Gnostic Doctrines: Sinful Nature, No Free Will, Once Saved Always Saved

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THE EARLY CHURCH vs. THE GNOSTICS ON MAN’S NATURE

Jesse Morrell

(Excerpt from the booklet “Free Will & Conscience”)

 

The Early Church taught that free will was an essential element of our God given nature [constitution], and that we abuse that free will when we choose to sin. Irenaeus said, “Forasmuch as all men are of the same nature, having power to hold and to do that which is good, and having power again to lose it, and not to do what is right; before men of sense, (and how much more before God!) some… are justly accused, and receive condign punishment, because they refuse what is just and right.” Again Irenaeus said, “Those who do not do it [good] will receive the just judgment of God, because they had not work good when they had it in their power to do so. But if some had been made by nature bad, and others good, these latter would not be deserving of praise for being good, for they were created that way. Nor would the former be reprehensible, for that is how they were made. However, all men are of the same nature. They are all able to hold fast and to go what is good. On the other hand, they have the power to cast good from them and not to do it.” Origen said, “The Scriptures…emphasize the freedom of the will. They condemn those who sin, and approve those who do right… We are responsible for being bad and worthy of being cast outside. For it is not the nature in us that is the cause of the evil; rather, it is the voluntary choice that works evil.” Origen said that “the heretics [the Gnostics] introduce the doctrine of different natures.”

The sin of Lucifer, Adam, Eve, and the rest of the world could not have occurred without free will. Sin implies free will. Sin does not imply a “sinful nature” (sin is a criminal choice, not a crippled nature). Lucifer, Adam, and Eve, were all created perfect by God, and sinned without a sinful nature because they had a free will. And the entire world has followed their example, using their free will in the same way. The universality of sin proves the universality of free will and the universality of temptation. The universality of sin does not prove the universality of a sinful nature or that sin is unavoidable. Where causation or necessity exists, neither sin nor temptation can exist.

For the first three hundred years of the Church the Christian’s preached that free will was a part of our nature [constitution] and that sin was an abuse of that free will. These Christian leaders earnestly contended against the Gnostics and Manicheans who preached that we sin necessarily out of defect of our inherited nature. The Gnostics and Manicheans taught that our nature did not have any free will and we necessarily sin as a result. For that reason Jerome said, “Free will…. Let the man who condemns it, be condemned.”

The orthodox doctrine of the Early Church was that all men inherit original ability at birth. John Calvin admitted that “The Greek fathers above others” have taught “the power of the human will.” And Calvin also said, “The Latin fathers have always retained the word free will…” Episcopius said, “What is plainer than that the ancient

divines, for three hundred years after Christ, those at least who flourished before St. Augustine, maintained the liberty of our will, or an indifference to two contrary things, free from all internal and external necessity!” Asa Mahan said that free will “was the doctrine of the primitive church for the first four or five centuries after the Bible was written, the church which received the ‘lively oracles’ directly from the hands of some of those by whom they were written, to wit: the writers of the New Testament. It should be borne in mind here, that at the time the sacred canon was completed, the doctrine of Necessity was held by the leading sects in the Jewish Church. It was also the fundamental article of the creed of all the sects in philosophy throughout the world, as well as of all the forms of heathenism then extant. If the doctrine of Necessity, as its advocates maintain, is the doctrine taught the church by inspired apostles and the writers of the New Testament, we should not fail to find, under such circumstances, the churches planted by them, rooted and grounded in this doctrine.” Rather, we find that the Early Church affirmed free will while the Gnostic heretics denied it and affirmed a slaved will through a totally corrupted nature. David Bercot, a modern expert on early Christian beliefs and doctrines said, “The Early Christians didn’t believe that man is totally depraved [totally unable] and incapable of doing any good. They taught that humans are capable of obeying and loving God.” He went on to say, “There was a religious group, labeled as heretics by the early Christians… they taught that man is totally depraved [totally unable]… the group I’m referring to are the Gnostics.”

Around the time of 370-430A.D. Gnostic and Manichean influence started to actually infiltrate the Christian Church, polluting it with their heretical doctrines. Some of the Church began to embrace and teach the doctrines of necessity and inability. Pelagius was a monk who earnestly yet meekly defended the doctrines of the Early Church, particularly the doctrine of free will. Dr Wiggers said, “All the fathers…agreed with the Pelagians, in attributing freedom of will to man in his present state.” Pelagius heroically refuted the Semi-Gnosticism or Semi-Manichaeism which was corrupting Christian theology. And he severely suffered persecution for his stand against the rising heresy.

Pelagius said, “Those who are unwilling to correct their own way of life appear to want to correct nature itself instead.” He goes on to say, “And lest, on the other hand, it should be thought to be nature’s fault that some have been unrighteous, I shall use the evidence of the scripture, which everywhere lay upon sinners the heavy weight of the charge of having used their own will and do not excuse them for having acted only under constraint of nature.” And also, “Obedience [and disobedience] results from a decision of the mind, not the substance of the body.” And as has been shown throughout this treatise, the Early Church Fathers prior to Pelagius taught explicitly the same things regarding sin and free will. Free will was a Christian doctrine while a crippled nature was a Gnostic heresy.

“Certain ones of those [Gnostic’s] who hold different opinions misuse these passages. They essentially destroy free will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation and by introducing others as being saved in such a way that they cannot be lost.” Origen

 

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Early Church Father Quotes on Free Will

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QUOTES FROM THE EARLY CHURCH ON FREE WILL

Compiled by Jesse Morrell

“It is our responsibility to live righteously. God asks this of us, not as though it were dependent on Him, nor on any other, or upon fate (as some think), but as being dependent on us . . . We have freedom of the will and that we ourselves are the cause of our own ruin or our salvation” Origen (Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up, by David Bercot, pg 74, printed by Scroll Publishing).

“There is, therefore, nothing to hinder you from changing your evil manner to life, because you are a free man” Melito ( A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 286, published by Hendrickson Publishers).

“’Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds’ . . . And ‘Why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say?’ . . . All such passages demonstrate the independent will of man . . . For it is in man’s power to disobey God and to forfeit what is good” Irenaeus (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 287, published by Hendrickson Publishers).

“God has put good and evil in our own power,… he has given us a free power to choose the one or the other…God has endued us with free agency”. Chrysostom (An Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism by John Fletcher, Volume Two, pg 202, Published by Carlton & Porter)

“We . . . have believed and are saved by voluntary choice.” Clement of Alexandria (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 287, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“The Lord clearly shows sins and transgressions to be in our own power”. Clement of Alexandria (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 287, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“For man is able to both will and not to will. He is endowed with power to do both.” Hippolytus (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 288, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“It would be more just to punish the stars, which make a wicked action necessary, than to punish the poor man, who doe that wicked action by necessity.” Epiphanius (An Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism by John Fletcher, Volume Two, pg 203, Published by Carlton & Porter)

“The fountain of life is open to all, nor is any one deprived of the right of drinking: but if thy pride be so great that thou refuseth the offered gift and benefits, why

dost thou blame him who invites thee”? Arnobius (An Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism by John Fletcher, Volume Two, pg 205, Published by Carlton & Porter)

“Man was made with a free will… [with the] capacity of obeying or disobeying God. For this was the meaning of the gift of free will.” Methodius (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, pg 292, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“To do good or evil is in our own power”. Methodius (A Dictionary of Early 50

Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 276, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“Natural will is the free faculty of every intelligent nature, as having nothing involuntary pertaining to its essence.” Alexander of Alexandria (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, pg 293, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“How will he refute and convict a man who alleges the frailty of the flesh as an excuse for his faults [The argument of the Gnostics] – unless he himself will also be clothed with flesh – so he can show that even the flesh is capable of virtue? Lactantius (A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David Bercot, p. 293, published by Hendrickson Publishers)

“In the manner of good-for-nothing and haughty servants, we cry out against the face of God and say, ‘It is hard, it is difficult, we cannot do it, we are but men, we are encompassed by frail flesh!’ [The argument of the Gnostics] What blind madness! What unholy foolhardiness! We accuse God of a twofold lack of knowledge, so that he appears not to know what he has done, and not to know what he has commanded; as if, forgetful of the human frailty of which he is himself the author, he has imposed on man commands which he cannot bear. And, at the same time, oh horror!, we ascribe iniquity to the righteous and cruelty to the holy, while complaining, first, that he has commanded something impossible, secondly, that man is to be damned by him for doing things which he was unable to avoid, so that God – and this is something which even to suspect is sacrilege – seems to have sought not so much our salvation as our punishment!” Pelagius (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, p. 53, published by The Boydell Press)

“Yet we do not defend the good of nature to such an extent that we claim that it cannot do evil, since we undoubtedly declare also that it is capable of good and evil; we merely try to protect it from an unjust charge, so that we may not seem to be forced to do evil through a fault of our nature, when, in fact, we do neither good nor evil without the exercise of our will and always have the freedom to do one of the two, being always able to do either” Pelagius (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 43, published by The Boydell Press)

“Nothing impossible has been commanded by the God of justice and majesty . . . Why do we indulge in pointless evasions, advancing the frailty of our own nature as an objection to the one who commands us? No one knows better the true measure of our strength than he who has given it to us nor does anyone understand better how much we

are able to do than he who has given us this very capacity of ours to be able; nor has he who is just wished to command anything impossible or he who is good intended to condemn a man for doing what he could not avoid doing.” Pelagius (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, p. 53-54, published by The Boydell Press)

“Whenever I have to speak on the subject of moral instruction and conduct of a holy life, it is my practice first to demonstrate the power and quality of human nature and to show what it is capable of achieving, and then to go on to encourage the mind of my listener to consider the idea of different kinds of virtues, in case it may be of little or no

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profit to him to be summoned to pursue ends which he has perhaps assumed hitherto to

be beyond his reach; for we can never end upon the path of virtue unless we have hope as our guide and compassion . . . any good of which human nature is capable has to be revealed, since what is shown to be practicable must be put into practice.” Pelagius (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, p. 36-37, published by The Boydell Press)

“It was because God wished to bestow on the rational creature the gift of doing good of his own free will and the capacity to exercise free choice, by implanting in man the possibility of choosing either alternative . . . he could do either quite naturally and then bend his will in the other direction too. He could not claim to possess the good of his own volition, unless he was the kind of creature that could also have possessed evil. Our most excellent Creator wished us to be able to do either but actually to do only one, that is, good, which he also commanded, giving us the capacity to do evil only so that we might do His will by exercising our own. That being so, this very capacity to do evil is also good – good, I say, because it makes the good part better by making it voluntary and independent, not bound by necessity but free to decide for itself” Pelagius (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 38, published by The Boydell Press)

“If men are thus [sinners] because they cannot be different, they are not to blame.” And “Sins ought not to be visited with even the smallest punishment, provided they cannot be avoided.” Pelagius (An Historical Presentation of Augustinism And Pelagianism by G. F. Wiggers, p. 154)

Pelagius said that sinners, “abuse the liberty granted to them” while the righteous are “rightly using freewill.” ( An Historical Presentation of Augustinism And Pelagianism by G. F. Wiggers, p. 223)

“Grace indeed freely discharges sins, but with the consent and choice of the believer” Pelagius (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 92, published by The Boydell Press)

“The beginning of our salvation flows from the merciful God; but it is in our power to consent to his saving inspiration.” Augustine (An Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism by John Fletcher, Volume Two, pg 206, Published by Carlton & Porter)

“Nobody can help what comes into his mind; but to consent or to dissent from involuntary suggestions, is the prerogative of our own will.” Augustine (An Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism by John Fletcher, Volume Two, pg 206, Published by Carlton & Porter)

“Whatever may determine the will, if it cannot be resisted, is complied with without sin; but if one can resist it, let him not comply with it and it will not be sin.” Augustine (An Historical Presentation of Augustinism And Pelagianism by G. F. Wiggers, p. 128-129)

“”In all laws, warnings, rewards, punishments, etc. there is no justice, if the will is not the cause of sin.” Augustine (An Historical Presentation of Augustinism And Pelagianism by G. F. Wiggers, p. 129)

“There can be no sin that is not voluntary, the learned and the ignorant admit this evident truth” Augustine (De vera relig., xiv, 27)

“Their fulfillment [the law] would not have been commanded, if our will had nothing to do in it” Augustine (De. Perf. Just. Hom. 10.)

“Is it possible then for a man not to sin? Such a claim is indeed a hard one and a bitter pill for sinners to swallow; it pains the ears of all who desire to live unrighteous. Who will find it easy now to fulfill the demands of righteousness, when there are some who find it hard even to listen to them?” Unknown (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 167, published by The Boydell Press)

“When will a man guilty of any crime or sin accept with a tranquil mind that his wickedness is a product of his own will, not of necessity, and allow what he now strives to attribute to nature to be ascribed to his own free choice? It affords endless comfort to transgressors of the divine law if they are able to believe that their failure to do something is due to inability rather then disinclination, since they understand from their natural wisdom that no one can be judged for failing to do the impossible and that what is justifiable on grounds of impossibility is either a small sin or none at all” Unknown (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 167-168, published by The Boydell Press)

“Under the plea that it is impossible not to sin, they are given a false sense of security in sinning.. . . . Anyone who hears that it is not possible for him to be without sin will not even try to be what he judges to be impossible, and the man who does not try to be without sin must perforce sin all the time, and all the more boldly because he enjoys the false security of believing that it is impossible for him not to sin . . . But if he were to hear that he is able not to sin, then he would have exerted himself to fulfill what he now knows to be possible when he is striving to fulfill it, to achieve his purpose for the most part, even if not entirely.” Unknown (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 168, published by The Boydell Press)

“Consider first whether that which is such that a man cannot be without it ought to be described as sin at all; for everything which cannot be avoided is now put down to nature but it is impious to say that sin is inherent in nature, because in this way the author of nature is being judged at fault . . . how can it be proper to call sin by that name if, like other natural things, it cannot be avoided, since all sin is to be attributed to the free choice of the will, not to the defects of nature?” Unknown (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers by B. R. Rees, pg 168-169, published by The Boydell Press)

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The Early Church Fathers on Repentance from Sin | Refutation to Antinomianism | Compiled by Jesse Morrell

 

The Early Church Fathers

on Repentance from Sin.

 

Refutation to Antinomianism

Compiled by Jesse Morrell

 

 

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REPENTANCE FOR SALVATION

“Since all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him and forsake those wicked works that proceed from evil desires. By doing that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come.” Clement of Rome, the companion of Paul and John, whom the Bible says has eternal life in Philippines 4:3

“Let us therefore repent with the whole heart, so that none of us perish by the way.” Second Clement, year 150

“Let us therefore practice righteousness so that we may be saved unto the end.” Second Clement, year 150

“Repentance is great wisdom. For he who has sinned understands that he acted wickedly in the sight of the Lord. He remembers the actions he has done, and he repents. He no longer acts wickedly, but he does good generously.” Hermas, year 150

That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. For he who has received remission of sins should not sin anymore, but should live in purity.” Hermas, year 150

“He must believe that salvation belongs to the one who lives according to the commandments.” Clement of Alexandria, year 195

“He that repents of what he did, no longer does or says things he did… He, then, who has received the forgiveness of sins should sin no more.” Clement of Alexandria, year 195

“But continual and successive repentings of sins does not differ at all from the case of those who have not believed at all.” Clement of Alexandria, year 195

“True repentance means to be no longer bound in the same sins for which He denounced death against Himself. Rather, it is to eradicate them completely from the soul.” Clement of Alexandria, year 195

“Repentance is the price for which the Lord has determined to award pardon.” Tertullian, year 203

“He, then, will receive you – His own son – back, even if you have squandered what you had received from Him… But He does this only if you heartily repent. He does this only if you contrast your own hunger with the plenty of your Father’s hired servants. And you must leave behind you the swine – that unclean herd.” Tertullian, year 203

“All sins may be forgiven the one who has turned to God with his whole heart… Turn to the Lord and forsake your sins… repentance unto salvation..” Exhortation to repentance, year 255

“To repent is nothing else than to profess and to affirm that one will sin no more… He who sins wilfully has no pardon.” Lactantius, year 304-313

“He is appeased by a reform of the morals. He who ceases to sin renders the anger of God extinguishable.” Lactantius, 304-313

“A sinner avoids destruction by repentance.” Apostolic Constitutions, year 390

“He who wills that no one should perish, desires that sinners should repent, and by repentance, should return again to life.” Cyprian, year 250

THE BELIEVERS CONDITIONAL SECURITY

(Remember, in the Hebrew culture, you could be disinherited and removed from the family if you disgrace and dishonor them, as the Prodigal Son did).

“Those who do not obey Him, but being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons.” Irenaeus, year 180

“He who sins after his baptism, unless he repents and forsakes his sins, will be condemned to Gehenna.” Apostolic Constitutions, year 390

“For do not many afterwards fall out of [grace]? Is not this gift taken away from many?” Tertullian, year 203

“Certain ones of those [Gnostic’s] who hold different opinions misuse these passages. They essentially destroy free will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation and by introducing others as being saved in such a way that they cannot be lost.” Origen, year 225 (Calvinism comes from Gnosticism)

“Being a believing man, if you seek to live as the Gentiles do, the joys of the world remove you from the grace of Christ.” Commodianus, year 240

“Only let not Christ be forsaken, so that the loss of salvation and of an eternal home would be feared.” Cyprian, year 250

“For the Lord has sworn by His glory, in regard to His elect, that if any one of them sin after a certain day which has been fixed, he will not be saved.” Hermas, year 150

“If you do not guard yourself against [anger] you and your house will lose all hope of salvation.” Hermas, year 150

“The apostates and traitors of the church have blasphemed the Lord in their sins. Moreover, they have been ashamed of the name of th Lord by which they were called. These persons, therefore, at the end were lost unto God.” Hermas, year 150

“We should fear ourselves, least perchance after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but are shut out from His Kingdom. And for that reason, Paul said, ‘For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also not spare you.” Irenaeus, year 180

“It as not to those who are on the outside that he said these things, but to us – lest we should be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any such thing.” Irenaeus, year 180

“Knowing that what preserves his life, namely, obedience to God, is good, he may diligently keep it with all earnestness.” Irenaeus, year 180

“He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome and narrow. So let him who has once received the Gospel not turn back, like Lot’s wife, as is said – even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation. And let him not go back to his former life…” Clement of Alexandria, year 195

“The world returned to sin… and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.” Tertullian, year 198

“We ought indeed to walk so holily, and with so entire substantially of faith, as to be confident and secure in regard of our own conscience, desring that it may abdie in us to the end. Yet, we should not presume [that it will]. For he who presumes, feels less apprehension. He who feels less apprehension, takes less precaution. He who takes less precaution, runs more risk. Fear is the foundation of salvation. Presumption is the impediment to fear… More useful, then, is it to apprehend that we may possibly fail, than to presume that we cannot. For apprehending will lead us to fear, fear to caution, and caution to salvation. On the other hand, if we presume, there will be neither fear nor caution to save us.” Tertullian, year 198

“He saw that most persons – after obtaining salvation – would be lost again, by soiling the wedding dress, by failing to provide oil for their torches.” Tertullian, years 213

A Gnostic teacher, “He taught them that they were prone, no doubt, to sin. However, he said that they were beyond the reach of danger because they belonged to the perfect Power.” Hippolytus, year 225

“Faith itself and the saving birth do not make alive by merely being received. Rather, they must be preserved… The Lord taught this in His instruction when He said…”Sin no more, lest a worst thing come upon you”…. Solomon, Saul, and many others were able to keep the grace given to them so long as they walked in the Lord’s ways. However, when the disciple of the Lord was forsaken by them, grace also forsook them.” Cyprian, year 250

“Whoever that confessor is, he is not greater, better, or dearer to God than Solomon.

Solomon retained the grace that he had received from the Lord, as long as he walked in God’s ways. However, after he forsook the Lord’s way, he also lost the Lord’s grace. For that reason it is written, ‘Hold fast that which you have, lest another take your crown.’… ‘He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.'” Cyprian, year 250

“A person cannot be with Christ if he had rather be an imitator of Judas than of Christ.” Cyprian, year 250

“Let us press onward and labor, watching with our whole heart. Let us be steadfast with all endurance; let us keep the Lord’s commandments. Thereby, when that day of anger and vengeance comes, we may not be punished with the ungodly and the sinners. Rather, we may be honored with the righteous and with those who fear God.” Cyprian, year 250

“Even a baptized person loses the grace that he has attained, unless he remains innocent.” Cyprian, year 250

“A son… who deserts his father in order not to pay him obedience is considered deserving of being disinherited and of having his name removed forever from his family. How much more so does a person [deserve to be disinherited] who forsakes God – in whim the two names meet that are entitled to equal reverence: Lord and Father?… Of what punishments, therefore, is he deserving who forsakes Him who is both the true Master and Father?” Lactantius, year 304-313

“We believe that our children have been corrected when we see that they repent of their errors. And though we may have disinherited them and cast them off, we again receive, cherish, and embrace them. Why, then, should we despair as if the mercy of God our Father might not be appeased by repentance? He who is both the Lord and a most indulgent Parent promises that He will remit the sins of the penitent. He promises that He will blot out all the iniquities of the one who begins afresh to practice righteousness.” Lactantius, year 304-313

“How do you know, O man, when you sin, whether you will live a sufficient number of days in this present sate in order that you will have time to repent? For the time of your departure out of this world is uncertain. And if you die in sin, there will remain no repentance for you.” Apostolic Constitutions, year 390

 

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