Posted on 10/21/2005 5:37:01 AM PDT by sheltonmac
Although provoked by the indulgences peddled by Johannes Tetzel, the very first proposition which Luther offered for public debate in his Ninety Five Theses put the axe to the root of the tree of medieval theology: "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said 'Repent,' he meant that the entire life of believers should be one of repentance." From Erasmus' Greek New Testament, Luther had come to realize that the Vulgate's rendering of Matthew 4:17 by penitentiam agite ("do penance") completely misinterpreted Jesus' meaning. The gospel called not for an act of penance but for a radical change of mind-set and an equally deep transformation of life. Later he would write to Staupitz about this glowing discovery: "I venture to say they are wrong who make more of the act in Latin than of the change of heart in Greek!"
Is it not true that we have lost sight of this note that was so prominent in Reformation theology? We could well do with a Luther redivivus today. For a number of important reasons evangelicals need to reconsider the centrality of repentance in our thinking about the gospel, the church and the Christian life.
One of our great needs is for the ability to view some of the directions in which evangelicalism is heading, or perhaps more accurately disintegrating. We desperately need the long-term perspective which the history of the church gives us.
Even within the period of my own Christian life, the span between my teenage years in the 1960s and my forties in the 1990s, there has been a sea-change in evangelicalism. Many "position" which were standard evangelical teaching are now, after only three decades, regarded as either reactionary or even dinosauric.
If we take an even longer-term view, however, we face the alarming possibility that there may already be a medieval darkness encroaching upon evangelicalism. Can we not detect, at least as a tendency, dynamics within evangelicalism which bear resemblances to the life of the medieval church? The possibility of a new Babylonian or (more accurately, following Luther) the Pagan Captivity of the Church looms nearer than we may be able to believe.
Consider the following five features of medieval Christianity which are evident to varying degrees in contemporary evangelicalism.
Repentance has increasingly been seen as a single act, severed from a life-long restoration of godliness.
There are complex reasons for this--not all of them modern--which we cannot explore here. Nevertheless, this seems self-evident. seeing repentance as an isolated, completed act at the beginning of the Christian life has been a staple principle of much of modern evangelicalism. It is sad that evangelicals have often despised the theology of the confessing churches. It has spawned a generation who look back upon a single act, abstracted from its consequences, as determinative of salvation. The 'alter call' has replaced the sacrament of penance. Thus repentance has been divorced from genuine regeneration, and sanctification severed from justification.
The canon for Christian living has increasingly been sought in a 'Spirit-inspired' living voice within the church rather than in the Spirit's voice heard in Scripture. What was once little more than a mystical tendency has become a flood. But what has this to do with the medieval church? Just this. the entire medieval church operated on the same principle, even if they expressed it in a different form: the Spirit speaks outside of Scripture; the believer cannot know the detailed guidance of God if he tries to depend on his or her Bible alone.
Not only so, but once the 'living voice' of the Spirit has been introduced it follows by a kind of psychological inevitability that it is this living voice which becomes the canon for Christian living.
This view--inscripturated Word plus living voice equals divine revelation--lay at the heart of the medieval church's groping in the dark for the power of the gospel. Now, at the end of the second millennium we are on the verge--and perhaps more than the verge of being overwhelmed by a parallel phenomenon. The result then was a famine of hearing and understanding the Word of God, all under the guise of what the Spirit was still saying to the church. What of today?
The divine presence was brought to the church by an individual with sacred powers deposited within him and communicated by physical means.
Today an uncanny parallel is visible wherever cable TV can be seen. Admittedly it is no longer Jesus who is given by priestly hands; now it is the Spirit who is bestowed by physical means, apparently at will by the new evangelical priest. Special sanctity is no longer confirmed by the beauty of the fruit of the Spirit, but with signs which are predominantly physical.
What we ought to find alarming about contemporary evangelicalism is the extent to which we are impressed by performance rather than piety. The Reformers were not unfamiliar with similar phenomena. In fact one of the major charges made against them by the Roman Catholic Church was that they did not really have the gospel because they lacked physical miracles.
The worship of God is increasingly presented as a spectator event of visual and sensory power, rather than a verbal event in which we engage in a deep soul dialogue with the Triune God.
The mood of contemporary evangelicalism is to focus on the centrality of what 'happens' in the spectacle of worship rather than on what is heard in worship. Aesthetics, be they artistic or musical, are given a priority over holiness. More and more is seen, less and less is heard. There is a sensory feast, but a hearing famine. Professionalism in worship leadership has become a cheap substitute for genuine access to heaven, however faltering. Drama, not preaching, has become the 'Didache' of choice.
This is a spectrum, of course, not a single point. But most worship is to be found somewhere on that spectrum. There was a time when four words would bring out goose-bumps on the necks of our grandfathers: 'Let Us Worship God'. Not so for twentieth-century evangelicals. Now there must be colour, movement, audio-visual effects, or God cannot be known, loved, praised and trusted for his own sake.
The success of ministry is measured by crowds and cathedrals rather than by the preaching of the cross and the quality of Christians' lives.
It was the medieval church leaders, bishops and archbishops, cardinals and popes, who built large cathedrals, ostensibly Soli Deo Gloria--all this to the neglect of gospel proclamation, the life of the body of Christ as a whole, the needs of the poor and the evangelism of the world. Hence, the 'mega-church' is not a modern, but a medieval phenomenon.
Ideal congregational size and specific ecclesiastical architecture thankfully are matters of indifference. That is not really the central concern here. Rather it is the almost endemic addiction of contemporary evangelicalism to size and numbers as an index of the success of 'my ministry'--a phrase which can itself be strikingly contradictory. We must raise the question of reality, depth and integrity in church life and in Christian ministry. The lust for 'bigger' makes us materially and financially vulnerable. But worse, it makes us spiritually vulnerable. For it is hard to say to those on whom we have come to depend materially, 'When our Lord Jesus Christ said "Repent!" he meant that the whole of the Christian life is repentance.'
“I. God has endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined good, or evil.”“And then there is that thing with God's grace saves us but we have free will and must cooperate with God. __Oh foolish Harley. Who has bewitched you?”
IV. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage under sin; and, by His grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so, as that by reason of his remaining corruption, he does not perfectly, or only, will that which is good, but does also will that which is evil.
I. God has endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined good, or evil.[1]
II. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God;[2] but yet, mutably, so that he might fall from it.[3]
III. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation:[4] so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good,[5] and dead in sin,[6] is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.[7]
IV. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage under sin;[8] and, by His grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good;[9] yet so, as that by reason of his remaining corruption, he does not perfectly, or only, will that which is good, but does also will that which is evil.[10]
V. The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to do good alone in the state of glory only.[11]
[1] MAT 17:12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. JAM 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. DEU 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
[2] ECC 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. GEN 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
[3] GEN 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
[4] ROM 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. JOH 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
[5] ROM 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
[6] EPH 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). COL 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
[7] JOH 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. EPH 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;). 1CO 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. TIT 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
[8] COL 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. JOH 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
[9] PHI 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. ROM 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
[10] GAL 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. ROM 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 18 For I know that in me(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
[11] EPH 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. HEB 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. 1JO 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. JUD 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
It is far more important to protect the heretical notion of man's "free will" than to acknowledge God's sovereign control over our salvation.
Yes, I would agree with Paragraph IV. I would also agree with Paragraph III of the WCF which states
Man is “born again” when God releases the bondage man is under and accepts Jesus as the Christ. Man is free to make good and bad choices under God’s guidance. We become children of God-slaves to righteousness. But that is another post.
Adam and Eve were given a single commandment: " but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." They were also given the freedom to either obey or disobey God. Agree.
Through our ancestor's sin, our relationship to God was severely damaged, but the choices that are put before us are fundamentally the same. Agree.. The choice, to sin or not to sin, is still the same but the ability that Adam & Eve had to not sin, no longer exists in an unregenerate person. The severe damage caused by the fall affected the whole person - will, mind, heart, & body. This is what is meant by Total Depravity, a misunderstood term that many think means utter depravity. Severe damage that goes to the root of our being.
The reason that the Fall is hard to explain to man's satisfaction is because man wants to know "why." God is not the author of evil, yet he made a tree of knowledge of good & evil and he made Adam & Eve with the ability to sin. I appreciate what you said that Thomas Aquinas wrote, because I believe that what he wrote is the best explanation. God was not surprised by the Fall and he already knew the remedy. It is for his glory.
our sins are our own--we will the evil Agree. Just as you stated, God permits us to sin, but the sin is our own.
At the basis of our Faith is our commitment to believe that God IS good, and that God wills only what is good for us Agree totally.
No one makes a decision to go to Hell. All men are destined for Hell to begin with. As far as Heaven, God opens the heart so that it isn't rebellious and then ask, "Do you want to go the heaven or do you want an eternal life of torment?" This isn't a "rocket science" decision by us.
The problem most people have is that God doesn't open up everyone's heart.
You could put it that way but I don't like the term "free will". Salvation is a GIFT from God and the Son must set you free. The Holy Spirit is sealed inside as our guarantee of our inheritance but also to guide and direct our lifes to do God's will.
So when you choose not to be led by the God’s Spirit, you are nonetheless, still choosing to go to heaven?
The choice has already been made. You are "born again". You can't be unborn. When you choose not to be led by the Holy Spirit you are rebellious and subject to God's chastisement.
Christians will grow in grace albeit some at different speeds than others according to the measure of faith given to them.
"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are, when you judge another; for in passing judgment upon him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (Romans 2: 1-16)I don't need to point out to you that the Scripture is quite clear that it is on the basis of man's actions that God will judge him. To those who do evil (sin/refuse to be led by the Holy Spirit) God will inflict wrath and fury. To those who do good in the pursuit of immortality, God will grant eternal life. In the teachings of Scripture, God shows no partiality among men.
Man is created destined for hell. God saves some by choosing to give some, but not all men, free will.
”The people who do not receive free will cannot possibly follow the Spirit of God, and so these people are punished for what they are inherently incapble of doing.”
You assume everyone wants to be in heaven with God. I would not make that assumption.
They can then use this God-given freedom to refuse to obey God. Instead of being punished for disobeying God, (like those who have no choice but to disobey God) however, the ones who choose to disobey God of their own free will go to heaven.
I believe I have already gone on record as saying those who disobey God are chastised by Him-even to the point of death. King David murder Uriah and that punishment stayed with him his entire life. But God loved King David even though he grievously sinned.
How do you propose to square this with the Epistle to the Romans, ch 2? …I don't need to point out to you that the Scripture is quite clear that it is on the basis of man's actions that God will judge him.
I never stated that God will not judge man for His actions. I’m simply stating that God has to release man from his bonds. Men are evil. We need to be made acceptable to God for His good works. Once our Lord Jesus has set us free we are free indeed.
You keep bring up the WCF on Free Will paragraph (4) but you constantly neglect paragraph (3) that man is bound to sin and must be set free. You also neglected Romans 3 which plainly states that there is NONE that does what is RIGHT. I would suggest you read Romans 3:10-18 to give you a picture of exactly what our nature is towards God.
Now, it seems to me that a reasonable reading is that the Westminster Confessions is teaching that Man has free will, and can freely choose to do good or evil, at least in the case of the regenerate man. According to the Epistle to the Romans Ch 2, if he chooses to sin (to refuse to be led by the Spirit of God) then he is choosing God's wrath and fury. Does that seem like a reasonable reading to you?
No because you simply fail to understand the difference of the “elect” and the “children of wrath” concept. There are two “cities” as Augustine states. There is the city of man who is heading for destruction. These are the people around us who have no desire for spiritual things and remains in their sins. There are others who hunger after the things of God. This second group is God’s elect who He has chosen and given to the Son and the Son keeps them safe. The second group WAS just like the first group except for some unknown reason God called them out:
If you are relying on our Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation you are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places. That is what Paul states. Christ died for ALL your sins-past, present and future. Any sin that you do from now until God takes you home will be meant with punishment (perhaps even death) but it will not remove you from being seated with Christ.
You’re essentially arguing that you made a choice to follow God and you keep yourself in God’s grace by doing whatever. This denies God’s omniscience and omnipotence. It is folly. God keeps us. It is also the problem Pelagius and all of his followers had.
This is what you've stated:
I simply stated that you are assuming everyone wants to go to heaven. Let me state your position using your theology.
Thanks but I'll stick to my interpretation that God will save those who He so desires.
So in this framing of free will, God presents man with a choice between heaven and hell. At that point, your salvation hangs upon your decision, correct?
While at times I'm not very articulate, I'm not exactly sure what problem you have in understanding the WCF. Most Catholics (and many Protestants) I know grasps the concepts and reject them. You seem to be struggling with this. For a more thorough reading between the two distinct views I would direct you to my home page. Also this article Free Will may help you.
It may be you are questioning the "calling"; man's answering God after God has released him from his bondage. Does man make a choice then? I would further refer you to the WCF.
I. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call,[1] by His Word and Spirit,[2] out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ;[3] enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God,[4] taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh;[5] renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good,[6] and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ:[7] yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.[8]
II. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man,[9] who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit,[10] he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.[11]
III. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit,[12] who works when, and where, and how He pleases:[13] so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.[14]
IV. Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word,[15] and may have some common operations of the Spirit,[16] yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved:[17] much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the laws of that religion they do profess.[18] And to assert and maintain that they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested.[19]
I would also direct your attention to the following article: Irresistable Grace
Question 2: You state it's a very easy decision, however, it's entirely possible to make the wrong decision, correct?
Question 3: Can you tell me how you see yourself making this decision, one way or the other? That is, exactly how do you make the decision to go to heaven or to hell?
It is under this "free will" concept that man feels he must make some kind of choice for God either by "exercising his faith" or by "cooperating" with God. Under either of these scenario man may or may not make the right choice. It is absurd to think that our salvation could depend upon our disposition or even if we gets to hear the message at all. In either position, no matter how much the the grace of God is preached, comes back to a work of man.
Again, how did you make this decision?
Did God give you a backstage pass to the Garden of Eden, which you showed to the Cherubim so you could enter and eat the fruit from the tree of life? Or did you git saved? Make a decision for Christ? Answer an alter call? I'm asking about your own statement, not making one of my own.
First you say there is a decision between heaven and hell, and then you say there is no decision. This is a little like your arguments for and against free will. I'm just trying to understand.
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