Thirdly, we will further consider the Humanism of Arminianism and its theory
that fallen man's will is the determinative factor in his present and future
well-being.
Humanism and Arminianism teaches that one of man's most destructive flaws
is to mistrust himself. In countering this fallacious elevation of the
native intellect of man, Paul says: "We rejoice in Christ, and have no
confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3:3). Christ, speaking of
regeneration, declares: "It is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). Salvation of the soul is not
the result of a cooperative effort of God and man, but God is the Sovereign
and solitary author of the salvation of His people (Hebrews 12:2).
Esau, Isaac's first born son, trusted in himself, and while running in
the energy of the flesh, he lost the blessing (Genesis 27), and
reflecting on Esau's diligent effort to earn the promised blessing, Paul
said: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy." (Romans 9:16).
Humanists claim that academic learning is the panacea for all of man's
ills and difficulties. It is this sort Paul has in mind when he says, they
are: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth"
(II Timothy 3:7). The more they learn the more acute becomes their
ignorance of God, and despite for His word. The humanist contends that
the Bible is a myth, a fabrication of unlearned and ignorant men. Thus
it is, he allows no place for the Bible in his acumen. His learning has
given sophistication to his atheism, but he will one day learn that his
denial of the God of the Bible has infinitely aggravated his reprobation
(Romans 2:5). "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." (I Corinthians
3:19).
Humanists puffed up on their academic attainments have concluded that their
postulates are axiomatic, and that their wisdom is so absolute it allows
for no "ifs" or "perhaps". Their dogmatism is that of a fool, for they
have said in their hearts, "There is no God." (Psalms 14:1), and
they know nothing yet as they ought to know it (I Corinthians 8:2).
The born again person does not deny the contention of the Humanists that
an education in the arts and sciences taught by the elite institutions
of men enhances success. The Lord's churches have a high regard and respect
for success, but what they know and proclaim is: any success that does
not own God as its Author is of the flesh and the flesh profiteth nothing.
Simply, aside from God there is NO genuine success.
Arminianism says: "Man has the intellectual power to choose eternal life
or death, and that every man is given ample space to make up his mind in
this vital matter". But Christ says, speaking of the natural man: "Ye will
not come to Me that ye might have life." (John 5:40). Speaking of
the utter impotence of man's natural will, Christ says: "No man can come
to me ..." (John 6:44). Paul, in his accentuation of this truth,
says: "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God." (Rom. 8:7-8) The natural man is "Ever
learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (II Timothy 3:7).
Arminianism's declaration of the absolute independence of man's will is
tantamount to saying, the fruit of a tree has a nature of its own, which
is altogether free of the root of the tree. The fruit of a tree is invariably
determined by the character of its root. Genealogically, Adam is the root
of mankind, and when Adam committed spiritual suicide (Genesis 3:6),
his progeny died in him. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned." (Romans 5:12).
"A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit ..." (Matthew 7:18).
All the moral fruit which the natural man brings forth, be they ever so
laudatory or praiseworthy by the standards of men, are, when weighed in
the scales of omniscience, seen to be worm infested. Thus it is, the rationalist
is left without a valid recourse, for the law of reaping and sowing applies
not only to agrarian science, but to all earthly organisms. Christ said:
"The tree is known by his fruit." (Matthew 12:33). Note: in this
text, Christ personified the "tree", and in so doing, leaves NO room for
the hypocrite. The flesh, be it ever so religious, profiteth nothing (John
6:63). Job, speaking of human reproduction, asks: "Who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean?" And Job, with awesome finality, answers
his own question, saying: "Not one" (Job 14:4).
Humanism and Arminianism contend that the will of man is free and independent
of God, and it is of such power that it can frustrate and nullify the will
of God. Therefore, this premise teaches that the ultimate in all things
is left to the reasoning power and will of man. So, it inevitably follows,
their faith is in man, and that man in the final analysis is the measure
of all things. Over and against this felonious contention of Arminianism
and Humanism, the all wise and merciful God has issued the following admonition;
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding
... . He that trusteth in his
own heart is a fool." (Proverbs 3:5, 28).
Nowhere in the Bible is it said the man who has lost his natural mentality
is a fool. Notwithstanding, the worldly wise oft refer to the dedicated
Christian as being mentally deranged (Acts 26:24), but oft times
the Bible refers to the worldly wise as fools, and likens their dialogue
as being inferior to the chatter (prattle) of children (Proverbs 10:8).
The rich farmer (Luke 12) ingeniously devised a scheme whereby he
would have plenty with pleasure for many years to come, but not once in
all of his planning and purpose was God ever thought of, and this lack
of consideration for the Author of all life was his fatal and eternal mistake
which proved him to be a "fool". A rich "fool" is no better off than a
poor fool, for both have said in their heart, "There is no God." (Psalms
14:1). Humanism's so-called "good life" is temporal at the longest,
and superficial at its best, and is all too often the "wide gate that leadeth
to destruction." (Matthew 7:13). The Apostle Paul, leaving no room
for ambiguity, asks: "Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?"
(I Corinthians 1:20).
Arminianism is the choice gem of religious ignorance, and Humanism is the
idolized brain child of intellectualism. The two isms in their combined
strength, are nothing more than tinkling cymbals and sounding brass. The
God of the Bible is the Author of all true science, and there has never
been a conflict between the Scriptures and true science. But when "science,
falsely so called" (I Timothy 6:20) is weighed on the scales of
God's infallible word, it is rejected in toto, and labeled "wood, hay and
stubble." (I Corinthians3:12).
But worse than false science
is the deification of true science by the Humanists, for it is by this
artifice Satan has made allies of a great host of academics, who are fearfully
worse off for all of their learning, and will be found of an unsound mind
before the omniscient God in the day when all accounts are settled.
The Humanists say, without the least compunction: "Science alone can resolve
for man the eternal problems for which his very being urgently demands
a solution" (Wilhelm Dilthey, THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,
page 16). The Hippocratic oath does not make a
physician; wedding vows do not make a marriage; a confession of faith does
not make a Christian; nor can humanistic science, be it ever so perfect,
redeem, or help to redeem one soul. The Holy One of Israel has, with Sovereign
exclusivity, said: "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no Saviour"
(Isaiah 43:11).
Fourthly, Arminianism and Humanism are the inventions of men. "Lo, this
only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought
out many inventions." (Ecclesiastes 7:29). The word, "inventions"
in this text is not a reference to man's scientific discoveries or devices
which he has invented to help alleviate the hardship of his journey back
to dust from whence he came, but it is a reference to religious inventions,
for the inventions referred to in the text are contrary to the original
uprightness of man. Every religious heresy is of the Devil, for he is a
liar and the father of it (John 8:44), and Arminianism and Humanism
are his prize deceits. The word "and" used in the foregoing sentence is
not used merely as a conjunctive, but to show the parity of the twin evils.
The ill supposition that the will of man is utterly free, and independent
of God is the foundational doctrine upon which Arminianism and Humanism
stands. These God debasing systems are as ancient as Lucifer's first "I
will" (Isaiah 14:13-14), and will not reach their terminus until
the Devil, the originator of these fatal deceptions is cast into the everlasting
lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). The
foundation upon which Arminianism and Humanism stand is not merely defective,
but is utterly faulty, and all who are deceived thereby are not wise, but
foolish (Romans 1:21-22). But the would-be detractors object, saying:
"You put man in an intellectual straight jacket; rob him of his image of
God; and nullify his will". It is not our contention that man's will is
impotent, but that it is circumscribed by his nature. It is an obvious
absurdity to claim that man can will or desire something that is contrary
to his own nature. The natural man's will is in bondage to sin, and never
varies in its servitude (Romans 6:20). Man by nature is free to
choose whatever pleases him, but he cannot prefer that which is the very
opposite of his essence and being.
The carnal desire is limited to that which pleases the flesh, and they
that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8). Man's natural
liberty is exceeding great, but every exercise of that liberty is utterly
sensuous, and is antagonistic to the nature of the thrice holy God (Isaiah
6:3). So then, man's natural will is not only destitute of all spiritual
value, but in his every utterance and action he aggravates the condemnation
under which all men are born (John 3:18). All men all the time are
by their Adamic nature haters of God (Psalms 81:15; John 15:18,25; Romans
1:30; etc.).
God does not force His people to come to Him contrary to their will and
nature, but God in sovereign love and mercy gives His people a new nature,
and all the Father gave the Son in the unconditional covenant of election
will joyfully come to Him, and that by the power of God (Psalms 110:3;
Jermiah 31:3; John 6:37, 44).
The natural man is free to love God, but he has neither the power, nor
the desire to even be near God, much less love Him, for he is innately
a hater of God. Paul, speaking of the natural man, says: "He is filled
with all unrighteousness, maliciousness, full of envy, backbiters, haters
of God, inventors of evil things." (Romans 1:29-30). The Ethiopian
is free to change his spots for the stripes of a tiger, but owing to creature
inability, these changes are an impossibility. So it is with the natural
man. He is free to put off his custom of doing evil, but he never has the
least desire to do so. (Jermiah 13:23), for he has beyond a single
doubt concluded that the Bible is nothing more than a collection of myths,
and that Christianity is the opiate of the people. These soul damning conclusions
are intertwined with fallen man's nature, and can only be severed by the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
Fallen man, be he rich or poor, strong or weak, learned or unlearned, is
an egotist. Mr. Webster has defined "egotism" , saying:
"It is an ethical doctrine that individual self interest is the valid end
of all action." So it is, the vocabulary of fallen man consists mainly
of the words, "Me, mine, my, and I". But the Bible says: "He that thinketh
himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." (Galatians
6:3). The Apostle Paul for the most of his life was an egotist, self-willed,
and self-congratulatory. He persecuted the disciples of Christ, both men
and women, and he says he was "exceedingly mad against them." (Acts
22:4; 26:11). Paul, being blinded by pride, did not know that God had
set aside his beloved religion, and with intense fervor he went forth to
destroy every person that named the name of Christ. But while enroute on
one of his persecuting missions, he was confronted with a great light from
heaven, and an ego deflating voice, upon the sound of which, he fell to
the ground, from which he arose one of the most selfless and greatest of
men that ever lived (Acts 22:6-10). However, he knew that in and
of himself, he was a wretched man before God (Romans 7:24), and
knowing this, he said: "I am less that the least of all saints ..."
(Ephesians
3:8).
CONCLUSION
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21).
Let us not confuse Arminianism and Humanism with humanitarianism. Every
person should be a humanitarian in the sense of helping the downtrodden,
and should seize every opportunity to be the good Samaritan. Christ was
the greatest humanitarian, but He was not a Humanist, nor did He teach
that salvation of the soul was left to the prerogative of fallen man's
will. Let us follow our Supreme Example, and go "about doing good", but
at the same time, highlight the sham and shame of Humanism, and the hypocrisy
of Arminianism. True Christianity, and New Testament Baptists in particular,
are faced with a sinister, subtle, and soul destructive hoax. We are confronted
from every quarter with socio-religion, which is an amalgamation of Arminianism
and Humanism, and in this God debasing union the Lord's churches are faced
with a double dose of damnable doctrine. As dismal as the state of things
may seem, there is no room for complacency in the Lord's churches. On the
contrary, it is their duty to sound the trumpet of truth, and do all they
can to hinder this accelerated and antichrist encroachment upon the word
of God and His blood bought churches.
The ultimate ambition of the contemporary deluge of Humanism and Arminianism
is to prevail against and destroy the Lord's churches. But as it was with
our pre reformation forebears, who stood undaunted against the fire, noose,
sword and other excruciating deaths of the harlot system of Rome, they
will be found defying this plague of spiritual cancer until their merciful
and omnipotent Lord speaks to them from heaven, saying: "Come up hither".
When Christ sent His church unto all nations, He commissioned it to preach
the gospel of grace. He knew that is was the satanically inspired and brutal
hands of Romish Humanism and pharisaic Judaism that nailed Him to the cross.
As it was then, so is it now, Humanism and Arminianism are mortal enemies
of the gospel of Christ, and one must perish where the other prevails.
So as to erase all doubt concerning the perpetuity and permanency of His
blood bought church, Christ issued a hell defying fiat, wherein He said:
"... I
will build My church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18).
Any
church that does not own the absolute authority of God over man is humanistic,
no matter what name it may go by, and is under the anathema of God (Revelation
18:4-6). So it behooves every person who names the name of Christ to
find a church that preaches the whole counsel of God, wherein is NO room
for Arminianism or Humanism.
There is a lot of common ground between Arminianism and Humanism, for it
is no problem for darkness to commune with darkness. But there is NO communion
between light and darkness; there is NO fellowship between righteousness
and unrighteousness; and there is NO concord between Christ and the Devil
(II Corinthians 6:14-16). Arminianism denies that salvation is the
exclusive and sovereign work of God, and Humanism has substituted self
love and self-will for God.
"COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM", SAITH THE LORD."
