Does God help those who help themselves? Remember the first time you heard that, but yougrutized?I first heard this in a church!
Why do I remember the sermon, I can’t say it, but I remember being there, when I was a young Christian, listening to these words coming out of the pastor’s mouth. No evidence was offered, no biblical text was quoted. The truth seemed obvious. And he shouldn’t be alone. According to George Barna, 68% of born-again Christians agree with this claim and 75% of Americans in general. [1]
- I’ve always suspected such a “Christian” investigation.
- So I decided to do my own research at work.
- I asked ten people.
- Five men and five women.
- All of whom claimed to be Christians.
- Whether they agreed with this statement.
- The results? Eight out of 10: is it 80% (for those with math issues)?I agree with the statement!.
Of these eight, four are professed evangelicals, three of whom go to conventional Baptist churches in the south, while the other attends another Christian church. Of the other four who agreed but did not call themselves “evangelicals”, two claim to be Roman Catholics, one is Methodist and the other non-denominational. The two of you who didn’t agree? Retired Baptist (not surprising here) and evangelical episcopal.
This means that four out of six Evangelicals (67%) agreed with the statement (compared to 68% for Barna). As a Southern Convention Baptist, I sadly noted that all my friends in the denomination agreed. . One of them is even the wife of a member of the department. Maybe Barna is right after all.
Where did this idea come from? It does not come from the Bible [2], it comes from the book of Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac. Franklin and his contemporaries made an adaptation of the Fable of Aesop: Hercules and the Roadman (6th century BC). In history, the heavy load of the driver of the car remains stuck in the mud. In desperation, the driver of the car asks for Hercules’ help. Hercules replies: “Get up and put your hand on the wheel. Do the gods help those who help themselves?[3] It is quite ironic that a polytheistic fable appealing to Greek mythology has entered what Christians believe is in the pages of the scriptures.
What is the meaning of all this? It reveals how most Christians understand their relationship with God. To paraphrase: “If I put my hand on the wheel, will God help me?” My preaching teacher called this theology sola exerçus. I start by reforming my life, then will God leave? and maybe you have to answer and cooperate with me. This means that our relationship with God is both conditional and synergistic.
As Christians we look at the issue of conversion, we might ask ourselves: would this be a form of appeal to non-Christians?Put your hand on the wheel of salvation, then God will come and help you. effort, where “there is no way to the gods except the way of human activity” [4]
What exactly is our role and responsibility and what is God’s role and responsibility in the conversion process?
Protestants have historically considered this issue of ordo salutis (Latin term for “order of salvation”). Ordo salutis? Describes the process by which the work of salvation performed in Christ is carried out subjectively in the hearts and lives of sinners Do you want to describe the logical order as well as the relationships of the different movements of the Holy Spirit in the application of the work of redemption?[5]. He is simply trying to answer the questions that guided Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. In other words, how is a graceful God found and how are the benefits of Christ’s grace obtained?
Bible scholars indicate passages such as Romans 8. 30 – and those he predestined also called them; already those he called, also justified; And those you have justified, those you have also glorified?biblical evidence [6]. Ordo received intensive treatment from Protestant scholastics.
Some scholars today avoid any discussion, fearing that it will make salvation a mechanical process closer to Aristotle’s philosophy than to biblical witness. If this review has any merit, the salutis ordo is still useful today. One can simply take into account that salvation is a unitary process intimately linked to our union with Christ. “Regeneration, faith, conversion, renewal, etc. , in any case, do not designate here consecutive components in the path of salvation, but summarize in one word all the transformation that occurs in men”[7]. All benefits are granted to elected officials at the same time. The approach is not primarily chronological, but logical and causal.
The state of the human condition is essential for the salutis ordo. The old axiom presents our options: in moral terms, pelagianism says that man is fine, semi-agthygynism says he is sick, Augustinism says he is dead, whether man is either morally or partially. weak, then he can cooperate with God’s grace to save himself (Roman Catholicism). But if man died in his faults and sins (see Ephesians 2. 1-3, 12), corrupted and weakened not in part, but completely, then he does. he doesn’t have the ability to save himself. Salvation should not be understood as synergistic, but as a ergic. God simply takes the initiative. It must grant spiritual life by replacing stone hearts with hearts of flesh (see Ezekiel 36. 36). Just put:
all men are conceived in sin, born as children of anger, without wanting to do any good for salvation, prone to evil, dead in sin, slaves of sin; and without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit, they do not want or can return to God to correct their depraved nature or be willing to correct it. [8]
Reflecting on the human condition, Cicero said: “Man is a disaster. In Protestant historical understanding, salvation has always been a wonderful and sovereign work exclusively of God and an undeserved grace (cf. Ephesians 2. 8-9).
Given man’s risk condition, the salutis ordo must come from God. The cause should not be attributed to the dignity (or merit) of one nation over another or to the better use of the light of nature; but at God’s best will and funny love?[9]. It is the effective cause [10]. ” Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?”(Jeremiah 13:23). Obviously, then: “No one can come to me if the Father who sent me does not bring it?(John 6. 44). God initiates salvation and does so on the basis of his love. In other words, his love is the cause he moves and encourages. Is it just grace, favor, goodwill and “gratia love?”God in Christ we owe him our salvation.
If God is the author of salvation, the Holy Spirit is the agent of salvation, united us to the person of Christ, and applied his work in us. “The activity of the Holy Ghost is nothing more than an application. Is the order of redemption the application of salvation (applict salutis)?[12] Just as the Son came to glorify the Father, the Holy Spirit, in turn, glorifies the Son; and does so until we all come to the unity of faith and full knowledge of the Son of God, to the perfection of mankind, to the extent of the stature of Christ’s fulness?(Ephesians 4,13) [13].
The instrumental cause or means by which we know salvation is the gospel, the Word of God. Salvation comes from the Word. Although natural revelation teaches us God, it is not enough to save faith (see Romans 1-3). We must meet Christ personally through His Word (special revelation) and place our trust in the objective promises of the gospel (see Romans 10:14-17).
Any discussion about the salutis ordo should first focus on the issue of choice. Choice is a biblical term, so the question is not whether we “believe in choice,” but what does the Bible mean by that term. First, the overwhelming evidence is that God? Chosen or chosen a village for you. This is seen in the Old Testament: “Here are the heavens and heavens of heaven are of the Lord, your God, the earth, and all that is in it. Only the Lord loved your parents to love them; Have you chosen others from among Their descendants, among all peoples, as we see today?(Deuteronomy 10: 14-15; cf. Psalm 32: 12). The fact that God chooses people is something Jesus clearly taught in the New Testament: “It is not you who chose me; on the contrary, have I chosen the others and appointed you to bear fruit?(John 15:16; cf. Luke 18: 6-8).
Second, God chooses people was something that happened before the foundation of the world. Just as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and unspotted before him; And in love he predestined us for him, for the adoption of children, for Jesus Christ, according to the will of his will, to praise the glory of his grace?(Ephesians 1,4-6).
This then leads to the question that continues to divide some Protestant circles; In other words, is God’s choice conditional or unconditional?, Does God analyze the corridors of time and choose us on the basis of our predicted (conditional) faith, or is our choice unconditional and granted to us regardless of any faith or goodness predicted in us?In the first choice, repentance and faith (i. e. conversion) are the fruit of the human will (perhaps with the help of preventive grace) that will lead to our In this system, the choice of God’s people, after all, focuses on what the individual does, not what God does. God makes salvation possible for all men, but in truth He has neither guaranteed nor guaranteed the salvation of any man. In the unconditional system, God takes the initiative to choose us and declare us from Him. Other than that, there’s no hope.
Biblical evidence supports unconditional choice. Who is Israel in the Old Testament, the people the Lord has chosen to make you your own people among all the peoples on earth?(Deuteronomy 7. 6). God chose Israel in a unique and specific way from all other nations to be His precious possession. Was this conditioned by Israel’s faithfulness, goodness, or strength?The following verses give the answer: “Did the Lord not care for you, nor did He choose you because no one outded you in number, because you were the smallest of all, but because the Lord loved you?(Deuteronomy 7:7-8ss). Is that the reason given by Israel’s blessed relationship with God?Dieu. Il chose to love these people, did you choose to put your affections in Israel, above all peoples?weak and unworthy condition (see Deuteronomy 10:14).
In the New Testament, Jesus says, “You did not choose me; On the contrary, have I chosen the others for you?(John 15:16). We love because he loved us first (1 John 4:19). Unlike God’s love that depends on the value of the object, God’s choice was not based on any faith or goodness in us, objects of his love. Why was Jacob chosen and not Sau chosen? Paul writes, “And the twins were not yet born, and had they not done good or wrong (that God’s purpose, in terms of choice, would prevail, not by the works, but by the calling one)?(Romans 9. 11). And if there is any doubt about the unconditional nature of the election, we see God speaking: “I will have mercy on whoever wants mercy and I will have compassion on whoever wants compassion. “So does it not depend on who he wants or who runs, but on God’s use for his mercy?(vv. 9. 15-16).
The scriptures simply never speak of faith as the basis or reason why God chooses us; all we know is that your choices, impenetrable as they usually are, act to magnify your grace (see Romans 9:18; 2 Timothy 1. 8). Understood correctly, unconditional choice in the scriptures never leads to despair, but encourages the Christian (see Romans 8. 28; Ephesians 1. 11; 2 Thessalonians 2. 13). It is an act of extreme grace that highlights the goodness of God (Matthew 1. 25-30; Ephesians 1. 3-11). Justice requires everyone to die, but by mercy he chose to do for men what he did not do for rebellious angels. Choose and redeem some for eternal life. In short, the choice is unconditional, funny and signed in the past eternity. This is the basis on which we can discuss the work of redemption in the lives of men.
Logically, the application of Christ’s redemptive work begins with the call. This is first presented by the gospel call, which is “To offer people salvation in Christ with an invitation to accept Christ in repentance and faith, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life?”[15]. The evangelical call is a general or universal call, because it is also made for all. “God did not take into account the times of ignorance; But now you’re warning men that everyone regrets it everywhere?(Acts 17. 30; cf. Matthew 22). : 1-14). It is also a true call offered seriously by God. Jesus wept and groaned sincerely for The stubborn rejection of Jerusalem and for the rejection of his message (Matthew 23:37). God really wants everyone to come to repentance (2Pedro 3. 9) in order to receive rest (Matthew 11. 28; see John 1. 11-12; Revelation 3. 20).
However, this raises the thorny question: why do some believe and others not?”Here is the obstacle,” Hamlet said. Synergistic systems teach that individuals are intrinsically capable of producing an initial faith (Roman Catholic point of view) that God necessarily responds gracefully, or that God provides all men with an enabling or preventive grace (Arminian/Wesleyan point of view) that surpasses them. With this preventive grace some choose to respond in faith, that is, preventive grace is a sufficient grace that only becomes effective when the sinner cooperates with it. It could be said that preventive grace is actually nothing more than “democratization. “of saving grace. ” In the Roman Catholic system and in the Armenian system, the power to believe or not to believe ultimately rests on the individual.
Monergism sees God’s choice of some as the explanation why some believe and others don’t. “Because many are called, but few are chosen?” (Matthew 22:14). In our fallen human condition, we have neither the will nor the ability to accept the gospel, because is the word of the cross foolish to those who are lost? (1 Corinthians 1,18; cf. Romans 3; Ephesians 2,1-5). Therefore, God must work effectively in us, making us want to believe. Thus, monergists distinguish between an evangelical call and an effective call. In the effective call, the Spirit works through the Word to “confirm”, “give faith. ” Y? make manifest? God’s choice [17]. For the monergist, to say that God’s call is effective conditional on the exercise of faith by man is equivalent to saying that it is an intrinsically ineffective call ”[18]. Furthermore, in Scripture, God’s call is effective upon the elect. “For whom he called, he also justified; and whom you justified, whom you also glorified? (Romans 8:30 am). “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me brings him; and will I resurrect you on the last day? (John 6. 44). It is an effective call to salvation, which leads us to communion with Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 1: 9).
Teaching an effective vocation is certainly not without opposition. First, if God’s call to the elelected is effective and irresistible to all who are called to come truly to Him, why bother with our preaching of the gospel?This is a common objection, but the Bible reminds us that God commands both means and ends. God, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, commanded that the Gospel message, preached by human voices and accompanied by the Spirit, be an instrument of redeeming grace (cf. Romans 10).
Second, some ask: Doesn’t the teaching of an effective calling suggest that God concerns us impersonally? If God is the cause? of our salvation and our faith is simply the by-product or? effect? Also, in what sense is it relational? Process theology and open theism raise this charge against the royal call. Love, they argue, does not work on simple principles of cause and effect, because God unilaterally changes the inclination of man’s will. Love must be mutual, reciprocal and not coercive. God needs to arouse the interest of these people, not with the power of cause, but with the power of love and persuasion. Although some in classical theism were drawn to an impersonal Aristotelian concept of the first mover, Protestant evangelicals held out. God can bend and determine our will, but never in a way incompatible with human nature. God – can and does draw them, by the powerful influence of his grace upon them to himself and his Son. And he does it without forcing the will of these men; He gently encourages them, by his grace, to come to Christ and his ordinances; Does it powerfully persuade them? [19]. Theologian Kevin Vanhoozer, in a very helpful way, reminds us that God’s real call consists of both energy and information. It is not a simple causal act, but an act of communication. In the effective call, God communicates with us through Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. The effective call is an act of speaking and is therefore deeply personal [20].
Third, some argue that an effective appeal goes against human freedom. It is manipulative and coercive. The outspoken theist John Sanders even calls it divine rape, because God imposes his will on the elect. However, there is no biblical account of a person being forced to accept the gospel against their own will. No one is brought into the kingdom to kick and scream. There is nothing violent when the ears of the deaf are miraculously opened so they can hear the sweet voice of the Savior calling him by name. To use another biblical metaphor, God graciously shows the blind. Could it be a malicious and violent act? The point is that the one who is enlightened is both passive and active. Having been created to understand, an individual understands and gently embraces the truth. This embrace is not very compatible with the notion of divine violation. In short, “The application of salvation is and continues to be the work of the Spirit and therefore is never coercive or violent, but always spiritual, kind and gentle, tempting humans not as blocks of wood, but as rational beings , enlightening, persuading. , Attracting and inclining these men?
While the call, especially the effective call, is an image of God’s recreational activity, regeneration is an image of renewal; in many ways, they are different metaphors of the same work of uniting dead men and women to enter into a living relationship with Christ Regeneration is in the direction of our need to be reborn, to be renewed, to be restored, because only by being born again can we see the kingdom of God (John 3. 3). This is not optional. This is, in fact, the need of all of us: “Do you mind being born again?”(John 3. 7). This birth is not physical, but spiritual, prophesied in the Old Testament, which renews the inner man before the law of God (see Ezekiel 36).
Just as we are passive in our physical birth, we are passive in our spiritual birth. In other words, regeneration is God’s work only. John says that God’s children are those who were not born of blood or will. Of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God?(John 1:13). Similarly, Peter writes: “According to his great mercy, has he regenerated us in living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?(1 Peter 1. 3). In regeneration, God replaces our stone hearts with hearts of flesh so that we, who were spiritually dead, can become spiritually alive. Therefore, it is obvious that regeneration must precede conversion [21].
In the Synod of Dort, the ancient Protestants beautifully summarized God’s radical, instantaneous, supernatural regenerative work.
When God fulfills his good will in the chosen or causes true conversion in them, He not only ensures that they are proclaimed the gospel and that their spirit is powerfully enlightened by the Holy Ghost, that they can properly understand and judge the things of the Spirit of God. but he too, by the effectiveness of the same regenerating Spirit, penetrates the deepest bowels of man, opens his closed heart, softens his hard heart, circumcises his uncircumcised heart, inspires new qualities in his will, makes him live what was dead?And this regeneration?A new creation?That God without us (that is, without our cooperation) worked in us?Is this the power of man? Regenerated or un regenerated, converted or uns reversed; However, is it a manifestly supernatural operation and at the same time the most powerful and gentle operation, the most wonderful, the most intimate and infallible in its possession?So all those in whose heart God has worked admirably can be infallibly and effectively. regenerated and, indeed, believe. [22]
The result of God’s regenerative work is to believe, an abbreviation of conversion, in which the sinner repents of what he has done wrong and turns to Christ in faith. Without regeneration, conversion would be impossible. Lidia conversion provides an example that functions as a prototype. “Did the Lord open your heart to you? (Regeneration), the result of which she believed in the gospel (conversion) and then was baptized (Acts 16:14).
Although the conversion is different from regeneration, the distinction is not so much chronological as it is logical. In the scriptures, there is no category for someone who has been regenerated by the Spirit but has only become at some point in the future. Both actually occur at the same time. However, God’s work logically precedes our response to him in repentance and faith. “The relationship between regeneration and, say, faith, is like the relationship between turning on the switch and filling the room with light?Two simultaneous actions? [23]. John Gill summed it up well:
Regeneration is an exclusive act of God; conversion includes both God’s act of men, converting them to him, and acts performed by men under the influence of transformative grace; change, they’re changed. Regeneration is God’s movement to and above a sinner’s heart; Conversion is a sinner’s movement to God. In regeneration, men are completely passive, but through it they become active.
First, we must keep the Word as the focal point of our ministry; is the divinely determined means of salvation. It is through the proclamation of His Word, not the size of our buildings or budgets, that the Spirit becomes active. Together, the Word and the Spirit come together in an effective work of salvation. Separate the work of the Spirit from palabra. es begin the aimless path to inclusivism and dead orthodoxy.
Secondly, should we have confidence in our security of salvation, because God is who loves her and wants her in you, according to her goodwill?(Philippians 2:13). What is more comforting: trusting our salvation only in the power of our choice, our choice, and our faithfulness, or trusting this salvation in Christ’s sacrificial work that the Spirit applies to us gracefully?Do synergistic systems make everything hesitant and uncertain?even the victory of good and triumph of the kingdom of God?because they hook everything to the incalculable arbitrariness of humans. Defending the rights of humanity, trampling on the rights of God and for human beings is this God without rights, except for inconsistency?[26].
Finally, we have to make personal calls! We are the messengers of salvation who were ordained of God; in our callings there must always be the three necessary elements: presentation, invitation, and promise; we must be clear in our presentation (God, man, Christ); we must ask courageously for a personal response. And we must honestly keep the promise of eternal life; In the promise, we must always remember that the basis of our eternal life lies in the work of Christ, not in our decision or prayer. it is proof of the spiritual fruit in our lives (see John 15:8; 1 John 2:2-3).
Humans have always wanted to be their own saviors. But what distinguishes biblical Christianity from all other religions in the world is that Christianity is no fool. In Islam, redemption is not a gift, but an act. In Buddhism, redemption consists in mortifying the desire to exist and “to be one”. Through prayers, sacrifices, ceremonies, and proper ethical conduct, Pharisee Judaism and Catholicism present meritorious projects through which we obtain God’s favor.
Christianity does not recognize these patterns. Salvation is grace from start to finish. According to God’s goodwill, on the basis of Christ’s work, with the action of the Holy Spirit and with the instrument of the Word, God effectively chooses, calls and regenerates. We are commanded to repent and believe, but it is in vain whether God does not act in us first. This is why faith is even a gift from God (cf. Ephesians 2,8).
Does God help those who help themselves?If that’s the case, we’re the unluckieslest of all men. The sky has never seemed so far away.
1 http://www. barna. org/FlexPage. aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate