The Exercise of Saving Faith

John T. Sneed

November 2003

Introduction

            It has been said that wherever biblical Calvinism[1] exists, there is always a danger of hypercalvinism appearing. Hypercalvinism is a system of theology which denies man’s responsibility in salvation. It is marked by a sectarian spirit that disdains missionary work and most evangelism as interfering with the work of the Holy Spirit. It denies the free offer of the gospel to all people. In his day, the English pastor Charles H. Spurgeon was accused of being promiscuous with the gospel by some of his hypercalvinist contemporaries.[2] Hypercalvinists believe they should not share the gospel message with anyone unless they see signs of the Holy Spirit working in the person first. Instead of preaching to dead sinners, they preach to, what they call sensible sinners. Thus they hope to share the gospel only with the elect.[3] These are among the teachings that mark hypercalvinistic thinking.

            One developing battleground between biblical Calvinism and hypercalvinism today is over God’s part and man’s part in salvation. Specifically, does the gospel call for humans to make a volitional response to the gospel message? Calvinists are zealous to deny that man has any meritorious part in salvation. However, in trying to deny man’s merit, some Calvinist proponents have begun to argue against any response from men whatsoever. In short, some are beginning to argue that God will believe for the Christian, and thus, man has no part whatsoever in his salvation. Thus man is not asked to respond to the gospel message. There is no call for decisions. These are seen as manmade innovations that interfere with the work of God. Among non-reformed evangelicals, there is already a great animus against the doctrines of grace. Poorly chosen words and ill conceived arguments are not helpful to the unity for which Jesus prayed and desired so much for his Church. This is not so much of a problem among more mature reformed evangelicals. However, younger Christians, who are just coming to understand the doctrines of grace need to learn what it is that Calvinistic theology actually teaches about how a person is saved.

            In this article, I will attempt to answer two questions. First, does the gospel message itself, call for a volitional response from the hearers? Second, if it does, is it right for preachers to call for people to decide for Christ? My method will be to examine a few selected scripture passages dealing with salvation to see if a volitional call is there. My reason for selecting a few scriptures is in the interest of space. If this argument were developed more fully, I believe it would take a book to deal with all the passages that could be brought to bear on this topic. Then I will examine what certain reformed writers, both past and present, have said. I believe they will agree that there is a call within the gospel and that preachers ought to call for a response to the gospel call. Finally, I will offer a brief analysis and conclusions from the material presented. It is my hope to contribute to a more informed and rational discussion about the place of God and man in the salvation of sinners.

Scripture

            The beginning place for this discussion is to learn exactly what the gospel is. Once we are certain of what God is calling us to, we can then see clearly what we must do to answer the gospel call. The gospel is good news. The gospel message is best summed up by the Apostle Paul in his conversation with the Philippian jailer. “Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.” (Acts 16:29-34).[4] There are several things to notice from this pivotal passage.

            First, he was told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The statement begs the question, believe what? This is the heart of the gospel question. Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Note here again, the promise is to whoever believes. There are two things that must be believed in order for the sinner to be saved from the judgment of God. First, that Jesus is the God-man. Jesus warned, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24). The word He is italicized in the King James and New King James versions of the Bible. That means it was added by the translators for readability in the English. Jesus is telling his detractors that he is the I AM[5], God Himself. Jesus said if they do not believe this, they will die in their sins. Jesus also makes this confession the rock on which the Church is built. “He said to them, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.’” (Matt. 16:15-18). Peter himself is not the rock on which the Church is built. The Apostles are foundational but Jesus Himself is the chief cornerstone of the Church. Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity is the tie that binds all Christians together. Peter’s confession is that Jesus is the “Christ, the Son of the Living God.” To be the Son of God is also to be God the Son. The Jews clearly saw this when they said, “For a good work we do not stone you, but for a blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:33). So, in order to be saved, one must first believe Jesus is the God-man.

            Secondly, to be saved, one must believe what Jesus did. Jesus died on the cross for sinners. The Apostle Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2). That is because the crucifixion of Jesus is the very heart of the gospel message. Jesus knew that his death and resurrection had to happen. Jesus told his disciples, “He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to him: ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and scourge him, and spit on him and kill him. And on the third day, he will rise again.’” (Mark 10:32-34). Jesus taught two disciples on the road to Emmaus about the gospel after he rose from the dead, “Then he said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27). Paul is extremely explicit about the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus in Romans 5 where he states, “For when we were without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.”  (vs. 6); and again, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (vs. 8); and finally, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification to life.” (vs. 18). Jesus died as a substitute for sinners. So, believing who Jesus was and believing what he did on the sinner’s behalf are the two things one has to believe in order to be saved from the judgment of God.

            As we come to exercise saving faith it goes without saying that one must first see themselves as a sinner in need of a savior and turn from their sin and self righteousness and turn to Christ with faith in who he is and what he did for the sinner personally. A person is saved by believing that God so loved them personally that he sent Jesus to die for them personally. Decisional regenerationists[6] believe that a person is saved by making a positive decision for Jesus; however, the Bible teaches that we are saved by what Jesus did for us on the cross almost 2000 years ago. We believe what Jesus did on the cross, we confess Christ as our savior, and we make Him Lord by accepting His Lordship over us as our God. This is Paul’s meaning to the Philippian jailer when he said to believe on “the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is exactly in keeping with the spirit of Romans 10:9-11 which says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.’” The heart believes and the mouth confesses what Jesus did for sinners 2000 years ago.

            Nestled into all those passages are words that indicate volitional action. In Acts 16, the jailer was told to believe. In fact, the words believe, trust, and have faith in, are used synonymously throughout scripture when talking about being saved. In John 6:37, Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.” (Emphasis added). These are action words. For all that God does in the salvation of men, God calls for a response on the part of men as they come to salvation in Jesus. Yet, to be clear, nothing that men do merits salvation. That is, there is nothing done by men that would make God save them because of the thing they did.[7] But so saying in no way mitigates or denies the fact that God calls for a response on the part of men to his saving work. In Acts 16 we saw we needed to believe. In Romans 10 we were told to believe and confess. In John 6, it was come to Jesus. These statements make it clear from scripture; the gospel is a call to respond. Men must make a volitional response if they are to be saved. The number of available scripture passages that could be cited in support would be far too many for the scope of this article, but these few are enough.

Review of the Literature

            Now, we ask, is this what reformed writers have taught? Many who argue against any kind of volitional response believe they are continuing the great reformation teaching of the gospel. But are they? I believe a review of reformed writers, both past and present will proved that these modern day hypercalvinists are wrong and those reformed Christians who call men to respond are the actual ones continuing the teaching of the past. So, to the question, “Have reformed writers and preachers called for a response from sinners to be saved?” We answer, “Yes.” Both historically reformed writers and modern reformed writers all teach that a volitional response by men to the work of God is needed in conversion.[8] My task here will be to review what reformed writers of the past, especially Calvin, Luther, Edwards, and selected puritans have said. Then I will briefly examine selected modern reformed writers, including John Piper, and Ian and John Murray, among others. We have posited that the scriptures teach that a volitional response to God’s saving work is required of man, and now we add to that the idea that this is what reformed writers have always taught.

            John Calvin said, “Faith is the hand of the soul, which receives, through the same efficacy of the Holy Spirit, Christ offered to us in the gospels.”[9] Calvin then elaborates, “We say that faith justifies not because it merits justification for us by it’s own worth, but because it is an instrument by which we freely obtain the righteousness of Christ.”[10] A few lines later he adds, “But in this life it is only by faith and hope that we acknowledge God.”[11] Earlier in the same section, Calvin says that faith apprehends these (the mercy of God and the merits of Christ). The way Calvin uses the word faith makes it clear he is talking about the exercise of faith, not simply the existence of faith. To have faith is to exercise that faith in appropriating an object. Faith has an object. To have faith in an object (Christ) is to exercise saving faith in grasping who Christ is and what Christ has done. So Calvin speaks of faith as the instrument by which the merits of Christ’s work are appropriated to the believer.

            In a related issue, Calvin saw repentance as tied up intimately with faith. Calvin believed repentance is a product of saving faith.[12] Repentance is defined as a change of mind that results in a change of action. Vine notes that it is a mercy of God in ‘giving’ repentance or leading men to it.[13] So, we see that repentance is something that has it’s root in the work of God, specifically, the revelation of man’s need for salvation from his sinful state. But just as God “leads men to” repentance, it is men who repent.

            Parker continues to comment on Calvin’s definition of faith, which is covered in book III of the Institutes, as saying, “Two things are to be grasped here. We must have confidence in God’s Word; for there can never be assurance while we are doubtful whether we know God’s will or whether He will be true to His Word. Then there is the accepting of God’s promise for oneself; for there can never be assurance while we think of God’s will apart from ourselves. Put simply, it is not only that God loves the world, but that God loves me; not that Christ died for sinners, but that he died for me.”[14] This gets to the heart of our original premise, that one must believe in what Christ did for the sinner personally, in order to be saved from God’s judgment. Note that Parker, commenting on Calvin, says two things must be grasped by the believer, confidence in God’s Word, and the work of Christ on the believer’s personal behalf. This grasping is not mere intellectual assent. Calvin said elsewhere, “It cannot be grasped by reason or memory only, but it is fully understood when it possesses the whole soul and penetrates to the inner recesses of the heart.”[15] Calvin saw faith in the believer as something the believer exercised and which affected all the faculties of the believer in approbating the merits of Christ’s work.

            In his writings, Jonathan Edwards believes faith is an action word and requires something of the believer in order to be efficacious. He says, “There is a work or business which men must enter upon and accomplish in order to obtain salvation.”[16] Edwards explores this idea through a series of questions and answers. The first question to his proposition deals with the nature of the work involved. He answers himself, “It is the work of seeking salvation in a way of constant observance of all the duty to which God directs in his Word.”[17] In the application part of that sermon[18] Edwards demonstrates that he is talking to lost sinners with this gospel call, “Seeing it is for yourselves, for your own salvation; seeing it is for so great a salvation, for your deliverance from eternal destruction; and seeing it is of such absolute necessity in order for your salvation, that the deluge of wrath will come, and there is no escaping it without preparing an ark – is it not best for you to undertake the work, engage in it with all your might, and go through it, though this cannot be done without great labor, difficulty, and expense?” (emphasis added).[19] Clearly, Jonathan Edwards saw the need for a man to have a volitional response to the work of God in bringing men to Christ.

            The Scottish preacher Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), while preaching on the text “Strive ye to enter in” (Luke 13:23-30), said this, “Oh strive to enter in at the straight gate. It is but a little while and all this shall be as I have said. Oh, begin now. May God awaken some of you to begin today.”[20] McCheyne gets it exactly right here. God initiates and man responds. The puritan preacher Ralph Erskine preached in depth on the need of men to receive Christ.[21] Erskine was a predecessor of McCheyne, but both hold forth the same message.

            Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, as he is called, was often accused of being promiscuous with the gospel as I earlier noted. In a day when hypercalvinism was in vogue, Spurgeon went against the prevailing trend and offered the gospel freely and to all people, calling on each to surrender to the Lordship of Christ, believe the gospel, and be saved.[22] At the end of a message based on 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (“God our savior, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”), Spurgeon said this, “[God] will not save any man except he forsake his sins, and turns to Him with a full purpose of heart.”[23] We find then, Spurgeon saw the need for man to have a volitional response to the work of God in the gospel.

            More modern Calvinistic writers also argue for man’s response to God’s initiative. Iain Murray wrote “While the human element and the divine may be distinguished in words, in reality, they are so miraculously conjoined that the human cannot be truly understood without giving full weight to the supernatural.” (emphasis added).[24]

            John Murray, getting the point exactly right, says, “Regeneration is the act of God and God alone. But faith is not the act of God; it is not God who believes in Christ for salvation, it is the sinner. It is by God’s grace that a person is able to believe but faith is an activity on the part of the person and of him alone. In faith we receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation.”[25] Murray has come right to the core of the issue. The issue is God’s initiative and man’s response.

            The Southern Baptist preacher B.H. Carroll of Texas said in a sermon, “Whoever is a convert, whoever has come to Christ for drink, whoever has cooled his lips – burning, swollen, and parched by the hot fires of sin – in the fountain of Christ, out of him in turn shall flow rivers of living water.”[26]

            In a collection of sermons by preachers of the past, Richard Owen Roberts offers a sermon by Samuel Davies (1723-1761), in which Davies points out, “Evangelical repentance implies a believing application to God for pardon only through Jesus Christ.” (emphasis added).[27]

            John Piper, one of the most popular Calvinistic writers of today said, “… pleading with our listeners to make a response to our preaching is not at odds with a high doctrine of the sovereignty of God. When we preach, to be sure, it is God who affects the results for which we long. But that does not rule out our earnest appeals for our people to respond.”[28] Piper quotes Edwards saying, “Sinners … should earnestly be invited to come and accept of a savior, and yield their hearts unto him, with all the winning, encouraging arguments for them … that the gospel affords.”[29] Again Piper quotes Edwards, “We are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. For that is what He produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are, in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active.”[30] Piper developed his theological convictions after a lifetime of study in the scriptures and the life of Jonathan Edwards.

            It is possible to continue without end to produce Calvinistic Christian writers, preachers, pastors, and theologians, who call for men to make a volitional response to the gospel message. But these few I have mentioned should be sufficient for the task of demonstrating our point.

Analysis and Conclusions

            The testimony of the Bible is clear that the gospel is a call to a response. The simple gospel is “repent and believe.” Turn from your sins and believe on the work the Lord Jesus Christ did on your behalf on the cross of Calvary, nearly 2000 years ago. The very terms turn and believe are action words demanding a response from the listener. The Apostle Paul told the people of Athens, “[God] now commands all men everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30). God is calling for men to respond to His gospel message. If it is true that God is calling men to respond, and it is, then it is not wrong to press men to decide to make that response. The gospel message calls for a decision and it is not wrong for a preacher to ask his listeners to make that decision. It seems the apostles and prophets of the early Church did exactly that. As they traveled throughout the first century world, they spread the good news of Jesus and called people to respond with repentance and faith in the living Lord.

            Calvinistic writers and preachers of times past and today have that same message. The good news of Jesus is a message of the work God has done for sinners who come to Christ in faith. It calls for everyone who hears it to believe it, that the work Jesus did was done personally for them. It is a promise that everyone who comes to Jesus in faith will find mercy from God and be saved.

            Yet, we are careful to note that no one teaches that our work in coming to Christ merits our salvation. We are not saved by trading our good decisions, our baptism, or our good behavior for God’s application of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to us. All the merit is done on God’s side. All the approbation of that merit is on our side. Over and over, this point has been made. Often Calvinistic preachers are reluctant to call men to a decision for fear that men will believe their decision had merit in coming to Christ. In some churches where there is a Calvinistic pastor, no call for decisions is given at all. It is thought that the call for a decision will teach that we are saved part by what Jesus did and part by our decision. We are saved by Christ alone and not by anything we can add to what Christ did. Good teaching and a clear call for response should correct the idea that we have any merit in coming to Christ. This fear should be no barrier to calling men to Christ. All the work that has merit for our salvation is done by God, and by faith we appropriate it to ourselves. It is both biblical and right to call people to exercise faith in Christ and believe.

            Still, some young Calvinists and some untaught Calvinists today are saying that we do not appropriate the work of Christ through our exercise of faith. They argue that would be adding works to grace and would be destroying the gospel. They argue further that no Calvinist has ever taught that man must appropriate the works of Christ to himself. Thus they argue that they are the true reformed Christians, and others are not. I believe it has been shown definitively that not only do the scriptures teach man’s free volitional response to the gospel message, but that this is the very thing taught and preached by Calvinistic preachers throughout the centuries. These neocalvinists, who I believe are in real danger of budding into hypercalvinists, are simply wrong to deny the need for the free volitional response to the gospel message.

            We Calvinists need to be the most passionate evangelists and gospel preachers in the Christian Church. Jonathan Edwards believed the chief passion of the minister was the passion for souls. Our high theology compels us into the world with the simple message “Jesus saves! Jesus saves!” God has promised us a harvest. But through it all, salvation comes by the exercise of saving faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the God-man, on the cross for each believer personally. This is what we believe. This is what we teach. And Calvinists throughout time have called people to respond to that saving message.

            Let us take our stand boldly with our predecessors and proclaim the gospel message far and wide. Let us be promiscuous like Spurgeon and call for decisions like Edwards. Let it compel us on like Carroll and let it lead us to the glory of God like Piper. Oh friends, preach and preach boldly. God has guaranteed the results in His time. Preach and call for decisions. Be warned of the heresy of the hypercalvinist and avoid it at all costs. Let us be evangelical Calvinists. Believing God is in control, let’s go forth!

 Bibliography

            Calvin, J. (1952). Golden booklet of the true Christian life, reprint. Baker:
Grand Rapids.

            Beveridge, H. (tr.). (1989). Calvin, J. (1559). The institutes of the Christian religion. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids.

            Carroll, B. (1995). Baptists and their doctrines. Broadman and Holman: Nashville.

            Edwards, J. (1998). Pressing into the kingdom, reprint. Soli Deo Gloria: Morgan.

            McMullen, M. ed., (1999). The passionate preacher: previously unpublished sermons by Robt Murray McCheyne. Geanies: Fearn.

            Murray, I. (2000). Evangelicalism divided. Banner of Truth: Carlisle.

            Murray, I. (1995). Spurgeon v. hypercalvinism. Banner of Truth: Carlisle.

            Murray, J. (1955). Redemption accomplished and applied. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids.

            Parker, T. (1995). Calvin: an introduction to his thought. Knox: Louisville.

            Piper, J. (1990). The supremacy of God in preaching. Baker: Grand Rapids.

            Roberts, R. ed. (1994). Salvation in full color. International Awakening: Wheaton.

            Vine, W. (1985). Vine’s expository dictionary of biblical words. Thomas Nelson: Nashville.

Author

John Timothy Sneed is the pastor of North Hill Baptist Church (SBC) in Minot, North Dakota. He previously served in Nebraska. John retired from the United States Air Force where he worked as a draftsman, surveyor, and construction inspector. He was the 1996 Chaplain of the Year for the Nebraska Wing of the Civil Air Patrol and still serves as a volunteer police chaplain in Minot. He holds an Associate of Applied Science degree in Construction Technology from the Community College of the Air Force, a Bachelor of Science degree in Educational Ministries from Liberty University, and is a Master of Education candidate at Minot State University. He is a huge fan of Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards and loves reading puritan writers. He is married and has 2 children. In his spare time, he reads, writes poetry, and practices competition fencing.

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