I’ve decided just to post the whole paper. The others will follow in a few days, they will also be complete. Enjoy and be edified!
In Christ,
Scotty
The Doctrines of Grace
The doctrines, which are known as Calvinism and the Doctrines of Grace,
are really just Biblical Christianity, theology and doctrine, which
are being opposed by many evangelical churches today. Some of
Christianities most respected theologians, pastors, professors and
teachers, all hold to these doctrines. In fact, most of the puritans
and the Reformers all held to these same teachings. The history of
Calvinism goes back to the Old Testament and continues through the
New Testament and all throughout church history. At the Council of
Dort, the Arminians, who were opposing the Reformed doctrine, came up
with five points to summarize their beliefs. In response, the
Calvinists came up with their own five points to combat the wide
spreading teachings of Jacob Arminius. The Five Points of Calvinism
are these:
1:
Total Depravity
2:
Unconditional Election
3:
Limited Atonement
4:
Irresistible Grace, and
5:Perservearance
of the Saints.
In this paper, I shall give a definition and biblical support for each
point.
Total
Depravity
Total Depravity can be defined as follows: “Because of the fall, man
is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is
dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful
and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to
his evil nature; therefore, he will not–indeed he cannot–choose
good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much
more than the Spirit’s assistance to bring a sinner to Christ–it
takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and
gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to
salvation but is itself a part of God’s gift of salvation–it is
God’s gift to the sinner, not the sinner’s gift to God.”*
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” And John 6:44 also says this, “No one can come to me unless the father draws him and I will raise him up on the last day.” And Ephesians 2:8 says, “ For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” We see from these scriptures, that man is unable to come to salvation without the grace of God.
There is the debate of, “What about man’s free will?”
No one would deny that man does not have a free will, but what can
man do with his free will? Before salvation man is in bondage to sin
and therefore has only the power to keep on sinning. Before
regeneration, man is spiritually dead, unable to make any decision
for his own salvation. Salvation is a gift from God, nothing we
ourselves can do can give us salvation from our sins. Take the
analogy of Lazarus, he was dead, and only when Jesus Christ called
him to life did he live. It is the same for all men, we were
spiritually dead and could not make ourselves live even had we wanted
to, but when Christ calls us to life, we live.
Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Before salvation man’s heart is wicked and deceitful, it will deceive a man into thinking that he is really is a good person, that he is saved, when really he is just a moral man, or a religious man. Nothing but the saving work of Christ, justifying, redeeming, atoning for, and being a propitiation for a man can bring him to salvation.
Man cannot serve two masters, Jesus said, so when a man is unregenerate, he cannot do the will of God because he is a slave to sin. And though we would say that his will is free, it is that he is free in the sphere in which is his bound. In the same case Christians are made free from sin, yet we are bondservants of Jesus Christ, we are not free to sin. So all men are free in their own spiritual sphere, to the unbeliever the sphere of sin and darkness, for the believer the sphere of obedience and light. And that is the glory of redemption, that we have been bought back by God, taken from our sinful state where we were once at enmity with God, to be brought into God’s own family where we have an inheritance in Jesus Christ.
This
doctrine is crucial to many aspects of Christian theology. For if man
is not totally powerless to choose God, what is the point of the
cross? What is the point of Christ’s death if man really can
make his way to God? He cannot. That is why the doctrine of Total
Depravity is so important, it leaves us with no other option but to
throw ourselves at the mercy of God.
Unconditional
Election
Unconditional
Election can be defined as follows, “God’s choice of certain
individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested
solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners
was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their part,
such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and
repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the
result, not the cause of God’s choice. Election therefore was not
determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act
foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through
the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus God’s
choice of the sinner, not the sinner’s choice of Christ, is the
ultimate cause of salvation.”*
This
deals with the question of why God chooses who he does. Ephesians 1:9
says, “And He made known to us the mystery of His will
according to His good pleasure…” And in Ephesians 1:7
its says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according with the riches of God’s grace…”
We can see from just these two passages, and there are many more,
that we are saved by God’s grace, according to His good
pleasure. There is nothing that man does to make God choose him, so
special deed, no virtuous nature, nothing. God’s elect are
chosen by Him, for his own pleasure and by His grace.
It
is not as if God looked down the corridors of time and saw that
certain people would choose Him, so He in turn chose them. No, God
chose us before the foundation of the world. Romans 8:29 &30 say
this, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those
He called, He also justified; those He justified, he also glorified.”
This is the order of salvation, God foreknows a person, this speaks
of an intimate knowledge, then He predestined them, which means to
foreordain, then He called them, which can also mean that He draws
them to Himself, then they are justified by Christ’s redeeming
work, in other words they are declared not guilty, and then they are
glorified,
No
where in this biblical order of salvation do I see the work of man.
God does it all. We see in the story of Jacob and Esau that before
they were ever born God said to Rebekah, “Jacob I have loved
and Esau I have hated.” Before they were ever born! God chose
Jacob, not on the basis of what he would do, but for his own
pleasure. Jacob’s actions are a result of God’s choosing,
not the other way around. And it is the same way with all believers,
our faith, our repentance, our obedience, and anything else we do
that is good is a result of God’s election, they are not the
reason why God chose his elect, they are the outcome. Romans 3:10 &11
says this, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is
no one who understands, no one seeks God.” No one is righteous,
no one seeks after God, therefore it is only by God’s grace
that we are saved, it is nothing of ourselves, or what we can do, but
only by God’s mercy and grace.
This
is an important doctrine because it takes the focus off of man and
places it where it rightly belongs, on God, so that God gets the
glory, not man. This ties in with the doctrine of Total Depravity,
for man is unable to choose God, therefore God chooses man based on
His own good pleasure.
We can also see from Acts 11:18, which says, “ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’” This shows, that God does not choose a person based on his race and also that it is God that grants repentance. Man relies solely upon God for salvation, man cannot do any deed or have any character trait that will make God choose him, God chooses based on His own good
pleasure.
1
Corinthians 1:26-29 says, “For consider your calling brothers:
not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many
were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is
foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the
world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the
world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” We
can see from these verses that God does not choose men on worldly
standards or for anything that man is in himself.
Limited
Atonement
Limited
Atonement can be defined as follows: “Christ’s redeeming work
was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation
for them. His death was a substitutionary endurance of the penalty of
sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting
away the sins of His people, Christ’s redemption secured everything
necessary for their salvation, including faith which united them to
Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for
whom Christ died, thereby guaranteeing their salvation.”*
Matthew
1:21 says this of Jesus, “She will bear a son, and you shall
call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Though this verse doesn’t specify who the salvation is for, it
does show that there is salvation from sins for HIS people, not for
everyone. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been
saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift
of God…” Still, this verse does not specify who is
saved, but is does say how, by grace through faith, not of man, but a
gift of God. Romans 9:18 says, “So then, he has mercy on
whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” This
shows that God has mercy on whomever he wills, this still does not
show that Christ died only for the elect, but it does show that God
will save whomever he wills. In John 17:1-2 we hear these words from
Jesus, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the
Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all
flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” We
see that eternal life is given ONLY to those who have been given to
the Son. And then in John 17:6-9 says this, “I have manifested
your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they
were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they
know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have
given them the words that you gave me, and they received them and
have come to know in truth that I am from you; and they have believed
that you have sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for
the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”
We can see from the scriptures that those that the Father has given
to the Son, the Son gives them eternal life, not the rest of the
world. Salvation is only for those whom the Father has chosen, whom
the Son has purchased and whom the Spirit seals.
Now
if we take a look at the opposing view, we will see a major
theological error. Others believe that Christ died and covered the
sins of all, but only those who choose him will be saved. So in other
words, Christ made the whole world atoneable, redeemable, justifiable
and reconcilable, He did not actually accomplish all those things,
atonement, redemption, justification and reconciliation. Why then did
Jesus say, “It is finished”? But the biggest problem with
this view is that they also believe that the Father chooses those
that he foresees will choose the Son, but if we think hard about
this, there is disunity in the Trinity, because the Father chooses
(those that will choose him), but the Son died for everyone, but only
those who choose him are saved. Is that not a disagreement? The
Father chooses some, but Son dies for all? The Trinity is fully
unified, in all aspects, but especially in the plan of redemption,
how could God be divided amongst himself? When the Pharisees accused
Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power Jesus said this,
“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and no city
or house divided against itself will stand.” God CANNOT be
divided, or in disunity.
In
John Murray’s book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied,
he goes through the whole point that Christ’s death did not
place us in a redeemable position, but it actually redeemed us. The
same line of thought can be taken with many of the terms used to
describe salvation, we are not in a reconcilable position, we are
reconciled; we are not in justifiable position, we are justified; we
are not in an atoneable position, we are atoned for. It truly is
finished, Christ’s work needs no additions, or help. Christ
died for those who were given to him by the Father, we are bought
back by his blood, our sins are taken away, we have been imputed with
Christ’s righteousness, we have been declared “Not
guilty” by God, the enmity has been removed between us and God,
we have been given a relationship with God and are now eagerly
awaiting our adoption as sons. There is nothing that we have done, or
have to do, to receive all these things, they were accomplished at
the cross.
Irresistible
Grace
Irresistible
Grace can be defined as follows: “In addition to the outward
general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the
gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call
that inevitably brings them to salvation. The external call (which is
made to all without distinction) can be, and often is, rejected;
whereas the internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be
rejected, it always results in conversion. By means of this special
call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not
limited in His work of applying salvation by man’s will, nor is He
dependent upon man’s cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously
causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come
freely and willingly to Christ. God’s grace, therefore, is
invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to
whom it is extended.”*
This means that there are two separate callings, an external and an
internal. The external call is the Gospel, which should be preached
to all men and woman, without distinction of race, age, social
status, wretchedness or apparent lack of need. One thing that is of
vital importance is preaching the true Gospel. Galatians 1:6-8 says,
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who
called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different
gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who
trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we
or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the
one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
So it is very important to have a right understanding of the Gospel,
without a proper understanding of the Gospel you cannot preach it,
and those that come to believe that Gospel (not that there is another
one), how can he be truly saved? Salvation comes through a belief,
trust and faith in the good news, the Gospel, of Jesus Christ.
One who does not receive the effectual call of the Holy Spirit cannot be saved, because
he is not elect. Someone may intellectually assent to the Gospel,
even the demons believe and tremble, but intellectualism does not
save. Only the Holy Spirit drawing a sinner to Christ leads to
salvation. It is good to keep this doctrine in mind when studying
Total Depravity, and vice versa. For how can a sinner who is dead,
receive the good news? His heart must be regenerated, and he must be
drawn by God. John 6:44 says, “No one can come to me unless
the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last
day.”
John
3 says that we must be born again, that we must be born of the
spirit, how could we who were unable and dead, do this? It is done
not by us, but by God. Romans 9:16 says, “So then it depends
not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
Ephesians 2:4&5 say, “But God, being rich in mercy, because
of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in
our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you
have been saved.”
And Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of
God.” So we are made alive by God, He draws us through the
Gospel, for that is God’s way to bring the elect to salvation,
and we are saved by Him. No where do we fit in the equation. God
elects + God regenerates + God draws through the Gospel + God gives
faith and belief = Man is saved. We are consumers of God’s
grace, mercy and salvation, not producers. And how great it is to be a consumer! A moral man, left to
himself, will be just that, a moral man, on his way to hell. An utterly
wretched sinner, with the calling of God becomes the opposite, he
becomes a child of God with an inheritance in heaven. But all of
these things are unable to be accomplished if we do not first know
the Gospel, in a sense, if we do not know what we are getting into.
And through the preaching of the Gospel, which is the general,
external call, God activates the effectual, internal call to
salvation. Once a man is effectually called by God, there is no way
to reject that calling. That is why it is called irresistible
grace, it is grace given by God that cannot and will not be rejected.
But do not take this to mean that God forces his elect to believe in
him. By no means, but God changes the nature of a man (2 Pet 1:4),
taking out his heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh
(Eze 11:19), causing us to be born of the spirit (Jhn 3:5), and of
these tings, we will rejoice (Psa 70:4).
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the Saints can be defined as follows: “All who
were chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit
are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty
God and thus persevere to the end.”*
This
explains that once a person is saved, they are forever saved.
Armenian doctrine believes that a person can lose their salvation
because obviously, if they chose to be saved, then they can chose not
to be, right? Wrong. There are people that come to church, act like
Christians, but then fall away. Some mistake these “Christians”
as true believers, when really they were never saved at all.
John
3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal
life.” Those who believe will be saved.
John
6:37 also says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Those that have
been given to Christ will never be cast out, they are saved.
Philippians
1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work
in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
This means that once Christ begins a work in you, He will complete
it, you will not be left to finish it on your own, nor would you be
able to.
Ephesians
1:13 & 14 say this, “In him you also, when you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” We have a guarantee of our salvation, it cannot be lost.
John
10:28-29 say, “I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Those
that have been given to the Son cannot be snatched from His hand nor
the Father’s hand, our salvation is eternally preserved, we
have a sure inheritance. Now where in the scriptures do we see the
command to be born-again-again, no where do we see that we must have
our heart of stone replaced with a heart of flesh, than have it
replaced again if our stony heart comes back. But what does this all
mean? It means that if you are elect, rejoice, you have been saved
once and for all. Christ did not die for you and do away with your
sins more than once, He said on the cross, “It is finished”.
You cannot lose your salvation. Once you have
been adopted as God’s son, you have that inheritance, once you
have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of
light, you cannot return. Yes, we will sin. We may even “backslide”,
but will we ever go back to being children of the devil? No, it is
not possible. Therefore we rejoice in a salvation that is
“imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for
you,” (1 Peter 1:4).
Now
we have all this doctrine, but what do we do with it? The Reformers
said that we are reformed yet always reforming. We must continue to
reform our thinking to line up with scripture, even if there are
things that we have been doing for centuries. Also, these doctrines
must have a practical outworking in our lives or they are useless.
The Doctrine Total Depravity should make us more thankful for our
salvation, knowing that we could do nothing on our own. The Doctrine
of Unconditional Election should make us humble, knowing that God
chose us for nothing that we have done, do or will ever do. The
Doctrine of Limited Atonement should make us be sure of our
salvation, because Christ died for only His elect. The Doctrine of
Irresistible Grace should spur us on to preach the Gospel, not
knowing who will be saved, but knowing that without the Gospel no one
can be saved. Lastly, the Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints
should make us live holy lives, and give us endurance, knowing that
if we are saved we will endure and that Christ will complete His work
in us.
All
these points cannot be head knowledge alone, they must be shown in the
way we live everyday. What good is knowledge of the Gospel if you
continue to live on in unrepentant sin? It does you no good at all!
Intellectual assent isn’t enough, there must be faith and
trust. In the same way we must not just believe these doctrines,
there must be faith to act upon them. “Faith without works is
dead”, James says, but in the same way, knowledge and works
without faith is utterly useless.
In Christ,
Scotty
