ultimate arbiter of one’s salvation

[Guest]

Dear Steve,

Thanks for your answer. There is so much there, which is fine. I am sure it may come of some use later. If I could address one thing. It is the part where you speak of man “ultimately” being the one whose will determines the success of his salvation. Of course that is my take on your following words.

“3. Does he come to performing that act from his own volition? (Yes. At least ultimately.)”

Thanks,
Jude

[Guest]

Hi Jude,
I will try to answer your present question more briefly than usual, due to my time constraints, and so that I don't give too much in one place for you to have to respond to.

Who, ultimately, makes the decision about a person's individual salvation? Does God or the man? This is the big question, isn't it, upon which Calvinists and non-Calvinists disagree.

I believe that the answer is not "either/or" but "both/and." God's decision is involved, and so is man's.

God sovereignly made the determination that He would save some men out of the lost race of humanity—namely, whoever will believe on Christ. This was the beginning. Then God provided an Ark for condemned man in the person of Christ. All who come into Christ will be saved from wrath, just as all who entered Noah's ark were saved from the judgment of the flood. Thus, whatever men may choose in the matter of coming or not, it is God who is the author and finisher of salvation. He conceived of it, provided it, perfected it, and presents it to man.

Now, on man's side, the individual must choose whether he will or will not be included among those that enter the Ark. God may exhort men, plead with men, and command men to repent and to come to Christ. Beyond this, the choice is left to men to decide their own fates. In this sense, a man's individual salvation rests ultimately on his own decision.

The man who chooses Christ is in no position to take credit for his salvation, since he had no power to save himself, and would never even have thought of coming to Christ, had not God sovereignly provided Christ as a Savior for sinners and made many previous overtures to the man to persuade him to repent (John 6:44/Rom.2:4).

Even the man who does not choose Christ can only blame himself for his folly, since it was his own decision, and he could have chosen otherwise. God seeks the salvation even of those who ultimately make the decision to reject Him (Ezek.33:11/Matt.23:37/Rom.10:21/1 Tim.2:4/2 Pet.3:9/Rev.2:21), but men often choose for themselves a path that was not God's choice for them (Isa.66:4/ Luke 7:30).

An excellent illustration of this truth is seen in the case of Cain. We know from the New Testament that Cain was a son of the devil (1 John 3:10-12). Yet Cain was not predestined by God to be such. God informed Cain that he had a bona fide opportunity to be saved, like his brother Abel. God said to Cain, "Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?" (Gen.4:6-7). Cain was not accepted, as Abel was, because he did not make the choice that Abel did. God presented two options to Cain plainly and frankly—including the option of obtaining God's approval. If, contrary to God's statement, Cain really had no opportunity to be saved, then God was only teasing him! This suggestion would represent God as being like a cat playing mind-games with his doomed victim.

That God has chosen to save all who will believe (John 3:15-16) means that those who do believe are saved because of this choice that God made concerning salvation. This was a sovereign choice for which none but God can take any credit. But, while God chose to save all who are believers, He did not decide who would and who would not become believers. God's choice was categorical, not individual. Otherwise, why would God have to beg people to repent and believe, and continually warn those who do believe about the danger of falling away, and then complain about and severely punish those who do not believe? None of these actions make any sense if God is the one ultimately making all the choices about who will and who will not believe.

Calvinists usually deny that this is nonsensical, and prefer to call it "mysterious." How God can make all the choices and still hold man responsible for the outcome is called (by Calvin and most Calvinists) a "mystery." However, the Bible does not confront us with any such mystery. Everywhere, the scriptures present a straight-forward cause-and-effect principle of personal salvation or damnation. There is nothing mysterious here (Deut.30:11-20).

Thus, God is the one who saves the believing man. The believer does not save himself. But since the ultimate decision to believe or not to believe rests with man, man ultimately bears the responsibility for his personal participation in the salvation that God has sovereignly offered to all (1 Tim.4:10).

Though I know Christian people who do not prefer to see the matter this way, I have not yet been able to discover how the relevant scriptures could reasonably or honestly be understood in any other way than this.

However, I know that you have an honest and good heart, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

[Guest]

We're benefitting from this exchange of ideas. The serpent lifted up in the wilderness comes to mind, as an OT type of Christ's crucifixion, atonement, and the necessity of human response. In Numbers, a dying man judged for his sin need but look to receive healing, but look he must. Steve, could you please expound on these two passages and their relevance to this discussion re: God's work on our behalf, and the necessity of human response? Jude, how do you interpret the human response (look) to the serpent lifted up? How does this inform your understanding of human responses toward Christ crucified?

Thanks!
Richard

[Guest]

Hi Richard,
Thanks for writing. I think the matter with the bronze serpent in the wilderness has a direct correspondence with that of Christ being "lifted up" on the cross (John 3:14-15). The salvation was God's provision, and none but God could provide it. Individual salvation depended upon individual choices of those who were dying. There is no suggestion that God predestined who would or who would not look upon the serpent and be healed, just as scripture nowhere states that God predestined which people will look to Christ in faith, and which will not. I think the parallel is exact.

[Guest]

We're benefitting from this exchange of ideas. The serpent lifted up in the wilderness comes to mind, as an OT type of Christ's crucifixion, atonement, and the necessity of human response. In Numbers, a dying man judged for his sin need but look to receive healing, but look he must. Steve, could you please expound on these two passages and their relevance to this discussion re: God's work on our behalf, and the necessity of human response? Jude, how do you interpret the human response (look) to the serpent lifted up? How does this inform your understanding of human responses toward Christ crucified?

Thanks!
Richard

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Thanks Richard,

The human response is the human response. God does not respond for us. As far as Christ crucified goes, we must look to Him for salvation. If we do not look to Him, we perish. Of course there are deeper things. But the facts remain. We must repent and believe to be saved. That is the word of the gospel.

Jude