Is our salvation wholly of God, or does it ultimately depend on something that we do for ourselves? Those who deny the latter (as the Arminians later did) thereby deny man’s utter helplessness in sin, and affirm that a form of semi-Pelagianism is true after all. It is no wonder, then, that later Reformed theology condemned Arminianism as being in principle a return to Rome (because in effect it turned faith into a meritorious work) and a betrayal of the Reformation (because it denied the sovereignty of God in saving sinners, which was the deepest religious and theological principle of the Reformer’s thought). Arminianism was, indeed, in Reformed eyes a renunciation of New Testament Christianity in favour of New Testament Judaism; for to rely on oneself for faith is no different in principle from relying on oneself for works, and the one is as un-Christian and anti-Christian as the other (Johnson and Packer’s introduction to Luther’s Bondage of the Will).
While it is not thought to be politically correct to make stark and confrontational statements about Arminianism or other theologies, it is nevertheless required if one wants to be faithful to Scripture. The heart of Roman Catholic doctrine is that man is not helpless in sin and can do things to obtain grace for himself. The heart of Arminian theology is that man has some part of the will that is free enough to make a choice which ends up in salvation. This is in truth turning faith into a work of some sort and it is to make those who hold that to have at the heart of their theology a gospel more like that of Rome than of the Reformation. That is why the study of the will is so vital. Without a solid understanding of what it means to be in bondage to sin and utterly helpless apart from the sovereign grace of God a person’s creedal theology will not take them that far from Rome at its most important point. It is a return to Rome in terms of what it means at the heart of salvation.
At the heart of Arminianism is the denial of the sovereignty of God in saving sinners. The final verdict is not up to the grace of God, but it is up to the free-will of the sinner. Johnson and Packer think of the sovereignty of God in saving sinners as “the deepest religious and theological principle of the Reformer’s thought.” A denial of that, then, is to deny the theology of the Reformation at its deepest religious and theological principle. Yet, there are many who think of themselves as Reformed because they hold to an older creed and yet deny the very heart of the Reformation. It is a rejection of New Testament Christianity and in many ways a return to the basic principle of Rome and also of the Pharisees. It is a rejection of the grace of God for the will of man.
There is no room in New Testament Christianity for anything but grace alone. While it is true that many use the words of grace alone, but they don’t hold to the heart or substance of what the words meant in the New Testament nor the Reformation. Romans 4:16 sets out the reason that justification is by faith alone: “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace.” The degree that faith is not in accordance with grace is the degree that faith is a work. If faith depends on a free-will that in order to be free it is free from the internal works of God in the soul, then faith is a work and salvation is not by grace alone. When we point men to faith and do not teach them that their faith can be in themselves to trust in Christ, we are not teaching them that they must trust in Christ alone. If we trust in our own wills, even if it is just a small part, then we are not trusting in Christ alone and we are not looking to grace alone.
Romans 11:6 sets out the great danger of grace plus one work: “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” If one adds a work to grace, then grace is no longer grace. If a person adds circumcision to grace, then that person has fallen from grace as a way of justification (Gal 5:4). This is not a minor issue, but is rather at the very heart of the Gospel itself. If the will is not in bondage to sin completely, then it does not take grace alone to save the soul. But if it does not take grace alone to save the soul, then how many works does it take? Just one little work leavens the whole lump of grace. It permeates grace and makes it to be something less than what it is. One little drop of poison will bring impurity to a lot of water. One little act of the will does not seem like much, but it overthrows the Gospel of grace alone as the Reformers saw so clearly. One little act of a free-will is a denial of justification by faith alone as taught by the Reformers. One little act of a free-will is a denial of the teaching of the utter helplessness of man in sin. One little act of a free-will is a denial of the sovereignty of God over the whole of salvation. Our day is rampant with men who are gracious and winsome, but like Erasmus they deny the Gospel of grace alone and do so while saying that they hold to the old creeds. We live in dark times in terms of spiritual power. Maybe God is bringing Christendom down so that grace alone may rise.
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