Mr. (Rev.) Roger Salter: Salvation and the Sacraments

SALVATION AND THE SACRAMENTS
By Roger Salter
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
March 16, 2014

It is almost true to say that within the Christian Church serious confusion arises through the competing proclamation of three pathways to salvation, namely 1) the way of personal merit, 2) the sacraments as indispensable means of salvation, and 3) trust in Jesus Christ and his righteousness imputed to the believer immediately upon the exercise of sincere faith.

The least plausible of these alternatives, of course, is the way of works. St. Paul demolishes this fatal fiction with one succinct statement (backed up by a multiplicity of others): So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace (Romans 11:6). Legalism prevails enormously in the church under many guises that mix works, human attitude and action, with inadequate conceptions of grace in varying proportions, from outright Pelagianism to devilishly subtle forms of Semi-Pelagianism, but in each version of a polluted gospel a contribution from the sinner (inevitably small given our condition) is required for their salvation. Salvation is not cheap (a minimum contribution) but free (at great cost to the One who stood as Victim in our stead).

Human effort is regarded as necessary preparation for saving help from God. Man strives and grace supplies the deficiency. The sheer odiousness of this notion is to some extent mitigated in classic Romanism by the shrewd qualification that good works are enabled, even prompted perhaps, by divine influence. The disqualification, that mars even the testimony of the Thomists and Dominicans as the best advocates of gratuitous redemption within the Roman Tradition, is the combination of merit i.e. the sinner’s contrition, rectitude and moral/spiritual attainment with the Saviour’s hard won achievement on our behalf.

The First Prayer of Thanksgiving (BCP1662) clearly excludes the weighing of our merits in any possible sense, and especially in placing them in the same scales with those of the Lord Jesus, but forthrightly acknowledges that we are saved by his merits alone, which makes our deliverance from sin and condemnation to forgiveness and divine fellowship pure gift to be received by faith alone. “Most humbly beseeching thee to grant, that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of his passion. . . . yet we beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service; not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The prayer frankly recognizes both our unworthiness and helplessness to proffer any merits at all to God for our commendation, that our duty and service are not meritorious, and that all the benefits of the redeemed are procured by their Redeemer. What other benefits are there to secure by any other means than those purchased for us by his passion? All is of Messiah’s grace. The amalgam of works and grace proposed by Rome and those of similar sentiment is distasteful to the palate of the new man.

Every aspect of DIY is excluded from the gospel to make our rescue in Christ sure. Good works, right living in every sense (not merely the projects about which churches may tend to boast), are the effects of salvation. But they are still tainted and not worthy to be taken into consideration with the perfection of Christ’s person and performance. We are indebted to him alone. The Scriptures, like the road signs at the point where traffic lane repairs cease, declare the message, “END OF WORKS!”. “By his merit, we who once had demerits now are made creditors” (Peter Martyr).

The more knotty problem for believers to untie is the matter of the sacraments, their nature, necessity, and efficacy. It is not unusual for human religiosity to place supreme importance upon rites and acts that are external, formal, observable, and dateable without an accurate appreciation of their true purpose and meaning. Sacraments are given to represent and seal the interior work of divine grace within the human heart, and they address the understanding, confirming and strengthening the faith necessary to the reception of these sacred ordinances. This is the nature of the grace they truly convey. Sacramental language is specific and sure in what it pledges to the believer, but it is generously suppositional toward those presented for participation in sacramental administration. Human discernment as to worthiness is fallible and a credible profession is normally accepted. The promises contained within the sacraments are certainly effectual for the elect. The judgment of the Lord is effectual in the merely nominal believer or the hypocritical.

Grace may precede, coincide with, or follow the external rite. The efficacy is not in the elements employed or the action of the ministrant but in the electing grace of God and the operation of the Holy Spirit. The view to be deplored is that of baptismal regeneration. For the sake of brevity, the decision of the Court of Appeal in the Gorham versus the Bishop of Exeter Case (19thC) is sufficient to show that baptismal regeneration is not consistent with classic Anglican doctrine.

The freeness and liberality of saving grace instantly available to faith has to be stoutly defended. Earnest longing for God, evinced in true repentance and unfeigned faith, is the mark of one already regenerate and in union with the Son of God. That union is not deferred until nor dependent upon the administration of the sacrament. Would Jesus Christ suspend or annul that union through lack of water, bread, or wine? These are the material signs and pledges of a spiritual and heartfelt connection with the Saviour, which in the normal course of discipleship connect the believer to sacramental observance through which profound awareness of his divinely given privileges becomes impressively vivid and incalculably precious. This is not to devalue the sacraments nor to degrade them. The absolute emphasis of Holy Scripture is on the openness and instantaneousness of access to God. It is the movement of the heart that matters principally and that movement, unless impeded by necessity or misunderstanding, will inevitably find its way to sacramental obedience through the tokens of God’s immeasurable saving love.

Is the regenerate condition of the individual, which makes possible any, even the slightest, sign of the life of God within not counted, or even cancelled, by any length of sacramental delay? Faith, faith, faith cements us to communion with the Holy Three. God gave the faith that arises within the human heart, the Crucified One is the object of that faith, the Spirit has sweetly initiated and enabled that faith. The sacraments are not the cause of faith. They confirm and concretize faith to the believer’s senses and are a witness to surrounding spectators of a shared faith.

Doctrinal language and sacramental vocabulary are crafted for different purposes. The former is descriptive and the latter affirmative of relationship. The distinction isn’t hard and fast, but it is there in terms of objectivity and subjectivity, confession concerning God and communion with him. The former may be mere intellectual belief, the latter personal trust.

Our faith is not founded simply on a string of textual quotations, but upon the whole tenor of Scripture, the linkage of propositions in the “analogy of faith” approach to interpretation. The overall and complete revelation is ascertained in its essence, and every part is examined in its appropriate context. What kind of God do we have, and what is our plight, and is not our deliverance, once the peril is recognized, immediate the moment that the divine Spirit and the human spirit come together in assent to the divine word and confidence in it? Sacraments are necessary to our growth in grace, not our entrance into grace. God may use his ordinances as he chooses, but we are to use his ordinances as he advises - in faith, which makes them means of grace to us as effectual signs, addressing our comprehension of what has occurred for our rescue from sin and its consequences.

It is commonly conceded that the sign/symbol/seal and that reality which is signified are referred to interchangeably e.g. in religious parlance “with this ring I thee wed” or “receive the right hand of fellowship” but the reality is in the intent of the heart of all involved. Through faith (the grace-wrought intent of the heart) the soul of the believer is married to God and in fellowship with him.

The weight of the biblical message veers to the emphasis upon the negotiations of the divine heart with the human. Here regeneration, faith, and repentance occur through sovereign grace. The sacramental seals of the wondrous relationship established within providentially follow the purpose of predestination. In infant baptism faith looks toward to the fulfillment of covenant promise to the little one presented to the Saviour who received such as heirs of the kingdom; in adult baptism faith rejoices in salvation received; in the Lord’s Supper faith is nourished in the once for all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and our future celebration of salvation completed in heaven.

The sacraments enable us to view every facet of Jesus’ accomplishment on our behalf. This fact is demonstrated in Peter’s words found in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”. Repentance is the disposition of the regenerate. The glory and potency of the name is recognized by faith, the aliveness of the regenerate. The word “for” is equivalent to “unto” and in this setting is accurately rendered as “with a view to” forgiveness, a benefit which is discerned in the bloodshedding. The view facilitated by baptism is the view of the cross which cancels the sins of the penitent. Is this not sacramental grace in abundance? Is not the cross the efficient instrument of the Lord’s compassion from which flow all the benefits of his passion?

What a danger there is in the possibility of the sacraments, in some estimations (sacramentalism), serving to eclipse the view, validity, and value of the cross.

“Forgiveness of sins is grounded in Christ alone. Peter commanded them to be baptized ‘so that your sins may be forgiven.’ Christ has once for all reconciled us to himself in Christ, ‘not counting men’s sins against them’ (2 Corinthians 5:19), and now plants in our hearts the faith of his Spirit. However, baptism is the seal by which he confirms this benefit to us. As baptism is the down payment and pledge of our adoption, it is correctly said to be given to us for the forgiveness of our sins. Because we receive Christ’s gifts by faith, and baptism confirms and increases our faith, forgiveness of sins, which is the result of faith, is linked to it, as a superior to an inferior. In addition to this we must not derive our doctrine of baptism from here, as Peter is just touching on it at this point. Our old nature is crucified by baptism, as Paul teaches, so that we may live a new life (Romans 6:4,6). Scripture teaches everywhere that baptism is a sign and token of repentance. In this passage in Acts Peter is not teaching about baptism but the forgiveness of sins. He says incidentally that baptism is the confirmation of the forgiveness of sins” (John Calvin, Acts 3:38).


The Rev. Roger Salter is an ordained Church of England minister where he had parishes in the dioceses of Bristol and Portsmouth before coming to Birmingham, Alabama to serve as Rector of St. Matthew's Anglican Church

R.C. Sproul (Sr.): Luther and the Tower Experience

http://www.ligonier.org/rym/broadcasts/video/tower-experience/

A.M Toplady (Vol.5, 118-132), C of E, Calvinism, Arminianism, Justification, Total Depravity

A.M Toplady (Vol.5, 118-132), C of E, Calvinism, Arminianism, Justification, Total Depravity. All the stuff you will not hear, read, see or be exposed to at other Anglican centres of review and advertisement.

The Works of Augustus Montague Toplady, Vol. 5 at:
http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA11&dq=augustus%20toplady%20calvinism%20church%20of%20england&ei=CHbgTILcHIWglAeBiq2YAw&ct=result&id=ybYOAAAAIAAJ&output=text
For pages 1-42 and comments, see:
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/augustus-toplady-c-of-e-calvinism.html

For pages 43-82 and comments, see:
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-from-augustus-toplady-c-of-e.html

For pages 83-96 and comments, see:
http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/11/augustus-toplady-vol5-pg82-97-c-of-e.html

P.118, Toplady on justification

Lastly, we come to the doctrine of justification by faith. On this important subject, you deliver your judgment as follows; page 123, "We all hold, that we are justified freely by God's grace : that there is no merit in good works : that we are not to place our dependance, or rest our plea, on any works that we have done or can do ; but only on the mercy of God, and the merits of our Redeemer." And again, page 124, " We hold, as well as you, that justification is the act of God alone, conferred on us freely, by his grace : that our own good works have no proper efficiency in the act of our justification ; have no worth or merit in them: that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and can be justified and laved only by faith," which faith you immediately define to be, "a reliance on the mercies and merits of Christ."

P.118, Toplady deals with his Arminian interlocutor who adds works as another condition to justification. “How!” Toplady exclaims.

After giving us such a confession of your faith, who could have imagined that you would, almost in the same breath, blow down the whole fabric? by saying, page 123, "On the other hand, I should hope, that all, who believe the gospel, would agree, that good works are the necessary condition both of our justification and salvation." How! justified and saved only by faith, and yet, good works the necessary condition both of our justification and salvation! which soever of these two propositions is right, one of them must be wrong; because two contradictory assertions cannot be both true. If faith be, as you say it is, neither more nor less than a reliance on the mercies and merits of Christ, and we are justified and saved by faith only; it follows, that good works cannot possibly be the necessary condition of our justification and salvation.

P.118, Toplady, the Church of England, and justification. It is classical Protestant theology.

To tell you plainly, sir, the doctrine of the Scriptures, and of our Church, is: that justification itself consists in God's esteeming and counting us righteous: that he thus esteems and counts us righteous, neither for our faith, nor for our works, nor for both . of them together; but solely and entirely on account of Christ's sacrifice and obedience imputed to us freely and fully : that the sacrifice and obedience of Christ, as the alone matter of our justification are to be received, embraced, and rested upon by faith only, which faith is the gift of God : and, that this faith, thus divinely given and wrought in the foul by the Holy Ghost, is lively, active and purifying ; having its fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.—Sanctification, then, and good works, are not conditions of, but consequences resulting from, interest in Christ and acceptance with God : not antecedent requisites, a p-iori, in order to our being justified; but subsequent evidences, a posteriori, of our being so. Hence, our excellent Church puts justification before good works, and makes good works follow justification. In her nth article, she treats of justification; and then, in the 12th, considers good works.

P.120, TOPLADY AND JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE

ARTICLE XI. Of the justification of man.
"We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort: as more largely is expressed in the homily of justification."

If works, if all works of our own, of every sort, and in every point of view, are not, here, totally excluded from having anything to do with justification, a parie ante; there is no such thing as meaning in language. Yet our reformers, in the next article, speak, if possible, clearer still: and, as if they thought it not enough, simply to exclude works from having the least hand in any part of our justification ; goon to acquaint us, that, until men actually are justified, they cannot so much as do a good work : good works being the effect and fruits, of which justification, previously received, is itself the source and cause. And, if justification itself is the cause of good works, then good works cannot possibly be either the cause or condition of justification; because causes and conditions necessarily precede that, which they ar« the causes and conditions of.

P.122, Toplady, the Protestant Church of England, and good works. There is no room for Anglo-Catholics, Romanists, the Orthodox or the ecumenists of varied shades.

Good works, therefore, being the effects of justification,-cannot be the cause of it: anymore than the volubility of a wheel is the cause of its rotundity. A wheel rolls, not in order to be made round, but in consequence of being already so ; in like manner, men do good works, not in order to be justified ; but in consequence of being justified already. On this grand, fundamental Church of England principle, the doctrine of conditional justification is the grossest of contradictions. For (suffer me to repeat the important remark) if no good works whatever can be done, before justification, it is absolutely impossible that justification should be at all suspended on good works: for then justification would be suspended on a non-entity. How, sir, can those good works be the condition of my justification, not one of which can have any existence until I am justified! Your assertion therefore, page 124. "That good works, though imperfect and worthless, are yet required by God as necessary terms, qualifications, and conditions, both of our justification and salvation," is flatly giving the lie, not only to Scripture, but to every article and homiiy of our Church upon the subject.

P.126, Toplady, Arminians are “ungrateful,” perfidious,” and “false to the cause” while wearing the uniform of the Church and drawing a paycheck from her—stern stuff.

I have now, so sar as the Church of England is properly concerned, touched on the most material parts of your pamphlet: and am of opinion, for my own part, that your design is not very happily executed, nor your objections very solidly founded. I really think, upon a review of the whole, that you have no great reason to sing Te Deum, for your imaginary triumph over the doctrines of the reformation. Yet is it matter of lamentation, that you should even have attempted to subvert them; and that the Church should receive any blow, how slight soever, from so respectable an hand. You have been sighting against those very truths, which, when you received ordination, you, on your knees, was solemnly commissioned to defend; and which, previous to that solemnity, you had ratified as your own belief, by the deliberate subscription of your name. Form to yourself, the idea of an English officer, who, false to the cause and service of his Britannic Majesty, should, ungratefully and perfidiously, endeavour to promote the interest of the French king, at the very time that he wears the regimentals, and receives the pay, of his own lawful sovereign. Very pertinent to the present argument, is that expostulation of the great Dr. South: "To be impugned from without, and betrayed from within, is, certainly, the worst condition, that either Church or state can fall into : and the best of Churches, the Church of England, has had experience of both. It had been to be wished, one would think, might very reasonably have been expected, that, when Providence had took the work of destroying the Church of England, out of the Papists hands, some would have been contented with her preferments, without either attempting to give up her rites and liturgy, or deserting her doctrine: but it has proved much otherwise." It has, indeed. How much farther God will suffer us to fall, is best known to him that knows all things. I only wish, that we may not part with one thing after another, till we have nothing left." How wide a difference there is, between the doctrine of the Church, and that of some churchmen (as Dr. South well distinguishes), will appear yet plainer, by the following extracts from a book, which, I fear, is subscribed by too many who have never read it: I mean, the homilies of our established Church. Let these decide, whether Calvinists or Arminians best deserve the name of churchmen.

P.132, Toplady and total depravity.

III. Man's exceeding depravation by nature, and total inability as to spiritual good, are largely and strongly asserted in our homilies. "The Holy Ghost, in writing the holy Scriptures, is in nothing more diligent, than to pull down man's vain glory and pride; which of all vices, is most universally grafted in all mankind, even from the first infection of our first father Adam. “First homily on the misery of man, p. 6. "St. Paul, in many places, painteth us out in our colours, calling us the children of the wrath of God when we be born: saying also, that we cannot think a good thought, of ourselves; much less can we say well, or do well, ourselves." Ibid. p. 8. "We be, of ourselves, of such earth as can bring forth but weeds, nettles, brambles, briars, cockles, and darnel. Our fruits be declared in the 5th chapter to the Galatians. We have neither saith, charity, hope, patience, chastity, nor anything else that good is, but of God; and therefore these virtues be called there, the fruits of the Holy Ghost, and not the fruits of man." Second homily on ditto, p. 9. "Of ourselves, and by ourselves, we have no goodness, help, nor salvation: but, contrariwise, sin, damnation, and death everlasting. Which, if we deeply weigh and consider, we shall the better understand the great mercy of God, and how our salvation cometh only by Christ ; for, in ourselves (as of ourselves), we find nothing whereby we may be delivered from this miserable captivity, into the which we were cast, through the envy of the Devil, by breaking of God's commandment in our frst parent Adam. We are all become unclean, but we all are not able to cleanse ourselves, nor to make one another of us clean. We are by nature the children of God's wrath, but we are not able to make ourselves the children and inheritors of God's glory. We are sheep that run astray…