Is it Work to believe unto salvation?

                                                                           copyright 2006 Pete Lounsbury

       What Calvinists say about Believing Unto Salvation

                                 From a Calvinist Site

Calvinists say they see the reality and the severity of sin upon us. They say they recognize
and admit that sin is so powerful that it has incapacitated our ability to be holy. It has
removed our ability to please God in any way even by our sincerity of choice. They believe
that even our so called sincerity is touched by sin and is, therefore, unacceptable to God.
They believe that our sinfulness kills us, insulates us, and makes us unable to freely choose
God of our own free will. They believe that such a person is necessarily unable to believe by
his own free will because his own free will can only follow its sinful tendencies. They say the
unbeliever is full of evil, possess a sinful and deceitful heart, and cannot understand spiritual
things. Therefore, they believe that the unregenerate sinner will act in a manner consistent
with his sinfulness and that he does have the freedom to choose whatever he desires -- and
he desires to choose sin.

The Calvinist claims are:

1. We can never believe in God because of our sinfullness and because believing is a work
of the flesh, God does not honor it.

2. Only to those who God chooses will he give a special faith . Only to these people does
God give the special ability to believe, all others go to hell.

How does God make this choice? You got me!

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The problem is if believing is work and we are unable of our own volition to
believe in God then our only option would be to wait until God selects us or give
up seeking God all together. The Calvinists err because:

1.Believing is not work.

2. We do have the capacity to believe in God. God does honor man's believing.

What defines Works.

Well, Israel was not supposed to work at all on the sabbath, the day of rest. BUT, Jesus observed that
if their animals got loose they'd go round 'em up on the sabbath day. Would that be work and if so did
it break the sabbath? Sabbath day work became defined in relative terms, such as you could walk a
half mile but absolutely not a mile on the sabbath. I guess a half mile wasn't work but then a whole mile
was. Sense a little incongruity here?

Work or not to Work?

On the Sabbath these were considered work:

1. No work done at all (Ex. 20: 10; Lev. 23: 3; Jer. 17:21-22).

2 No kindling of a fire (Ex. 35:3).

3. No traveling (Ex. 16:29). Later the Jews added to this law, allowing only a half mile of travel on the
Sabbath

4. No trading (Amos 8:5).

5. No marketing (Neh. 10:31; 13:15,19).

6.The last part of the requirements for keeping the Sabbath day law Is the penalty for breaking It.
DEATH!

Let's split hairs here:

Would clipping your toenails be considered work?
Was cleaning your teeth work?
Was lifting a fork to your face work?
Was praying and confessing audibly to God work?
Was believing work?

FUNNY. I didn't see Believing or Confession listed as works! Why do Calvinists call these
items works, in the Biblical sense?

See Romans 4:2-5

For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.

Could this be any clearer. Abraham's believing is declared not to be works but just the
opposite-- not-works-- to the end that he has no grounds to glory (boast). The Bible does not
count true heart believing as a boastable work! Where do the Calvinists come off saying it is
boastable work and therefore not an integral part of salvation?

So then Believing is not work. However, through believing in the Gospel, God will save you and you will
be counted as righteous. Not because of any work on your part, but because you, like Abraham,
believed God.

If you want to boast about your believing, you would be foolish because it wasn't anything work-wise
that you did. It's like the fool that dances around after he gets a gift of a gold coin from a kind man
because he felt sorry for him and wanted to show him a favor. Instead of being humbly thankful to the
man, the fool says, "See! Because of my great wisdom and worth I was given this coin". Then
everyone in the room starts laughing at the fool and the benefactor realizes he made a mistake. Only a
fool would act like this. So why would a Christian given the gift of salvation start boasting, "See
because of my wisdom and worth I was saved!"   This would appear just as foolish to onlookers.
Therefore the verse is:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

(You can boast but you'd look like a fool!)

God's Prerogative?
or
God's Gift to the Man of Faith?

Calvinists say, "It's Gods prerogative, God chooses according to His Whim. He predestinates to
blessing and cursing"
The Bible says,"God's gift is given to whosoever believes."
Take your Pick! Calvinism or The Bible.

An unsaved man is listening to the radio, The Calvinist preacher tells him, "If
you want to be saved, study your Bible, listen to this radio station and if God
wills, he will save you. You must wait on the Lord. You are a filthy sinner, a
lump of clay. If God wants to make you a vessel of honor, he will; but if God
decides to cast you away, you will not be saved. You, however have no part or
say in the matter--how could you? You're dead in sins and trespasses."

Big question.

Should the man believe these charlatan's words or should he believe the words in Romans
10:9-10? which says:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.   For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.   For the
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Whosoever means whosoever. Whosoever shall confess the Lord Jesus and believe God raised
him from the dead will be saved. What right has the charlatan (or any Calvinist) to say that God has
predestined some for blessing and some for cursing.

Meanwhile:

That poor man clicks off the radio, resigned that his destruction is imminent (or he hopes
for a more benevolent God than what the charlatan portrays).

The Calvinist gospel denies the integral importance of man's believing. They say it is works. They say
it is vain. They say God will reject you or elect you. You have no say.

Through intellectual haughtiness and self-righteousness they thumb their noses at those they deem as
the unpredestined-- but their own souls are in jeopardy. They are modern protestant pharisees,
offering neither truth nor comfort.

A WORD CONCERNING GOD'S ELECT

God looks on the heart of man. He looked on the heart of Abraham, Esau, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Saul,
Daniel, and Judas and Paul. He judged them through his foreknowledge as to where their hearts would
take them, what choices they would make. He foreordained them to blessing or cursing according to
their own hearts. If believing manifested from those hearts then they were chosen by God--God is able
to perceive this because he is God. If their hearts rejected the Gospel, then they were cast away. God ,
being God has the ability to determine this for he knows their name before they are born, he knows
what will become of them and he knows if they will accept him. If this is a form of predestination, so be
it. However, God allows them the freedom to choose good or evil. Let us not institutionalize this or any
obscure verse into a religion, lord it over the ignorant, and make it preeminent in all teachings.

The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS not the BAD NEWS. God countless times tells us all to seek
him. It promises all of us if we seek him with all our hearts we will find him. It tells us all that if we
knock the door will be open. We are all told to come unto Christ if we are heavy laden with
burdens. We are told whosoever believeth on God shall not be ashamed and on and on! The
GOOD NEWS is thus:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.   For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.   For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed.

Why is Predestination institutionalized by the Calvinists? Why is it established as dogma?
There are many obscure and provocative verses in the Bible that if you institutionalized the
concepts, they would make for some pretty strange religions, for example:

First there is the Christian Cannibals Denomination, a break-away denomination, taking an even
more literal view of eating Christ's flesh than do the Transubstantialists.

John 6:53-57 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by
me.

Then there is the Christian Family Hater Denomination who are not accepted by God unless they
truly hate all the members of their immediate family.

Luke 14:25-26 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

And of course my favorite, is the Christian Swords Not Peace Denomination.

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a
sword.

Some other institutions that have already arrived are:

the Calvinists, who believe that God, for no particular reason, curses or blesses anyone he wants.
(Based on a few obscure verses taken out of context).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as
sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Ephesians 1:3-5

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many
brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also
justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at
the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. John 6:44-45

Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honour, and another unto dishonour?

Or how about Trinitarianism, which is not only NOT mentioned in the Bible, but not defined, and is
based on even more obscure verses than that of the Calvinist's predestination doctrine.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost

The point is you can't base a religion on one or two verses taken out of context--even
though they hit your fancy. What you will end up with is an esoteric belief system with more
problems than are solved.

All the above qualifying verses must be viewed in their biblical context, both immediate and broad, with
a view to the over-all scope of the entire Bible. Did you know that there was no Predestination
theology in the Jewish Religion and certainly no Trinity? Why would Christians devise this theology.
You can not "make up" a Gospel based on obscure verses, and then persecute those who don't agree
with you.

It's an Attitude of Heart.

To be a fisher of men your bait must be true and palatable. To tell people, "you may never be saved,
but hang in there to see what happens", is not only unfruitful but goes against the grain of the Word of
God. Where in the Bible is that phraseology used? Instead it says Choose ye now! It says, Follow
Me, it says, Seek Ye First the Kingdom, it says, Repent, it says, Believe. It does NOT say WAIT! It
says, TODAY is the day of salvation. If you will hear it , It is TODAY!

The Calvinists Err. How do they err? In heart, in understanding, and in interpreting scripture.
They interpret with the mind not with the spirit

Concerning Romans 10:9-10:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.   For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.   For the
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

WHOSOEVER means WHOSOEVER. You, Me, ANYONE! Confess with your mouth, believe in your
heart. Be saved!

HOW CAN A CORPSE BELIEVE

But we were dead in sins and trespasses, Calvin and others say. They say, "How can a corpse believe
anything? It is dead?" Once again, they are taking verses out of context.

Dead spiritually--dead in sins and trespasses. Yes! But not dead in body and soul. In this body and
soul the seeking is done, the hearing is done and then the cry for salvation is made.

We were Dead in sins and trespasses, this was our spiritual condition, but as long as we physically
live and breathe we can still hear the Word of faith, reach out to God, confess, believe and be saved.
By the grace of God we can be spiritually reborn and be made spiritually alive. After we are physically
dead this is no longer available. Isaiah 55:6 says:

Seek the Lord while he can be found, (he can not be found upon the demise of an individual.)

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God.

Consider your faith. When you believed unto salvation was it work or was it beautiful
revelation culminating in confession?

Lets look at a glass of water (the hearer). It's empty but it's mouth is wide open, the pitcher comes (it
is the Word of God), the water is poured in, the water fills the glass higher and higher (the hearer hears
more and more of the Word). There is no work being accomplished by the glass only by the pourer.
Soon the water reaches the top of the glass. It is full (the hearer believes!). The pitcher continues
pouring. The glass overflows (confession).

What work has the glass wrought? None whatsoever. Therefore the glass may not boast
that it's overflowing came through the fact that it stood there and was filled.

Likewise a believer can not boast that his hearing of the word, his filling by the spirit and his salvation
were of any of his own works. The most that can be said for that individual is he sought the Lord and he
made himself available to receive, but life was given to him by God. It would have been impossible for
the glass to produce it's own water. Likewise it would have been impossible for the individual by his
own works to be filled with the life-giving spirit which is available only from God.

ALSO

If there is believing, there is confession.
Confession is the manifestation of believing. What a man confesses is what he believes. Suppose a
man is converted, he believes and immediately he begins talking about what he saw on the news that
night.

"Oh sure I believe, but wasn't Bush's speech great!"

This is Mental Assent only. It is not believing. There are plenty of mental assenters that attend church.
Church is convenient and there's a lot of socializing going on there. And we love to socialize! Mental
assent is works. It prevails nothing! It takes work to mentally assent to things you don't really believe in.
The promise of Romans 10:9 and 10 is not for those who mentally assent to the Word and then go on
with daily life as if nothing happened. Those who receive the Word in stoney places and among
thorns don't get the benefits of salvation.

Matthew 13:20-22 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the
word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when
tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that
received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

The point is true Believing is not works. True Confession is not works. They are the natural
expression of hearing the Word of God to the point of salvation. BUT if the confession is not
concerning Christ, where is the salvation?

Roman 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.   For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

In conclusion, neither true believing nor faith confession is works. Calvinism has tried to define it as
such to prove man is vain in his seeking. The Bible says that Abraham's believing was not work, it was
not vain, so neither is our believing vain. Though we do the believing, we have no cause to boast
because we do not in any way merit God's gift of salvation.