Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 11
November 12, 1959
NUMBER 27, PAGE 5a-7b

The Freeness Of Salvation

Herschel E. Patton, Shelbyville, Tennessee

We are making a study of nineteen articles of faith as found recorded in the standard manual for churches professing these beliefs. We make this study in the interest of truth. These beliefs are thought by those holding them to be scripturally founded. If they are, then all should thus believe if they are walking by faith. The only way to determine whether they are "of heaven" or "of men is to consider them in the light of the scriptures, and this is just what we are doing.

Article No VI.

"We believe the scriptures teach that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel: that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own determined depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel; which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation."

Blessings Of Salvation Free To All By The Gospel

The first statement of belief here is "We believe the scriptures teach that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel." By reviewing what is said in article number five, we can see what is meant by "blessings of salvation." Here we were told "that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in him is justification," and that these blessings include "the pardon of sin, and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness." So, by the first statement in article number six is meant, pardon from sin, and the gift of eternal life, along with every blessing needful for time and eternity is made free to all by the gospel. That salvation is free no one will deny. It is not something that can be bought or obtained as payment of debt. Revelation 22:17 says "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Please keep in mind, however, that the freeness of salvation does not rule out conditions upon which the gift has been promised. God said to Joshua, I have given unto thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days." In the verses that follow further instructions are given. The Bible plainly states that Jericho was a gift from God to Joshua; however conditions had to be met. When all conditions had been met and the city taken, it was theirs as a gift of God and not by their works. The statement that the blessings of salvation are free is scriptural and therefore true; but when one makes the word "free" exclude any and all conditions upon which the blessings are promised, as is done by those embracing these articles, then they are wrong.

But aside from the blessings of salvation being free, it is affirmed in this sixth article that these blessings are made free to all BY THE GOSPEL. Back in article five these blessings were called "the great GOSPEL blessing." According to these statements, these blessings cannot be had separate and apart from the gospel. This idea is right and scriptural, but is contradictory to other statements previously made in other articles. In article number four we were told that "the salvation of sinners is WHOLLY of grace; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God." How can a thing be WHOLLY OF GRACE and also by the GOSPEL? If both grace and gospel are needed, then it is not WHOLLY of either one. In article number five we were told that these gospel blessings are bestowed SOLELY through faith in Christ. In articles four, five and six we have presented the idea that salvation is WHOLLY of grace, SOLELY by faith, and also BY THE GOSPEL. Now, if grace, faith and the gospel are all essential in man's salvation, why say it is WHOLLY of one, and SOLELY of another? Surely you can see, my friends, the foolishness, unscripturalness and absurdity of the terms "wholly" and "solely."

It would be well for us, at this point, to notice a few scriptures which show that the blessings of salvation are provided by or through the gospel. Paul said to the Romans, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (1:16). To the Corinthians Paul said "in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel" (1 Cor. 4:15) In this same letter, chapter 15, verses 1 and 2 he says "I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; BY WHICH ALSO YE ARE SAVED, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you." The gospel is the means by which the blessings of salvation are made known. Without the gospel, no man could believe in Christ and therefore be saved (Rom. 10:13-14). What a wonder; ful arrangement! God's grace brought Jesus to this world to give his life a ransom for many. The gospel reveals the facts of this manifestation of grace as well as man's responsibility. By faith in the Christ thus revealed, man accepts the gift. How great and wonderful, therefore, are GRACE, FAITH, and THE GOSPEL. How foolish, on the other hand, to say "grace only" or "faith only."

The Duty Of All

The next statement in article number six is "That it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith." The "them" in this statement refers to the blessings of salvation. So, here we are told that it is the duty of all to accept the blessings of salvation by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith. Now, friends, contrast this statement with that in article number five which states that these blessings are bestowed, "not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in Christ." We are frequently told by advocates of the "grace only," "faith only" theories that there is absolutely nothing the individual can do to be saved — that anything the individual can do is absolutely not necessary to salvation; yet this article speaks of what is the duty of all. If man has a duty to perform in connection with his salvation, then righteousness is not imputed to him on account of what Christ did without effort on his part. In article number five we are told that these blessings are "bestowed, not in consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done," but by means of faith in Christ his righteousness is "freely imputed to us by God." Now, in article number six we are told that it is THE DUTY of all to do something. This is just a sample of the contradictions men make in their efforts to promote theories instead of relying completely upon the scriptures.

Now, just what is the duty of all in accepting the blessings of salvation? These are to be accepted, so this article says, "by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith." Here we have penitence and obedience coupled with faith as the way to accept these blessings. That repentance and obedience are a part of man's duty in accepting these blessings is clearly shown from the scriptures. Even in the footnotes of this article we have some scriptures listed to this effect. They are Acts 17:30 "And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." Romans 16:26 speaks of "the obedience of faith; and Mark 1:15 tells us that after John was imprisoned, Jesus told the Jews, who had forsaken the commandments of God, to "repent ye, and believe the gospel." So from what is said in this article and in the scriptures, we have faith, repentance and obedience listed as the duty of all in accepting the blessings of salvation. This is all true, but how does it fit in with the statement in article number five that the blessings are "bestowed SOLELY through faith in Christ"? Now if these blessings are bestowed SOLELY by faith in Christ, then repentance and obedience are not necessary. Here is another glaring contradiction found in these articles. That a penitent, obedient faith will bring one into possession of the blessings of salvation, we are forced to admit, for this is just what the scriptures teach; but to say one obtains these blessings "solely" by faith or by "faith only" is to advocate something that is in direct opposition to the scriptures. Faith only or faith alone is worthless. James says a man is justified "not by faith only" (James 2:24) and that "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (2:17). To show the folly of thinking faith alone is sufficient, James went ahead to say "the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, 0 vain man, that faith without works is dead." Isn't it a pity, friends, that men will teach the truth — saying the blessings of salvation are accepted by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith, then turn right around and deny it by saying these blessings are obtained "solely" by faith?

What Prevents Salvation

The next statement in article number six is "that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own determined depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel." This is a true statement — true because it is backed up with scripture. The scriptures to which we are cited are John 5:40 "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life"; Matthew 23:37 "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" These verses and others certainly show that if man is lost, it is because of his own determined and voluntary rejection of the gospel. Now, while this is all fine, what does it do for the teaching we reviewed back in article number three concerning the fall of man? There we were taught that man is a sinner, lost and condemned because of what he inherited in Adam — that men are born into this world totally depraved — and we are told that man, thus born, is so dead he cannot do anything about his salvation and must therefore look for a miracle to be performed on his behalf in order to be saved. The consequences of the teaching in article number three would make God responsible for every lost soul; but now, in this article, we are told that man is responsible — that is, it is because of his own determined depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel. From article number three it is contended "there is nothing man can do to be saved", but from article number six it is contended that there is something man must do, and that one's failure to be saved is due to his failure to do that which is required.

The last statement of the article under consideration states the results of this voluntary rejection of the gospel in these words, "which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation." This statement cannot be denied for the scriptures clearly teach that the one who stubbornly refuses to obey the gospel is involved in an aggravated condemnation. Jesus said, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19.) Other scriptures to this effect are Matthew 11:20; Luke 19:27; and II Thessalonians 1:8.

Conclusion

Article number six teaches that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel, which teaching is contradicted by the statement that salvation is "wholly" of grace in article number four. It teaches that it "is the immediate duty of all to accept them (blessings of salvation) by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith," which teaching is contradicted by the teaching that is "solely" through faith in article number five. It teaches that man is lost through his own "determined depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel," which teaching is contradicted in article number three by the idea that men are born totally depraved and can do nothing until God performs a miracle on them.

Thus we see that a person might embrace the teaching of one or more of these articles of faith, because they are founded on the scripture, but to embrace them all would be to become involved in a contradictory, unscriptural, and divisive faith.