“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13 KJV).

Erasmus and Luther were wrangling over an issue on which each placed a different value.  Erasmus frankly admitted that he had “no fixed conviction” on the matter; for him it was an issue that God had not made clear in scripture, and therefore was better left alone as it had the potential to “harm Christian concord”.  Where Luther saw in scripture the human will clearly bound when it came to its ability to effect its own salvation, and absolutely central to faith and the gospel, Erasmus saw it co-operating with God; not spiritually dead, but needing “the Lord without which no human will or endeavour is effective” (Erasmus 1969, 37-39).  But a part, at least, of Erasmus’ argument has missed the point, which is at the heart of the issue, i.e. on whom does the decisive factor in salvation rest?  At the point of conversion, is a person operated on sovereignly by God and given life, or do they contribute to their own salvation?

Whilst Erasmus recognised this issue, his argument is sometimes simply proving what Luther would agree with anyway, i.e. that the will can co-operate with God (albeit after conversion), e.g. his treatment of 1 Corinthians 15:10, Matthew 10:20 (Erasmus 1969, 81-82).  Luther saw such verses in scripture as conditional statements; neither affirming nor denying any work or virtue in humanity, but simply prescribing “what work or virtue there ought to be in man” (Luther 1969, 261).  He saw the issue and its importance clearly; and he argued accordingly.  It is a matter which is essential to a right understanding of the gospel; unfortunately, Melanchthon later watered the doctrine down and the issue has been debated in the Church ever since.

However, Luther goes too far when he says that “Christian faith is utterly extinguished, the promises of God and the whole gospel are completely destroyed, if we teach and believe that it is not for us to know the necessary foreknowledge of God…..”  and “where there is such ignorance, there cannot be salvation” (Luther 1969, 122). 

Luther is wrong to place such emphasis on the freedom of the will – salvation is gained through right response to the gospel, not right view of free will.  The command to unbelievers is to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).  The preaching of the gospel is the means God has ordained to save unbelievers (Rom 10:5-17).  Christ is the object of faith, the One whom we preach as being the only way to the Father (Jn 3:16, 14:6).  Unbelievers are to come to Christ because God commands it; because they are lost without him.  Is a person who hears the gospel, believes it, repents, and comes to Christ for forgiveness and salvation not saved because they don’t have a right understanding of the place of the will in salvation?  If they are saved under such circumstances and later, upon hearing of Monergism and synergism, reject one or the other, are they then lost?  Of course not; if a person trusts in Christ for salvation, they have passed from death to life (Jn 5:24) and there is no condemnation (Jn 3:16, 18; Rom 8:1).

In preaching the gospel to the unconverted, it needs to be emphasised that we are responsible for our actions.  However, this does not mean we ought not to teach that God is the author of salvation.  Christ himself taught that none can come to him unless the Father draws him (Jn 6:65).  In any ministry, we are to teach the whole counsel of God so that unbelievers are strengthened and encouraged to trust and serve him (2 Tim 3:16-17); and this, of course, includes the teaching on the will and its role in salvation.  Luther’s chief pastoral concern was the believer’s comfort and hope; he believed that the sovereignty of God gives the believer hope and confidence because he is able to do all that he has promised.

Also, while we believe and teach that God is absolutely sovereign in salvation, we nevertheless teach that God uses means; and these means are effectual.  Even though God has predestined certain people to salvation, he uses the preaching of the gospel to effect their salvation.  While he has numbered our days (Ps 139:16), we will still get sick and die if we abuse our body.  We can even change things or bring about results through prayer.  While we see that scripture plainly teaches that God rules his creation absolutely and to the finest detail, we also know that we are responsible to serve and obey him or face the consequences of our wilful disobedience.  We cannot understand how two seemingly opposite ideas can both be true, but we do know we serve the God who knows all things, and we rest in his sovereignty, love, and justice; we don’t argue but we trust him, and we live as if our salvation depended on our works, all the while trusting him alone.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2).

This is part of an essay I wrote for my theology degree but I’ve lost the references for my quotes.