The synergistic persistence theory.
The synergists think they must teach that, as the origin of faith, so also the perseverance in faith depends not only on God's grace and effect, but also on man. What it is in man on which, apart from the effect of God's grace, perseverance still depends, is variously named, e.g. cessation of willful resistance, personal self-determination, right conduct, self- decision, moral activity in the new life, and so on. But among these different
436) Tit. 2:11. <w:t>437) Rom. 10:17.
438) Cf. II, 534.<w:t xml:space="preserve">439) Cf. II. 54.
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expressions, the same thing is always meant, namely, that the factor on which the perseverance ultimately depends must necessarily be placed in man.440) Otherwise, the argument continues, it would follow that salvation stands in God's hands alone. But that would be a misfortune. For if salvation stood in God's hand alone, human "self-determination," "personal self-settlement," etc., would be absent, and thus the whole process would assume a character unworthy of man. As conversion, so also perseverance would become a compulsion, and human "responsibility" would be lost. Synergism draws our attention to these "necessary consequences" in the event that salvation were not also dependent on man. But synergism also seeks to prove from Scripture that salvation does not stand in God's hands alone. As proofs it uses — just as in the case of conversion — primo loco the imperative and conditional sentences. Thus we heard in the United States: "'Work out that you may be saved with fear and trembling,' exhorts the apostle in Phil. 2:12. It cannot be expressed more strongly that the salvation of man does not depend in every respect on God alone; for literally translated it even says: 'Work out or bring about your salvation.'" 441) Further, from time immemorial until our own time, the conclusion from the cause of apostasy to the cause of perseverance has also been urged in regard to perseverance: If evil works and evil behavior cause the cessation of faith, then perseverance in faith must logically depend on the avoidance of evil behavior or on the performance of right behavior.442) In general, in the doctrine of perseverance, all the arguments with which synergism combats the monergism of grace in conversion return.
But in spite of all synergistic fears and counter-reasons, the fact cannot be denied that the Scriptures teach divine sole efficacy, as in conversion, so also in regard to perseverance in the faith. According to Scripture, as the
440) Cf. II, 580.<w:t>441) Luth. Kirchenzeitung 26, no. 10.
442) Cf. the remarks on and against Majorism, p. 26 ff. Majorism justified its proposition of the necessity of good works for salvation in more detail by declaring that good works are necessary ad fidem retinendam sive non amittendam. [to keep the faith or not to lose it] Cf. Frank II, 195 ff.
111 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 92-93]
origin of faith,443) so also the perseverance is an effect of the divine omnipotence. Peter assures the Christians: "You are saved by God's power through faith unto salvation." 444) Also in Christ's words Joh. 10:28-30 it is expressed very clearly that behind the non-falling away of His own stands His divine omnipotence as causa efficiens: "No one will snatch them out of My hand. The Father who gave them to me is greater than all" (omnipotent), "and no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." 445) Paul instructs Christians that God works the beginning and the end of the Christian state: "He who began the good work in you will carry it out (επιτελέσει) until the day of Jesus Christ." 446) God's, not our faithfulness is the guarantee of our perseverance: "Faithful (πιστός) is He who calls you, who will also do it (δς και ποιήσει)""the Lord is faithful (πιστός), who will strengthen you and keep you (φυλάξει) from evil".448) The admonition addressed to Christians to create their salvation with fear and trembling is justified by Scripture with the fact that salvation does not stand in their hands, but in God's hands:: " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling! For it is God who works in you both to will and to do, according to His good pleasure." 449) It is an evil habit of the synergists to separate the exhortation in v. 12 from the reasoning of the exhortation in v. 13 at this point. They
443) Eph. 1:19. 20.
444) 1 Pet. 1:5. Chemnitz on this passage: In virtute Dei per fidem conservamur ad salutem, paratam revelari in tempore novissimo. Audis conservationem salutis, donec reveletur in novissimo die, tribui virtuti Dei per fidem; ibidem v. 9: Reportantes finem fidei vestrae, salutem animarum. … Et recte huc accommodari potest illud Pauli Rom. 4:14: Si conservatio salutis ex nostra impletione legis, hoc est, ex nostris operibus, dependet, tum extincta est fides et abolita promissio. Ut ergo firma sit promissio salutis non tantum accipiendae, verum etiam conservandae, ideo sine operibus ex fide et secundum gratiam salus datur. [Google] (Loci 1599 III, 64 sq.)
445) Here the numerical unity of the omnipotence of the Father and the Son, based on the numerical unity of the divine being, is stated. (Cf. II, 62 f., and note 32.) And in this preserving omnipotence it is founded that the attacks of all hostile powers remain unsuccessful.
446) Phil. 1:6. <w:t>447) 1 Thess. 5:24.
448) 2 Thess. 3:3.<w:t>449) Phil. 2:12-13.
112 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 93]
quote, as we saw above, the exhortation v. 12: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling!" and attach to it the conclusion: "It cannot be expressed more strongly that the salvation of man does not depend in every respect on God alone," while the apostle v. 13 continues in support of his exhortation, "For it is God who works in you (ό ϑεός γάρ έστιν ό ενεργών εν νμΐν) both willing and doing according to his good pleasure." And the apostle has good reason for his reasoning. There is ultimately only one cause of the failure or loss of faith. It is self-confidence creeping in, that is, the synergistic opinion that salvation depends not on God's work of grace alone, but also on "self-determination," "right conduct." This is how Peter fell. At least in comparison with others, Peter trusted himself to behave more correctly and thus to persevere. "If they were all offended, yet I would not be offended,"450) υνκ εγώ, Peter! The Lord foretold Peter the result of his self-confidence: "This night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." 451) After only a few hours, Peter cursed and swore that he did not know the Lord. Luther calls the sense according to which man does not want to be dependent on God's grace alone in order to attain salvation the "vexatious secret spite," which is still stirring in Christians according to the flesh and must go forth relentlessly fought, if the former is not to become the latter.452) The apostle wants to take the Philippians from this "secret deception"
450) Mark. 14:29,<w:t>451) Mark 14:30.
452) We recall here once again Luther's comment on the words Matt. 20:16 ("So the last will be first and the first last"): "Therefore it is necessary that this gospel be preached in our time to those who now know the gospel, to me and my kind, who are able to teach and master all the world, and consider that we are next to them and have eaten up God's Spirit purely with feathers and feet. … It hits the deepest in the heart, the own spiritual conceit, which even in poverty, dishonor, misfortune considers itself the first, yes, then most of all. … It goes very high and hits very good people: yes, it frightens the greatest saints. That is why Christ himself reproaches the apostles. One also stands how the very highest saints were afraid here, how many also fell here from the high spiritual state. … Behold, how Saul fell! How he made David fall! How Peter fell! How some of Paul's disciples fell!" (St. L. XI, 513 f.)
113 > Perseverance to salvation. [ed. ~ 93-94]
when he justifies the exhortation to work out salvation with fear and trembling with the fact that it is God who works willing and accomplishing according to his good pleasure. And Synergism nourishes, nurtures, and strengthens this "secret deception" with the thesis it so zealously advocates, that, like conversion, salvation depends not only on God's effect of grace, but also on proper human conduct. The synergistic doctrine of perseverance is therefore an extremely harmful doctrine. It is a direct temptation to apostasy. Just as no one has ever been converted according to the synergistic prescription, so no one will persevere in the faith according to the synergistic prescription and obtain the end of faith. Luther says: " The cunning of Satan, with which he seduced Eve, cannot be guarded against in any way by our own powers, so that he does not distort our senses from the simplicity in Christ, unless the Lord keeps us going far away, provoked by our humble prayer. For here free will avails nothing; nor is it enough of the first grace, as they call it, but perseverance (perseverantia) is needed, which stands not in the will of man, but in the preservation of God (est non volentis hominis, sed sustentantis Dei)."453)
As is well known, synergism binds with its doctrine of perseverance also the exhortation to renounce the certainty of salvation.454) This admonition is quite unnecessary from the synergistic point of view. Doubt about the attainment of salvation comes quite naturally, if salvation also depends on man himself. The only thing to remember is that the exhortation does not go far enough if it only recommends and demands uncertainty. Consequently, it should call upon Christians to be quite certain of their damnation, because nothing good dwells in Christians either, apart from the effect of God's grace.455) In general, the fall from faith has already happened when someone thinks not only at the study table and in pamphlets, but also in his heart and before God that
453) S1. L. IV, 1008 f. Exeg. opp. lat. XVI, 16 sq.
454) So already Latermann, Disput. de praedestinatione, thes. 43: Quia homo certus est, quod spe salutis excidere possit, propterea eum non posse non eSse dubium de finali perseverantia. (In Quenstedt II, 819.)
455) Rom. 7:18.
114 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 94-95]
his salvation does not stand in God's hand of grace alone, but also depends on his conduct. In any case, the Christian faith has the nature in itself to build on grace alone, and ceases to exist at the same moment that one expands its foundation and places human behavior next to God's grace.456) A faith enriched in its foundation of trust by human behavior is also not wrought by the Holy Spirit, but owes its existence to the evil flesh and the arch-enemy of men, who thereby wants to push Christians out of the faith, as he succeeded in doing with Peter. On the other hand, the testimony of the truth revealed in Scripture, that we are saved to salvation by God's power through faith, is the means of the Holy Spirit, by which He produces and strengthens faith again and again, and thus sustains it. Christian faith always arises and exists only vis-a-vis the sola gratia Dei.
One more point in the synergistic doctrine of preservation must be pointed out. Against the scriptural passages which ascribe the salvation to the omnipotence and grace of God, the synergists object that with this, indeed, salvation is promised against all other hostile powers, but not against the Christians' own evil flesh. Thus Philippi.457) It is also possible for Meyer, by inserting this limitation, to turn the meaning of the relevant scriptural statements into the very opposite.458) Likewise, Lyman Beecher seems to have had this limitation in mind when he, on the question whether he believed the perseverance of the saints,
456) Apol. 114, 33. [Trigl. 163, Apol., III, 33 🔗]
457) Epistle to the Romans, Rom. 8:35-36: "Although it is true that no one and nothing is able to snatch us out of the hand of God and Christ, because their omnipotence and grace is stronger than all earthly powers, this does not at all exclude the possibility that we ourselves willfully and voluntarily can escape this hand. Even if tribulation is not able to separate us from God, sin is able to do so."
458) E.g. to Phil. 1:6: "Resistance as a human possibility is not excluded by this; but Paul does not have to fear it with his Philippians as with the Galatians." Exactly the opposite is found in ch. 2:12-13. Because Paul also fears synergistic "resistance" in his Philippians as in all believers, namely the self-confidence that salvation does not depend on God alone but also on themselves, he adds: "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure."
115 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 95-96]
answered, "I do, except when the wind is from the East." 459) But nothing of this limitation stands in the Scriptures. But the opposite stands there. According to 1 Peter 1:3-5, God has given Christians a new birth "to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, which is reserved in heaven for you who are saved by the power of God through faith to salvation". Two things are stated in these words: 1. the inheritance of Christians is kept for them in heaven by God; 2. they, Christians, are kept for the inheritance by God's power through faith, so that the inheritance and the heirs do not come apart but remain together. We note also in this passage that the "by God's power" has with it the proximate clause "by faith" (διά πίστεως). Thus, firstly, such divine power action is denoted, which takes place through the Gospel (the means of grace), because faith and the Evangelical word of promise are correlativa.460) Then, the divine power effect is also described as one that extends to the interior, to the heart and mind of Christians, and causes them to remain in faith in the Gospel of sola gratia. Therefore, Christians pray not only: "Do not take away from my mouth the word of truth!"461) but also: "Incline my heart to your testimonies!" 462) "Create in me, God, a clean heart and give me a new certain spirit!" 463) The scriptural statements mentioned above, Phil. 2:13: "It is God who works in you (έν νμΐν) both to will and to do"; Phil. 1:6: "He who
459) Strong, Systematic Theology p. 883
460) Therefore, the Calvinist error that "efficacious grace", because it is an effect of divine omnipotence, does not take place by means, is also rejected with the "by faith". So also Hodge, Syst. Theol. II, 682 sqq: "Efficacious grace acts immediately." "Regeneration itself, the infusion of a new life into the soul, is the immediate work of the Spirit. There is here no place for the use of means any more than in the act of creation." This is a false dichotomy. As the Scripture ascribes the origin and preservation of faith to the divine omnipotence (Eph. 1:19-20; 1 Pet. 1:5), so it also explicitly teaches that faith, which takes hold of and sustains grace, comes from the word of grace and has the word of grace as its object (Rom. 10:17, 8). For more on this, see the following section on the means of grace.
461) Ps, 119:43.<w:t>462) Ps. 119:36.<w:t>463) Ps. 51:12.
116 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 96-97]
began the good work in you (εν νμϊν) will carry it out" (scil, in you) "until the day of Jesus Christ";464) 2 Thess. 3:3: "The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and keep you from evil"; 1 Pet. 5:10: "The God of all grace … will prepare you, strengthen you, fortify you, establish you. To Him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen." The doxology expresses the Christians' thanksgiving for preservation because they believe, through the action of the Holy Spirit, that preservation stands in God's hand of grace alone, as the emphasized αυτός (αυτός καταρτίσει κτλ.) still insists. If we ask for the theological or rather untheological reason for the whimsical doctrine that Christians would be preserved "by God's power through faith" against all other hostile powers, but not against their own evil flesh, we pointed out earlier that a mixture of law and gospel is used.465) The warnings against apostasy, which are directed against the carnal security and self-confidence of the old man,467) are used for this purpose,
464) Correct is Meyer on this passage: έν νμϊν ηίφί not among you, but in you, in animis vestris.
465) II, 486.<w:t>466) 1 Cor. 10:12; Rom. 11:20.
467) Balduin: Oppositus est hic timor a Paulo nobis commendatus 1. epicureae securitati, qua fides suffocatur, Spiritus Sanctus contristatur et gratia Dei deperditur; 2. spirituali superbiae et arrogantiae, ne fiducia donorum insolescamus, sed toti a gratia misericordiaque Dei pendeamus, operam dantes, ne illa excidamus.[Google] (Disput. de cap. 2, ep. ad Philipp. By Baier III, 598.) — Chemnitz: Quando respicimus ad Dei voluntatem in verbo patefactam et ad Christ mediatorem, possumus et debemus statuere: Quis separabit nos? Certus sum enim, quod nec praesentia nec futura separabunt etc. Vocati enim sumus ad consortium Christi non ut quos recipit, mox velit iterum abiicere. Sed est salvator sempiternus: vocati sumus ad consortium Christi aeternum. Est Pater aeternus et dona atque vocatio Dei sunt sine poenitentia. Nemo rapiet eos de manu mea. Certa igitur est, quod ad Deum, perseverantia piorum. Et quia in verbo ita revelatum est, fides hoc debet credere. Sed Paulus dicit Rom. 11:22: Si permanseritis in bonitate Dei, et Hebr. 3:14: Modo fiduciam retineamus usque ad finem. Respondeo: Iohannes dicit: Haec scriba vobis, ut sciatis, quod vitam habetis aeternam. Scimus, quod cum apparuerit similes ei erimus. Phil. 1:6: Persuasus sum, quod qui coepit in vobis etc. [Google] Ita et 1 Cor. 1:8. Ita David dicit Ps. 31:1: Non confundar in aeternum. Ideo iubemur orare pro perseverantia, quia Deus promisit. Oratio enim semper requirit promissionem, et ut fiat sine haesitatione. Oramus autem et luctamur, ne camis petulantia donum perseverantiae
117 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 97]
to limit the gospel, which promises them preservation from God's power through faith in grace, to the shattered souls, who with Paul have come to despair of themselves,468) and thereby to transfer the attainment of salvation from God's hand of grace into man's hand, that is, into the realm of the law. The souls that have come to despair of themselves are to put the law completely out of sight and hold to the gospel alone. The gospel, however, promises salvation with the present grace.469) Hence the admonition of the Formula of Concord: "Care must be taken that works are not drawn into the article of justification and salvation. For this reason, the propositions that believers need good works for salvation, that is, that it is impossible to be saved without good works, are justly rejected. For they are strictly against the doctrine de particulis exclusivis in articulo iustificationis et salvationis, that is, they dispute against the words by which St. Paul completely excluded our works and merit from the article of justification and salvation (salutis nostrae) and ascribed everything to the grace of God and the merit of Christ alone, as declared in the preceding article. Again, they take away the consolation of the Gospel from the afflicted, troubled consciences, give cause for doubt, are dangerous in many ways, strengthen the presumption of one's own righteousness and confidence in one's own works, are accepted by the papists for this purpose, and are led to their advantage against the pure doctrine of the alone-saving faith." 470) The same can be said about the doubts about salvation that are actually found among Christians as about the doubts about the present state of grace.471)
In the doctrine of perseverance, too, it again becomes clear that the Christian and the synergistic doctrines are like yes and no to each other. According to the Christian doctrine,
excutiat. Et haec distinctio hanc quaestionem de perseverantia utiliter illustrat. [Google] (Loci 1599 II, 709.) The same: Manifesta est confusio et depravatio discriminis inter legem et evangelium, expresse pugnans cum doctrina Pauli, docere, quod nostra opera sint necessaria ad salutem. [Google] (1. c. III, 63.)
468) Rom. 7:18.<w:t>469) Cf.<w:t xml:space="preserve"> the explanation II, 485 f.
470) F.C. 628, 22 f. [Trigl. 945, Sol. Decl., IV, 22 f. 🔗]<w:t xml:space="preserve">471) II, 486.
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in order to become saved, the killing of the old man is necessary. This killing takes place in such a way that the old man with all his ability, including his "right conduct", his "self-decision", "personal self-setting", etc., is "beaten into a heap", "driven into terror and despondency"472) and then, by means of the gospel, faith in the grace of God in Christ is evoked and preserved through God's action. According to synergistic doctrine, becoming blessed is not a killing, but only a "renaissance" of the old man. The old man does not have to be killed, but only stirred up and educated, so that he "behaves rightly" against grace and beside grace, and carries out the right "Personal Self-Setting". In this process, it is true, the more or less powerful effect of grace is needed. Erasmus also quoted scriptural passages like Joh. 15:5: "Without me you can do nothing." But the effect of grace must stop at the limit of human self-decision.473) It must not go so far as to make salvation dependent on God's grace alone. Rather, salvation must also depend on right conduct, on the self-determination of man. The salvation must remain decisive in the behavior of man. While those who believe Rom. 7:18 find it comforting that they are saved to salvation by God's power through faith, the representatives of synergism, who put their theology into practice, see their personal comfort in the fact that their salvation does not depend on God's grace alone, but also on their behavior.
One wonders again and again how it is possible that even those to whom one may not deny personal Christianity advocate the synergistic perseverance doctrine, which so directly contradicts Scripture and Christian experience. We can only repeat here what we have already said about "the real reasons" for conversion synergism.474) First, the opinio legis inherent in all men must be pointed out. Then we stand here again before the crux theologorum: "Why do some persist and others not?" If nothing good dwells in all believers according to their
472) Smalc. Art. 312, 2. [Trigl. 479, Smalc. Art., Part III, Art. II, 2 🔗]
473) Luthardt, Die christl. Glaubenslehre, p. 442.
474) II, 580 ff.
119 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 98-99]
flesh, and the grace of God is universal and earnest, then either all should persevere or all should fall away. But in fact only some persevere, while the others fall away. Now whoever has not yet learned with Luther and the Formula of Concord to be at ease with sola gratia Dei as the ground of perseverance and sola culpa hominis as the ground of apostasy, that is, to acknowledge a mystery insoluble in this life when asked why some persevere and others do not, will fall into the ditch either to the left or to the right. He will adopt either the Calvinistic doctrine of perseverance, which is contrary to Scripture, or the synergistic doctrine of perseverance, which is contrary to Scripture. Therefore, it is necessary to take to heart the instruction and admonition that the Formula of Concord applies not only to conversion but also to perseverance: "For no injustice is done those who are punished and receive the wages of their sins; but to others, when God gives and upholds his word, and thereby enlightens, converts, and preserves men, God gives glory to his pure grace and mercy without their merit. But what in this disputation wants to run too high and out of these bounds" (namely, what goes beyond sola culpa in the case of some and sola gratia in the case of others), "we should take our finger to our mouth with Paulo, remembering and saying, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" 475)
Although it has been objected that the certainty of perseverance through divine grace alone produces spiritual arrogance, it is obvious that the exact opposite is the case. The certainty of perseverance by God's grace through faith in the divine promise of grace includes in itself the renunciation of all one's own power and thus true spiritual humility, while the contrary opinion, that perseverance depends not only on God's power and grace but also on man himself, is pride and produces a pride that comes before the fall. — Equally incorrect is the objection that the certainty of perseverance through the divine effect of grace results in carnal security and indolence in sanctification and good works. The greater the certainty that we are saved to salvation by God's power through faith, the greater is our gratitude
475) F. C. 716, 57-63 [Trigl. 1083, XI, 61-63 🔗].
120 > Perseverance to salvation. [English ed. ~ 99-100]
toward God and love for God, and therefore the greater the zeal to avoid sin and serve God in good works.476) The greater the certainty regarding the heavenly inheritance, the greater the patience and strength in the suffering of this time,477) and the less the attraction of the things of this world.478) On the other hand, lack of assurance of blessedness necessarily results in lack of thanksgiving to God and lack of strength to resist the lure of the world and the flesh.479) Luther says (IX, 516): "If anyone could with certain and constant faith hold to it, and comprehend the greatness of the good, that he was a child and heir of God, he would regard all that there is of power and treasure in all the kingdoms of the world as filth and dung in comparison with his heavenly inheritance. Everything that the world has in high and glorious things would be disgusting to him, and the greater the world's glory and splendor, the more he would be hostile to it; in short, everything that the world admires and praises highly would be ugly and void in his eyes. For what is the whole world with its power, wealth and glory against God, whose heir and child he is? … But the law in the members, which is contrary to the law of the mind, does not make faith perfect."
Finally, it should be pointed out that the living knowledge of Rom. 7:18 or the amicable despair of one's own strength leads first of all to diligent contact with God's Word, that is, to diligent use of the means by which God has promised to perfect the good work begun in us.480) Secondly, the realization that our salvation stands in God's hands alone drives us to humble supplication and entreaty to God, which has never gone unheard, but has the unconditional promise of being heard.481)
476) 2 Cor. 7:1; Gal. 2:20.<w:t>477) Rom. 8:18; Luke 12:32.
478) 1 John 2:16-17; 1 Cor 7:29-31.<w:t>479) Matt 6:21.
480) Jn. 8:51. concord. 600, 50-56. [Trigl. 901, F. C., Sol. Decl., II, 50-56 🔗]
481) Joh. 6:37; Ps. 10:17; Matt. 11:28; Ps. 31:23; Is. 57:15.
121 > The Means of Grace. [English ed. ~ 101–103]