The covenant and Dordt (12): Head IV: Herman Hoeksema on faith and conditions
This article by Russell Dykstra examines Herman Hoeksema's theological position on the relationship between faith and salvation, arguing that faith should be understood not as a condition for salvation but as the instrument and way through which God's sovereign saving work operates. Dykstra draws from Hoeksema's 1949-1950 series "As to Conditions," written during the Protestant Reformed controversy over conditional theology, to demonstrate how Reformed theology maintains both God's absolute sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation.
In the last editorial on the Canons' explanation of faith in Head IV, we called attention to the fact that faith is an instrument that embraces and appropriates Christ and His benefits. This faith, however, it not a condition that man can or must fulfill in order to be saved. This is evident, first, from the fact that faith flows out of election. Second, faith, even the act of believing, is the work of God in the elect. To call a work of God in His people a condition that they must fulfill is...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org