Death and Calvinism

Read this interview with Al Mohler, a leading reformer in the Southern Baptist Denomination and president of Southern Seminary, after his recent near fatal illness and his abiding hope in the sovereignty of God:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1583921,00.html

Free Will?

“Do you believe in free will, or is every action by man determined and controlled by God?”

I do not like using the term ‘free will’ in the context of a biblical discussion on this issue. The reason is that there is so much imprecision in the usage of such a term. But I do believe in some sort of ‘freedom’ when it comes to the actions and decisions men. Calvin says this,

“Man will then be spoken of as having this sort of free decision, not because he has free choice equally of good and evil, but because he acts wickedly by will, not by compulsion. Well put, indeed, but what purpose is served by labeling with a proud name such a slight thing…But how few men are there, I ask, who when they hear free will attributed to man do not immediately conceive him to be master of both his own mind and will, able of his own power to turn himself toward either good or evil…If anyone, then, can use this word without understanding it in a bad sense, I shall not trouble him on this account…I’d prefer not to use it myself, and I should like others, it they seek my advice, to avoid it.”

What Calvin is getting at is the fact that the term ‘will’ (either thelema, or boulomai in the NT Greek) is rarely used with reference to man. It almost always refers to the eternal and steadfast decrees and counsel of our sovereign God. When thelema (the common word for ‘will’) is used of men, it is used to speak of man’s ability to choose sin and wickedness and his inability to procure grace for himself. Look at Ephesians 1 and 2—in chapter one the word ‘will’ refers to the free and sovereign will of God (vv. 1, 5, 11) and the only description of the ‘will’ of men is in chapter where we find Paul describe man in his ‘gratifying the cravings (thelema- ‘will’) of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest we were by nature children of wrath.’ The testimony of Scripture by and large describes man’s ‘freedom’ as tragically hampered by his sinful nature and depravity. This is why, in describing the ‘will’ of men, Paul says this in Romans 9: 16, “It [‘it’ referring, I believe to vv.11-12 speaking of God’s purpose in election] does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort (boulomai), but on God’s mercy.” In this passage we find that man’s ‘will’ has nothing to do with the issue, all is based on God’s mercy.

This is not to say that man is not morally responsible or culpable- the Scriptures testify that he is and that he is subject to punishment and wrath because of his sin. And we must speak of man as being ‘free’ in some respect. Otherwise God is some sort of capricious master puppeteer and we are his robotic craftsmanship. This is not the case. We engage in moral decision making throughout the day, we are responsible to ‘choose’ good and to deny evil ‘choices’. But I never want to assert the will of man as separate and distinct from the omniscience and omnipotence of our sovereign God. Psalm 139 is for me a great testimony to the fact that God is one who knows all things, ordains all things, and sees all things. In that passage, this divine knowledge extends to even the minute details of our lives, he knows our words before they are on our lips. It is, I believe, a tragic flaw in one’s theology of God to assert that the God who has revealed himself in such a way does not have knowledge of who his people are- are that the exercise of his creatures’ will is outside of his control. To be honest, to say that our ‘will’ is totally free and incontingent is to deny the free and incontingent will of God. Basically, you can’t have a God who is sovereign and free and have a creature who is able to make completely ‘free’ choices outside the contingencies that bind him (such contingencies being: his own depravity, his inability and need for grace, his dependence upon God for all things).

So, to make a long answer even longer I would say this: I am careful to use words like ‘free will’ because the common conception of such a phrase usually is very loaded and is often not consistent with the testimony of Scripture. I will say that there must be a sense in which we are ‘free’ in that we are responsible- some call us ‘free moral agents’. Dr. Packer says that the testimony of Scripture presents us with an ‘antinomy’. An antinomy is the phenomenon in physics where we find seeming contradictions in the physical universe (light as both wave and particle, for example). In Scripture, we find a tension between God’s sovereignty (the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent ruler of all he has created) and man’s responsibility. This is a ‘seeming’ contradiction from our limited and sin-stained perspective. But, in fact, from the divine perspective it is not a contradiction, such tensions are resolved in God’s divine and eternal counsel and will one day be revealed to us in glory. Ultimately, I will land on the shore of God’s power and purpose as free and sovereign, because I believe the burden of Scripture is on the shoulders of those who assert that man’s will is totally free and completely undetermined in any sense by God’s election, foreknowledge, and will.

Once Saved, Always Saved?

Do you believe in once saved always saved?

In order to fully answer this question, I think I need to comment on this phrase, ‘once saved always saved’, and maybe adjust it a bit. This sort of terminology misses the boat a bit, I’m afraid. It is a summary of the historic Christian doctrine of the ‘perseverance of the saints’. This doctrine teaches that those whom God has effectually called and saved by His grace through faith will certainly endure to the end and in no way fall from this state of saving grace. This doctrine is found in a variety of passages:

John 6:38-40 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

As you can see from the definition I have given above, there are a host of theological presuppositions that precede a healthy understanding of the ‘perseverance of the saints’. The doctrine of perseverance is bound up in the doctrine of election (God’s sovereign calling) and efficacious grace (‘efficacious’ meaning that such grace will accomplish its work, it is effectual, dependent on God’s sovereign will, not upon us). I believe in the perseverance of the saints because I believe that ‘saints’ are saints by grace from first to last. They are ‘saved’ by the election of God and not by their own merits or by their own rational processes. To put it simply, the Bible overwhelmingly states that we do nothing to be saved (we exercise ‘faith’- but Eph. 2:8-10 states that this faith is a gift of grace) and so can do nothing to ‘undo’ such a sovereign salvation. Of course there are many that would disagree with my views of election, efficacious grace, etc. (these doctrines are traditionally connected with what we might call ‘Calvinism’).

Though I prefer not to bear the ‘stigma’ of what people understand of Calvinism, for better or worse, I am what you would call a ‘five-pointer’. But I wasn’t born in a ‘Calvinist’ home, I was not reared in a Dutch Reformed or Scottish Presbyterian church.
I am a ‘Calvinist’ because I believe this is what God’s Word teaches.

Note how our Lord speaks of salvation: ‘I shall lose none that he has given me’ and ‘I give them eternal life’ or hear Paul’s words, ‘he who began a good work in you’. All of these (and many others) passages push us to see salvation as the work of God in sinful man. Consider the wonderful truth of Romans 5:8, ‘God demonstrates his love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’. While we were sinners, while we were lost, God saved us. Hear the Apostle John, ‘we love because he first loved us’ (1 John 4:19). Salvation is initiated, secured, and sealed by God’s grace. And if this is so, we must affirm that such a divinely secured grace can’t be thwarted by the actions of sinful man. You did nothing to gain his saving grace, you can do nothing to lose it.

The problem with the terminology of ‘once saved always saved’ is that it is sometimes employed to remove the necessity of the ongoing sanctifying work of God in the believer’s life. It provides us with a form of ‘fire insurance’. If you walk the aisle, say the sinner’s prayer, etc. then you are given assurance of salvation. I believe that these assurances give people a false sense of security. Our security is placed in the sovereign work of God, and in manifested in His work in our lives.

Let’s consider the testimony of Scripture. Scripture binds up the assurance of salvation and assurance of ‘perseverance’ with a continual conviction of sin, an ongoing life of repentance and faith, and the persevering work of the Spirit to convict of sin and lead toward righteousness.

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Colossians 1:21-23 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
2 Timothy 2:11-12 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us
Mark 13:13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Ephesians 5:5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-- such a man is an idolater-- has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

Now, as we read these passages, the believer trembles at such warnings. The Christian should immediately recognize that she is a sinner and does not deserve to be in God’s Kingdom. The redeemed confess their sin and inability, holding fast to the promise of God’s goodness and grace. This promise of sovereign and free grace prompts the heart to serve God, not presume upon grace and continue in sin! “Shall we go on sinning that grace might increase? May it never be! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2).

The issue is not that the believer will not sin. We still struggle with our sin nature (‘the flesh’). We know that Peter sinned. We know that Paul sinned (Read Romans 7!). The issue is how we deal with our sin. Do we seek to turn from sin toward righteousness? Do we seek to live a LIFE of sin or a LIFE of holiness through the power of the Spirit? Do we respond to our sin with repentance and faith? Jesus knew we would sin. That is why he told us how to deal with one another in our sins (Matthew 18: 15-20). If someone is caught in a sin, they are to be confronted, and they are to respond with repentance. A heart of godly sorrow over sin and a spiritual desire to leave that sin and live for Christ manifests and exhibits the presence of inward and ‘unseen’ grace. To respond to sin by saying, ‘Once saved, always saved’ without a demonstration of confession and repentance is to put our trust in some arbitrary action in the past while ignoring the importance of a present sanctifying power securing our hope in future salvation. Our assurance is found in the current and abiding grace of God available to those who daily confess sin, repent and turn to God, seeking to live for Christ moment by moment.

If one says, “I am a Christian”, then that confession will be accompanied by obedience. This obedience is not PERFECTION but simple trust and an abiding desire to please God. We shouldn’t give you assurances of salvation that are not given in Scripture. If one is saved, then there will be a ‘godly sorrow’ over sin leading to repentance and joy in the power and sanctifying work of the Spirit. Consider the Apostle regarding ‘sorrow’ over sin:

2 Corinthians 7:10-11 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

The Bible distinguishes a ‘godly sorrow’ from a ‘worldly sorrow’. There is a ‘worldly sorrow’ that recognizes sin and its effects. But it doesn’t lead to repentance and faith. Paul describes ‘godly sorrow’ as producing: ‘earnestness, eagerness…alarm (over sin), longing (for righteousness)’. If the response to sin does not lead to repentance (repentance means ‘turning’ or ‘change’) in one’s heart and a desire for change in one’s life and behavior, then there is no assurance of salvation. The Word of God testifies that such an unwillingness to turn from sin and trust in God’s grace leads to death.

Those who have entrusted their lives to God through faith in the work of Christ will persevere. Such faith leads the believer in a daily commitment to the ongoing gracious activity of the Spirit’s leading in holiness. Such faith provides assurance of salvation by the promise of God’s Word.