Arminius was Not Misunderstood

In recent years it has become more and more in vogue to reinterpret the past. We know it as “revisionism.” We have all probably encountered re-interpretations of the lives of our national heroes such as Washington and Lincoln, which, if true, it is a wonder that these men were ever admired in the first place. I have little doubt that this is all fueled by the desires of degenerate men and women in our times, who wish to project their wickedness and abominable behaviors into the past, in order to lessen the stench of their own lives.

With the unregenerate, while it is still a vile, deceitful practice, it is understandable. If you can make it appear that in the midst of the Puritan era of England and America men and women were routinely engaged in adultery, fornication and sodomy (and that this behavior was normal, acceptable and unjudged), this certainly makes modern moralists appear idiotic.

As already stated, with the unregenerate, historical revision is understandable, though still despicable. What is not understandable is when so-called Christians revise Church history. Every now and then some ‘reputable’ scholar revisits the life of a notorious person from Church history and suggests rethinking the man’s life and/or doctrine.

I have recently encountered papers written by professing Reformed theologians suggesting that perhaps Arminius has been misunderstood. Having read many of Arminius’ contemporaries, I find it very hard to believe, indeed impossible, that Arminius has been misunderstood. His opponents in the 17th century were much closer and more familiar with both his writings and his person. This is why I find it problematic when a writer from our era re-analyzes the controversies of that period and comes to a different conclusion from the men who were involved in it. It sounds revisionist to me. Secondly, it is always possible, within any writer as voluminous as Arminius, to find a stray sentence here and there which can pass the test of orthodoxy when placed in isolation. I’m sure the same could be done for Arius, and even Pelagius himself.

Here are a few quotes from Arminius. Hardly orthodox, and very Pelagian:

“It is certain that God determineth divers things which he would not, did not some act of man’s will go before.”

“God would have all men to be saved, but, compelled with the stubborn malice of some, he changeth his purpose, and will have them to perish.”

“No such will can be ascribed unto God, whereby he so would have any to be saved, that from thence his salvation should be sure and infallible.”

If you can read these quotes and find nothing objectionable then you either aren’t familiar enough with the theological implications and ramifications involved to make an accurate assessment, or you are an Arminian, and thus you have a vested interest in defending such pestilential statements.

Improving Our Baptism

Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Question: Why is baptism mentioned, rather than faith or other things more internal and necessary to salvation?

1. Faith is implied (Mark 16:16)

2. Baptism is the visible rite of receiving converts to Christ.

Question 2: Why in the name of Jesus Christ only? The Father and Spirit aren’t mentioned as per the formula of Matthew 28:19.

Answer: The form of baptism is not here under discussion, but rather its use and end.

What use and benefit does baptism have with respect to obtaining remission of sins by Jesus Christ?

I. God has always dealt with His creatures covenantally.

II. Because the first covenant was broken (the Covenant of Works) on our part, it pleased God to enter into a second covenant (the Covenant of Grace). In this covenant He would demonstrate His redeeming grace to fallen man. This was done in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19).

III. In the Covenant of Grace, the privileges and duties are suited to the state in which man was in when God invited him into covenant with Him. We are in need of repentance and remission of sins. This is exactly what is proclaimed in the preaching of the Gospel.

IV. We are invited to our duties by our interests. Accepting the benefits of the covenant is part of the condition.

V. The two privileges of the covenant are pardon and life.

VI. Our covenant duties either concern our entrance into the Christian life or our progress in it. Covenants are made (Psalm 50:5) and kept (Psalm 25:10; 103:18)

     A. Entering the covenant requires repentance and faith (Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21;

         1 Peter 3:18)

                 1. Renounce the world, the flesh and the devil (Eph. 2:2, 3)

                 2. Devoting and giving ourselves to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 8:3; 

                     Rom. 6:13; Psalm 100:3; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Jer. 24:8; Isa. 26:13)

     B. Regarding our progress, we need to always come to God by Christ. This requires

          three things:

                 1. We must forsake and renounce the enemies of God and of our souls.

                 2. We must love, please and serve God all of our days.

                 3. We must always live in the hope of Christ’s return (Titus 2:13; Jude 21).

VII. This covenant has visible ordinances, called sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), which relate to the whole tenor of the covenant. Sacraments are a sign and seal on God’s part and a badge and bond on our part.

     A. On God’s part they are signs and seals (Rom. 4:11). The sacraments are a sign to signify

          and a seal to confirm, to represent the grace and assure the grant of pardon and life.

     B. On our part they are a badge and bond: a badge of profession and a bond to engage

          us to the duties the badge calls us to.

VIII. These visible confirming sacraments give us great advantages over the word and bare proposal of the covenant.

     A. They are an expression of God’s earnest sincere intentions regarding our salvation. Not

          only has He promised, but He has condescended to our weakness and confirmed His

          own immutable promise by signs and seals which place Him under obligation, 

          unnecessary as that is considering His character, to fulfil His covenant promises.

     B. The sacraments have this advantage over the word: they are a closer application. The

          word is spoken openly, without distinction, to all; the sacraments to each one in particular.

     C. By these sealing signs we are invested into a right to the things promised.

     D. The great mysteries of godliness are laid before our eyes in visible rites; hence they have 

          greater force to excite the mind to serious consideration.

Use: Let us not be slack in the use and improvement of our baptism. It implies a solemn covenant with God that we may obtain remission of sins and eternal life. Therefore, consider:

1. Baptism is a perpetual bond upon us, obliging us to repentance and holy life.

2. The improvement of baptism is the best preparation for the Lord’s Supper. Christ first washed the apostles before He instituted the Sacrament of His body and blood.

3. If we don’t improve our baptism, it will be a witness against us.

How do we improve it?

1 Personally and solemnly own the covenant made with God at our baptism, whether in adulthood or infancy.

2. Renew often the sense of your obligation to God (Acts 227:23; Phil. 1:21; 2 Pet. 1:9).

3. Use frequent self-reflection, that you may come to know whether you are indeed washed from the guilt and filth of sin (1 Cor. 6:11).

4. Use it as a great help in temptation. Remember that you are no debtor to the flesh (Rom. 6:1, 2). It is also a comfort and help in persecution. The African martyr Majoricus as he faced martyrdom, was comforted and encouraged to constancy by his mother, Dionysia, with these words: Memento, fili, te baptizatum esse in nomie Patri, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti – Remember, my son, that you are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and be constant.

Notice The Similarities?

For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. Isaiah 66:15-19

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. Acts 2:2-11

Scripture Does Not Teach Free-Will

To listen to Arminian preachers, you’d swear the Bible is brimming with affirmations of free-will. You’d think every page of Scripture affirms that men are basically good and simply need to apply themselves. You’d think there’s a verse somewhere that actually says, “God has done His part, now the ball’s in your court.” You’d think “God helps those who help themselves” was a Biblical concept.

Below is a SMALL list (There are many, many more passages of Scripture to this effect) of Scripture passages denying that the unregenerate have free-will. If you can read the following list and come away still convinced that man is basically good and that he has the intrinsic power to choose right, then I question your skills of comprehension, not to mention your honesty when it comes to being instructed by Scripture.

Genesis 6:5: “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Psalm 33:10: "He maketh the devices of the people of none effect."

Psalm 81:12: "So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels."

Psalm 119: 36-37: “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.”

Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

Proverbs 28:26: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool."

Ecclesiastes 7:20: "For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

Isaiah 63:17: O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Jeremiah 4:22: "For my people is foolish, they have not known me … they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Matthew 7:18: “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Matthew 16:17: “for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

John 1:13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 3:27: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."

John 6:44: "No man can come to me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:65: "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

John 15:5: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."

John 15:16: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you."

John 17:1a-2: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”

Acts 4:27-28: For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is no that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Romans 5:6: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Romans 7:18-19: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Romans 9:16: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

Romans 10:20: "I was found of them that sought me not."

1 Corinthians 2:11, 14: “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God…But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

1 Corinthians 4:7: “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

1 Corinthians 12:3: “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”

2 Corinthians 3:5: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God”

Ephesians 2:1: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins."

Ephesians 2:5: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved.)"

Philippians 1:29: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake”

Philippians 2:13: "For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Colossians 1:21: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled”

Colossians 2:13: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

Titus 3:3-5: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

Friend or Foe?

Read the following quotations carefully. Think over their implications and the view the author of these statements must possess of God and Scripture to have uttered these things. I will not supply the author’s name just yet. That will follow. As you read the following remarks, ask yourself if the person who said these things is a friend or foe of the Christian faith. I guarantee you’ll be rather shocked if you do not already know the source.

“In some of the Psalms, the spirit of hatred which strikes us in the face is like the heat from a furnace mouth. In others the same spirit ceases to be frightful only by becoming (to a modern mind) almost comic in its naivety. Examples of the first can be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is in 109. The poet prays that an ungodly man may rule over his enemy and that “Satan” may stand at his right hand (verse 5).”

“The examples which (in me at any rate) can hardly fail to produce a smile may occur most disquietingly in Psalms we love; 143, after proceeding for eleven verses in a strain that brings tears to the eyes, adds in the twelfth, almost like an afterthought ‘and of thy goodness slay mine enemies.’ Even more naively, almost childishly, Psalm 139, in the middle of its hymn of praise throws in (verse 19) ‘Wilt thou not slay the wicked, O God?’ – as if it were surprising that such a simple remedy for human ills had not occurred to the Almighty.’”

“The hatred is there (in the Psalms. AKU) – festering, gloating, undisguised – and we should be wicked if we in any way condoned or approved it, or (worse still) used it to justify similar passion in ourselves…

“We can still see, in the worst of their maledictions, how these old poets were, in a sense, near to God. Though hideously distorted by the human instrument, something of the Divine voice can be heard in these passages.”

“Worst of all in ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Psalm 23), after the green pasture, the waters of comfort, the sure confidence in the valley of the shadow, we suddenly run across (verse 5) ‘Thou shalt prepare a table for me against them that trouble me’ – or as Dr. Moffatt translates it, ‘Thou art my host, spreading a feast for me while my enemies have to look on.’ The poet’s enjoyment of his present prosperity would not be complete unless those horrid Joneses (who used to look down their noses at him) were watching it all at hating it. This may not be so diabolical as the passages I have quoted above but the pettiness and vulgarity of it, especially in such surroundings are hard to endure. One way of dealing with these terrible or (dare we say?) contemptible Psalms is simply to leave them alone but unfortunately the bad parts will not ‘come away clean.’”

“We need therefore by no means assume that the Psalmists are deceived or lying when they assert that, as against their particular enemies at some particular moment, they are completely in the right. Their voices while they say so may grate harshly on our ear and suggest they are unamiable people. But that is another matter and to be wronged does not commonly make people amiable. But of course the fatal confusion between being in the right and being righteous soon falls upon them. In Psalm 7, from which I have already quoted, we see the transition. In verses 3 to 5 the poet is merely in the right; by verse 8 he is saying, ‘give sentence with me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the innocency that is in me’”