Human Responsibility to Believe in Christ

Written: November 23, 2015 | Updated on June 23rd, 2022 | Jun P. Espina

READ MORE: Hyper-Calvinism Rejected by Biblical Christians

The Contradictions of the Hyper-Calvinist Preachers

I remember attending a church where the sermon turned around salvation by grace with the emphasis fixed on “all of grace” the way John Piper and the other Hyper-Calvinists interpreted the doctrine of grace. At the end of the sermon, the preacher ended his talk by saying, “but we still do soul winning.” Why? Why the command to go “and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19) — when salvation is “all of grace”?

Well, can’t we just let the people wait for God’s pleasure to save them through His compelling and IRRESISTIBLE GRACE? We don’t do soul winning anymore, for it’s useless. Right? Is it your teaching—that God chooses those who will enter heaven by predestination? Is that your doctrine? If so, you are a Hyper-Calvinist!

The Hyper-Calvinist Rejects Free Will and Human Responsibility

“All of grace,” sounds biblical. Grace means favor or “the free and unmerited favour of God as manifested in the salvation of sinners.” But we need to believe to receive forgiveness and eternal life. To believe is our human responsibility, our part in the salvation of our souls from the wrath of God because of sin. Observe Acts 16:30-31:

Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer that he needs to BELIEVE to be saved (and his whole household also if they would believe.)

Let Us Examine Human Responsibility

I joined a Facebook group targeting the advocates of the “all of grace,” aka Hyper-Calvinist community, and my comments were like strange teaching for them. In response to one of my comments, one member said something like this: “Admin, why allow this comment in our group?” They wanted me canceled.

I was still young when most of my friends moved to the Hyper-Calvinist denomination. Their marketing hype was that books were given to them in abundance and that they were joining the group of C. H. Spurgeon. I was not impressed though, since I know my Bible. God said I must decide to choose and believe, and doing so involves my will to choose and believe. Revelation 3:20, John 3:36, and Deuteronomy 30:19 (among many other passages of Scripture) are a mighty Word of God that teaches the precondition of human responsibility to enter heaven:

God Requires Free Will to Believe so that We are Without Excuse

Total depravity does not mean we are completely incapable of knowing and seeking God. The apostle Paul said: “[B]ecause that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:19-20)

We are not completely blind to God. Otherwise, we would make an alibi before God during the judgment that we don’t have a Bible in our home.

Human Responsibility Versus the Total Depravity of Man

Some said that we wouldn’t choose heaven; we wouldn’t choose God, for we are sinners, and we prefer darkness to the light. In Theology, this doctrine is known as the total depravity of man.

Here is the description of this teaching: “Total depravity (also called total inability or total corruption) . . . as a consequence of the Fall of man, every person born into the world is morally corrupt, enslaved to sin and is, apart from the grace of God, utterly unable to choose to follow God or choose to turn to Christ in faith for salvation.”

This teaching is biblical, right? Yes. In Romans 3:11, Paul quoted the word of Prophet Isaiah that says, “THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD.” But it is just part of the teaching about the depraved nature of man.

It does not mean we are incapable to seek for God. Before I became a Christian, my mother noticed I was a praying kid and said I could be a priest. Later, I became a Christian and a preacher.

The Hyper-Calvinist’s Total Depravity Teaching is Unscriptural

The doctrine on the totality of man’s depraved nature (the Hyper-Calvinist’s version) is complete blackness, like one who is dead. But it is not the entire message of the Holy Scriptures. We have the human responsibility to knock on Christ’s door. Our Lord even said, “Seek, and you will find.” (Matt. 7:7)

In first Chronicles 28:9, we find evidence of man’s capacity to seek God:

God said: “[S]erve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind. . .. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.” Same story. We have the human responsibility to seek for Him. It is the essence of Christ’s teaching for us to repent. (cf. Matt. 4:17) Our Lord knew we can repent by the Spirit’s illumination.

Our doctrine is that there’s no strong-arm tactic in God’s government. The Spirit’s illumination does not mean God’s strong-arm method to force you to believe and love Him.

We Have the Free Will to Believe Because We are Not Totally Dead in the Things of God

The problem with this teaching is that we cannot prove that man is totally “dead in the trespasses and sins,” and without a sense of God.

We cannot prove that we are TOTALLY DEPRAVED. The word dead is described as “having the nose but cannot breathe; eyes but cannot see.” True, the image of man was corrupted after the Fall, but God’s image did not depart from the former.

There are many verses of the Scriptures that support this thought, but let us give just two:

Idol worship and the endless invention of religion are proofs that man is naturally God-wired. We have the human responsibility to repent and believe.

God Gave Up on Those Suppressing the Truth in Unrighteousness

Your complete depravity (or rejection of God), if it happened with you, is just the result of your suppression of “the truth in unrighteousness.” (Rom. 1:19b) For example, you are a woman biologically, but decided to be a man—it is the case of one suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. After you decided to be transgendered, you would become either confused or joined with the flock of the atheists. You would become completely immoral—totally depraved! The Bible said God gave up on you. Note the following Scriptures—GOD GAVE THEM OVER—about God letting you become totally depraved:

READ MORE: Trusting God Sincerely & Taking Refuge in Him

To Believe in Jesus Christ for Salvation is a Human Responsibility

In my experience, I searched for the truth. They said that my searching was the work of God’s grace. True, “for by grace are ye saved.” But it is just one part of Ephesians 2:8-9. The other part is “through faith” and faith is not a gift.

For by grace are ye saved [salvation] through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. The gift of God is “salvation,” not faith, since faith comes by hearing God’s word. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17)

Whereas, salvation is a gift: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

Wrote Dr. Kenneth Boa:

There is human responsibility involved in salvation, that is, to believe and come to Christ. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)
 

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