The Fruit of Arminianism

07.09.10
J.A. Matteson

“...God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel....”
2 Thessalonians 2:13

ὅτι εἵλατο ὑμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἀπαρχὴν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος καὶ πίστει ἀληθείας,

God being sovereign in salvation is an inescapable reality. The grace of God which delivers salvation to sinners is far more than a theoretical universal atonement where the possibility is open that all can turn to the Father’s gift of His Son; rather, the grace Scripture speaks of is that which guarantees a particular atonement for all of those foreknown to the Father and that they will in fact be redeemed and the remainder are hardened. Writing to the church at Thessalonica Paul reminds them that their salvation is the result of grace, as individuals they contributed nothing to it. Here the apostle highlights the redemptive design and power of the triune God in bringing to faith all whom He purposed to save from eternity. Borrowing from the language of Moses in the opening verse of Genesis he writes, “God from the beginning chose you….” The text demonstrates that the Father selected from eternity specific individuals for salvation.

On this point of election both Arminian and Calvanist agree. But on what basis did the Father make His choice?, this is the question where the two part company. Had Paul intended to communicate that they were chosen based upon a future “decision” they would make (i.e., the Father “forseeing” their faith in Christ and, therefore, electing them on that basis) this would have been the perfect place to make that unmistakeably clear. But Paul does not do this. In fact he does just the opposite. The grammar he employs in the passage does not allow for an Arminian interpretation. According to Paul the basis of their election to salvation was not based upon the Father “gazing down the corridor of time to see how they would respond to the gospel”, as Arminian’s like to assert; rather, the basis of their election is the result of grace, God’s unmerited favor, “God from the beginning chose you.”

With grace being the basis for salvation the means by which the Father brought it about was “through (ἐν) sanctification by the Spirit (ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος).” Note carefully that Paul does not allow room for human boasting in the flesh in that he clearly articulates that prior to their faith response to the Gospel they were first “sanctified by the Spirit.” Also note that their faith was the result and not the cause of their sanctification (“and belief in the truth”; καὶ πίστει ἀληθείας). The word “and” (καὶ) denotes an object (faith) linked to and subsequent to its predicate (sanctification).

And to be “sanctified in the Spirit” is a reference to spiritual regeneration. Note also that the initiative of the salvation process begins with God and not the sinner. Had their election been on the basis of the Father foreseeing a faith they conjured up within themselves Paul would have likely said something to the effect, “God from the beginning chose you for salvation in response to—or on account of— foreseeing your faith in Christ, and therefore sanctified you by the Spirit….” That assertion is a serious departure from the text. Beloved, the sense of what the apostle is saying is this: in the fullness of time the effectual call of the Spirit came to each of those chosen “in the beginning” through the agency of the Gospel, regenerating the dead heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh, instilling a new nature within inclined toward the things of Spirit and of Christ. Note closely the profound implication of Paul in this passage: regeneration precedes faith which is a gift of grace from God. And as we might expect Paul is consistent in this regard in his many other statements, such as, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14).

The Armenian contradicts Paul at this point by insisting that that natural man (the unregenerate man) does in fact accept the things of the Spirit of God because he “makes a decision” for Christ and as a result is born again. But that is the exact opposite of Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ who said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3). So juxtaposed to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ the Arminian has the natural man deeming desirable that, which is according to Paul, is viewed as “foolishness”, spiritually seeing, desiring and while unregenerate “choosing” the kingdom of God and Christ while spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (i.e., deaf, blind, and in all ways humanly unresponsive to the Gospel). Is that possible? Not according Scripture. By contrast Paul states that “God from the beginning chose you for salvation” and His choice was by grace alone and was not in response to any human act.

The error of the Arminian is concluding that moral responsibility assumes moral ability. For example, Scripture declares that all sinners are morally responsible before God to perform the Law perfectly lest they perish by the just wrath of God. Does the Arminian contend that unregenerate sinners are able (morally capable) to keep the Law? Certainly not. It is at this intersection that the Arminian embraces a contradictory position and his theology disintegrates. For while he concedes that no man is able to perform the Law of God and that Scripture holds him morally responsible to do so, he turns a deaf ear to the plain truth of Scripture; viz., that in like manner unregenerate sinners are both morally responsible to respond positively to the Gospel, but morally unable to do so apart from the grace of God.

Beloved, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is not part of the Lord and part man which is why none are able to boast. If salvation where part of the Lord and part man then men would have much to boast about. And this is without question the fruit of Arminianism. In their heart of hearts the Arminian is smug and arrogant, he is in fact like the rich man who stood before God as Lazarus as on his knees, and exclaimed, “I thank you God that I am not like this other fellow…for I made the correct choice in believing the Gospel” In what has this person placed their faith? Have they placed it in the finished work of Christ alone who saved them or are they trusting in “their faith” to save them? We agree that justification is by faith alone and at the same time give glory to God by whom our faith finds its origin, for it is Jesus Christ who is the author and perfecter of our faith and not we ourselves. Certainly Paul labors this point in Romans while discussing the election of Jacob before Esau, “for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls” (Rom. 9:11). Jacob, having been chosen for salvation by grace, is the passive recipient of grace. It is the sanctifying work of the Spirit which comes first in order in Paul’s statement because faith in the truth is the result of regeneration. And while the faith expressed by any sinner is “free” in the sense that the heart is moved with a desire for Christ, its presence is a gift of God to the elect whose salvation from eternity past is guaranteed, for Christ said with absolute certainty “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me” (Jn. 6:37).

The Gospel of Christ and the Apostles proclaims a particular salvation of the elect foreknown to the Father, not some theoretical universal salvation to all mankind where God has done His part by sending His Son, and now the sinner must do his part and in himself believe the Gospel. That is God providing the life-ring to a drowning victim where the swimmer in the end saves himself by taking hold of it. The biblical description of sinners is not that they are in serious trouble and about to go down for the last time, but that they are in fact dead and lying on the bottom of the lake, and dead people cannot take hold of the life-ring. The only way that is possible is that God first must enable them to do so. The Arminian version of grace is not that of the Bible and certainly not a description of grace as used by Paul, it is man focused and not God centered.

It was with joy over the grace of God that hymn writer John Newton beautifully proclaimed, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.” Newton rightly confessed that his faith was a gift of God and in response to being the recipient of divine grace. And He who begins a good work in the heart of a sinner is faithful and will complete that which He initiated. Unlike the fruit of Arminianism inclined toward inner pride (“I made the correct choice”) the fruit of the Calvanism is humility in the sight of God and man (“I am what I am by the grace of God”). Sola Dei Gloria!

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