Chpt. 119 - Conditional or Unconditional?

Having shown in the previous two series how regeneration was the result of both the mediate and immediate work of the Spirit, and has both active and passive aspects, we will in this series prove that both the scriptures and the old Baptist writings prove that salvation is both unconditional and conditional.  First, let us notice how the old Baptists were strong advocates of unconditional salvation.  In Spencer's History of the Kentucky Baptists, we read:

"Thus was Elkhorn Association constituted, on Saturday, October 1, 1785. William Cave was chosen Moderator. The Association decided that all matters of business should be determined by a majority. At the request of Gilberts Creek, the oldest church in the Association, a committee was sent to inquire into its standing. In answer to a query from Tates Creek,the churches were advised to use all tenderness to reclaim persons holding the error of conditional salvation, but if they could not be reclaimed, to exclude them." (Spencer's History of Kentucky Baptists Volume II, 1886 - See here)

Clearly the old Baptists of the 18th century condemned "conditional salvation."  But, lest one read too much into this, one should discern what they were condemning and what they were not condemning.  They certainly were not condemning the teaching that men must believe and repent in order to be saved.  This is clear from the fact that the Elkhorn Association at its inauguration adopted the Philadelphia Confession of faith which clearly taught that gospel faith and repentance were necessary for eternal salvation.

Elder Michael Gowens, present day Hardshell writer, wrote:

"Further, the Bible employs both unconditional and conditional language. In one text we are told that salvation is “ordered in all things and sure”; in another that a person is saved “if [he] keeps in memory what was preached” (2 Sam. 23:5; 1 Cor. 15:2). How can the same object be both unconditional and conditional simultaneously? How can it both depend on man and not depend on man at the same time? Obviously, the only legitimate way of interpreting these kinds of apparently contrary ideas is to understand that not every “salvation” verse is talking about salvation in the ultimate sense." ("Temporal Salvation" - See here)

In these words there is revelation of the problem that modern Hardshells have as regards the historic teaching of the old Baptists regarding unconditional salvation.  Gowens admits that salvation in the Bible "employs both unconditional and conditional language" and sees this as contradictory and then queries - "How can the same object be both unconditional and conditional simultaneously?"  He then answers his own query by saying "the only legitimate way of interpreting" such incongruity is "to understand that not every 'salvation' verse is talking about salvation in the ultimate sense."  But, this is not the "only" way to deal with the incongruity, and is certainly not the "way" the old Baptists who wrote the old London Confession of 1689 resolved the seeming difficulty, as we shall see.   

Claude Cayce, Hardshell debater, wrote:

"A saving knowledge and faith in Christ does not come through the gospel; but one must have that before he can be reached through the gospel. God does not reach them in the work of regeneration though preaching. If He does, then that involves the idea that their eternal salvation is conditional."   (Cayce's Editoria Writings, Volume 6, page 176)

This statement shows again how the Hardshells carried the old Baptist doctrine of unconditional salvation to an extreme and how they did not properly understand it.  The old Baptists of the 17th century taught unconditional salvation but they did not see a need to invent the novel doctrine of "time salvation," or of "two salvations," as today's Hardshells maintain, nor did they believe, as did Cayce, that unconditional salvation excluded the idea that "saving knowledge and faith in Christ" were  necessary for being eternally saved. 

Elder John R. Daily, another leading Hardshell apologist and debater, wrote:

"To suppose that eternal life as experienced in the soul by regeneration comes through the instrumentality of the Scriptures is no less an error than the conditional theory. In fact this is but another form of conditionalism..." (August 1899, Vol. 38, No. 8)

Daily condemns the biblical teaching that God regenerates through the gospel because, in his mind, it is contrary to the old Baptist doctrine of unconditional salvation.  The odd thing about Daily's view is that he has no qualms about accepting "conditionalism" as it respects "time salvation."  He thinks that the idea that eternal salvation is conditional is "an error" but the idea that "time salvation" is conditional is no error.  Daily thinks that affirming that conversion is necessary for being eternally saved is to be rejected because it is a "form of conditionalism."  To Daily, the only way to uphold unconditional salvation is to affirm that faith and repentance are not requirements for being eternally saved.  But, this is not what the scriptures nor the oldest Particular Baptists taught, as we shall see.

Sylvester Hassell, another great leader of the Hardshells, wrote:

"All the unconditional spiritual promises of God, from the beginning to the end of the Scriptures, engage to work in His people all the conditions of the conditional promises, and thus ensure their salvation (Gen. iii. 15; xii. 3; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5; Psalm cx. 3; Isa. xxvii. 13; xxxv. 10; xlii. 16; xlv. 17; liii.-lv.; Jer. xxxi. 33-37; Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27; xxxvii. 1-14; Zech. xii. 10-14; xiii. 1, 7-9; Matt. i. 21; xxv. 34; John vi. 37-40; x. 15, 27-30; xvii. 2, 3, 24; Acts xiii. 48; Rom. v. 19-21; viii. 28-39; Eph. i.-iii.; 2 Thess. 13, 14; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10; 1 Pet. i., ii.; 1 John v. 11, 12; Rev. i. 5, 6; xxi. 27)."  ("Interpreting the Scriptures-The Error of Conditionalism" by Sylvester Hassell, The Gospel Messenger—September, 1894 - See here)

Hassell here states the answer to the problem that evaded Gowens, Cayce, and Daily.  The view that Hassell states is the same that was expressed by the old Baptists of the 17th century, as we shall see.  Hassell is affirming that salvation is both conditional and unconditional and does not see the solution in creating various kinds of salvation, in creating a paradigm of time and eternal salvation.  Hassell says that the "conditional promises" do not contradict the unconditional nature of salvation, for the conditional promises are secured by God's unconditional decision to ensure that the conditions are met by the elect. 

John Bunyan (1628-1688) wrote:

"The difference, therefore, betwixt the absolute and conditional promise is this: (1.) They differ in their terms. The absolute promises say, I will, and you shall: the other, I will, if you will; or, Do this, and thou shalt live (Jer 4:1; 31:31-33; Eze 18:30-32; 36:24-34; Heb 8:7-13; Matt 19:21).(2.) They differ in their way of communicating of good things to men; the absolute ones communicate things freely, only of grace; the other, if there be that qualification in us, that the promise calls for, not else. (3.) The absolute promises therefore engage God, the other engage us: I mean, God only, us only. (4.) Absolute promises must be fulfilled; conditional may, or may not be fulfilled. The absolute ones must be fulfilled, because of the faithfulness of God; the other may not, because of the unfaithfulness of men.(5.) Absolute promises have therefore a sufficiency in themselves to bring about their own fulfilling; the conditional have not so. The absolute promise is therefore a big-bellied promise, because it hath in itself a fullness of all desired things for us; and will, when the time of that promise is come, yield to us mortals that which will verily save us; yea, and make us capable of answering of the demands of the promise that is conditional. 4. Wherefore, though there be a real, yea, an eternal difference, in these things, with others, betwixt the conditional and absolute promise; yet again, in other respects, there is a blessed harmony betwixt them; as may be seen in these particulars. The conditional promise calls for repentance, the absolute promise gives it (Acts 5:31). The conditional promise calls for faith, the absolute promise gives it (Zeph 3:12; Rom 15:12). The conditional promise calls for a new heart, the absolute promise gives it (Eze 36:25,26). The conditional promise calleth for holy obedience, the absolute promise giveth it, or causeth it (Eze 36:27)."

Clearly Hassell, unlike Gowens, Cayce, and Daily, reflected the views of Bunyan and the 17th century Baptists, who saw a harmony between the conditionality and unconditionality of salvation, and did not see a need to create a false paradigm where all the conditional promises related to temporal salvation and all the unconditional promises related to eternal salvation.  Bunyan believed that salvation was both conditional and unconditional.

Bunyan continued:

"And as they harmoniously agree in this, so again the conditional promise blesseth the man, who by the absolute promise is endued with its fruit. As, for instance, the absolute promise maketh men upright; and then the conditional follows, saying, "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord" (Psa 119:1). The absolute promise giveth to this man the fear of the Lord; and then the conditional followeth, saying, "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord" (Psa 128:1). The absolute promise giveth faith, and then this conditional follows, saying, "Blessed is she that believed" (Zeph 3:12; Luke 1:45). The absolute promise brings free forgiveness of sins; and then says the condition, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered" (Rom 4:7). The absolute promise says, that God's elect shall hold out to the end; then the conditional follows with his blessings, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (1 Peter 1:4-6; Matt 24:13)."

Today's Hardshells should retrace their steps and go back to the views of their forefathers who did not think that the conditional promises of salvation conflicted with the unconditional.  Bunyan and the old Baptists did not see the necessity of making all the conditional promises of salvation to deal with a temporal salvation.  Gowens may see the concoction of his modern Hardshell paradigm of "two salvations" as the only way to harmonize the conditional promises with the unconditional, but Bunyan and the old Baptists saw the harmony in a different manner.

Bunyan wrote:

"Thus do the promises gloriously serve one another and us, in this their harmonious agreement. Now, the promise under consideration is an absolute promise. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me." This promise therefore is, as is said, a big-bellied promise, and hath in itself all those things to bestow upon us that the conditional calleth for at our hands. They shall come! Shall they come? Yes, they shall come. But how, if they want those things, those graces, power, and heart, without which they cannot come? Why, Shall-come answereth all this, and all things else that may in this manner be objected. And here I will take the liberty to amplify things."

Rather than seeing how the conditional promises (conditional salvation) oppose the unconditional promises (unconditional salvation), as do modern Hardshells, Bunyan saw how they "gloriously serve one another."  He saw no need to create a paradigm of temporal versus eternal salvation.  He says that the unconditional promises "bestow upon us that the conditional calleth for at our hands."  He did not believe that the salvation that the "conditional calleth for" was different from what the unconditional supplies.

Bunyan continued:

"I told you before, that an absolute promise hath all conditional ones in the belly of it, and also provision to answer all those qualifications, that they propound to him that seeketh for their benefit. And it must be so; for if Shall-come be an absolute promise, as indeed it is, then it must be fulfilled upon every of those concerned therein. I say, it must be fulfilled, if God can by grace, and his absolute will, fulfil it. Besides, since coming and believing is all one, according to John 6:35, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst," then, when he saith they shall come, it is as much as to say, they shall believe, and consequently repent, to the saving of the soul."

Again, Bunyan says that the unconditional promises of salvation supply the "provision to answer" "all conditional ones."  He did not deny that faith and repentance were conditions of salvation, but believed that God's unconditional choice of individuals to salvation guaranteed the performance of the conditions.  It is therefore false for Gowens and the Hardshells to think that the only way to harmonize the unconditional promises with the conditional promises was to apply all the former to eternal salvation and all the latter to a "time salvation."

Bunyan continued:

""AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I will in no wise cast out. "By these words our Lord Jesus doth set forth yet more amply the great goodness of his nature towards the coming sinner. Before, he said, They shall come; and here he declareth, That with heart and affections he will receive them. But, by the way, let me speak one word or two to the seeming conditionality of this promise with which now I have to do. "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Where it is evident, may some say, that Christ's receiving us to mercy depends upon our coming, and so our salvation by Christ is conditional. If we come, we shall be received; if not, we shall not; for that is fully intimated by the words. The promise of reception is only to him that cometh. "And him that cometh." I answer, that the coming in these words mentioned, as a condition of being received to life, is that which is promised, yea, concluded to be effected in us by the promise going before. In those latter words, coming to Christ is implicitly required of us; and in the words before, that grace that can make us come is positively promised to us. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" thence. We come to Christ, because it is said, We shall come; because it is given to us to come. So that the condition which is expressed by Christ in these latter words is absolutely promised in the words before. And, indeed, the coming here intended is nothing else but the effect of "shall come to me. They shall come, and I will not cast them out.""  (Come and Welcome TO JESUS CHRIST; OR, A Plain and Profitable Discourse on John 6:37. Showing the cause, truth,and manner of the coming of a sinner to Jesus Christ; with his happy reception and blessed entertainment. L O N D O N, 1681)

In a word, Bunyan, like all the old Baptists, in affirming unconditional salvation did not deny that faith and repentance (conversion) was a necessary condition for salvation.

Benjamen Keach (1640-1704), a signer of the second London Confession, wrote:

"Therefore, Brethren, pray observe; we affirm, that whatsoever Conditions were agreed upon in the Covenant of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ undertook to do and perform them all, both for us, and also in us; I will give them a new Heart, I will take away the Stony Heart, and I will give them a Heart of Flesh, I will put my Fear into their Hearts, and they shall not depart from me. I will Circumcise their (Page 163) Hearts to love the Lord their God—He that hath begun a good Work in you, will perform it to the Day of Christ, who were born not of Flesh, nor of Blood, nor of the Will of Man, but of God. To believe is our Duty, but 'tis Christ that gives us Grace and Power so to do; and this Grace was also purchased for us by his Blood; He is exalted at God's Right Hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give Repentance, &c. And Faith also is the Gift of God, Eph. 2.8."

Keach did not have the problem reconciling the conditional promises of salvation with the unconditional as do our modern Hardshells.  He saw faith and repentance as duties and conditions, but also saw that the meeting of these conditions was a result of God's unconditional promise, or to his election and predestination.

Keach continued:

5. Moreover, Who can believe that Christ would shed his Blood for such whom he knew would never answer those Conditions that these Men speak of? besides, they being Conditions out of their power to perform.

6. Moreover I might argue thus, i. e. If Christ died for all, he intended to save all, but he never intended to save all, therefore he died not for all: Who shall frustrate his Purpose, or Intention? From hence we may infer, That in the Covenant of Peace, the Promises of God are Absolute; and that this Absoluteness implies, that all the Conditions that are required on the Creature's part, Grace is promised to them to perform them on God's part, Who works in us to will and to do of his own good Pleasure."

Keach argues the same way as did Bunyan.  They argued that salvation was both conditional and unconditional and they explain how this is so.

Keach continued:

"The Gospel doth not proclaim a Conditional Peace, or Reconciliation, or that God is only reconcilable; so that if the Sinner performs his part, God will be fully reconciled; that is, if the Sinner repents, believes is Regenerated, or answers the Rule of the Promise, as some speak. I know no such Conditional Gospel, or Proclamation; but those Conditions which Jesus Christ was to perform, which was not only to reconcile God to us, but us also to God: Can that be the Condition of Life on our part which Christ hath engaged in the Covenant to do? viz. to bring us into a State of Peace; Them I must bring—Nay, God hath promised to give us a new Heart, and put a new Spirit into us. Moreover, Christ is exalted to be a Prince, and a Savior, to give Repentance to Israel, and Remission of Sins."

When Keach states that the Gospel does not proclaim a conditional salvation, he does not mean that the Gospel does not promise salvation only to those who believe and repent, but he means that the conditions are not to be viewed as works done apart from God's eternal purpose and grace, or as meritorious works.  This is clear from what he has already stated and from what he says further in the balance of his writing on this subject.

Keach continued:

"Moreover, whatsoever Duties God requires of us as to our actual Justification, in our own Consciences, and as to our Sanctification-also, he hath promised to give us his Spirit to perform and work in us."

Notice that Keach does not deny that there are duties and conditions for justification and sanctification but denies that these are "conditions" in the general Arminian or Pelagian sense, for he believes that these conditions are guaranteed by God's eternal purpose in election.  This is the same thing that Elder Hassell stated in the previous citation from him.

Keach continued: 

"1. He commands us to Believe——and he hath promised to give us Faith so to do; For Faith is not of our selves, it is the Gift of God, to you it is given not only to believe, &c.

2. He hath commanded us to make us a new Heart, and he hath promised to give us a new Heart, and to put a new Spirit into us.

3. He commands us to love him, &c. and he hath promised to Circumcise our Hearts so to do, &c."

These are the same things that Bunyan pointed out.  Salvation is conditioned upon one being converted, but conversion occurs because of God's unconditional promise to effect it in his chosen.

Keach continued:

"All the Promises of the Covenant in the Promulgation of it, in its Original Nature, and as respecting us, expresses the Tenor of it as most Free and Absolute: Thus it was to Adam, to Abraham, to David; and to us; I will be your God, and you shall be my People: It is not you shall have Peace upon the Condition that you do this or that, ye shall be Pardon’s, or then be Justified; No, but quite otherwise; But he that worketh not, but believeth on him that Justifieth the ungodly: 'Tis not by our Obedience, or Duties, but by the Promises that we partake (Page 184) of the Divine Nature. 2 Pet. 1.4. &c. All is given absolutely of Free Grace. True, there are in the Covenant, Conditions of Connection; if a Man believes, he shall be saved; But who gives that Faith? Is it not God? Pray observe that Jesus Christ hath made our Peace, and Faith to receive the Atonement is given as an absolute Promise: Is not the Spirit so given? And pray, doth not God give the Spirit, before Faith can be exerted by us? Is not Faith the Fruit of the Spirit? And doth not the Fruit proceed from the Seed, and the Act flow from the Habit?"

In this place Keach explains more fully how salvation is "conditional" within the context of it being unconditional.  He refers to "conditions of connection."  In other words, God, in determining to save a man determines that this salvation result from faith and repentance which he determines to give.  Keach is arguing for the nature of the conditions of salvation.  For instance, we could say that domino B's falling down is conditioned upon domino A's falling down, but this type of condition is only a condition of connection and does not argue for an uncertain condition.

Keach continued:  

"Brethren, beware of them that Preach Peace to you, upon a Conditional Covenant; the Condition they speak of, is your Repentance, Faith, Regeneration, and Obedience.

And alas, who is able to perform these hard Conditions? Besides, this is to turn the Covenant of Grace, into a Covenant of Works; you must work for Justification and Peace, if you will have it; nay, and you shall be no further Justified, nor have Peace, than you are Sanctified, if you believe these Men’s Gospel."

When Keach argues against a "conditional covenant" he is denying that these conditions are left up to the free will of sinners and that they are meritorious.  He is denying that these conditions are in the power of fallen men to do apart from divine grace and compulsion.  He is not denying that conversion is a necessary condition of connection for being eternally saved.

Keach continued:  

"But we say that Peace is made, and God hath promised that he will give the Spirit, even pour it out upon Sinners; he first pours out the Spirit of Grace, and then the Sinners believe or look to him whom they pierced, and receive the Blessing of Peace, or have the Manifestation of it to their Consciences. There is no Condition (saith Reverend Cotton) before (Page 185) Faith, but a Condition of Misery, a lost Condition: These Men render God like Pharaoh's Taskmasters, who would have their Tale of Brick, but find the Israelites no straw.

The Absoluteness of the Covenant (saith this Author) appears as to us, in that all the Federal, Entitling Conditions contained in it, are found in another, i. e. in Christ, and not in us, neither wrought in us, nor by us; for,* whatsoever is wrought in us, is of Free Grace."

Again, Keach is not arguing against the idea that faith and repentance are conditions, but only against the idea that they are conditions such as men may do apart from effectual calling.

Keach continued:

"My Brethren, Doth a Child contribute any thing to its own Formation in the Womb? Alas, What is in us before we are Born again? And of his own Will begat he us, &c.

Object. But doth not the Gospel require Faith and Repentance, as the Condition of Justification, and Eternal Life?

1 Answ. I told you but even now, there are Conditions of Connection by way of order and dependence of things one upon another (Page 186):

As in Logic (saith the same Reverend Divine) if a Creature be a Man, he is a Rational Creature; or if God be the first Cause, he is the Creator of all things: And in this sense (saith he) Creation is a Condition of Salvation; if a Man be Saved, he must be Created: So if a Man believe he shall be Saved, believing is a Condition of Connection, a State of Grace is thus a Condition to a State of Glory, by way of Connection in the Promise; but one is not the Federal Condition of another, but both come in as the Gift of Grace; in this sense the Covenant contains all the Conditions of Order and Dependence in the Exhibition and Performance; the hearing the Word is the Condition of Faith, but hearing is not a Federal Condition; so the giving the Spirit is the Condition of Union to Christ and Faith, and Faith the Condition of receiving of Pardon, and living in Holiness and the giving of Pardon the Condition of receiving it, and Holiness the Condition of seeing God, and of having Eternal Happiness; but these kind of Conditions are not Federal Entitling Conditions to the Promise, but are contained in the Promise, and denote the Connection and Dependence of one promised Benefit upon another."

Keach's explanation of how salvation is both conditional and unconditional is that which the Hardshells should have accepted rather than trying to affirm that faith and repentance were no conditions, in any sense, for being eternally saved.  Hassell was in league with the old Baptists in his remarks on the subject and today's Hardshells, like Gowens, should accept his explanation rather than rejecting it and creating a paradigm that says that the unconditional promises pertain to eternal salvation but the conditional promises pertain to a temporal salvation.  Today's Hardshells have departed from the old Baptist faith on this issue.

Keach continued: 

"2. God requires Faith and Repentance of them that shall be saved; but (1.) Not that the Creature can do either of these of himself, but to show he will work Faith and Repentance in all whom he will save, or as he hath ordained the End, so he hath also ordained the Means. (Page 187)

(2.) But not that either of these are procuring, or Federal Conditions of the Covenant blessings, or of Salvation, because all the Graces of the Spirit are contained in the Covenant as part of it; therefore, neither Faith, Repentance, Regeneration, as the Creatures Part or Work, can be Conditions of it."

Keach does not deny that faith and repentance are necessary for eternal salvation but argues that these conditions are guaranteed to be met with by the elect in their being effectually called.  He is denying that salvation is conditional in the Pelagian sense.

Keach continued:

"These Men call Faith, &c. such a Condition, that the Mercies granted are suspended till we perform the Condition. It is therefore, saith he, no more than an Act of ours. True, we have a good Bargain, as a Man that gives but Twenty Guineas of his own, Purchases an Hundred Pounds per Annum.

Brethren, (as our Author observes) We must distinguish of the Ministry of Reconciliation, in respect of the Letter of it, and the Spirit of it, 1 Cor. 3.6. in the Letter of it, or mere external Dispensation it kills, because the Sinner looks upon all these Conditions of dependence, Federal Conditions, but the Spirit in its Ministry is absolute, according to the Original Contract, and the fullest Discovery in its highest freedom; therefore the Apostle says, The Spirit gives Life. The believing Corinthians, are said to be the Epistle of Christ, written and transcribed from the Original-Covenant Contract; Not with Ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God. Therefore:

From hence we must distinguish between the Covenant in its Absolute Tenure, and the Ministry thereof, which is Conditionally dispensed, according to the Connection, Order, and Dependence of good Things contained (Page 188) in the Promise to a mixed People: The Effects of the Ministry will either soften or harden, it will either work effectually by the Ministry of the Spirit, according to the Nature of an Absolute Promise, and unto such it becomes a Savoir of Life, unto Life, or else it works only in the Letter, and unto such it Kills, or is a Savoir of Death unto Death, or an Aggravation of Death and Condemnation: But all its Divine Efficacy is according to the Purpose, Will, and Good Pleasure of God. But having occasionally spoken much before of the Absoluteness of the Covenant, I shall say no more, but Conclude at this Time. (SERMON VIII - Showing when the Covenant did Commence; also the Nature of the Covenant opened - See here)

Thus, from the writings of the old Baptists we see how they believed that the same salvation was both conditional and unconditional and this is the view that today's so-called Primitive Baptists need to return unto.