The Two Points of Confusion in the RPC Controversy – (4) Conclusion

A single text, Philippians 2:12-13, reveals the nature of sanctification and the new man and answers most of the questions of the controversy.

¹²Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
¹³For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Here are some specific questions that have been raised directly or implied:

“How can you say man must do something while also saying God does everything? To the extent that man does something, God is not doing it. We must choose between a grace principle and a works principle.”

The works of the new man are absolutely our works and absolutely God’s works. As Mr. Ron Kooinga pointed out early in the controversy, grace and works are not mutually exclusive in the believer. (Sword and Shield 9/15/20) And the reason for that, George Ophoff explained as follows:

“The total of good works of the believer—their willing and doing the will of God, their faith and repentance, their laying aside sin and putting on Christ and their walking worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called with humbleness and meekness and with long- suffering bearing one another—are God’s works in them, one and all. For of them all He is the creator. And as a result, and in obedience to His command that they work out their salvation—a command spoken in their hearts by Him, they work, walking in all the good works prepared for them by Christ’s atonement and worked in them by Christ’s Spirit.” (The Gospel and the Command, The Standard Bearer, Vol 29 Issue 01 10/1/1952, pages 23-24)

“How can you say our works are important when they are nothing but filthy rags?”

We must distinguish between good works (of the new man) and outward works (of the outward man). To say the works of the new man are filthy would be to say the works of Christ are filthy. God graciously rewards his own works in us, even though they are always soiled to some extent by the works of the old man.

“How can you say that salvation does not depend on man if man must be active?”

Man must be active only after he is already saved.

“If God withholds the blessings of salvation based on our activity, is not our entrance into heaven dependent on our works?”

Since Christ himself is working in the saved man, God does not “depend” upon the man any more than he “depends” upon his own will. Also, it is nonsense to question whether the saved man will enter heaven because we are “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” Phil 1:6.

“How can you say man’s activities of repentance or works precede blessings, but they are not conditions (or prerequisites)?”

1. They are not conditions unto salvation because these activities do not begin until we have been saved. They are activities of the new man.
2. They are not conditions unto covenant blessings, at least not in the normal understanding of the word conditions, because God not only imposes the requirements upon man but also fulfills them in man. Perhaps they could be called sovereign conditions because that is how the early reformers thought of them.

“How can you say works are necessary in some parts of salvation (like experience, assurance, enjoyment, fellowship) without saying they are necessary for salvation?”

Works of the new man are a necessary part of salvation’s goal – covenant fellowship; they have no role in salvation itself.

“Any theology in which works have an important role is just a repackaged version of the conditions taught by Schilder and the Arminians.”

There are very fundamental differences.

• Conditional views:
  Unsaved man has a job to do. God has graciously given him the ability to believe and do good, now he must make that choice on his own in order to be saved or to complete salvation. God grants or withholds salvation depending on man’s choices.
• Sovereign view:
  Unsaved man can do nothing. He believes only when God powerfully calls him to believe.  He begins to do good only when God creates a new heart in him powered by the Spirit of Christ. God grants or withholds covenant blessings in this life to encourage good works and discourage sin. There is not a single aspect of salvation – even salvation in its broadest sense – that is not done by God, either for us or in us.