Pelagius was a theologian that lived circa 354 to 418 AD. His best known offering to the world was opposition to Augustine. Augustine taught this ludicrous notion that "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Rom 3:10-12). Pelagius held that humans were essentially good. Sure, everyone sins, but everyone also chooses to do genuine good. Augustine (and others) argued that humans are naturally dead in sin (Eph 2:1-3) and require an act of God to respond in faith. Pelagius responded, "Piffle! Anyone can choose to follow Christ." Okay, maybe not just like that, but you get the idea. Pelagius believed that human free will was sufficient to do good and to come to Christ. There was no "sin nature," Adam's sin affected only Adam, and all we really need is a good message, a good argument, a good story ... anything that will cause us to choose Jesus. We didn't need Jesus to be good. The free will was sufficient to do good.
The church declared Pelagius a "heresiarch" -- not merely a heretic, but an arch-heretic -- at the Council of Carthage (418 AD). He was excommunicated and expelled from the church. He died in obscurity, but I'm pretty sure you know a Pelagian today. This notion, even among Christians, that "people are generally good" is as popular as it is biblically-opposed. Scripture tells us that sin entered the world through Adam and brought about universal sin (Rom 5:12-19). God's Word tells us that no one does good; "not even one" (Rom 3:12; Psa 14:3; Psa 53:3). The Bible tells us that we are born in iniquity (Psa 51:5; Gen 8:21) and are dead in sin (Eph 2:1-3). The Word tells us that natural man can't even understand the things of God (1 Cor 2:14). Scripture makes it clear that, without divine intervention, not one human being has the slightest chance of coming to salvation by faith in Christ on their own.
We humans really have a high opinion of ourselves. We like to think we're okay ... at least better than most. We like to think that our free will is sovereign, at least to a large degree. Pelagius and his more recent prophet, Charles Finney, wanted us to believe that we were all we needed to get to God. Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). We take that to mean "We still can do a lot." A lot of people practice what I call Princess Bride theology -- "We're only mostly dead" -- instead of agreeing with Scripture that we are spiritually dead. Too many Christians openly deny it. "Sure, we're spiritually dead ... but that doesn't actually mean we're dead in any real sense." Lies from Pelagius and the father of lies. Don't be a heresiarch.
2 comments:
"Heresiarch", I really like that word. We have become too "kind" to have any arch- anything anymore. We be to bring back the aggressive love of Paul to the Church.
Pelagius was just one example of reading into Scripture our ideas. The Bible is full of references about the sinfulness of Man, and the inability of the flesh, but let's just ignore that because I believe in Free Will.
Nice to see another use of “Piffle!” today--and by Pelagius, no less! :)
When I consider all the positive influences in our society that it seems to take--i.e. parents, teachers, coaches, Scout leaders, peers, employers, law enforcement, government, religious leaders, etc.--to help an “innocent” baby grow up to be a “good person” (as the culture defines it), it is very clear that human beings (other than Jesus, of course) are not basically good; if they were, it wouldn’t “take a village” (as they say) to shape them into “decent, civil, law-abiding” individuals because they would be so just naturally. I can understand an unbeliever claiming (erroneously) that humans are “good” at heart (simply to sidestep their own need for a Savior) but not someone familiar with biblical teaching. Why did Jesus come to die, if we were OK in our own efforts? Why would we need the Holy Spirit, if our “free will” is sufficient? Why is the Bible so clear about our complete depravity if it were not true? Why don’t we see the New Testament books full of self-help pep talks rather than constant reminders of our need for the New Birth (after all, “mostly dead” people don’t need a new birth--just a boost)? Rather than trust in Pelagius, Charles Finney, self-improvement gurus, or fairy tale theology, I must believe God’s Word--for my own good...er, benefit ;). I appreciate this important reminder today!
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