item find itself? No, it takes an outside power to find it.
The
Apostle John also makes it clear that salvation comes totally from outside man:
No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. And he said,
Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given
unto him of my Father. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth
ever. If the Son therefore shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed. (Jn. 6:44, 65; 8:34-36).
Earlier we read Paul’s description of man’s depravity in
Ephesians 2:1-3. Now consider what he writes in verses 4-6 concerning God’s
intervention:
But God,
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us
[made us alive] together with Christ, (by
grace ye are saved;) And hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus: That in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus.
Now that
we have seen man’s plight, we are
prepared to turn to God’s power. Now
that we understand man’s guilt, may
we now contemplate God’s grace.
The Full
Grace of Salvation
Some
time ago I was speaking to a young preacher who was struggling with a few
matters concerning the Doctrines of Grace. I simply asked him, “Who saved you?”
His answer immediately was, “God did, of course.” My only response was, “There
you go.” If we can just grasp and cling to the foundational truth that God saved us, we will have no problems
with the Doctrines of Grace. Salvation is either of the Lord or it isn’t. And
if it’s not all of God, then none of it can be of God.
To
understand the Doctrines of Grace, it is essential that we understand the basic
term “salvation.” Salvation is the sole
act of God whereby He by His mercy and grace eternally redeems His elect
believers and delivers them from their sin and the resultant spiritual death
through the once-for-all redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
In reading Ephesians 2:4-6 again, we
see a striking feature, namely, everything
here is what God alone has done. Man is nowhere to be found in this
passage. Only God is doing something here, and it is for this reason that we
say that the Doctrines of Grace are the real heart of Christianity,
Christianity in its purest form. Throughout the history of the church these
doctrines have been the real power of Christianity. Why? Compare the Doctrines
of Grace to any religion. Not one of
them speaks this way because they are all of man. Only the Doctrines of Grace
emphasize that salvation is all of God.
The word
“chosen” is all-important here. It is the Greek eklego, which carries the basic meaning “to pick out, choose, select
for one’s self.” Most importantly, however, is the fact that this is in a
construction in the Greek that indicates that God did the choosing
independently in the past and did so primarily
for His own interest, that is, His glory. Verses 6, 12, and 14 bear this out,
for they all emphasize the words “His
glory.” This, among other reasons, exposes the fallacy of the common view that
our foreseen faith is the basis for election. The word “election” here speaks only of an action done by God in the past, not on man’s faith in the future.
Another
important point concerning eklego is
that while it speaks of choosing for oneself, it does not necessarily imply the rejection of what is not chosen. A common
criticism of the Doctrines of Grace is that God’s choosing of certain ones to
salvation means that He, therefore, chooses the rest to condemnation. But there
is no foundation for this accusation. Nowhere does the Word Of God teach that
God chooses (or predestines) unbelievers to eternal damnation. This has been
called “double-predestination,” but again, it is not Biblical. A person goes to
hell for one reason: he rejects God and His way of salvation. A person is
condemned by his own unbelief, not God’s predestination. As the Puritan Anthony
Burgess put it: “For no man is damned precisely because God hath not chosen
him, because he is not elected, but because he is a sinner, and doth willfully refuse
the means of grace offered.” 5
At this
point, many have a problem with God’s election and man’s “will” or “choice.”
The trouble comes, however, when we fail to differentiate between man’s responsibility and man’s will. Just because man’s will is enslaved
and no longer free, he is still responsible before God. Why? Because as we
emphasized in the last chapter, each one of us was in the Garden of Eden and
sinned with Adam (Rom. 5:12). Each of us is responsible for his or her own sin.
Is God responsible for sending anyone to hell? No! Each individual is
responsible for sending himself to hell. What sends him to hell? His failure to
believe. In the words of our Lord: “He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn. 3:18). As already mentioned
in the last two chapters, while man’s will
is in bondage, his mind is still free
to choose. He is still responsible for his decisions and actions.
We see
the doctrine of Election everywhere we look in scripture, but Romans 9 contains
some of the strongest language in all of Scripture on the doctrine of election.
Verses 10-13 tell us that God’s favor
was on Jacob, not Esau. God loved (that is, esteemed) Esau less than Jacob.
Why? Because He is God. He has that prerogative.
A typical protest at this
point, however, is, “This is not just!” And to this we answer, No, it certainly
isn’t justice; it’s grace. Justice
would demand that God favor no one!.
In verse 14-16, this is precisely the argument Paul says many of his readers
would have.
Verses
17-18 then speak of God hardening Pharoah’s heart for His own purposes. One
writer says it best about this situation: “The hearts of the wicked are, of
course, never hardened by the direct influence of GodHe simply permits some men to follow out the evil
impulses which are already in their hearts, so that, as a result of their own
choices, they become more and more calloused and obstinate.” 6
Turning
to other areas of Scripture, we read the words of our Lord, “All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, (Jn 6:37), indicating that the Father is giving to the Son those
whom He has chosen. Luke tells us that when Paul preached the Gospel in Antioch
in Pisidia, that “when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord: and as many as
were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48). Did everyone there
have a so-called “free will” to choose in and of themselves to believe?
Obviously not. This verse, in fact, is a tough one for those who try to skirt
the doctrine of election. There is simply no other way to read this verse
except that “divine ordination to eternal life is the cause, not the effect, of any man’s believing,” 7 as
one commentator puts it. Each believed because of God’s election.
Woven
into the very fabric of Scripture is this principle of God’s election. To list
only a few, consider these Scriptures: Deut. 10:14-15; Ps. 33:12; 65:4; Matt.
11:27-28; 22:14; Lk. 4:25-27; Jn. 15:16; 17:6; Col. 3:12; and we could go on.
So, what
do we say to all this? Simply that God is sovereign in all things, including salvation. Some admit to God’s sovereignty in
everything except salvation, but this
not only denies the Scripture, it also robs God of His sovereignty. 8
The Result of
the Cross
What was
the result of the cross? What did it actually accomplish? Did the cross
accomplish only something potential
or something actual? Did
the cross actually do something (save
us) or simply make something possible
(save us if we believe)?
Redemption. What a word! It is
in this word our salvation lies. It is this word that is the heart of our
salvation. This wonderful word appears in Ephesians 1: 7: “In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace.”
First,
what is the Meaning of Redemption? The Greek word here is apolutrosis. The root lutroo means “to release on receipt of a
ransom.” The prefix apo means “from,”
which intensifies lutroo. One Greek
authority tells us that this expresses the completeness
of our redemption and is one that keeps us from further bondage in the future. 9
In our
day we don’t readily understand the full force of the word redemption as did
Paul’s readers. When he uttered this word, they knew exactly what he was talking about, for this word was rooted in
Greek and Roman culture. In New Testament times, there were approximately six
million slaves. Slave-trading was a major business and was an accepted part of
society. It was very common, in fact, for a person to have a relative or friend
that had been sold into slavery. A slave could be freed only if someone paid
the purchase price and then declared them free. There was no way the slave could redeem himself.
Second,
who is the Obtainer of our Redemption? The words “in Whom” in verse 7
immediately point us to The Lord Jesus
Christ. These words connect verse 7 to the words “in the Beloved” in verse
6. Christianity is Christ. It is the
only faith in the world that rests solely upon the person of its founder.
Third,
who are the Recipients of Redemption? What a humbling, staggering
thought it is to see that we are the
recipients of redemption. Why is this so humbling and staggering? Because of
what we read in chapters 2 and 4 of Ephesians. He came to redeem a wicked,
depraved creature.
Fourth,
what was the Price of Redemption? The purchase price of our redemption
was the blood of Christ. Here, indeed, is the epicenter of our salvation.
No one
likes to talk about blood. It truly is a sticky, messy, graphic thing. Most
people abhor the picture of a bloody Savior. They are sometimes willing to
speak of His death but never His blood. They do not want to think of a
Savior hanging on a cross with blood pouring off His body and dripping into
puddles on the ground. Many hymnbooks even remove the hymns that speak of His
blood.
In
contrast, Paul specifically speaks of the Savior’s blood as the redemptive
price, and does so quite often. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God” (Rom. 3:25). “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ” (Eph. 2:13). Why emphasize the blood of Christ so often? Why not
speak more of His life than His graphic death? Because, as Hebrews 9:22
declares: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission
[i.e. forgiveness].”
Fifth,
what is the Time of Redemption? While it’s obvious that Christ died in
the past, what is the depth of that truth? Did His death simply make redemption
possible, that is, possible if we
believe? If this is true, then the cross itself did not actually save us,
rather it was our believing that saved us. This, of course, cannot be. The
truth is that Christ’s death did not provide potential redemption, rather actual
redemption. It was the cross that saved us.
This
passage in Ephesians 1 bears this out with tremendous force. As we can see, all
three members of the Godhead are present. The Father chose us before the
foundation of the world (vs. 3-4), a choice that was not potential but actual.
Second, the Son’s death redeemed us from our sins (v. 7), again a redemption
that was not potential but actual. Third, the Holy Spirit applies
the death of Christ (vs. 13-14), once again an application that is not potential but actual. So, at all three points the work of the Godhead is effectual, that is, each actually does something. The work of
each is not something that is virtual,
but something that is real.
Now
ponder the outworking of this. Was the sinner saved when the Father chose him? Yes,
though not yet in the sinner’s personal experience. Was the elect sinner saved
when Christ died? Yes, though not yet in the sinner’s personal experience. Is
the elect sinner saved when the Holy Spirit applies the merits of Christ’s
death? Yes, and this time it did
happen in the sinner’s personal experience. We see the same truth elsewhere.
Look at the clear past action in Gal. 3:13 and Matt. 20:28.
Sixth,
what are the Results of Redemption? As Ephesians 1:7-11 outline, there
are many results of redemption: forgiveness, wisdom, prudence, and inheritance.
Seventh,
What is the Reason for Redemption? As verse 12 declares, “That we should be to the
praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” God chose and redeemed His
elect so they could praise Him.
Eighth,
what is the Extent of Redemption? Actually, we planted the seed for the
answer here earlier. Remember, each member of the Godhead performs not a potential work but an actual work; that is, each work is
effectual. Is it good exposition (or does it even make sense) to say, “Yes, the
Father actually chose some and the
Spirit actually applies Christ’s
death to some, but Christ died only potentially
for everyone?” To put it another way, Why
would Christ die for some whom neither the Father chose nor the Spirit will
ever apply the death of Christ?
There
are many objections offered to this teaching of what is called “Particular
Redemption.” A common objection, for example, is that the word “world” in such
verses as I Jn. 2:2—“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”—mean that Christ died for
every single person in the world. But if this is true, we must be consistent
and also interpret Luke 2:1 to be the entire world: “And it came to pass in
those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” But it
is clearly foolish to argue that this refers to everybody in the whole world,
for it obviously refers to the Roman Empire. There are many other objections
and “problem passages,”10 but the truth
to always remember is that Christ’s death actually did something. He was not a potential
sacrifice for our sin; He was an actual sacrifice for our sin. It was
His death that actually redeemed the elect.
The Power To
Believe
The Word of God reveals to us that there are two calls of
God to men. The first call is the general
call (or external call). It is to
this our Lord refers in Matthew 22:14: “For many are called, but few are
chosen.” Likewise, Acts 17:30 says that God “commands all men everywhere to
repent.” We see the foundation for all this in Romans 1:20: “For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse.” Every mentally capable person today is aware of the
existence of God. He can deny it all he wants, he can suppress the thought all
he wants (Rom. 1:18), he can call himself an atheist until he is short of breath,
but the fact remains: all men know God exists. This is why philosophers
philosophize, because they know there is something out there besides
themselves, but they suppress the truth of God and worship themselves (Rom.
1:25). It was Voltaire who said, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary
for man to invent Him.” This is also why all men are without excuse. They all
have turned away from God.
So, this
clearly shows that there is a call to all men to believe. But it is equally
clear that the majority of people reject this call. In fact, as we preach and
witness, the Gospel often hardens a person even more.
The
second call of God, however, which we find primarily in the Epistles, is the effectual call (or inward call). This call is the inward call of the Holy Spirit that
draws the elect one to God. Our Lord alludes to this in John 6:44: “No man can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”
Why is
this effectual call necessary? Because of man’s depravity, this drawing follows
of necessity. As we’ve seen, man is in darkness and rebellion. By nature he
hates the things of God and is a slave to sin (Rom. 1:18-32; Eph. 2:1-3). As
John 3:19 reminds us: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds
were evil.” And as I Peter 2:9 declares: “ But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light.” But more dramatic and vivid still are the words of our Lord
in John 5:24: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
So,
because we were dead, God had to call us in a very special way. Why? Because how can a dead man hear anything?
God had to create the ability for us to respond.
The
raising of Lazarus from the dead in John 11 provides a dramatic illustration. I
don’t mean to be morbid, but have you ever gone to a funeral and called to the
deceased person trying to get them to respond? Naturally, the effort would be
futile because a dead person cannot
respond. Likewise, Lazarus was dead and had been dead for four days. Could he
hear the weeping of Mary and Martha? No. So how could he hear the words of the
Lord, “Lazarus, come forth?” (v. 43). Because God gave him the ability. God made His call effectual enough that even
a dead man could hear it!
So, what
is this effectual call? It is this: the Word of God comes with such power of
the Holy Spirit that God’s chosen ones are drawn to God and brought to life.
God effectually draws to Himself those who belonged to Him from before the
foundation of the world.
One
outstanding example of this effectual call appears in Acts 16:13-14:
And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a
river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto
the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of
purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she
attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
What if God had not
opened her heart? She would not have believed. Were it not for this call, no
one would ever believe. While Paul spoke to her head (outward call), something he could have done for days without
result, the Holy Spirit had to speak to her heart
(inward call). As we have tried to emphasize throughout this booklet, salvation
is of the Lord; God has done it all. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes: “The
startling fact is that there is a single Christian in the whole world. The
amazing thing is not that most people
do not believe; what is astounding is that anyone
believes.” 11
The Security
of Grace
There
are many in Christianity today who believe that a person can lose their
salvation if they sin. But such an idea betrays the fact that they don’t
understand grace. In short, the same grace that saves is the same grace
that keeps. There is probably no other picture concerning the Holy
Spirit’s work in salvation that is more graphic than that of sealing. Turning
to Eph.1 once
again, we read, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory” (vs. 13-14).
The concept of sealing is
quite ancient. In fact, we can trace this concept back a millennium or more
before Christ. Herodotus (c.484-525 B.C.), the first of the great Greek
historians, wrote in his History that
ancient man possessed not only his staff but his seal. The Greek verb used here
is spragizo, “to set a seal; mark
with a seal,” and comes from the noun spragis,
which refers to a signet ring that had a distinctive mark. There are many
illustrations of sealing. We can see many of these by looking at four pictures
that this term provides. While space doesn’t permit looking at Acquisition, Absolute Ownership,
and Authenticity, let’s look briefly at Assurance.
A
graphic illustration of the picture of assurance was the Roman seal on Jesus’
tomb. After the one to one and a half ton stone was rolled into place, a cord
was stretched across the stone, and the two ends of the cord were fastened to
the rock on both sides of the stone using sealing clay. The clay packs were
then stamped with the official signet of the Roman governor, and no one would
dare break that seal. To break a Roman seal resulted in automatic crucifixion
upside down, which caused the internal organs of the victim to run into their throat.
May we say, that is security.
The
spiritual parallel is staggering. The Holy Spirit’s sealing seals us eternally in Christ. The verb tense is
past in all three New Testament references that refer to sealing. Ephesians
4:30 declares, that we are “sealed [in the past] for the day of redemption”
(see also II Cor. 1:21-22). Does this say, “God sealed us temporarily until we
sin our way out?” No, it says, “God sealed us in the past until the day we are
redeemed into glory.”
May we
conclude here by saying that to deny the security of the believer is not only
to deny the underlying principle of grace, but to deny the plain grammatical
and historical meaning of the words that Paul used.
Not
only does the Holy Spirit seal us, He also preserves. No other passage
in the Word of God is as clear concerning the believer’s security of salvation
than Romans 8:28-39. I encourage you to read this passage. As you do, you will
see three things: no person can threaten our security (vs. 31-34), no circumstance
can threaten our security (vs. 35-37), and no thing can threaten our
security (vs. 38-39).
It
is still argued by some that a Christian can sin his way out of salvation. But
if this was the case, it means that works maintain our salvation, not grace; it
means that it is not God’s power
through grace that keeps us, rather
it is our power through works. And this, of course, contradicts
the very essence of the Gospel.
Jude
begins his short but extremely powerful letter with these words: “Jude, the
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” (v. 1). “Preserved” is tereo, which means “to guard, to keep,
to protect.” This doesn’t sound like an insecure salvation at all. To illustrate,
my wife, like many homemakers, does some of her own canning. She does this to
preserve the food, to protect it against spoiling, and to keep it for later
use. Once she does this, she no longer has to think about it, she doesn’t have
to do it over and over again. Neither can the canning jars do anything to keep
themselves sealed, nor can they unseal themselves. My wife did it all, from
start to finish. She sealed those jars until the day she needs to “redeem”
them.
Infinitely
more, God has sealed and preserved us until that final day of redemption.
Conclusion
This
short booklet has sought to present the Biblical Doctrines of Grace in as brief
a way as the author thinks possible. These doctrines have also commonly been
called “Calvinism” over and against the opposite view “Arminianism.” If someone
asks me, “Oh, are you one of those Calvinists?”
my answer is simply this: “Well, I believe that salvation is totally of the
Lord from beginning to end and everything in between; if that makes be a
‘Calvinist,’ so be it.” To this I can only add the following:
Salvation Is of The Lord
Salvation is of
the Lord,
He alone has done
it all;
Saving men from
their sin
and the
dreadfulness of the fall.
Unable to turn to
God,
Depraved in heart
and mind;
Lost in the depths
of sin,
I wandered deaf
and blind.
But still the
Father chose me
And made me one of
His own;
Before the
foundation of the world,
I was predestined
and foreknown.
The precious blood
of Jesus Christ
Redeemed me from
my sin,
It delivered me
from death,
and placed me in
Him.
So in bondage was
my will
That to sin I
would ever cleave;
But then His
Spirit drew me
And gave me faith
to believe.
Now I know I am
secure
Whether I be awake
or asleep;
For the same grace
that saved me
Is the one that
will ever keep.
In His Love and
mercy
God saved a sinful
race;
Salvation is of
the Lord,
To the praise of
the glory of His grace.
Summary
Comparison of Arminianism and Calvinism
The following chart summarizes the differences and seeks to
show that the Doctrines of Grace outline true Biblical salvation.
|
Arminianism |
Calvinism |
|
1. Free Will, or
Human Ability Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall,
man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. |
1. Enslaved Will,
or Total Inability Because of the fall, man is unable in himself to
savingly believe the Gospel. Man has, indeed, been left in a state of total
spiritual helplessness. |
|
Man’s will has not been enslaved in his sinful nature,
rather he has a free will, which is free to choose good over evil in
spiritual matters. While the sinner does need the Spirit’s help to be saved,
he doesn’t need the Spirit’s help for believing, for faith is man’s act only
and is man’s contribution to salvation. |
In himself, man is blind, deaf, and dead to the things
of God. His will has been totally enslaved in his sinful nature, and he cannot
choose good over evil in spiritual matters. To be saved, the H.S. must draw the sinner to God and
impart to him the divine nature, for even the faith to believe the Gospel and
repent from sin is from God. |
|
2. Conditional
Election God chose certain individuals for salvation before the
foundation of the world based on His foreknowledge that they would believe. God chose for salvation those whom He knew would, of
their own free choice, choose to believe in Christ. This view says that election is not based on God
choosing us but us choosing God. In the final analysis, then, salvation is not based
solely on God’s grace but on our faith. The view of the standard evangelical today. |
2. Unconditional
Election God chose certain individuals for salvation before the
foundation of the world based solely on His sovereign will. God did not choose for salvation those whom He foresaw
would, of their own free choice, choose to believe in Christ. Rather, God
chose us in Christ and granted us repentance and gave us the faith to
believe. This view says that election is based on God choosing
us, not us choosing God. In the final analysis, then, salvation is based solely
on God’s grace, not our faith. The view of the minority of Christianity. |
|
3. Universal
Redemption or General Atonement The atonement of Christ provided potential salvation that becomes effective only to those who
believe. Christ died for all men without exception, but only those who believe are saved. |
3. Particular
Redemption or Limited Atonement The atonement of Christ provided actual salvation that is effective for the elect. Christ died only for the elect, that is, all men
without distinction. |
|
4. General Call
or Resistable Grace Since man’s will is free, he is the deciding factor in
salvation. The matter is totally up to him. Faith is man’s contribution to salvation and is what
makes salvation possible. The Holy Spirit can draw to Christ only those who allow
Him to do so. |
4. Efficacious
Call or Irrestistable Grace Since man’s will is in bondage to sin, he cannot
respond in himself to the Gospel He is not the deciding factor in salvation. Faith is not man’s contribution to salvation but rather
it also a gift from God. It is not our faith that saves but God’s grace that
saves. In addition to the outward general call to all sinners,
there is the inner call of the Holy Spirit in the elect that draws them
inevitably to salvation. |
|
5. Falling from
Grace Those who believe and are truly saved can lose their
salvation when they sin. |
5. Security of
the Believer or Perseverance of the Saints Those whom God has chosen, redeemed, and given faith and
repentance are absolutely and forever secure, not because of them but because
of God. They can no more have anything to do with keeping their salvation
than they did in acquiring their salvation. |
|
Summary Views salvation as a work accomplished partly by God,
Who calls, and partly by man, whose faith contributes to salvation and
becomes the deciding factor. Ultimately, enables man to save himself and by
works keep himself saved. This view fails to put God in His rightful place as Sovereign and man in His rightful
place as sinner. It fails to allow
God to be God and reveal man to be man. In short: Glory to God’s free grace and man’s free
will. |
Summary Views salvation as the work of God alone from beginning
to end. God has chosen His elect from the foundation of the world, has
redeemed them by the blood of Christ, and then draws them by His Spirit, even
granting them repentance and giving them the faith to believe. Proclaims a
God Who saves and preserves by His grace alone. This is the only view that puts God in His rightful
place as Sovereign and man in His
rightful place as sinner. It is the
only view that allows God to be God and reveals man to be man. In short: Glory to God’s free grace alone. |
NOTES
1 Charles Haddon Spurgeon The New Park Street Pulpit,
Volume 1, page 312.
2 Dr. R. C. Sproul, Knowing
Scripture (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1977), p. 80.
3 Dr. J. D. Watson, Salvations Is Of The Lord (Meeker, CO: Sola
Scriptura Ministries).
4 Loraine Boettner, The Reformed
Doctrine of Predestination. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing Company, 1932), p. 62.
5 Cited in I. D. E. Thomas, The
Golden Treasury of Puritan Quotations (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust,
1989 Reprint), p. 88.
6 The Reformed Doctrine of
Predestination, p. 112.
7 Jamison, Fausset, and Brown, A
Commentary Critical, Experimental, and Practical.
8 For an understanding of other terms on this issue, such as
“predestination,” “foreknowledge,” “calling,” and others, as well as objections
that are raised concerning these doctrines, see the author’s book Salvations
Is Of The Lord.
9 Richard Trench, Synonymns of
Greek New Testament, p. 290.
10 See the author’s book Salvation Is Of The Lord for a full
discussion.
11 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: The
Final Perseverance of the Saints (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976, p. 246.
(emphasis added).