The Doctrines of Grace

Dr. Sinclair Ferguson spoke on the doctrines of grace as perceived by John Calvin. He took as his text Ephesians 1:3-7, although admitted there were many places he could have gone. Ferguson reiterated the scriptural theme of God going before us in salvation. His focus was on grace in a larger sense, not necessarily in the narrower way we tend to think of it as the famous five points that are so often controverted. He spoke to three principle subjects:

1) The teaching about grace on which Calvin was reared. Medieval theologians majored heavily on grace and how to get it. From the Reformation perspective it wasn't lack of speaking about grace but wrong ideas about grace. The medieval perspective was adulterated, dis-grace. At baptism, grace was (supposedly) granted, even infused. The whole course of the Christian life was to nurture and enhance this grace so that ultimately the individual believer's life was righteous and then God would be able to justify him. "Heaven helps those who help themselves." This idea is rife in western Protestantism today. The most difficult thing for sinners to grasp is undiluted, unassisted (by men) grace. The Roman Catholic Church's opposition to teaching of free grace as fear of antinomianism. They also referred to a "legal fiction," claiming that the Reformers stated God pronounces a sinner righteous when he's not, missing the basis of why God could do this. Medieval religion offered no joy, and assurance was impossible. Ferguson quoted Robert Bellarmine's opinion that the greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance of salvation, because the church can't provide assurance through the sacraments and rites/rituals. Calvin's critique was that Rome substituted the pope and magisterium for the Spirit as the vicar of Christ. Rome's doctrine of justification is too fragile--it needs to keep being shored up.

2) The doctrines that Calvin expounded. He gave gospel responses to the rejection of Reformation teaching. Calvin always points to the gracious salvation of God in Jesus Christ. Men are born dead and live dead. We cannot but do and speak wickedness. We are under God's wrath and justly so. We are hopeless without God's sovereignty in salvation. The atonement is effective; unless one is a universalist every Christian maintains a limited atonement. God is never at odds with himself. There is a great sense of the efficacy of Christ's work. He didn't come simply to make salvation possible but actually to save. Irresistable grace--would God have permitted Christ's sacrifice without seeing the matter through?

3) The nature of the grace Calvin preached. Is grace a stuff or a substance we acquire? There is no such "thing" as grace, there is only Jesus Christ. It is not something outside of Christ dispensed by the Spirit like stock dividends. What the Spirit brings is faith in Christ himself, who is all the righteousness we will ever need.