Daily Meditation

Merging Activism and Quietism

Ligonier Ministries

The two great heresies that have plagued the church on the issue of sanctification for centuries are the heresies of activism and quietism. The twin distortions are guilty of eliminating one or the other pole of the paradox. In activism, God’s working is swallowed up by human self-righteousness. In quietism, the human struggle is swallowed up by an automatic divine process.

Activism is the creed of the self-righteous person. He has no need of divine assistance to achieve perfection. Grace is held in contempt, a remedy needed only by weak people. The activist can lift himself up by his own bootstraps. His confidence is in himself and his moral ability. Perhaps the most arrogant statement a person can make is this: “I don’t need Christ.”

The quietist insults the Holy Spirit by insisting that God is totally responsible for his progress or lack of it. If the quietist still sins, the unspoken assumption is that God has been lacking in His work. The creed of the quietist is, “Let go and let God.” No struggle is necessary; no resistance to temptation is required. Sanctification is God’s job, from beginning to end.

God calls us to the pursuit of holiness. The pursuit is to be undertaken with strength and resolution. We are to resist unto blood, to wrestle with powers, to pummel our bodies, rejoicing in the certainty that the Holy Spirit is within us helping, disposing, convicting, and encouraging.

Coram Deo

Are you an activist, rejecting God’s assistance—or a quietist, insisting that He is totally responsible for your spiritual progress or lack of it?

Passages for Further Study

Ephesians 3:20–21
Hebrews 13:20–21
Galatians 6:4

Hypocrisy Versus Integrity

Gallio Cared for None of These Things

Douglas Wilson
Blog&Mablog

Introduction

In an earlier NQN post, I said that to be a gay Christian was to be a hypocrite, by definition. What could be the basis for saying things like that? The guy who says that he is a gay Christian, although committed to remaining celibate, is a hypocrite? And he is a hypocrite because he doesn’t formulate it precisely the way I said he should, which is to say that he is a Christian who experiences gay temptations? Right. Exactly so.

In short, a gay Christian is a hypocrite while a Christian with gay temptations is not? Correct. Aside from the problems associated with the history of the word gay, that summary is a good enough. 

For some this is an inside baseball debate between American League fans and National League fans debating the value of a designated hitter. But it is not that kind of debate at all.

Or take a scriptural example. The casual observer might be forgiven if he thought to himself that everybody might want to adopt the posture of Gallio. “But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters” (Acts 18:15). Deal me out, in other words.

And this is why you can’t. This is why you have to deal with this issue honestly. Those who do not deal with it honestly will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (1 Cor. 6:98-11; Gal. 5:19-21).

What the Issue is Not

The issue is not whether there can be such a thing as a besetting sin, or a recurring sin, or remaining sin that travels in predictable patterns. Christians are never to be dismissed as hypocrites simply because of a struggle with remaining sin.