"Always remember, when somebody comes up with something new,
it's usually wrong. We are to be plagiarists of the same information that
God gave the first Christians." -- Dr. Matthew McMahon, aPuritansMind.com

 

18 October, 2005   comments: (0) Today's Synergism   God did it. Man did it! Which is it? If I asked you who wrote the book of Romans, would your answer be Paul or would your answer be God? Both answers are true. But it's not right to give them both equal credit. Why not? Because God is the ultimate source; they are the words that He wanted written, so we must give Him full credit. And yet, Paul and the other human authors of scripture were not merely puppets on a string; they used their own words, mind, and personality in their writing. Do you agree with everything I've just said? If so, then you also have the basic framework in place for understanding how a soul is saved. Call it a mystery or perhaps a paradox. When a soul is saved, it is a miracle of God, and yet it involves man doing something. For example, Romans 10:10 says "For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." There we see man's part in salvation. And in Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus in John 3 about being born again ('born from above'), we see this in verse 8: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Here we see God's role, and how man can not control salvation into happening, because the spirit blows where it wishes. Well which is it? Does God cause salvation to occur, or does man? Most Christians today are comfortable with verses like Romans 10:10 which seem to indicate that salvation hinges on something that man does. But wait, we can't forget about passages like John 6. Here's what verse 37 says: "All that the Father gives me will come to me" and in verse 44 - "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." Verse 44 is a single sentence in the Greek; it shows us that all who are drawn by the Father end up getting saved (raised). Therefore if we say that everyone gets drawn by the Father, then everyone would have to be saved (which we know isn't the case). For more on this, study John 6. So how are we to understand this apparent dilemma in scripture? There are plenty of "man does something" passages in the bible and there are also plenty of "God does something" passages relating to salvation. It would be wrong of us to overlook one or the other. We need to reconcile both. I think we can get a clearer understanding of how all of this fits together by looking at our "who wrote the book of Romans?" example. Remember, God did something, man did something, but who was the ultimate source? It all starts with God, and His will is the sovereign one. In salvation, we see that God makes the decisive choice in what the bible calls "election". All those who have been elected will eventually come to Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit. But then man is a puppet on a string, right? Absolutely not. Remember that in our "who wrote Romans" example, Paul had complete freedom to write whatever he wanted to. It involved Paul's creativity and personality, and yet God got exactly the end product that he wanted out of Paul - the book of Romans. Much of the modern church has failed to understand 'conversion' in this way, and they end up giving too much credit to man. If the 'modern' understanding is accurate, man would actually have something to boast about in his own salvation. And as error in doctrine leads to error in practice, this critical misunderstanding of the bible has lead to man-centered church systems such as "seeker-centeredness". We also see this error in extreme examples, such as the ministry that promises to save a soul-a-month for your $48 donation. This kind of thinking is a blatant departure from the God-centered beliefs of the 16th century protestant Reformation, which is widely considered to be the birth of present-day Christianity. Lets dig in a little deeper on this issue, continuing to use "how scripture was written" as our model. What we are really discussing is the theology of God's sovereignty and how it interfaces with man's free will. Here's an excerpt from a classic book called 'The Reformed Doctrine Of Predestination': "Some idea of the manner in which the Divine and human agencies harmonize to produce one work may be gained from a consideration of the way in which the Scriptures were written. These are, in the highest sense, and at the same time, the words of God and also the words of men. It is not merely certain parts or elements which are to be assigned to God or to men; but rather the whole of Scripture in all of its parts, in form of expression as well as in substance of teaching, is from God, and also from men. By inspiration - we do not mean that God used the individual writers as [puppets], or that He dictated to them what they should say, but we mean that his Holy Spirit so guided and controlled the writers that what they wrote was true, and was the particular truth God wanted to be given in writing to His people. God allowed the writers to use their own intellects, their own language and their own style, but when they wrote, His Holy Spirit supernaturally kept their writing free from error, and rendered it the exact truth which God wanted conveyed to His people down through the ages." In response to the idea (believed by many modern Christians) that man determines salvation by his own "decision", our author has this to say: "[This understanding of] free-will tears the reins of government out of the hands of God, and robs Him of His power. It places the creatures beyond His absolute control and in some respects gives them veto power over His eternal will and purpose. It even makes it possible that angels and saints in heaven might sin, that there might again be a general rebellion in heaven such as is supposed to have occurred when Satan and the fallen angels were cast out, and that evil might become dominant or universal." So in a nut shell, both God and man, cannot have "equal choosing power". One has to be greater and the other has to be subject to the one. Just like in our "who wrote Romans?" example, both parties are involved, but God is the one who is "at the controls". And just as in the way Romans was written, God is able to determine man's actions without the man being a puppet. How exactly God does this, and how all of the details work out, is one of life's great mysteries. Even though it's a difficult thing to understand however, it's our job to accept it, and believe it, because that's what the bible says. And really it's not any more difficult to understand than some other mysteries in the bible, such as the Trinity and the "God/Man" who is Jesus Christ. A Christian's response to the biblical truth of God being in control of salvation - should be thankfulness, and we should look to Him to save souls. We most certainly have a major part to play in evangelism and missions, but there is a real danger in thinking that "it's all up to us". In the modern church, this thinking has lead to all kinds of man-made methods and gimmicks which are designed to coax "decisions for Christ" out of unregenerate people. For a closer look at scripture on this topic, there are a couple of great articles to read on the Bible Bulletin Board website - click here and here. Also, for a great home or Sunday school resource, I recommend a video series called: "How God Converts The Human Soul". You can find out more about it by going to the following site (then scroll to the very bottom of the page): http://www.crosstv.com/BornAgain.htm Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.66   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism