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A F Reformada e o Arminianismo

por

Dr. John Murray

Parte I - Parte II - Parte III

Depravao Total

O terceiro dos cinco pontos do Arminianismo diz respeito questo do pecado original ou dadepravao humana. Em vrias das declaraes formais da posio Arminiana, no seutestemunho da depravao humana, o entendimento real desta posio no prontamentedetectado. Como William Cunningham aponta, quando a controvrsia foi levantada,especialmente como foi conduzida do lado Arminiano, no deu proeminncia a este aspectodo debate. Todavia, como ele processe para mostrar, "ela realmente residia na origem de

toda diferena, como foi feito mais palpavelmente manifesto no progresso da discusso,quando os seguidores de Armnio desenvolveram suas vises sobre o assunto de uma formamais completa, e se desviaram mais e mais da doutrina da Bblia e da Reforma sobre oassunto do estado natural do homem e do carter dos homens" (Teologia Histrica, 2:392).

Arminianos em termos gerais afirman a depravao da natureza humana cada. Mas umamera declarao geral do fato no toca o cerne da questo. A pergunta real a seriedadecom a qual a declarao geral do fato tomada e a disposio de apreciar todas asimplicaes dela. Para resumir, a pergunta da totalidade ou inteireza desta corrupo.

Nossa Confisso de F diz o seguinte, com respeito aos nossos primeiros pais e o pecadodeles de comer o fruto proibido:

"Por este pecado eles decaram da sua retido original e da comunho com Deus, e assim setornaram mortos em pecado e inteiramente corrompidos em todas as suas faculdades epartes do corpo e da alma. Sendo eles o tronco de toda a humanidade, o delito dos seuspecados foi imputado a seus filhos; e a mesma morte em pecado, bem como a sua naturezacorrompida, foram transmitidas a toda a sua posteridade, que deles procede por geraoordinria. Desta corrupo original pela qual ficamos totalmente indispostos, adversos a todoo bem e inteiramente inclinados a todo o mal, que procedem todas as transgresses atuais"

(VI:2-4).

"O homem, caindo em um estado de pecado, perdeu totalmente todo o poder de vontadequanto a qualquer bem espiritual que acompanhe a salvao, de sorte que um homem natural,inteiramente adverso a esse bem e morto no pecado, incapaz de, pelo seu pr6prio poder,


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converter-se ou mesmo preparar-se para isso" (IX:3).

Estas so declaraes altamente resumidas e sucintas da depravao total, e seu significadoe conseqncias deve ser cuidadosamente pesados. Elas so peculiarmente ofensivas a todaviso que espera por qualquer vestgo de otimismo, com respeito s qualidades ou potenciaisinerentes na natureza humana, como cada. Deveras elas devem levantar a oposio e oprotesto enftico de toda viso que susntenta qualquer esperana sobre a autonomia davontade humana. justamente porque o Arminiano, em ltima anlise, coloca o fatordeterminante da salvao de um indivduo na livre escolha da vontade do homem, que eletoma tal posio rgida com a doutrina das Igrejas Reformadas.

A Confisso no nega, certamente, que os homens possam ter virtudes naturais ou retidocivil. Ela afirma que as obras feitas por homens no regenerados podem ser, com respeito questo delas, coisas que Deus ordena, e de bom uso tanto para eles mesmos como para osoutros. Nem ela diz que todos os homens so igualmente depravados ou, para colocar de uma

forma mais acurada, no diz que esta corrupo "pela qual ficamos totalmente indispostos,adversos a todo o bem e inteiramente inclinados a todo o mal" recebe o mesmo grau dedesenvolvimento e expresso em todos. O que a Confisso apresenta o ensino da Escrituracom respeito condio moral e espiritual dos homens, quando estes ficam diante da pura luzdo padro e julgamento divino. Julgados por esta norma, eles esto mortos em pecado etotalmente corrompidos.

Graa Irresistvel

As is apparent from the foregoing discussion it is in connection with the operations of God inHis saving grace that the implications of the affirmation or denial of the doctrine of totaldepravity come to light. The question here is: What is the mode of the divine operation of theSpirit of God in bringing men to faith and repentance? All are agreed that men are savedthrough faith. But the difference arises when we come to explain the fact that, of those whoindiscriminately receive the overtures of grace in the gospel, some believe and some do not.The question is not in general terms that of grace. Arminians concede that men cannot besaved apart from the gracious operations of the Spirit of God in the heart. The question is: Whatis the nature of that grace? What is the cause of faith? Why is it that some believe to the savingof their souls and some do not? Is that grace of God given to all indiscriminately, or is it a grace

given only to those who believe? Is it a grace that may be resisted, or is it always efficacious tothe end in view, and therefore incapable of being frustrated?

Arminians though exhibiting certain differences among themselves are agreed that sufficientgrace, whether it be regarded as a natural possession or a gracious bestowal, resides in all,and therefore that all men have the ability to believe. The explanation of the fact that somebelieve and some do not rests wholly in a difference of response on the part of men. Thisdifference of response may be stated in terms of co-operation with, or improvement of, thegrace of God. But in any case the explanation of the difference lies exclusively in the free will ofman. For the difference of response on the part of the believer as over against the unbeliever he

is not only wholly responsible but he, in the exercise of the autonomy that belongs to his will, isthe sole determining factor. God does not make men to differ. He operates no more savinglyand efficaciously in the man who believes than He does in the man who does not believe. Forthis indiscriminateness in the saving operations of God, the Arminian is exceedingly jealous; hedemands that what God does for and in one He does for and in all equally. In the ultimate, then,


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the issue of salvation rests with the sovereign determination of the human will. Men makethemselves to differ.

Now it is easy to see that , if man is thus able to co-operate with or improve the grace that iscommon to all, there must remain in man some vestige of good. Indeed, so decisive an elementof ability to good survives that it determines the exercise of the most important event or series ofevents in the history of the individual. And this is exactly where the Arminian position impingesnot only upon the sovereignty and efficacy of God's saving grace but upon the total depravity ofsinful man.

In magnificent contrast with this denial of the sovereignty and efficacy of the saving grace of Godis the teaching of our Confession. It reads: "All those whom God hath predestinated unto life,and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his wordand Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvationby Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God;taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, andby his almighty power determining them to that which is good; and effectually drawing them to

Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen inman; who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit,he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.(X.1-2.)

In these sections the faith that embraces Jesus Christ to the saving of the soul is referred to thesovereign predestination of God as its source, and to the regenerative operation of God in theheart as its cause. God is sovereignly pleased to impart His efficacious grace, and it is theenablement that comes from this sovereign bestowal of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads tofaith. The person effectually called is altogether passive therein until renewed by the Holy Spirit.A new heart has been given him and a right spirit created within him by the mysterious work ofthe Holy Spirit; and because he has a new heart and a right spirit his response to the call of thegospel cannot but be one of loving reception and trust. Just as the reaction of the carnal mindcannot but be one of enmity against God, so the reaction of the mind of the Spirit cannot but beone of faith and trust. It is the very nature of the new heart to trust God as He is revealed in theface of Jesus Christ.

We have here in our Confession a rather neat statement of the relation of faith to regeneration.

In this realm of theological debate our position can very readily be tested by our answer to thequestions: Does God regenerate us because we believe, or do we believe because God hasregenerated us? In other words what has the causal priority, regeneration or faith? There aremany evangelicals who will say that faith is the means of regeneration, that God regeneratesthose who believe and because they believe. They thereby, whether wittingly or unwittingly,place themselves in the Arminian camp and in the most decided opposition to Reformeddoctrine. Logically they place themselves ? perhaps with good intentions ? in a position thatleads to the wreck and ruin of true evangelicalism.

We are, of course, using the term "regeneration" in the restricted sense of the new birth, and in

this sense the very hallmark of Calvinism as of Augustinianism is that faith is the gift of God,because it proceeds from the regenerative operation of the Holy Spirit as its only cause andexplanation. God has elected His people to salvation. He has ordained that this salvationbecome theirs through faith. But because of the total depravity of their hearts and minds theycannot exercise faith; they are dead in trespasses and sins. In order to bring them to faith God


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implants by the agency of the Holy Spirit a new heart and a right spirit within them, and thuseffectually and irresistibly draws them to Christ. They are made willing in the day of God'spower. By grace they have been saved through faith, and that not of themselves, it is the gift ofGod.

A Perseverana dos Santos

In the closest relation to the foregoing doctrine of efficacious or irresistible grace is the doctrineof the eternal security of the believer. This doctrine the Arminian bluntly rejects. A true believer,he says, may be in grace and then fall from grace and finally perish. Such a position is in logicalcoherence with his doctrine of the nature of saving grace. If the determining factor in the matterof an individual's salvation is the autonomy of his own free will, then consistency would seem tobe all in favor of regarding salvation as a very insecure and mutable possession. Salvation inthis case cannot be any more stable than that which in the final analysis determines it.

But it is just here that the harmony of efficacious grace with the perseverance of the saintscomes to light. The Reformed Faith recognizes that God it is who determines a sinner'ssalvation, and that what He begins He brings to perfection. Salvation rests upon theunchangeable grace of God. He will not forsake the work of His hands, nor make void Hiscovenant. Assim lemos a Confisso:

Os que Deus aceitou em seu Bem-amado, os que ele chamou eficazmente e santificou peloseu Esprito, no podem decair do estado da graa, nem total, nem finalmente; mas, com todaa certeza ho de perseverar nesse estado at o fim e sero eternamente salvos.

Esta perseverana dos santos no depende do livre arbtrio deles, mas da imutabilidade dodecreto da eleio, procedente do livre e imutvel amor de Deus Pai, da eficcia do mrito eintercesso de Jesus Cristo, da permanncia do Esprito e da semente de Deus neles e danatureza do pacto da graa; de todas estas coisas vm a sua certeza e infalibilidade (XVII.1-2).

Parte I - Parte II - Parte III

Autor

O Professor John Murray nasceu na Esccia, em 1898, e era, no tempo desta escrita, um

cidado Ingls. Ele se graduou na Universidade de Glasgow (1923) e no Seminrio Teolgicode Princeton (1927), e estudou na Universidade de Edimburgo durante 1928 e 1929.

Em 1929-1930 ele serviu como professor no Seminrio Teolgico de Princeton.Posteriormente ele ensinou no Seminrio Teolgico de Westminster, na Filadlfia, onde eleserviu como Professor de Teologia Sistemtica, de 1930-1966.

Ele foi um freqente contribuidor de jornais teolgicos e o autor de: O Batismo Cristo(1952), Divrcio (1953), Redeno Consumada e Aplicada (1955), Princpios de Conduta(1957), A Imputao do Pecado de Ado (1960), Calvino sobre as Escrituras e a Soberania

Divina (1960), A Epstola aos Romanos, Vol I, Captulos I-VIII (1960) e A Expiao (1976 -publicado aps a sua morte).

Em 8 de Maro de 1975, o Professor John Murray entrou no descanso do seu Senhor.


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Traduzido por: Felipe Sabino de Arajo Neto01 de Maio de 2003.Cuiab-MT

igreja presbiteriana ortodoxa betel - fÉ reformada e o arminianismo.pdf3

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