Salvation & Free Will

 

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.          John 3:14-16

Christianity is split over the role of a man’s free will in receiving salvation. Most of Christianity is derived from four basic doctrinal positions: Universalism, Calvinism, Arminianism, and Pelagianism. Understanding the differences and the role that free will plays as it relates to salvation provides a framework to appreciate the dynamics of a deeper relationship with God through the new covenant. Many heresies were born in the 1st and 2nd century and they pervert the gospel in a way that distorts the character and nature of God.

A Brief History 

Gnosticism - a prominent heretical movement of the late 1st and 2nd century Christian Church, partly of pre-Christian origin. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit.

One of the Gnostic schools was the Valentinians, who taught that some men were predestined to hell without choice. Another school, known as the Basilideans taught that everyone was born sinless and needed no savior unless they fell into sin later in life. Although these positions were strongly condemned by the whole church, another cult, the Manicheans, revived the Valentinian positions and added to them around 250 AD. A century later, Augustine was born and became a Manichean for ten years before converting to Christianity. 

In 417 AD, a new Gnostic cult, Pelagianism, led by a British bishop named Pelagius, revived many of the elements of the Basilideans, particularly that man is born free from sin and needs no savior unless he later sins. Pelagius also claimed that humankind was capable of deciding between good and evil and that salvation was something a person achieves by his own choosing. Augustine, going back to his Manichean roots, claimed that humankind were slaves to sin and could not choose to do anything except what was evil. Salvation was not something a person could choose for himself. God must first give that person grace for him to have the ability to choose what is good. The controversy did not end in the 5th century but has sprung up multiple times throughout history and continues to be an ongoing debate in Christendom today. Augustinianism was later revived and perfected by John Calvin during the Protestant Reformation. 

The Birth of Arminianism

When Calvin died, his mantle was continued by Theodore Beza and this doctrine dominated Europe for years. One of Beza’s students, Jacob Arminius, researched the ancient church and found that Calvinism had deep ties to Valentinian Gnostics teaching which had been condemned by the church many years earlier. Instead of accepting the doctrine that man was totally depraved, meaning he could not freely choose salvation, Arminius believed man could freely choose salvation as God’s gift; that instead of unconditional election, election is conditioned on a man’s faith alone; that instead of limited atonement, salvation is for everyone, not just for the elect. He believed God draws all individuals to Himself through His Son and by His grace. Calvinism teaches the Perseverance of the Saints, otherwise known as Eternal Security, while most Arminians believe that salvation can be lost. 

A Christian Landscape 

Universalism   Everyone is born saved and no one can lose their salvation. No human will ever go to                             hell.

Calvinism        God chose a few people and compelled them to be saved. God has predestined all others   to hell.

Arminianism   Everyone is born with a sin nature and is therefore on their way to hell. God enables   everyone, some time in their life, to understand God’s gift of salvation. He gives each     person the free will to accept or reject the gift.

Pelagianism     Everyone is born sinless and is therefore saved and on their way to heaven. They have     no need for a savior unless they sin sometime in their life. 

Much of Christianity begins with one of the above doctrines or some combination. For example, Southern Baptists are basically Arminian, but they have adopted the Perseverance of the Saints (Eternal Security), unlike pure Arminianism. Calvinism is the central doctrine of Presbyterian churches and other reformed churches, although pure Calvinism has been modified in recent times. The crux of the matter revolves around the issue of free will.

Foreknowledge

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?                Romans 8:29-31

Most modern denominations believe that true believers are predestined for salvation (Acts 13:48). According to the above passage, foreknowledge is the basis for being predestinated, then called, then justified, and then glorified by God.  Calvinists believe that it is individuals that God foreknew, not the Body of Christ, that is, those who would receive Jesus as Savior. They see foreknowledge as referring to a person and not an event (an individual moment of accepting Jesus). One problem with this position is that the early church fathers understood foreknowledge as speaking of an event. 

Examples

Justin Martyr

Dialogue with Trypho 35 - So that, in consequence of these events, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him, as well as in consequence of many other events which He foretold would befall those who believed on and confessed Him, the Christ.

Dialogue with Trypho 42 – I can demonstrate that they were types, and symbols, and declarations of those things which would happen to Christ, of those who it was foreknown were to believe in Him, and of those things which would also be done by Christ Himself.

Iranaeus

Against Heresies 4.29 – God only blinds the minds of those who choose not to believe and have already rejected Him. In Romans 1, those who would not retain God in their knowledge He gave them over to a reprobate mind. In 2 Thessalonians 2, strong delusion is sent to believe the lie. God knows the number of those who will not believe, since He foreknows all things, and has given them over to unbelief. God has foreknowledge of all things.

Tatian

Greeks 7 – Jesus created men and angels with free will. Jesus had foreknowledge of what free agents would do. There is no such thing as fate. 

Clement of Alexandria

Stromata 12 – Again, prophesy is foreknowledge; and knowledge, the understanding of prophesy; being the knowledge of those things known before by the Lord who reveals all things.

Origen

            Of First Principles 3:13 – [God] knows the secret things of the heart and foreknows the future.

Modern Calvinism and Free Will 

With regard to salvation, the question then becomes, what do human beings desire? The Arminian believes that some desire to repent and be saved. Others desire to flee from God and thus reap eternal damnation. Why different people have different desires is never made clear by the Arminian. The Calvinist holds that all human beings desire to flee from God unless and until the Holy Spirit performs a work of regeneration. That regeneration changes our desires so that we will freely repent and be saved. It is important to note that even the unregenerate are never forced against their will. Their wills are changed without their permission, but they are always free to choose as they will. 

   Reformation Study Bible, Free Will, page 1353

The above quote comes from an article entitled Free Will, found in The Reformation Study Bible, edited by R.C. Sproul and published in 2016. It confirms the basic Calvinist position that all human beings desire to flee from God unless and until the Holy Spirit performs a work of regeneration. According to this viewpoint, salvation of a man is predetermined or predestinated, and no man can choose God prior to this regeneration work of the Holy Spirit. This position is different than most modern denominations, who recognize man’s free will to choose God. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 gives us a clear picture of what that choice looks like:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So, choose life [bahar - a choice, which is based on a thorough examination of the situation and not an arbitrary whim] in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” 

Regeneration and the Choice 

Most of modern Christianity believes that man is born into sin and in need of a savior. According to Romans 3:10-11, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOTE EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD.” If the work of redemption does not precede the man’s choice to accept the finished work of Christ (as Calvinism teaches), then how does God draw men to Himself? The Scriptures are filled with examples of the unbeliever who faces God and makes his choice for God, becoming His servant instead of an enemy. Saul of Tarsus is a prime example. 

As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."      Acts 9:3-6 

The choice to become the Apostle Paul happened when he understood that his pursuit of righteousness through the Law of Moses was causing him to be a persecutor of his Messiah instead of a follower. Once the scales of his blindness were removed (Verses 17-18), Paul was commissioned to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. He came to recognize where his power came from. Saul was on his way to find Christians, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1) when he found the deliverance he was actually looking for. The story below provides some texture: 

According to Jewish tradition, when the Israelites stood at the Red Sea and realized that the Egyptian army was quickly closing in on them, they panicked. While Moses prayed, and everyone else tried to figure out what to do, Nahshon, son of Amminadab (tribe of Judah) walked straight into the sea with complete faith that God would take care of him. Tradition teaches that when the water reached Nahshon’s nose, God told Moses to stop praying, to stretch out his staff, and to split the sea. And that is exactly what happened. Our Jewish tradition teaches that the sea didn’t part and then the Israelites walked through it; rather, one Israelite stepped out in faith and walked into the sea, and therefore, it parted.

Conclusion

Nahshon represents the individual who faces a life challenge and steps out in faith for his salvation/deliverance. God allows difficult circumstances to get the potential believer to trust Him for His provision. He meets each person where he or she is at with the intention of drawing him/her to Jesus. In John 12:32-33, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. The way He suffered and died on our behalf as a demonstration of His love (Romans 5:8) is the true drawing card that brings the seeking individual to justification where he finds peace with God (Romans 5:1). When any individual exercises his free will to trust God, he finds fulfillment in Christ. 

 

References

Ken Johnson, “Ancient Church Fathers; What the Disciples of the Apostles Taught”, Copyright 2010

R.C. Sproul, General Editor, “The Reformation Study Bible”, Reformation Trust Publishing, 2016

 

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