The work of salvation in light of the sinner being dead in trespasses and sin and being unable to do one spiritual good is an astonishing but ignored fact of Scripture in many corners. There are many who think that an intellectual agreement is all that is needed for the sinner to be converted. Others think that an act by a minister in baptizing a baby is all that is needed to bring a child into the covenant. Still others think that what is needed is an act of the human will to let God save him or that act is the faith that is needed to be justified by faith. But what is actually needed is for the God who is triune to act and save sinners. When we say salvation is of the Lord, we don’t speak with accuracy unless we mean that the One God who subsists in three Persons saves sinners. Salvation is not just an act of one Person in the Godhead, but instead it is all three Persons.
In this BLOG I would like to look at the teaching of the Trinity (some) in order to show that Arminian theology and modern Calvinistic theology (some) alike do dishonor to the Holy Spirit in their teachings of salvation. Here is a quote by George Smeaton the Scottish theologian of great eminence: “And as to the divine works, the Father is the source FROM WHICH every operation emanates (ex ou), the Son is the medium THROUGH WHICH (di ou) it is performed, and the Holy Ghost is the EXECUTIVE BY WHICH (en wi) it is carried into effect.” In one sense the Gospel is declared to us in a beautiful form. While there is a distinction in theology between the ontological Trinity (what it is in and of itself) and the economical Trinity (distribution of work), we must never allow the teaching of God to be divided from who He is. We must also never allow the teachings of the Persons of the Godhead to be so divided that we forget the essential oneness of God. Hear Smeaton again:
- That there is one God or divine essence
- That the same numerical divine essence is common to three truly divine Persons, who are
designated Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. - That between these three divine Persons there obtains a natural order of subsistence and
operation; that the first Person hath life in Himself (John 5:26); and that the second and
third Persons subsist and act from the first. - That this order of the divine Persons belongs to the divine essence prior to, and irrespective
of, the covenant of grace. - That this natural order of subsistence and action is the ground and reason of the several names,
Father, Son, and Spirit; the Son being begotten of the Father, and the Spirit by spiration
proceeding from both.
What we have to see from this is that the Gospel of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a message of something that is not intelligible, but it is the Gospel of the triune God that saves sinners. Justification by faith alone is a message of what God in three Persons has done and does to save sinners. The Father planned and sent the Son, yet the Son came and also with the Father breathed forth the Spirit. The Son came and carried out the plan of salvation, yet it is the Holy Spirit that applies it. The Gospel is not just about Christ, it is about the triune God saving sinners. The Father is the source of creation, all things were created through the Son, yet the Spirit effected creation. In the same way the Father is the source of the Gospel, the Son carried out the purchase of sinners and so the Gospel is through Him, but it is the Holy Spirit which carries it into effect and applies it. The Gospel is all of God, yet it is the One God in three Persons. When we say that the sinners are saved by grace alone, we are really saying that sinners are saved by the one God subsisting in three Persons and the One God does through each Person what each does and it is all by grace. The Father elects and is the source of salvation by grace alone. The Son purchases sinners and it is through Him that the one God carries out the Gospel, yet it is by the work and power of the Holy Spirit that the one God effects the Gospel in the hearts of sinners.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ must never be limited to the actions of Christ alone. Indeed salvation was planned by the Father alone and carried out by Christ alone, but it is applied by the Spirit alone. Justification by grace alone through faith alone encompasses the work of the Trinity in relation to the Gospel. Sinners are rescued by the One God in three Persons (ontological Trinity) with each doing His own work (economical Trinity). God predestined according to grace apart from worthiness and righteousness in the sinner. The Son earned a perfect righteousness in life and died on the cross for sinners because of grace alone. The Holy Spirit convicts sinners of sin, judgment and righteousness and regenerates and works faith in them by grace alone. Thus the sinner is justified by grace alone and that comes through faith alone. Indeed justification is earned and accomplished by Christ alone, but it is also applied by the Spirit alone. The Arminian scheme has Christ saving sinners by grace in one aspect of their theory, but their thought on free-will does not allow for the application of the work of Christ to be by grace alone.
If anyone did add to the work of Christ in the conservative Christian world we would hear screams of bloody murder, though perhaps not in our politically correct and overly winsome day. But there would at least be a whisper of concern that maybe a person just might be off a bit in the Gospel if s/he started teaching that salvation was by something other than Christ alone. But why do we (fewer and fewer these days) so desire to defend the work of Christ and not defend the work of the Holy Spirit in applying the Gospel? For the Gospel to be by grace alone it must be applied by grace alone too. Where are the cries from the Reformed ranks when the Arminian teaching does exactly that?
God Loves... Himself 
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