From: Suzianty Herawati
The Reformed Faith and Arminianism:
Part III
John Murray
Total Depravity
The third of the five points of
Arminianism concerns the question of original sin or human depravity. In
several of the formal statements of the Arminian position as it bears upon
human depravity, the real import of that position is not readily detected. As
William Cunningham points out, the controversy when it arose, especially as it
was conducted on the Arminian side, did not give the prominence to this aspect
of the debate. Yet, as he proceeds to show, "it really lies at the root of the
whole difference, as was made more palpably manifest in the progress of the
discussion, when the followers of Arminius developed their views upon this
subject more fully, and deviated further and further from the doctrine of the
Bible and the Reformation on the subject of the natural state and character of
men." (Historical Theology, 2:392.)
Arminians do in general terms assert the depravity of fallen human nature. But
a merely general statement of the fact does not touch the heart of the
question. The real question is the seriousness with which the general statement
of the fact is taken and the willingness there is to appreciate all the
implications of it. In a word, it is the question of the totality or entirety
of this corruption.
Our Confession of Faith says with respect to our first parents and their sin in
eating the forbidden fruit:
By this sin they fell from their original righteousness, and communion with
God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and
parts of soul and body. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this
sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed, to
all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation. From this
original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made
opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual
transgressions." (VI.2-4.)
Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to
any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being
altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own
strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto." (IX.3.)
These are highly compressed and succinct statements of total depravity, and
their meaning and consequences ought to be carefully weighed. They are
peculiarly offensive to every view that hangs on to any vestige of optimism
with respect to the qualities or potencies inherent in human nature as fallen.
Indeed they must arouse the opposition and emphatic protest of every view that
suspends any hope on the autonomy of the human will. It is just because the
Arminian does in the last analysis place the determining factor in the
individual's salvation in the free choice of the human will, that he has taken
such unrelenting issue with the doctrine of the Reformed Churches.
The Confession does not, of course, deny to men what we may call natural virtue
or civil righteousness. It affirms that works done by unregenerate men may, as
regards the matter of them, be things which God commands, and of good use both
to themselves and others. Neither does it say that all men are equally
depraved, or to put it more accurately it does not say that this corruption
"whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good,
and wholly inclined to all evil" receives the same degree of development and
_expression in all. What the Confession does is to set forth the teaching of
Scripture with respect to the moral and spiritual condition of men as they
stand in the pure light of the divine standard and judgment. Judged by that
norm they are dead in sin and wholly defiled.
Irresistible Grace
As is apparent from the foregoing
discussion it is in connection with the operations of God in His saving grace
that the implications of the affirmation or denial of the doctrine of total
depravity come to light. The question here is: What is the mode of the divine
operation of the Spirit of God in bringing men to faith and repentance? All are
agreed that men are saved through faith. But the difference arises when we come
to explain the fact that, of those who indiscriminately receive the overtures
of grace in the gospel, some believe and some do not. The question is not in
general terms that of grace. Arminians concede that men cannot be saved apart
from the gracious operations of the Spirit of God in the heart. The question
is: What is the nature of that grace? What is the cause of faith? Why is it
that some believe to the saving of their souls and some do not? Is that grace
of God given to all indiscriminately, or is it a grace given only to those who
believe? Is it a grace that may be resisted, or is it always efficacious to the
end in view, and therefore incapable of being frustrated?
Arminians though exhibiting certain differences among themselves are agreed
that sufficient grace, whether it be regarded as a natural possession or a
gracious bestowal, resides in all, and therefore that all men have the ability
to believe. The explanation of the fact that some believe and some do not rests
wholly in a difference of response on the part of men. This difference of
response may be stated in terms of co-operation with, or improvement of, the
grace of God. But in any case the explanation of the difference lies
exclusively in the free will of man. For the difference of response on the part
of the believer as over against the unbeliever he is not only wholly
responsible but he, in the exercise of the autonomy that belongs to his will,
is the sole determining factor. God does not make men to differ. He operates no
more savingly and efficaciously in the man who believes than He does in the man
who does not believe. For this indiscriminateness in the saving operations of
God, the Arminian is exceedingly jealous; he demands that what God does for and
in one He does for and in all equally. In the ultimate, then, the issue of
salvation rests with the sovereign determination of the human will. Men make
themselves to differ.
Now it is easy to see that , if man is thus able to co-operate with or improve
the grace that is common to all, there must remain in man some vestige of good.
Indeed, so decisive an element of ability to good survives that it determines
the exercise of the most important event or series of events in the history of
the individual. And this is exactly where the Arminian position impinges not
only upon the sovereignty and efficacy of God's saving grace but upon the total
depravity of sinful man.
In magnificent contrast with this denial of the sovereignty and efficacy of the
saving grace of God is the teaching of our Confession. It reads: "All those
whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his
appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out
of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and
salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to
understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto
them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power
determining them to that which is good; and effectually drawing them to Jesus
Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from
anything at all foreseen in man; who is altogether passive therein, until,
being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer
this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it. (X.1-2.)
In these sections the faith that embraces Jesus Christ to the saving of the
soul is referred to the sovereign predestination of God as its source, and to
the regenerative operation of God in the heart as its cause. God is sovereignly
pleased to impart His efficacious grace, and it is the enablement that comes
from this sovereign bestowal of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to
faith. The person effectually called is altogether passive therein until
renewed by the Holy Spirit. A new heart has been given him and a right spirit
created within him by the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit; and because he
has a new heart and a right spirit his response to the call of the gospel
cannot but be one of loving reception and trust. Just as the reaction of the
carnal mind cannot but be one of enmity against God, so the reaction of the
mind of the Spirit cannot but be one of faith and trust. It is the very nature
of the new heart to trust God as He is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.
We have here in our Confession a rather neat statement of the relation of faith
to regeneration. In this realm of theological debate our position can very
readily be tested by our answer to the questions: Does God regenerate us
because we believe, or do we believe because God has regenerated us? In other
words what has the causal priority, regeneration or faith? There are many
evangelicals who will say that faith is the means of regeneration, that God
regenerates those who believe and because they believe. They thereby, whether
wittingly or unwittingly, place themselves in the Arminian camp and in the most
decided opposition to Reformed doctrine. Logically they place themselves ?
perhaps with good intentions ? in a position that leads to the wreck and ruin
of true evangelicalism.
We are, of course, using the term "regeneration" in the restricted sense of the
new birth, and in this sense the very hallmark of Calvinism as of
Augustinianism is that faith is the gift of God, because it proceeds from the
regenerative operation of the Holy Spirit as its only cause and explanation.
God has elected His people to salvation. He has ordained that this salvation
become theirs through faith. But because of the total depravity of their hearts
and minds they cannot exercise faith; they are dead in trespasses and sins. In
order to bring them to faith God implants by the agency of the Holy Spirit a
new heart and a right spirit within them, and thus effectually and irresistibly
draws them to Christ. They are made willing in the day of God's power. By grace
they have been saved through faith, and that not of themselves, it is the gift
of God.
The Perseverance of the Saints
In the closest relation to the foregoing doctrine of
efficacious or irresistible grace is the doctrine of the eternal security of
the believer. This doctrine the Arminian bluntly rejects. A true believer, he
says, may be in grace and then fall from grace and finally perish. Such a
position is in logical coherence with his doctrine of the nature of saving
grace. If the determining factor in the matter of an individual's salvation is
the autonomy of his own free will, then consistency would seem to be all in
favor of regarding salvation as a very insecure and mutable possession.
Salvation in this case cannot be any more stable than that which in the final
analysis determines it.
But it is just here that the harmony of efficacious grace with the perseverance
of the saints comes to light. The Reformed Faith recognizes that God it is who
determines a sinner's salvation, and that what He begins He brings to
perfection. Salvation rests upon the unchangeable grace of God. He will not
forsake the work of His hands, nor make void His covenant. Thus reads the
Confession: "They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and
sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the
state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be
eternally saved.
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but
upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and
unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and
intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God
within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth
also the certainty and infallibility thereof. (XVII.1-2.)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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