As we saw in the last BLOG in the writings of Edward Griffin, the real issue between Calvinism and Arminianism is that between divine efficiency and of a self-determining power. Calvinism stresses that Scripture teaches that God alone is the power or efficient in salvation and Arminianism by necessity of its belief in a free-will holds to some form of self-determining power. If divine efficiency is true, then salvation is by grace and grace alone. If human beings have a self-determining power of any kind, even to the smallest degree, and it is involved in salvation, then salvation is not by grace alone. Here is what Jonathan Edwards says about grace:
Hence we learn how they dishonor God and the gospel who depend on anything else but mere grace. The gospel is by far the most glorious manifestation of God’s glory that ever was made to man, and the glory of the gospel is free grace and mere mercy. Now those who will not depend on this free grace do what they can to deprive the gospel of this glory, and sully the glory of God therein shining forth; they take away the praise, glory, and honor that is due to God by His free grace and mercy to men, and set up themselves as the objects of it, as if their salvation at least partly was owing to what they have done.
This must be very provoking and highly affronting to God; for miserable sinners, after they are fallen into such a miserable estate that it is impossible they should be saved by any other means than pure grace, and God is so gloriously rich in his goodness as to offer this free grace unto them out of pity to them, how provoking must it be to God for these miserable, helpless wretches to attribute any of their salvation to themselves! It is not an opportunity to buy and procure our own salvation that God offers, but an opportunity to lay hold on that salvation that is already bought and procured for us. Neither are we able to do this ourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Sermons on the Lord’s Supper).
Notice the emphasis that Edwards puts on grace and how it is the glory of God in salvation. He sees it as a terrible thing for people to try to procure salvation (free-will is an effort to procure salvation for self rather than trust in grace alone) rather than to trust in a procured salvation. We must also be careful to make some distinctions at this point in order to make clear what is meant. The Gospel is all of grace and nothing but grace. Virtually all will give some form of assent to those words. However, the application of those words is where people differ greatly. Roman Catholicism affirms that salvation is all of grace, but what they mean is different than what Reformed people think the Bible teaches. Roman Catholics mean that God gives grace in the forms of the sacraments and so forth to work in people to do good works. That is why Roman Catholics are accused of teaching salvation by works, but it is also why they deny it. They teach that a person is justified by grace, but is a grace that a person receives by the sacraments and that works in a person to do good works which results in justification.
Arminianism teaches that a person is justified by grace as well. They teach that all a person has to do is of his or her own free-will make a choice to ask Jesus into his or her own heart or to choose to receive Christ. That sounds better than Roman Catholicism, but it is still based on the same principle. Both Roman Catholicism and Arminianism operate on much the same principle. In fact, as argued in an earlier BLOG, Roman Catholicism is one form of Arminianism. The principle that Protestant Arminians have with Roman Catholic Arminians is that both believe in some way that grace is applied through or by the free-will of the human being. In other words, it is up to the human being to take grace and apply it. If you will think through this carefully, you will see that what moves God in this situation is the act of man and not Himself. If God gives grace based on the will of the creature, then God’s giving grace is based on something other than grace. This is totally opposed to the character of God who only shows grace based on Himself and is against the Gospel of grace alone as taught in Scripture.
What is said here will be hard for some to read, but it will be even harder to show it to be in error. The Gospel of grace alone must be moved and applied by grace alone (grace is based on the character of God alone) or it is not a Gospel of grace alone. The issue of the application of the Gospel is vital to protect the character of God who saves sinners in order to manifest the glory of His grace. Anything else is not the Gospel of grace alone.
God Loves... Himself 
December 30, 2007 at 1:12 pm |
>”They teach that a person is justified by grace, but is a grace that a person receives by the sacraments and that works in a person to do good works which results in justification.”
Your statement is partly true, but inaccurate. While we may receive grace through the sacraments, God provides grace whenever, however, and in whatever measure He decides. Here’s what the Catholic Church actually teaches concerning grace:
“2003. Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning “favor,” “gratuitous gift,” “benefit.” Whatever their character – sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues – charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.
[Catechism of the Catholic Church]
You’ll find the more complete and most accurate explanation of Catholic doctrine on grace and justification here:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c3a2.htm
>”Roman Catholic Arminians”
No such thing. It was the Catholic Church which identified, named, and answered Arminius and his Arminian heresy. The Catholic Church cannot be said to be “Arminian” because it came before Arminianism and is not a product of that theology. If there are Roman Catholic Arminians, then I’m a Roman Catholic Southern Baptist.
Bottom line – I don’t know why you had to even discuss the Catholic Church at all. You had a nice post on grace that had nothing to do with the Catholic Church. When you introduced the Catholic Church, you introduced error and tainted an otherwise wonderful piece.
God bless…
January 7, 2008 at 11:43 pm |
Richard: Hello, Timothy. I do not wish to get into a long discussion on this on the BLOG. I do not think that I am in error in what I said, though admittedly I did not give a complete and exhaustive statement. Roman Catholicism has accused and still accuses Reformed people of teaching a legal fiction in regards to justification. RC teaches that man must become really just in order to be just. The teaching is that man must partake of grace in order to do the works in order to be justified and so they can say that a man is justified by grace. That was the point I was trying to stress rather than make a complete statement on Rome’s doctrine of grace.
The reason that I use the term “Roman Catholic Arminian” is because of the theology of Rome. It clearly teaches free-will in the context of justification in the canons of Trent (1564). Arminius was not the first person to teach what he taught but the teaching of free-will has become known or at least attached to his name. Any teaching that uses free-will as its basis can fairly be called Arminian in that sense. If you read with some care through the Council of Trents work on Justification I think that what I am saying will be quite clear.
R: Here we see some huge differences. Justification is not conferred in Baptism because that would mean it would not be a work of pure grace and would not be the forensic declaration of God. Justification does not conform us to the righteousness of God but is the declaration of God. This shows what I was saying earlier about Roman Catholicism teaching that one receives grace that makes the person work in order to be justified.
R: Here is a denial of the historic Protestant doctrine of justification by grace alone. Man must be born from above and therefore converted and it is not an assent at that moment as such. The Gospel is all of grace and that includes the application. What is of the work of man in terms of justification is not of grace.
R: This is a mixing of justification and sanctification. Justification is the declaration of a person based solely on what Christ has done. It is all of grace and that includes the application of the work of Christ. Sanctification comes after justification.
R: Justification is not of a grace that is simply some help that God gives us to respond to His call, but it is a declaration that a sinner is just in the sight of God because of the believer’s union with and marriage to Christ. All of these quotes from the site that you gave really show that what I said in the BLOG is accurate, though admittedly not a complete statement.