Utility of the Doctrines of Grace

INTRODUCTION

This booklet contains a series of articles concerning the utility -- that is, the usefulness -- of the doctrines of grace. These doctrines, especially in the area of evangelism, come under attack, not only for being less than useful, but for being downright counterproductive. Quite often we hear the position espoused that such things, if they ought to be taught at all, should be reserved for those already converted. They are treated as intellectual niceties which have little, if any, practical value in winning the lost to Christ. It's the aim of this booklet to show that the very opposite is true. Not only are these truths useful in evangelizing the lost, they are the precise antidote to the poisonous errors that grip most of evangelical Christianity in our day.

Let me say from the outset that it's not the usefulness of any truth that qualifies that truth for publication or dissemination. The whole counsel of God is to be taught and proclaimed for no other reason than that it is the hole counsel of God . If proclaiming what is true about God and His relationship with man drives everyone away, we ought still to proclaim it, letting God be true and every man a liar! While it's true that some in their zeal for these doctrines have erred in the opposite direction -- teaching nothing but the sovereignty of God's grace to the exclusion of proclaiming human responsibility -- any thinking man will immediately recognize that this is not the major problem confronting the evangelical community in our day. We face an entire generation who have cut their teeth on the idea that they can be saved any time, any place, and, almost, in any way that they please. It is this haughty, prideful spirit of our day which this booklet seeks to address.

This author's hope is that the reader would read with a teachable spirit and Bible in hand. The scriptures are our final authority, not only for our doctrinal beliefs, but also for our evangelism and the tools we utilize in that evangelism.

Dead Or Alive?

The Evangelical Utility of the Doctrine of Total Inability

Consider for a moment the utility of the doctrine of Total Inability . This doctrine states, in a nutshell, that every faculty of man's being has been pervaded by sin in the fall of Adam. The whole man -- his mind, his heart, and, especially, his will -- has been so affected by the fall that he is in a state of utter and complete inability to comply with God's commandments. His problem is far deeper than that he simply will not . For he's neither spiritually injured, nor spiritually sick, but in a state of spiritual death , resulting in a condition which can only be described by the word cannot ! Does he have free will ? Well, if you mean by that, is he free to choose what a man who is dead in trespasses and sins will choose, of course! It is the nature of the tree, says Jesus, that determines the nature of the fruit (Matt. 7:17-18). In like manner, the fallen nature of the sinner will determine the nature of his choices. Therefore, though the scripture declares that a lost man MUST beborn again, it just as clearly declares that such a new birth occurs by the free will of God, not the free will of man (John 1:13). Though it declares that men MUST come to Christ to be saved, it just as clearly declares that men cannot come unless God effectually draws them (John 6:44-45). Though it declares that men MUST believe on Christ to be saved, it just as clearly declares that the faith that saves the soul is a gift of God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29). Though it declares men MUST receive the things of the spirit of God to be saved, it just as clearly declares that such things cannot be received by lost men (I Cor. 2:14).

Let me illustrate. several years ago a young man, complaining of this doctrine, declared to me, I think salvation works like this: Lost men are in a condition like a sick man in a bed dying of pneumonia. Christ is like the antibiotic which God has placed on the night stand next to him. The message of the Gospel is that if only he will reach out to the nightstand and take the medicine, he'll be saved! I replied like this: I agree with your illustration, as far as it goes. Certainly Christ is medicine , if you will, the remedy for man's need. God has set Him before men, and has commanded all men to lay hold of Him. But here your illustration breaks down. If I have pneumonia, my body may be attacked by the sickness, but my will to choose or reject treatment remains untouched. But in the case of a lost sinner, it's especially his will that's sick! He refuses to take the medicine for the simple fact that he loves his sickness and despises the remedy. In fact, he'd rather DIE as take the medicine! so you might as well have a dead man lying in that bed.

Now where does that leave a man? Our opponents say, in despair, with no hope. If you mean that it leaves men despairing of any hope in THEMSELVES, then I most wholeheartedly concur. In fact, that's precisely where a man MUST be brought if ever he would be saved. He must despair of his own goodness, his own ability, his own righteousness, and cast himself wholly and solely upon the mercy of God in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. His cry must be that of Toplady s: Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling .

It is rare today to find a man in such a condition. The vast majority of our generation have cut their teeth on a teaching that tells them that God has done all that He can do to save them, and now it's all up to them to accept (terminology used nowhere in scripture) His offer. Notice who this leaves in the driver's seat! It's no wonder that we labor among a people who think they can be saved if, when, and how they please -- and are quite indignant when you tel them that the case is quite otherwise. Rather than bringing them to despair of self, this teaching specifically points them TO themselves as the critical contributor to their salvation! Jesus, they are told, is like the beggar knocking outside their hearts door. He is pleading with them to let Him save them (notice who's in charge of the situation). Rather than stripping the man of every possible ground of boasting, this system leaves man with at least one act of which he may justly be proud and boastful -- his vaunted choice which allowed the work of Christ to be effectual and the will of God not to be frustrated.

The true Gospel of Christ has a far different effect. It produces knocking and pleading, but, in this case, it's the sinner who is doing it! Notice how Paul introduces Jesus Christ to the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill in Acts 17. Analyze his sermon carefully. These men have never heard of Jesus Christ. How does he introduce them to Him? Notice that the very first glimpse he gives these pagans of the savior is not as a beggar at their back door, but as the One Who holds their destiny in His Hands! The question, sinner, is not what you'll do with Jesus, but what He'll do with YOU! Left to yourself, you'll bar the door of your heart to the King of Glory. Were it not for His power to open the barred hearts of men (Acts 16:14), no man would be saved.

Does this lead to passivity or fatalism? Why should it? suppose I have a deadly disease. Left to myself, I'll surely die. Yet I ve heard of a great physician who is able to treat and cure cases like mine. Do I despair? Of myself yes! But what's to prevent me from going and camping out at that doctor's doorstep, pleading with him to take my case? But , says someone, this treatment is incredibly expensive, and you don t have a red cent to your name! What's to keep me from begging him to take me on as a charity case? Nothing! Nothing, that is, except my proud heart. Ah, there's the rub! Now we ve hit upon the real issue! God offers salvation freely to hell-deserving sinners like you -- but you'll have to come down off your high- horse to receive it.

At the conclusion of a parable in which a Publican is justified by casting himself on God's mercy, and a proud Pharisee is rejected, Christ says, EVERYONE that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:14, My emphasis). That is just as much a universal declaration as John 3:16, is it not? Does one of those verses apply, but not the other? No, the matter is quite clear: salvation will only be found by men who ve drun deeply from the cup of humility. sinner, if God leaves you a leg to stand on, you'll try to stand on it! If He leaves you any other hope but Christ, you'll trust it rather than Him! If He leaves you any other hiding place but in the savior, you'll flee to it and ignore Him! If He leaves you any other ground on which to stand than upon Christ, you'll bank your soul upon that sinking sand rather than upon the solid Rock! It may be humbling to utterly turn your back on self, but it's absolutely essential. For God has placed a Rock in Zion, and either you will fall upon that Rock, and be broken, or that Rock will fall upon you and grind you to powder! There is no middle ground!