This is the third in the series.
As a result of the belief that man is born in a sinful state,
another false teaching called Unconditional Election arose. This is our “U” in
the TULIP doctrine. They believe that since man is born in such a sinful state,
there is nothing that an individual can do in order to be saved. They say that
salvation is solely the work of God, not man. After all, we are saved by grace
and not works (Romans 3:24). Furthermore, they say that God chooses those
who will be saved and those who will be lost.
To answer this doctrine, we have to remember that God’s Word is
never going to contradict itself. Having said that; there are to many places
that show that man must play a part in his salvation. Peter preached on
Pentecost that those present must “save themselves” (Acts 2:40).
Further, the Lord said that only those who “do” the will of the Father will see
the kingdom of heaven (Matthew
7:21). The Bible teaches that we are going to be judged by our “works”
on the last day (2 Corinthians 5:10; John 12:48; Ecclesiastes
12:13-14). If this Unconditional Election were true, there would not need
to be a judgment, for God has already decided. Finally, this doctrine makes God
unjust because he would be condemning some having never given them a chance to
serve him, even if they desired to do so.
First, what I agree with here. The writer is correct when he says
that man is not the one who chooses, but God. We do not decide one day that we
are going to be saved and then God, based on that decision, chooses us to
salvation. Just from an observational basis we can see the problem with the “decisional”
approach to salvation. If indeed we are the ones that make the final decision
as to whether we’ll be saved or not, then why doesn’t everyone make the same
decision? What makes us believers to differ from those who remain in unbelief? There
are many people who are much smarter, as the world counts smarts, than I who are
still in their sins. Why haven’t they seen the logical conclusion of their
rebellion and embraced Christ? To make it more personal, what was it that led
me to make that decision nearly 40 years ago? I can confidently say that when I
was saved, I was not searching for the Lord. The Lord came upon me and saved
me. I had no say in the matter outside what He gave me: faith and an
understanding spirit in obeying His call.
Now, to the problems. At the end of the first paragraph, we have this
sentence: “Furthermore, they say that God chooses those who will be saved and
those who will be lost.” This is an error that far too many Arminians make and
that seemingly no amount of correction every dissuades them from that path. God
does not choose those who will be lost in the way that He chooses those who
will be saved. God elects some to salvation, to whom He will grant repentance
(2 Timothy 2:25) and faith (Ephesians 2:9; Philippians 1:29). When it comes to
the believer, God actively provides the means for him to believe and come to Christ.
However, the same is not done with the unbeliever. In the case of those who
will remain in their sins and eventually be lost, God does not actively keep
them from believing nor does he choose them to be lost. He simply allows them
to remain in their sin, a sin which by the way they want to continue to indulge
in. The inevitable end of their insistence in remaining in their sin will be
their damnation. So, to say that God chooses those whom He will save in the
same way that he chooses those who will be lost is incorrect and misunderstands
what predestination is all about.
The biggest issue with this portion of the article, however, is
found in the second paragraph. Too often, Arminians will point to descriptive
passages as though they somehow explain how the particular issue they're addressing came to be in the first place. And that is what this author has done
here. He points to a series of Scriptures that describe the people who are
believers and then proclaims that people make decisions to be saved based on
them. Let’s take them one by one.
Acts 2:40. Apparently the author is using either the KJV or the
NIV. Both of those translations, especially the KJV are functional. The NIV is
somewhat problematic in a number of places, but for the most part it’s not all
that bad (certainly not as bad as The Message or the Living Bible). The problem is that
they have both mistranslated the passage in question. The word used here by Peter
is a derivative of sozo, the primary meaning of which is salvation or escape. The form of
the word in this particular passage is sothete which is an aorist passive
subjective. Thus, the proper translation of the passage is not “save yourselves”,
but “be saved” (as in the NASB ), something that makes quite a difference. See, we do not save ourselves
and Peter clearly understood that issue. In verse 47 Luke makes a comment about
the disciples and mentions that the Lord was adding to the church “those who
were being saved.”
Matthew 7:21 and 1 Corinthians 5:10. Both of these passages are
again being seen in a prescriptive manner say rather than the descriptive way they should be
viewed. The entire Sermon on the Mount, of which Matthew 7 is part, is dealing
with the citizens of the kingdom. It is not telling us, as so many social
justice warriors would have believe, that if we do these things then God will
be pleased with us. Rather, it is telling us two important things. First, it is
making it clear that we are incapable of doing these things on our own. That is
the point especially of the second part of chapter five when the Lord begins to make a comparison of
those who are citizens of the kingdom and those who are not. Those who are
outside of Christ will never be capable of doing the things that are said in
the sermon. They simply lack the capacity to do so. It is in that context that
chapter 7 comes into the picture. Jesus is telling us that many will think that
because they have done a number of good works, that automatically qualifies
them for the kingdom. However, their works amount to nothing since they have
not done the will of the Father. And what is the will and the work of the Father,
that we believe in the Son (John 6:29). Without faith, it is impossible to
please God, Hebrews 11 tells us. It is the works that are brought about by faith that are pleasing
to Him, not those we do on our own.
It is true that we’re going to be judged by our works. But what exactly
does that mean? If it means what this individual would have us believe, then we
would have to conclude that we are saved by works. However, properly
understood, we can see what in fact it means to be judged by our works. Those who
are without Christ will be judged by the Law. In other words, they will be
judged by the fact that they failed to observe and keep the law perfectly, as
that law demands. Those who are in Christ, on the other hand, will not be
judged by the law, but rather by the fact that Christ is their righteousness.
In Romans 8, Paul makes the point that Jesus has fulfilled the righteous requirements
of the Law in our behalf. Having done so then, we are no longer under the
condemnation of the Law, but under the forgiveness of grace. And, we will
receive rewards according to our works. In chapter two of Romans, Paul had already
spoken about the judgement and what each person would receive: either condemnation
and destruction, or life and glory.
Finally, let me say something about the last two sentences of the
paragraph. To say that there doesn’t have to be a judgement is baseless. The judgement
will not be a way for God to let people know whether they are saved or lost. Those
who die outside of Christ already know they are lost; and those who die in
Christ already know they are saved. Rather, it will be a ratification before
all creation of the verdict of guilt or innocence. Secondly, the idea that God
would not be just because He hasn’t given people a chance to serve Him even
though they wanted to was addressed previously. But let me just say here that it
is ridiculous to make such an assertion. People don’t want to do the will of
God. And if they do want to, it is only because the Spirit has caused them to be
born again. In such a case, God is not going to turn away those who want to
serve and love Him because he hasn’t “elected” them.
No comments:
Post a Comment