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Apologetics for the Masses #380 - Hunter Street Baptist Church (Part 5): Salvation
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Topic
Minister Brady Tarr's Anti-Catholic Presentation - Salvation
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General Comments
Hey folks,
A few things:
1) My new TV series - Balaam's Ride - premieres this coming Monday, October 12th. If you live in Houma, LA, you can watch it locally on Houma Television, channel 10. If you don't live in Houma, which is most of you reading this, you can download the station's app - HTV10 - and watch it from anywhere on your smart phone or smart TV. The schedule for when it airs is below:
2) For all of those who have already volunteered to send in questions via phone or email, and anyone else who would like to do so, you can leave a phone message with a question by calling (toll free): 833-632-4253 (833-63Bible)
Or by emailing: admin@biblechristiansociety.com; put "Balaam's Ride" in the subject line.
There is another number that we will use to take calls live during the taping of the shows (next scheduled taping is for October 28th), that I will send out to anyone who would be so kind as to volunteer to call in with a live question (you can watch the taping live on the HTV10 Facebook page and call in while watching).
3) The show debuts on Mondays, and then re-airs Tuesday through Sunday. The show topics each week are as follows:
Week of October 12th: Intro to Catholic apologetics and ripping up the Catechism; plus Q&A
Week of October 19th: The Case for God; Q&A
Week of October 26th: Catholic Voting Principles; Q&A
I hope you enjoy it!
Introduction
This week will be the last issue in which I take on a topic from Minister Brady Tarr's - of Hunter Street Baptist Church - six week anti-Catholic presentation. The topic this week is: Justification. After looking at the material, I realized there is enough there to actually do 2 or 3 newsletters on this one topic - I could easily spend a couple of more issues on the way he badly mangles both Catholic teaching and the Bible - but I decided to just make this into an abbreviated dismantling of his position and then move on to something else in the next issue.
So, what I am going to do in this issue is give you the 7 parts of his "Biblical Definition of Justification" and then take them apart one at a time.
I hope you enjoy...
Challenge/Response/Strategy
Minister Brady Tarr of the Hunter Street Baptist Church
Biblical Definition of Justification
1) Justification is an unconditional act of God. It is a legal declaration where God pardons the sinner of all his sins & declares the sinner as righteous.
2) God declares the sinner righteous at the very moment that the sinner puts his faith/trust in Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21-26, 5:16; 2 Cor 5:21; etc.)
3) Justification is by grace through faith alone.
4) Justification is a permanent and one time event where the righteous record of Jesus is imputed/given by God to every sinner whom God gives the gift of faith (Eph 2:8-9; 2 Cor 5:21; Rom 3:20-31).
5) A person's works play no part in justification. God justifies the sinner solely on the basis of the work of Christ (perfect obedience, death, and resurrection).
6) Justification is a one time event and can never decrease, increase, or be lost.
7) Sanctifiction is separate from justification. It is a result of justification where someone who is a Christian (has already been justified) grows into a more and more mature/Christ-like Christian.
Summary: Faith = Justification + Works
My Response
1) Justification is an unconditional act of God. It is a legal declaration where God pardons the sinner of all his sins & declares the sinner as righteous.
My first thought is: Where does it say this in the Bible? Book, chapter, and verse? The quick answer is: It doesn't. Oh, I'm sure Minister Tarr would cite some Scripture verses if you were to ask him, although he didn't cite any here, but the reality is, there is no passage in the Bible that states what Minister Tarr says here in this first part of his "Biblical Definition of Justification". How can it be a "biblical" definition of justification, if it's not in the Bible?
My second thought on this - and I don't understand why this isn't problematic for all those who believe in this dogma of Sola Fide (salvation by faith alone) - has to do with this "legal declaration" of God. What does a "legal declaration" by God mean? What exactly is a "legal declaration" of righteousness? How does that work? As I've had it explained to me by Sola Fide folks, it means that the sinner isn't really righteous, but because of Jesus dying on the Cross for the sinner, God "legally" declares the sinner righteous. So, God is saying someone is righteous when they really aren't righteous? He is saying someone is innocent when they are really guilty. Isn't that a lie? It's as if God is saying, "Yeah, yeah, I know he's rotten to the core, but Jesus died for him, so let's declare him righteous, and that way we can let the little pile of manure (using Martin Luther's analogy here) into Heaven, not as an actual holy and righteous person, but as a little pile of manure that we will pretend is holy and righteous...and, of course, be careful not to step in." That is just bizarre.
But, the thing is, when God declares something to be so, doesn't it actually make it so? I mean, if God declares someone to be righteous, doesn't His declaration actually make that person righteous? God speaks, so it is. Right? "Let there be light," God said. And there was light. "This sinner is righteous," God said. And this sinner is still not righteous. God declares it so, but it isn't so. That is the essence of this "legal declaration" of righteousness. It makes no sense, whatsoever! In fact, it seems to me, to be a bit blasphemous by denying the power of God to actually make someone righteous.
And my final observation on this 1st part of his "Biblical Definition of Justification" is that it directly conflicts with the 2nd part of his "Biblical Definition of Justification" as I will momentarily show.
2) God declares the sinner righteous at the very moment that the sinner puts his faith/trust in Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21-26, 5:16; 2 Cor 5:21; etc.)
Whoa, wait a minute! In Part 1, it states that justification is an "unconditional" act of God. But, in Part 2, it seems there is indeed a condition - the sinner, before he can be justified, must first "put his faith/trust in Jesus Christ". Isn't that a "condition"? I mean, if I don't do that, I am not legally declared righteous. So, God's "legal declaration" is actually not "unconditional". Which means Part 1 and Part 2 contradict each other. Go figure.
The second thing to note, and I will say this for all 7 parts, is that nowhere does the Bible say such a thing. Yes, yes, he cites a few biblical passages here (and I love the "etc."!), but nowhere in those passages does it actually say what he says. The words don't match. In other words, it is not the Word of God that says what Minister Tarr claims is the "Biblical Definition of Justification," it is the Word of Tarr. It is Minister Tarr's private, fallible, non-authoritative interpretation of these Scripture verses that he is giving us, not the actual Word of God.
Finally, there is a big, big problem here that deals a mortal wound to the dogma of Sola Fide. Please note - when exactly is it that God declares the sinner righteous? "At the very moment the sinner PUTS his faith/trust in Jesus Christ." The verb "put" signifies an action on the part of the sinner. It is a "work" that the sinner has to do in order to be declared righteous. So, first of all, as already noted, this is a "condition" for justification. Secondly, it shows that it is not faith ALONE that justifies, but faith and at least one work - putting your faith in Christ. But, most importantly, it means that it is not Jesus' finished work on the Cross that gets a sinner legally declared justified, rather it is that sinner's act of faith in Christ that gets them declared justified. Jesus' finished work on the Cross, as Protestants put it, happened 2000 years ago, but as an unbelieving heathen (or a Catholic), I am not saved today. However, if today I put my faith in Jesus, then all of a sudden I am saved...I am legally declared justified. Which means it is my faith in Jesus that justifies me, not Jesus' death on the Cross.
If it was actually as Minister Tarr declares it to be - that God's legal declaration of righteousness is truly an "unconditional" act of God - then that would mean everyone would be legally declared righteous by God and would thereby be saved. I mean, no conditions means no conditions, doesn't it?
3) Justification is by grace through faith alone.
Give me book, chapter, and verse on this, Minister Tarr. He can't, because nowhere does the Bible say such a thing. Now, I would agree, as a Catholic, that Justification is by grace through faith. Absolutely! However, he adds that one little word - "alone" - that does not appear next to the word "faith" anywhere in the Bible...except...except...where it says "a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). But, of course, Minister Tarr will tell us that James 2:24 doesn't really mean it says.
4) Justification is a permanent and one time event where the righteous record of Jesus is imputed/given by God to every sinner whom God gives the gift of faith (Eph 2:8-9; 2 Cor 5:21; Rom 3:20-31).
Whoops...looks like we've got another condition for this "unconditional" act of "legal declaration" by God. God must first give the gift of faith to a sinner - Condition #1. That sinner then must put his "faith/trust" - that he has received from God - in Jesus Christ - Condition #2. How is that unconditional? To quote Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
And, again, he cites a few Bible verses (no "etc." this time), but, yet again, none of the verses he cites actually says what he says they say. In particular, where does the Bible say that justification is "a permanent and one time event"? Again, quick answer: It doesn't! We keep getting the Word of Tarr as opposed to the Word of God.
5) A person's works play no part in justification. God justifies the sinner solely on the basis of the work of Christ (perfect obedience, death, and resurrection).
See the last argument in Part #2 above, as it applies here as well. And, again, where is this statement to be found in the Bible - book, chapter, and verse?
6) Justification is a one time event and can never decrease, increase, or be lost.
So, that's why Paul threatens the Gentiles who have been grafted into the olive tree (which is Christ) - which means they are justified - with the possibility of then being cut off from Christ - losing their justification (Romans 11:21-22)? He tells them that unless they "continue in His kindness," they, too, "will be cut off". Hmm...sounds like their justification can indeed be lost, and it is indeed conditional...they won't be cut off provided ("if" in the King James Version) they remain in His kindness. And if they don't remain in His kindness? "You, too, will be cut off," (verse 22).
And then there's John 15:1-6 which tells us that the branches of the vine (which is Christ) will be cut off and thrown into the fire to be burned (hell) if they don't produce fruit (good works). Well, you can't be a branch of the vine if you're an unbeliever, can you? Would Minister Tarr claim that non-believers are branches of the vine that is Christ? I sincerely doubt it. But, his problem is, he says they can't be cut off from the vine - lose their justification - but the Word of God clearly says they can be. Who you gonna believe...the Word of Tarr? Or the Word of God?
7) Sanctifiction is separate from justification. It is a result of justification where someone who is a Christian (has already been justified) grows into a more and more mature/Christ-like Christian.
When one is justified, they are made holy (sanctified) as opposed to being "legally declared" justified. When one is made holy, they are in a state of justification. Justification and sanctification are, for all practical purposes, two sides of the same coin.
The problem with Minister Tarr's claim that one can be justified without also being sanctified, is that the Word of God tells us that we must be holy in order to see God. "Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord," (Heb 12:14). Word of God: If you aren't holy you can't see the Lord. Word of Tarr: You don't have to be holy to see the Lord. You can work on that later, but it's not absolutely necessary. Again, who you gonna believe?
Minister Tarr's position is basically this: As long as you have faith in Jesus, you are declared righteous (justified/saved) by God. You are "legally" declared innocent even though you are actually guilty. You don't have to repent (that would be a work, and yet another condition necessary for God's "unconditional" act), you don't have to be holy, you don't have to love God, you don't have to love your neighbor, you don't have to strive to avoid sin, etc. - and you are still declared righteous. Oh, sure, once you've put your faith in Christ you will, of course, repent and try to avoid sin and be holy (and where does the Bible say that?). And you will, I mean it just goes without saying, of course grow in love of God and neighbor and all that other stuff that really doesn't count for anything; but, again, none of that has anything to do with you being saved. That all comes after you're saved. Faith = Justification + Works (where is THAT in the Bible?)
That is, essentially, the sum of Minister Brady Tarr's "Biblical Definition of Justification".
Closing Comments
I hope all of you have a great week, and don't forget to download the HTV10 app on your phone and/or TV and give a look-see to Balaam's Ride starting on Monday.
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