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 Ever
hear of Pelagius? I wouldn’t know him if I met him on the street—
for he was a British monk who lived Ca. 360 to 428 A.D. He went
to Rome Ca. 400, where his teaching was controverted by
Augustine, and was officially condemned as heretical. It was:
1. There is no such thing as original sin:
consequently:
2. There is no baptismal regeneration, no damnation
of unbaptized infants, no hereditary taint of A’s sin.
3. Man has perfect freedom of the will and has no
absolute need of God’s grace to set him right.
4. Man, though aided in various ways by divine grace,
is virtually the author of his own salvation.
(Taken from Webster’s Unabridged Dict.)
John
Calvin systematized and gave prominence to an opposite concept. In 1536
he presented four “Books” of “Institutes of the Christian
Religion.” He considered the absolute sovereignty of God as
in-compatible with “freewill” or agency on man’s part. Also, the
nature of God necessitated a complete and particular foreordination and
predestination of all things— including Adam’s fall. He had some
difficulty reasoning through Adam’s sin; but once Adam sinned, even
the will of his descendants is depraved. Quoting Augustine— “Man
through liberty became a sinner, but corruption, ensuing as the penalty,
has converted liberty into necessity.” Calvin says, “It thus appears
that none can enter the kingdom of God save those whose minds have been
renewed by the enlightening of the Holy Spirit.”
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It
is important to note (for our current discussions) that Calvin’s
“grace” is extended particularly, to individuals chosen
of God. He says, “Let no prating Pelagian here allege that God
obviates this rudeness or stupidity, when, by the doctrine of his
word, he directs us to a path which we could not have found without
a guide.” Again, “When the will is enchained as the slave of
sin, it cannot make a movement toward goodness, far less steadily
pursue it.” (From “Institutes” Bk. 2, Ch. 2, S. 20-21; Ch. 3,
S.5.)
Of
course, I believe man does have the capacity to understand the
revelation of God— that “grace” is universally extended in
that the Gospel is offered unto all, (Titus 1:11-f. Eph. 3:2-6). I
do not believe (as Pelagius, if fairly represented) that man has no
need for grace, for Christ, died for the sins of the world, to
become the author of salvation unto all who obey Him. (Heb. 5:9) It
is by His grace that He liveth to make intercession for us. (Heb.
7:25 1 Jn. l:7-f.)
I
do not believe that man’s free will was lost in Adam;
nor that sins because he is man. (In the sense that God is just
because He is God.) One need not be Pelagian nor Calvinist— these
two did not exhaust concepts of salvation— but their conflicts
focus attention upon the nature and condition of man. Is he free to
accept or reject God’s word? Is he capable of serving God
acceptably? We are going to have to reexamine, or study initially,
such basic fundamental issues. Maybe we will rediscover why pioneer
preachers often preached: “THE GOSPEL WHICH GOD GAVE, IS WELL.
SUITED TO THE MAN WHOM GOD MADE!!“
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