Four Common Abuses of Pelagianism
Pelagianism makes a mockery of God’s sovereignty. Salvation, meant to glorify God and belong to God, is now attained through the merits of human will as opposed to the unmerited grace of God. While an orthodox understanding of the nature of man is one unable to come to God apart from special grace (Romans 3:10-18, Ephesians 2:1), this sect will stress the ability of man. Because of this, it is heresy according to God’s Word and many Church councils and confessions have condemned it. Though this mockery of Christ’s crown rights should be sufficient to steer believers away, sometimes it is good to show some practical examples of how this false doctrine can wreak havoc upon the Bride.
This last Sunday, my pastor, Dr. Jason Garwood (also of Lamb’s Reign), taught from Romans 14 on unity and what focus the Kingdom of God has. This sermon led to a good discussion about when to warn, divide from, and expose false teaching. Sometimes we set up false standards and ostracize or condemn fellow believers when we have no right to do so. Sometimes we set up false standards or commit idolatry by taking good and true doctrines and making those doctrines supreme when they are secondary or tertiary issues. Or sometimes, we fail to set up good standards and we compromise sinfully, thus harming the Church of the Living God.
Pelagianism is such a doctrine. It is also one that reminds me of the “whack a mole” game. This heresy, though refuted and condemned over a thousand years ago, tends to show up in Church History repeatedly. Not only has it shown its ugly face in history, it has also made its mark within the abolitionist movement.
Pelagianism is the pseudo-Christian heresy that teaches the original sin did not taint or dramatically shift human nature and that human will is still capable of choosing good or evil without special divine intervention. Because human nature has not fundamentally changed, its goodness and ability to choose righteousness and obedience to God is presumed. The grace of God, at most, is seen as a help, as opposed to the essential factor of salvation. Here, here, and here offer excellent introductions to these ideas. Like many heresies, there will be different shades, versions, and styles of the error. We should be patient and compassionate with those who are stumbling into this error. We must have discernment when distinguishing those who are either young or confused, and those who are dangerous false teachers.
Ideas have consequences and Pelagianism is not immune to that. Our creed will inform our agenda. I have personally seen the results of this teaching from both up close and afar. However, keep in mind, we are fickle and inconsistent beings. Not all Pelagians will be guilty of these abuses and errors, and some who are not Pelagian at all can also certainly be guilty of these errors.
Here are four common types of abuse that Pelagianism encourages, justifies, or causes.
Graceless Churches in The Neglect of Preaching and Teaching God’s Word
When the measure of our genuine Christianity is near exclusively focused on good works, the regular teaching of God’s Word is likely to be willfully and consistently neglected. Particularly, I have seen this tendency among Pelagian anti-abortion activists and street preachers. When all of Christianity is found in “doing good works”, honoring God by corporate worship, learning, singing of psalms and hymns, and even prayer can easily fall by the wayside. I was once told there was little need to study God’s Word together because we already “got it.” The Pelagian felt like he “got it” because he was convinced he understood abolitionist ideology and a handful of other practical ideas. When false doctrine dilutes Christianity into a guide on how to perform a few good works, the rich depths of Scripture can be severely neglected. This error is also why so many “hellfire” Pelegain street preachers fail to meet together with other believers in a local fellowship.
Of course, there is another error of diluting Scripture into solely pietistic abstractions with no action. While both ditches have their dangers, in the abolitionist community and other similar communities, the ditch that overemphasizes good works is too often applauded. In contrast, the ditch that overemphasizes right theology is bemoaned. Beware of both ditches.
Though Pelagianism encourages this sort of mentality, this error can not flourish with extraordinary self-deluded hubris.
Graceless Public Ministries
When you believe that salvation and righteousness are a simple matter of human will apart from God’s grace, it is no coincidence that Pelegain street preaching and abortion ministry can be graceless. Too often these sorts will berate those they are “preaching to” and condemn them as “whores”, “fags” and other terms designed to harshly condemn rather than clearly show them the grace of God. Their preaching is exclusively focused on living right without any pointing to the cross for forgiveness or justification. The tone is often angry, wanting no dialogue but heavy on the fires of hell if the unregenerate do not modify their behavior. Further, profanities, vulgarities, and crudeness can often litter this style. The same men also have become involved in anti-abortion ministry and have brought the same graceless theology and tactics. Instead of offering forgiveness in Christ, the message is solely about how the women are murderers or “sluts.”
There is a time and place for harshness (Matthew 23:16-17), but without a theology of grace, there is no place for compassion and level-headed discussion and dialogue. It is all condemning, vitriol, and misplaced enthusiasm. We are told that our speech should be filled with grace, yet also salt. When you leave out the grace, you miss the mark (Colossians 4:6). We are also told to put away all obscene talk, even if it is used in a mocking way against the lost (Colossians 3:8).
Graceless Churches in Discipline and Counseling
Amongst some Pelegain groups, there can be a lot of talk about “plain dealing” and going to one another directly to get to the root of the problem. This goal sounds nice on paper, and there is a lot of truth in this. After all, far too many churches minimize the harm of sin. As always, we must be mindful of the ditches
For these men, what discipline can look like in practice is often legalistic expectations, heavy-handed interrogations, backroom dealing, hidden recordings used as leverage, and other extreme methods of intrusion.
Pelagians justify this with an expectation of perfect, or near-perfect, obedience to God. Because there is no understanding of grace or patiently bearing with one another, church discipline is primarily seen as a means of quickly inforcing submission or purging the supposedly impure brother or sister. The sinless perfectionism of many Pelegaisn is exceedingly fertile ground for corrupt pride and narcissism.
Depending on perceived expediency, “plain dealing” can fluctuate from heavy-handed four-hour-long meetings to secret excommunication meetings wherein the accused knows nothing about the charges until the sentencing is complete and posted on social media. This cruelty is the behavior of cult-like megalomaniacs who have no understanding of love or grace.
At times I have seen Pelagians take up a radical and unhinged approach to counseling and church discipline that teaches that hidden sin is the direct cause of all mental health problems. If you mix that approach with works-based righteousness and an attitude of superiority, you get an extraordinarily damaging and abusive cocktail of a methodology. These are some common traits of this style of “heavy shepherding” or “plain dealing” counseling.
Leadership making sure that the accused is alone when confronted to ensure that he or she has no advocate or ally.
Leadership making sure that the accused has no time to prepare for the meeting.
Leadership making sure that the accused is outnumbered when confronted.
Leadership making sure to emotionally drain the accused by “shotgunning” accusations and “evidences.”
Leadership switching back and forth between friendly rhetoric and harsh rhetoric.
These psychologically manipulative tactics have a remarkable amount in common with police interrogation methods. Outnumber the accused, isolate the accused, do not allow them to prepare, wear them out by repeating the same points over and over again or throwing so many things at them its hard to keep anything straight, and emotionally manipulate them by switching back and forth between supportive sounding language and verbal abuse. Many who are interrogated by police in this manner have confessed, regardless of the truth.
When you adopt a Pelagian view of salvation wherein you reject original sin and believe all intrinsically can be perfect, you take a view of counseling wherein every and any issue must be a sin. Things can get ugly fast.
Graceless homes and families
When we divorce grace from authority in the home, just like in the Church, abuse is likely to be found.
Perhaps the best example of this style of Pelagian child-rearing is found in the first few pages of a book by radical patriarchalist and Pelagian, Michael Pearl. In To Train Up a Child, he says something very telling and very foundational to the many errors of a Pelagian view of human nature.
“We are not talking about producing godly children, just happy and obedient children.”
The Pearls, because of their poor theology, have divorced our standing before God from correct action. They have created a radical dualism between being “Godly” and being obedient. Obedience, to the Pearls, being the central virtue. There is a fundamental disconnect between spiritual realities and temporal realities and a basic divide between right belief and right action, with the Pearls being exclusively concerned with right action. That “right” action being immediate, uncompromising, unqualified, obedience.
Thus, instead of teaching that parents should be guiding their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, teaching them God’s Law, showing them grace, and being just, the Pearls focus on base behavior modification (eerily similar to Skinner’s experiments), fear tactics, animal-like conditioning, baiting the children, and other abusive techniques to “train” their children.
The justification for any of these was that the child had a theological ability to obey, so any disobedience was an intentional, blatant, and easily correctable sin. Wives are also given no grace. If her demeanor is anything other than joyful absolute submission, it is because she is in sin. She is snapped out, accused, and if she fights back, she is insubordinate and unloving towards her husband.
Conclusion
Again, I want to be clear about this. I cannot say that all Pelagians share in these abuses, nor can I say that non-Pelagians cannot share in the very same kind of sins. Not all Pelagians yell at their children and engage in overlording church discipline tactics. Also, many non-Pelagians actually do commit those exact sins. We are dealing with more than theology, but also pride, anger, impatience, and hate. But I can say that these heretical ideas on the nature of man and salvation play a significant role in making excuses for these sinful abuses of God’s Word and his people.
In a world of apathetic Christians who have succumbed to pietistic non-action, Pelagian ideas have become even more popular. Their focus on personal holiness and good works is too often seen as a corrective to carnal Christianity and apathetic Christianity. But Christians should be warned. Especially when being encouraged to evangelize and fight injustices such as abortion, beware of those who leave out grace. These ideas are an insult to the Kingship of Christ and bring about significant harm to Images Bearers of God, especially those who are weaker and less able to defend against these abuses. Do not be taken in with cynicism against the Church and do not overcorrect. Do not make excuses for this error or underestimate the kind of harm it can cause. Do not compromise in a desire to not “rock the boat,” lose numbers, or because you just happen to like the person. Orthodoxy matters, and we must unify under the Gospel. A gospel without grace is no gospel at all.
Ideas matter, and though this theological error has a razor-sharp focus on good works, their good works are often as twisted and false as their theology. Wherever you find a graceless theology, you will discover graceless lives.