The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Election and Freewill – What Others Believe
Two pillars of the Early Christian Church – Peter and Paul – wrote separately on the subject of salvation, yet with complete unanimity and absolute harmony. In other words, they both believed and taught the same truths concerning God, Christ and man, in that order. Yet it seems to me that there is a man-made system of theology which distorts these truths, clouding understanding.
What Others Believe
“Scripture plainly teaches election based on God’s foreknowledge. It is just as plain in its declarations of man’s free will. All men are invited to accept the salvation that God has provided in Jesus Christ. ‘Whosoever will’ means just what it says.” [Dr. Harry Ironside]
“In this matter of election, there are two choices necessary in a man’s salvation: God’s choice of the man and man’s choice of God. Salvation never comes otherwise than through God’s choice of man and man’s choice of God. Free will in man is as fundamental a truth as any other in the gospel and must never be cancelled in our doctrinal statements. Man would not be man without it and God never robs us of our true moral manhood in saving us. The decree of salvation must be looked at as a whole to understand it. Some have looked at God’s choice alone and ignored the means and the necessary choice on man’s part. Arbitrariness and partiality in God is an error. God wills that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), as Paul assured us. Certainly Jesus died for the whole world (John 3:16).”
“In this matter of election, there are two choices necessary in a man’s salvation: God’s choice of the man and man’s choice of God. Salvation never comes otherwise than through God’s choice of man and man’s choice of God. Free will in man is as fundamental a truth as any other in the gospel and must never be cancelled in our doctrinal statements. Man would not be man without it and God never robs us of our true moral manhood in saving us. The decree of salvation must be looked at as a whole to understand it. Some have looked at God’s choice alone and ignored the means and the necessary choice on man’s part. Arbitrariness and partiality in God is an error. God wills that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), as Paul assured us. Certainly Jesus died for the whole world (John 3:16).”
[Dr. E. Y. Mullins]
Taken from Baptist Beliefs
“Man is endowed with free will, and thus he is responsible for his choices. He is not a pawn in the hands of fate. Nor is his conduct governed merely by physical forces apart from his will. Man is responsible to God for his acts. The free will of man denotes man’s freedom to act within the context of his own will and judgement. Otherwise, he would be nothing more than a puppet. The doctrine of the free will of man appears to conflict with that of God’s sovereignty. However, reason itself demands both, to say nothing of scriptural teaching. Both are facts of experience. The sovereignty of God must not cancel out man’s freedom, or else man loses his personality and is incapable of fellowship with God. God would become responsible for man’s sin, a thought which is untenable with the very nature of God. Man is free to receive or reject God’s overtures of grace.”
[Dr. H. H. Hobbs]
Taken from What Baptists Believe
“In reference to predestination and free agency, there are two systems. The rejection of either involves us in consequences absurd and impious. And what is still more confounding, the Bible, with a directness and plainness admitting of no dispute or evasion, inculcates both of these conflicting doctrines. I embrace both doctrines. Nay, more; I see clearly that if I reject either of these great truths and cling to the other, it will tow me away into fathomless depths of folly and impiety. It is manifest that every call, every threat, every expostulation, every exhortation in the Bible supposes that man is a free agent. If he be not free, if he be the passive victim of inexorable, irresistible destiny, the Sacred Volume is a compilation of glaring inconsistencies - of sheer, downright falsehood and mockery.”
[Dr. Richard Fuller]
Taken from Baptist Doctrines
“It seems necessary to conserve and safeguard a true human freedom if there is to be any human responsibility, as it is rightly to conserve divine sovereignty. Salvation is a transaction in which two free moral agents are concerned, and it is necessary that the quality in freedom, which is essential to make freedom real, shall not be overstated because it is in God, nor understated because it is in man. Freedom in God is independent. Freedom in man is dependent, but in each case that particular element must be conserved which carries with it responsibility. God created man free moral beings. He certainly is a right judge as to whether or not such condition is derogatory to His sovereignty. This allows a rational and fair view of human freedom. It safeguards that freedom, and does not allow it to be crushed or become meaningless under divine sovereignty.”
[Dr. Nathan E. Wood]
President of Newton Baptist Theological Institution
Taken from The Person and Work of Jesus Chris –
a Baptist Publications Society publication
[Comment] It should be noted that the previous four quotations are all taken from Baptist sources, three of which are specific books of Baptist doctrines and beliefs.
“That God wants all men to be saved and is not willing that any should perish shows that hyper-Calvinism, which claims that God has foreordained a part of the human race to eternal damnation, cannot be true. He will receive every one who cometh to Him; He will in nowise cast out those who have believed on Him. All may come to him; all are invited to come and those who do come are received and kept by Him.”
[Dr. A. C. Gaebelein]
Editor of Our Hope magazine
Editor of Our Hope magazine
[Comment] Two very sincere Christians who had embraced the teaching outlined in The Interpretation, strongly recommended to me the book by A. W. Pink entitled The Sovereignty of God. I read it and agreed with much of it, because I believe implicitly in the sovereignty of our God. However, I was greatly disturbed with the chapter on Election, and but for a very strong faith, I could have been distressed enough to lose that faith! Bearing in mind that this happened before I read the following quotation involving Dr. Gaebelein, it was most encouraging to me to know that I am not the only one affected by this particular chapter.
Dr. Gaebelein was once asked to comment on A.W. Pink’s book, The Sovereignty of God, in this question submitted to Our Hope magazine: “Do you think Mr. Pink’s book, The Sovereignty of God, is scriptural? I recently read this book and it has upset me as no other book I ever read. I was attacked by terrible doubts as to God’s justice and His very Being!” Dr. Gaebelein’s strong reply followed: “Mr. Pink used to be a contributor to our magazine. His articles on Gleanings on Genesis are good, and we had them printed in book form. But when he began to teach his frightful doctrines which make the God of Love a monster we broke fellowship with him. The book you have read is totally unscriptural. It is akin to blasphemy. It presents God as a Being of injustice and maligns His holy character. The book denies that our blessed Lord died for the ungodly. According to Pink’s perversions He died for the elect only. You are not the only one who has been led into darkness by this book. Whoever the publisher is, and whoever stands behind the circulation of such a monstrous thing has a grave responsibility. It is just this kind of teaching which makes atheists.”
[from Our Hope magazine]
“As to predestination, turn to your Bible and read for yourself in the only two chapters in which this word ‘predestinate’ or ‘predestinated’ is found. The first is Romans 8:29,30. The other chapter is Ephesians 1:5,11. You will note that there is no reference in these four verses to either heaven or hell, but to Christlikeness eventually. Nowhere are we told in Scripture that God predestinated one man to be saved and another to be lost. Men are to be saved or lost eternally because of their attitude towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Predestination means that some day all the redeemed shall become just like the Lord Jesus! Trust Him for yourself, and you will know that God has predestinated you to be fully conformed to the image of His Son.”
[Dr. H. A. Ironside]
“Predestination is the exercise of divine sovereignty in the accomplishment of God’s ultimate purpose. What must be borne in mind is the fact that predestination is not God’s predetermining from past ages who should and who should not be saved. Scripture does not teach this view. What it does teach is that this doctrine of predestination concerns the future of believers. Predestination is the divine determining, the glorious consummation of all who through faith and surrender become the Lord’s.”
[Dr. Herbert Lockyer]
“It is the Father who has predestinated us to the adoption of children. Nowhere in the Bible are people ever predestinated to go to hell, and nowhere are people simply predestinated to go to heaven. Look it up and see. We are chosen in Christ to share His glory for eternity, but predestination is always to some special place of blessing. Turn to Romans 8:29. Predestinated to what? Predestinated ‘to be conformed to the image of His Son.’ You see, predestination is not God from eternity saying ‘This man goes to heaven and this man to hell.’ No, but predestination teaches me that when I have believed in Christ, when I have trusted Him as my Saviour, I may know on the authority of God that it is settled forever that some day I am to become exactly like my Saviour.”
[Dr. H. A. Ironside]
“People have had it drilled into them that away in the past God foreordained that certain people should be lost and certain others should be saved. I would like to get that out of your minds this morning. Just let me begin by saying that that isn’t in the Bible. God’s predestination is not salvation. God’s predestination is that those who receive the Lord shall be like the Lord Jesus. That is predestination, and nothing else is. God from the beginning, by His foreknowledge, predestinated that every believer should be made like Christ, and nothing else in the Bible is predestination. That predestination is that God ordained one to be saved and another to be lost in hell eternally is not within the covers of this Book. God has ordained from the foundation of the world that if you will trust His Son, He will make you like His Son. That is what we have here. Those whom God predestinated to be like Christ, He called out - not before He saved them, but when He saved them, He called them out to be like Him. It isn’t that in the past God called you and didn’t call somebody else. God’s predestination is being worked out now. In eternity past He determined that you should be like Jesus, and now that you are saved He calls you out, that while you are here you should show forth the Lord Jesus Christ.”
[Pastor Edward Drew]
from a Sunday morning sermon preached at
Madison Avenue Baptist Church
from a Sunday morning sermon preached at
Madison Avenue Baptist Church
“Election is not mechanical. It involves a God who is love and a man who is morally responsible. It never appears in the Bible as a violation of human will. When reduced to its simplest elements election is twofold. First, God elected a plan of salvation which He accomplished in Christ. Man may either reject this plan or accept it. Secondly, God elected a people to make known His elected plan of salvation. This election is to both salvation and evangelism. In both, the free will of man determines the final result.”
[Dr. H. H. Hobbs]
taken from What Baptists Believe
taken from What Baptists Believe
Election, and the kindred words, ‘to choose’, and ‘chosen’ or ‘elect’, are used of God’s selection of men or agencies for special missions or attainments; but neither here nor elsewhere in the New Testament is there any warrant for the revolting doctrine that God has predestined a definite number of mankind to eternal life, and the rest to eternal destruction. Election - the act of God’s holy will in selecting His own methods, instruments, and times for carrying out His purposes - is a fact of history and of daily observation.”
[Professor Marvin R. Vincent]
“The elect are the ‘whosoever wills’; the nonelect are the ‘whosoever wont’s’”. [D. L. Moody]
“Whosoever will may come. This is exactly what Scripture teaches. The invitation is to all. Those who accept it are the elect. Remember, we are never told that Christ died for the elect. ‘Whosoever’ means ‘whosoever’. Only a biased theologian with an axe to grind could ever think that it meant only the elect.”
[Dr. H. A. Ironside]
“Does God’s election coerce man’s will, or does it leave it free? The answer is emphatically that the will of man is not coerced, but is left free. In his free act in accepting Christ and His salvation man is self-determined. He would not have made the choice if left to himself without the aid of God’s grace. But when he chooses, it is his own free act. Grace does not become effective until man freely responds to it.”
[Dr. E. Y. Mullins]
a Baptist writer
a Baptist writer
“The subject of election, as it is in the New Testament, is not what a lot of folks think it to be. Election in the New Testament is not that God formerly, in the past ages, determined to save one man and take him to heaven, and send another man to hell. That is not in the Bible. God has said in effect, ‘My elect are those who believe what I say.’ They are the elect. How do you get to be one of the elect? God determined, in the far ages of the past, that He would have a select people who would be made up of those who believe His Word. And whosoever will may come and believe, and be one of God’s select and elect company. You can make your calling and election sure; and if you have believed God, and know you are saved, you know you are one of the elect. Beloved, that is election as you have it in the New Testament.”
[Pastor Edward Drew]
from a sermon preached in
Madison Avenue Baptist Church
from a sermon preached in
Madison Avenue Baptist Church
“Predestination simply means that God has predetermined that those who respond affirmatively to His call or election will be justified, or declared righteous, and furthermore will be glorified. All of this is ‘according to His purpose’. God’s sovereign will elects those who are to be His ‘royal priesthood’ and ‘holy nation’ for the salvation of all men. The free will of man either accepts or rejects this relationship. God has elected salvation to all who, in freedom of will, will call on Him or who will meet the conditions of the elected plan of salvation. In short, God has provided in His election all that is necessary for man’s salvation.”
[Dr. H. H. Hobbs]
taken from Fundamentals of our Faith
a Baptist publication
taken from Fundamentals of our Faith
a Baptist publication
“If God had everything cut and dried – elected and chosen, predestinated and fixed – why on this earth did Jesus request the disciples to pray that more labourers would be sent into the fields white unto harvest? If some are elected to heaven while others are not. If some are predestinated and others are not. If some are chosen for salvation and others are not – why did the Lord Jesus say, ‘Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish’ (Matthew 18:14)? The Church as a body was chosen in the beginning by Almighty God. The Church as a body was chosen to be the Bride of Christ. As a body it was chosen, elected, and predestinated to be a holy Church without spot or wrinkle. Paul is not suggesting that some are chosen to be saved and others are elected to go to hell.”
[Oliver B. Greene]
“The Bible teaches that God does foreknow man’s choices. Foreknowledge is also related to election (1 Peter 1:2). This refers to the election of individuals only in the sense that God foreknew who would receive or reject His provision for sin (cf. Romans 8:29). But even God’s foreknowledge leaves man free and responsible in his choice. An omniscient God knew beforehand who would reject or accept His salvation. But His foreknowledge does not make Him responsible for man’s choice.”
[Dr. H. H. Hobbs]
taken from What Baptists Believe
taken from What Baptists Believe
“God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. God’s sovereignty is God’s absolute freedom to do whatever He ordains to do. God created man in His own image, and in His sovereign and absolute freedom He ordained that man was to have a limited amount of freedom; and that was God’s sovereign decree; that man should have some freedom. So, when man exercises his freedom, he is fulfilling the sovereignty of God, not cancelling it out.”
[A. W. Tozer]
[Comment] Sufficient has been included here – although this is but the “tip of the iceberg” as far as material available – to establish my position as outlined at the end of the section, What I Believe.
Conclusion
Although much more could have been included in the previous two sections, at least doubling the length of each if not more, sufficient has been written to establish where I stand theologically in this matter of election and freewill of man, that I believe it is not “standard” Baptist doctrine, and that I am not alone in my beliefs.
If it is not “standard” Baptist doctrine, then what is it? I realise, of course, it is the Reformed Theology school of thought. Whilst I accept and adhere to much of the teaching of this “school”, such as the Bible being the only rule of faith and practice to Christians and is totally without error; that justification by faith is taught, as is the sovereign grace of God in salvation; that emphasis is placed on the depravity of man and the sovereignty of God - a God centred emphasis rather than a man centred emphasis - to the glory of God; that much of the teaching from evangelical churches today on The Doctrine of Salvation I fully accept and subscribe to, although much of it may be based on the teaching of Reformed Theology; there are certain areas I find unacceptable, as outlined in these aeticles.
As we have said at the beginning of each article, two pillars of the Early Christian Church – Peter and Paul – wrote separately on the subject of salvation, yet with complete unanimity and absolute harmony. In other words, they both believed and taught the same truths, so clearly set out in Scripture, concerning God, Christ and man, in that order.
Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Now, did he really mean what he wrote, or did he not? To put it another way, do we believe what the Bible says, or do we reject it?
What is Peter saying here? We recognise firstly that the statements he makes are based on the promise of God – and what is that promise? It is revealed in many Scripture passages, the most familiar possibly being one we have already quoted earlier in this booklet, John 3:16, that “whosoever believeth in him” [God’s only begotten Son] “should not perish, but have everlasting life,” and Paul’s reply to the Philippian jailer’s important question, “What must I do to be saved?” in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
We have said it before; we say it again; whosoever means whosoever, believe means believe, so to receive the gift of eternal life one must accept the gift of salvation first; and to be able to receive this precious gift one must believe, acknowledge, accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Not for a selected few is this invitation available, but for all mankind – the whosoever.
Then we come to Paul. He wrote, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” The little word “all” in this passage is vitally important, because it confirms that God wants all to come unto the knowledge of the truth, for all to be saved, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself a ransom for all.
These two passages from Scripture, the first in 2 Peter 3:9 and the second in 1 Timothy 2:3-6, deal a death-blow to the area of Reformed Theology we have been addressing in this booklet. To support their doctrines they must ignore large swathes of Scripture, and misinterpret the lesser verses of Scripture upon which they base their erroneous teachings. But, as we have acknowledged before, not all Reformed Theology teaching is wrong. There is much to commend it.
Reformed Theology has been described as a God-honouring movement, and indeed it is where it adheres to the truth of Scripture. In the main it preaches Christ faithfully, yet sadly surrounds Him with erroneous teaching in the area addressed in this booklet. It has an abhorrence of sin with which we cannot quarrel. It acknowledges the sovereignty of God. Yes, there is much to commend it, and the sincerity of those who embrace the teachings of this movement in their entirety is not in doubt. But we must recognise that it is possible to be sincerely wrong!
It is my firm belief that we are treading a dangerous path if we fail to keep God’s truth in balance. It can cause grave error if we seek to confine this truth by locking it into a man-made system of theology. This is why I have stated earlier that I am not interested in the Arminian school of theology, the Calvinistic school of theology, and now the Reformed school of theology (not even the Baptist school of theology), but I am concerned that what I believe is according to the Christian school of theology! In other words, what the Bible really says!
A lengthy quotation from the pen of C. H. Mackintosh sums up my feelings and beliefs exactly: “God has not confined Himself within the narrow limits if any school of doctrine - high, low or moderate. He has revealed Himself. He has told out the deep and precious secrets of His heart. He has unfolded His eternal counsels, as to the Church, as to Israel, the Gentiles, and the wide creation. Men might as well attempt to confine the ocean in buckets of their own formation as to confine the vast range of divine revelation within the feeble enclosures of human systems of doctrine. It cannot be done, and it ought not to be attempted. Better far to set aside the systems of theology and schools of divinity, and come like a child to the eternal fountain of Holy Scripture, and there drink in the living teachings of God’s Spirit…Difficulty is occasioned by the influence of a one-sided theology” [extreme Calvinism upon which Reformed Theology is based is being referred to here] “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 the 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 systematise the truth of God than you can systematise God Himself. Let us abandon, therefore, all systems of theology and schools of divinity, and take the truth.”
Earlier in this Conclusion I expressed my belief and acceptance of the Reformed emphasis on the depravity of man, but I need to qualify this belief because I cannot accept the extreme view which I believe is inculcated into much of evangelical teaching today, especially in some Baptist Churches. My reason for saying this is because I was once challenged in a Bible study I was leading some while ago, when the words of Acts 16:30,31 were discussed. In reply to the Philippian jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” the answer in Scripture is clear. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” My emphasis on the need to believe on the Lord, on Jesus and on Christ (all three titles/names relevant and necessary, although unfortunately one is missing from the NIV) was challenged.
As I understand it, my answer should have been along these lines. “What must you do to be saved? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! You are spiritually dead and totally unable to respond to God until you are regenerated! Regeneration must precede faith. A person must be born again before he can believe. A person must have eternal life before he can believe because a person dead in sins is unable to believe.” Yet Paul’s reply was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” So simple! Why complicate it? The Bible says, in the words of Jesus Himself, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). It also says, “That whosoever believeth on him [Jesus Christ] should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15). It seems to me that the Bible is saying “Believe and thou shalt live!” The Reformed Theology belief appears to be the opposite! “Live and thou shalt believe!” And, of course, to compound the insult to a God of love, and to His infallible Word, all this could be totally irrelevant anyway if the person asking the question in the first place has not been elected!
Why do I mention this incident? Because the challenge came from a Baptist pastor who was “sitting in” on this Bible Study session; a pastor whom I knew embraced in total the teachings of Reformed Theology.
“When we see that man’s very nature is fallen and totally depraved, we are constrained to conclude that man can do nothing to merit the favour of God - be it the performance of good works or the making of certain decisions…The hymn ‘I have decided to follow Jesus’ must be qualified theologically, by the recognition that ultimately no man or woman would ever choose to follow Jesus, left to their own instincts. It is only the Lord working in us which implants a desire for Christ and draws us to Himself.” [A quote from the Baptist pastor mentioned above]. It is agreed that man is totally depraved. “Before God he is wholly corrupt, utterly vile and filthy, steeped in sin and undone,” as Samuel Fisk describes it. But total depravity in man does not mean his total inability.
Two final quotations from eminent writers will answer this matter of man’s total depravity, and describe more efficiently than I could my own belief in this doctrine.
If it is not “standard” Baptist doctrine, then what is it? I realise, of course, it is the Reformed Theology school of thought. Whilst I accept and adhere to much of the teaching of this “school”, such as the Bible being the only rule of faith and practice to Christians and is totally without error; that justification by faith is taught, as is the sovereign grace of God in salvation; that emphasis is placed on the depravity of man and the sovereignty of God - a God centred emphasis rather than a man centred emphasis - to the glory of God; that much of the teaching from evangelical churches today on The Doctrine of Salvation I fully accept and subscribe to, although much of it may be based on the teaching of Reformed Theology; there are certain areas I find unacceptable, as outlined in these aeticles.
As we have said at the beginning of each article, two pillars of the Early Christian Church – Peter and Paul – wrote separately on the subject of salvation, yet with complete unanimity and absolute harmony. In other words, they both believed and taught the same truths, so clearly set out in Scripture, concerning God, Christ and man, in that order.
Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Now, did he really mean what he wrote, or did he not? To put it another way, do we believe what the Bible says, or do we reject it?
What is Peter saying here? We recognise firstly that the statements he makes are based on the promise of God – and what is that promise? It is revealed in many Scripture passages, the most familiar possibly being one we have already quoted earlier in this booklet, John 3:16, that “whosoever believeth in him” [God’s only begotten Son] “should not perish, but have everlasting life,” and Paul’s reply to the Philippian jailer’s important question, “What must I do to be saved?” in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
We have said it before; we say it again; whosoever means whosoever, believe means believe, so to receive the gift of eternal life one must accept the gift of salvation first; and to be able to receive this precious gift one must believe, acknowledge, accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Not for a selected few is this invitation available, but for all mankind – the whosoever.
Then we come to Paul. He wrote, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” The little word “all” in this passage is vitally important, because it confirms that God wants all to come unto the knowledge of the truth, for all to be saved, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself a ransom for all.
These two passages from Scripture, the first in 2 Peter 3:9 and the second in 1 Timothy 2:3-6, deal a death-blow to the area of Reformed Theology we have been addressing in this booklet. To support their doctrines they must ignore large swathes of Scripture, and misinterpret the lesser verses of Scripture upon which they base their erroneous teachings. But, as we have acknowledged before, not all Reformed Theology teaching is wrong. There is much to commend it.
Reformed Theology has been described as a God-honouring movement, and indeed it is where it adheres to the truth of Scripture. In the main it preaches Christ faithfully, yet sadly surrounds Him with erroneous teaching in the area addressed in this booklet. It has an abhorrence of sin with which we cannot quarrel. It acknowledges the sovereignty of God. Yes, there is much to commend it, and the sincerity of those who embrace the teachings of this movement in their entirety is not in doubt. But we must recognise that it is possible to be sincerely wrong!
It is my firm belief that we are treading a dangerous path if we fail to keep God’s truth in balance. It can cause grave error if we seek to confine this truth by locking it into a man-made system of theology. This is why I have stated earlier that I am not interested in the Arminian school of theology, the Calvinistic school of theology, and now the Reformed school of theology (not even the Baptist school of theology), but I am concerned that what I believe is according to the Christian school of theology! In other words, what the Bible really says!
A lengthy quotation from the pen of C. H. Mackintosh sums up my feelings and beliefs exactly: “God has not confined Himself within the narrow limits if any school of doctrine - high, low or moderate. He has revealed Himself. He has told out the deep and precious secrets of His heart. He has unfolded His eternal counsels, as to the Church, as to Israel, the Gentiles, and the wide creation. Men might as well attempt to confine the ocean in buckets of their own formation as to confine the vast range of divine revelation within the feeble enclosures of human systems of doctrine. It cannot be done, and it ought not to be attempted. Better far to set aside the systems of theology and schools of divinity, and come like a child to the eternal fountain of Holy Scripture, and there drink in the living teachings of God’s Spirit…Difficulty is occasioned by the influence of a one-sided theology” [extreme Calvinism upon which Reformed Theology is based is being referred to here] “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 the 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 systematise the truth of God than you can systematise God Himself. Let us abandon, therefore, all systems of theology and schools of divinity, and take the truth.”
Earlier in this Conclusion I expressed my belief and acceptance of the Reformed emphasis on the depravity of man, but I need to qualify this belief because I cannot accept the extreme view which I believe is inculcated into much of evangelical teaching today, especially in some Baptist Churches. My reason for saying this is because I was once challenged in a Bible study I was leading some while ago, when the words of Acts 16:30,31 were discussed. In reply to the Philippian jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?” the answer in Scripture is clear. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” My emphasis on the need to believe on the Lord, on Jesus and on Christ (all three titles/names relevant and necessary, although unfortunately one is missing from the NIV) was challenged.
As I understand it, my answer should have been along these lines. “What must you do to be saved? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! You are spiritually dead and totally unable to respond to God until you are regenerated! Regeneration must precede faith. A person must be born again before he can believe. A person must have eternal life before he can believe because a person dead in sins is unable to believe.” Yet Paul’s reply was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” So simple! Why complicate it? The Bible says, in the words of Jesus Himself, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). It also says, “That whosoever believeth on him [Jesus Christ] should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15). It seems to me that the Bible is saying “Believe and thou shalt live!” The Reformed Theology belief appears to be the opposite! “Live and thou shalt believe!” And, of course, to compound the insult to a God of love, and to His infallible Word, all this could be totally irrelevant anyway if the person asking the question in the first place has not been elected!
Why do I mention this incident? Because the challenge came from a Baptist pastor who was “sitting in” on this Bible Study session; a pastor whom I knew embraced in total the teachings of Reformed Theology.
“When we see that man’s very nature is fallen and totally depraved, we are constrained to conclude that man can do nothing to merit the favour of God - be it the performance of good works or the making of certain decisions…The hymn ‘I have decided to follow Jesus’ must be qualified theologically, by the recognition that ultimately no man or woman would ever choose to follow Jesus, left to their own instincts. It is only the Lord working in us which implants a desire for Christ and draws us to Himself.” [A quote from the Baptist pastor mentioned above]. It is agreed that man is totally depraved. “Before God he is wholly corrupt, utterly vile and filthy, steeped in sin and undone,” as Samuel Fisk describes it. But total depravity in man does not mean his total inability.
Two final quotations from eminent writers will answer this matter of man’s total depravity, and describe more efficiently than I could my own belief in this doctrine.
“The doctrine in question is, indeed, misunderstood when the adjective ‘total’ is held to imply that every human being is as bad as he can be, or that there are not natural virtues, and even beautiful and loveable traits in characters that are yet unregenerate… ‘Total’ here does not mean that every part of man is as corrupt as it can be, but that no part has escaped depravation or corruption (totus, in the sense of ‘in every part’). Sin is in the nature, and its perverting, depraving, defiling influence pervades it all.”
[Dr. James Orr]
“’Total depravity’ does not mean the absolute loss of every vistage of good, but that evil has affected every part of the nature and that nothing remained untouched…Free will means the freedom of the soul in choosing, enabling it to determine conscious action…In this sense our freedom is real and the Fall has not affected it…Fallen man has the faculty of will, as he has other faculties.”
[Dr. Griffith Thomas]
In conclusion I need to state with as much love as I can muster that these articles are in no way intended as a personal attack on the sincerity of those who preach and teach from the platform of Reformed Theology. Much of it is acceptable and true to Scripture. But in certain areas, such as that addressed in these articles, this teaching is totally and dangerously erroneous. For me to remain silent and allow my deep concern to fester in my soul to the extent that it could rob me of the joy of worship and service in my Christian ministry, knowing that such error is being expounded in some of our churches today, and especially in some Baptist Churches, would be hypocritical to say the least, and more importantly it would do a great deal of harm to my integrity.
These articles have been produced from a heart of love for the Triune God, His Church and for fellow believers as well as the lost. It is a matter of sharing a deep concern for the truth and have been produced after much prayer and Bible study, to the glory of God.
© 2009 Denis A. Wheadon. All rights reserved. Website: http://www.Pen4God.co.uk. This document is the property of the Author and
must not be displayed on any other websites without permission. Copies may be downloaded and printed for personal use only. Any contact with
the writer or comments concerning an article, can be made by email addressed to: denis.wheadon@Pen4God.co.uk
must not be displayed on any other websites without permission. Copies may be downloaded and printed for personal use only. Any contact with
the writer or comments concerning an article, can be made by email addressed to: denis.wheadon@Pen4God.co.uk
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