REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XIV, October 2006, Number 10
By Pure Grace
Chapter 72 from the book
Righteous by Faith Alone, A Devotional Commentary on Romansby Herman Hoeksema
See more articles by this author
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. - Romans 11:6
The apostle Paul in Romans 5 verses 1-5 speaks of the actual existence of the remnant according to the election of grace from the Jews in the new dispensation. He is not speaking of the fullness of the election from the Jews, but he is speaking of those elect Jews who had actually been called into the church. Of the other part of elect Jewry, the apostle speaks later in the chapter.
Verse 6 is connected with the last phrase in verse 5: "...a remnant according to the election of grace." With reference to the truth expressed in this phrase Paul says, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works." If it is of works, it cannot possibly be of grace. Grace and works are mutually exclusive. We must not try to mix the two. We reject the reading of the Revised Version, which omits the last part of the text (1). It is true that essentially it makes no difference whether the last part of the text is omitted. The main thought remains the same. Nevertheless, that last part of the text looks at the truth from the opposite viewpoint. The first part of the text warns us that if we believe we are saved by grace, we must not carry into this faith the element of works. If it is by grace, then it is not of works. The second half of the text looks at it from the viewpoint of him who maintains that somehow, in some measure, salvation is by works. If it is of works, it is no more of grace. We must choose; therefore. If we say that it is by grace, we must stop talking of works. If one says that it is of works, he must stop talking of grace.
If someone asks why the apostle lays the emphasis on the fact that salvation is by grace, the answer is found in the next three verses in which the apostle says that Israel has not obtained what it was looking for. The reason for this we have in verse 6: it is not of works, but of grace.
The text teaches that "it" is by pure grace. When we connect the text with the preceding context, we learn what it is that is of grace. First, by grace without works we are elected. Second, the context tells us that by grace without works we are saved. Third, by grace without works we are preserved.
By Pure Grace Elected
That election is in view is plain from the context. [In v. 5] the apostle says, "[There is] at this present time also ... a remnant according to the election of grace." Election of grace is gracious election, and gracious election is election that is motivated by grace. It is evident; therefore, that verse 6 ought to be read this way: "If election is by grace, election is no more of works. But if election is of works, we must stop talking of grace."
According to the scriptural meaning, election is materially the same as God's foreknowledge. Election is the eternal foreordination of God's people to glory and salvation. Election is personal. That is, every single one of the elect is foreordained and foreknown. In this sense, it is a personal election. It is not national; it is not a group election. It is a personal election.
This does not imply that election is arbitrary, as though God could just as well have chosen more or fewer than He did. The number of the elect is not arbitrary. God did not choose some and reject others arbitrarily. This is why Scripture speaks of the foreknowledge of God. An illustration will help to make this clear. A work of art is not a certain arbitrary number of trees or houses, but it is a unified scene. Every part belongs in it. So the church is not a crowd, anymore than a church building is merely a pile of bricks. The church is a whole. And this whole church is foreordained. God foreordained a church that should reflect the glory of His grace.
Election means first of all that God foreknew a church that should be a reflection of the glory of grace. In the second place, God foreordained a definite number that should fit in this whole. The number is not arbitrary; it is determined by the foreknowledge of God concerning His church. In the third place, election means not only that God determined the number, but also that He determined what position each one should occupy in the whole of the church.
When Scripture has in mind the foreordination of the church as a whole, it sometimes speaks of the foreknowledge of God. But if Scripture thinks of the foreordination of them who are to be saved, in distinction from those who are to be lost, it speaks of election.
The apostle says that election is not of works; it is of grace. You ask, "Are there then people who believe that election is of works?" Yes, indeed there are, and there always have been. That was already the case with the Jews. That is why the apostle includes verse 6 in the discussion of the election of the Jews. The Jews said that they were the chosen people of God because they served the Lord, because they kept the law, because they brought their sacrifices, because they observed the ceremonies, the sabbaths and the feast days. "This is why we are better than the heathen," they said. "This is why God has chosen us."
However, the remnant according to the election must not have this conception. This is why the apostle says, "If it is of grace, it is no more of works." That you are chosen, and others are not chosen, is not because of works.
In our day the Arminians say that election is of works. They admit that there is such a thing as election. They cannot very well deny election outright, for it is taught too plainly in Scripture. But they explain election this way: God chose those whose good works he foresaw. The good works were not their keeping of the law, or their serving the Lord, but He foresaw who would perform the good work of accepting Christ.
If the Arminian doctrine is the truth, election is not of grace. Then it is not an election unto becoming the best, but it is an election of the best. Then the motive of election is not in God, but in those who are elected. The apostle declares that the Arminian doctrine is not true. But he adds that if it were true, they must never talk of grace anymore, for if they do, they are double-tongued. Arminians should stop talking about grace. If election is of works, it is not of grace. In such a case we determine whom God shall choose.
The truth is that election is of grace. We have nothing to do with our election. Our works have nothing to do with it either. The motive of election is in God only. If we go into it a little more deeply, we must say that God is gracious. He is not gracious because of any relation to us. God does not become gracious. He is gracious in Himself. Grace is an attribute of God. As an attribute of God, the grace of God is His beauty. God is a beautiful God. He is pleasant, gracious, good. There is nothing repulsive in Him. God knows that He is beautiful. He sees His own beauty eternally, for He is the triune God. He forever beholds His own beauty in His Son. God sees Himself eternally. Seeing Himself, He is gracious to Himself. He favors Himself; He loves Himself. Since His own beauty is His Son, He determined to make a people as beautiful, in a creative way, as that Son. God wanted a people whom He could make as beautiful as Himself, whom He could favor as Himself, whom He could love as Himself. This is the motive of election.
Don't you see that there is no work in it? All that we shall ever be and become is of grace. If you say that election is of works, never speak of grace anymore.
By Pure Grace Saved
From this it already follows that when the text says that "it" is of grace, salvation is included. This is also plain from the context [v. 5], which makes plain that the apostle is teaching that there is now, at this time, a remnant that is already saved by grace. At the time when Paul wrote the book of Romans, a remnant believed in Christ. There were the disciples; there were the women who followed Him; there were the five hundred to whom Jesus appeared after His resurrection; there were the three thousand who were converted on the day of Pentecost. They believed in Christ; they trusted in Him; they were the church. When the Spirit was poured out, He was poured out in that church. The New Testament church was not added alongside the Old Testament church. It was a continuation of the church of the Old Testament. This church is the subject of the apostle's discussion in the context. The apostle is asking, "Why are you saved and the rest hardened? Is it because you were better? Is it because you were more faithful, because you kept the law, because you observed the ordinances of God?" Not at all! That there is such a remnant according to the election of grace today is of grace.
This means that salvation is also of pure grace. Salvation may be distinguished, both in the objective act and the subjective application. But both are of grace. Why did God send His Son? It was of grace. Why did He commission Him to reveal the full counsel of God to you and me? Why did He let Christ die so that we might be delivered? It is of grace.
You ask whether there are people who teach and believe that Christ came because of our works. Well, they do not put it in exactly these words, but this is really the basis of their conception. The Arminian will confess that Christ died for all. This is not what he really means, though. If he would express what he really believes, the Arminian would say that Christ died, as to His intention, for those He knew would accept Him. This means that Christ died "of works." Because God knew that there would be some people who are good enough to accept Him, God caused Christ to die. But then Christ died "of works."
The apostle denies that it is of works. It is of grace. Grace is the basis of our reconciliation to God. Nor may this be turned around into the statement that Christ reconciled God to us. God did not have to be reconciled. God does not love us because Christ came; Christ came because God loved us. Grace is the basis of our salvation with regard to the objective act.
The same is true of the subjective application of salvation. We do not regenerate, justify, sanctify, and glorify ourselves. It is of grace that there is a remnant according to the election of grace. If you ask, "Why am I regenerated, whereas others are not?" the answer is, "It is of grace." The Arminian, however, boasts that God saves him, and not his neighbor, because he was willing to accept and believe in Christ, whereas his neighbor was not. If this is the case, salvation is of works. It is not of grace. And the apostle commands, "If this is the case, don't talk of grace anymore!"
Contrariwise, if we confess that salvation is of grace, let us no more talk of works. Don't we see that if we carry works into the basis of our salvation, we lose our assurance. Don't misunderstand me. The question now is not whether the Christian does good works out of gratitude. I am speaking of works (as is the text) as the basis of salvation. We are not saved because of works. This means that there is no devil, no power of darkness, that can take this salvation away from us. I pray you, let your faith take hold of this grace without works.
By Pure Grace Preserved
That which is true of our election and of our salvation is also true of our preservation. "I have reserved to myself seven thousand," we read [v. 4]. In the critical time of Elijah, God had preserved seven thousand unto Himself. So it was at the time of Paul. So it is always. God always preserves a remnant.
Why?
Once more, the answer of the Arminian is, "because of works." He may babble on about grace, but what the Arminian really is saying is, "God will preserve you if you let Him. God helps him who helps himself." This is Arminianism in all its forms, and if this is so, don't talk of grace anymore.
The apostle teaches that the remnant is preserved by grace. We must be preserved to the end. There is our old nature that seeks to draw us away from salvation. There is the world that seeks to turn us in the direction of that old nature. There are to be days of persecution, and these days may be upon us soon.
Are you not afraid when you think of those days? I do not refer to fear of wars or of persecution. But are you not afraid that when you shall be made to make a choice between your life or Christ, you will not receive grace to stand? According to the Arminian, you will receive grace if you want it. According to Scripture, you will receive grace whether you want it or not. God will certainly preserve the remnant according to the election of grace.
Therefore, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.
Footnotes
1 The Revised Version omits the words But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. The New International Version and other modern translations also omit these words.
[back to text]
| Back to top | Back to main Reformed Witness page |
The Reformed Witness newsletter is published monthly under the auspices of the Evangelism Committee of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Redlands. This newsletter is available to anyone who is interested in the Reformed Faith. If you would like your name added to our mailing list, please write to:The Reformed Witness
Hope Protestant Reformed Church
1307 E. Brockton Ave.
Redlands, CA 92374-3802
or email us: