Avoiding Evil

A second reason why Spurgeon opposed Arminianism so strongly was that he saw that the spirit of that system leads directly to legality, for while evangelical Arminians deny salvation by works, the tendency of the errors they hold is to elevate the importance of the sinner’s activity and to direct emphasis primarily to the human will and endeavor. This is a logical outcome of a system, which regards the human decision as the crucial factor in determining who is saved, and which represents faith as something which every man may call into exercise if he so chooses. - Iain Murray The Forgotten Spurgeon

At this point we have to consider two things, mans belief and mans freedom. Did God give every human being the ability to believe? Does every human have within himself the ability to choose the savior and is the end game of salvation in the hands of humans who can either accept it or choose to reject it? God has the power to do all things, create all things, sustain all things, and yet does he render Himself helpless at the will of humanities free choice? If in fact God gives all human beings the faith needed to believe in Christ and be saved, then the obvious consequence to this view is the will and choice of man, which can thwart God’s plan and desire. After all, God desires that none should perish and that all would be saved, unfortunately, not all are saved and therefore we can conclude that something gets in the way of what God desires. Free will is the culprit. Salvation, then, is dependant upon not only the grace of God, but the human will. This is the Arminian view, one that is willing to accept the free will of man over the sovereign choice of God.

I believe this is the one premise of Arminianism that becomes the general belief among most Christians. When someone says that they are a Cal-minian, they are saying they agree with some points of Calvinism, but they simply can’t accept election and so they must hold to a couple points of Arminianism as well, mainly free will and resistible grace. I found this to be good enough for me at one point in life, but I have come to the conclusion that a Cal-minian is a living contradiction caught between the full force of God’s sovereignty and the power of mans own free will, finding himself unable to have too much sovereignty or to little free will, and therefore finding himself stuck in the middle not knowing which way to go. My problem with Arminianism is that it wants to make the love and Grace of God a condition based on the will of the sinner instead of letting it be entirely on the grace of God. Spurgeon considered this legalism, it is “hanging our salvation on a work.” This makes eternal life dependant upon something that we do as humans. To exercise this faith, this believe that is required for salvation is an action, a work, something we could take pride in. You see, a sinner who chooses grace has reason to boast. He made a choice. A good choice at that, and while it was God who saves, God who offers the gift of Grace, and God who seals the deal, it never would have happened had the sinner not made the choice, and therefore he deserves a little pat on the back as well. Mans ability to choose salvation seems to me to be built on a faulty foundation. One of which Spurgeon would say comes from ignorance of the Bible. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast.” We are saved through faith, not because of anything we did, not because of any ability we have, not because of some ability to choose within us, but simply because of God’s mercy and grace, and we have no reason, no ability, and no need to boast. Divine love does not depend on human conditions. It was not the deeds of the law nor the work of man, but it was the deed and work of God who says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” - Romans 9:15. It is not mans desire or efforts, but it is God’s mercy. I would go so far to say that when Ephesians says “this not from yourselves” it is talking about both faith and grace. The faith and grace comes from the father who gives freely as a gift and therefore our ability to believe or have faith comes from God, given to those whom he has chosen.

”I could not preach like an Arminian. What the Arminian wants to do is to arouse man’s activity; what we want to do is to kill it once and for all, to show him that he is lost and ruined, and that his activities are not now at all equal to the work of conversion; that he must look upward. They seek to make the man stand up; we seek to bring him down, and make him feel that there he lies in the hand of God, and that his business is to submit himself to God, and cry aloud, “Lord, save, or we perish.” We hold that man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel he can do nothing at all. When he says, “I can pray, I can believe, I can do this, and I can do the other,” marks of self-sufficiency and arrogance are on his brow.” – Charles Spurgeon

So to Spurgeon, Arminianism leads to legalism. Just like the Pharisees who held to knowing the law as being his means to salvation, so is an Arminian who holds to man’s free will as being a condition of salvation.

It is at this point that I need to say that I don’t wish to be hard-nosed about this issue. I still love my brothers who believe differently, and I do not speak ill against them nor do I wish any to be angry at what I write in this series of posts. These are very difficult issues to deal with, but I want to be able to talk about and discuss such things in love and gentleness instead of simply hiding from them. Just a reminder, this series of posts comes from Charles Spurgeon’s views on Arminianism, because I believe we talk so much about Calvinism that we overlook the faults of Arminianism itself.

Firstly, Spurgeon held that Arminianism does not merely affect a few doctrines which can be separated from the gospel, rather it involves the whole unity of Biblical revelation and it affects our view of the whole plan of redemption at almost every point. He regarded ignorance of the full content of the gospel as a major cause of Arminianism, and the errors of that system then prevent men from grasping the whole divine unity of Scriptural truths and from perceiving them in their true relationships and in their right order. - Iain Murray - The Forgotton Spurgeon pg. 70

The order of salvation? Now here is something you don’t talk about in Sunday School. We are led to believe that this salvation is an instantaneous act that occurs when someone prays to ask Jesus into their hearts. I don’t think this is an intentional deception, but simply an effort to make the gospel more understandable to those who find it difficult to grasp (I will get into the error of this type of thinking later.) We don’t make mention of a persons election, calling, regeneration, redemption, and sanctification which are all valid and Biblical pieces of the puzzle we call salvation. While it may seem to happen instantaneously, could it be that there is an order to this process? Might these things be found in Scripture, say Romans 8:28-30. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified, those he justified, he also glorified.”

I think Spurgeon’s argument against Arminianism in this case is that instead of looking at the whole picture it takes only bits and pieces of Scripture to make a case for Salvation, thus causing a believers view of salvation to fall short of the fullness of the text. Instead of explaining the scripture and the process by which we have been chosen, called, justified, and will be glorified, we simply say **poof** you are saved. While I believe that is how Salvation occurs, **poof** you are saved, what most mean by it is that as long as you accept Christ and say the prayer you will certainly be saved… no need to explain the rest. In doing so, it creates a faulty view of Salvation that cannot be backed up with the fullness of the text. This is why Spurgeon would call this a serious matter. We reduced these things down to being a simple silly argument between two sides of the fence, one in which people relate to more because it makes them feel better and one in which makes people uncomfortable but has a stronger Biblical base. Many would give up on trying to understand these things and simply call it a draw. Believers will say that maybe the answer lies somewhere in between these two positions and they will pass it off as not being worth the struggle and argument. To Spurgeon this would be considered ludicrous! He believed that Arminianism at its core was a faulty view of Scripture created by people who were ignorant of the Bible and to defend the whole truth of the Word of God meant we must come to grips with the real teaching of these issues.

Where I think the church has failed, is by ignoring them. I don’t claim to have all the answers, nor do I claim to know what on earth I am talking about, but it seems to me that the church today tends to ignore many of the deep, Biblical, doctrinal truths of scripture for a more user-friendly church experience. It seems we skip over or pass off things that may cause conflict or may actually force people to think. It’s much like spoon feeding. We simply shove what little scripture we can into the mouth of babes in order to keep them alive, but we don’t feed them enough to get them thinking on their own or strong enough to feed themselves. Instead we have to baby them along with milk, and the sad thing is we are not only content with it, but we fear feeding them meat. We say we need more ministries, more evangelism, more fellowship, more worship, more discipleship, but I say all of those things are meaningless without more truth, more scripture, and more understanding. You can teach anyone how to do a few ministries and tell someone about the gospel, but to teach people the meaning and understanding of the truth of God’s word so that it motivates them to do ministry and evangelism is a whole other issue. For Southern Baptists, those who claim to believe in Scripture as the infallible, authoritative Word of God, it seems rather hypocritical for us not to teach its deep, life giving truths. Have we sold out for convenience or comfort? Do we continue to feed our congregations the skin of the apple instead of letting them taste what is really inside?

”You will perceive, I think, in these words, that the divine plan of salvation is very clearly laid down. It begins, you see, in the will and pleasure of God: “When it pleased God”. The foundation of salvation is not laid in the will of man. It does not begin with man’s obedience, and then proceed onward to the purpose of God; but here is its commencement, here the fountain-head from which the living waters flow : “It pleased God”. Next to the sovereign will and good pleasure of God comes the act of separation, commonly known by the name of election. This act is said, in the text, to take place even in the mother’s womb, by which we are taught that it took place before our birth when as yet we could have done nothing whatever to win it or to merit it. God separated us from the earliest part and time of our being; and indeed, long before that, when as yet the mountains and hills were not piled, and the oceans were not formed by his creative power, he had, in his eternal purpose, set us apart for himself. Then, after this act of separation came the effectual calling: “And called me by his grace”. The calling does not cause the election; but the election, springing from the divine purpose, causes the calling. The calling comes as a consequence of the divine purpose and the divine separation, and you will note how the obedience follows the calling. So the whole process runs thus, - first the sacred, sovereign purpose of God, then the distinct and definite election or separation, then the effectual and irresistible calling, and then afterwards the obedience unto life, and the sweet fruits of the Spirit which spring therefrom. They do err, not knowing the Scriptures, who put any of these processes before the others, out of Scripture order. They who put man’s will first know not what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” – Charles Spurgeon from his sermon on Galatians 1:15, entitled “It Pleased God”.

Arminianism, then, is said to confuse scripture and keep people from having a clear view of the Word of God and it’s teachings on the whole plan of redemption.

I’ve been reading the book, The Forgotten Spurgeon by Iain Murray. I especially like the third chapter which deals with Spurgeon’s thoughts on Arminianism. There were two theological views that Spurgeon stood against in his day, one was Arminianism and the other was Hyper Calvinism. I see a lot of arguments for or against Calvinism, but I see very little that refutes the actual teaching of Arminianism. So, based on Spurgeon’s teaching, here is a case against Arminianism:

There are a lot of different reactions when it comes to dealing with Calvinism and Arminianism. Sadly enough I had never heard of such things until I started my degree in religion. The teachings of the church left me wholly unprepared, which sent me into a whirlwind of turmoil as I sought to deal with these issues. Predestination and election are two things that pastors simply do not want to deal with, so for years the issue is skirted around and pushed off, no matter how Biblical it may be. This goes for most of the things found in Scripture that make us uncomfortable. If it makes us uncomfortable, then by all means let’s hide it, weaken it, rip it up, and toss it. Ok, I’ll admit, I am a little bitter about this issue and I have some resentment towards the church in general for it’s seemingly lack in ability to teach its members the Bible. Nonetheless, I am left with the question, does the argument between the Calvinists and Arminians really matter enough to be essential in the teaching of the church? Should we grapple with these difficult doctrines or simply allow people to believe what they want about them? Is there an answer one way or another about these issues, or is the Bible simply ambiguous? At one point in my life I would have said no, these are not essential teachings. I was wrong.

I considered myself a Cal-minian believing halfway between an Arminian position and a Calvinist position. I figured that these were issues that we would never know the answer to and therefore it wasn’t up to us to deal with it, and I thought that maybe it was not something altogether important to the church, because I believed that people holding both positions could be saved, worship God, and share the gospel with the lost. However, my opinion has changed and now I believe that a Christian cannot be a cal-minian, because the two positions completely contradict each other. I don’t want to get caught up in semantics, so let me explain that when I mention Calvinism or Arminianism I am not talking about the people behind the names, but I am talking about the theology behind them. Within these names lies the essentials for the doctrine of salvation, election and predestination, this is what I am really discussing in this post. Is the doctrine of salvation important to the church? Yes! That is why I now believe that it is not only necessary, but essential to deal with these issues and look closely at the two positions.

My concern is that we talk far to much about Calvinism, both in support of and in rejecting it that we miss what Arminianism really is. If you do not believe in the theology of Calvin, then what is it that you really believe? That is what I am seeking to look at the next few days.

So that this one post does not become too long to read in one day, I am breaking it up into several posts. For the next several days I am going to deal with a different thought from Spurgeon about Arminianism and I will share my own opinion about the issue. I will begin the first of this series of posts tomorrow. Stay tuned!

It’s been an interesting day. It was pouring down rain when I left to go to prayer meeting at 6:30 a.m. and by the time noon hit there was already about an inch of snow on the ground. Some of my friends and I decided to go to St. Louis in order to eat at Red Lobster. The all-you-can-eat shrimp deal is ending soon so we thought we would give it one last shot. It was a frightening drive though, the icy cold wind was gusting and snow was still coming down. We decided to get into the Christmas mood with 104.1 Red, since they are already playing Christmas songs. In the midst of our dinner the waitress spilled my glass of water all over my lap. But, all in all, I had a good time. I really enjoy the holiday seasons. A time when everyone is off of work and we have time to go do things, hang out, and have a good time. This is one of my favorite times of the year, though Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. I am in good spirits, enjoying my time off, and enjoying the good things God has given us. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for.

There are some things in life that absolutely make me want to scream, throw things, and pummel my computer. Tonight let me take this moment to complain about LifeWay’s website. The website that LifeWay has had for quite some time now is on my top 5 list of most hated websites in the world. While I admit that the website looks fairly nice, to me it is a black hole of death that takes me down paths that promise me results and yet lead me astray and stranded in a world I didn’t ask for. This is quite possibly my worst nightmare of all time, to be lost for eternity in the middle of LifeWay’s website of death and let me just tell you, that is how I feel every time I go there. I am so frustrated. I cannot find anything I am looking for on their website without a four hour search time. It’s like some puzzle that needs to be put together before the information can be revealed. They have this nice little search box at the top of the screen that sends me on a wild goose chase looking for things that I begin to believe do not exist. Apparently to use this website you have to have some secret code or something. I have taken several hours out of my day to try and find some things on their website, only to find everything I am not looking for.

Today Bryan IM’ed me to tell me about the new forum being done by lifeway. He wanted me to check it out. So, I went to Bryan’s website and clicked the link to sign up. I got a blank white page. So, I clicked the link leading to the forum. I got a blank white page. So I clicked several other links until I made it to one that went to a forum entry that Bryan had written. From there I was able to sign up for this deal. However, I couldn’t get back to the forum. So I decided that I would just go to the LifeWay homepage and surely there would be an easy link that I could click and be good to go. Guess what. I spent forever and a day searching, looking, staring, and nothing! I am so absolutely frustrated with this that I want to call up LifWay and tell them to fix their website before I have to come down there. Why is this so confusing for me? Why do I have to fish through some back door to try and sneak into the forum? Why can I never find what I am looking for when I get on their website? Is it just me? Apparently it is… I think there is a conspiracy against me here. Apparently you have to scroll, click, and find the correct sequence of menus and pages in order to find what you are looking for. I, however, get the blank white screen of death. I quit, I quit, I quit, I quit.

**UPDATE** Everything works here at the church. So maybe the white screen of death is caused by an error in my browser on my home computer. Now that I have had time to sleep I am not as frustrated with their site anymore.