A Hispanic friend who could be described as “progressive” wrote the following, which I’ll translate literally:<\/p>\n
\nThree types of believers: With which do you identify?<\/h2>\n
Three types of believers:<\/p>\n
\n
- Those who believe that they are justified only by the merits of Jesus and nothing more than the merits of Jesus,<\/li>\n
- Those who believe they are justified in part by Jesus Christ and in part by their own efforts, that is to say, salvation depends partly on Jesus and partly on man, and<\/li>\n
- Those who believe that salvation depends completely on obedience to all the commandments.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Only the first type of believer can enjoy true peace. The second will always have doubts. The third type will not know if they are saved until the last day. I personally identify with the first type. And you?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My friend uses a logical fallacy called “false trichotomy.” He presents three possibilities, using slightly vague language, in an attempt to have us conclude that the only logical choice is the Calvinist concept that it is not necessary to receive Christ’s salvation.<\/p>\n
If he had said something like, “those who believe that salvation comes to us<\/em>, or is provided<\/em> only by the merits of Jesus,” we would have no reservation in answering that the first option is correct. His error is trying to have us conclude that since Christ has done everything to provide salvation, we have to do nothing to receive it.<\/p>\n
Common Bible Illustrations<\/h2>\n
The blind man of John 9<\/h3>\n
Jesus told the blind man to wash in the Pool of Siloam. He did so and returned seeing (John 9:7). Let’s try to apply my friend’s formula to the blind man. Was he healed:<\/p>\n
\n
- Only on the merits of Christ?<\/li>\n
- Partly on the merits of Christ and partly by the blind man’s efforts? Or<\/li>\n
- Wholly by his own obedience?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The closest answer to being correct is the first in the sense that his healing was provided only by Christ’s power. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that he had to comply with Christ’s conditions and wash in the Pool of Siloam to receive the blessing.<\/p>\n
The children of Israel in Joshua 6<\/h3>\n
God told the children of Israel to circle the city of Jericho once for six days and seven times on the seventh day. After they did this, the priests blew their trumpets, the walls fell, and the Israelites conquered the city (Joshua 6:20). Applying my friend’s paradigm, did the walls fall:<\/p>\n
\n
- Only by God’s power?<\/li>\n
- Partly by God’s power and partly by the efforts of the Israelites? Or<\/li>\n
- Only by the obedience of the Israelites to God’s commands?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Again, the correct choice is the first one if we think only of the provision of the power, but the Israelites still had to comply with God’s conditions to receive it.<\/p>\n
These and other Bible examples illustrate the concept of conditional grace. It’s not a complicated idea, nor is it difficult to understand. All of our blessings are provided 100% by God. Man has neither the power nor the ability to provide any of them. However, God wants us to accept His conditions. To accept His conditions (for example, by washing in the Pool of Siloam, marching around Jericho, being baptized for the remission of sins, etc.) doesn’t earn blessings, but is required to receive them. We don’t have to understand everything or “get everything right” to have peace and confidence of salvation. God is merciful! However, we must be in Christ (Galatians 3:26, 27) and grow in Him (II Peter 1:8). Let’s not allow sincere but mistaken people to confuse us with logical fallacies.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Gardner Hall via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 1, January 2015 A Hispanic friend who could be described as “progressive” wrote the following, which I’ll translate literally: Three types of believers: With which do you identify? Three types of believers: Those who believe that they are justified only by the merits of Jesus and nothing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[59,1405,55],"class_list":["post-86063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-calvinism","tag-logic","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/predestined-to-glory\/","url_meta":{"origin":86063,"position":0},"title":"Predestined to Glory","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 1:3-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The confusion over predestination isn\u2019t due to understanding that it exists; rather, the questions is who was predestined and for what purpose. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cthe doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59760,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/some-unsaved-believers\/","url_meta":{"origin":86063,"position":1},"title":"Some Unsaved Believers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Erin Percell The creed book of one popular denomination says, \"that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.\" But is it true? 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