How do opponents of Decision Theology distinguish themselves from Universal Salvation?
Upvote:2
pteranodon, Your question is vast. It covers at least two doctrines in the bible—Conversion and Justification, each of which deserves much time in explaining. But, if you are willing, I'd like to tackle your query.
Defining Decision Theology
Divine Monergists (Lutherans & Calvinists) use the term "decision theology" to describe a particularly Arminian view of conversion in which a person is confronted with Jesus (who he is and what he has done for that person) and then makes use of his will (makes a decision) to be a Christian or not. Years ago the Southern Baptist Convention put out a pamphlet which pictured conversion this way: God has cast his vote; he wants you in heaven. But Satan has also cast his vote; he wants you in hell. You have the ability to cast the 'tie-breaker'. What will your vote (decision)be? If you'd like a current explanation of this, just look at the SBC website:
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior. (http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp)
Notice in this explanation of conversion the Holy Spirit terrifies you as you become aware of your sin and the consequences of sin (hell). Then you respond (decide) toward God. So also, in the next paragraph one 'accepts' (decides) to commit himself to Jesus.
Conversion
When Lutherans use the word, 'conversion' we speak of that instant and moment in which a person is an unbeliever and then is given faith to both know and trust in the Triune God. I make this distinction since many especially in evangelical/arminian church bodies make becoming a Christian a process. For Lutherans there is an instant and a moment in which a person is an unbeliever and then becomes a believer.
In conversion, God uses his word to create faith in a person's heart. God is the one who chooses a person and creates faith in his heart through his word. A person is not able to use his will in conversion because, through the fall into sin, his will is the very thing that needs to be converted. In showing this from scripture two points are usually made to back this up from scripture:
- The far-reaching effects of sin (so that a person is dead, blind, an enemy of God, without any ability to know God or come to him and decide for him): Is 65:1; Mt 7:18; Lk 6:43,44; Jn 3:6; 6:44; Ro 3:11; 8:7; 10:20; 1 Cor 2:14; 12:3; Eph 2:1; Col 1:21; 2:13
- Conversion is entirely a work of God: 1 Peter 1:23; Rom 10:17, James 1:17-18; Ac 11:21; Jn 6:44; 1 Cor 12:3; Philip 2:13; Col 2:13; Dt 29:4; Jr 32:39; Eze 36:26; Ac 26:16–18; 2 Cor 4:6; Eph 1:17; 2:5; Philip 1:6; 2:13.
For an exhaustive treatment of this, I invite you to walk through Article II in the Formula of Concord: (http://bookofconcord.org/sd-freewill.php)
Justification
Lutherans have always upheld the doctrine of Justification. Justification is the teaching in the bible that one is "declared not guilty" or "declared righteous" in Christ. The doctrine of Justification has an objective and subjective sense to it. Objectively God has declared the entire world 'not guilty.' (Rom 3:20-24;4:5;5:16,18; 2 Cor 5:18, 1 Pet 3 18, 1 John 2:2, 2 Peter 2:1 et al) Subjectively, God has declared individuals (me!) not guilty (Gal 2:20; Mt 9:2; Lk 7:47,48; 18:14).
Again, the book of Concord is an excellent resource to look into this further: (http://bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php)
Conversation/Confusion
Where these two doctrines come together and are criticized by many Evangelicals/Arminians is the deduction that if God chooses people and declares the world 'not guilty', then everybody must get into heaven. This is not what Lutherans teach. While the credit for being being justified and given faith is given to God (and him alone), it is possible for a person to be given faith and then fall away. For God's word is powerful, but not irresistible. In this case the cause and blame for being an unbeliever (and ending up in hell) is the person's, not God's.(Jr 15:7; 25:5,7; 35:15,17; Ho 11:5,6—Mt 23:37; Ac 7:51; 2 Chr 24:19; 30:6–10; 36:13; Ne 9:29; Jr 5:3–5; Jr 23:14; Eze 13:22;) Again, the above two articles cited from the book of Concord give a more exhaustive treatment of this. And it might be good to back up even further and walk through article I (original sin) too.
Your question does also deal with the doctrine of election too. But, I thought this would be a decent beginning in answering your question. The doctrine of election is covered in Article XI in the formula of Concord (http://bookofconcord.org/sd-election.php) And, I thoroughly encourage you to read through that at well. It does a beautiful job of bringing so many of these issues together.
Pastor Steve Bauer (http://stevebauer.us)
More post
- 📝 Was it and is it a common Christian belief to say that the 5 books of the Torah were written by Moses?
- 📝 Does the taxpayer take any part in funding Christian Churches in Britain?
- 📝 What's the first ancient document composed by a non-Christian denying the resurrection?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis against inter-faith marriages?
- 📝 Can God act against His will?
- 📝 Ex-muslim, How to pray?
- 📝 How is "abstain from things strangled" not contradictory to "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man"?
- 📝 Is Luke 12:50 where Roman Catholics get the concept of baptism by blood?
- 📝 Why does Intelligent Design reject evolution, even intelligently designed and executed evolution?
- 📝 Samaritans, the Jubilee and Jesus
- 📝 To what extent were original papyri used as sources in the translation of the NIV New Testament?
- 📝 How do Christians respond to this claim in the Qur'an?
- 📝 If Orthodox Christians must repent of any act of violence, how does this not entail pacifism?
- 📝 Does the false prophet cause the spirit of Satan to move into the image to give it life?
- 📝 When did the one-way monologue sermon first become a normal feature of church assemblies?
- 📝 Is Jonathan Edwards's view of "philosophical necessity" compatible with the Westminster Standards?
- 📝 Who can give the sacrament of confirmation in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 When the Bible talks about wine does it mean alcoholic wine?
- 📝 What is the history of the term "state of perfection" before, during, and after Vatican II?
- 📝 Marriage to a Jehovah’s Witness is it possible?
- 📝 What does it mean to "Bless the LORD"?
- 📝 Do any church fathers interpret Luke 18:17 as teaching the necessity of infant baptism?
- 📝 Did Mary, sister of Martha, anoint Jesus's feet on two different occasions, John 11:1-2 and John 12:2-5?
- 📝 Is death a conscious act?
- 📝 What did Jesus mean by 'going for a second mile '?
- 📝 Did Jeremiah lie in Jeremiah 38:27
- 📝 Are people by nature good or are they inherently evil?
- 📝 Who is "you" in Genesis 3:15 according to the Calvinist?
- 📝 Has there ever been an Eastern Catholic Pope (Post-Schism)?
- 📝 Did the authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith ever explain why they thought God could not be the author of sin?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How do opponents of Decision Theology distinguish themselves from Universal Salvation?
- 📝 How does one discern between thoughts inspired by the Holy Spirit and those produced from themselves
- 📝 How do errantists distinguish the parts of the Bible that are trustworthy from the parts that have errors?
- 📝 How did the Christian movement distinguish itself from Judaism?
- 📝 How does reformed theology reconcile the universal resurrection with limited atonement
- 📝 For traditional sources, how does the Catholic Church distinguish between holy truth and human speculation from the same author?
- 📝 From the perspective of the theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, how should Christians react to a political leader who fights the Antichrist?
- 📝 How is the Christian Jesus different from the Muslim Jesus?
- 📝 How is "Veneration" similar or different from "Adoration"?
- 📝 How do opponents respond to the Grace Gambit?
- 📝 How could Jesus be descended from the royal line of David if he was born of the Virgin Birth?
- 📝 In evangelicalism, how are Christians free from sin?
- 📝 How is Jesus descended from David?
- 📝 How have mainstream Christian denominations interpreted the Acts command to abstain from blood?
- 📝 How can a Pope be chosen from outside the conclave?
- 📝 What is the Lutheran doctrine of consubstantiation and how does it differ from transubstantiation and a more general protestant sacramental view?
- 📝 How do Christians discern genuine spiritual experiences from hallucinations or other mundane psychological phenomena?
- 📝 How to verify if a "message from God" came from God?
- 📝 What is joy? How is it different from happiness (or is it)?
- 📝 How does the doctrine of the URC differ from its predecessors?
- 📝 How many witnesses are there who physically saw and/or touched the golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was reportedly translated?
- 📝 How did Martin Luther's views on Free Will differ from those of Erasmus?
- 📝 From a non-trinitarian perspective, how is love explained as an attribute of God?
- 📝 How do opponents of penal substitutionary atonement theory handle Isaiah 53?
- 📝 How do opponents of Penal Substitution explain God's declaration that He "will not leave the guilty unpunished"?
- 📝 How is the 'New Perspective on Paul' different from Catholicism with respect to good works?
- 📝 How does the relationship of the Church of Scotland to the state differ from that of the Church of England?
- 📝 How do the Personal Ordinariates differ from Anglicanism?
- 📝 How does the view of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about Jesus Christ differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
- 📝 How best for a Christian to explore the ethics of a Covid-19 vaccine that might use farmed cell-lines from aborted foetuses?