The “Free-Will” Gospel Is Anti-God!
A Look At The False Gospel Of Arminianism
“Many are called, but few are CHOSEN
[Matthew 22:14]
Call it what you will:
|
|
The “lost” love to invent their own salvation programs.
People who are not saved, not born-again by God, love to come up with new methods, programs and plans to get people saved. The only problem is, God already has a method and a plan. But it is one that no one likes, no one except those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of the living God.
No matter what you call it, ANY plan of salvation, ANY gospel that supposes that the unsaved sinner can come to Christ of his or her own “free will”, is unbiblical and anti-God and a FALSE gospel. Sure, you can justify it by taking bible verses out of context, taking verses literally that are clearly meant to be taken figuratively, and by ignoring bible verses that strongly declare that mankind is spiritually dead and therefore has a will that is bent ONLY TOWARDS sin and a will that HATES THE IDEA of a sovereign God who saves whom He pleases when He pleases.
Some professing Christians don’t seem to care about this issue, even though it is the crux of Christianity, since we are talking about one’s understanding of the gospel (God’s one and only plan of salvation). To get it wrong even if you are SURE you’ve got it right, is to spend eternity in Hell.
While some professing Christians are apathetic, others are ignorant – they don’t clearly understand the Gospel well enough to share it accurately. Their ignorance may be due to their being spiritually immature Christians but more likely their ignorance can be traced to bad teaching from false teachers and/or equally ignorant – if not unsaved – pastors and preachers.
Then we have the category of those who profess to be devout – and even learned – Christians who vehemently fight against the true Gospel. One such example is Dave Hunt, head of the Berean Call ministry. When it comes to the gospel, Mr. Hunt makes the same mistake that many professing Christians make. He thinks he is more fair than God and so he sits in judgment on the Almighty (though he thinks he is judging Calvinism and the Calvinist) when he makes statements like this:
“Indeed, all of your erudition and careful exegesis using the original languages and grammatical rules is calculated to prove one thing: that God who “is love” does not love everyone, does not want everyone in heaven, has predestined to eternal suffering the unsaved who clearly number in the billions – and even takes pleasure in damning them. I do not believe that is the God of the Bible – and that is the major difference between our two positions.” – from this article: http://www.conservativeonline.org/articles/misc/Dave_Hunt_Response.htm
Who Is Competent To Judge The Almighty?
The problem is the creature does not possess infinite knowledge nor infinite righteousness and so the creature cannot possibly understand why God would predestine some to heaven and create some for whom Christ did not die, hence they will be cast into hell. God is allowed to do as He pleases with His creation whether we like it or not, whether we understand it or not, and whether we think its fair or nice or loving or not.
But if we grasp the reality of His elective plan of salvation, and if we instead look at what He HAS done for a remnant of ungodly sinners, RATHER THAN looking at what He has chosen NOT to do for the rest, and if we truly are part of that remnant, AND if we truly understand what we as sinners deserve for our sins, then we will want to join with Paul in proclaiming:
2 Corinthians 9:15 – “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”
We can only believe this “unfair to human minds” gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, for no man can understand or believe this gospel except by the revelation of God. And herein lies the “mystery” of the gospel and the OFFENSE of the gospel to the unsaved. Our unregenerated minds CRAVE self-determination and LOATH being at the mercy of anyone, especially at the mercy of our CREATOR.
But who are we to question the wisdom of God or the prerogative of the Almighty?
Romans 9:20 “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”
The REAL Gospel states that God does the choosing:
>Matt 22:14 – “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Mark 13:20 – “… but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”>
John 15:16 – “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you …”
Acts 13:48 – “… and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”
John 1:12-13 – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Eph 1:4 – “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”
2 Thes 2:13 – “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”
The Bible says that the sinner is COMPLETELY and TOTALLY at God’s mercy:
“Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.” [Psalms 135:6]
“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.”[Proverbs 19:21]
Daniel 4:35 – “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
Eph 1:5-11 – “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”
Only God possesses perfect righteousness and the ability in and of Himself to maintain that attribute. By creating creatures that do not possess that perfect righteousness and who cannot maintain that state, does that allow us – the creation, to say that that is a defect in God? Are we allowed to call the Creator evil for doing things that we don’t understand?
“What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us…?” [Romans 9:22-24]
Is God Limited?
As for God being “limited” by His Sovereignty, of course He is “limited”. He cannot create creatures that are Sovereign over Himself (whose will overrides His will) and still be Sovereign for that would be a contradiction. God is also “limited” by His many other attributes. His perfect justice “limits” His forgiveness. He can only forgive those to whom He has imputed Christ’s righteousness. His perfect holiness “limits” whom He can and will allow into heaven. Only the holy (the redeemed) can enter in, since they have been made holy by the blood of Christ. His perfect righteousness “limits” who qualifies as sinless. Only Christ qualifies. His perfect righteousness also “limits” the sins God tolerates, namely no sin. Yes, the God of the bible is “limited” (or bound) by His word and His attributes. If you wish to think of Him as evil for doing things in a way that you don’t think is fair or that you don’t approve of or simply don’t understand then I suggest you also seriously STUDY Romans chapter 9 and NOT by looking at the commentaries of the Arminians. Romans 9:20 sounds to me like Paul was specifically addressing those who have a problem with God’s sovereignty, that is God’s right to do as He pleases without having to answer to any man and without having to justify His actions to any of His creatures:
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” [Romans 9:20]
What are man’s limits?
Just as God has “limits”, so does man. The unregenerated have a will that is free to do only so much and no more. It is a will that is bent towards sin. It is not “free” to worship God in spirit and in truth. The spiritually dead are limited by their deadness. In their dead state they are not able to come to Christ. The dead do not walk, hence they cannot come. Once Christ healed the lame, they could come to him. Once He raised the dead, they could come to Him. But until He regenerated that which was lame and that which was dead, there was no way they could come. Do you believe this?
In John chapter 9 we see that God did an “evil” thing (in the eyes of the world) when he caused a man to be born blind on purpose:
John 9:1 – “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
In John chapter 5 we see “a great multitude” of crippled people, all of whom Jesus walked by (HOW UNFAIR AND UNLOVING by the world’s standards) with no mention of Him healing any of them except the one particular man whom Jesus chose to heal:
John 5:2 – “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.”
Many would think that this kind of a God and Saviour is unfair (who does as He pleases and only saves and heals whom He chooses to heal based on simply “His good pleasure”) but who are we to cast judgment on God? If we are truly Christ’s, we will bow the knee to God’s sovereignty – His right to do as He pleases with His world and His creation – and instead of showing resentment, we will take comfort in knowing that we have a God who “doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” [Daniel 4:35].
Problem passage for Arminians
Ephesians 2:1-3 says: “And you hath he quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins; 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.“
Question:
If God predestined “the elect” to salvation and there was never any question that the elect would be saved, and therefore there was never the remotest possibility that anyone who was elected unto salvation by God would experience the wrath of God in Hell, just when were “the elect” children of wrath?
Answer:
Before they are regenerated, the elect are indistinguishable in their thoughts, words, and behavior from the non-elect. Their “nature” is that of goats (i.e. “the others” referred to in Ephesians), those who are truly eternally under the wrath of God. Their lost unregenerated “nature” causes them to walk, talk and act like goats, even though they are lost sheep. When the Holy Spirit regenerates them, the lost sheep become found sheep, and so their nature starts to resemble that of their Father – their heavenly Father – by adoption into His kingdom. We see a picture of this transformation in Luke 15:24: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
Some church history
The modern free-will gospel was popularized by such men as John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church, along with Charles Finney, who popularized the “altar call” method of evangelism. Wesley and the Methodists heavily promoted the idea of “prevenient grace” to try to make their gospel appear less like a works gospel and more like a grace gospel. However, their gospel is still false, as it still depends on an act of man (the choice of the sinner) rather than on the sovereign choice of Almighty God.
Building blocks for the false Free Will gospel
Or in other words, the false premises do people use to justify their belief and promotion of the false “Free Will” gospel.
Building block #1: prevenient grace
Prevenient grace is an invention of those trying to avoid looking like heretics and trying to avoid looking like they have a man-centered works gospel. It basically says that man is not as spiritually dead as God says he is – but it does this by stealth… by inventing a phenomenon that fits their false doctrine… Saying that God has a kind of grace called prevenient grace that draws ALL people to God allowing them in their unsaved condition and of their “free-will” to accept (or choose) Christ. This is biblical heresy because God says the sinner’s lost condition is one in which the human will is in bondage to sin, not free to accept Christ, the true Christ and the true Gospel. Also, this concept of prevenient grace ignores the fact that God says in scripture that He does the choosing. It is interesting to note that the notion of prevenient grace was originally a Catholic invention, discussed in way back during the 1500s at the Council of Trent (chapter 5, session 6).
“The Synod furthermore declares, that in adults, the beginning of the said Justification is to be derived from the prevenient grace of God, through Jesus Christ, that is to say, from His vocation, whereby, without any merits existing on their parts, they are called; that so they, who by sins were alienated from God, may be disposed through His quickening and assisting grace, to convert themselves to their own justification, by freely assenting to and co-operating with that said grace.”
So we see here how the free-will gospel is rooted in unbiblical Catholic theology.
Building block #2: The universal view of Christ’s atonement
Here we will be discussing the idea of unlimited (or universal) atonement from the perspective of most Arminians and free-willers. Rather than view Christ’s death as a “ransom”, a specific payment to God for the penalty owed by the sinner, the free-will gospel, by its nature, requires a different, unbiblical view of Christ’s atonement. That view is referred to by some of its adherents as the “governmental view” of the atonement which teaches that Christ’s suffering was a substitute for the punishment sinners deserve, but that punishment was not equivalent to the exact penalty owed to God by those who sin against Him. Instead, it looks at the atonement as a demonstration of God’s displeasure with sin through the suffering of His own sinless Son, Jesus Christ. Christ’s suffering and death served as a substitute for the punishment humans might have received. Also, the governmental theory views the scope of Christ’s atoning death as applying to everyone, even those who end up in Hell. This teaching says that a person can “partake” of the merits of Christ’s atonement by “exercising saving faith” or in other words, by “accepting Christ” as their Lord and Savior.
This view of the atonement was originally concocted by a man named Hugo Grotius in the early 1600s and is found in Arminianism, and in the theology of Charles Finney, Jonathan Edwards (the younger), and the Methodists. Due to its appeal to those who wish man to be sovereign over his salvation, it has also found its way into most free-will denominations and congregations of our day and age.
In contrast, the biblical doctrine of limited atonement, states that Jesus Christ by his suffering and death on the cross, was punished in the place of sinners (as a divine scapegoat), and that suffering was sufficient in its scope and duration to satisfy divine justice, in that it paid the full penalty owed to God for all the sins of all the people whom Christ came to save.
Building block #3: The unpardonable sin
Since salvation in this free-will system depends on something the sinner does (i.e. exercising faith or accepting Christ), then salvation can be lost, should the sinner lose faith. Not all free-willers understand how their theory of obtaining salvation is tied to the theory of losing salvation. These folks also believe that salvation, though earned by Christ for all (as they see it), is forfeited by those who do not accept the gift, and this rejection of the gift is considered by these free-willers as the “unpardonable sin”. Where will these people be if it turns out that the unpardonable sin consists of believing that man has a free-will to accept Christ?
So how are people so easily deceived?
First of all, if people aren’t saved, then they will like the free-will gospel far more than the real gospel, the gospel of ELECTION. Secondly, just as cults shield their followers from church history and from opposing views, so do the free-will preachers and teachers. Often, IF these preachers present an opposing view, they will present it in a vastly oversimplified and distorted way, to make it look totally unbelievable and unacceptable to the average person. Also, they will avoid bible verses like the plague if those verses contradict the free-will gospel and lend any credence to the true gospel. However, in the case of the gospel, unless the Holy Spirit is drawing one of God’s elect, it really does not matter what a false preacher says, since “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.” [1 Cor 2:14].
Some final thoughts for the reader
Has God found YOU yet? Has He chosen YOU to be counted among His elect people? If so, are you not greatly humbled by that fact, that a thrice-holy God would choose a sinner like you to be in fellowship with Him for all eternity?
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”
[Revelation 5:9]