For the Last Time, Reformed Theology Does Not Teach Salvation by Works!
Here's a quote by Arthur W. Pink, one of the greatest Reformed preachers on the Christians. When I think about the "Easy Christianity" crowd who take Reformed preachers out of context, I get to hear such deluded fantasies such as that they are either Calvinist Jesuits (this term is an oxymoron because you can't be a Calvinist at the same time, a Jesuit presenting to be a Calvinist is not a Calvinist), a member of the New World Order or if you posted videos the history of the Reformation you might expect a comment calling the uploader of the video as a "paid Jesuit spy". The same Pink who emphasized good works as the evidence of conversion is the same Pink who talked about the wonderful truth of eternal security.
It's also an accusation that Reformed Theology kills the wounded and prevents growth in grace. Far from it, the more I listen to any sound Reformed preacher, the more they stress the fact that true Christians though they may fall away are destined to endure to the end. In Pink's quote, he says that there are many weak children, dull students and raw soldiers, so many lame sheep yet He bears them all and casts none away. Every newborn believer is still a dull pupil, a raw soldier and a lame sheep who God does not cast away. But God is too loving and holy at the same time not to let His own remain as dull pupils, raw soldiers and lame sheep because He has promised to work with them. When God saves a person, He does not save them then leave them on their own, instead He saves them and qualifies the called.
The whole idea of salvation is by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone is in the pages of Scripture and not an invented doctrine by the Reformers. James 2 is not merely call for Christian to do good works but rather, it's a call to check whether one's faith is truly authentic. James 2:14 says, "Can faith save him?" which if we will translate to modern English says, "Can that kind of faith save him?" If one is truly saved then good works should come out as a result which is not in any way a form of works salvation. The Reformers and later Reformed Theologians did not contradict themselves when they said it because they taught that salvation cannot be accomplished by works yet good works are the fruits of salvation. Although the immature believer is still slow but when God works on those who are is then that faith is not a passive one but an active one.
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