We can bring in the giants of the past and stand on their shoulders to show how vital the inability of man is in terms of the Gospel. Francis Turretin:
“Who is ignorant of the gigantic attempts of the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians on this subject? They deny either wholly the impurity of nature or extenuate it most astonishingly to extol the strength of free will… to bring back (either openly or secretly and by burrowing) Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism and to place the old idol of free will in the citadel. This is the Helen whom they so ardently love and for whom they do not hesitate to fight as for their altars and firesides. It is of great importance, therefore, that the disciples of true and genuine grace should oppose themselves strenuously to these deadly errors and so build up the misery of men and the necessity of grace that the entire cause of destruction should be ascribed to man and the whole glory of salvation to God alone”
(Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Volume One, p. 659)
Why does Turretin think of free will as an idol? It is because men assign power to it and trust in it for what God alone can do. When free will is set beside the grace of God as a co-laborer in salvation, it is called synergism in reference to the Gospel and is not grace alone. This point cannot be stressed too strongly. When free will is said to be free enough that it is a co-worker with God for salvation, that is synergism rather than grace alone and Christ alone. When free will is trusted for the final act or last little bit of power for salvation that is not grace alone. To defend the Gospel of grace alone is to defend the Gospel as being of the grace of God at each and every point. It does not matter how strong a man is, if even a small child helps him lift an object at some point no matter how small the point is and no matter how weak the child is, the strong man did not do it alone. Even the weakest action of the will that is self-determined and free is enough to make the Gospel less than grace alone and Christ alone.
Notice that Turretin also spoke of “the strength of free will.” No matter how little power or how small the efficacy is assigned to free will, it is that little power that is set up against the power of God. This is, as he says, the idol that they so ardently love and fight for. Let us not make a mistake in this. The true battle is at this point. It is a battle over free will or free grace. It is a battle over the strength of the will or the strength of God in grace. It is the battle over the power of God for salvation or the power of the will to assist in this. If we trust in the will for salvation at all, then we have trusted in an idol. An idol is something we love and trust in for benefits or help.
Turretin says that the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians fight over this and in light of that “the disciples of true and genuine grace should oppose themselves strenuously to these deadly errors.” These things are not viewed like this in our day. It is no longer thought that Arminian thinking (semi-Pelagian) is a deadly error and that the disciples of genuine grace should oppose their deadly errors. Is this a statement of hatred against Arminians? Did Turretin hate all who did not agree with him? When accusations like that are made they miss the true point. It is out of love for God and others that we should oppose false teaching in order to show the necessity of the Gospel being all of grace so that it would be to the glory of God alone. The battle is not against the flesh and blood of Arminians, but it is against the theology of Arminianism and it is a spiritual battle that is fought over the Gospel and the character of God. We may fight against atheists, but the battle is not out of hatred for atheists but out of love for God and the souls of atheists. The battle is not against the people themselves, but is rather a battle over the truth of God.
If Turretin is correct, the teaching of free will is a deadly error. If it is a deadly error, the battle lines must be drawn there. If this is the heart of Reformed theology, then what passes as Reformed theology today needs to be thought through again. The Gospel of the glory of God is too precious to be watered down and made far too broad. It is the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation and nothing else. It is not kindness or compassion to others for us to waffle on this issue. It is nothing less than hatred of the souls of others to stand back and for the sake of some kind of unity not to stand firm at all points for the Gospel of the grace of God. As Turretin reminds us, “disciples of true and genuine grace should oppose themselves strenuously to these deadly errors.” This is what Reformed theologians taught in the past. Has theology changed in our day? Has God changed in our day?
Reformed theology and Christianity are names. If what passes as Christian changes, then the name no longer means the same. What goes as a Christian church in our day would never have been called a church in the past. Is the same true of Reformed theology? If the writers of the past offend us by their writing, perhaps it is because we don’t hold to the same theology that they did. This is at the very heart of Reformed theology. Reformed theology in the past thought that free will was a deadly error. If they were right, it is still a deadly error. Let us pray.
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