Azar Ministry

What is Pelagianism?

Pelagianism is the unbiblical teaching that Adam’s sin did not affect future generations of humanity. According to Pelagianism, Adam’s sin was solely his own, and Adam’s descendants did not inherit a sinful nature passed down to them. God creates every human soul directly, and therefore every human soul starts out in innocence, free from sin. We are not basically bad, says the Pelagian heresy; we are basically good.

Pelagianism is named after Pelagius, a monk who lived in the late 300s and early 400s AD. Pelagius began teaching the doctrine associated with his name in an effort to promote holy living among Christians. When people sinned, Pelagius grew weary of hearing the excuse of “I can’t help it. It’s in my nature to do wrong.” To counter that excuse, Pelagius stressed the freedom of the human will, essentially teaching that all sin is the result of a conscious choice of evil over good; everyone has the ability to freely choose to do good all the time. And, since there is no such thing as original sin or an inherited sin nature, then we cannot blame Adam. God created us good, so no one ever has an excuse for sinning. If you’re not living a holy life, it’s because you’re not trying hard enough.

Pelagianism contradicts the Bible in many places. Romans 5 solidly refutes the notion that Adam’s sin had no effect on us:

• “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (verse 12).
• “Many died by the trespass of the one man” (verse 15).
• “The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation” (verse 16).
• “By the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man” (verse 17).
• “One trespass resulted in condemnation for all people” (verse 18).
• “Through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners” (verse 19).

Further, the Bible tells us that we are sinful from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5). All human beings die as a result of sin (Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:23).

While Pelagianism says that human beings are not born with a natural inclination toward sin, the Bible says the opposite (Romans 3:10–18). Anyone who has raised children can attest to the fact that infants do not have to be taught how to sin; on the contrary, they must be carefully and consistently taught how to avoid sin and behave wisely, prudently, and righteously.

Pelagianism’s underlying fault is its reliance on human freedom and willpower instead of the grace of God. In saying that we all possess an inherent power to choose holiness for ourselves, Pelagius made the grace of God of no effect. The Bible says that, before the grace of God saves us, we are “dead” in our sins (Ephesians 2:1); Pelagianism says it’s not so bad as all that. We can choose to obey God’s commands, and, if we only knew our true nature, we could please God and save ourselves.

Pelagius and his false doctrine were fought by Augustine and condemned by the Council of Carthage in AD 418, the same year that Pelagius was excommunicated. The doctrine did not disappear, however, and had to be condemned again by the Council of Ephesus (431) and later church councils. *Pelagianism survives to this day and shows up in any teaching that says following Christ is primarily a choice we make apart from any supernatural intervention of God’s grace. In any age and in any form, Pelagianism is unscriptural and should be rejected*.

Answering the question from the previous post,
"Does Scripture tell us how to be discerning?"
It certainly does.

Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. The discerning person is the one who draws a clear contrast between truth and error. No one can be truly discerning without developing skill in separating divine truth from error.

Paul sums up the process in 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22: “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
There, in three straightforward commands, he spells out the requirements of a discerning mind.

Respondiendo a la pregunta de la publicación anterior,
"¿Nos dice la Escritura cómo discernir?"
Ciertamente lo hace.

El discernimiento es el proceso de hacer distinciones cuidadosas en nuestro pensamiento sobre la verdad. La persona que discierne es la que establece un claro contraste entre la verdad y el error. Nadie puede discernir verdaderamente sin desarrollar la habilidad de separar la verdad divina del error.

Pablo resume el proceso en 1 Tesalonicenses 5: 21–22: “Examina todo cuidadosamente; aférrate a lo bueno; abstenerse de toda forma de maldad ".
Allí, en tres órdenes sencillas, explica los requisitos de una mente perspicaz.

Divisiveness vs. Discernment

Do discernment and divisiveness go hand in hand?
Is it true that the term discernment is often employed as a cover for a contentious or critical spirit?
Does Scripture tell us how to be discerning?
"Let us know your opinion"

Divisividad versus discernimiento

¿Van de la mano el discernimiento y la división? ¿Es cierto que el término discernimiento se emplea a menudo para encubrir un espíritu contencioso o crítico?
¿Nos dice la Escritura cómo discernir?
"Háganos saber su opinión"

La razón, dijo Tomás de Aquino, se basa en datos sensoriales: lo que podemos ver, sentir, oír, oler y tocar.
La revelación se basa en más. Si bien la razón puede llevarnos a creer en Dios, algo que otros teólogos ya habían propuesto, solo la revelación puede mostrarnos a Dios como realmente es, el Dios trino de la Biblia."

The Necessity of Accountability (part 3/3)

Why we need it

(4) Accountability is protective to both leaders and to the flock. The biblical model for church leadership is a collective leadership of elders which provides a structure for genuine accountability.
Shared, brotherly leadership provides needed restraint on pride, greed, and “playing,” to quote Earl D. Radmacher,… Human leaders, even Christian ones, are sinners and they only accomplish God’s will imperfectly. Multiple leaders, therefore, will serve as a ‘check and balance’ on each other and serve as a safeguard against the very human tendency to play God over other people.”
Shared leadership provides close accountability, genuine partnership, and peer relationships—the very things imperial pastors shrink from at all costs.
As to the flock, Hebrews 13:17 tells the flock to submit to their leaders because they keep watch over the souls of God’s people. People too often understand this primarily in a negative way, but keeping watch not only means correcting people when they fail to walk with the Lord, but helping them to do so. As will shown below, the goal of accountability is not riding herd over people like a task master—something completely contrary to Scripture. Rather, the goal is to help people grow in Christ and learn to find Him as the source and force and course of life.

The Necessity of Accountability (part 2/3)

Why we need it

(2) Accountability is necessary because like sheep we tend to go our own way. We are all self-willed. We want to protect our comfort zones and avoid having to deal with certain issues that are important to becoming obedient Christians, which is one of the goals of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Making disciples means teaching others to obey the Lord and this is very difficult without some measure of accountability. Accountability is part of the means God uses, as will be demonstrated below.

(3) Accountability promotes servant-like leadership in keeping with the pastoral mandate to watch over the flock
(Eph. 4:11f; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). One of the key requirements of a servant leader is faithfulness to the things entrusted to him (1 Cor. 4:1-2). So, in 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul told Timothy to entrust what he had learned to what kind of men? To faithful men. The fact he was to selectively train only faithful men suggests accountability. Is it not a strange paradox that we generally accept accountability in most aspects of life as something which is necessary, but when it comes to the body of Christ, many fight accountability, especially, if it begins to affect their comfort zones or their self-willed agendas.

The Necessity of Accountability (part 1/3)

Why we need it

To believe you can make disciples or develop true maturity in others without some form of accountability is like believing that you can raise children without discipline, run a company without rules, or lead and army without authority. Accountability is to the Great Commission what tracks are to a train.

So, what are some of the reasons for establishing some form of accountability?

(1) Accountability helps to promote biblical controls or checks and balances. It provides the necessary discipline and support needed to see people reach godly goals. While we are all ultimately accountable to God, as stressed in Romans 14:7-12, God has established other levels of accountability to aid us in the matter of control, support, and growth.
God has given the Word and the Holy Spirit as His agents of control to help provide direction and controls on our lives, but accountability to other believers becomes another key instrument to aid in bringing about self-discipline and inner controls.

What is Accountability?

Accountability is not about invading someone’s privacy or finding “dirt” about the person to judge and manipulate them. But accountability is “developing relationships with other Christians that help to promote spiritual reality, honesty, obedience to God, and genuine evaluations of one’s walk and relationship with God and with others.”

God uses peer to peer accountability as one way to be accountable to Himself. Left to ourselves, we would most likely do what we want rather than what God wants. These relationships fosters change in the Christian through Spiritual and biblical conviction and faith.

Thus what is true accountability? It is "teaching, exhorting, supporting, and encouraging one another in such a way that it promotes accountability to Christ and to others in the body of Christ, but never by manipulation or domination."

Question for reflection: Can we serve God and others without being accountable to each other?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water"

Azar Ministry is excited to announce our new series of what we call "Growing Together".

These will be short essays on different topics that we believe are often neglected or not discussed enough.

Our goal is for us to "grow together" in knowledge and practice of these things. Thus we would like to invite you to participate with us by engaging in conversation through our social media platforms.

We will post a thought every week (sometimes twice a week). Our first topic of discussion will be ACCOUNTABILITY.

Please join us so that together we can be, "like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."- Psalm 1:3