It strikes me as a bit of a mystery how some Christians believe in justification by faith alone (sola fide), but not in salvation by grace alone (sola gratia). Yet this is the essence of the division between Arminianism and Calvinism. As the opposite of faith is works, so the opposite of grace is merit. Arminianism claims that although our works do not contribute to our justification (we cannot earn God's forgiveness), there is still some human merit involved in our salvation (we do deserve God's forgiveness).
Regardless of our individual theologies, all Christians share a set of common experiences. Every person who is a Christian today at some point in the past made a decision to repent of his sins and trust in the person and work of Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. Some believers can specify the date on which they made this decision; others cannot. Regardless, every Christian on earth made a conscious choice to follow Christ.
As believers progress in the Christian life, glorifying and enjoying God by trusting him and obeying him, they notice fellow human beings who do not follow Christ. These members of Adam's fallen race have the same opportunities to respond to the gospel - yet they reject the salvation freely offered. The believer is left with a basic question: Why did I choose to accept Christ, while this other person choses to reject him?
Arminianism and Calvinism give opposite answers to this question. According to Arminianism, the person who is now a Christian decided to believe in Jesus because there was something superior about him that made him different from other sinners. He had a better heart, a greater willingness to seek after God, a more genuine determination to make right decisions. The person who decided to reject Christ did so because he was more evil than the person who became a believer. He had no desire to seek after God or do the right thing. He ends up apart from Christ and ultimately lost on the last day.
Through such an answer Arminianism reintroduces human merit/dessert into the process of salvation. Those who are saved end up saved because there is something different about them, something superior about them that sets them apart from other sinners. They repented and believed when others did not; thus they deserve God's salvation (though they do not earn it). Their choice to follow Jesus sets them apart. Justified by faith alone? Yes. Saved by grace alone? No.
To formalize their rejection of sola gratia, the Arminian remonstrants of the early 1600's organized five attacks against Luther's Refomation theology. Today these are known as the Five Points of Arminianism:
1) Partial Depravity. Man may be drowning in sin, but he is not dead in sin. A sinner can choose to repent and believe in Christ without receiving help from the Holy Spirit to do so. Deep down inside, humans are just not that evil. There is enough good in me that I can choose to do good on my own. Why did I decide to follow Jesus when my college roommate decided to reject him? Because I am a better person than he is.
2) Conditional Election. God may choose whom he is going to save (the word "predestination" is in the Bible, after all), but he only chooses whom he chooses because he knows they are one day going to choose him! God's choice is therefore conditional: it is based upon something in the chosen sinner that sets him apart from the sinner who does not get chosen. Why did God choose to save me but not save my roommate? Because he likes me more than he likes my roommate. There is something about me that makes me superior to my roommate, that makes God prefer me. God chose me because I deserve it.
3) Unlimited Atonement. Jesus died for every single person who ever lived or ever will live. In doing so Jesus has made salvation possible for every human being. That salvation is like money in a bank account just waiting to be withdrawn. When a person believes in Jesus he gets the money. Because Jesus died for everyone, yet everyone does not end up in heaven, this means that our decision whether or not to believe is what determines whether or not the death of Christ saves us. The work of Christ only became effectual, it only resulted in my salvation, when I chose to accept it. Thus my decision completes or finishes what Jesus did, giving his work the power to do what it cannot do on its own.
4) Resistable Grace. God may call me to his Son through the preaching and service of his church, but I can resist and reject this call if I so choose. Thus it is the hardness or softness of each individual heart that determines whether or not each sinner finally repents and believes. Why did I choose to hear the gospel, really hear it and submit to it? Because I am different than those who reject it. I am a better person, one more inclined toward the things of God, one more interested in listening. I could have resisted God's call, but I didn't. I am a better person than the people who do reject God's call. My innate goodness and willingness to believe sets me apart from those who refuse to hear.
5) Reversible Salvation. It is possible for me to stop believing in Jesus, to reject him and go my own way. When Christians backslide in this way, God unjustifies them and unadopts them. In other words, they lose their salvation. If they had died before turning away, they would have done to heaven. But now if they die in this unrepentant state, they will go to hell. They can certainly turn back to Christ and be saved once again. And so a person can spend his life on earth going back and forth between a state of being saved, then unsaved; saved again, then unsaved again. One can therefore never be assured of his salvation. I secured my salvation through my own act of repenting and believing. Therefore it is always possible to lose my salvation through my own act of backsliding. Given that the will and attitude of the human heart can always change, a salvation based upon the will and attitude of the human heart can always change.
In response to the Arminian attack on sola gratia, church leaders met at the Synod of Dordt in 1618-19 and systematized the Five Points of Calvinism. I will save a definition and defense of the Five Points for another entry. At this point allow me simply to emphasize that the Five Points of Calvinism were formulated for one purpose: to defend sola gratia.
The Reformers summarized Protestant theology under these five headings:
Sola Scriptura - we get our doctrine from the Bible alone (as opposed to church tradition)
Sola Fide - we are justifed by faith alone (as opposed to earning forgiveness through works)
Sola Gratia - we are saved by grace alone (as opposed to deserving salvation)
Solus Christus - Christ is only Mediator between God and man (vs. Pope, Mary, saints, priests)
Soli Deo Gloria - if the first four solas are true, then God gets all the credit for our salvation
Sometimes Christians get the Five Solas confused with the Five Points of Calvinism. They are not the same thing. The Five Solas were developed at the start of the Reformation. They summarize the doctrine of Luther and Calvin. The Five Points of Calvinism were written a hundred years after the Reformation began. The Five Points of Calvinism all fall under one of the five solas: sola gratia. The Five Points of Calvinism were formulated to uphold and defend sola gratia. If the Arminians had not attacked sola gratia, the Five Points of Calvinism never would have been developed as we have them today.
I am friends with a lot of Christians who know the Five Points of Calvinism. These brothers and sisters agree with the Five Points, affirm them, teach them, and can even defend them from the Bible. But when I ask these fellow believers point-blank, "Why do the Five Points matter?" they give me an empty stare. They have not made the mental connection between sola gratia and the Five Points. They do not understand why the Five Points were written in the first place. They do not understand that in debating the Five Points of Calvinism we are doing nothing less than debating the very heart of the gospel: are we, or are we not, saved by grace alone?
My challenge to you is that in your mind you connect sola gratia with the Five Points of Calvinism. When asked, "Why do the Five Points matter?" I want you to respond without a moment's hesitation: "The Five Points defend the third sola. Only if the Five Points are true are we saved by grace alone. The Five Points are all about grace. We do not deserve or merit God's salvation. It is a free gift from first to last."
Christianity is about grace. The gospel is about grace. And this is what is most unique or distinctive about Reformed theology: a relentless proclamation of salvation by grace alone. What do Calvinists have that no one else has? Salvation by grace alone. Why do the Five Points of Calvinism matter so much? Because only if all five are true are we actually saved by grace alone. Why do we insist that the Five Points are central or core doctrines rather than secondary matters? Because what is at stake is the very definition of the gospel. We are not simply justified by faith alone. We are also saved by grace alone.
What is Calvinism? Grace. What is Reformed theology all about? Grace. Why uphold the Five Points of Calvinism no matter the cost? Grace. Only if the Five Points of Calvinism are true are we actually saved by grace alone.
For the rest of your life, may you never hesitate a moment when asked why the Five Points of Calvinism matter. Grace, grace, grace! May the word be near and dear to your heart. Praise be to God for his marvelous grace!
Showing posts with label reformed theology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reformed theology. Show all posts
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Salvation is a Package Deal
To review, the Ordo Salutis (order of salvation) is...
Foreknowledge
Predestination
Redemptive Work of Christ
Effectual Calling
Regeneration
Faith and Repentance
Union with Christ
Justification
Adoption
Sanctification
Perseverance
Glorification
Another benefit of the Ordo Salutis: it visualizes the idea that salvation is a "package deal." In other words, you get all of it or none of it. You never, ever only get some of it.
Such is Paul's point in Romans 8:29-30. "Those whom he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." There is no such thing as a sinner God predestines whom he does not also proceed to call, justify and glorify. A package deal.
This is the ground of Christian assurance: God always finishes what he starts. He who began a good work in you will most certainly carry it on to completion.
Salvation is a package deal. The Ordo Salutis helps us understand what that means. Praise God that if he has predestined, called and justified you, he will most certainly one day glorify you!
Foreknowledge
Predestination
Redemptive Work of Christ
Effectual Calling
Regeneration
Faith and Repentance
Union with Christ
Justification
Adoption
Sanctification
Perseverance
Glorification
Another benefit of the Ordo Salutis: it visualizes the idea that salvation is a "package deal." In other words, you get all of it or none of it. You never, ever only get some of it.
Such is Paul's point in Romans 8:29-30. "Those whom he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." There is no such thing as a sinner God predestines whom he does not also proceed to call, justify and glorify. A package deal.
This is the ground of Christian assurance: God always finishes what he starts. He who began a good work in you will most certainly carry it on to completion.
Salvation is a package deal. The Ordo Salutis helps us understand what that means. Praise God that if he has predestined, called and justified you, he will most certainly one day glorify you!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Salvation is more than Justification
Another advantage of the Ordo Salutis: it emphasizes that salvation is more than justification.
Justification is the central benefit of the gospel. The doctrine of justification by faith alone (JBFA) is the core doctrine on which the church stands or falls. Nevertheless, there is more to the gospel than justification. In other words, we need Christ's righteousness imputed to us, and we need to be forgiven. But we need more than this.
Consider just the next step in the Ordo Salutis: adoption. After forgiving sinners, God does not simply kick us out on the street, saying, "Have a nice life." No, as justification gets us out of God's courtroom, so adoption gets us into God's family room. And we need this. We need, not only to be saved FROM sin and its consequences, but UNTO a new life in which we can fulfill the original purpose for which we were created.
J. I. Packer writes the following: "Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification. That justification - by which we mean God's forgiveness of the past together with his acceptance for the future - is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel is not in question. But justification does not of itself imply any intimate or deep relationship with God the judge...Contrast this, now, with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship - he establishes us as his children and heirs. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater." (from Knowing God, pp. 206-207)
The good news is that Christ saves us out of God's courtroom and into God's family room. Justification and Adoption. FROM/UNTO theology. The Ordo Salutis visualizes this fact: there is more to salvation than justification.
Justification is the central benefit of the gospel. The doctrine of justification by faith alone (JBFA) is the core doctrine on which the church stands or falls. Nevertheless, there is more to the gospel than justification. In other words, we need Christ's righteousness imputed to us, and we need to be forgiven. But we need more than this.
Consider just the next step in the Ordo Salutis: adoption. After forgiving sinners, God does not simply kick us out on the street, saying, "Have a nice life." No, as justification gets us out of God's courtroom, so adoption gets us into God's family room. And we need this. We need, not only to be saved FROM sin and its consequences, but UNTO a new life in which we can fulfill the original purpose for which we were created.
J. I. Packer writes the following: "Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification. That justification - by which we mean God's forgiveness of the past together with his acceptance for the future - is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel is not in question. But justification does not of itself imply any intimate or deep relationship with God the judge...Contrast this, now, with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship - he establishes us as his children and heirs. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater." (from Knowing God, pp. 206-207)
The good news is that Christ saves us out of God's courtroom and into God's family room. Justification and Adoption. FROM/UNTO theology. The Ordo Salutis visualizes this fact: there is more to salvation than justification.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Ordo Salutis and Past-Present-Future Salvation
The Ordo Salutis (order of salvation) also helps explain why the Bible, in various places, speaks of the believer's salvation as past, present, or future.
Examples of salvation being spoken of as something the believer has already experienced:
"Today salvation has come to this house..." Lk 19:9
"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Tit 3:5
Examples of salvation being spoken of as something the believer is currently experiencing:
"...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" Php 2:12
"...but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor 1:18
Examples of salvation being spoken of as something the believer is yet to experience:
"...our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." Rom 13:11
"...how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" Rom 5:9
How can salvation be past, present, and future?
For a Christian currently alive on earth, several steps in the Ordo Salutis are past tense: Foreknowledge, Predestination, Redemptive Work of Christ, Effectual Calling, Regeneration, Faith and Repentance, Union with Christ, Justification, and Adoption. All nine of these steps have already happened. So in this sense, the believer has already been saved.
But for a believer in this life, two steps in the Ordo Salutis are present tense: Sanctification and Perseverance. The believer is being sanctified, and he is persevering in faith, repentance, and good works. In this sense, then, the believer is being saved.
Yet no Christian's salvation will be complete until Christ returns from heaven. On that Day God will raise the believer up with a new resurrection body, that he might then share in Christ's glory forever. And so in this sense, the believer (whether on earth or in heaven) still waits to be saved.
If you are a Christian, some of your salvation has already happened, some of your salvation is currently taking place, and some of your salvation will not be given to you until Judgment Day. Praise God for so great a salvation!
When you say, "Jesus saved me," be sure you know what you mean!
Examples of salvation being spoken of as something the believer has already experienced:
"Today salvation has come to this house..." Lk 19:9
"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Tit 3:5
Examples of salvation being spoken of as something the believer is currently experiencing:
"...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" Php 2:12
"...but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor 1:18
Examples of salvation being spoken of as something the believer is yet to experience:
"...our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." Rom 13:11
"...how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" Rom 5:9
How can salvation be past, present, and future?
For a Christian currently alive on earth, several steps in the Ordo Salutis are past tense: Foreknowledge, Predestination, Redemptive Work of Christ, Effectual Calling, Regeneration, Faith and Repentance, Union with Christ, Justification, and Adoption. All nine of these steps have already happened. So in this sense, the believer has already been saved.
But for a believer in this life, two steps in the Ordo Salutis are present tense: Sanctification and Perseverance. The believer is being sanctified, and he is persevering in faith, repentance, and good works. In this sense, then, the believer is being saved.
Yet no Christian's salvation will be complete until Christ returns from heaven. On that Day God will raise the believer up with a new resurrection body, that he might then share in Christ's glory forever. And so in this sense, the believer (whether on earth or in heaven) still waits to be saved.
If you are a Christian, some of your salvation has already happened, some of your salvation is currently taking place, and some of your salvation will not be given to you until Judgment Day. Praise God for so great a salvation!
When you say, "Jesus saved me," be sure you know what you mean!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Ordo Salutis: Definition of Salvation
The Ordo Salutis (order of salvation) commonly lists the following twelve steps:
Foreknowledge - God knows (loves, sets his love upon) some of the people he will create (though not because these people are better than those he decides not to love)
Predestination - God chooses to save these people (making them the "elect"), though again not because "likes" these people more than the ones he does not choose - there is nothing about them that sets them apart from those God does not choose
Redemptive Work of Christ - through his active and passive obedience, Christ earns the salvation of the elect
Effectual Calling - God draws an elect sinner to his Son, primarily through the preaching of the gospel, also through all the other ordinary means of grace
Regeneration - the Holy Spirit makes born again the elect person hearing the gospel, bringing him from death to life, thereby enabling him to respond to the gospel
Faith and Repentance - the elect sinner rejects his former way of thinking and living, trusting in the Person and Work of Christ for the forgiveness of his sins
Union with Christ - the believer gets included in Christ (Christ becomes his "federal head")
Justification - God forgives the new believer and imputes to him Christ's righteousness (as he was considered guilty of Adam's first transgression, so now he is credited with Christ's obedience)
Adoption - God makes the new believer a part of his family (thus the sinner is transferred from God's courtroom to God's family room)
Sanctification - the Holy Spirit progressively transforms the believer, making him more and more like Christ as the years go by
Perseverance - the believer keeps repenting and believing (because Christ, the faithful Shepherd, preserves, feeds, and protects him)
Glorification - the believer receives a resurrection body when Christ returns, and gets to enjoy living with Christ forever in the new heavens and earth
Taken as a whole, the Ordo Salutis explains what "salvation" actually is. It is a broad, comprehensive process that begins before creation and is not complete until the return of Christ.
The word "salvation" is thrown about freely by Christians, often with little clear understanding of what the term means. Frequently when a believer uses the word "saved," what he really means is "justified" or "forgiven." This creates unhelpful confusion.
Allow me to offer a challenge: because the words "saved" and "salvation" have become near-meaningless church buzz-words, do not use these terms unless you have in mind the above twelve steps of the Ordo Salutis!
Next time you say that Christ has saved you, and someone asks you what that means, promptly respond:
"I mean that God the Father predestined me, that Christ died as my substitute, and that the Holy Spirit quickened my heart to respond to the preaching of the gospel. At the appointed time the Holy Spirit made me born again, enabling me to reject my former way of life and trust in the finished work of Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. At that moment God did indeed forgive me, and adopt me as well, such that I have become a child of God. The Holy Spirit now dwells within me, and he is so changing me year by year, that not only have I been freed from sin's penalty, but I am also being freed from sin's power. And I am confident the Spirit will continue his work in me, such that at the moment of my death I will still be found one of Christ's faithful followers. When Jesus returns, God will raise me from the dead with a resurrection body like Jesus' resurrection body. And so I will live forever with the Lord."
"That is what I mean when I say Christ has saved me!"
Foreknowledge - God knows (loves, sets his love upon) some of the people he will create (though not because these people are better than those he decides not to love)
Predestination - God chooses to save these people (making them the "elect"), though again not because "likes" these people more than the ones he does not choose - there is nothing about them that sets them apart from those God does not choose
Redemptive Work of Christ - through his active and passive obedience, Christ earns the salvation of the elect
Effectual Calling - God draws an elect sinner to his Son, primarily through the preaching of the gospel, also through all the other ordinary means of grace
Regeneration - the Holy Spirit makes born again the elect person hearing the gospel, bringing him from death to life, thereby enabling him to respond to the gospel
Faith and Repentance - the elect sinner rejects his former way of thinking and living, trusting in the Person and Work of Christ for the forgiveness of his sins
Union with Christ - the believer gets included in Christ (Christ becomes his "federal head")
Justification - God forgives the new believer and imputes to him Christ's righteousness (as he was considered guilty of Adam's first transgression, so now he is credited with Christ's obedience)
Adoption - God makes the new believer a part of his family (thus the sinner is transferred from God's courtroom to God's family room)
Sanctification - the Holy Spirit progressively transforms the believer, making him more and more like Christ as the years go by
Perseverance - the believer keeps repenting and believing (because Christ, the faithful Shepherd, preserves, feeds, and protects him)
Glorification - the believer receives a resurrection body when Christ returns, and gets to enjoy living with Christ forever in the new heavens and earth
Taken as a whole, the Ordo Salutis explains what "salvation" actually is. It is a broad, comprehensive process that begins before creation and is not complete until the return of Christ.
The word "salvation" is thrown about freely by Christians, often with little clear understanding of what the term means. Frequently when a believer uses the word "saved," what he really means is "justified" or "forgiven." This creates unhelpful confusion.
Allow me to offer a challenge: because the words "saved" and "salvation" have become near-meaningless church buzz-words, do not use these terms unless you have in mind the above twelve steps of the Ordo Salutis!
Next time you say that Christ has saved you, and someone asks you what that means, promptly respond:
"I mean that God the Father predestined me, that Christ died as my substitute, and that the Holy Spirit quickened my heart to respond to the preaching of the gospel. At the appointed time the Holy Spirit made me born again, enabling me to reject my former way of life and trust in the finished work of Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. At that moment God did indeed forgive me, and adopt me as well, such that I have become a child of God. The Holy Spirit now dwells within me, and he is so changing me year by year, that not only have I been freed from sin's penalty, but I am also being freed from sin's power. And I am confident the Spirit will continue his work in me, such that at the moment of my death I will still be found one of Christ's faithful followers. When Jesus returns, God will raise me from the dead with a resurrection body like Jesus' resurrection body. And so I will live forever with the Lord."
"That is what I mean when I say Christ has saved me!"
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