Classic
Calvinism on DVDs
Reformation Bookshelf DVDs: Reformation Bookshelf CD Series Super
Sale
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
Back to swrb home page (and full site navigation)
FREE WILL vs. THE BIBLE
by
Reg Barrow
Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God (John
1:13).
Of
his own will begat he
us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures (James 1:18).
And
a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which
were spoken of Paul (Acts 16:14).
The
king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth
it whithersoever he will
(Prov. 21:1).
For
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that showeth mercy (Rom. 9:15-16).
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved… In whom also we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Eph. 1:3-6, 9).
"...
and I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, 'If
any man doth ascribe of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of
man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright.' It may seem a harsh sentiment; but
he who in his soul believes that man does of his own free will turn to God,
cannot have been taught of God, for that is one of the first principles taught
us when God begins with us, that we have neither will nor power, but that He
gives both; that He is 'Alpha and Omega' in the salvation of men." (Charles H. Spurgeon from the sermon 'Free
Will A Slave' (1855) referring to Luther's book The Bondage of the Will which is listed with other resources on
this topic after this article).
"Free
will" is represented by "Arminianism teaches" below.
Arminianism teaches: '... and as many as believed were
ordained to eternal life.'
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'AND AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED.' (Acts 13:48)
Arminianism teaches:
"For many are called, but few choose."
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'FOR MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.' (Matt. 22:14)
Arminianism teaches:
"Make your decision for Christ.:
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him.' (Matt. 11:27)
Arminianism teaches:
"I accepted Jesus as my personal saviour."
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you (John 15:16). Also: But when it
pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his
grace, to reveal his Son in me.' (Paul's testimony in Galatians 1:15,16)
Arminianism teaches:
"God can't save you unless you let him, it is your choice."
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that sheweth mercy...Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he hardeneth.' (Romans 9:16, 18).
Arminianism teaches:
"God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of
him that calleth:) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As
it is written, Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated.' (Rom. 9:11-13).
Arminianism teaches:
"God wants everyone to be saved."
THE BIBLE TEACHES:
'And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not
understand...'(Mark 4:11,12).
The Need for an
Uncompromising and Vigilant Witness Against Arminianism
Warnings from the pulpit and
denunciation of the errors of Arminianism are not now heard as once they were.
Even in pulpits where the truth is preached, it is to be feared that, in some
cases, a faithful witness is not raised against Arminianism. The cause of this
may be due in a measure to the fact that in defending the cause of truth new
forms of error have to be exposed and assailed, with the result that the old
enemy is left so far unmolested as if it were dead. Unfortunately this is not
so; Arminianism is very much alive in the pulpit, in the theological and
religious press, and in the modem evangelistic meeting . . . . . When we bear
in mind the horror with which our forefathers regarded Arminianism, the modern
attitude to it indicates how far the professing Church has drifted from the
position of the theologians of those days." ('The Reformed Faith" by
the Rev. D. Beaton, p. 18).
Arminianism was the false gospel
of John Wesley and his followers in the eighteenth century, and of D. L. Moody
in the nineteenth. It is the stock-in-trade of well nigh all the popular
evangelists of this century from Billy Graham downwards. The gospel halls of
the Brethren, Open and Closed, are nurseries of Arminianism. The active agents
of the Faith Mission and the Salvation Army, notwithstanding the moral and
social results to the credit of the latter, spread the plague on every side.
All the sects which have sprung up in these latter times, however divergent in
their doctrines and practices -- Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists,
Pentecostalists, Mormons, Christadelphians, Cooneyites, etc., etc., have all in
common, the fatal lie of free-willism. It is Satan's sovereign drug, which
causes the soul to sleep in delusion, and the end of such delusion is death.
"Free will," says Spurgeon, "has carried many souls to hell but
never a soul to heaven."
Arminianism is armed to the
teeth in enmity to true and vital godliness. Where it flourishes its fruits are
a superficial goody-goody form of godliness -- the lamp and the light of the
foolish virgins which went out in death and in despair. The Declaratory Acts of
1879, 1892 and 1921 in Scotland, and in 1901 in the Presbyterian Church of New
Zealand threw open the flood-gates to the deluge of Arminianism. Spiritual
death and desolation followed. The fat land was turned into barrenness, and the
Churches adopting these Declaratory Acts are now well on the road to Rome. The
'sovereign drug' of Arminianism has flourished beyond the wildest dreams of
priests and Jesuits. It is not by open and unabashed passing of nefarious
Declaratory Acts that Satan as an angel of light now works. Subtle infiltration
is his present policy and technique. What need there is for the 'denunciation'
and the 'horror' the Rev. D. Beaton refers to, as the cloven-hoof of
Arminianism is unmistakably seen far within the tents of the popular
evangelical conventions, fellowships, and unions of our day! The Scripture
Union, the Inter-Varsity Fellowship, the International Council of Christian
Churches, the conventions of the Keswick fraternity etc., are all riddled with
the cancer of Arminianism.
FROM: Arminianism: Another
Gospel (Free MP3 and PDF), by William MacLean
Reformation
Bookshelf DVD Series Super Sale
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
LUTHER,
MARTIN
The Bondage of the Will (tenth printing 1998)
The
Bondage of the Will
is fundamental to an understanding of the primary doctrines of the Reformation. In these pages, Luther gives extensive
treatment to what he saw as the heart of the gospel. Free will was no
academic question to Luther; the whole gospel of the grace of God, he believed,
was bound up with it and stood or fell according to the way one decided it... This is the greatest piece of writing
that came from Luther's pen. In its vigour of language, its profound
theological grasp, and the grand sweep of its exposition, it stands unsurpassed
among Luther's writings (front and back cover).
Luther recognized this book
as his most important work and even said that if all his other books perished,
he would hope that this one, along with his Small Catechism, would be the only ones to remain. As noted above, this is one of the most
important books of the early Reformation, for it deals with what Luther saw to
be the heart of the Gospel.
Luther here refutes the Romish
notion of "free will" in man and upholds the absolute sovereignty of
God in the salvation of sinners -- as well as justification by faith alone. Luther
clearly saw the issue of free will as the primary cause of his separation from
Rome.
In this book he replied to the
Roman Catholic scholar, Erasmus, and his diatribe The Freedom of the Will. Though disagreeing with just about
everything else Erasmus wrote, Luther commended Erasmus for recognizing the crux of the matter at issue between Rome and the Bible
believers, the debate over "free will." In this regard Luther wrote,
that
unlike all the rest, you alone have attacked the real issue, the essence of the
matter in dispute (i.e. man's so-called free-will--RB)... You and you alone
saw, what was the grand hinge upon which the whole turned, and therefore you
attacked the vital part at once; for which, from my heart, I thank you.
"This book is most needful
at the present day," noted Atherton in 1931, for "the teachings of
many so-called Protestants are more in accordance with the Dogmas of the
Papists, or the ideas of Erasmus, than with the Principles of the Reformers;
they are more in harmony with the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent
than with the Protestant or Reformed Confessions of Faith."
It is easy to see how a lack of
doctrinal and historical study is leading many into serious compromise with the
false ecumenical apostasy espoused by Rome and other idolatrous beliefs which
cry up man's ability to save himself (as with Arminianism) and to devise his
own methods of worship (as with those that oppose the Reformation's regulative
principle of worship in favor of their own will worship). In this area, many
"Protestants," even now, bow down to Rome's humanistic,
anti-Christian idol of free will.
It is our hope that God will use
Luther's classic to give you the strength to remain faithful to His Word; this
being a great place to start a new Reformation, for as the translators write
concerning this book, "Nowhere does Luther come closer, either in
spirit or in substance to the Paul of Romans and Galatians."
Available at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/L.htm
The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther (OFFSITE)
Free at: http://www.covenanter.org/Luther/Bondage/bow_toc.htm
FIRST
TIME ENGLISH TRANSLATION!
CALVIN,
JOHN
The Bondage and Liberation of the Will: A Defense of the Orthodox Doctrine
of Human Choice Against Pighius (1543, 1996)
"In the belief that the
1539 edition of Calvin's Institutes,
and in particular its chapters on free choice and predestination, constituted a
greater danger than did the other 'Lutheran' writings, the Dutch Roman Catholic
theologian Albert Pighius wrote a response entitled Ten Books on Human Free
Choice and Divine Grace
(1542). Calvin, when he saw Pighius's work, felt a pressing need to respond to
Pighius's first six books, that is, those on free choice. The result was The
Bondage and Liberation of the Will
(1543). The Bondage and Liberation of the Will is undoubtedly the most significant
of Calvin's works hitherto not translated in English. This is in striking contrast to
Luther's study on the same topic, which is one of his best-known
publications." This
is Calvin's "fullest treatment of the relation between grace and free
will, and contains important material not found elsewhere in his writings. It also contains far more discussion
of the early church fathers than does any other of Calvin's works, apart from the Institutes. It is high time that this major work is
made available to those whose knowledge of Calvin is confined to English
translations" (back cover). 303 pages.
Available at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/C.htm
This is the best contemporary
book explaining the foundations of Calvinism. This book is like a key that, by God's grace, opens the
door of understanding to some of the most blessed truths in Scripture. From the
myriad of testimonies that we have heard concerning how God has used this book,
we think that we can safely say that this is also the best book to pass on to
those that you want to introduce to Calvinism. This is the full, unedited Baker
Book House edition. Indexed.
Available at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/P.htm
The Sovereignty of God
This is the edited Banner of Truth edition of Pink's book.It leaves out
the three following chapters: "The Sovereignty of God in
Reprobation;" "God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility;"
"Difficulties and Objections." It also does not contain the four
following appendices: "The Will of God;" "The Case of
Adam;" The Meaning of "Kosmos" in John 3:16;""I John
2:2." However, it does contain some very helpful editorial footnotes
that the Baker edition does not contain.
Available at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/P.htm
This book is also available in
the FREE BOOKS file on all Reformation
Bookshelf CDs (CD SUPER SALE) at: http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
Free at: http://www.reformed.org/calvinism/ (OFFSITE)
Still Waters Revival Books
(Reformation resources at great discounts!)
Email: swrb@swrb.com
Home page at: http://www.swrb.com