There is at least one other question that must be dealt with, or at least dealt with a little more fully. What of those who claim to be saved by faith alone through grace alone? In the modern day we are willing to accept people as brothers in Christ based solely on the fact that they say they believe in justification by faith alone or that they say that they believe they are saved by grace alone. While this appears to be a charitable way to treat others, it is not the most loving way we can treat them and it is certainly not the most honoring to Christ.
Let us say that a person applies for church membership. That person gives lip service to the Gospel as stated. Do we then simply allow the person to join? I certainly hope not. We want to see if the life of the person fits with his or her profession and what the person means by the words. People can profess the Gospel and simply be deceived. People can profess the Gospel and not know what the words really mean. If we allow that as possible and, in fact, happening on a regular basis, shouldn’t we be more careful of those we say we want unity with? Shouldn’t we be more careful of those we receive as brothers and speak of glowingly in public?
Just because a person says that he is saved by grace means virtually nothing today. Roman Catholics and Antinomians believe that too. But the word is defined differently and the concept is a different idea in virtually every way. Does the Arminian mean the same thing as the Reformed person when he says that he is saved by grace alone? It is possible that a professing Arminian and a professing Reformed person do mean the same thing. However, if one person truly holds to the Arminian system and the second truly holds to the Reformed system, the two must mean something different. It is even possible to be mostly Pelagian and still use the same language.
The real issue is what Scripture says about being saved by grace and whether or not the person holds to that. We must never seek unity that is apart from the Gospel of grace and grace alone. Even if a person professes a Gospel like that, it does not mean in and of itself that the person really believes in the biblical Gospel. There are also differing conceptions of what justification by faith alone means. That is, a person can profess a belief in justification by faith alone and still not believe the Gospel. Many people are raised up with the facts of the Gospel and so they will profess to being saved by grace through faith without knowing what that means or ever having a change of heart.
Before the hand of fellowship should be extended in doctrinal unity around the Gospel we must make clear what the Bible teaches, what we mean by that, and then what others mean by it. Men can go around speaking highly of other people when they in fact do not even hold to the same Gospel even though they use the same language about the Gospel. We must first be clear about what the Gospel really is and then deal with others. Those who are Reformed must not simply take the word of man that others hold to a true understanding of justification by faith alone. By that I mean that we should not assume that professing Reformed people hold to a biblical teaching and we should not assume that professing Arminians hold to the biblical Gospel either. There will be some who are Reformed in name who in reality hold to the Arminian teaching and perhaps some who are closer to the Pelagian system. There will be some who profess to be Arminian but might actually be Reformed while some are most likely Pelagian. Let us not hold to a unity of words while the Gospel is not begging.
We live in very dangerous times. The Word of God is said to be inerrant but is not treated as the Word of God. Many people claim to believe in justification by faith alone but have no idea what is really meant by that. To be frank and to the point, I have heard conferences on justification by faith alone by Reformed men and did not hear the core issues dealt with.
Romans 3:24-31: “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. 31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”
Some deny the utter freeness of grace by asserting free-will and others assert that grace does not establish the Law. We must get clear on these things to agree in truth. If we cannot agree on these things, we do not believe the same Gospel. It is by grace and nothing but grace.
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