Rev. Martyn McGeown has had much to say of late in the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC). So much is Reverend McGeown showing himself to be a leader in his churches, by his clear teaching of their doctrine, that one wonders why he has not yet been given an appointment to teach in the Protestant Reformed seminary so that he can thoroughly indoctrinate the students and thereby effectively snare the members in the pews of the PRC into his net, which is no doubt his endgame.

After reading a recent article titled “Saving Faith: Given to Believe” ¹ in the March 1, 2024, issue of the Standard Bearer, which was once a glorious standard bearer of the truth of justification by faith alone, it becomes clear that McGeown is continuing to work hard to manufacture a way of salvation for those whose way of salvation by works God has cut off. McGeown also goes about trying to steal whatever little assurance is left to those who have true faith and are yet in the PRC, and he fills their minds with the spiritual smut that he writes. The believing reader must see McGeown’s twisting of scripture and the creeds as well as his unbelief, which unbelief is no doubt the powerful engine that drives him to manufacture and teach his wicked doctrine.

As many of you already know, McGeown has been fighting for and has accomplished his purpose in the ecclesiastical assemblies of his churches of exonerating Rev. Kenneth Koole from the charge that has been made against him of having taught false doctrine in the Standard Bearer and in his preaching. McGeown’s recent article assures the reader of the reason he has fought so hard for Reverend Koole to be relieved of the burden of being characterized as a false teacher or even as ambiguous. The reason is that both men teach the same doctrine that there is that which man must do to be saved.

I must admit to being disarmed somewhat when I initially saw the title of McGeown’s article: “Saving Faith: Given to Believe.” “Yes,” I thought, “that is the truth that I believe.” As I continued to read the article, I became disabused of any notion that Reverend McGeown was going to teach the reader something Reformed.

Faith as “Our Activity”

Reverend McGeown starts off in the introduction by quoting Philippians 1:29: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” He then goes on to teach us that

faith is both the activity of the regenerated, called, converted sinner and the gift of God. We believe (our activity) because it was given to us to believe (God’s gift, cf. Phil. 1:29 above). (276)

Scripture clearly teaches us in this text, which McGeown so unashamedly quotes and misinterprets, that faith is not “our activity,” but it is “given in the behalf of Christ to believe.” “Our activity” and something “given in the behalf of Christ” are antithetical to each other.

I have a bit of sympathy for McGeown here because this is something that only a believer can understand. Paul puts it beautifully in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” This is the definition of faith: Christ living in me—the union or bond of Christ with his elect. The believer understands that his life, which he now lives in the flesh, is lived by the faith of the Son of God. We live by the power of Christ. The believer has no desire to claim his life and works as his own. This is absolutely foreign to Reverend McGeown and to the PRC. Their lives are their own. Oh, yes, they need grace to help them along, but in the end it is “our activity,” as McGeown so clearly writes.

McGeown goes on in his introduction to summarize Lord’s Day 7 of the Heidelberg Catechism by saying, “Faith includes two activities: knowledge, the activity of knowing God; and confidence, the activity of trusting God” (277).

The Heidelberg Catechism in Lord’s Day 7 makes clear that faith is not “our activity.” In question and answer 21 we read,

Q. 21. What is true faith?
A. True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits. (Confessions and Church Order, 90–91)

Lord’s Day 7 teaches us that faith is a certain knowledge that God’s word is the truth, as well as an assured confidence that remission of sins, everlasting righteousness, and salvation are for me personally and that this is all “freely given” to me by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the gospel, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits. What a beautiful, clear truth about faith! Something is done for me and is worked in me. Christ works belief in my heart! Where is the believer’s “activity” in that? What believer would want to claim this as his own “activity”? Oh, yes, there is an activity in faith, but it is not mine. The Holy Spirit is powerfully active in the preaching of the gospel and in the hearts of the elect. This is the mysterious union of Christ with his people that only they can understand.

It is clear from his teaching that Reverend McGeown hates this truth because he has never tasted of it. He is the man spoken of in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” The truth that faith is Christ’s activity of working in his people is foolishness to Reverend McGeown and to the PRC. They are not given knowledge and assurance through the preaching of that gospel. The gospel of Lord’s Day 7 angers them because they are not moved at all by the work of Christ, but they are moved only by the pride of man; and, therefore, they only take joy in their own works and activities. The way of free salvation is cut off to those who do not believe that faith is the activity of Christ, and so McGeown goes to work to manufacture his own way of salvation. With his invention of a redefined faith, Reverend McGeown can begin to manufacture all sorts of counterfeit Reformed doctrines by seemingly using the creeds and scripture. All of this, just in his introduction.

I will now examine the rest of the article, point by point.

Faith as the “Activity of Knowing”

First, Reverend McGeown manufactures man’s “activity of knowing” (277). McGeown begins by emphasizing that we must believe the truths of scripture. Then he goes on to tell us that faith is not ignorance, a mere intellect of the truth, or doubt. He says that faith is not a mere emotional response to the truth. On the face of it, the believer would agree with these statements. After all, Lord’s Day 7 tells us that faith is a “certain knowledge.” Here is where we must be reminded that “Slippery McGeown” has a reputation to maintain.²

If this were all taken in the context that faith is the work or activity of the Holy Spirit, we would have no issue with these statements. The Spirit preserves his people and leads them into all the truth. There is no other way. It is inevitable. God’s people will believe the truth of scripture concerning all things. God will not allow them to have only a mere intellect of the truth or to live their lives in doubt of their salvation. Neither will God allow his people to have a fake emotional response to the truth; but he will cause them to live in true joy, knowing their salvation.

The problem is that the activity of the Holy Spirit is not the context of McGeown’s statements. He has already given us faith as “our activity.” This activity of knowing, according to McGeown, is in the power of man, by grace, of course. This also sheds light on McGeown’s interpretation of Hebrews 10:38–39, which reads,

38. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

McGeown explains these verses this way: “Those who draw back from their profession of faith perish, but those who by God’s grace believe obtain the salvation of their souls”(277). Ah, there it is. Clear and concise. “Those who by God’s grace believe [our activity, according to McGeown] obtain the salvation of their souls.” The believer hates that statement. He understands that he is not capable of believing of himself but that it is Christ’s work alone by faith (the activity of Christ’s Holy Spirit) to preserve the believer unto the salvation of his soul. The believer finds great joy in this text because he knows that Christ is the one who did not draw back from the profession of his faith, and his righteousness and obedience are counted for the believer’s own unto the saving of his soul. McGeown’s doctrine is the old doctrine of Jacob Arminius rearing its ugly head in the PRC. Man’s activity of believing, by grace, obtains the saving of his soul.

The sad reality is that many of the members of the PRC are too spiritually asleep to care about such a doctrine. Or maybe some of them have believed this for years, and that is why they sit silently as it is taught. Either way, they ought to give up the claim of being spiritual sons of Rev. Herman Hoeksema and of the Reformed faith, which teaches that salvation is by the work of Christ alone without and apart from any activity of man. Our fathers would, no doubt, rise up in holy indignation against what is being taught in the PRC right now.

Faith as the “Activity of Trusting”

Next Reverend McGeown begins to manufacture man’s “activity of trusting” (277). He starts by reminding us that Lord’s Day 7 defines faith as “an assured confidence.” He also reminds us that article 22 of the Belgic Confession teaches an “upright faith which embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits, appropriates Him, and seeks nothing more besides Him” (277).

These are beautiful confessions of the believer’s faith. By the work of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in my heart, through the preaching of the gospel, I receive “an assured confidence.” The work of Christ in my heart, through the preaching of the gospel, also causes me to embrace Jesus Christ with all his merits, appropriate him, and seek nothing more beside him. Another very simple way of saying this is that the believer rests, knowing that Christ’s work alone has already accomplished all of the believer’s salvation and given him the benefits of it, without any work at all on the part of the believer. The believer seeks his salvation outside himself. The believer marvels at this truth. The depths of this truth are beyond our comprehension, and this truth is our greatest joy.

Now, take these same quotes in the context of McGeown’s definition of faith. He teaches that faith is our “activity of trusting” God (277). Now, instead of the Spirit of Christ in us and applying to us the benefits of salvation, such as assurance, comfort, and rest in Christ’s work alone, we have our “activity” of trusting, seeking, appropriating, and embracing Christ as that which gives us assurance of salvation. What a devilish twisting of the creeds!

What is more is that McGeown goes on to speak of this wicked, manufactured faith as being the faith of our spiritual fathers Abel, Noah, and Abraham. According to McGeown, their faith was their “activity of trusting” rather than the work of the Spirit in them. Really, Reverend McGeown? Abel, Noah, and Abraham were justified by their acts of trusting in God? They were not saved by grace alone apart from their acts of trusting? They were not saved only because God had elected them, brought them into his covenant, and blotted out their sins through Christ’s death on the cross? They also needed their acts of trusting in God? Their trusting was not simply the fruit of their being justified already by the work of Christ, or, to say it another way, of their being justified by faith alone?

There are many problems with Reverend McGeown’s assertion that our fathers were justified by their acts of trusting, not the least of which is that his teaching is not scriptural or creedal, but I am going to focus on one serious problem with that. What about when our fathers were not trusting in God? Let us consider Abraham. He and Sarah had been given the beautiful covenant promise by God that he would be a God unto them and to their children and that he would save them. Then a famine came in the land, and Abraham and Sarah had to go down to Egypt to get food. On this journey Abraham became afraid for his life because he knew the Egyptians would desire his beautiful wife for themselves, and he attempted to give her into whoredom to save himself. God then plagued Pharaoh’s house and caused him to send Abraham and Sarah safely home with much cattle, silver, and gold. How much “activity of trusting” on Abraham’s part was going on there? None. How about when God promised Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son in their old age, in whom the covenant would be fulfilled, and Abraham fell to the ground laughing in unbelief at the living God? Did Abraham lose his justification before God because of his unbelief? No, Abraham was inseparably bonded to Jesus Christ by the union of faith. Abraham was righteous in God’s eyes despite his unbelief, and God graciously delivered Abraham from his sins as God does for all his people daily.

Let us consider Noah for a moment. God had given Noah the covenant promise and delivered him and his children through the flood of great waters. God delivered them from the destruction of the whole wicked world, and what was one of the first things Noah did when he got off of the ark? He planted a vineyard and got roaring drunk, exposing himself naked to his whole family. How much “activity of trusting” was Noah showing there? None. If the believer’s “activity of trusting” is what faith is, and we are justified by faith alone, then Noah lost his justification before God in that moment.

McGeown has a wicked doctrine of salvation by what man must do.

The truth is that our spiritual fathers took comfort in and believed the truth of 1 Corinthians 1:30–31:

30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

The Corinthians believed that salvation is of the Lord!

Faith as a “Gift”

Next Reverend McGeown teaches us about the gift of faith. There is not much I have to say here because in this section he strongly testifies against himself by citing many passages of scripture and the creeds that speak of faith as being the work of God alone. There are two things to note here though.

First, this section of his article serves to lull back to sleep any spiritually sensitive members of the PRC who are listening to him. “See, there is no problem here,” they will say. “He is saying that salvation is God’s work.”

Second, I must note how McGeown uses Philippians 1:29 here again, where we read, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” McGeown told us in the beginning of his article that faith is a two-party activity, and he used this verse to prove it. He told us, “We believe (our activity) because it was given to us to believe (God’s gift, cf. Phil. 1:29 above)” (276). He was simply teaching there about what he believes to be God’s part in a two-party activity. He will get back to man’s part of this activity shortly.

Before I move on, however, I want to point out especially Reverend McGeown’s own quotation of Canons 3–4.14:

Faith is…in reality conferred, breathed, and infused into [man]…He who works in man both to will and to do, and indeed all things in all, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing also. (278)

McGeown, of course, quotes this article of the Canons as though it is just a description of God’s part in the two-party activity of faith. In reality, this is a beautiful passage of our confessions that teaches us in painstaking clarity that faith is not “our activity.”

Faith as a “Faculty”

Next Reverend McGeown comes to faith as a “faculty” (278). At this point one can hardly contain his excitement about what McGeown is going to say. He starts by telling us, “Faith is the gift of God also with respect to its faculty, which is the ability to believe” (278). McGeown goes on to give the example of a man who is blind and cannot see versus a man who can see. This is a familiar biblical example to us. Jesus healed the blind as a living testament of his work of salvation, such as in John 9:6–7, where we read:

6. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

McGeown does not stop there though. He cannot. He needs to get man involved yet and give him something to do to be decisive in his own salvation. McGeown writes, “A man with the faculty of sight might close his eyes, so that he does not see, but he still has the ability to see” (278). There we have it. As good as we anticipated. McGeown has God’s people as those who have the ability to see, but they might close their eyes. He is telling us that we are not like the blind who cannot see at all, even if we wanted to; but we are those who can see and need to consciously open our eyes (our activity of faith) in order to be justified. God, of course, gives us the ability, and all we have to do is open our eyes. McGeown writes, “As believers, we always have the faculty of faith, but we do not always actively believe” (278).

It gets better. McGeown goes on,

That we are united to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit is certainly a biblical truth, but in the Bible and in the confessions the emphasis is on faith as the activity of believing. The Catechism defines faith not as a bond, and certainly not as a passive, lifeless bond, but as an activity: “What is true faith?…It is not only a certain knowledge…but also an assured confidence” (Q&A 21). Therefore, it is more accurate to call the bond with Christ “the mystical union,” and to call “faith in Christ,” which is the activity of believing, the fruit of that union. (278–79)

The reader must stop here and ask himself, why does McGeown separate our bond with Christ from faith itself? The answer is obvious. If faith is a bond or union with Christ, faith cannot be a work or “activity” of man. McGeown absolutely cannot have faith as a bond. He must make union with Christ something other than faith because he has faith as “our activity.”

The truth is that faith is, in fact, your union with Christ and is not your “activity of believing.” Our confessions are clear on this. Article 22 of the Belgic Confession tells us that

faith is an instrument that keeps us in communion with Him [Christ] in all His benefits, which, when become ours, are more than sufficient to acquit us of our sins. (Confessions and Church Order, 50)

In other words, faith is a bond that I have with the living Lord, whereby all the benefits of my salvation flow from him to me. Yes, I am passive in faith, which McGeown so viciously fights against. Oh, yes, there is one who is active in faith. Faith is the activity of God, whereby he gives me all of my salvation, and I am passive in it all. I have no say or decision in any of it. This is what we confess with the apostle Paul in Romans 9:20–21:

20. Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21. Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

I am placed on the receiving end of all the blessings of salvation that God has decreed to give to me. Which is to say, I do nothing at all. If I needed my “activity” to receive any blessing of God, I would never get it. How blessed the believer is to receive salvation by faith alone!

Manufactured Faith’s “Role” in Salvation

Finally, Reverend McGeown brings this soul-destroying article to a close by telling us the role his manufactured faith has in our salvation. He starts off, like most Protestant Reformed ministers these days, with an obligatory denial that he is teaching conditions in salvation. This is, no doubt, so we cannot charge him with abandoning the position his denomination has supposedly held for over one hundred years now, which is justification by faith alone. McGeown knows that to openly expose his doctrine would be to open the floodgates to members leaving the PRC, since then there would be absolutely no public distinction between the PRC and the greater “Reformed” church world. He also knows that to deny justification by faith alone would be an open denial of scripture and the creeds, and that would, of course, be problematic too. He attempts to back up his denial that he teaches conditions when he writes,

Faith is not a condition, that is, an activity of ours on which our salvation depends. God does not save us on condition that we believe; God saves us by working faith in us, so that we believe. (279)

And then later he writes,

…the divine order: first, a sinner believes by the grace of God, who gives him faith as a gift; then, he is saved or comes into the possession and enjoyment of his salvation. (279)

For those of you who are trying to sort out and untwist that difference without a distinction, let me help you. Man must first believe (our activity by God’s grace, of course), and then God can and will save him. It is that simple.

McGeown makes one more attempt at denying that his doctrine teaches conditional salvation.

Faith is an activity of the regenerated, called, converted sinner, but it is not a work. The Bible contrasts faith with works, not because faith is not an activity, but because the activity of faith is very different from the activity of works. Quite simply, when we do good works, we are giving God something…When we believe, we give God nothing, but we receive blessings from God. Working is the activity of giving; believing is the activity of receiving. (279)

What McGeown is saying here is that he has found something for man to do for his salvation that McGeown is not going to call a work. This thing that man must do is to decisively receive the work of God in salvation as his own. This decisive receiving of salvation is the prerequisite that man must fulfill before God can save him, but McGeown declares that since this is a work of receiving and not a work of giving, then it is not a work at all. Yes, Martyn, that makes complete sense. We now fully understand how you think you can work for your salvation and claim to be justified by faith alone without works. The problem is that this is completely out of harmony with scripture, where we are taught that the gift of faith and man’s activity are antithetical to each other.

8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:8–10)

Man’s activity of receiving or resting in Christ is not what saves him. That too is a fruit of the free salvation that God has decreed to give to his elect people through the work of his Son’s death on the cross, which is the only ground of our justification. God has justified his people by faith alone, which is to say, through Christ’s saving work and apart from any “activity” of man. This text also repudiates McGeown’s teaching that our works are an activity of giving something to God. This text tells us clearly that we were “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Because I have been united to Christ, God decreed good works that I will walk in. Even my works have been given to me by God as a fruit of my faith. What a wonder! I am not responsible for my works either; Christ is.

I thank God daily that he has removed his people from the false church that Reverend McGeown is a part of and in which he freely teaches his false doctrine with many other ministers. God has reformed his church and given to us the Reformed Protestant Churches where the truth of justification by faith alone is faithfully heralded from week to week. I pray that God yet brings out whomsoever he wills from the apostate Protestant Reformed Churches and that he does it quickly.