Garrett's Accusations and Another Rebuke to Him from the LCF

Brother Garrett asserts in his most recent blog post:

"In writing a response to brother Wildy, Jason Brown wrote:

"They have no Biblical hope of eternal salvation as long as they reject Jesus Christ, as all the elect have Christ revealed directly and spiritually at regeneration (John 17:3, 1 John 4:4), and this testimony of Christ and the spirit (1 John 3:24) quite precludes the worship of idols, even in those apart from the preached word by mental competence or geography."  (Curt Wildy on the Damned Arminians Part 2)

Brown wants people to know that this is the view of today's Hardshells, but it is not.  We have posted numerous citations in this blog from Hardshell spokesmen who taught that people are regenerated who are not believers in Jesus Christ.  (see here and here) For instance, Elder R. V. Sarrels, late 20th century Hardshell "theologian," wrote the following in his book, “SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY”:"

I have stated already to Brother Garrett he should take the Fulton Confession as the standard for Primitive Baptist orthodoxy. Why drag up a couple of aberrant views of some individuals? I say a couple because Brother Garrett misinterpreted at least half of the ministers he quotes, as I'll discuss below.

Are a few individuals reflective of the entire denomination in every single belief they may hold? A lot of these views were simply "Cayce see, Cayce do". These particular Primitive Baptists under consideration, i.e. Cayce, and Sarrels, who are the one's particularly to be blamed, took the idea that God is not limited to men to accomplish his will among the heathen, which is perfectly Scriptural to entertain as possible from Ezekiel 3:6, and asserted the heathen idolaters at Mars Hill as certainly born again.

Now, certainly, some of those that believed the gospel in Acts 17:34 could have been born again previous to the gospel message, but those that rejected the gospel manifested eternal damnation per the only standard provided for knowing that one was eternally redeemed in Christ from 1 John, which is only through belief in the name of Jesus.

One thing that has to be distinguished is that, though the regenerate can fall into sin and be deceived, as Aaron was in crafting the golden calf, they are brought to repentance from such - this is the clear message of Scripture, according to Hebrews 12:5,6. Therefore, for Afton Richards to depict the regenerate as left to a state of unrepentant idolatry is entirely inconsistent with the entire Biblical emphasis of the providential, shepherding care of those that are His.

Another thing Brother Garrett should take care to discern is whether the Primitive Baptists he cites are addressing the question of whether all the elect will hear the gospel as preached by man. The sovereign, effectual call of the Father by His Spirit surely spiritually reveals the person of Christ, so Elder Vernon Johnson's quotation was intended in terms of the gospel as preached by man. He did not assert the ridiculous idea that the speculative concept of unevangelized heathen must entail the very idolatrous works clearly stated by Paul as the evidence of the damnation of the unevangelized (Romans 1:18-32). Also, his second quotation of Potter falls to the same objection, he was likely talking about the propositional gospel, not the direct revelation of the person of Christ. The same with Elder David Pyles, as he wrote also in that same article exactly what I have argued:

"We allow that God has every right and all ability to preach the gospel himself without the aid of man. According to Galations 3:8, God preached the gospel to Abraham long before there ever was an apostle, elder, or missionary. It is presumptuous for us to take any position asserting that only man can preach the gospel. Now, there will be different opinions about how much information is conveyed by direct revelation from God, or as to how this revelation will manifest itself in the lives of those affected, and it is certain that God directly reveals more to some than to others; however, I believe I speak for all Primitive Baptists by saying that God will reveal Himself, in His own chosen way and degree, to all of His elect people here in time. In this sense it could be said that the gospel will reach all of the elect."

As for Elder Gowens' quote, he is not addressing the question of what is revealed to the unevangelized heathen in regeneration. He is saying that the basis of eternal salvation ultimately rests on God, and that the ordo salutis is an evidence of this, not the basis of our salvation. By the same logic Brother Garrett quotes Elder Gowens, it would seem Elder Gowens would be teaching that men will not be effectually called! Brother Garrett was again exercising rhetorical flourish by at least half of his quotes, as they are dealing with the gospel preached by man.

The London and Fulton Confessions do not go to either extreme of asserting the certain damnation (something Brother Garrett should heed) or salvation of the heathen. In chapter 10 on "Effectual Calling", sections 3 and 4 stand diametrically opposed to each other. Section 3 is not limited to the context of infants, as it considers by the last independent clause, "...so also are all elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word." Section 4 considers only the non-elect who may be outwardly called of the gospel or not, as it plainly states:

"Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit,^[12] yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will nor can truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved:^[13] much less can men that receive not the Christian religion be saved, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature and the law of that religion they do profess.^[14]"

The proof texts of (14) of Acts 4:12 and John 4:22 indicate conclusively that true heathen idolatry is incompatible with the revealed Christ and God of John 17:3. The Fulton Footnote to this section does not object to the damnation of the non-elect heathen, or the manner of his manifestation in heathen worship indicated by these proof texts. Therefore, the historic position of the Primitive Baptists is the logical one of the LCF itself: that the fate of the heathen rests entirely on God, but that, if there were such persons, they certainly did not exist without the person of Christ as the object of their implanted faith. And they certainly could not be conceived of as manifesting, as a habit of life, the works of them that Paul states that the wrath of God is revealed against (Rom 1:18-32), which things manifest their eternal damnation.

Brother Garrett stated:

"What we hope Jason comes to see, however, is that knowledge of Christ and faith in him comes by the Gospel per Romans 10.  "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they believe without a preacher?""

John Gill also understands Romans 10:14 to not exclude the possibility of God working as He pleases by what Gill considers "extraordinary" means:

"Moreover, this is to be, understood of the ordinary way and means of believing; for though God can, and sometimes does work by other means, and even without any, yet his usual way and method is, to bring men to faith and repentance by the hearing of the word..."

Therefore, Brother Garrett is not in keeping with the LCF or Gill to disallow from Romans 10:14 what is still plainly possible, and universally damn the unevangelized outside of the gospel as preached by man.