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Crux
Theologorum: The Theologian’s Cross (The theological question that
cannot be answered) 1. We know that people are saved by God’s grace
alone through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We further know that such saving faith is
something that we cannot produce in ourselves; rather it is a gift of God worked
in sinful and spiritually dead man by the power of the Holy Spirit working
through the Word. 1 Corinthians Ephesians 2:8-9
For it
is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by
works, so that no one can boast. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 For Christ ... [sent me] to preach the
gospel -- not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied
of its power. For the message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Romans Colossians 2. We know that God earnestly desires all men to
be saved. Ezekiel 18:30b-32 "Repent! Turn away from all your
offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the
offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you
die, O house of 1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is
good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of
the truth. 3. We know that those who are saved were chosen
by God in Christ from before the creation of the world. 2 Timothy 1:9
who has saved us ... – not
because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus
before the beginning of time. Ephesians 1:5
he predestined us to be adopted
as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Romans 8:28-30
And we
know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he
also predestined to be
conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also
justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 But we
ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the
truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that
you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4. We know that those who are not saved have
only themselves to blame. Matthew 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those
sent to you, how often I have longed
to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, but you were not willing. Ezekiel 33:11
Say to them, `As surely as I
live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.
Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why
will you die, O house of Proverbs Here’s
the big question: How do we reconcile
these statements? If God wants everyone
to be saved, and people are saved only by the power and grace of God, why
isn’t everyone saved? This
is the Crux Theologorum: Why are some saved and not others? Two historic attempts to answer this question dominate in
theological circles. They are: Calvinism: which says, “Because God chose some to be saved and
others to be damned. Jesus Christ died only for the chosen or ‘elect’. If you are one of the elect, you will
eventually come to faith in the Gospel and be saved; if not, there is nothing
you can do. God glorifies himself by
condemning you to Hell.” (This is
the historic position of the Presbyterian, Baptist, and Christian Reformed
Churches.) Arminianism: which
says, “Because it’s a question of free
will. Every person has the capacity to choose to believe
in Jesus and follow him or not to. Those
who choose Jesus are saved. Those who do
not are damned.” (This is the historic position of Methodist
and Pentecostal Churches, and the present position of most US Baptist and
nondenominational Churches.) The problem with both positions is that
they deny clear Scripture. The
Calvinist denies that God really wants all men to be saved. The Arminian makes a fallen human’s decision
to believe in Jesus and follow him the final factor, denying that man is dead
in sin and that salvation is entirely the work of God. Both positions, unfortunately, take the focus
of faith off the Gospel of Christ. How do
resolve this dilemma? We don’t. Why not?
Because Scripture does not give us the answer. So instead, we acknowledge the paradox (it’s
one of many in the Scriptures like, for example, the Trinity of the Godhead and
the Incarnation of the Son of God), and we let what appears to be a contradiction
to us to stand as it is. And
we say: If
a person is saved, it is entirely the work of God. If
a person is not saved, it is entirely the fault of the person. But
someone will protest: “That
doesn’t make sense!”
To which we respond, “That’s right, it doesn’t make
sense—at least not to us. But then, it
doesn’t have to make sense to us to be true”: Isaiah 40:13 Who has understood the mind of the
LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and
my thoughts than your thoughts. Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed
belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of
this law. Romans 11:33-34 Oh, the depth of the
riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable
his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind
of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" And there’s
an important reason why the question must
remain unresolved. It’s so that
the salvation of humankind can rest entirely on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and
his work for us on the cross. Here’s
why: 1. The Calvinist
really doesn’t need to trust in the Gospel.
His focus is taken off what Jesus did; and the big questions in his life
are, “Did God choose me?” and “Am I one of the elect?” 2. The Arminian
really doesn’t need to trust the Gospel either.
His focus is also taken off what Jesus did; and the big question in his
life is, “Did I decide for Jesus?” or “Did I choose Jesus?” Or, stated
another way, “Did I do my part?” You see, both
the Calvinist and the Arminian are looking for assurance of their
salvation. They are both struggling to
answer the question, “How do I know for sure that I am saved? How can I tell?” And here’s the problem: they cannot simply look to the cross and
their Savior for assurance. Why
not? Because the work
of Christ on the cross for the Calvinist is only helpful if he’s one of the elect – and he doesn’t know that for
sure. Likewise, the work of
Christ on the cross is helpful for the Arminian only if he properly
decides for Jesus and chooses to follow him with sufficient faithfulness – and
of that he can never be quite certain.
So, since neither can look to Christ for assurance, they must look
someplace else. And oddly enough, both
will end up looking in the same place. Both
know from the Scripture that people are saved by faith, and that saving faith
produces good works. So they end up
looking for the proof of their election (Calvinist) or the sincerity of their
decision for Jesus (Arminian) in their own lives. The question then becomes: “Do I see ample evidence of the fruits of
faith in my life?” Or, stated another
way, “Am I doing enough good works to confirm my faith?” Unfortunately, there’s no comfort
there. Such an examination will always
lead either to despair or to self-righteousness. If they’re honest with themselves, they will
see lots of sin, and few and flawed good works; and so be convinced of their
damnation. If they’re not so honest, they
may close their eyes to their many sins and deceive themselves into believing
that they’re doing well enough in their Christian walk, and smugly assume
they’re saved. Notice that neither is
looking to Christ for assurance of their salvation. Both have made the assurance of saving faith
a question of their subjective evaluations of their own works. Fortunately for us, assurance of salvation is found only in the
objective Gospel. By leaving the
question unresolved to human satisfaction, God forces our faith to rest on what
Christ has done for us. So, when
struggling with the question, “How do I know for sure that I am saved?” we can
boldly answer, “Because Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again for my
justification.” Letting the paradox
stand directs the doubting soul to Christ and his work alone where it belongs. Finally,
it’s worth noting one more faulty attempt to resolve this paradox that is
sometimes put forth by well intentioned but erring teachers. It’s an attempt to synthesize the election of
God from eternity past with the so-called “free will” of the Arminian. The basic notion is that God foresees those
who will one day come to faith in Jesus by the exercise of their free will, and
in view of their proper choice he elects to save them. Theologians who support this view sometimes
use the Latin phrase and say that God elects people intuitu fidei; that is, “in view of their
faith”. The mistakes inherent in this
idea are fairly obvious. First, it’s
clear that such “election” on God’s part is not really election at all. He is not choosing or foreordaining
anything. He is simply ratifying and
supporting the decision of the individual that he foresees will be made in
time. Secondly, salvation in this scheme
is still entirely left up to a fallen, spiritually dead person’s choice. Therefore all the errors and subsequent
problems related to Arminianism remain. It is, of
course, very tempting to seek some resolution to the paradox that is the Crux Theologorum. But the simple facts are these: God has not revealed to us the answer to the
question. And all human attempts to
resolve the problem must first deny part of what God has plainly revealed, and their answers ultimately direct a
person’s faith away from the work of Jesus on the cross to something else. Therefore it is best to simply accept what
God has said about this issue, trust in Christ alone, and leave the resolution
of what seems to be a contradiction to the limited mind of man to God who is
all wise. |
