Since, therefore, we have lost the meaning and the real reference of this glorious term, or, rather, have never grasped them (as was claimed by the Pelagians, who themselves mistook the phrase) why do we cling so tenaciously to an empty word, and endanger and delude faithful people in consequence? There is no more wisdom in so doing than there is in the modern foible of kings and potentates, who retain, or lay claim to, empty titles of kingdoms and countries, and flaunt them, while all the time they are really paupers, and anything but the possessors of those kingdoms and countries. We can tolerate their antics, for they fool nobody, but just feed themselves up—unprofitably enough—on their own vainglory. But this false idea of ‘free-will’ is a real threat to salvation, and a delusion fraught with the most perilous consequences. Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will
Luther was a lot different than modern people who want to join hands with those who hold to ‘free-will’ for the purposes of getting the “gospel” to the world. The problem with that, however, is that Luther thought of ‘free-will’ as being a real threat to salvation. How can those who hold to the Gospel of grace alone hold hands with those who say they believe it but their theology demands that they cannot believe it? In the words of the Southern Presbyterian John L. Girardeau, the anthropology of the Arminian “is not essentially different from the Socinian and Pelagian.” He goes on to say this: “the distinctive doctrines of Arminianism not only make salvation impossible by denying that it is by grace, but also implying that it is by works. Not that it is intended to say that Arminians in so many words affirm this.” But even more, according to Girardeau, “The question is, do the peculiar tenets of the Arminian scheme necessitate the inference that salvation is by works? I shall attempt to show that they do.”
It is no wonder that the state of true religion (Christianity) is at such low ebb today. It is not just that the vast majority of people hold to a scheme of salvation that holds to works in some way for salvation or at least implies it, but those who claim to be Reformed and hold to sovereign grace alone for salvation are holding hands with those who clearly do not hold that. They are building bridges and working together, yet they are holding hands with those that hold views that are clearly contradictory to the Gospel of grace alone. Luther is so clear that the teaching of ‘free-will’ in the arena of salvation is “a delusion fraught with the most perilous consequences.” Yet today we have people who think of themselves as Reformed who see no difference in the gospel they preach than that of Arminians and Pelagians. When we don’t see a real difference, perhaps there is no real difference.
A.W. Tozer said that our creeds can be used to hide our real theology from us. So when a person with a Reformed creed evangelizes and has the same gospel as that of Arminians and Pelagians, we can assume that the creed has hidden an Arminian or Pelagian heart from that person. If those who evangelize and preach the same gospel as Arminians and Pelagians do, then we can assume that those people in the depths of their souls are Arminians and Pelagians. In the old days men who were Reformed stood against the Arminian and Pelagian distortions of the Gospel of grace alone. Today we are more tolerant and gracious. It seems that men would rather be tolerant of that which is a threat to real salvation and a delusion with perilous consequences than they are with those who hold to the true doctrines of grace alone.
So in our day denominations are attempting to join those who say they believe in grace alone and those who don’t in some form of unity. How can a person who really believes in the Gospel of grace alone join hands with those who truly don’t? I would submit that a person who loves the Gospel of grace alone cannot support the preaching of those who don’t preach grace alone even by inference. The teaching of ‘free-will’ in the area of the Gospel of grace alone is dangerous and the lovers of the Gospel should not hold hands with them. It is that dangerous and we should not tolerate this even if it means that we are outcasts. Self-denial is not about denying ourselves various luxuries, but it is also about denying error at the cost of friendships and of denominations. Those who hold the true Gospel of grace alone must not give in to anything less and should be willing to lose the whole world and all besides in order to stand for the true Gospel. When we don’t, what we see in the Unites States will happen and continue to spiral down at a rapid pace. May God give us grace in our intestinal fortitude to stand for the Gospel of grace alone and turn from all that is not.
God Loves... Himself 
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