The free Grace of Christ must be protected!

          Martin Luther died (1483-1546) for the truth of ‘salvation by grace alone' and for the human ‘will' that is in ‘bondage'. It is this understanding of salvation that is at the heart of Calvinism. Calvinism is about Free Grace and not free will; it's about defending the Gospel of salvation based on Grace. Martin Luther and John Calvin (1509-1564) were simply trying to preach the truth that God actually saves people by Himself, without our help. God saves people! Over the centuries our church fathers have died defending this truth.

          Before Martin Luther had read about ‘Grace', ‘faith' and ‘justification' in the bible (especially in Romans), he would, at times, spend 2 hours a day in confession at church. It was in despair, when getting ready for bed, that he would realize he had forgotten to confess a particular sin during the past day - even if it was just a small one. So when he and others found out that salvation is based on ‘Grace' alone in the "righteousness" that comes "from God" (1 Corinthians 1:30) through faith in Christ, they were glad and wiling to die for that.  For this free Grace, which God chose to give us before the world began, based on His free choosing, was something Martin Luther and others were willing to die for, because their sin was freely taken away by the true and only "Son of God" (John 1:34], Jesus Christ. It is through Christ, while we were "dead in sin" (Ephesians 2:1,5], we were "made alive" (Ephesians 2:1,5) and were given the free gifts of "grace" (Ephesians 2:8], "eternal life" (Romans 6:23, John 17:3, Acts 13:48), "faith" (Ephesians 2:8) and a heart now "slaves to God" (Romans 6:22). 

          Martin Luther said that his greatest work was his book the "Bondage of the Will." For these truths the blood of Luther and others "of whom the world was not worthy"(Heb. 11:38) to know, ran crimson red, in the name of the ‘free gift' of ‘faith" through "Grace" (Ephesians 2:8) alone. Their lives became a living and dying testimony of the saints eternal song, "He who boasts, let him boast in the LORD"(NIV 1 Corinthians 1:31). Amen.

          The Galatian church was trying to ADD works to their salvation (Galatians 3:2).  In response, Paul said he wished the persons involved with polluting the good doctrine would "mutilate themselves"(5: 7,12).   Thus, to add "works" of circumcision, money, free will, or any other thing to the equation of salvation is absolutely the very thing Paul was addressing. But it seems from history that the human heart hates the grace, which comes through Christ. This becomes apparent by the many idols we have tried to add to the free Grace found in Christ alone, especially that of works and free will (i.e. confidence in the flesh).

          Why else would Paul waste so much space on writing three chapters just about God's sovereignty when preaching the Gospel in Romans? The book of Romans is about God choosing the elect, based on His will and "purposes", not on "man who wills." In Romans chapter 15 verse 14, Paul said, "brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you... that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable."  By the Grace of God, Paul knew that we Gentiles who had not grown up in the Jewish tradition of being constantly taught about an all-powerful and eternal God, would need extra clarity and reminding of God's sovereignty, especially of that concerning His free Grace to the elect through Jesus Christ. History shows us that it is this truth of God's free "election of Grace"(Romans 11:5) through our Lord Jesus Christ that is constantly being attacked. That is why Paul said he wrote on some points longer than others; that is why Romans 9-11exists, so that we Gentiles wouldn't miss the point, and that "the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable" (Romans 15:14).

          For example; in the first two chapters of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, the theology that he gives is mostly about God's free Grace through His own good purposes and sovereign choice, by the means of His Son, Jesus Christ. (It is on this that Calvinism is based). Accordingly, in Acts 20:24-36 we read that when "Paul" leaves the Ephesians with "weeping", we find Paul spent most of this time reminding them of the "Gospel of the Grace of God" and reminding them to be faithful and to teach the "whole counsel of God", and had warned "night and day" about "wolves" that will "rise up speaking perverse things."

          What are the "things" that people will pervert?  In the very letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians we read: "In love He predestined us to adoption" (Ephesians 1:5), and "predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will" (verse 1:11), also that "by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8)", plus "Just as [God] chose us in [Christ] before the world began that we should be Holy and blameless before Him(Eph. 1:4)."

          There are few things that are easier to see. These truths are the ones that Paul was especially concerned about, that they not be "perverted." Thus, God, through Paul, warned specifically that to teach against "predestination" or the "Good news of the "Grace of God"(Calvinism) is to "pervert" the word of Jesus Christ, who is the "Word of God"(Revelation 19:13). Therefore, both the church in Ephesus and we are told "to be watchful" to let such things as Mercy, Grace, and predestination, by the Father and through Christ Jesus,  be "taught" and cherished in the church. We are told to teach all the blood-bought truths of Christ and not sacrilegiously, by our standards, pick which of these truths to teach and which ones to throw away at the price of peace or unity. We are to follow the example of the Holy Scriptures and teach the "whole counsel of God", which is the "Good news of the Grace of God" that came to us through our risen Lord Jesus Christ, to His church.

          People often tell me, "the church has been debating this issue of the sovereignty of God and His free Grace for ages" and that, "we will never know what the real truth really is." But if that is the case, why did Paul tell the elders at Ephesus that they are to teach the "whole counsel of God"? We already know that Paul taught the elders at Ephesus the "whole counsel of God" in the book of Ephesians, which included what we just discussed, above. Thus we do not have an excuse for not knowing that the truth is in this matter is about God's sovereignty and Grace. Ephesians 1: 5-6, "In love having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will...to the praise of the glory of His grace", for the election is the "election of Grace", Romans 11:5.

          Therefore the church fathers, and more importantly Paul, in the bible, specifically refers to heresies that come against God's free Grace, through the gift of faith and God's sovereignty in the calling of His elect through Jesus Christ our Savior, when speaking about biblical doctrines that unbelievers and weak Christians "pervert", and which we should protect against.

          This is also what C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), that great British preacher taught. It was God's sovereign kindness to send Spurgeon to England when He did. Here is England in the mid-18^th century and England is about to "willfully forget" (2 Peter 3:5) the blood-stained truths handed down from the reformation and the puritans who showed in life and teaching that these truths were the true Word of God. England was almost getting to the point where they despised anything to do with the puritans, including the rich biblical teachings they so faithfully heralded. Then C. H. Spurgeon came along, thundering the great biblical Truths of God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the doctrines of Grace. Thus, for one more season, England was willing to listen to the greatness of God, but not for much longer. God's voice was heard by many in Britain. No one is without excuse, both then and now. God has always had His faithful servants reminding us of the truth. He is very kind, to the whole world, in this way.

          It was not by chance that just before the great industrial revolution in England that God would send a servant like C.H. Spurgeon to remind them not to forget their place. "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know; My people do not consider" (Isaiah 1:3). Because of the natural evilness of the human heart to exalt itself against God, England was nearly in the place where they would be in a position to say, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me", Deut. 8:17. So the Lord God sent C.H. Spurgeon to teach the Doctrines of Grace, which, if taught in truth and humility, would bring the heart to the place that cries out, "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?" and "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29", therefore, "He must increase, but I must decrease, He who comes from above is above all" (John 3:30-31). 

          King David should also be our example of how a heart full of the wonder of God reacts to prosperity: "Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD...Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant- (" that he was just a shadow or vapor")- 1(Chron. 29:15)... "For Your word's sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears" (2 Samuel 7:18-22).

          When the heart of man, by the supernatural power of the sweet Holy Spirit, comes to terms that even faith is a "gift" that is "not of ourselves." Then pride is shattered and the cry of the heart is "Not to us, not to us, but to Your Name be the Glory" (Psalm 115:1). In heaven, God will judge every thing and every intention of the heart of every man and then it will become evident where true praises belong.  Isaiah 61:11, "the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations", because all will see "that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7).

          Spurgeon taught very well on the Sovereignty and the Grace of God through Jesus Christ, both of which inspire in the human heart humble dependence and faith in God for all things. Pride is shattered in the sight of the supremacy of Jesus Christ. A life of mercy and humility comes from beholding the glories of Grace, which came though Jesus. The Jesus Christ is clear in His messages in the scripture and Britain had one of the most gift preaches of all time, expounding its truth. But obviously England did not listen well, because the teachings of the great Puritan preacher were soon forgotten. The glory of Jesus Christ and the church's faith in His supremacy and Grace were traded for the idols of free will and human accomplishment. The denial of God's sovereignty is the first practical step toward atheism. Therefore not to have your heart and will abandoned at the foot of the cross in total trust and admiration of the Grace of God, is to begin to flirt with the harlot of skepticism.

          So Spurgeon, in no unmistakable terms, taught the great biblical truths, which were not about being a hero, but about a sovereign God who created all things and in His love sent His Son to save His elected saints to be with Him in Heaven forever, in joyful worship. Thus, as the industrial revolution began to blossom, the Lord was faithful and had His truth herald for the good of the people. Our God is a faithful God; He did not leave the church unprepared for the trial and pride that the coming revolution would bring with all its accomplishments. The scriptures are clear in warning that with great prosperity comes pride, which will overtake the hearts of people, who do not guard against it with humble trusting in the free Grace, of Jesus Christ. Our God is kind, giving His bride all that she needed and will need to be blameless and sanctified for that blessed Day. God had this truth herald at the right time, by a great preacher, but it seems the prideful hearts of man hates and rejects the free grace of Jesus Christ as irrelevant, just as they did in Jesus' time.

          America and Britain if they had understood the teachings from Charles Spurgeon (and other faithful teachers like him) would have been able to withstand the temptations and sins of the industrial revolution, but for the most part few did. I believe that if they had understood the teachings from Spurgeon and really knew their God and thus made it through the industrial revolution without succumbing to the pride of life and human accomplishment, then America would not have had the 1920s moral Flapper movement [i] in the first place. But pride has a bad habit of making people forget about God, especially the unfabricated truths about God's absolute grandeur in the bible.

          America during the 1930s was coming out of its first moral revolution. One of the voices that God sent at this time was A. W. Pink, who was born in Britain and converted to Christianity in his 20s. He began to read the writings of the old Puritans and Reformers and found that what he was reading was different to what he usually heard from the pulpit. God's sovereignty worked in Pink's heart, and he came to the conclusion that what the old Reformers and Puritans were saying was biblical truth. So he became a pastor and writer to help share the great truths of the Glory of God. He taught in America, Britain and Australia.

          It was not coincidence, but the sovereignty of God that placed A. W. Pink in the time frame where He did. His teaching was between the 1930s and almost to the1960s. He was sandwiched between the two great moral revolutions in America and Europe.  [ii]

          God sent A. W. Pink to teach about the great, merciful, sovereign God: "who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.  And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, ...  for in Him we live and move and have our being... Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.  Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:24-31).

          But in his day few people knew who A. W. Pink was. For the most part, Pink was dismissed as a rambler of those outdated reformist and Puritan teachings. In his day, most saw themselves as graduated from those old teachings of God's totally free Grace. They were, in a sense, set free from those constricted doctrines of Grace and a life of Holiness, taught from the church fathers and apostles.  They were like those who Hosea addressed: "For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and has built palaces" (Hosea 8:14).

          So God's servant, up until 1955, preached the glories of Christ and the supremacy of God in all things, again leaving us the truths we would need to survive the upcoming 1960s' and 1970s' revolution.  But again, people did not listen well and for the most part even the church did not come out of that moral revolution without scars. The victories, which this moral revolution had over the church, show how irrelevant the church had become.

          Take the example of the beloved Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981). So many praise this preacher as one of the greatest teachers of America in the 19^th century. But how many really listened to what he said? An example is when Lloyd-Jones tells us what is most relevant for America: "What are the lessons for today from Jonathan Edwards? No man is more relevant to the present condition of Christianity than Jonathan Edwards. None is more needed." And of course, Jonathan Edwards was that kind of a preacher and writer who expounded the "excellences of Christ" and of God the Father like no other. He could bring the most difficult and deepest teachings of the bible of who God is, and then show us in clarity how to apply them to our lives. The sermons, which came from Edwards by the Grace of God, did more for pursuit of Holiness than what most preachers today could even get close to.  But these sermons during the Great Awakening revival  are now mocked today as hell and judgment manipulations. What has become of us? Did not Christ preach more on hell than heaven? Thus, if one is to criticize and mock Edwards for preaching too much hell and brim stone then they must say the same blasphemous mockery to the King of the universe, Jesus Christ. Again what has become of us?

          Is it because we are unspiritual and unaccustomed to Godly conviction and motivations for Holiness? It is that we are too in love with this world and its fleeting pleasures that we find such teachings from Edwards, the Puritans and Reformers concerning the judgment, love and Grace of God too deep and too hard to understand and enjoy? Therefore, because we are so inclined by nature to deflect from Jesus Christ, especially in times of prosperity, I incline my readers to consider this:

          "An ordinary builder, when he has been at work, finds his work the next morning just as he left it; but it is not so with us. When we have been working out salvation by prayer, fasting, meditation, and leave this work a while, we shall not find our work as we left it; a great deal of our work is fallen down again. We had need be often called upon to "Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die" (Rev 3:2). No sooner is a Christian taken off from the fire of the sanctuary, but he is ready to cool and freeze again in security... All this shows how difficult the work of salvation is, we must not only work, but set a watch too.  Question: But why has God made the way to heaven so hard? Why must there be this working?  Answer: To make us set a high estimate upon heavenly things. If salvation were easily come by, we should not have valued it to its worth. If diamonds were ordinary, they would be slighted; but because they are hard to come by, they are in great esteem." (The One Thing Necessary by: Thomas Watson)

          The devil is not unaware of biblical truths, which consist in of the glories of Christ, His office, doings, His Grace and Person that changes us. This is why he does all he can to diminish the glories of Christ and His Grace with heresies, distractions, world pleasures and persecutions. Thus, we must fight to keep those blood-bought truths of Christ and His Gospel untainted and undiminished. Fighting to keep truth in our hearts is like fighting sin. If you don't fight everyday to keep it pure you will lose it. Once you get truth in you, it does not stay in you unchanged. It will either be gaining to the direction of Christ or to the devil and his lies. History is a clear teacher of this. As John Owen says, "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you". Be killing lies and heresies or they will be taking over your mind with lies that lead to destruction and more death. There is no neutral ground.

[i]  When I say flapper movement, I am referring to the moral decline in society at this time period, 1900-1920s. Rooted in the liberalism movement, young women publicly began to show their distaste for the long held image of the moral Christian woman. They did this by wearing short skirts, publicly drinking and smoking cigars. This might seem as a little thing to most, but it shows that a rejecting of God's gospel might start small but will end up only killing us in the end, for look at what has become of our moral decline today.

[ii]  The two, moral revolutions, I speak of are that of the 1920's flapper moral decline and that of the 1960s-70s, drugs and sex moral revolution.