Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

Chosen by Him or Choosing Him?

Balancing the Issue of Choice in Salvation
October 17, 2002 Introduction I came to what is known as The Doctrines of Grace over a decade ago. Much has changed in my thinking since then. God is bigger now. His Word is deeper now. His actions are more noticeable now. His purposes are clearer now. As a result, my confidence in life is greater now. But if there is anything that has changed since I became Reformed in my understanding of salvation it is my perception of others who call themselves Reformed. I am particularly referring to those who, it seems to me, have so deeply desired to fight the good fight of faith and preserve the glorious grace of God that they have unwittingly obscured other truth about salvation in Scripture. What truth is that? The truth that teaches that man did in fact choose Jesus Christ. The Human Part of Salvation is Often Obscured On the part of my Calvinistic brothers and sisters, it seems I hear so often of the gracious regenerating power of God that the decision of the individual is obscured almost completely. The desire is good, for those who argue this way do so primarily out of their hatred of anything that obscures Gods glory. And salvation is certainly all of God. But the biblical fact of the matter is that each person did make a choice to follow Jesus Christ. Again, I think that the desire to exalt the truth Gods grace in Scripture gives Him the highest praise. But it often eclipses the other truth of mans decision in Scripture. Immediately I must say to my Reformed brothers and sisters, Dont go running to set up the stake and find the matches! If you do, youll miss entirely the point I am seeking to make in this article. I want to see balance. How can you maintain a balance between the will of God in salvation and the will of man? Are you crazy? Someone who will read this will eventually ask me these questions. The answer is that I am not crazy, but I am crazy about being faithful to the text of Gods Word. I find it humorous that the same Bible that we as Calvinists see the doctrines of grace so clearly is also the same Bible that we do not see the fact of mans decision for Christ so clearly. It is humorous to me because we say it is so clear yet see it dimly in some respects, while ranting and raving against the Arminian that he doesnt see the Bible clearly. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! The Calvinists Use of the Genetic Fallacy
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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

As I see it, there seems to be a trend among Reformed folk that simply will not allow them in any way, shape or form to concede to their Arminian acquaintances who maintain that man chose for Christ. Now, to be sure, I do believe that an Arminian by nature is one who ultimately (whether or recognizes it or likes it or not) exalts the will of man over the will of God in the matter of salvation (and in just about every other area of life also, though I pray now that I am not more critical than I should be). And conversely, the Calvinist is one who, by nature, exalts in the will of God over the will of man in every matter of life. But I wish to maintain here that Calvinists must not find themselves guilty of arguing and believing by genetic fallacy. This fallacy in logic is committed when one disregards everything another might say because of who that person is. It is a virtual throwing-out-the baby-with-the-bathwater mentality. Nathanael committed the genetic fallacy in John 1:46. In verse 45 we read that, Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Listen to Nathanaels response. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Of this verse, John Calvin noted that Nathanael was under the influence of a preconceived opinion that no good thing could come out of Nazareth.1 He comments that such an opinion is a foolish judgment arising from hatred or contempt of the place.2 In other words, the fact that Jesus was from Nazareth, a place of such ill repute, could not possibly have allowed that Jesus be the Messiah. How could the Messiah come from such a place? And it was this sort of reasoning, based on the genetic fallacy, which caused Nathanael to illogically question whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. At bottom, Nathanael made what amounted to a racial slur. It is much like the racial slurs that still abound in our culture today. Thus, any reasoning process which dismisses a host of verifiable information solely because of who a person is, where they were born, where they live, what color their skin is, etc. is a genetic fallacy. How then is the genetic fallacy being committed against Arminianism today? It is at this point I have raised here regarding mans responsibility and decision in salvation. You see, when the Arminian cries out that man chose Christ, we Calvinists are immediately driven to reject that outcry. We usually do so on the basis that there is much more about salvation that he believes and teaches that is unbiblical. Calvinists reason that because it is an Arminian who is stating that man chooses Christ in salvation, the statement cannot possibly be correct. After all, he is an Arminian. And can any good statement come from the lips of an Arminian? Thus, as Calvinists we make a foolish judgment regarding their beliefs that usually arises from hatred or contempt of
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John Calvin, Calvins Commentaries, (Garland, TX: Galaxie Software) 1999. Ibid.

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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

their doctrine. Is much of it contemptible? Without question. But do they know that? Of course not, else they would not hold it. What then is the solution? Stop rejecting the Arminian but continue rejecting Arminianism. Its possible, but also probable, that we end up driving them away from us because we have a knack for confusing them with their doctrine. And it shows in the very point which we discuss now. For when they speak the biblical truth that man does choose Christ at salvation, we throw the Arminian baby out along with his bathwater. Frankly, I find this deplorable reasoning. The truth of God remains the truth of God regardless of whose mouth says it. How dare we dismiss another brother or sister altogether just because they are not of the same theological stripe as we. How awful that we Reformed brothers and sisters are not more quick to remember that Gods providence uses all persons and things to proclaim His truth and magnify His attributes. God uses Arminians to proclaim the truth of His Word, just like He uses Calvinists. And when Arminians proclaim that man must choose Christ, they are proclaiming the truth of Scripture. Now the Calvinists have a valid point here that this is only half the truth. But I say that it is truth nonetheless and therefore may be preached with confidence. After all, lets be fair about the matter. How many Calvinists proclaim all the parts of truth when they are preaching? Perhaps it will take a fellow Calvinist or Reformed brother or sister to state the same truth that the Arminian states in order for other Calvinists to believe. I find it hilariously contradictory when we reject (based on the genetic fallacy) what we hear from the lips of one person with whom we disagree, yet warmly embrace the same truth when it comes from the lips of another with whom we agree. So in order to help some of my fellow Calvinist and Reformed brothers and sisters overcome the genetic fallacy, and in order to see this trend abolished, I want to be the first, hopefully among many Calvinists and Reformed people to come, lay forth the particular biblical truth that an Arminian does believe and teach about this issue of choosing Christ at salvation. I want to be the first among many more to come to reach out and embrace them in the love of Christ, thanking them for their proclamation of the truth of Scripture, and encouraging them to continue calling sinners to choose this day whom you will serve (Josh. 24:15). Asking the Right Questions To begin with, let me say at the outset that I believe that the question we must be asking ourselves is not, Did I choose Christ? for that is obvious from Scripture. The plain truth of Scripture, as I will attempt to show below, is in fact that we did see and embrace Christ and His forgiveness. The real question I think we ought to be asking is, How did I come to choose Christ? And to be fair, this is just what Calvinists are asking. But let me be clear about what I am proposing. I am proposing that the Calvinist begin asking the first
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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

question, and that the Arminian ask the latter question. And since those reading this article will primarily be of the Calvinist persuasion, my chief desire is to get us asking the first question again. It is here that we will find that the Arminian does share common ground with us. The fact that they may not see all of the surrounding acreage of their decision for Christ does not mean that there is no common ground on which we stand. Again, the real question is not whether or not man chose Christ. The Bible teaches clearly that he did! Rather, the real question is how did man come to choose Christ. And we must be careful that in answering the latter question biblically, we do not overshadow the former question. Answering the Questions Rightly There is a standard two-fold understanding in Reformed theology regarding salvation and sanctification: Gods sovereignty and mans responsibility. All I want to do is safeguard both truths. Yet the risk I run among my precious Reformed friends is that I look to them as one who is either heralding an unbalanced approach to salvation or else Im viewed as being on the slippery slope to Arminianism. But Im neither! Instead, Im proclaiming the two-sided coin of salvation. On the one side there is the phrase, God loved me, while on the flip-side there is the phrase, I loved Him! How they come together has already been answered for us in 1 John 4:19. We love because he first loved us (ESV). But His loving me first does not do away with or stamp out the fact that I indeed made a decision to love Him. Perhaps two more texts will clearly lay out this Divine-Human interplay in salvation and sanctification. The first is Philippians 2:12-13. For those not as familiar with the text as others, I cite it here for you, beginning with the latter half of verse 12: work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (NASBU). Verse 12 issues a call to human responsibility. We are the ones who must take it upon ourselves to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But on the divine side, we must know that as we are doing so, it is actually God who is working in us, giving us the desire, ability and energy to please Him. In other words, the thought is the same as that in 1 John 4:19. I am working out my salvation because God is working in me. He is the first cause, but my responsibility and role is not delineated in any way. The other text is found in Hebrews 13:20-21. I cite it here also. Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. The thought is parallel to that of Philippians 2:12-13. God equips us and works in us that which is pleasing to Him. Then what? Well, although He is the
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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

cause and I am the instrument, the effect He causes is a responsibility that I must fulfill, for it is I who does that which is pleasing in His sight. He gets all the glory for none of it originated with me. But I still did itbut yet He did it. An Illustration: The Doctrines of Inspiration and Christ Perhaps a brief illustration will help. It centers on the inspiration of the Bible. It is clear from the Bible itself that the Scriptures were written by forty different authors over a period of 1,600 hundred years. Each author wrote something specific, for a specific reason, to a specific group of people, at a specific point in time. Yet, the Holy Spirit superintended what they wrote. The effect is that, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 2:21, ESV). Did you catch the wording? The prophecy originated from God yet we are told that men spoke. It all originated with God, but men acted responsibly with what God said. Texts such as these avoid the errors of the doctrine of inspiration propagated by theologians in the past when they attempted to make the Bible solely a product of man (at the expense of Gods divine role resulting in an errant Bible) or the product of God (at the expense of mans active role resulting in a mechanical-dictation view of inspiration). Thus, a sound doctrine of inspiration holds both to be true. The second illustration reflects the tension even more. The model presented above with the issue of inspiration is the same type model in many respects that we would use to uphold a the truth that Jesus Christ was 100% man and 100% God at all times in His earthly ministry. Any doctrine or teaching that has explained Jesus as anything less than 100% in each area has ended up being heretical and thankfully rejected by the early church councils as such. But as with the illustration on inspiration, so also with the life of Jesus Christ, the divine superintended the human so that Christ can say that He did not come to do His own will (John 6:38, 39), and that He did not speak of His own initiative (John 5:30; 8:28, 42; 12:49; 14:10). That is much the point behind Pauls kenosis passage in Philippians 2:5 and following. Heaven may have been laid aside to become a servant, but while a servant His servitude was subservient to the divine will which superintended every word, work and miracle He said or performed. The common denominator in both illustrations is that the divine always superintended the human. Yet this superintendence was never done at the expense of the human so that we could say that the human role was unnecessary. It is no different at all in this matter of salvation. Gods electing grace superintends each individuals decision to come to Christ. But we cannot say that the human role is unnecessary. Thus, back to my initial fear that Calvinists many times treat the human part in salvation as an appendage of theology awaiting amputation. As with the doctrines of inspiration and Christ, to believe or preach one action in a way that obscures the other is to
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tend towards unbalanced, unhealthy, and unsound doctrine. And Ill bet anything that this is why some Arminians (certainly not all) run from the doctrines of grace. They see the truth out of balance and because they long for balance, like we say we do, they run from what seems out of balance. I just desire to see the Reformed tendency counterbalanced. I believe it was Spurgeon whom I heard of as describing a metaphorical gate that stands in heaven. As we approach it, the words, Choose You This Day appear engraved over the entrance archway. As we enter through it, we look back at the gate only to see the words, Chosen Before the Foundation of the World engraved on the backside of the archway. Individuals choose Christ because God chose them. But they still choose Christ, indeed they must choose Him, else they will suffer eternal punishment in heaven. An Honest Look at the Whosoevers It is at this point that the many whosoevers come into play. Here, those who oppose the Reformed understanding of salvation will quickly paint their banners with whosoever verses, and proudly wave them high in the air (and seeing as how there are 110 occurrences of whosoever in 83 verses of the King James Version, the sky above us would be filled with these banners!). This is where I depart from their understanding and usage of these verses. True, the whosoever verses do declare to the reader that the reader must make a decision to repent and believe, and if they do not, then the verses declare the consequences. However, the but God type passages, declaring Him as the originator of our repentance and belief, must quickly and eventually be harmonized with mans decision.3 John 3 Lets take a few passages in John to start with. First, there is John 3. Verses 15 and 16 both contain the phrase, whoever believes in Him. In verse 15 the one who believes will have eternal life. In verse 16 the one who believes will not perish, but will have eternal life. In verse 18, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Finally, in verses 20 and 21, there is the contrast between everyone who does wicked things and whoever does what is true. Now for the question at hand. Are there any Calvinists brothers or sisters out there who will dispute the fact that these verses teach that the responsibility of believing in Christ and doing what is true rests on the shoulders of each individual? Of course there are not any out there, because any good Calvinist will recognize that this is the pivotal point of the whole gospel.
Investigate the following passages to get a sense for the truth of the statement I just made: Genesis 45:8; 50:20; Exodus 21:12-13; Acts 2:24; 13:30; Romans 1:5-8; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-4; Philippians 2:25-27. Adult Bible Study Hour Community Church
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It is in fact on my shoulders and if I do not believe and repent I will go to hell. I will go to hell because I did not obey and act responsibly with the truth. Thats the whole point behind Romans 1-3. There is no excuse for our suppression of the truth, disobedience of the truth, and rejection of the truth. But heres the catch. I cannot fulfill the responsibility that God requires of me and that He holds me accountable for because I am naturally and spiritually unable to be responsible with that truth. For goodness sake, He told me I am dead in my sins (Eph. 2:1). What else is there to do than to cry out to God, begging and pleading for mercy and for help to believe what is true and do what is right. Thats the whole gospel message right there. It is saying to the sinner, God requires you to believe His gospel and repent from your sin. He will hold you accountable for your rejection and disbelief. But you cannot believe and repent. So now what are you going to do?! Heres the good news! Get on your knees and then fall on your face pleading with the just Judge of all the earth to have mercy on your soul and maybe He will! But wait a minute. The texts clearly state that if I believe I will have eternal life. The texts also says that if I do not believe I am condemned. Finally, the verse says that I must do what is true if I want to come to the light. So wheres the falsehood when the Arminian states that the reason he knows he has eternal life is because he believed in Christ? Wheres the lie when the Arminian states that he is confident he will not be condemned because he has believed in Jesus? There isnt anything wrong or erroneous with these statements because they are flat out true! Now, I will go on from there and ask the Arminian to fit in the truth of verses 5-8 with his statement. I will ask him the right question he needs to ponder, namely, How it was that you came to believe and do what is true? I want to lead him to the Spirit of God as the ultimate cause of his believing and obeying. I want to lead him to the truth that just as he had nothing to do with his first birth, he had nothing to do with his second birthexcept, just be born. And just as he had nothing to do with the timing of his first birth, he had nothing to do with the timing of his regeneration. (This is probably the last time Ill balance things in my examination of texts like these, primarily because [1] I have before not wanted my fellow Calvinists to misunderstand me, and [2] I want to make my main point regarding common ground with Arminians.) John 4 Verse 13 is where we begin in John 4, for there Jesus is stating the plain fact that whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever (v. 14). Who is responsible to drink this water if they want their thirst quenched forever? And if their thirst has truly been quenched forever, is it wrong to say that it has been quenched because they followed Jesus truth and drank?
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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

John 5 Consider verse 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Who is that hears and believes? And if one knows that they have been rescued from judgment and have passed from death to life and have eternal life, is it wrong for that one to say that these things are so because they have heard and believed in Christ? Move on to verses 37, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 and 47. All of these verses display the opposite choice of man. They all speak of man not hearing or seeing (v. 37), not believing (vv. 38, 44, 46, 47), and even refusing to come so that they might have eternal life (v. 40). It is here that the contradiction in Calvinists is most apparent. For they will, on this point, agree with the Arminian that the lost person is condemned because he refused to come to Christ. But yet they will then disagree with the converse truth, that a person is saved because they did come to Christ? John 6 John 6 is probably the most important chapter in the gospel of John when attempting to understand the sovereign work of God in salvation. It is almost entirely centered on the role of God in saving man. But even in this chapter we read that whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (v. 35). Again, who it is that hungers and believes and thirsts? On verse 36 I argue the same point as I did in chapter 5. The lost are in trouble because they do not believe. But when Jesus says in verse 47 that whoever believes has eternal life is He negating His own sovereign power? No, for Jesus presents a picture in John 6 of one who is lost in his unbelief coming to eternal life through belief. Granted, the rest of John 6 leaves no Arminian any room at all for denying Gods sovereign power in making us believe. But portions of it do clearly reveal that we are the ones who must believe if we are to have eternal life. That much is just as much true as the other truth. (See also verses 51, 53, 54, 56-58 for other whoever passages.) John 8 John 8 is probably the second most important chapter in the gospel of John when studying the sovereign work of God in salvation. And as with John 6, so also in this chapter there is much that is attributed to mans activity. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (v. 12). Jesus seems to be saying that if I have the light of life, it seems to be because I followed Jesus. Further, the statement unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins (v. 24) seems to clearly state that if I die in my
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sins it is because I did not choose to believe in Jesus. If that is true then why is the converse not true? In verse 31 Jesus teaches that a person knows the truth and is set free by that truth if he abides in His word. Clearly this is something each person must do. In contrast, there are those who are of their father the devil because it is his works that they do. Interesting then, isnt it? If I am a child of the devil because I do his works, can I not become a child of God by doing His works? If this is not a major message in each of the gospels then I must be living in another world! Perhaps an intermission is needed here for my fellow Calvinists. Remember! I am not addressing the how. John is clear in chapter 6 that we believe because God gave us the ability to believe. And without that ability we would have never believed. And when He gives that ability it is only then that individuals come. And those to whom the ability has been given will always come. And in chapter 8 John is clear that the reason the lost are lost is because they do not have the ability to believe in Jesus (vv. 43, 47). (Whew! Thanks to the rest of you for letting me put a cool rag on the steaming foreheads of some of my fellow Calvinists who were probably in need of it!) Acts 2 In Peters first sermon, the hearers were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? (v. 37, emphasis mine). Peter responded, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 38). The subject of the imperative verbs repent and be baptized is the understood you. In other words, You must repent and be baptized, is the essence of what Peter is saying here. In the end, for those who did so, they had the confidence that their sins were forgiven. And when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit they would know that it was because they obeyed Peters command by repenting and being baptized. The balance (even though I said I wouldnt give one anymore!), is found in the following verse which refers to the promised forgiveness and Holy Spirit as being foreveryone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself (v. 39). They repented and were baptized because God first called them to Himself. But then we turn right around to our main point again in verse 41 by referring to the fact that the three thousand souls who were added to the church that day were those who received his word, indicating again the part they played in the matter. Verses 42-47 continues referring to their role or responsibility in salvation. There we see Gods people devoting themselves (v. 42), and
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believing (v. 44), selling their possessions (v. 45a), distributing the proceeds to the poor (v. 45b), attending the temple together, breaking bread in their homes, and receiving their food with glad and generous hearts (v. 46), as well as praising God (v. 47). All of these are activities with man as the subject. Then the balance once again comes in at the end of verse 47 where we see that all along it was the Lord who had been adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 16 Okay, lets do just one more and then well wrap things up. When the Philippian jailer saw the prison doors opened and everyones chains broken, he was just about to kill himself when Paul stopped him. Now, well assume that there was a gospel presentation made, though there is not one mentioned as being presented specifically in the jail. But the jailer had no doubt heard the message, if not through the gospel hymn sing that Paul and Silas were having in jail that night! Then [the jailer] brought [Paul and Silas] out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (v. 30, emphasis mine). Paul and Silas responded, [You must] Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (v. 31). The main point of this article is seen ever so clearly in this statement. The jailer is the one who had to believe in Jesus. And when the jailer was saved, he was speaking the truth when he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God (v. 34). Now if that scene had happened today with that jailer having said what we read in verse 34, we Calvinists would secretly (and arrogantly) see him as an Arminian new born Christian, and in need of immediate theological attention. But thats not what Paul did! Did the Philippian jailer know the Greatest Cause of why he believed? No! Did he know that just days before another sinner like himself, named Lydia, believed only because the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul (v. 14)? Probably not. But that didnt change the nature or the truth of his rejoicing that he had believed in God (v. 34). Do the Whosever Passages Speak of Ability or are They Just Declarative? Now to clean up a mess that I may have created in the mind of a fellow Calvinist or two. Being a Calvinist I can read their minds, and they are thinking, Well these whosoever texts have nothing to do with ability, but they are only declarative! The whosoever texts only declare what will happen if a person believes, but they dont say that the person has the ability to believe! I slightly disagree. They can believe when God has enabled them. And when God has enabled them, they do of their own will and choice believe, repent, and choose to follow Jesus. Therefore, the gospel hymn writer who wrote I Have Decided to Follow Jesus was singing the truth of Scripture. For if we are saved it is because we have decided to follow Jesus. But the
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contemporary Christian songwriter and singer Wes King was also right when he wrote, I believe, I believe, cause He made me believe. Applying it All So, should a good Reformed, Calvinistic Christian stop singing songs like I Have Decided to Follow Jesus? God forbid! It is not a lie to sing such songs. It does not speak any falsehood. And it doesnt steal any glory from God. The Calvinist only hears the words I have decided and rips that song out of the hymnbook. He doesnt hear the word Jesus! Thus, instead of preventing us from stealing Gods glory, I am afraid that they steal the Arminians joy in following Jesus! Songs like these truthfully and clearly speak of testimony, conviction, and commitment. The thoughts reflected in this article probably explain the internal, mental discomfort I felt when the female trio singing in church the other night changed the original words of the Point of Grace song Yes, I Believe, from I will be faithful to the choice I have made, to He will be faithful to the choice He has made. I understood the motivation. It was to exalt God in His undeserved saving grace. But it seemed to denigrate the truth of the original wording, as if it were somehow wrong. 192 times in the book of Psalms, the language of the Psalmists is that of I will followed by a commitment or a decision made and the desire to be faithful to that commitment. Theres nothing wrong with this sort of talk. God desires it of us. Nothing probably disappoints Him more than wimpy Christians who claim to follow Him but express it without grit and gut. Its About the Joy! When the Bible does speak of our commitment and dedication to Christ, it helps to bring our thinking back to proper biblical focus on the emphasis of our part, or our response, in salvation. This in turn will produce true, zealous joy for Christ. Please dont misunderstand. Im not saying that focusing on Gods part doesnt produce joy, because it most certainly does. But in keeping with the point of this article, I want to point you to the wonderful and proper joy that is there when we do exercise faith to believe in Christ and repent from our sin. Remember what Jesus Himself said: I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance...In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7, 10. Emphasis added). Yes, we must do as Hannah did when her son Samuel was born. With her we must say, I rejoice in Your salvation, referring to God as the Savior
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(1 Sam. 2:1). But we must also do what the Philippian jailer did: He rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God (Acts 16:34, emphasis added). I cant help but think that we denigrate both the new believers joy and our mutual joy with him/her in some way when we, in our own little reformed brains, think out of balance about their salvation. The divine initiative in salvation is cause for great rejoicing. But so is the human response to that divine initiative. So lets think with the Bible rather than against some perceived or actual Arminianism. In so doing we will learn to share the joy of the new believers decision to come to Christ rather than be so bothered by their apparent lack of depth regarding the ordo salutis, or their lapsarian position or some other soteriologically related proposition! Distinguishing Between Worship and Testimony With this in mind I close with a concept that the Lord has crystallized in my mind this past weekend. My wife and I were privileged to be a part of a small gathering at an elders house last Friday night where Dr. John Hannah, Distinguished Professor of Church History at Dallas Theological Seminary, was present to give his personal testimony. This was followed by a time of question and answer. Now, I dont remember what the question was to which Dr. Hannah gave this particular answer in which I was so interested. But the answer gave final shape to something I had been pondering for quite some time. He stated that the churches of today are too often filled with songs that sing about us rather than God. The music of the modern church coupled with the sermons preached today are far too man-centered. This was without a doubt in my mind the purest motivation behind the change of words in the song I mentioned earlier. Dr. Hannah then expressed that songs, which sing of our love for Christ and our commitment to follow Him, are biblically true, but that these are songs of testimony. He continued, stating that as Christians these songs are important for us to sing. Then he offered the thought that when believers gather corporately, however, it should be to praise and honor God for what He has done. Thus we should sing songs of worship, honoring Him for His grace and mercy. This is a good paradigm to adopt in our thinking on this issue of salvation. There is a worship side to salvation. This is the side that Calvinists have mastered over the years. This is the part I love and cherish. It is the part I will die for. Since it is all of God I want all of Him. With John the Baptist I cry out every Sunday in my heart, He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)! But there is also a testimony side to salvation. This is the side that Arminians have mastered over the years. This is a part to which I have called myself to return and give attention. Testimony speaks of what I have done for
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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

Christ and what I will, by His grace, continue to do for Him. This too is truth and surely honors the Lord and is very pleasing in His sight. Now if Calvinists and Arminians are ever to get together on this thing, they would see that they truly need each other to achieve the balance of Scripture on this particular point. The Arminians need to learn from the Calvinist masters the biblical art of true worship. And likewise, the Calvinists need to learn from the Arminian masters the biblical truth of testimony and commitment and dedication. (Yes, my Calvinists friends! There is much to learn from our Arminian brothers on this point, even amid the troubling rededications and recommitments at altar calls!) The Calvinist should not emphasize the perseverance of the saints to the expense of personal responsibility. Yes God will cause us to persevere in the end. Yes, He will preserve us all the way. But I must obey. I must follow. I must do what is righteous. I must be zealous for good works. And the Arminian should not emphasize the decision of man to choose for Christ at the expense of declaring the truth of his own inability to do so. He must also preach the rest of the gospel, proclaiming that the very thing God requires of man is the very thing man is unable to do. The Arminian must declare that salvation has always been about God doing for man what man cannot do for himself. Yes, man must choose Jesus Christ today. Yes, man will perish if he does not believe. But the Spirit of God moves to regenerate that sinner when and where He pleases (John 3:8). The Father must grant choosing ability to the sinner (John 6:65). Listen to wise Spurgeons words on this matter. I believe that many brethren who preach human responsibility deliver themselves in so legal a manner as to disgust all those who love the doctrines of grace. On the other hand, I fear that many have preached the sovereignty of God in such a way as to drive all persons who believe in mans free agency entirely away from the Calvinistic side. We should not hide truth for a moment, but we should have wisdom so to preach it that there shall be no needless jarring or offending, but a gradual enlightenment of those who cannot see it at all, and a leading of weaker brethren into the full circle of gospel doctrine.4 In the end, I want to be a pastor who is about striving to maintain balance. In the Star Wars series a right use of the Force depended entirely upon achieving and maintaining balance in the Force. To be out of balance was to give way to emotions and feelings, which, in the words of Jedi Master Yoda, was always a sure path to the dark side. Thats how Darth Vader got his start in the series of movies. He didnt maintain that balance in the force! And the only way we are going to see Calvinists and Arminians stop treating each other as Darth Vader or the dark side is to go back to Scripture and
4

Lectures to My Students, Second Series (1894 edition), page 7.

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Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace Pastor Rob Wilkerson

achieve the balance that it gives there. Each truth must be maintained when it comes to issues involving the human and the divine. Theyre both there in the text, in black and white. Yes, they are hard to reconcile, but thats not my job. My job is, however, to make sure that one truth is not proclaimed to the expense of the other. Because when this happens, it is usually because our feelings are out of balance. And then there is a disturbance in the Force, as Yoda would say. Feelings take control. Emotions begin to rule. And if Yoda were a master pastor (and I can hear that very peculiar voice saying it now), he would tell us, Control. Balance. The way of the Biblical Christian this is. Hmmm?

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