Arminian Prayer
It is said that a great many Christians are Arminian, believing that man is morally capable of choosing Christ for salvation. I’ll write another article on the five point of Arminianism. Meanwhile, have you ever wondered what an Arminian prayer might sound like? Spurgeon masterfully crafted a prayer that is consistent with Arminian theology. Tell me if this sounds like you.
“Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free-will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a change, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not-that is the difference between me and them.”1
Do you sound like that? Of course not! Well, I certainly hope not. But that is the direction where Arminian theology leads. Spurgeon rightly points out:
You have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say, but you never heard an Arminian prayer-for the saints in prayer appear as one in word, and deed and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free will: there is no room for it… That is a prayer for the devil, for nobody else would offer such a prayer as that.2
I attached the PDF of the entire sermon. Click the sermon title in the endnotes.
Endnotes
1. Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons: Volume 1 (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998), Sermon #52, Free-will - Slave
2. Spurgeon, SS, 52.
16 Feb 2010 at 01:16 pm | #
Hmmm….
I’ve always been a bit of a closet Arminian. This is good. Sometimes it’s best to follow a line of thought to it’s most extreme conclusion. And…alas…this is where I again realize that Calvin got it right. Grace is a tough doctrine.
16 Mar 2010 at 05:59 am | #
I am so grateful that the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the doctrines of Grace! Before the HS enlightened me I used to think it wasn’t fair that God would relegate some to eternal damnation. Now I see that that’s the wrong question. It isn’t why would God relagate some to damnation but why does He choose anyone? We are all enemies of God and we hate Him. We desire nothing of Him. We will not choose God until He regenerates us. Now that’s Grace!!!