Honoring Christ Our Savior with No Credit Ascribed to the Mythical Free Will of Spiritually Dead Sinners
God’s wrath against sinners is not a popular topic. It is quite biblical, however. The natural man’s assumption is that he is a good person who does his share of good works. Supposed good deeds, including good decisions, are the meritorious workings man thinks he is producing for God, in order to win the favor of the Almighty. The natural man, however, is deceived by Satan and his world system (Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9; Is 64:6; Jn 8:44; Rom 1:18–32; 3:10–12; 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4).
Sinners sin against God in lawless rebellion (1 Jn 3:4). For this, they suffer death and go to the judgment to receive their sentence of eternal punishment in the hell of the lake of fire (Mt 25:41, 46; Rom 3:23; 5:12; 6:23; Heb 9:27; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15).
Jesus Christ came the first time and will come again to deliver His church from God’s wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10). God’s wrath against sinners is a righteous judgment based on the holy Law of God (Gen 18:25). It is directed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom 1:18). Jesus is both just and the justifier of those who trust in Him (Rom 3:20). He is the propitiation for the sins of His people from around the world and across time (Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10).
It is essential to recognize the two groups formed either by their opposition to Christ Jesus or their love for Him (Jn 3:36; Rom 1:30; Jn 7:7; 15:18–25; 1 Jn 5:12). One group ever lives under the righteous wrath of God (Rom 9:22); while the other has His forgiveness for the entire debt of their sins (Mt 26:28; Eph 1:7; Col 2:14). One’s position in either group is based on the free will of God to have mercy or not. The promise of God is that He will have mercy upon the vessels of mercy He has chosen for salvation (Rom 9:15–16, 23; 11:5–6; 2 Thess 2:13).
There is nothing in the sons of Adam that warrants anything but the judgment and punishment of God (Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9; Rom 3:10–12); therefore, for one to receive mercy unto salvation is nothing but the grace of God (Eph 2:8–9). God purposed salvation. He decreed it. He willed it. He worked it. He accomplished it. He, alone, is glorified for it.
The pride of the Arminian decision maker is egregious. His boast in his mythical free will and the supposed wise choice he makes, which permits Jesus to save him, is arrogance at the highest level. Will a man steal glory from God for so great a salvation? God forbid. May it never be! Yet, the Arminian persists in assuring himself that God could have never saved him without his or her own cooperation.
In judging Jesus for being a worthy Savior or not a worthy savior, the Arminian is all but oblivious that he has put the Son of God on trial. Who made you the judge of Jesus’ meritorious work, O son of Arminius and Pelagius before him?
It is the pride of the Arminian that prevents him or her from acknowledging that God alone is the Savior from beginning to end (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1). God alone began the good work of salvation in His elect, redeemed people, and He will finish it (Phil 1:6). Denying the sovereignty of God in salvation is a gross error derived from not knowing the Scriptures.
By trusting in one’s own determination of Jesus’ merits, the Arminian produces a work unto salvation that is not good (Ps 14:1; 53:1). It is an evil deed to put God on trial; for there is no one good except God (Mk 10:18; Lk 18:19). There is no other Savior (Is 43:11; 45:21; Hos 13:4). God alone saves His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved…and that we actually are saved (Acts 4:12; Titus 3:5). Jesus does not need your help, O Arminian.
By the nature of his pride, the Arminian loathes the doctrines of God’s sovereignty, election, predestination, and particular redemption. In order to protect his own reputation as an excellent decision maker, the Arminian must deny the exclusive work of God to save those whose names He has written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27). The idea that God made each person for His own purposes is an affront to the Arminian (Rom 9:22–23), especially because it destroys his man-centered theology storyline.
“God doesn’t wish for any to perish because He so loved the world” is the Arminian retort misusing John 3:16 and 2 Pet 3:9. It never occurs to the Arminian, based on the context of both passages, that the Bible is about God saving His chosen people, that is, Christ saving His bride, His church, the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). This is by way of transfer and rebirth (Jn 3:1–8; Eph 1:13; Col 1:13; 1 Pet 1:3). Simply put, God saves His elect, redeemed people by giving them a new heart (Ezek 36:26) within a new context (“in Christ”).
If God does not want any person to perish, meaning any one at all, then why do so many perish? Has God’s will failed along with His work? According to the Arminian, God wills salvation for everyone, but God’s will does not come to pass. Further, we ask, “Are the people burning in hell on the day of Jesus’ birth a testament to God’s failed enterprise and mission?”
If only the Arminian had eyes to see the gross error of his man-centered theology. He would be repulsed by his pride and arrogance in positioning himself as “God’s co-pilot.” “God needs me to make a good choice. God believes in me to do this one good work, this one good decision that will put salvation into effect for me. God gave me free will to achieve this one good work to earn my salvation,” is the Arminian argument for himself.
The Arminian tells others about “the possibility” of salvation, even for those vessels of wrath being prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22). He insists that God is offering salvation to everyone. The problem is that a huge swath of humanity throughout history have never heard the name of Jesus. Did God fail in that work, too, Mr. Arminian?
The Arminian has no answer for those in eternal hell, who never heard the name of Jesus or learned of His perfect works. God did not want those people to perish; but God must have lacked the will or ability to reach them because He never sent them a preacher. Arminianism is heresy (Synod of Dordrecht — A.D. 1618–19). It is blasphemy against the work of the Holy Spirit, in His perfect advance of the Gospel, and it must be repented of by the Arminian, as with all the rest of his bad theology born of bad Bible interpretation.
Jesus saves; Joe and Mary do not save themselves by their mythical free will, determinism, and decision making. The Arminian must get over his narcissistic obsession with his own prowess at being the catalyst in his being saved. My dear reader, if this is you, be assured that your act of forsaking your foolish pride, in this matter of salvation, will set you free to enjoy the sovereignty of God in salvation.
There is great joy in boasting in the work of our Triune God instead of the mythical free will of spiritually dead sinners (Jn 1:13; Eph 2:1). Let go of your pride, O Arminian, and trust in the Savior who actually saves. You will not be disappointed in Jesus Christ and the great things he has done, over and against the great things you have done. God is worthy of all praise for willing and doing His good pleasure by His sovereign grace. You are not.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 14, 2024
