What is Meant by Effectual Faith?

 

The above is 13^th in the series of 16 short video clips from RC Sproul, in which he has been explaining various aspects of Reformed or Calvinist theology, that I have been commenting on in my blog recently. It is titled, “What is meant by Effectual Faith?” It is about two and a half minutes long, and the full transcript of it is as follows:

“In Reformed theology we speak a lot about effectual grace, effectual calling, and I think we need to spend some time clarifying what we mean by “effectual”. It comes basically from the language of cause and effect. An effect is a consequence that has been brought about by a particular cause, it actually happens, movement takes place, a change occurs. Now the old Pelagian doctrine, Plagius himself taught that man does not need grace to be saved; every person has the power within himself to live a life of perfection, to live a life of righteousness. Grace helps, it facilitates salvation; but it is not necessary, and the church condemned that of course. And then Augustine was saying, No, that we need the grace of God to be “effectual,” to actually bring salvation to the soul. And in between that emerged the doctrine of semi-Pelagianism which has had many forms throughout church history. And if you would talk to historic Arminian, a classic orthodox Arminian, they are not Pelagian in that sense, they believe that you have to have the grace of God in order to be saved; and that that grace is offered to all; but that grace of salvation that God makes available to every person is resistible. God woos, he entices, he draws in that sense; but he doesn’t compel people to come; he doesn’t monergistically, that is by his own power, invade the soul of the person, and change the disposition of their hearts so that they come to faith. God is still giving grace as a help, as an offer which may or may not result in the person’s conversion and salvation; so that grace is not necessarily “effectual”. It doesn’t always bring about the desired effect. God can hope that his grace will lead somebody to repentance, but there is no certainty in that. In the Reformed view, when we understand the grace of God, it is not that just God is outside of us wooing, and enticing, and all of that, or just giving us information; but he works inwardly on our souls, changes the disposition of our hearts and of our wills, and brings about the effect of faith.”

This is effectively a denial of human freewill, which is the most essential characteristic feature of Calvinism, and which has already been discussed in several of my previous blog posts, including in this series (#8 for example), therefore there is no need to elaborate on it further here. Predestination, and a denial of human freewill, is the bedrock of Calvinism. It is the foundation on which the entire structure is built, and which permeates every aspect of its theology. It is what makes Calvinism the most serious heresy that has arisen in Christian history. It wasn’t the first or only one of its kind, based on a denial of human freewill. There have been other similar ones in the past. In recent history, Martin Luther came up with it first, and John Calvin carried it to its logical conclusion. What makes Calvinism the most serious is the significant traction it has gained among Christians in recent times.