Vol. 8, No. 3, 1991

Articles on Other Religious Topics

Timothy Oliver

"Pelagianism is that teaching, originating in the late fourth century, which stresses man's ability to take the initial steps toward salvation by his own efforts, apart from special grace" (Elwell, Ed., Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p. 833).

"The keystone of Pelagianism is the idea of man's unconditional free will and his moral responsibility.... The rest of Pelagianism flows from this central thought of freedom. First it rejects the idea that man's will has any intrinsic bias in favor of wrongdoing as a result of the fall.

"...Second, Pelagius considers grace purely an external aid provided by God. He leaves no room for any special interior action of God upon the soul.... By merit alone men advance in holiness. God's predestination operates according to the quality of the lives God forsees men will lead" (Ibid, p. 834).

"By `grace' they meant the fundamental endowment of man with his inalienable free¬dom of will, and along with that, the inducements which God has brought to bear on him to use his freedom for good," (Warfield, The Plan of Salvation, p. 35).

Closely related to Pelagianism is "semi-pelagianism."

Operating out of the same conception of freedom as the Pelagians had earlier, it "affirmed that the unaided will performed the initial act of faith.... Divine grace is indispensable for salvation, but it does not necessarily need to preceed a free human choice, because, despite the weakness of human volition, the will takes the initiative toward God. ...divine grace and human free will must work together in salvation." (Elwell, p. 1000).

Satan is the father of lies, but truth be known, he hasn't the creativity to come up with very fresh ones. "There is nothing new under the sun."

The ideas above, while officially condemned as heresy in numerous church councils, never seem to go completely away but are continually recycled with new names, or even no names.

They are as rampant today as ever; so widespread in fact, that even many Expositor readers may be surprized to recognize in them elements of their own beliefs.

They are to be rejected on many grounds, including, but not necessarily limited to, at least the following:

First, the very foundation is corrupt. The whole superstructure of ideas is built upon the pagan Greek conception of the meaning of freedom. To this way of thinking, freedom consists in autonomy, indepen¬dence, unrestricted choice.

In raw terms it is the opportunity to do whatever one pleases, whenever one pleases.

Sadly, this conception of the meaning of freedom holds almost universal sway over the minds of men today.

A Biblical concept of freedom would be "having the power and disposition to do what God wants you to do."

Obedience to God always produces freedom (Jn. 8:36; 2 Cor. 3:17).

The more closely one's will aligns with God's, the more one is free. In true, complete freedom, there is but one choice: whatever God commands.

There is no freedom in autonomy, independence from God.

Sin always enslaves (Jn. 8:34). Unregenerate man actually is not free, in the Biblical sense, but is a slave to sin (Rom. 6:16; 2 Pet. 2:19).

He cannot choose Christ or put faith in Him until God works a vital change in his heart (Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14).

Pelagianism unabashedly lays the power and responsibility for man's salvation within the purview of man.

Semi-pelagianism is embarrassed to do so, but actually does the same thing in a disguised form.

That men could win their own salvation by their own power alone is obviously anti-biblical. So God is brought into the picture. But it is done in such a way that ultimately the matter of who gets saved rests in man's decision, not God's.

To declare salvation impossible without Christ is mere lip service if we add that Christ cannot save us without our help.

Jesus is our Savior because His work on our behalf was essential to our salvation. Making man's role essential constitutes him his own savior, on the same basis.

This robs God of His glory, elevating man's name right alongside the name of Jesus.

But the scripture declares that "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name [than Jesus'] that has begw given among men, by which we must be saved," (Acts 4:12).

It is not saying merely that Jesus had an essential role in our salvation, that we couldn't do it without Him. It is saying that His was the only essential role. Nothing a man can do then, can ever be an essential, or indispensable, part of what produces his salvation.

Declaring that divine grace and human free will must work together to produce salvation is as specious as trying to mix grace and works. It is, in fact, the same thing; and it turns faith into a work or a virtue - something produced by the individual out of his own resources which he must do or have to be saved.

Thus, notwithstanding the help (even indispensable help) of God in answer to faith, salvation still rests on some quality or action of man. Grace is annihilated (Rom. 11:6).

The fact is, either God saves, or man saves himself. It cannot be both. The scripture says, "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (Rom. 9:16).

Of course we are never saved apart from, or without, faith. But neither are we saved to eternal life by faith.

We are saved by grace. And we are saved by grace through faith, when we have faith. But the faith itself together with the salvation is a gift of God's grace (Eph. 2:8).

It is not something we could ever produce on our own, but it is a gift granted to us (Jn. 6:65; Phil. 1:29; Acts 11:18).

Otherwise, we would be saved by grace, plus, in which case grace is no more grace.

Unfortunately, it is just this Jesus, or grace, plus, system of salvation which characterizes nearly all pseudo-christian cults. They cannot pretend to be Christian without including Jesus and "grace" as necessary for salvation. But they always subvert the gospel by adding other conditions.

What they add is immaterial. It is, that they add, which is the issue, because any and every addition always renders salvation dependent on man.

That - self-determination - is the essential heart of the pelagian and semi-pelagian heresies.

In Mormonism this heresy is full-blown. Basic to the system are their doctrines about "freedom" and "agency," a collective concept of which is referred to by most Mormons as "free agency."

Of "freedom," Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote it "is the power and ability to choose for oneself the course one will follow in all fields of activity" (�Mormon Doctrineo, p. 299).

This is a classic restatement of the pagan Greek concept.

About "agency" he writes, "[It] is given to man as an essential part of the great plan of redemption.... So fundamental a part... that if it should cease, all other things would vanish away," (Ibid, p. 26; emphasis added).

Among those things he says "must be in force if there is to be agency" are:

"1. Laws... 2. Opposites... good and evil, virtue and vice, right and wrong... 3. A knowledge of good and evil... 4. An unfettered power of choice must prevail," (Ibid).

No. 2 above, constitutes evil an eternal principle. No. 3 is just what Satan offered to Eve. No. 4 is what he urged her to do, and, of course, another restatement of the pagan Greek concept of freedom.

The concept of everlasting life or everlasting death dependent on the choice of man, with man fully capable of making the choice on his own is taught explicitly in the Book of Mormon (2 Ne. 2:26-27; 10:23; Hela. 14:31), as also the essential and eternal nature of evil (2 Ne. 2:11-14).

And in the Doctrine & Covenants it says, "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence," (93:30; cited in Mormon Doctrine).

This is straight from the mouth of the original author of autonomy from God; he who first acted autonomously from God, and who tempted Eve to do the same.

Contrast this with the orthodox and biblically sound statement, "The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God: Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing (archaic; means coming before, preceeding, hence, enabling) us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will," (Book of Common Prayer, p. 663; emphasis added).