The Harmony of Doxology and Praxeology in Duty-Faith

I recently asked someone "who is the subject of our believing?" and "do we believe unto salvation?" because I was not sure they were comfortable with the biblical answers to those questions ("we believe" and "saved by grace through faith"). This person seemed reluctant to respond, as if the biblical answers to those questions would inherently conflict with the truths that all glory belongs to God, and that our believing (both the will and the act) is the necessary fruit of the effectual work of God's Spirit in us. My concern is that rather than pitting truths that Scripture teaches against each other, we reconcile and systematize the truth and confess it as a whole, not favouring one at the expense of another.

Noah and the ark is a good example. Scripture clearly teaches that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and that God saved Noah by His grace. Scripture also teaches that by faith Noah built an ark to the saving of his house (Heb. 11:7). How do we reconcile these so that we confess both in harmony and clarity?

The building of the ark by the hand of Noah was part of the necessary manner in which God had determined saved them, and the ark was an instrument (necessary according to God's plan). Therefore God worked effectually in Noah both to will and to do, so that Noah built the ark. Since God worked in Noah, the glory for Noah's willing and Noah's doing must be attributed to God's work in Noah's heart. If that is the case, then all glory for Noah's work, and the fruit of it (the ark), is God's, and all glory for salvation through the ark is God's. Then we need not fear saying with Scripture that Noah built the ark.

In reluctance to give the hearty biblical answer to these questions, apparently concerned that the answers would somehow not attribute all glory to God, this person instead elevated my initial concern by asking me "who is responsible for our believing?" God is responsible for the work He does in our hearts which necessarily and effectually causes us to believe (both our will and our act). We are responsible for our believing. That we are responsible for the duty of believing is evident in that we are commanded to believe, and we are judged for the sin of unbelief. And we all ought to be aware that denying that faith is a duty is the most basic and clear form of hyper-Calvinism.

We ought to be more fearful of falling into that error (clearly condemned by Scripture and the Reformed confessions) than simply making statements that Scripture itself is unashamed to make, such as "Noah built the ark" and "we believe" and "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness". Where appropriate, where we think such statements may be misunderstood (e.g. if talking to an Arminian), we may add clarification to those statements (just as we would clarify that "we believe" if we said "all glory belongs to God" when talking to a hyper-Calvinist).

But we may not accuse or attack people if they do not clarify something exactly to the extent that we would in every situation. In pedagogy it is simply not possible to explain everything all at once. This is why we take a full year or more to go through the Heidelberg Catechism. It's not possible to fit everything into one sermon. There is a lot of content to our (objective) faith, which we must learn and grow in over time - holding the truth together, not raising one statement in conflict with others, but understood as a consistent systematic whole.

A teacher must build, and they must build in a certain order, and step by step, building upon what was laid down previously, sometimes belabouring points that a congregation is weak on, sometimes taking small steps, and being careful not to take too many steps all at once. We cannot condemn them if they don't fully repeat a step they taught in the previous lesson, nor may we cling to one particular lesson and refuse to hear the next. And each lesson will have a different emphasis, so that as a whole, all of the truth is emphasized in its place. We must not ignore and discard last week's sermon when we hear this week's sermon, but we must reconcile these together. And if we cannot reconcile them, we ought to ask others for help, up to and including asking the teacher, because if the teacher cannot reconcile these, then it is quite possible there is some error present which must be uncovered. If the teacher is building carefully, it should be easy to see how all these things are reconciled, but not all teachers are as skilful or use the same method, and as listeners we have to be patient and charitable.

Paul's letter to the Romans is a good example. He emphasizes the glory of God at the end of chapter 11. It is not that he has ignored it up to this point, but he has been building, so that when all these points come together, he can emphasize the glory of God in relation to what has gone before in its place. But he also doesn't stop there, he immediately moves on to practical application (chapters 12-16). There is no true doxology without proper praxeology, but each in its place, and each related to each other in harmony. This is why Calvin's big issue in "The Necessity of Reforming the Church" was that Rome had corrupted the right worship of God. His concern for doxology meant that he was necessarily concerned about praxeology. It would be the height of hypocrisy for the church to preach beautifully and wondrously about the glory of God, and never to preach about how we must therefore glorify Him in everything. Sadly, hyper-Calvinists dive headlong into this hypocrisy when they deny duty-faith.

The Time, Necessity, and Activity of our Believing

Suggesting that because the Reformed faith rebukes the errors of hyper-Calvinists who deny that we believe unto salvation, we are somehow claiming credit for faith and teaching it as a condition rather than attributing all glory to God is absurd. Consider this passage in which Paul describes his teaching:

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (I Cor. 2:1-9)

1. Paul's preaching was Christ-centred, and specifically centred upon His crucifixion for us.
2. Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate (one of the princes of this world) historically, and was crucified at a specific time according to the determinate counsel of God (Acts 2:23), therefore the centre of Paul's preaching was primarily this historical event rather than the eternal counsel in which it was determined and planned.
3. The manner of Paul's speech was not that of a great orator trying to impress with his words, but of a man deeply humbled, broken before God, and in awe at the wondrous grace of God to him personally who was before a blasphemer and persecutor (I Tim. 1:12-16). I allow you to examine and apply this pattern to hyper-Calvinist preachers who typically attract followers by their demeanour and words and actions (with comparisons and incessant accusations against others) presenting themselves as somehow more orthodox and more profound and more powerful in their preaching than those who preach the simple gospel of Christ crucified. Paul simply presents Jesus Christ in power, and himself only in weakness.
4. The central subject and manner of his preaching were necessary for the source of their faith, because true faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is the only source and power of true faith.
5. Our faith stands and our faith knows and our faith sees. These are inner spiritual activities (though not the works of our hands or deeds of the body). By faith, we stand, we know, and we see. Faith is living and active in us exactly because the source and power of faith is the living and active Spirit who bears witness in us by the word (Heb. 4:12). It cannot be otherwise.
6. Because the centre of Paul's preaching was Christ crucified, he also spoke about God ordaining this mystery before the world and God preparing these things for them that love Him. Not in or by itself, or as the centre of His preaching, but in connection with and for the sake of the preaching of Christ crucified in time.
7. By using the words "ordained before", "unto our glory" and "prepared", Paul instructs us that Christ crucified, as well as our faith purchased for us on the cross and by which alone we know what God has prepared for us, are after, in time, and historical, as well as absolutely and sovereignly determined, certain, fixed and caused by God alone, thereby excluding any and all external dependencies, conditions, or prerequisites.

Much more could be said from this passage alone, but faith is knowing what God has prepared for us, and to castigate the Reformed faith as if we say that faith is a condition when we only insist that it is the necessary means by which we know what God has prepared for us, is nothing but baseless slander and a shameless twisting of our confession. Believing the promises is how we receive the promises, and this activity of faith itself is part of what God has prepared for us. By accusing us of teaching faith to be a condition, when we insist that it is a necessary means, the hyper-Calvinists themselves disconnect it from the promises of God and from eternal unconditional election, and by accusing us of teaching faith to be a work of man because we say it is living and active, the hyper-Calvinists themselves disconnect it from the power of the living and active Spirit and make our activity stand in the wisdom of men. Paul spoke concerning such as those who deny the power of God at work in us (chiefly our faith by which power we overcome the world; I John 5:4): "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (II Tim. 3:5)

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Gal. 6:14)

Consider the official teaching of the Reformed faith in Canons Head I:

Art 3. And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings to whom He will and at what time He pleaseth; by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. ...

Art 4. The wrath of God abideth upon those who believe not this gospel. But such as receive it, and embrace Jesus the Saviour by a true and living faith, are by Him delivered from the wrath of God and from destruction, and have the gift of eternal life conferred upon them.

Notice it is men who believe (not Christ or the Spirit or God for us, or in us, or on our behalf instead of us) which is described as the activities of receiving and embracing, and we do not have the gift of eternal life and are not delivered from the wrath of God until we believe. These are the ABCs of the Gospel 101 which are being denied by those who are obsessed with pushing everything, including the application of salvation, into eternity past, and who pretend that man's believing activity by which he receives and embraces Christ is a work and a condition rather than the gift of God by the power of the Holy Spirit working in him. And they have the gall to boast of this wretched impious confusion as if it makes them holier or more orthodox or more humble or more God-glorifying while throwing at us the most vehement and despicable accusations that we deny the Gospel.

There is a sound reason why the Canons took this doctrine of our activity of faith unto salvation as their starting point (Art. 1 teaching the justice of God in condemning all mankind, and Art. 2 teaching the manifestation of the love of God in sending Jesus Christ to give life to all who believe). Having explained this first, then the Canons are able to take up the subject of eternal election in its proper place, to explain why some believe and others do not, in contrast to the conditional theology of the Arminians.

Calvin very harshly admonishes his readers when he begins to treat the subject of predestination, since it has to do with God's eternal counsel, so much of which is unimaginably far beyond our comprehension and has not been revealed to us:

First, then, let them remember that when they inquire into predestination they are penetrating the sacred precincts of divine wisdom. If anyone with carefree assurance breaks into this place, he will not succeed in satisfying his curiosity and he will enter a labyrinth from which he can find no exit. For it is not right for man unrestrainedly to search out things that the Lord has willed to be hid in himself, and to unfold from eternity itself the sublimest wisdom, which he would have us revere but not understand that through this also he should fill us with wonder. He has set forth by his Word the secrets of his will that he has decided to reveal to us. (Institutes 3.21.1)

Calvin's approach to this subject, as all others, is to approach only by the "pathway of faith" in Christ crucified as revealed in God's Word alone. He quotes Augustine:

"We have entered the pathway of faith," says Augustine, "let us hold steadfastly to it. It leads us to the King's chamber, in which are hid all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom. For the Lord Christ himself did not bear a grudge against his great and most select disciples when he said: 'I have ... many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now' (John 16:12). We must walk, we must advance, we must grow, that our hearts may be capable of those things which we cannot yet grasp. But if the Last Day finds us advancing, there we shall learn what we could not learn here." If this thought prevails with us, that the Word of the Lord is the sole way that can lead us in our search for all that is lawful to hold concerning him, and is the sole light to illumine our vision of all that we should see of him [i.e. by faith], it will readily keep and restrain us from all rashness. (Institutes 3.21.2)

Like brute beasts, the hyper-Calvinists charge into the throne room of God's eternal wisdom, not holding to the pathway of faith, not bridled by the revealed Word, and so rush headlong into a labyrinth of their own making, and present us with the rottenness they find there in their own imaginations as if it were God's own secret wisdom (Jude 1:10). From the wisdom of men, may the Lord deliver us, that our faith should stand in the power of the Spirit.

The Canons of Dordt concludes with practical application to keep us from this error, as applicable to the calumnies of modern hyper-Calvinists as it was to those of the Arminians:

... some whom such conduct by no means became, have violated all truth, equity, and charity, in wishing to persuade the public [of various slanders, accusations, false doctrines, and calumnies] and many other things of the same kind, which the Reformed Churches not only do not acknowledge, but even detest with their whole soul. Wherefore, this Synod of Dort, in the name of the Lord, conjures as many as piously call upon the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, to judge of the faith of the Reformed Churches, not from the calumnies, which, on every side, are heaped upon it; nor from the private expressions of a few among ancient and modern teachers, often dishonestly quoted, or corrupted, and wrested to a meaning quite foreign to their intention; but from the public confessions of the Churches themselves, and from the declaration of the orthodox doctrine, confirmed by the unanimous consent of all and each of the members of the whole Synod. Moreover, the Synod warns calumniators themselves, to consider the terrible judgment of God which awaits them, for bearing false witness against the confessions of so many Churches, for distressing the consciences of the weak; and for laboring to render suspected the society of the truly faithful. Finally, this Synod exhorts all their brethren in the gospel of Christ, to conduct themselves piously and religiously in handling this doctrine, both in the universities and churches; to direct it, as well in discourse, as in writing, to the glory of the Divine Name, to holiness of life, and to the consolation of afflicted souls; to regulate, by the Scripture, according to the analogy of faith, not only their sentiments, but also their language; and, to abstain from all those phrases which exceed the limits necessary to be observed in ascertaining the genuine sense of the holy Scriptures; and may furnish insolent sophists with a just pretext for violently assailing, or even vilifying, the doctrine of the Reformed Churches.

Evidence of the Holy Spirit in Us

What is the evidence of the inner work of the Holy Spirit in us? How do we know that we have truly been born again? That our profession is not simply a hypocritical facade but a true confession? There are well-trodden old paths since the Reformation in this crucial area from which we ought to learn very carefully.

Canons of Dordt, Head I, Art. 12:

"The elect in due time, though in various degrees and in different measures, attain the assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election, not by inquisitively prying into the secret and deep things of God, but by observing in themselves with a spiritual joy and holy pleasure, the infallible fruits of election pointed out in the Word of God - such as [1] a true faith in Christ, [2] filial fear, [3] a godly sorrow for sin, [4] a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, etc."

Note that these fundamental things are internal and are not directly observable by others (which ought to commend to us the judgement of charity), though they ought to and will produce the fruit of a changed walk of life. But no-one ought to doubt his election who has these fruits in his soul, and yet does not see such progress in his life as he hopes for (in fact, he ought to be encouraged by such hope and dissatisfaction with his current progress).

More wisdom from the original "five points of Calvinism", this time from article 16 in the same head of doctrine:

"Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an earnest endeavour after filial obedience, and glorying in God through Christ, efficaciously wrought in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to rank themselves among the reprobate, but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with ardent desires, devoutly and humbly to wait for a season of richer grace. Much less cause have they to be terrified by the doctrine of reprobation, who, though they seriously desire to be turned to God, to please him only, and to be delivered from the body of death, cannot yet reach that measure of holiness and faith to which they aspire; since a merciful God has promised that he will not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed. But this doctrine is justly terrible to those, who, regardless of God and of the Savior Jesus Christ, have wholly given themselves up to the cares of the world, and the pleasures of the flesh, so long as they are not seriously converted to God."

Again from head V on the certainty of the perseverance of the saints (Art. 10):

"This assurance, however, is not produced by any peculiar revelation contrary to, or independent of the Word of God; but springs from [1] faith in God's promises, which he has most abundantly revealed in his Word for our comfort; from [2] the testimony of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit, that we are children and heirs of God, Romans 8:16; and lastly, from [3] a serious and holy desire to preserve a good conscience, and to perform good works."

Having this foundational persuasion and assurance of election, the forgiveness of our sins, and of our perseverance to the end, we are encouraged and emboldened to fight our sins in confidence of the mercy of God toward us and of His help and grace to strengthen and preserve us. Then as we bring forth the good fruit of a godly life, we keep ourselves from doubts and falls which would interrupt the exercise of our faith, and in this way we build ourselves up and are strengthened in our precious faith attending diligently upon the means of faith (including the official means of preaching and sacraments, but not neglecting either the other means such as personal Bible-reading and corporate Bible study, private and corporate prayer, fellowship with the saints, etc. along with avoiding things harmful to our faith, such all manner of grievous sins, impenitence, worldliness, idleness, fellowship with the ungodly, etc.). This is the manner of God-worked preservation in us. Articles 12 and 13 of the same head teach us:

"This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride, or of rendering them carnally secure, that on the contrary, it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent prayers, constancy in suffering, and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God: so that the consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works, as appears from the testimonies of Scripture, and the examples of the saints."

"Neither does renewed confidence or persevering produce licentiousness, or a disregard to piety in those who are recovering from backsliding; but it renders them much more careful and solicitous to continue in the ways of the Lord, which he hath ordained, that they who walk therein may maintain an assurance of persevering, lest by abusing his fatherly kindness, God should turn away his gracious countenance from them, to behold which is to the godly dearer than life: the withdrawing thereof is more bitter than death, and they in consequence hereof should fall into more grievous torments of conscience."

The full Canons of Dordt, written as an explanation of points of doctrine from the Reformed (Belgic) Confession and Reformed (Heidelberg) Catechism to resolve the Arminian controversy (who denied the possibility of assurance of perseverance), and accepted ecumenically by all the Reformed churches of that day (e.g. British, Dutch, French, German, etc.): https://www.prca.org/cd_index.html

A Plea for Creeds: https://cprc.co.uk/pamphlets2/pleaforcreeds/