God Loves… Himself

I am responding to an article in the June 07 Banner of Truth magazine. It was written by Solano Portela and is entitled “A Sin That Threatens Calvinists-Spiritual Pride.” In reality, while I am responding to his article, I am also responding to Reformed theology as set out and practiced today and Evangelicalism as a whole.

In the last paragraph of the last BLOG I set this statement: “Let a few more words from the historical introduction to Luther’s Bondage of the Will sink in: “Justification by faith only is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of sola fide is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of sola gratia” (p. 59). We must never let this type of statement be ignored. What it does is inform us that just because a person holds to justification by faith alone does not mean that a person holds to the biblical teaching of it. Let me say that again in different words. A person can hold to justification by faith alone and mean something quite different than Luther and more importantly the Bible. Justification by faith alone is not stuck out in the middle of the theological world alone. It fits within the Bible as a whole and theology as a whole. We cannot interpret justification by faith alone as if it is apart from grace alone, Christ alone, and to His glory alone. We cannot just hold to a words only version of justification by faith alone but instead we must go to what the intent and meaning of that is.

The article that I am responding to does not seem to recognize this fact. It is indeed prideful to hold to a system of theology as superior if it is not the Gospel and if it does not display the glory of God. Of course that raises many questions that we don’t have time to deal with here, but it is also amazingly prideful of a sinful human being to tolerate a teaching that is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and does not display the glory of God but instead displays the power and sovereignty of man. The issue between Arminian and Reformed theology is not about one having a higher knowledge or not, it is about the Gospel and the glory of God. Indeed this vital issue is being toned down, ignored, and even set aside today but it is still the real issue at hand.

Is the difference between Arminian theology and Reformed theology really over the Gospel? It seems as if that is a mute issue in the modern world where theological precision at vital points has been largely forgotten. It is a wonderful thing to wax eloquent on justification by faith alone as if that alone is what the Gospel is. But it is quite another to deal with the real issues of what the Gospel is. One can preach, teach, and write about justification by faith alone and remain within orthodox theology and still be talking about a different Gospel. One can say that the Arminian believes in justification by faith alone and simply be unaware of what Luther set out as the vital issue concerning justification by faith alone which no Arminian would and could hold to. If someone that claimed to be Arminian affirmed the bondage of the will, that person would not be in line with Arminian theology. If a person claims to be Reformed and yet teaches justification by faith alone in such a way that the will is not a vital part of the teaching, then that person is at best a practical Arminian.

I am quite aware that what I am writing will not be called gracious, tolerant, or winsome. I can only say that those things should never be allowed to water the Gospel down. If we are gracious, tolerant, and winsome and are more concerned about those things than the Gospel, we are idolaters. Graciousness is to be like Christ in proclaiming the Gospel, but it is never an excuse not to proclaim the Gospel. The Gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive to the religious and the non-religious alike. There are times, and perhaps most of the time, when we cannot be winsome toward God and man at the same time. However, when we truly love God we are always doing what is right and what is really best for the souls of other men. To preach the Gospel in truth means that we are going to be ridiculed and mocked, though we do not try to obtain those from men. There is hardly anything all that offensive about the message of justification by faith alone unless it is applied to the hearts of men like Luther did. He told them that they were sinners dead in their sins and trespasses. He told them that they were at enmity with God and that they could not change their own heart. He told them that they did not have the ability to go to Christ (as indeed Christ said the same thing) but that God had to draw them by grace. Now that is offensive.

The author (and others) that I am responding to must read Luther’s Bondage of the Will carefully before he accuses Reformed people of being prideful because they are not tolerant of other gospels. I am again aware that those are fighting words to many. So be it. The Gospel must be fought over or it will be lost. I am afraid that we are living in a day when being nice has replaced love and being winsome has taken the edge of the truth from the Gospel.

This entry was posted on June 25, 2007 at 8:52 pm and is filed under The Gospel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.