Pure Grace: A Review (Part 2)
Last week's article was the first part of a review of a book which is distributed locally. The author, Clark Whitten, gave an overview of matters he would be dealing with, which were refuted last week. The review continues now with his more extended explanations. In his first chapter, Whitten is all over the place, mixing truth with error. He claims, erroneously, that all people were "born with a sin nature" (27).
If that were the case, then surely we cannot be blamed for being born sinful. In other words, if we are defective when we come into the world, how are we responsible for being defective? Does anyone look at a child with spina bifida and say, "Why did you come into the world this way?" Does anyone say to a hemophiliac, "Why do you bleed so easily?" If we would not hold a child responsible for coming into the world with cystic fibrosis, how could God hold us accountable for being born a sinner?
Was Adam created with a sinful nature? Most would say that he was not, since everything God created was very good (Gen. 1:31), and that included man. Okay, then why did Adam sin? "Well," most would answer, "God created him with a free will to obey or disobey, and he chose to disobey." All right, then; he did not need to have a sinful nature in order to commit sin. And neither do we. If Adam could choose to sin because he possessed the free will to do so, then so can we. We do not need to impose "a sinful nature" upon mankind to explain why he sins. We choose to sin because God has given us the free will to do so.
Calvinism teaches that we do not have that decision to make. It claims we are born with a sinful nature and therefore cannot help but sin. It also teaches that there is nothing we can do about our sinful condition. God must save us from our sins with no kind of participation from us. So, we had nothing to do with being born a sinner, and we have nothing to do with being saved from our sins. If that were the case, then why are we even talking about it? It's all out of our hands. We became sinners without our knowledge or cooperation, and we became saved, allegedly, in the same manner. Why, then, do we need to read the Scriptures—to tell us that we have no say-so in any of these matters?
The Truth
1. Adam sinned by choice.
2. We sin by choice.
3. Adam was saved by his decision to repent and obey God, including offering sacrifices.
4. We are saved by our decision to repent and obey God, plus the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
5. In both instances, we make the decision to sin and to repent and be obedient; we all have free will. God does not decide anything for us.
Whitten claims that, when we are born again, we can sin but we are not sinners. "Sin cannot undo the work of Christ" (27). This is not what the Bible teaches. James proclaims that a Christian can fall away from the truth and become a sinner again.
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20, emph. gws).
These verses clearly teach that:
1. A Christian (one among them) can wander from the truth.
2. An erring Christian can be brought back.
3. While he is in error, he is termed a sinner.
4. While he is in error, he is lost; otherwise, his soul would not need to be saved from death.
In Galatians 6:1, Paul describes a brother overtaken in a trespass. Spiritually-minded brethren are to restore this individual. He was saved but captured by one of Satan's snares. He needs to be restored. No one can be restored unless he has first fallen. The work of Christ involves saving mankind, but anyone belonging to Jesus can fall. However, he can also be restored.
Previously, in this letter, Paul explained to the churches of Galatia that those who had become Christians, if they attempted to then be justified by the Law (of Moses), had fallen from grace (Gal. 5:4). No one can become estranged from Christ unless they were first with Christ. Whoever heard of a married couple being estranged from each other unless they were first with each other?
Yes, the work of Christ can be rejected by one who initially accepted it. The writer of Hebrews wrote, "If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (Heb. 10:26). Notice that there was a sacrifice for sins, but that sacrifice no longer remains. The writer later asks, "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:29).
Yes, Jesus is the Savior, but a believer can, in effect, trample Him. He can discount His precious blood, which had saved him. Is there no penalty for doing so? God takes vengeance and will repay. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (10:30-31).
Behavior Modification
Whitten clearly contradicts the Scriptures on these fundamental points. He credits Luther and Calvin as believing in salvation by grace through faith, but he thinks they went too far by demanding that people reform from their sinful ways. What? Really? He does not agree that Christians should modify their "behavior to please God." He adds: "To be pleasing or 'right' with God depends on my behavior—do my best to keep the rules here and hang on until I get to Heaven—then I will be fully sanctified" (27). This attitude he terms legalism, and he finds fault with trying "hard to be like Jesus because the world is watching," and they can't be allowed to see a Christian sin. A God who demands such things Whitten calls capricious.
Does God expect that Christians will never sin and always choose to do the right thing? (No, 1 John 1:8, 10). Does God expect Christians to set an example for non-Christians to follow? Yes. Has Whitten never read what Jesus said about His followers being salt, as well as the light of the world (Matt. 5:13-16)? What kind of light is it if we are just like everyone else? Of course, we must modify our behavior. How can anyone read Colossians 3, with comments about what we should put off and what we should put on, and not understand that Christians must modify their behavior now that they are born again?
Whitten actually mocks what the Scriptures teach. He writes:
Confess your sin to God daily and pray for forgiveness so you can start the day clean. Stay up-to-date in your confession and repentance; and whatever you do; don't have too much fun!
… God is pleased when you act right. When you don't, He will clean your clock! Fear God and keep His commandments. Amen.
Oh, I almost forgot, tell somebody this week about how to be saved and happy like we are (28)!
So, Christians should have fun—as defined by whom—the world? Does that mean that Christians should gamble, smoke, or drink alcoholic beverages? That's the way the world defines fun. And what is this scorning of evangelism? Does Whitten think that people will become Christians if nobody ever says anything? What kind of twisted thinking is this? Nevertheless, he calls these legitimate attitudes a "spiritual murderous lie" (28). He terms it the "saved by grace but perfected by human effort" approach and alleges that it produces
a Church that is judgmental, angry, hopeless, helpless, dependent, fearful, uninspired, ineffective, and perpetually immature…. No wonder we haven't impacted our culture and have become a joke to most casual observers (29).
These comments are too absurd to respond to—except to say that none of the assessments he provides is even remotely true. Whitten seems to live in his own fantasy world. His views of grace, salvation, and Christian living are all warped. Since he ridicules what most people believe; what does he believe instead?
"A Mixture of Law and Grace"
Whitten's thesis is that it's all grace: God does everything, and we do nothing. "I can not add to the finished work of Christ" (33). He claims that the Christian is justified, cleansed, and sanctified, which is true, although He does not mention 1 Corinthians 6:11. He also states that Christians are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a living stone in His temple, although he does not cite 1 Peter 2:5 and 9. All those characteristics of Christians are true, but they do not imply that we don't sin and cannot fall away, as has already been shown. Whitten thinks we are sanctified once and for all—that we are saved once and for all—but the Scriptures demonstrate otherwise. To his mind, either everything is God's grace, or it is Legalism.
Does anyone claim to teach a mixture of Law and Grace? It may seem that way, but here is the truth of the matter. We exist by God's grace; He made us. We fell into sin of our own accord. God saves us by His grace—and our response to it. To point out that we would have no access to salvation apart from God's grace is true. But that is different than saying that salvation is entirely by God's grace.
God's grace is universal (to all people) at its origin; in other words, God offers it to all—not to some: "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39). But grace is not universal in its reception; many reject it. Thus, man must respond to God's grace in a positive manner; we must do something: And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation" (Acts 2:40).
"Well, sure, a person must have faith." Yes, but the multitude on Pentecost gave evidence of their faith when they asked what they should do (Acts 2:37). Peter proclaimed that they should repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38). He did not say, "Jesus did it all, and if you think you can do anything, you're a legalist." Both the multitude and Peter expected that there ought to be a proper response to the grace God extended toward them. Those who gladly received His word were baptized, and the same day 3,000 souls were added to them.
In fact, as time progressed, "the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47). Nor did these early Christians consider that, once they were cleansed, there was nothing else to do. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). They modified their behavior according to the teaching of Jesus and His apostles.