Debunking Calvinism: How Is Saving Faith "Not Alone"?

John Calvin

In his book So Great Salvation, Free Grace theologian Charles Ryrie says that “Every Christian will bear spiritual fruit. Somewhere, sometime, somehow.”[1] From a Free Grace perspective, Ryrie’s statement is helpful because it explains (and defuses) the often-quoted Calvinistic axiom that: “We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that saves is not alone.” Calvinists interpret this axiom to be referring specifically to good works,[2] but notice that’s not what the statement actually says! It simply says that the faith that saves is not alone. Thus, Free Grace people can agree with the statement as it is stated (i.e. without the Calvinistic twist), in that we agree that the faith that saves “will bear spiritual fruit. Somewhere, sometime, somehow.” And thus, the faith that saves is “not alone”! It will bear spiritual fruit: somewhere, sometime, somehow. And what is “spiritual fruit” according to the Bible? The apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,” etc. These qualities are spiritual, and are in distinction to overtly “good works”.[3]

 

Let’s take a closer look at the Calvinistic view of saving faith and how they inject good works into the whole equation. Wayne Grudem says “that ‘the faith that saves is never alone’ because it is always accompanied by good works [in a person’s life], and numerous New Testament passages such as Galatians 6:7-9 point to that conclusion.”[4] When Grudem says that numerous NT passages “point to that conclusion,” he’s basically admitting that those passages don’t explicitly prove his point; thus he merely says they “point to that conclusion.” It’s obvious that Grudem is looking at the biblical text through the rose-colored stained glass windows of his Calvinistic belief system! But if we let the Bible speak for itself, it does not point to that conclusion. 

 

Take Galatians 6:7-9 as an example, the biblical reference that Grudem cited. How does it show that saving faith “is always accompanied by good works”? If anything, Galatians 6:7-9 shows exactly the opposite! How so? Well, look at the text. What does it say? The apostle Paul specifically says that “those who sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” (Gal. 6:8). In context, Paul is talking about believers who are selfish and don’t share (cf. Gal. 6:6). Commenting on Galatians 6:6, H. A. Ironside writes: “He who seeks only to be benefited by others and is not concerned about sharing with them, will have a Dead Sea kind of life [i.e. stagnant; nothing flowing out].”[5] Ironside goes on to say: “whether it be the case of the unsaved worldling, or the failing Christian, the inexorable law will be fulfilled—we reap what we sow.”[6] Maybe Grudem doesn’t understand this, but according to the Word of God, believers can indeed “reap corruption”! (See Gal. 6:8; cf. 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Jn. 8; Rev. 3:11.) Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 3:15 that it’s entirely possible for some Christians to get to Heaven “by the skin of their teeth”—with no good works, everything “burned up” (Gr. κατακαήσεται = “to burn up, consume entirely”), i.e. “saved yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15, NASB). And the apostle Peter says that some Christians will be “barely saved” (1 Pet. 4:18, NET Bible). D. L. Moody has well said: 

 

“Salvation is as free as the air we breathe; it is a gift, to be obtained without money and without price. [Isa. 55:1.] You cannot have salvation on any other terms; it is given not to him that worketh but to him that believeth. [Rom. 4:5.] But, on the other hand, if we are to have a crown, we must work for it. I want to speak of the overcoming life, the victorious life, and to show the difference between having life and having a reward. Let me read a few verses in 1 Corinthians. ‘For other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire: and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work, of what sort it is. If any man’s work shall abide, which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.’ 1 Cor. 3:11-15. We see clearly from this that we may be saved, but all our works burned up; I may have a wretched, miserable voyage through life, with no victory, and no reward at the end; saved yet so as by fire, or as Job puts it, ‘with the skin of my teeth.’ [Job 19:20.] I believe that a great many men will barely get to heaven, as Lot got out of Sodom, burned out, nothing left, works and everything destroyed.”[7]  

 

Commenting on Galatians 6:8, H. A. Ironside affirms that “at the judgment seat of Christ, we shall reap according to our sowing. They who live for God now will receive rich reward in that day. And they who yield now to the impulses of the flesh and are occupied with things that do not glorify God will suffer loss [cf. 1 Cor. 3:15].”[8] Commenting on the same verse, Everett F. Harrison similarly states: “A selfish Christian soweth to his flesh, spending his resources to gratify his own personal desires. He may expect to reap corruption. That which might have brought reward by being invested in the Lord’s work will be nothing but a decayed mass, a complete loss in terms of eternity. On the other hand, by responding to the Spirit in love and kindness, and gladly participating in the extension of the Gospel by supporting Christian workers, believers will be adding interest to the capital of eternal life. This passage is capable of broader application, in line with the proverbial character of the statement in verse 7. But flesh and Spirit suggest primary application to the believer (cf. 5:17, 24, 25), in line with the immediate context.”[9] 

 

In light of these biblical truths, it becomes clear that Galatians 6:7-9 does not point to the conclusion that saving faith will always be accompanied by good works; if anything, it shows exactly the opposite! There are “Dead Sea” Christians who are stagnant: they are doing nothing for the cause of Christ. These believers are saved because their foundation is Christ, but they will not have any reward to show for their earthly life. They “will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). 

 

And yet this faith is still a productive faith because it has born the spiritual fruit of “peace with God” (Rom. 5:1; cf. Gal. 5:22) and joy in the presence of the angels in heaven (Lk. 15:7, 10; cf. Gal. 5:22). Commenting on Romans 5:1, even John Calvin affirms: “We have peace with God and this is the peculiar fruit of the righteousness of faith.”[10]

 

For more information see my blog post series titled “Charles Ryrie on Repentance and Faith”, Parts 1-4.

References:

[1] Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), p. 45.

 

[2] Wayne Grudem, “Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel [of “Lordship Salvation”] (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016), p. 139, footnote 31. 

 

[3] For more information see my article: “Charles Ryrie on Repentance and Faith, Part 2”.

[4] Wayne Grudem, “Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel [of “Lordship Salvation”], p. 139, footnote 31. Also see pp. 20, 34, 35, and 38.

 

[5] H. A. Ironside, Expository Messages on the Epistle to the Galatians (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1941), pp. 217. 

[6] Ibid, p. 218.

 

[7] D. L. Moody, “The Overcoming Life.” An address delivered Saturday morning, July 6, 1895. Northfield Bible Conference, Summer 1895. Northfield Echoes, Vol. II, p. 452. Note: The Roman numerals in the original statement have been updated to the current format.

[8] Ibid, p. 219.

 

[9] Everett F. Harrison, “The Epistle to the Galatians.” Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, Editors, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1962), pp. 1297-1298, emphasis his.

 

[10] John Calvin, “Commentary on Romans 5.” Calvin’s Commentary on the Bible. www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cal/romans-5.html. 1840-57