A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer (Part II)

This installment of my reading reflections deals with Chapter 8 in Packer's book A Quest for Godliness.  The title of this chapter is "Saved by His Precious Blood: An Introduction  to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ." This chapter was the most profound for me personally because it was a scathing rebuke of the Arminian theology so present in modern day evangelical Christianity; a problem that was equally present in the 17th century England of John Owen.

An incomplete outline with quotes and some of my own reflections:

• The old gospel, which consisted in the unconditional election of totally depraved sinners for salvation by the sovereign grace of God, was a God-centered gospel.  The new gospel, which consists of conditional election of almost totally depraved sinners for salvation based upon the free-will of man, is a man-centered gospel. Calvinism (the old gospel) and Arminianism (the new gospel) are very similar in a myriad of points.  That being said, in the words of Packer, "a half-truth masquerading as a whole truth becomes a complete untruth. Thus, we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of his redeeming work as if he had done no more by dying than make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing; we speak of God's love as if it were no more than a general willingness to receive any who will turn and trust; and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence 'at the door of our hearts' for us to let them in" (Packer, 126-127).
• This is a brutal critique of Arminianism. This belief, by thinking it is affirming the love of God through the idea of a general atonement, has undermined the sovereignty of God (also taught in Scripture) and as a result has jettisoned the true love of God. In effect, they have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. The love of God demonstrated in the gospel is not that Christ paid for the sins of all men but rather that he paid for the sins of all His chosen sheep. One need only read John 10, Romans 9, or Ephesians 1 to understand that God's glory is manifested specifically in saving undeserving sinners who are incapable, by their nature, of saving themselves.  

•  Packer next gives a quick overview of Arminian and Calvinistic theology.
• Arminianism believes (among other things): 
• Man is never totally corrupted by sin to the point that he cannot receive the gospel.
• Man can resist the call of the Holy Spirit.
• Election is based on God's foreknowledge of man's free-will decisions.
• The atonement did not save anyone in particular but made it possible for the salvation of all.
• Man can fall from a state of grace and the assurance of salvation by failing to keep themselves in faith.

•  Calvinism believes (among other things):
• Man is totally depraved by sin and thus unable to come to God of his own free-will.
• Election is based on God's sovereign, unconditional choice of sinners to be redeemed by Christ.
• The atonement did save each of God's elect in particular.
• The Holy Spirit never fails in his mission of bringing the elect to Christ.
• The saved can be assured of their final salvation because it rests on the power and supremacy of God.

• Packer, noting that the famous "five points of Calvinism" were simply a response to the five-point Arminian work known as "The Remonstrance", explains how myopic the five points of Calvinism are in relation to the overall theology of Calvinism.
• Calvinism is much broader than the five points.
• While the five points present Calvinist soteriology in a negative form, Calvinism is at its core a expository and pastoral theology.
• The five points tend to distract from the "organic character" of Calvinistic thought on soteriology.
• Calvinism's central soteriological point is simply that God saves sinners.
• The five points obscures the wide gulf between Arminian and Calvinistic soteriology.
• The Arminian sees the following formula: my faith resulted in my election.
• The Calvinist sees the following formula: my election resulted in my faith.
• Arminian theology says that the cross makes salvation possible whereas Calvinism says that the cross actually saved.
• While the five points were initially formulated as a response to Arminian doctrine, Calvinism predates Arminianism. That is because Calvinism, though named for the great reformer, is nothing more than the biblical gospel.  As C.H. Spurgeon would state, "That doctrine which is called 'Calvinism' did not spring from Calvin; we believe that it sprang from the great founder of all truth." I think the most brutally accurate critique of Arminianism in the book comes on this point. Packer states:
• "Certainly, Arminianism is 'natural' in one sense, in that it represents a characteristic perversion of biblical teaching by the fallen mind of man, who even in salvation cannot bear to renounce the delusion of being master of his fate and captain of his soul" (Packer, 133).

To be continued...(next time we will continue with John Owen's critique of Arminianism in his polemical work "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.")