Salvation - Predestined or Self-Determined?
March 19, 2023
Jai Paul
Are people chosen for salvation or do they freely choose to be saved? This was the topic of contention between St. Augustine and John Cassian. Augustine emphasized that God is the One who initiates the work of salvation while Cassian argued that God saves those who take the first step towards Him. Let’s dig a bit deeper into each person’s arguments and then evaluate it biblically.
Cassian’s view of Divine and Human roles in Salvation
Cassian sees salvation as a cooperative work between God and man. He argues that the grace of God always co-operates with human will and sometimes, even requires and looks for some efforts of goodwill from humans. The reason for this is because God does not want to make it appear to confer His gifts on one who is asleep or relaxed in sluggish ease. Thus, the first action is from humans in the exercise of their will.
Cassian comes to this view because of his understanding of the fall of Adam. He asserts that though Adam conceived a knowledge of evil after the Fall, he did not lose the knowledge of good which he had before. This good in humans is still capable of seeking God and is, in fact, required for God to save them. God reaches out, invites, calls, and waits for humans to respond to Him.
Cassian does not deny the need for grace as Pelagius did (see Part 6 of Heresies & Creeds). However, the grace of God can only act after the will of man has acted; when God sees in humans some beginnings of a good will, He at once enlightens it and strengthens it and urges it on towards salvation. Thus, salvation is synergistic (work of two (or more) people).
According to Cassian, God does not give grace according to the power of His Majesty but according to the measure of faith He finds in each one.
Augustine’s view of Divine and Human Roles in Salvation
Augustine credited the work of salvation to God alone. He begins his argument with the fact that humans are born under the effects of Adam’s sin and that no one can be delivered from that evil except by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We are not capable of having saving-faith by ourselves. Faith is itself a gift from God and He gives it to us because of His grace, not because of our works or because he owes us.
Augustine also argued that this grace to believe is not given to all but only to the Elect i.e., to those whom the Father predestined even before the foundation of the world. God does this not because of our will but because of His own election; He promised what He Himself would do, not what men would do.
However, the Elect are called through the preaching of the gospel and are made believers by the preparation of their wills. This special calling is not because the Elect already believed but in order that they may believe, it is not because they were holy but that they might be holy, it is not because they were of themselves righteous but so that God might make them righteous. Augustine emphasizes that God’s mercy acted first according to grace. It was not the Elect who chose God first, but it was God who first chose them so that they might choose Him.
Therefore, Augustine maintains that salvation is monergistic (work of one person). The Elect were elected before the foundation of the world because of God's act of predestination, and not because of the actions of the Elect. And, those whom He predestined, them He called, not others; those whom He so called, them He justified, not others; those whom He predestined, called, and justified, them He also glorified, and not others. God is the only actor and humans are recipients of this divine grace.
Who is Biblically Accurate?
Cassian’s view originates from his understanding of the impact of the Fall on humans. His view that man still has the same ability to do good as Adam had in the garden is not Scriptural. Instead, the biblical testimony is that man is unable to do anything to subject himself to the law of God (Romans 8:7-8). Man is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Cassian’s understanding that man should first seek God is directly negated in Romans 3:11-12:
“There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
Because of this, Jesus said in John 6:44 that, “No one is able to come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” Augustine understands this truth correctly and argues that the Father pours out His grace for the sake of first taking away the hardness of the heart; He takes away the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh. The new heart hears the Father and learns from Him, and consequently, the person comes to the Son.
Cassian’s view also robs God of His essential attributes of Sovereignty and Omnipotence. According to Cassian, God’s sovereignty is limited by human free will; God can only act after humans have shown signs of good will. Although God wishes that none should perish, it is ultimately in the will of man to either bring it to fruition or to thwart it. In that sense, man is more sovereign than God. God’s omnipotence is also in question if He is not able to bring about the things He desires to do. This, however, is contradictory to Scripture which says that God accomplishes all His purposes (Isaiah 46:10) and no one can frustrate it (Isaiah 14:27). “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Psalm 135:6). Augustine, on the other hand, affirms that God is all-powerful and in control of everything in the universe. According to Augustine, God Himself makes humans do what He has commanded; it is not they that cause Him to do what He has promised. Otherwise the fulfillment of God’s promises would not be in the power of God, but in that of humans.
Conclusion
Salvation is from the Lord (Ps 37:39) and Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Our faith is itself a gift from God (Eph 2:8). We have nothing to boast of (Rom 3:27) but to be thankful for His grace. There was nothing in us that caused God to make us born again (1 Pet 1:3) but He chose us according to the kind intention of His will (Eph 1:4-5).
And when we learn this, we should be in awe of God’s grace and burst out in worship like Paul did in Rom 11:33-36.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
To the non-Christian:
The fact that God is the One who initiates salvation should not be an excuse to the person who has not believed. God’s command for all people everywhere is to repent (Acts 17:30) and believe in the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-47, Acts 2:38). Today is the day of salvation – turn to Jesus now!