Having come to a more sound position in the Bible one of the
great joys that I now receive as a lover of books, particularly old ones, is to read a powerful quotation which goes against what I used to believe and
teach. It may not directly address the thing
as a whole yet refutes its principles, apart from
which the system cannot exist. It always puts a
smile on my face for I am reminded of the time when the Lord taught me the very
same truths.
Hardshell
Conditionalism did not originate until the latter part of the 19th
century. Consequently, you will not find
the heresy directly addressed by any of the great theologians of the past. Refutations exist when they affirm principles
or subordinate doctrines which run contrary to it. Once you know what to look for (and I do), it’s
a piece of cake to prove that no one espoused this system prior to the 19th
century.
I’m currently reading through Arthur W. Pink’s Gleanings in Joshua and am at the
chapter entitled ‘Victory at Jericho’.
I came across the following quote from the gifted writer which serves as a
powerful rebuttal to many of the building blocks necessary to erect Conditionalism.
He writes:
"And ye shall
compass the city: all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus
shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven
trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven
times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass,
that when they have made a long blast with the rams’ horns, when ye hear the
sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the
wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man
straight before him" (vv. 3-5). In view of the preceding verse, that may
strike some of our readers as a very strange requirement. If the Lord had
definitely given Jericho into the hands of Joshua, why were such elaborate
preparations as these necessary for its overthrow? Let those who feel the force
of any such difficulty weigh attentively what we are about to say. In reality,
those verses exemplify and illustrate a principle which it is most important
for us to apprehend. That principle may be stated thus: the disclosure of God’s
gracious purpose and the absolute certainty of its accomplishment in no wise
renders needless the discharge of our responsibilities. God’s assuring us of
the sureness of the end does not set aside the indispensability of the use of
means. Thus, here again, as everywhere, we see preserved the balance of Truth.
So far from the
Divine promises being designed to promote inactivity on our part, they are
given as a spur unto the same, to assure us that if our efforts square with the
Divine Rule, they will not be in vain. The gracious declaration that God had
given Jericho into the hand of Israel did not discharge them from the
performance of their duty, but was to assure them of certain success in the
same. That principle operates throughout in the accomplishment of the Divine
purpose. The truth of election is not revealed in order to license a spirit of
fatalism, but to rejoice our hearts by the knowledge that the whole of Adam’s
race is not doomed to destruction. Nor are the elect mechanically delivered
from destruction apart from any action of theirs, for though they be
"chosen to salvation," yet it is "through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the Truth" (2 Thess. 2:13)—unless the Truth be
embraced by them no salvation would be theirs, for "he that believeth not
shall be damned." Likewise the revealed truth that Christ will yet
"see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied" (Isa. 53), that
"all that the Father giveth Him shall come to Him" (John 6:37), does
not render needless the preaching of the Gospel to every creature, for that
preaching is the very means which God has appointed and which the Holy Spirit
makes effectual in drawing unto Christ those for whom He died. We must not divide
what God has joined together.
It is the sundering
of those things which God has connected—wherein He has made the one dependent
upon another—which has wrought so much evil and caused so many useless
divisions among His people. For example, in the twin truths of Divine
preservation and Christian perseverance. Our assurance of glorification in no
wise sets aside the need for care and caution, self-denial and striving against
sin on our part. There is a narrow way to be trodden if Life is to be reached (Matthew
7:14), a race to be run if the prize is to be secured (Heb. 12:1; Philippians
3:14). We are indeed "kept by the power of God,’ yet "through
faith" (1 Pet. 1:5) and not irrespective of its exercise; and faith eyes
and makes use of the Divine precepts equally with the Divine promises, and
heeds God’s admonitions and warnings as well as appropriates His comforts and
encouragements. God has nowhere declared that He will preserve the reckless and
presumptuous. He preserves in faith and holiness, and not in carnality and
worldliness. Christ has guaranteed, the eternal security of a certain company,
but He was careful to first describe the marks of those who belong to it:
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and they
shall never perish" (John 10:27, 28), but no such assurance is given unto
any who disregard His voice and follow a course of self-will and self-pleasing.
God’s promise of Heaven to the believer is far from signifying that he will not
have to fight his way there.
The appointed means
must never be separated from the appointed end.”
This
is rock solid truth, so I give a huge amen to everything Pink says here! But it’s not as if similar statements do not
exist in other Calvinistic writings that I must choose this particular one. It’s just that this one contains
so many individual lessons and the inseparable connection between them. Each progression of thought is a refutation
of some principle or doctrine upholding Conditionalism,
and is a lesson that its proponents need to learn.
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