Mainstream Christianity in the United States is very Pelagian - at least in practice. A recent survey by Christianity Today of Evangelicals has revealed that 68% of American Evangelicals believe that people seek God first and then He responds with grace. 67% agree that people can turn to God on their own initiative. Over half -55%- believe that we must contribute to our own salvation. And 18% said that God loves them because of the good they do or have done. I have provided a link to the article below, which also points out that Arianism is alive and well, as well as the denial of the personhood of the Holy Spirit.
Evangelicals Favorite Heresies
I do think, however, that this result should not surprise us that much. After all, mainstream Evangelicalism has been severely influenced by humanistic methods and American ideals. The poster boy for Evangelicalism and the methods they use has got to be Charles Grandison Finney. The Mainstream Evangelical Church is held in captivity to many methods that originated with Finney and other preachers like him.
My point is, these Evangelicals believe these things because they are taught certain methods that are used to get people saved. They hear these methods week in and week out from the pulpit.
Functionally, Pelagianism relies heavily on a denial of original sin. the denial of original sin goes hand in hand with another doctrine that is nearly universally taught and assumed in Evangelical circles; the Age of Accountability.
When Evangelicals hear week in and week out that their infants and small children have not reached the Age of Accountability and only then are they responsible to make their own decision for Christ, what should we expect? Do the math. A person is innocent and thus saved until they can apprehend and understand their sin, the Gospel, and so on. And then, to be saved, they must make their own decision to follow Christ.
Where is grace in all of this? According to the Christianity Today poll, 68% of Evangelicals believe that grace is a reward or result of their own decision. We find God, then He helps us out.
Should we be shocked? No. Should we be outraged? Maybe. Should we be upset and saddened by these outright heretical teachings and beliefs? Absolutely.
The point is, they believe this because this is what the methods used teach them to believe. When you hear that you are saved by making a decision, saying a prayer, or coming forward for an altar call, what should we expect? It's all human initiative, and it's all unbiblical at best.
Traditional American values also play into this sort of theology. In America, we love the idea of individualism. We adore the "self-made man." We love to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and create our own destiny. So why not import those ideas in some form into the church?
What can rectify this situation? Well, theologically, Evangelicalism doesn't have the answers to this. This is for a few major reasons.
1. They minimize the Ecumenical Creeds. The Ecumenical Creeds (Apostle's, Nicene, Athanasian) properly read and understood would do away with the Arianism and the denial of the personhood of the Holy Spirit. The shameful Word of Faith and Prosperity movement is a very big reason for the denial of the Spirit's personhood.
2. Their Ecclesiology is weak at best. They do not have a robust doctrine of the office of the ministry. A pastor in Evangelicalism is a hireling. It is not a divine call to preach Christ crucified and properly administer the Sacraments.
3. They do not have any Sacraments. This is a huge one. Evangelicalism rejects that the Sacraments are means of grace; divine gifts that deliver to us Christ the crucified. Where there are no Sacraments, Pelagianism is bound to take over. Where there are no Sacraments, the human will becomes the arbiter of salvation. It's not given to you. Rather, you must take it and appropriate it for yourself by your decision.
The Church catholic has always been creedal, confessional, and sacramental. Without the powerful creative Word working through sound, light, water, bread, and wine, we are left with an idea of grace as a nebulous thing that we get when we choose God. But how can we know we are receiving grace if it is not outside of ourselves and objective?
Thanks be to God, despite the outright Pelagianism and anti-Christian doctrines being taught in American Evangelicalism, God will have the last Word. His Church will be triumphant and He will continue to save people and lead us to everlasting life.
Amen
If someone says that they believed the gospel, is that the same as 'contributing to their salvation?'
ReplyDeleteI don't think so Bruce, especially in light of faith/belief being a gift of God.
ReplyDeleteSemi-Pelagianism is worse than outright Pelagianism.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is going on in churches all over the map.
That's true Steve, and I think the major reason is that it is harder to see as outright heresy. Pelagianism is much easier to spot.
ReplyDeleteBaptized, raised and confirmed Methodist, when I first understood John 3:16, that I didn't need to "be good enough" to receive eternal life in Christ Jesus, that because I believed in Him I was saved, the truth "clicked " right then and there. There wasn't even time for me to think or "decide". Somewhat in the way Luther did, I was immediately overjoyed!
ReplyDeleteLater in life, being taught that I had made a decision for Christ, I nonetheless would never consider that apparent decision as being in any way, shape or form a good work that had "earned" my salvation. I didn't give myself any credit whatsoever for "deciding for Jesus". I think there is a danger to one's salvation when they start giving themselves credit, even in part, for having been saved.
Thankfully, after sojourning into the ELCA, finally to the LCMS, I was properly catechized into the proper understanding that nobody can make a free-will decision to trust in Christ and His Merit as the atoning sacrifice for our eternal salvation. Bible-believing Lutherans believe that we can only choose to refuse Jesus; it is God who chooses us according to His Will. Not because of any merit or foreseen faith in us, but reasons only He knows.
There was a turning point when I thought that "deciding for Christ" wasn't a good work, but an act of faith. Aha, the word "act" means a deed or a work. That's when I realized that Arminianism was wrong. My folks are both Arminian. One's quite legalistic, the other quite antinomian. Are they saved? Can they still be saved, in spite of their error? I am very concerned, but all I can do is to pray for them.
Another blessing in being Confessional Lutheran is knowing that my salvation came (and also is maintained) from outside of myself, through Baptism, the preached and heard Word of Law and Gospel, Holy Absolution and through the Sacrament of the Altar, rather than from within me.
How sweet it must be to be raised Lutheran, being taught that Jesus had saved me by grace in His death and resurrection. Any non-sacramental Protestant has to either "make a decision" for Jesus or ask "How can I prove I'm one of His elect?" Being Lutheran, we never need to look internally, but externally to Jesus.