“Free-will doctrine – what does it? It magnifies man into God; it declares God’s purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God’s will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent upon human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice it holds God to be a debtor to sinners so that if He gives grace to one He is bound to do so to all. It teaches that the blood of Christ was shed equally for all men and since some are lost, this doctrine ascribes the difference to man’s own will, thus making the atonement itself a powerless thing until the will of man gives it efficacy. Those sentiments dilute the scriptural description of man’s depravity, and by imputing strength to fallen humanity, rob the Spirit of the glory of His effectual grace: this theory says in effect that it is of him that willeth, and of him that runneth, and not of God that showeth mercy.”
–Charles Spurgeon

#1 by justin harris on October 3rd, 2009
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Do you have a source on this? sermon? book? Any help in this direction would be greatly appreciated.
#2 by bo on October 7th, 2009
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Here’s a longer piece that I hope helps.
http://bo.4peculiarpeople.com/2009/10/07/do-we-have-free-will/
#3 by justin harris on October 7th, 2009
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The longer piece is great! Thanks for that post. I’m still interested, however, in the source on the Spurgeon quote as well. Since he seems to be such an authority in some circles, I thought it would be good point to some “chapter and verse” on this. Do you know what sermon or book it came from?
#4 by bo on October 7th, 2009
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Here is the complete sermon that excerpt was taken from. I don’t believe Mr Spurgeon was known for his thorough exegesis, but it’s a good read nonetheless.
http://bo.4peculiarpeople.com/2009/10/07/a-jealous-god/
#5 by Justin Harris on August 26th, 2010
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I just finished listening to MacArthur talk about Spurgeon yesterday. He admits that Spurgeon was not an exegete but claims that his sermons are worth their weight in gold because they were informed by his Biblical theology.