Teachings & Practices
Following
Christ’s
Resurrection
of
Calvin’s Institute
Introduction
Many non-Biblical teachings, practices and interpretations have their roots in
practices of the mystical and mythological religions and were introduced
within a few years following the Apostolic, around 100 AD. This study
identifies some of these early teachings and interpretations. Perhaps you
have observed variations of some of them in practice today.
Objectives of the Study to show that:
1. If Christians are not diligent in their study of the Bible they
may believe things that sound right but are only partially
true.
2. Every Christian must study their Bible, challenge their belief
and be willing to go where God’s message takes them.
3. No one has a perfect understanding of God’s message even
though they are willing to die for their belief.
4. Some current day beliefs, opinions, interpretations or
teachings have their roots in some teaching of ‘church
fathers’. Many of whom did not shed all their Pagan or
Gnostic beliefs. In fact, some of them studied in great detail
the writings of earlier “church fathers,” e.g.; Ignatius of
Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna and Augustine in forming their
beliefs (perhaps more than the writings of the apostles).
5. In one generation error can creep into ones practices and
beliefs.
Everyone is encouraged to be vigilant in questioning what they read
or hear. They must not take as the basis for your salvation anyone’s
word, not mine, some commentator, a trusted friend, church leader
or one of the “church fathers”. Christ is the only way. You must work
out your own salvation from the Bible.
by Randolph Dunn
The Bible Way Online Publisher
Permission is given to reproduce for non-commercial
purposes lessons in their entirety and without change.
thebiblewayonline.com
December 2016
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Institutes of the Christian Religion
Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion reveals his theology. This
theology did not originate with him. He borrowed frequently from
Augustine, who borrowed from Ambrose and other church Fathers.
No doubt the Fathers were influenced by the Gnostic heresy and even
by the old Persian concepts of matter being inherently evil within
itself. Unlike prior reformers who desired to rely only on the Bible,
Calvin wrote his own doctrines in Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Sovereignty of God
God is ultimate; therefore His will is ultimate and final.
Unconditional election
According to His sovereign will He foreordained all things. He
foreordained sin itself. He did this for His own glory. To further
enhance His own glory, He predetermined that of sinners, He
would save some and condemn others. He did this according to
His own will so that it has nothing to do with anything men do.
Limited Atonement
For His elect, God has provided atonement and salvation through
the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
Total hereditary depravity
The problem is that through Adam's sin, his nature was
corrupted, and this nature has been passed down to his
descendants.
Irresistible grace
Having this corrupt nature, men cannot come to the knowledge of
God by themselves. Even the elect cannot respond to God, cannot
have faith, until the Holy Spirit opens their hearts to believe and
understand. The grace of God, exerted in behalf of His elect, and,
according to His sovereign will, cannot be thwarted.
Perseverance of the saints
The elect will be saved. His grace will sustain the elect and will
not be removed so that they cannot be lost. Their salvation is
sure.
The Sovereignty of God
I. Definition: God is the Supreme ruler of all things.
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A. Several passages clearly teach this (2 Chron. 20:6; Psa. 115:3;
Isa. 45:9; Jer. 18:6).
B. Calvin taught about the sovereignty or God. “By an erroneous
opinion prevailing in all ages, an opinion almost universally
prevailing in our own day — viz. that all things happen
fortuitously [by chance (rd)] – the true doctrine of Providence
has not only been obscured, but almost buried. If one falls
among robbers, or ravenous beasts; if a sudden gust of wind at
sea causes shipwreck; if one is struck down by the fall of a
house or a tree; if another, when wandering through desert
paths, meets with deliverance; or, after being tossed by the
waves, arrives in port, and makes some wondrous hairbreadth
escape from death-all these occurrences, prosperous as well as
adverse, carnal sense will attribute to fortune. But whoso has
learned from the mouth of Christ that all the hairs of his head
are numbered (Matt. 10:30), will look farther for the cause,
and hold that all events whatsoever are governed by the secret
counsel of God" (Institutes, Book I, chapter 16, para. 2).
Following are some passages Calvin uses: Matthew 10:29-30;
Psalm 113:5, 6; Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 20:24; Exodus 21:13;
Proverbs 16:33; Psalm 75:6, 7; John 9:2, 3; Isaiah 14:27.
1. Matt. 10:29-30: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet
not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of
your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. The Pulpit Commentary expresses the matter
exactly: If the preposition were choris, it would deny merely
physical connection. The sentence would then imply that
God causes their death. Aneus is only negative, and the
sentence implies that their death is not outside His
knowledge and care. In Amos 3:5 the thought is that for
every event there is a cause; here the event is taken notice of
by God.
2. Psalm 113:5-6: Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits
enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens
and the earth? There is nothing at all in this passage that would
even make a good argument that God predetermines everything.
1. Jer. 10:23 – I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not
his own;
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it is not for man to direct his steps. All this passage teaches
is that man is not capable of determining which is the best way
he should go. He should consult God's word and be guided by it.
This passage does not at all argue that God predetermines man’s path
for him.
2. Prov. 20:24 - A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How
then can anyone understand his own way? Keii and Deiitzsch
make these points. "Man is indeed free to turn himself hither or
thither, to decide on this course of conduct or on that, and is
therefore responsible for it; but the relations co-operating in ail
his steps as the possible and defining conditions are God's
contrivance and guidance, and the consequences which are
connected with his steps and flow there from, lie beyond the
power of man, - everyone of his steps is a link of a chain neither
the beginning nor the end of which he can see; while on the
other hand, God’s knowledge comprehends the beginning,
middle, and end, and the wisdom of God ruling in the sphere of
history, makes all human activity, the free action of man,
subservient to His world-plan" (Vol. 4, pp. 701-702).
3. Exodus 21:13 - However, if he does not do it intentionally,
but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will
designate. In such passages as this, it is true that we have a
category of statements that could be interpreted to mean that
anything that is done, God has predetermined it, but we need to
examine the matter thoroughly instead of rushing to a conclusion
such as Calvin and Augustine did.
a. First, and mainly, we must ever keep in mind the many passages
that indicate that man is a free moral agent with power to choose,
and with true choice (Josh. 24:15). Any interpretation we give to
passages such as must harmonize with these other passages.
b. Second, the words of this verse, even if taken: literally to say that
God might willfully place a man into the hands of another man for
him to be killed, still do not: teach that God has predetermined
everything.
c. I think the true explanation of the force of the words of Exodus
21:13 is that in the general scheme of things, which is appointed
of God, it happens that men will be killed accidentally by
other men, and even that men will murder other men. This is
not God's preference, but because of other considerations He
has determined to allow it to happen. One of those
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considerations is that if God did not allow men to choose
evil and to follow its course, then men would neither
obey God or disobey God of their own choice they would
do only what they were programmed to do. Also, God
holds men responsible for their choices.
6. Proverbs 16:33 - The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is
from the Lord. The comment above has to apply here also. Then, the
following information from Pulpit Commentary is good, "In these
cases the Jew learned to see, in what we call chance, the overruling of
Divine power. But this was not blind superstition. He did not feel
justified in resorting to this practice on every trivial occasion, as
persons used the Sortes Virgilianae [divination (rd)] or even the verses
of the Bible for the same purpose. The lot was employed religiously in
cases where other means of decision were not suitable or available; it
was not to supersede common prudence or careful investigation; but,
for example, in trials where the evidence was conflicting and the
judges could not determine the case, the merits were ascertained by
lot" (Vol. 9, p. 316).
a. We might also ask if Calvin meant that whichever way the lot
turned up indicated what God wanted. If so, could we simply make
all decisions by casting lots?
b. It is likely that the Urim and Thummim used by the High Priest
were some manner of casting lots. The point is that when the lot
was being cast in this manner, it was God who determined, the
outcome, but the only was one could argue that this verse means
that God predetermines everything is to contend that one could
run his life completely by casting lots.
7. Psalm 75:6-7: No one from the east or the west or from the
desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings
one down, he exalts another. This passage merely affirms that
God is the judge and that He lifts up and puts down, but it does not
say that He predetermines everything.
1. John 9:2-3 - His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this
man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so
that the work of God might be displayed in his life. The
apostles asked, "Why was this man born blind? Was it his
parents who sinned, or the man, himself? Jesus answered that
it was neither. It was in order that the works of God1 might be
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made, manifest in him. But the most that can be derived from
these words is that God could choose to use a man born blind
to demonstrate His works upon. Here are Lenski's comments:
"The disciples are not in every case of suffering to look back
to find a possible cause of sin but to look forward to the
divine purpose which God may have in providentially
permitting such suffering to come upon s person. To be sure,
all suffering in this sinful world is the outcome of sin in some
way or other, but this is only half of the story. The other half
is that God governs even in this wide -field, and in some
instances we are able to trace his purpose, especially those of
grace and mercy, in allowing certain afflictions to befall a
man. Here, in the man born blind, we have the case of this
kind” (Vol. 4, p. 676).
9. Isaiah 14:27 - For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can
thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it
back? This passage teaches that what God purposes to do, none can
thwart, but it does not teach that He has thus predetermined
everything.
II. Application: God rules and none can prevent Him. No one can
contravene or overthrow His will (1 Sam. 2:6-10; Job 9:12).
Therefore He has made all choices, and no one can overthrow or
change them.
A. 1 Sam. 2:6-10: In this passage, the song of Hannah, she praises God
who kills and makes alive, etc. She does not, however, view Him
as the one who had predestined her to have Samuel. If she had,
she would just have waited calmly until the child was born. She
viewed God's response in giving her Samuel as the answer to
prayer (1:27).
B. Job 9:12: God does decree and ordain. None can successfully
oppose Him. But the Bible does not teach that He foreordains
everything. Why think that He has to program our response to
insure that His will be done. He is fully capable of doing so while
extending unto us the right to choose what we will do.
III. Answer: God’s power to rule is not in question; nor is His power
to choose what He will. He has complete power and has exercised
that power. The question is does His sovereignty require Him to
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make all decisions, to predetermine everything. Calvin taught that
nothing happens fortuitously.
A. Let's note some consequences of this doctrine.
1. God foreordained Adam to sin and then condemned him for it
when he could not have avoided it no matter what he did.
Basically the way Calvin answers this is that we should not
be ugly and question what God does. This is ideally all he can
say, because he will not back down from his position that
God has predetermined all things, and therefore there is no
avoiding this conclusion.
2. Man has no real choice in anything Calvin affirms that
things appear to us to happen fortuitously, and we appear to
have choice, but in reality, it was all chosen by God in
eternity.
3. God has never changed anything, not in answer to prayer, not in
answer to changing circumstances.
B. The truth is that God can exercise His will and still allow man the
exercise of his will.
1. Examples of God's willingness to react to our decisions.
a. Nineveh and Jonah (Jonah 3:4-10)
(1) Notice some ideas that contradict Calvin's explanation.
(a) God said that Nineveh's wickedness had come up
before Him (1:2).
(b) Jonah preached that in forty days, Nineveh would
be overthrown (3:4).
(c) The king of Nineveh was banking on God by
"turning and repenting" (3:9).
(d) God saw their works and repented of the calamity
He said He would do to them and did it not (3:10).
(e) Jonah had not wanted to do the job in the first place
because he knew that God was a God who repented
of calamity (4:2).
b. On the subject of God's repenting, let us observe some
points.
(1) There are passages that speak of God's repenting, and
passages that say He does not repent (1 Sam. 15:29).
These passages must be reconciled. Calvin reconciles
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them by saying that when the Bible says God repented,
He didn't; He was just pretending He would repent. But
that is not what the text states.
(2) God does not repent from the principles that grow out
of His character. For example, in 1 Sam. 15:11 God
said, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be
king." This means that He had given Saul to
opportunity to fit in with His plans. Saul chose not to
do. The Lord decided to make a change. The Lord did
not change His goal, or His overall plan, but He did
change kings, and that change is here called repentance.
In the same chapter 15:29, God has made His choice
according the principles of His own character. He
cannot be expected to reverse His decision about Saul
anymore than He could reverse His justice or His
goodness.
(3) With regard to Nineveh, God’s overall purpose is that
men must serve Him, and when they do not, they will
be judged. God observed wickedness of Nineveh and
said that they were wicked, and that He would destroy
them in forty days. They repented however, and God
changed His mind about destroying them. He did not
change His mind about righteousness and justice. He
changed His mind what He would do to Nineveh,
because they changed their behavior. Nineveh was
given a choice, and God chose to change His mind so
that He did not destroy
c. "Was the Lord deceptive in His pretensions of anger to Moses
against the people? Were His threats of destruction all
hypocrisy? The earnest appeals of Moses show that he did not
so understand them; yet they were mere sound if He knew,
when making them, that He would not execute them. But He
repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people,
and did not do that which He thought He would do. But if He
eternally foreknew everything that comes to pass, it follows that
He foreknew He would not do this evil to His people; hence He
knew He would not do that which He thought He would do. Can
this be true? (T.W. Brents' Gospel Plan of Salvation on Exodus
32:10-14 pp. 103-104)
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d. Hezekiah’s impending death (Isaiah 38:15; 2 Kings 20:15)
(1) God did not even hint that Hezekiah should repent.
(2) In his prayer, Hezekiah did not repent. Instead he
called upon God to look at the sincere effort he had
made to serve God.
(3) The bottom line is the contrast between: “You shall
die, and not live”, and “I will add unto thy days fifteen
years.”
e. God stated through the prophet Jeremiah
Then the word of the Lord came to me: "O house of Israel,
can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the
Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my
hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a
nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and
destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil,
then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had
planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or
kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in
my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the
good I had intended to do for it. (Jeremiah 18:5-10)
f. Calvin's answer to these arguments is that these were not really
God's plans; they were threats given to bring about reformation.
[But, why would God seek reformation if He knew there was nothing
man could do to change their destiny? (rd)]
2. Passages that indicate that God can change His mind.
a. God repented of having made the earth (Genesis.6:6)
b. God repented of having made Saul king (1 Samuel. 15:11)
(1) God told Saul He would have established his
kingdom forever (1 Samuel 13:13).
(2) He attributes the reason, why He did not as lying
within Saul, not something that God had specifically
predetermined before time began.
c. God would repent of the calamity He thought to do to His
people as soon as He could see any sign of reformation in
them (Jeremiah 18:6-10)
d. Calvin's answer to these points:
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(1) "As to repentance, we must hold that it can no more
exist in God than ignorance, or error, or impotence. If
no man knowingly or willingly reduces himself to the
necessity of repentance, we cannot attribute
repentance to God without saying either that he knows
not what is to happen, or that he cannot evade it, or
that he rushes precipitately and inconsiderately into a
resolution, and then forthwith regrets it" (Institutes,
Book I, Chap. 17, para. 12).
(2) Then he cites verses that say God does not repent as
men do (1 Samuel 15:29; Numbers 23:19).
(3) Finally he says to use “repentance” of God is merely
accommodative language and compares it to using
“angry” of God and then thinking of His anger in
human terms.
3. Additional passages that must be reconciled with the idea that
God's sovereignty permits men to make choices also (Acts
2:23; 4:28; 13:48).
a. Acts 2:23 - The thing that was done according to God’s
determinate counsel and foreknowledge was that Jesus was
delivered up. The point is that the Jews did not overcome
Jesus against His will. It was His Father's will that He be
delivered up. His Father planned to give Him up as a
sacrifice. It was not the Father's will that the Jews be
wicked and reject Jesus. God foreknew what would happen
when Jesus preached to His people. He foreordained that
Jesus come and preach anyway. When the Jews did what
God foreknew they would do, He allowed Jesus to do,
because it was His will that He die as our sacrifice.
b. Acts 4:28 - What God had foreordained to come to pass was
that Jesus be given as our sacrifice. He had not foreordained that
the Jews reject Him. They, thinking they were stopping Jesus,
actually fulfilled His mission. They acted from wickedness from
their own choice; God and Jesus acted from love, and God's
will was accomplished. Surely God would, not have foreordained
Jesus’ people to reject Him and then have wasted Jesus time
begging them to accept Him.
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c. Acts l3:48 - The word translated "ordained" is much more
commonly translated "appointed." It is used in passages
with the idea of bringing order out of chaos, decision out of
indecision (Acts 16:2). When the mind, torn between
conflicting ideas and choices, finally comes to a decision, it
is "disposed" or "ordained" to a certain idea, whatever idea
it has come to as a result of thinking and weighing the
choices. In the context of Acts 13:48, there was an audience
composed of Jews and Greeks. The Jews disbelieved and
judged themselves unworthy of eternal life (13:46). The
Gentiles, on the other hand, as many as were inclined to
eternal life, as many as were disposed to want eternal life,
believed. This is what the word translated "ordained"
means in this passage.
C. Passages that indicate that God's sovereign will is that men should be
able to choose what they will do and be (Joshua 24:14-15; 2 Peter
3:9; 1 Timothy 2:3-4)
D. Additional passages that show that God did not predetermine
everything (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5).
E. In most circumstances today, the manifestations we will see of
Calvin's teachings on sovereignty are that we are saved totally by
God's grace, that there is absolutely nothing we can do to save
ourselves, and whatever will be will be.
Conclusion
The main thing to be emphasized in the study of God's sovereignty is
whether God is able to be sovereign and allow anyone to make subordinate
decisions. It is perfectly in keeping with Bible teaching that God can be
sovereign and still allow men a choice in their destiny. This issue is
inextricably involved with the matter of election, so let us move next to a
study of that subject.
Unconditional Election
This topic covers predestination, election and reprobation.
Predestination: To appoint beforehand. There is no question that God
has the power to appoint beforehand whatever He wishes. There is no
question that He has appointed beforehand some things. The question is
has He appointed everything, and especially has He already specifically
designated who shall be saved and who shall be lost? Calvin states "By
predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which He
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determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to
every man" (Institutes, Book III, chap. 21, para. 5).
Election: Election is the process whereby some have been chosen
by God to be saved apart from anything they themselves have done.
Reprobation: Simply another word for condemnation. It is the opposite
of election. If some are elect, some are non-elect.
Some quotations from Calvin's Institutes:
"I again ask how it is that the fall of Adam involves so many nations with
their infant children in eternal death without remedy, unless that it so
seemed meet [fitting, rew] to God? Here the most loquacious [talkative,
rew] tongues must be dumb. The decree, I admit, is dreadful; and yet it is
impossible to deny that God foreknew what the end of man was to be
before he made him, and foreknew, because he had so ordained by his
decree" (Institutes, Book III, chap. 23, para. 7) .
"All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal
life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been
created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been
predestinated to life or to death" (Institutes, Book III, chapter 21, para. 5) .
"Nor ought it to seem absurd when I say, that God not only foresaw the
fall of the first man, and in him the ruin of his posterity; but also at His
own pleasure arranged it" (Institutes, Book III, chapter 32, p. 232)
From the Larger Catechism comes this statement:
"Question: What are the decrees of God? Answer: God's decrees
are the wise, free and holy acts of the counsel of His will,
whereby, from all eternity, He hath for His own glory,
unchangeablely foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time,
especially concerning angels and men" (The Westminster Larger
Catechism, Question 12, page 97) .
First, let us study some of Calvin's arguments and the passages he
uses. Then other passages, which will show who really are God's
elect.
1. . Ephesians 1:4-5 - For he chose us in him before the creation
of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he
predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus
Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - We are
chosen in Christ. We were foreordained unto adoption before
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the foundation of the world. Therefore our works had nothing
to do with it; God acted according to the good pleasure of
His own will.
a. Ephesians 1:4-5 teaches that we were chosen in Christ and that
we were foreordained unto adoption. It says nothing about the
manner of our choosing or of our adoption. The word
translated "foreordained" is from proorizo, which means: "to
place limitations upon someone or something beforehand,
these limitations bringing that person or thing within the sphere
of
a
certain future or destiny,"
b. The limitations God preset were the willingness to hear and
believe, the willingness to come when the Spirit and the bride
invite.
c. Calvin argues that since we were chosen and foreordained
before the worlds, our works have nothing to do with it. There
is no logical reason at all why this should be since God could
foreordain that only those who believed would be saved.
2. Colossians. 1:12 - giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified
you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light
- We could do nothing to make ourselves elect. It was God who
made
us
meet to be partakers of life.
a. This passage teaches that it was God who "qualified" us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints. He qualified us in
keeping with our willingness to hear, believe, repent, and to
obey the gospel.
3. 2 Timothy 1:9 - who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not
because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose
and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the
beginning of time - We were called with a holy calling, not according
to works.
a. In this, as in many New Testament passages, the point is not
that works have nothing to do with our calling and our
salvation. The point is that we could not earn our salvation; we
could not merit our salvation through our works. We were called
even though our works did not deserve it.
4. Ephesians 1:9 - And he made known to us the mystery of his will
according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ - In
forming His decree God considered nothing outside Himself.
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a. To say that God did "according to His good pleasure" does not
in the slightest imply that He considered "nothing outside
Himself.” It says He did exactly what He wished to do, but what
He wished to do was to save all them that believe (1 Cor.
1:21).
5. Romans 11:35 - Who has ever given to God, that God should
repay him?" - Calvin continues to pound his point that our
election had nothing at all to do with anything we did.
a. No one instructed God what to do. No one obligated God
beforehand what to do, but that does not mean that He did not
include man's own choices and activity in His plans.
6. Rom. 9:6 - It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all
who are descended from Israel are Israel - "The principal point to
be considered was the special election of God, by which alone
His adoption was ratified. If the piety of some established them in
the hope of salvation, and the revolt of others was the sole cause
of their being rejected, it would have been foolish and absurd in
Paul to carry his readers back to a secret election."
a. My observation is that Paul’s point is that God’s election was
not secret. Most of Israel was willfully ignorant of what that
election consisted of.
b. This verse simply teaches that there was a spiritual Israel and
a physical Israel, and not every physical Israelite was also a
spiritual one. This distinction, however, had to do with the
heart and life of each Israelite.
7. Romans 9:11-13 - Yet, before the twins were born or had done
anything good or bad — in order that God's purpose in election
might stand not by works but by him who calls — she was told,
"The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I
loved, but Esau I hated." - One of the many mistakes Calvin
made was taking passages he did not understand and propounding
false doctrines upon them. He views God's choice of Jacob as
illustrative that God chooses men to be saved or lost, just as He
chose Jacob over Esau. God's choice of Jacob had nothing to do
with whether they would be saved or not.
On page 217 Calvin argues that God's election of Jacob to receive
the primogeniture was an earthly sign "to declare the spiritual
election of Jacob." Therefore he does argue that God elected
Jacob to be saved and Esau to be lost.
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a. The election here was not election to salvation, but the choice
of God of Jacob as the one through whom the promise would
come.
b. The choice of Jacob was really the choice of a people (Genesis
25:23).
c. The statement, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau I hated," was not
made before their choice, but long after in Malachi 1:2-3).
8. Romans 9:15 - "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy ,and I
will have compassion on whom I have compassion." God "finds
nothing in men to induce Him to show kindness, that it is owing
entirely to His own mercy, and accordingly that their salvation is
His own work."
a. Though there is nothing that man did to cause God to have
mercy on him, this does not mean that God could not require of
him whatever conditions He might desire for man to receive His
gifts.
b. There has long been a failure of Calvinists to distinguish
between works of merit and conditional works.
9. Romans 11:2 - God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about
Elijah — how he appealed to God against Israel: - "We must
therefore come to that smaller number whom Paul elsewhere describes
as foreknown of God."
a. Calvin finds everywhere what he looks for. To him, the people
here are the elect from eternity, the number of which is set.
On the other hand, we have the true people of God, those who
believe, as distinguished from physical Israel and those who
claim to be God's people when they are not.
10. Acts 2; 23 - his man was handed over to you by God's set purpose
and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put
him to death by nailing him to the cross.- "God does not merely
contemplate our salvation, but actually accomplishes it."
11.
1 Peter 1:2 - who have been chosen according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of
the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his
blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.- "Properly
expresses that secret predestination by which God has sealed
those whom he has been pleased to adopt as sons. In using the
term purpose as synonymous with a term which uniformly denotes
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what is called a fixed determination, he undoubtedly shows that
God, in being the author of our salvation, does not go beyond
Himself."
12. 1 Peter 1:19-20 - but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb
without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of
the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."In
this sense He says in the same chapter, that Christ as 'a lamb' was
foreordained before the creation of the world."
The arguments Calvin makes with 2 Timothy 2:19; John 6:37, 39;
6:44-45; 17:9; 13:18; 15:19 are weak and predictable. I think that
the greater strengths of his arguments are in the passages we have
listed and considered. These earlier passages set the direction for his
argument, and these later passages are merely following in the path
of his argument.
Romans chapters 9 – 11 needs to be studied and analyzed.
"It is important to bear in mind that the selection throughout is
regarded as having reference not to the final salvation of
persons, but to the execution of the purpose of God" (Cambridge
Greek Testament quoted in Whiteside's Commentary on Romans.
Chapter nine
I. Romans 9:1-5: I speak the truth in Christ — I am not lying, my
conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow
and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I
myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the
adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the
receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs
are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of
Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! - Paul expresses
sorrow for his physical kinsmen, the Israelites. So many
advantages were given them. That most of them did not
appropriate the promises given to them did not nullify them.
II. Romans 9:6-13: It is not as though God's word had failed. For
not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because
they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On
the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be
reckoned." In other words, it is not the natural children who
are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are
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regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise
was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will
have a son." Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and
the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were
born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God's
purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who
calls — she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just
as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." - It is not as
though the word of God amounted to nothing.
A. Not all Israel that are called Israel (v. 6). "Even though
fleshly Israel had rejected Christ, there was yet a spiritual
Israel, and the promise was fulfilled in them. Paul's language
in these verses shows that the promise made to Abraham
terminated in spiritual Israel" (Whiteside, Commentary on
Romans, p. 198
B. God is not unjust to reject unbelieving Jews. "Many of the
children of Abraham were not embraced in the promise of
God to him at first" (Brents, Gospel Plan of Salvation, 59).
Just because one is Abraham's seed does not mean he is a
child: In Isaac shall thy seed be called. God chose Isaac, not
Ishmael. Not the children according to the flesh that are
children of God but the children of promise.
1. Sarah will have a son (Genesis 18:10).
2. Jacob chosen instead of Esau.
3. "In working out His plans, God had rejected the other
sons 0of Abraham and selected Isaac through whom the
promised seed should come" (Whiteside, p. 198).
4. "But the calling of Jesus through the line of Isaac did not
consign the descendants of Abraham by Hagar and
Keturah to endless punishment; nor were their chances
for heaven diminished by this election of Isaac" (Brents,
p, 60).
5. "The Jew might say that as Isaac was the only son of
Abraham's real wife, his selection was natural and right.
But it was different with his selection of Jacob over
Esau. Jacob and Esau were full brothers; and though they
were twins, Esau the first-born was the natural heir of the
promise. Yet of the two, God selected Jacob, even before
they were born, and therefore before they had done
anything good or bad, "that the purpose of God
according to election might stand.” The purpose inhered
in the promise. God was selecting His own instruments
to work out His own plans.
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"In choosing Jacob, God chose His descendants; and every
Jew gloried in that choice. But the selection of Jacob and
the rejection of Esau had nothing to do with their
salvation" (Whiteside, p. 199).
6. Regarding the statement: Jacob have I loved, but Esau I hated.
“By blending these quotations, God is made to say that He
loved Jacob and hated Esau before they were born; or had,
either of them, done good or evil. This is doing great
injustice to the record" (Brents, p. 61). Look at what was
said of them before they were born (Genesis 25:21-23).
The statement about God loving Jacob and hating Esau is
found in Malachi. 1:1-3 and was made some 1400 years
after the time of Jacob.
III. Romans 9:14-18: What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at
all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on
God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up
for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and
that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore
God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens
whom he wants to harden. Is God unrighteous to choose what He
wishes? No, He has the right to do so.
A. Point is that no Jew would have accused God of being unfair
in choosing the descendants of Jacob instead of the
descendants of Esau to be His holy nation. Why then would
they think it out of harmony with God's nature to reject those
who disbelieve and accept those who do believe? As a
Sovereign, He had a right to dictate terms of mercy to those
who would become subjects of His kingdom. These terms
were first offered to and rejected by the Jews; hence the
apostle appealed to the declarations of God to Moses,, their
own lawgiver, to show them that God had always shown
mercy to whom He would, and upon just such terms as
pleased Him" (Brents, p. 67).
B. Likewise, God chose Pharaoh as the one through whom He
would manifest His power. Since God rules in the affairs of
men, all things that happen in their affairs come under His
dominion. He does not prevent the stubborn and difficult
rulers from coming along, but He can do so, or He can
18
choose to use such rulers for His own purposes. "Instead of
producing in Pharaoh willing obedience, the demand of
Jehovah stirred up in him a great determination to defeat
Jehovah's purpose to show mercy to Israel. He [Pharaoh (rd)]
felt that Israel belonged to him — they were the property of
his kingdom. Yes, he would pit his strength against Jehovah, and
see that they did not go from him. Hence, every demand of
Jehovah to let them go aroused his determination to keep
them. These demands and his attitude toward them served to
harden his heart. This shows how Jehovah hardened his
heart [allowed Pharaoh to harden his heart (rd)], and also how
Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Hence, it is said that
Jehovah hardened his heart (fifteen times, [rew] and it is
said a number of times [four rew] that he hardened his own
heart" (Whiteside, p. 203).
C. Did God reach into Pharaoh's heart and harden it when
Pharaoh was very much inclined to do God's will? Consider
James 1:13-14. Consider also 2 Corinthians 2:16 and Romans
1:21-26.
"The only hardening that is effected by God and which the
Scriptures are acquainted with is judicial; the only objects of
this hardening are men who have first hardened themselves
against all God's mercy and have done that to such an extent
as to be beyond further reach for mercy” (Lenski,
Commentary on Romans, p. 616).
D. Therefore God can bestow His mercy on whomever He pleases,
and He can harden whom He wishes.
IV. Romans 9:19-21 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still
blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to
talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the
right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble
purposes and some for common use?
1. Paul here deals with the quibbles of those who reason that "the
victim of God's counsel cannot possibly be blamed by the God
who resolved that counsel, the whole blame rests on God who
determined that counsel" (Lenski, Commentary on
Romans, p. 618). In other words Paul is not here dealing
with a calm, rational objection to his points. It is apparent
that if God has rejected the unbelieving, the unbelieving
19
could have done something to alter the situation. They
could have believed! Rather than see this, the guibbler says,
"Why will God blame men? Who can withstand Him?
2. This quotation is from Jeremiah 18:1-12. A simple reading
of the passage will make it clear that it is not teaching "that
nations and kingdoms are eternally and unconditionally
ordained to prosperity or destruction.
"Calvinism finds, its peculiar sovereignty of God in this verse:
(supralapsarian Calvinism) the sovereignty which created
some men to fall and to be damned and other men to be
saved despite the fall, both according to an absolute
decree; and (infralapsarian Calvinism) the sovereignty
which from the same fallen lump of humanity decreed and
shaped some to salvation and decreed and shaped some to
damnation. Such a sovereignty which is contrary to God’s
very nature as agape [love that desires the best for another
(rd)] does not exist" (Lenski, op.cit., p. 620).
Lenski also makes this point clear. There is one term of
comparison in the figure of the potter and the clay, and that
is blame. "As the potter cannot be blamed by any vessel
which he turns out for dishonor instead of making it like
another for honor, so also God cannot be blamed by any
man whom he hardens instead of saving him. ... The figure of
the potter and the clay could not picture the self-hardening of
Pharaoh and of the Jews in permanent obduracy [unmoved
by persuasion (rd)] against God's mercy, which selfhardening called forth God's judicial hardening, (Lenski,
op. cit., p. 621). Suppose the potter, working with his mass
of clay, takes a big handful and starts working it on his
wheel. As he works it, for reasons of his own, he decides
to make it into a chamber pot. The chamber pot cannot say,
"Hey, why did you do that?" The figure does not extend to
things the clay might have contributed to its being made a
chamber pot.
3.
"The passage in Isaiah [Isaiah 45:9, rew] proves that God
has the right of sovereign over guilty individuals; that in
Jeremiah [18:1-12, rew], that He has the same right over
nations; thus meeting the whole case as it was in the mind
of the Apostles. This passage, however, asserts only the
right of God to do it, without affirming anything about the
manner in which it is done. In fact, God bestows His favors
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in a mode very different from that in which a potter molds
his clay. God does not create holiness by a mere act of
power, but he produces it in a manner consistent with the
moral agency of man; and bestows his favors not to
compel men, but to incline them to be willing to receive
them. (Albert Barnes -1 Tim. 2:19-21).
V. Romans 9:22-29 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make
his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his
wrath — prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the
riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he
prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called,
not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in
Hosea: "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I
will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," and, "It will
happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are
not my people, 'they will be called 'sons of the living God.'" Isaiah
cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites
be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For
the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and
finality." It is just as Isaiah said previously:"Unless the Lord
Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like
Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah."
1. Here Paul gives another answer to the quibblers of verse 19.
"Besides the foolish presumptuousness involved in asking
why the wicked, when they are hardened, are still blamed
for the hardening which they cannot resist, the astounding
fact that God bears with them in order to advertise His
mercy the more, in order to save men from all hardening-this ought to make all such questioning impossible"
(Lenski, Romans, p, 622).
"If God wills to show His wrath against sin and His power
to punish sin, why should anyone object? To say that God
is not willing to do so is to accuse Him of being indifferent
to sin.
2.
God put up with the disobedient Jews, though He was
willing to show His wrath. He endured with much
longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. The
Jews who were disobedient allowed the devil to fit them for
destruction. God is not willing that any should perish (2
Peter 3:9; cf. Romans 2': 4-6; 2 Peter 3:14-16.)
21
3.
The reason God endured the wicked Jews was He was
waiting
to extend His grace to the vessels of mercy, not only of the
Jews but also from the Gentiles. "Though the Jewish
nation had for many years been ripe for destruction, God
endured them with much longsuffering - spared them - till the
gospel could be preached to the Gentiles and churches
established among them" (Whiteside, p. 209).
VI. Romans 9:30-33: What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who
did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness
that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness,
has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by
faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the
"stumbling stone."As it is written:"See, I lay in Zion a stone that
causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the
one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
1. God's salvation coming as promise and as mercy, the
Gentiles attained by faith; Israel, seeking salvation
through works and being without faith, failed (idea from
Lenski's heading for chapter nine, p. 579) .
Chapter Ten
I. Romans 10:1-15: Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them
that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on
knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes
from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to
God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may
be righteousness for everyone who believes. Moses describes in this
way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these
things will live by them." But the righteousness that is by faith says:
"Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is,
to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that
is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The
word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the
word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your
mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that
you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you
confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in
him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between
22
Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses
all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have
not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they
have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching
to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is
written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
- salvation is possible to all who believe.
A. The Jews were ignorant of God's righteousness. Seeking to
establish their own righteousness, they did not subject
themselves to the righteousness of God.
B. Christ the end of the law unto righteousness.
C. Moses wrote that "the man that doeth the righteousness which
is of the law shall live thereby" (Leviticus 18:5). Men find this
righteousness unattainable. In contrast the righteousness
which is of faith is accessible. It has been preached. But the
righteousness through faith was made available to all men.
D. There is no distinction: to both Jews and Greeks, whoever
calls upon the Lord shall be saved, but faith is necessary for
them to call, and hearing is necessary for faith, and preaching
is necessary for hearing, and sending necessary for preaching.
II. Romans 10:6-21: But not all the Israelites accepted the good news.
For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the
message is heard through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they
not hear? Of course they did:"Their voice has gone out into all the
earth, their words to the ends of the world." Again I ask: Did
Israel not understand? First, Moses says, "I will make you envious
by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation
that has no understanding." And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found
by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did
not ask for me." But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I
have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people." Israel did not listen to the preaching that was done to them in the Old
Testament.
A. Isaiah's statement: "Lord, who hath believed our report," proves
that, as a whole, Israel did not believe the preaching. Faith, the
opposite of Israel's reaction, comes from hearing the word of Christ.
23
B. But did Israel hear? Oh yes, they heard (v. 18).
C. Did Israel know? Without a doubt. They heard it from Moses and very
plainly from Isaiah. It was apparent that Israel was warned of their rejection
and of the salvation of the Gentiles. But Israel filled the role of a
disobedient people who contradicted the preaching that was done,
and who argued with the prophets.
Chapter eleven
I. Romans 11:1-10: I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no
means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from
the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he
foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage
about Elijah — how he appealed to God against Israel: "Lord, they
have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only
one left, and they are trying to kill me"? And what was God's
answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who
have not bowed the knee to Baal."So too, at the present time there
is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer
by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. What then?
What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did.
The others were hardened, as it is written: "God gave them a spirit
of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they
could not hear, to this very day." And David says: "May their
table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a
retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot
see, and their backs be bent forever." - God did not cast off His
people whom He foreknew. As of old, God has a remnant for Himself
today.
A. God did not cast off Jews because they were Jews. Am I not a Jew?
It is just as in the days of Elijah, not all Israel was unfaithful. There
was a remnant of faithful people that had not bowed the knee to
Baal. God has left Himself a remnant, but it is a remnant according
to the election of grace, not of nationality. In other words people
today are not chosen because they deserve to be, but through faith in Christ.
B. Therefore, what Israel sought for, he did not obtain. (The reason why
he did not obtain it is given in 9:30-33).
C. The election (those who believed and accepted God’s mercy on His
terms) did receive salvation.
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II. Romans 11:11-24 - Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall
beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their
transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel
envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world,
and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater
riches will their fullness bring! I am talking to you Gentiles.
Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of
my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own
people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is
the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be
but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as
firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is
holy, so are the branches. If some of the branches have been
broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been
grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing
sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If
you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root
supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so
that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off
because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant,
but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he
will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness
to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue
in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they
do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able
to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive
tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted
into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the
natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! - The fall of
Israel furnished the occasion for the offering of salvation to the Gentiles.
God is perfectly willing to save Israel.
A. Was the primary reason for Israel's crash that they might fall?
Was it the arbitrary wish of God that they might fall? No way, but
on the occasion of their fall, salvation has been offered to the
Gentiles.
B. If their fall is the occasion when riches are offered to the
world, how much more their fulness. (In other words, how
25
wonderful it would be if the Jews were to believe in Christ as the
Gentile world did.)
C. Paul glorified his ministry because it furnished him with an
opportunity not only to save Gentiles, but through their salvation to
provoke the Jews unto salvation.
D. Look at Paul's powerful argument: God broke off natural branches of the
olive tree (v.20). He grafted wild olive branches into the olive tree. Surely,
He can graft cultured olive branches in again. One would think that
the cultured branches that were a part of the olive tree were elect and
that the wild olive branches were not. Nevertheless, the original
branches could be broken off, and new branches grafted in. But those
original branches that were broken off can be grafted in again, and
those wild branches that were grafted in can be broken off. It is not some
Calvinistic "secret" election that makes the difference. It is belief or
unbelief.
III. Romans 11:25-32: I do not want you to be ignorant of this
mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has
experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the
Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is
written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn
godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with
them when I take away their sins." As far as the gospel is
concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as
election is concerned, they are loved on account of the
patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as
you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received
mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now
become disobedient in order that they too may now receive
mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all
men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them
all. - A hardening of a part of Israel has occurred because of
their unbelief until a full harvest of Gentiles has been reached.
So all Israel (spiritual) shall be saved. Paul makes the point that
the Gentiles who formerly were disobedient have obtained
mercy on the occasion of the Jews' disobedience. It is Paul's
hope that by the mercy of God shown unto the Gentiles, the
Jews also may obtain mercy. God has judged all men to be
disobedient that He might have mercy upon all. God's plan is for
all men to recognize that they are sinners, whether they are Jews
or Gentiles, in order that they might receive God's mercy.
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Verses that show how the saints are elect:
1. Ephesians 1:3-14: Election is in Christ. Christ is the one in whom
God chose to place salvation. Those who come to Him and
believe in Him will be saved. Those who will not come will be lost.
2. Revelation 22:17 – He that will, let him take the water of life freely.
3. John 8:32: Election is through the knowledge of the truth.
4. Mark 16:16: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved
5. Romans 1:16-17: The gospel is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believes. The way that faith comes
is through hearing the word of God.
Negative Arguments:
1. Calvinism says that God predetermined the non-elect to
perish, and the He did nothing to save them. Yet scripture says that
God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
2. The Bible also says that God would have all men to be saved and
come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
3. Calvin says clearly that God foreordained and therefore
foreknew because only that which is predetermined can be
certain. However, Paul said, that whom God foreknew He foreordained to
be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren (Romans 8:29). Paul said God foreordained according to
what He foreknew. According to Calvin, God foreknew according to
what He foreordained.
4. Calvinism reflects on the character of God.
a. Why did God elect some and not others? God is presented as
making arbitrary choices in unfairness to the whole human race.
b. How can this be reconciled with the fact that God is no
respecter of persons (Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34-35).
c. All through the Bible God presents an illusion to men that they have a
choice in their destiny. What a cruel deceit, if it were true!
The doctrine of absolute predestination holds that some are foreordained
to life as truly as others are foreordained to damnation. The very terms
27
"elect" and "election" imply the terms "non-elect" and "reprobation." The
whole race after the fall was one mass of perdition, and it pleased God of
His Sovereign mercy to rescue some and leave the others as they were; to
raise some to glory and to abandon the rest; to extend His grace to some
and to condemn the rest to eternal punishment. The doctrine of
reprobation is based on the doctrine of original sin; God does not do any
injustice to the non-elect.
Such reasoning implies that God was perfectly willing for the non-elect to
perish, and that He did nothing to save them. Yet scripture says that God
was not willing that any should perish, but that all should come unto
repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). The Bible also says that God would have all men
to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
Calvin is not ambiguous but dogmatic in saying that foreordination in
general cannot rest on foreknowledge. In other words, God did not
foreordain on the basis of what He foreknew because only that which is
predetermined can be certain. If it is certain, then it is fixed. Paul said, "For
whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of
His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans
8:29). In Paul's thinking God foreordained according to what He foreknew.
According to Calvin God foreknew what He foreordained.
Calvin argued that faith and good works are not to be looked upon as
the cause of divine election. They are rather its fruits and proof. They
show that the person has been chosen and regenerated. To make faith
and works a basis of election involves us in a covenant of works and
puts God's promises in time rather than in eternity. This would amount
to post-destination and not pre-destination.
Limited Atonement
“Human nature possesses none of the gifts which the elect receive
from their heavenly father through the Spirit of regeneration"
(Institutes, vol. 1, p. 239).
One can fully and fairly infer the doctrine from the teachings of
Calvin about the elect and about Jesus' death for them. In chapter 16
of Book II, Calvin teaches what Jesus did in redemption, but from his
other teaching, we know that all the things Jesus accomplished to
save the lost were things that only the elect will enjoy. Since the elect
were predestined by God before eternity, and the number is fixed and
cannot be changed, then these are the only ones who will or can
receive the saving benefits of His blood. Since the death and
redemption of Jesus were also planned and foreordained by God.
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Therefore they were foreordained for the elect. According to Calvin's
doctrine regarding the elect, God would not have provided salvation
in Christ and then allow men to respond to it. God would have
predetermined it all. Therefore, the atonement of Christ was limited to
the elect from eternity.
Now consider some passages that Calvinists use to teach the doctrine
of limited atonement. There is no passage that teaches this doctrine,
but what Calvin does is to interpret every verse dealing with the
salvation of the world to refer to the elect. The following are some
examples.
1."The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).
a. Calvin says that the "all" is the elect.
b. Improper and vague interpretation of "all men" in Isaiah 53.
The death of Christ was for every man (Hebrews 2:9)
c. Christ died for as many as were under the consequence of
Adam's sin (Romans 5). Think about the statement in 1
Corinthians 15:22. "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall
all be made alive.” To make these two “all’s” mean two
different "all's" is to do violence to the verse. If the first "all" is
the elect, then did the non-elect die in Adam? The balance of the
verse between Adam and Christ demands that the “all’s” be
equivalent.
d. Calvinists fail to distinguish between the provision and
application of the atonement. Atonement is provided for all, but
the choice is for every man. "Whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).
2. Matthew 1:21 - "They shall call His name Jesus, for it is He that
shall save His people from their sins.”
a. His people are the elect.
b. Yet Jesus Himself said that He came to seek and to save the lost
(Luke 19:10).
c. Jesus cried to Jerusalem: "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth
the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! How
often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Matt. 23:37-38).
Was Jesus trying to gather those who could not come? What
He said was "Ye would not."
Next examine a number of passages that teach that the atonement has
been provided for all men, not just the predestined elect. Remember
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the point made earlier, that Calvinism fails to distinguish between
the provision of atonement and the appropriation of atonement. As
you study these passages note Calvin's explanation of them, if he has
one.
1. If limited atonement is true then there is no need to preach the
gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15-16).
a.
In chapter 14 of Book II, Calvin argues, using Augustine's
words, that the gospel is preached to all in order to find the
elect. "Because we know not who belongs to the number of
the predestinated, or does not belong, our desire ought to be
that all may be saved; and hence every person we meet, we
will desire to be with us as partakers of peace. But our peace
will rest upon the sons of peace" (Institutes, vol. 2, p. 238).
b.
Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
he that believeth not shall be damned." Jesus makes the
difference between salvation and damnation a matter of
whether one believes the gospel or not (cf. Romans 1:1617); whether one repents or not (Luke 13:3, 5); whether one
is born again or not (John 3:3-5).
c.
Jesus also taught that everyone is taught of the Father.
Everyone that hath heard and hath learned cometh unto me
(John 6:44-45). The thing Jesus says makes the difference
between people - whether they choose to respond to the
teaching, not whether they were elect in eternity or not.
2. If God is not willing that any should perish, then why did He
consign a large number of people to perish, without regard to
anything they did? (2 Peter 3:9). Why is the atonement limited?
a. Calvin responds that the answer to the problem is found in the
second half of the verse, “For His will that they should come
to repentance cannot be used in any other sense than that
which is uniformly employed. Conversion is undoubtedly in
the hand of God, whether he desires to convert all can be
learned from Himself when He promises that He will give
some a heart of flesh, and leave to others a heart of stone
(Ezekiel 36:26).
b. Basically Calvin argues that repentance is limited to those whom
God directly influences through the operation of His Spirit.
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"But I hold that no man approaches God, unless previously
influenced from above. And if repentance were placed at the will of
man, Paul would not say, 'If God peradventure will give them
repentance' (2 Timothy 2:25)" (Institutes, vol. 2, pp. 255-256).
c.
Therefore the "all men" that God would have to be saved
are the “all men” whom God moves to repent.
d. It should be clear that Calvin constantly interprets every verse
by his assumptions.
e.
When he reads of God giving someone a heart of stone, he
thinks only of God’s doing such a thing directly without
using means. If God gives someone repentance, it is only by a
direct operation of the Spirit.
3. If God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge
of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4), why is the atonement is limited?
a. Calvin's interpretation is simply that this passage means that
God would have all orders of men to be saved, even the rich
and the noble (Institutes, vol. 2, P- 254).
b. Calvin also uses the fact that God chose Israel and deprived
the other nations of the light of the gospel, and that some hear
the gospel and others do not, to prove that it is totally up to God
whether men will be saved or not.
c Fact is that God manifested Himself to all men, but men put
God from their minds, and men are willing to accept a lesser
god (Romans 1:18-32). It was not that God rejected men first.
It was man who rejected God first (Romans 1:24, 26, 28).
4. If the atonement is limited, then why did John write that Jesus is the
propitiation [atonement] for our sins, (who is the “our”?) and not for our
sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world? (1 John 2:2)
Total Hereditary Depravity
In Book 2, chapter 1 of his Institutes, Calvin says, "Nor is it strange that
he who perverted the whole order of nature in heaven and earth
deteriorated his race by his revolt" (Vol. 1, p, 214). On the same
page we have this: "Therefore, since through man's fault a curse has
extended above and below, over all the regions of the world, there is
nothing unreasonable in its extending to all his offspring." After
stating that man was deprived of all wisdom, virtue, justice, truth,
and holiness by Adam's fall, Calvin says, "This is the hereditary
corruption to which early Christian writers gave the name of
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Original Sin, meaning by the term the depravation of a nature
formerly good and pure." Calvin says that this doctrine was not very
obvious and says, "This seems to be the reason why the oldest
doctors of the church only glance obscurely at the point, or, at least,
do not explain it so clearly as it required." Another reason could be
is that they were nearer to the days of the apostles and knew better.
As Calvin continues his discussion, he says, "But when it was clearly
proved from Scripture that the sin of the first man passed to all his
posterity, recourse was had to the cavil [ trivial (rd)], that it passed by
imitation, and not by propagation. The orthodox, therefore, and more
especially Augustine, laboured to show, that we are not corrupted by
acquired wickedness, but bring an innate corruption from the very
womb."
Look at Calvin's conclusions: "All of us, therefore, descending from
an impure seed, come into the world tainted with the contagion of
sin. Nay, before we behold the light of the sun we are in God's sight
defiled and polluted. 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an
unclean? Not one," (Job 14:4).
Defining Original Sin, Calvin says, "Original sin, then, may be
defined as hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature,
extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious
to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in
Scripture are termed works of the flesh. This corruption is repeatedly
designated by Paul by the term sin (Galatians 5:19)" (Institutes, Vol.
1, p. 217). "Hence, even infants bringing their condemnation with
them from their mother's womb, suffer not for another's but for their
own defect. For although they have not yet produced the fruits of
their own unrighteousness, they have the seed implanted in them" (p.
217).
The Westminster Confession of Faith states the doctrine of Total
Hereditary Depravity as follows:
"Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability
of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a
natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in
sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to
prepare himself thereunto.
"When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of
grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and, by
his grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is
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spiritually good; yet so as that by reason of his remaining
corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only will that which is
good, but doth also will that which is evil.” The will of man is
made perfectly and immutably free to good alone, in the state of
glory only." (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter IX,
Sections 31-32)
Remember Augustine (354 – 430) had an association with the
Manichaeists. Remember also their teachings of a dualism between good
and evil, etc? The idea of the inherent evil of matter is an ancient Persian
concept. The same doctrine was a tenet of Gnosticism. Matter was
regarded as completely evil and man's aim was to escape the physical
world and return to the spirit world. [According to Gnosticism (rd)] the
absolute God is good and matter is evil. The world-maker is not the
absolute God but an intermediate god. Jehovah is not the absolute God,
and the Christ is not the historical Jesus. Jesus is one of the angels
emanating from the absolute God. There is a divine spark in all men.
Knowledge is divinely imparted and is the means of salvation. Election
and total depravity were taught. These concepts were linked with Adam's
transgression by Tertullian (160 – 225) in the following statement:
"The soul shares in Adam's guilt, and every man, therefore, is
under condemnation and is punishable for his inherited guilt quite
apart from the actual sins he may commit...Adam was trapped by
Satan into breaking the commandment of God and, being
consequently given over to death, the entire race, tainted by its
descent from him became a channel for transmitting also his
condemnation" (McGiffert, p. 13).
Results of the Doctrine:
1. Men would have come to know God naturally without any
extraordinary means of conveying the knowledge of Him to their
hearts. According to Calvin, if Adam had not sinned, then all men
would have come to the full knowledge of God in a natural manner.
The awareness of God planted in man would have responded to the
manifestation of God in nature. "I speak only of that simple and
primitive knowledge, to which the mere course of nature would have
conducted us, had Adam stood upright” (Institutes, Vol. 1, p. 40)
… “Hence would arise both confidence in Him, and a desire of
cleansing to Him, did not the depravity of the human mind lead it
away from the proper course of investigation.” (p. 41)
2. Now it is necessary that the spirit penetrate our hearts to
convince us of God's will. "Our conviction of the truth of
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Scripture must be derived from a higher source than human
conjectures, judgments, or reasons; namely, the secret testimony
of the Spirit" (Institutes, Vol. 1, p. 71). Calvin also says that
though the evidence that the Scripture is inspired, "Still,
however, it is preposterous to attempt, by discussion, to rear up a
full faith in Scripture" (p. 71). "The same Spirit, therefore, who
spoke by the mouth of the prophets must penetrate our hearts, in
order to convince us that they faithfully delivered the message
with which they were divinely entrusted" (p. 72). "This singular
privilege God bestows on His elect only, whom he separates
from the rest of mankind" (p. 73).
3. Many infants are lost in hell. This is probably the most
unpopular doctrine of Calvinism. In our day, it would be
regarded as anathema by most people. The doctrine is so
unpopular that in 1910 the Methodist Church rejected it. In
Calvin's day, the doctrine of Original Sin was widely believed,
both in the Catholic Church and among Protestants. Let us show
how this result may be fairly drawn from Calvin's teachings.
All of the non-elect are born into the world, just as are the elect.
Some of the non-elect die as infants. Therefore they are in hell,
because they are reprobates. According to Calvin, therefore, it is
as Jonathan Edwards used to preach: "There are babes in hell not
a span long." Note this statement by Calvin: "Moreover, infants
who are to be saved (and that some are saved at this age is certain)
must, without question, be previously regenerated by the Lord"
(Institutes, Vol. 2, p. 541). Calvin refers to infants who are to be
saved. Clearly his statement implies that some infants are not to
be saved. Also his words, "some are saved at this age," implies that
some are not. That infants are in hell is a necessary inference from
Calvin's teachings.
The practice of sprinkling children is a direct result of the doctrine
of Original Sin, first in the Catholic Church and then in the
Reformed Church. Calvin argues extensively for the practice. He
seems to teach that children who are baptized are thereby indicated
to be of the elect. "The objection [that infants are incapable of
penitence and faith (rd)] is easily disposed of by the fact, that
children are baptized for future repentance and faith" (p. 543).
Infant baptism is a sign of regeneration. Calvin says, "If those on
whom the Lord has bestowed His election, after receiving the sign
of regeneration, depart this life before they become adults, he, by
the incomprehensible energy of His Spirit, renews them in the way
which He alone sees to be expedient" (p. 543) .
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One cannot help but raise the question: do you suppose that any infants
that were sprinkled grew up to forsake the Lord and the church? Who
would like to guess how many did this? What impact would this fact
have on the idea that infant baptism is a sign of regeneration, and that it
would be an indication of election?
Proof Texts examined:
1. The sin of Adam (Romans 5:12-19).
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death
through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all
sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is
not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death
reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those
who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a
pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the
many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's
grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,
overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the
one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought
condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought
justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned
through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's
abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life
through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of
one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act
of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as
through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made
righteous.”
a. Paul is discussing the fact of how sin entered into the world. Nothing
in the text suggests the doctrine of total depravity.
b. The contrast is not identical:
1) They differ in power, one to kill - death; one to make alive grace.
2) They differ in causes, one offense - condemnation to all death; grace for all offenses - righteousness – eternal life.
3) They differ in character, Adam's sin, death reigns as a cruel
tyrant; Christ, grace, justification by faith, reigns through
Jesus.
c. Men are not constituted righteous in Christ without some act of
obedience on their part; men are not constituted sinners in Adam
without some actual transgression on their part. If this passage
teaches universal depravity, then it teaches universal salvation.
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2.
"Not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not”
(Ecclesiastes 7:20).
a. Refers to a just man, not to a totally depraved baby.
b. No one lives above sin (1 John 1:8).
c. God made man upright but they have sought out many
inventions (Ecclesiastes. 7:29).
3. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one" (Job 14:4).
a. Job is arguing that surely man cannot be expected to live
perfectly. All men are unclean because of sin before God. How
could perfection be expected from such?
b. We must remember that in any case such as this, any obscure
verse must be interpreted in the light of plain passages such as
Ezekiel 18:20: "The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die."
4.
"Wicked are estranged from the womb, go astray as soon as they
are
born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3-4).
a. Estranged from womb is a hyperbole to show that men begin
to sin early (Psalm. 22:10; 7:16).
b. Go astray, not born so. Speaking lies impossible for infants. If
babes, then infant damnation (Revelation. 21:8).
5.
"Called a transgressor from the womb" (Isaiah. 48:8).
a. Transgression involves voluntary act; not inherited depravity.
b. Refers to Israel as a nation, her origin compared to a birth.
Means that from her earliest existence Israel was disobedient
to God.
6.
"Imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21).
a. From his youth, not born that way.
b. Goliath was a man of war from his youth; does not mean he
was born fighting (1 Samuel 17:33).
c. Rejoice with the wife of thy youth (Proverbs 5:18).
7.
"I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me"
(Psalm 51:5).
a. Mother was in sin, not David.
b. Shapen in a garden, conceived in a pumpkin patch. Would
such
a one be a pumpkin?
c. Jesus was born in a stable; laid in a manger, but He was not a
colt or a bale of hay.
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d.
e.
Jesus was born of woman. Was He totally depraved?
What David referred to was the environment in which he was
conceived and born. It is a world of lust and evil influences.
He did not prove immune to its allure.
8.
"Child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame" (Proverbs
29:15).
a. True. Text does not say, "Child does so because he is born
totally depraved." Such a child would already be a shame to
his mother.
9.
"Iniquity of fathers visited on children" (Exodus 20:5).
a. Children suffer consequences of father's sin but not the guilt.
"The soul that sinneth it shall die..." (Ezekiel 18:20).
10. "By nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3).
a. "When we walked" - children not born walking (v.2).
b. Nature: "A mode of feeling and acting which by long
habit has become nature" (Thayer).
11. "None righteous, no not one..." (Romans 3:9-26).
“What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We
have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all
under sin. As it is written:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who
understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they
have together become worthless; there is no one who does good,
not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice
deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full
of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin
and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not
know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.’
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are
under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole
world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared
righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we
become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart
from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets
testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him
as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to
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demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his
justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.”
a. All gone, not born, out of the way (v. 12).
b. They are become, not born, unprofitable (v, 12).
c. Changed by gospel, the righteousness of God (v. 21, 26;
Romans 1:16-17).
d. Context: All have sinned, actual transgression (Romans
3::23)
Negative arguments:
1. Ezekiel 18:1-32: the principle objection to the doctrine of total
hereditary depravity is that the Bible teaches that neither guilt nor
righteousness is transferred from someone else. Neither is Adam's
sin transferred to us, nor is Christ's righteousness transferred to
us.
2. The Bible teaches that sin and death come because of
transgression
(Romans 3:23).
3. Jesus said "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such
is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3; 19:14; Zechariah 12:1;
Hebrews 12:9).
4.
Christ took on human nature in its completeness (Hebrews. 2:1617). Was He depraved? Calvin says, "We do not hold Christ to be
free from all taint, merely because he was born of a woman
unconnected with a man, but because he was sanctified by the
Spirit, so that the generation was pure and spotless, such as it
would have been before Adam's fall" (Institutes, Vol. 1, p. 414).
"He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that, completely pervaded
with his holiness in the flesh which he had assumed, he might
transfuse it into us" (Vol. 2, p. 541).
The Catholics dealt with this same problem by coming up with the
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. In 1854, the
Pope said, "We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine
which holds that the blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of
her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the
omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior
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of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original
sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and
constantly be believed by the faithful."
5.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans
10:17.
6.
The whole doctrine of infant baptism is totally unfounded in
scripture.
7.
The gospel is predicated on the fact that it can be preached, that
men may hear it, be pricked in their hearts, and obey it (Romans
1:16; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2).
Irresistible Grace
"When the will is enchained, as the slave of sin, it cannot make a
movement toward goodness, far less steadily pursue it. Every such
movement is the first step in that conversion to God, which in
Scripture is entirely ascribed to divine grace. Thus Jeremiah prays,
'Turn thou me, and I shall be turned.' (Jer. 31:18)" (Institutes, Vol. 1, p.
253) “God, therefore, begins the good work in us by exciting in our
hearts a desire, a love, and a study of righteousness, or (to speak
more correctly) by turning, training, and guiding our hearts unto
righteousness; and He completes this good work by confirming us
into perseverance” (p.255). "The Lord both corrects, or rather
destroys, our depraved will, and also substitutes a good will from
himself" (p. 256). On pages 257 and 258, Calvin clearly explains
the gist of irresistible grace.
To Calvin irresistible grace means that God decides He is going to
save one of the elect, and the person does not want to be saved. With
clinched teeth he resists; sweat breaks out on his forehead, but in
spite of his best efforts, God drags him kicking and screaming, and
saves him. What Calvin teaches is that the person has no power at all
to resist because what God does is to change his heart from an
unwilling heart to a willing heart. Calvin used Ezekiel 11:19 to teach
this idea: "I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit
within you; and will take the stony heart out of their flesh.” Calvin, of
course, teaches that God does this by the Holy Spirit in a direct manner
above and apart from the word. He also teaches that it is a thing
wholly of God, that man's will does not cooperate with God, it is
completely controlled, by God.
Now, the heart of Calvin’s doctrine. "This movement of the will
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[toward God] is not of that description which was for many ages
taught and believed—viz. a movement which thereafter leaves us
the choice to obey or resist it—but one which affects us
efficaciously. We must, therefore, repudiate the oft-repeated
sentiment of Chrysostorn [bishop of Constantinople 347 – 407], 'Whom
he draws, he draws willingly;' insinuating that the Lord only
stretches out his hand, and waits to see whether we will be pleased to
take his aid" (p. 260). One cannot keep from thinking of two things
here. One is that it is interesting how Calvin refers to early church
fathers who did not have an inkling of his doctrine. Certainly they did
not teach irresistible grace. Secondly Jesus said “I stand at the door
and knock.” (Rev. 3:20) Calvin has Him smashing the door down
with a battering ram, or more accurately, Jesus stands at the door and
knocks, and sends an impulse through the door directly into the mind
of the person that then removes all desire not to open the door and
motivates him to want to open the door. Therefore no decision whatever is
made by the man.
The following quotation makes it clear that Calvin felt that it is not up
no men no receive or turn down God's grace. When He extends
it, they will inevitably and irresistibly receive it. "This having
given rise to the idea that it was entirely in our power to receive or
reject the offered grace of God that idea is no sooner exploded
than the error founded on it must fall" (p. 261). It is
interesting to me that it was Calvin himself who used the term "first
grace," He does so frequently in this section.
The Westminster Confession states the doctrine thusly:
“All those whom God has predestinated unto life, and those
only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time,
effectively to call, by His word and Spirit, out of that state of
death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus
Christ; enlightening their minds spritually and savingly, to
understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone
and giving them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills,: and by His
almighty power determining them to that which is good; and
effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ, yet so as they come
most freely, being made willing by His grace."
"This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not
from anything at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive
therein, until, being quickened and. renewed by the Holy Spirit, he
40
is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace
offered and conveyed by it" (Chapter X, Sections I and 2).
The merits of Christ's obedience and. suffering are sufficient for, adapted
to, and freely offered to all men. The question arises as to why is one
saved and another lost. According to Calvin God makes the
difference, He efficaciously persuades some to come to Him.
Calvinists believe that the condition of men since the fall is such that
if left to themselves they would continue in their state of rebellion and
refuse all offers of salvation. The effects of Christ's sacrifice have not
been left suspended upon the whims of man's unchangeable and
sinful. The work of God in redemption is rendered effective through
the mission of the Holy Spirit who operates on the chosen people so
that they are brought to repentance and faith, and. thus made heirs of
eternal life. The movement toward salvation can no more come to
man than his body if dead could originate its own life.
Regeneration is a sovereign gift of God, graciously bestowed upon
those whom He has chosen from all eternity. Sinful man stands in
need, not of inducements or assistance to save himself, but precisely
of saving; and Jesus Christ has come not to advise, or urge, or woo, or
help him save himself, but to save him. When one of the elect is
called, he immediately responds, and an important effect of this
inward, purifying change of nature is that the person loves
righteousness and trusts Christ for salvation. This effective and
irresistible grace converts the will itself and forms a holy character in
the person by a creative act. It removes the man's desire for sinful
things so that he refrains from sin, not as a dyspeptic [one suffering
from digestive problems (rd)] refuses to eat dainties for which he
longs, lest his indulgence should be punished with the agonies of
sickness, but rather because he hates sin for its own sake. The elect
now hates evil and prefers the good.
As long as people remain in the world they are subject to temptations
and still have remains of the old nature clinging to them. Satan is
ever trying to deceive the elect. Hence, they are often deluded and
commit sin; yet these sins are only the death struggles and frenzied
writhings of the old nature which has already received a death blow,
This is the fourth step in the system of Calvinism. It ties in with the
doctrines of unconditional election, total depravity and limited
atonement. The elect are born totally depraved, and the special work
of the Holy Spirit is necessary in conversion. This work is
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irresistible and complete. It is affirmed that the Scriptures teach that
the sinner is so depraved that in his conviction and conversion the
Holy Spirit must exercise a power of influence separate from
and in addition to the written or spoken word.
Proof Texts Examined
1. "Gospel came not in word only but in power and Holy Spirit"
(1 Thessalonians 1:5).
a. Word is not a dead letter, it came in "power," (Hebrews 4:12).
b. Doesn't affirm the Holy Spirit came "separate and in addition to
the word,"
c. Gospel came in word, power, Holy Spirit, and in much
assurance.
[Was assurance separate from the word?]
2. The Lord opened Lydia's heart (Acts 16:14).
“One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in
purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of
God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.”
a. Hearing the word opened her heart (Romans 10; 17).
b. "Attended" means to pay heed to, to obey, listen, etc.
c. Understanding opened (Psalm 119:130; Ephesians. 1:18).
3. "Pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course" (2
Thessalonians 3:1).
a. Why pray? He had the gospel, inspiration, etc. He needed
something that the word itself might have free course and be
glorified.
b. Word glorified when souls are saved (Acts 13:48).
c. Why pray for bread? (Matthew 6:11). You have strength, soil,
sunshine, rain. Do you want extra power?
4 Apostles preached but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:57)
“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants,
through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned
to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God
made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is
anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
a. Compared to planting seed; one planted, another watered.
b. The increase was the plant produced; not additional power.
5. Word is a mirror; additional light must shine on mirror to make it
effective (James 1:23-5).
“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is
like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at
himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives
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6.
7.
8.
9.
freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has
heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.”
a. Word is light as well as a mirror (Psalm 119:105, 130).
a. See through the medium of the mirror.
No man can come unless drawn (John 6:43b-5; 12:32-3).
“Jesus answered. ‘No one can come to me unless the Father
who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last
day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by
God.' me.’” … Everyone who listens to the Father and learns
from him comes to “’Now is the time for judgment on this
world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to
myself.’ He said this to show the kind of death he was going
to die.”
a. But drawing is done through teaching (John 6:44-46;
2 Thessalonians 2:14). Power is the gospel (Romans 1:16).
Born of the Spirit (John 3:5-6). Must come in actual contact to be born.
a. We are born of God (John 1:13); yet not in actual contact.
b. Birth through word (1 Peter 1:23; 1 Corinthians 4:15). Is this
actual contact?
May be won without the word (1 Peter 3:1-2).
a. By conduct of wives (v. 1) not direct operation of the Holy Spirit.
b. Conversion is result of influence of Word in the life of the wife,
without a word from her.
Word is the sword of Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Soldier must bring
additional power on the sword. So does the Spirit.
a. Power exerted is through the sword, not separate from it.
Negative Arguments
1. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16; 1
Corinthians 15:1-2). Look at some famous cases of salvation.
a. The Samaritans (Acts 8). The thing that caused the Samaritans
to believe was they heard what Philip said, and they saw the signs
which he did. There is no mention whatever of the Spirit's coming upon
them until after they had obeyed the gospel (Acts 8:16).
b.
Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9; 22; 26). There was no direct operation
upon Saul's heart. What happened was that evidence was
presented to him that he could not fail to see was genuine. There
is no evidence whatever that God sent a first work of grace upon
Saul.
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c. Cornelius (Acts 10; 11). An angel appeared to Cornelius. The
angel did not perform an operation upon Cornelius's heart.
He told him to fetch Peter who would come and tell him
words whereby he would be saved (Acts 10:22). The only
mention of the Spirit’s coming upon Cornelius was after all of
the above, not before to soften his heart to respond to the Lord's
word.
WORK
SPIRIT
Neh. 9:20
John 14:26
John 16:8
John 3:5
John 6:63
John 16:13
John 3:5
1 Pet. 1:2
1 Cor. 6:11
Instructs
Teaches
Convicts
Begets
Quickens
Guides
Born of
Sanctifies
Saves
Washes
Comforts
Seals
Witnesses
Gives love
Gives joy
WORD
2 Tim. 3:16-17
John
6:44-45
Titus 1:9
Rom. 3:30, 19
1 Cor. 4 : 1 5
Psalm 119:50
2 Tim. 3:16-17
1 Pet. 1:23
2 Thess. 2:13
John 17:17
Eph. 5:26
1 Cor. 6:11
James 1:21
Acts 9:31
Eph. 1:13
1 Thess. 4:18
Rom. 5:5
Rev. 7:3-4; 14:1-2
John 5:39
John 15:11
1 John 2:5
1 Thess. 1:6
Perseverance of the Saints
Preservation of the saints affirms that the elect are in the grace of God
forever and cannot fully apostatize so as to be lest eternally in hell. It
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is otherwise known as "once in grace, always in grace," or "once
saved, always saved." The doctrine is stated thusly:
"They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually
called and sanctified by His Spirit can neither totally nor
finally fall away from the status of Grace; but shall certainly
persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved" (The
Confession of Faith, Chapter XVII, Section 1.
Every passage used by the Calvinist on this proposition deals with
the security of the believer. The Bible teaches the security of the
believer. The question at issue, and the one which the Calvinist must
answer, is as follows: Can a believer become an unbeliever? Can a
faithful child of God become an unfaithful child of God? The
question is not what shall happen to the sheep that is securely in the
fold, who hears and heeds the Shepherd's commands, but what will
happen to the sheep that refuses {to continue} to hear the Shepherd's
voice, jumps the fence, sheds his fleece and dies on the mountains of
sin? Here is the crux of the matter.
This doctrine is closely related to Calvin's teaching on irresistible
grace.
"God, therefore, begins the good work in us by exciting in our
hearts a desire, a love, and a study of righteousness, or (to
speak more correctly) by turning, training, and guiding our
hearts unto righteousness; and he completes this good work by
confirming us unto preservation” (Institutes. Book II, Chapter
3, section 6).
Having understood how perseverance fits into Calvin's system of
doctrine, and particularly how it relates to irresistible grace, let us
allow Calvin to state the doctrine.
"As to the common saying, that after we have given admission to the
first grace, our efforts co-operate with subsequent grace, this is my
answer: If it is meant that after we are once subdued by the power
of the Lord to the obedience of righteousness, we proceed
voluntarily, and are inclined to follow the movement of grace, I
have nothing to object. For it is most certain, that where the grace of
God reigns, there is also this readiness to obey. And whence this
readiness, but just that the Spirit of God being everywhere
consistent with himself, after first begetting a principle of obedience,
cherishes and strengthens it for perseverance?" (Institutes, Book II,
Chapter 3, Section 11).
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"...That the original freedom of man was to be able not to sin, but
that we have a much greater freedom—viz. not to be able to sin,"
and, "Therefore, to meet the infirmity of the human will, and prevent
it from failing, how weak soever it might be, divine grace was made
to act on it inseparably and uninterruptedly" (Ibid., Section 13).
However, leaving much confusion as to just what his position is, he
says: "...though purged by His sanctification, we are still beset by
many vices and much weakness, so long as we are enclosed in the
prison of the body..." (Ibid. Section 14).
As an obvious and familiar explanation for the numerous apostates
in the Bible, he says: "...just as a tree not planted deep enough may
take root, but will in process of time wither away, though it may for
several years not only put forth leaves and flowers, but produce fruit"
(Ibid., Chapter 2, Section 12).
Passages Used To Support Perseverance of the Saints:
Before we list these passages, we wish to point out that the Bible
teaches the security of the believer, and we need to draw much
comfort and assurance from this fact. But the Bible also teaches that
a believer may become an unbeliever, that the obedient can become
the disobedient. The saint may voluntarily renounce the gospel and
forsake Christ.
1.
Ephesians 4:30; 6:10.
2.
John 5:24
3.
John 10:28-29.
4.
1 John 3:1.
5.
Romans 8:35-39.
The Possibility of Apostasy
The Bible teaches that it is possible for a child of God to apostatize
and to be finally lost in hell. The following arguments are a
summary of principal examples of apostasy.
1. The case of Adam and Eve.
a. Adam was the son of God (Luke 3:38). He was made in the
image of God (Genesis 1:26).
b. Adam was uncorrupted by sin. Yet he was no more able to
resist temptation than the one who, according to Calvinism, is
totally depraved.
c. It is not enough to evade the force of these Scriptures by saying
that Adam and Eve were children by creation, but Christians are
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children by adoption. The same warning is given to us (2 Cor.
11:3).
2. When the righteous turns away (Ezekiel 18:26; 33:18).
a. This defends the equality of God's ways.
3. If you forsake God, he will forsake you (2 Chronicles 15:2).
4. If you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever (1
Chronicles.28:9).
5. The Lord departed from Saul.
a. God chooses Saul (1 Samuel 10:24).
b. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him (v. 10).
c. The Lord anoints him (v. 1).
d. He was turned into another man (v. 6).
e. God was with him (v. 7).
f. God gave him another heart (v. 9),
g. Saul said, "I have sinned" (1 Samuel 15:24).
h. The Lord departed from him and became his enemy (1
Samuel
28:16).
i. Saul kills himself (1 Samuel 31:4-6). God says, "If thou
forsake him he will cast thee off forever" (1 Chronicles 28:9).
6. The example of the nation of Israel.
a. My people (Exodus 3:7).
b. People of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 4:20).
c. Children of God (Deuteronomy 14:1).
d. A holy people (v. 2).
e. God favored them (Romans 9:4).
f. The Lord warned them (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
g. A remnant will be saved (Romans 9:27).
h. Natural branches broken off (Romans 11:21-22).
i. Christians can fall after same example of unbelief (Hebrews
4:11).
j. These things written for our admonition (1 Corinthians 10:11).
7. Faith and unbelief.
a. Faith overthrown (2 Timothy 2:18).
b. Cast off faith (1 Timothy 5:12).
c. Depart from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1).
d. Have made shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:19).
8. The crown at the end.
a. If you hold fast in memory (1 Corinthians 15:2).
b. If you hold fast unto the end (Hebrews 3:6, 3, 14).
c. If you continue in the faith (Colossians 1:23).
d. End of faith...salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:9).
e. Be faithful unto death (martyrdom) (Revelation 2:10).
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9. Warnings to Christians,
a. A falling away first (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
b. Fail of the grace of God (Hebrews 12:15).
c. Some blind and forgetful (2 Peter 1:9).
d. Give diligence (2 Peter 1:10).
e. Found peace in Him (2 Peter 3:14).
f. Being led away (2 Peter 3:17).
g Fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4),
h. Save a soul from death (James. 5:19-20).
i. Turned aside after Satan (1 Timothy 5:15).
j. Weak brother perish (1 Corinthians 8:11).
k. Forsaken the right way (2 Peter 2:14-15).
10. Individuals who turn away.
a. Simon (Acts 8:12-24)
b. Demas (2 Tim. 4:10; cf. Col. 4:14; Philemon 24; 1 John 2:15).
c. Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:19-20)
d. Judas:
(1) Called to be an apostle (Matthew 10:1);
(2) Ordained to be with Christ (Mark 3:14);
(3) Sent out to preach, power to cast out demons (Mark 3:145) (4) God gave him to Christ (John 17:12).
(5) None of them is lost but the son of perdition (v. 12).
11. Churches.
a. Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
b. Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-18
Recap
Sovereignty of God
Although Calvin begins his Institutes with an involved study of the
knowledge of God, logically the beginning point of his doctrine is
the sovereignty of God. We need only a quote or two to illustrate
what Calvin taught about this subject. "But whoso has learned from
the mouth of Christ that all the hairs of his head are numbered (Matt.
10:30), will look farther for the cause, and hold that all events
whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God” Institutes,
Book 1, chapter 16, para.2). “The thing to be proved, therefore, is
that single events are so regulated by God, and all events so proceed
from his determinate counsel, that nothing happens fortuitously"
(Institutes, Book 1, chapter 16, para. 4). "It will, therefore, be proper
here to advert [pay attention to or heed] to the end which Scripture
has in view in teaching that things are divinely ordained" Institutes,
Book 1, Chapter 17, para. 1).
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The sovereignty of God, in Calvin's teachings, is necessarily and
inextricably connected with his teaching on predestination. From
these quotations it is clear that Calvin's view was that God has
ordained everything that happens, no matter how small.
According to Calvin, since God has total rule, His will is supreme, and according
to that will He ordained that sin would occur, since by this sin, His own holiness
would be enhanced.
Further, He ordained that of those lost He would save a certain
number. These are the elect, and they are chosen by God's sovereign
will completely apart from any quality they have, or any merit on their
part. It is totally His decision.
Unconditional election:
The doctrine of unconditional election is only an extension of the
general doctrine of Predestination as it relates to the salvation of
sinners. According to Calvin, in Romans 11:6, "Paul clearly declares
that it is only when the salvation of a remnant is ascribed to
gratuitous election, we arrive at the knowledge that God saves whom
He wills of His mere good pleasure, and does not pay a debt, a debt
which never can be due" (Institutes, Book 3, chapter 21, para. 1).
Calvin carefully sets forth his teaching as follows: "By predestination
we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with
himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man. All
are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal
life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been
created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been
predestinated to life or to death" (Book 3, chapter 21, para. 5). One
can see that if the sovereign God predetermines everything, then He
also determines who will be saved and lost.
Limited Atonement
The doctrine of limited atonement is that the death of Christ has
special reference to the elect; He died for the elect only. This doctrine
necessarily follows from the doctrine of election. It is from eternity
God has planned to save a portion of the human race and not another,
it seems to be a contradiction to say that His work has equal reference
to both portions, or that He sent His Son to die for those whom He
had determined not to save, as truly as, and in the same sense, that
He was sent to die for those whom He had chosen for salvation.
These two doctrines must stand or fall together. One cannot
logically accept one and reject the other. If God has elected some
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and not elected others to eternal life, then plainly the primary
purpose of Christ's work was to redeem the elect.
It is not as easy to produce clear statements of Calvin to this effect.
His followers argue among themselves whether he believed in
general redemption. Nevertheless, it is a consequence of doctrines he
does clearly set forth.
In the Synod of Dort (1618-1619) the following statement was set
forth on the subject: "This death of the Son of God is a single and
most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sins, of infinite value and
price, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world;
but because many who are called by the Gospel do not repent, nor
believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief; this doth not arise from
defect or insufficiency of the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the
cross, but from their own fault. God willed that Christ, through the
blood of the cross, should, out of every people/ tribe/ nation, and
language, efficaciously redeem all those, and those only, who were
from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father;
that he should confer on them the gift of faith." McClintock &
Strong also state: "That Christ's atonement was sufficient for all,
that it is actually applied only to the elect, and that it enhances the
guilt of those who reject it, is now almost universally conceded by
the different schools" (Vol. II, p. 46).
On this point, I see this great difference in Calvinism and in what the
Bible teaches in:
Calvinism, it is the election of men that causes them to be
redeemed The Bible it is their redemption that makes them elect.
Total Hereditary Depravity
Calvin wastes no time in his writings getting to his subject. On page
one of his first book, he writes, "In particular, the miserable ruin into
which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn
our eyes upwards." In the second chapter of his first book he refers to
men, "in themselves lost and under curse." This theme is very
prominent as he talks about the necessity of knowing God, because
his point is that we cannot know God fully without the Holy Spirit's
operation upon our mind. The reason why even the elect cannot
respond to God on his own is his total depravity inherited from
Adam.
The Westminster Confession of Faith states concerning total
depravity or total inability:
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"Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all
ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation;
so as a natural man, being altogether averse from good, and
dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert
himself, or to prepare himself" (Chapter IX, section iii).
It is therefore this total depravity that makes the irresistible grace of
God necessary.
Irresistible Grace
Let me quote a few statements from the Institutes on this doctrine. It is not
called such, as far as I know in the Institutes, but the idea is clearly
set forth. "God, however, teaches His elect effectively when He
brings them to faith" (Book 3, chapter 24, para. 1). Calvin quotes
Augustine, allowing him to word this point for him: "What means,
'Everyone that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto
me,' but just that 'there is no one who hears and learns of the Father
that does not come to me'? For if everyone who has heard and
learned, comes; assuredly everyone who does not come, has neither
heard nor learned of the Father; for if he had heard and learned, he
would come" (Book 3, chapter 24, para, 1). Calvin continues to
quote Augustine to the effect that the reason why God's grace is
irresistible, or utterly effectual, is that "it is not received by any hard
heart; for the reason for which it is given is, that the hardness of the
heart may first be taken away" (Institutes, Book 3, chapter 24, para. 1).
Since it is God who decides who will be saved and who will be lost,
it is God who reaches out to His chosen. He sends His Spirit into the
hard heart, "takes away the stony heart, and gives a heart of flesh."
Thus everyone of the elect is saved wholly by the choice and the
work of God.
Perseverance of the Saints
The final point in Calvin's system is the doctrine of the perseverance
of the saints. The Westminster Confession expresses the doctrine as
the follows:
"They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually
called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor
finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly
persevere therein, to the end, and be eternally saved" (Chapter
XVII, Section 1).
In other words, all who become true Christians cannot totally fall
away and be lost -- that while they sin temporarily, they will
eventually be saved.
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As we have been pointing out in this lesson, this doctrine does not
stand alone in Calvinism, because the doctrines of election and
efficacious grace logically imply the certain salvation of those who
are called. The preservation of the saints is not dependent on their
own good works but on the grace of God. Note these two quotations
from the Institutes. Once again we find Calvin quoting Augustine
who says that "the original freedom of man was to be able not to sin,
but that we have a much greater freedom--viz. not to be able to sin."
He quotes him again thusly: "Therefore, to meet the infirmity of the
human will, and prevent it from failing, how weak soever it might
be, divine grace was made to act on it inseparably and
uninterruptedly" (Book 2, chapter 3, para. 13). One can see from this
quotation why many times certain denominationalists have ridiculed
the prayers of those who ask God to forgive them their sins.
Summary and Conclusion
Calvin stated “God is ultimate; therefore His will is ultimate and
final.” God’s power to rule is not in question; nor is His power to
choose what He will. He has complete power and has exercised that
power. The question is does His sovereignty require Him to make all
decisions, to predetermine everything. The answer is emphatically
NO! There are multiple passages where God has reversed His decision
because people, even nations, repented.
The main thing to be emphasized in the study of God's sovereignty is
whether God is able to be sovereign and allow anyone to make subordinate
decisions. It is perfectly in keeping with Bible teaching that God can be
sovereign and still allow men a choice in their destiny. This issue is
inextricably involved with the matter of election. The following summarizes
Calvin’s beliefs on his five man topics. They are followed by quotations
from the Bible showing that his conclusions are invalid.
Unconditional election
Calvin:
According to His sovereign will God foreordained all things. He
foreordained sin itself. He did this for His own glory. To further
enhance His own glory, He predetermined that of sinners, He
would save some and condemn others. He did this according to
His own will so that it has nothing to do with anything men do.
Bible:
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to
be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy
2:3-5)
For God does not show favoritism. (Romans 2:11)
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"I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is
right. (Acts 10:34-36)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Limited Atonement
Calvin:
For His elect, God has provided atonement and salvation
through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
Bible:
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news
to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:1516)
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1
Corinthians 15:22)
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say,
"Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes,
let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
(Luke 19:10)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to
be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy
2:3-4)
Total hereditary depravity
Calvin:
The problem is that through Adam's sin, his nature was
corrupted, and this nature has been passed down to his
descendants.
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Bible:
The gospel is predicated on the fact that it can be preached, that
men may hear it, be pricked in their hearts, and obey it. (Romans
1:16; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by
Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,
through faith in his blood. (Romans 3:23-25)
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become
like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3-4)
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder
them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
(Matthew 19:14-15)
Irresistible grace
Calvin:
Having this corrupt nature, men cannot come to the knowledge
of God by themselves. Even the elect cannot respond to God,
cannot have faith, until the Holy Spirit opens their hearts to
believe and understand. The grace of God, exerted in behalf of
His elect, and, according to His sovereign will, cannot be
thwarted.
Bible:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God
for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then
for the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to
you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I
preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1
Corinthians 15:1-2)
They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time
with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached
the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. (Acts 8:1112)
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And they said, "Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who
fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the
Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to
his house, and to hear words from you. (Acts 10:22)
Perseverance of the saints
Calvin:
The elect will be saved. His grace will sustain the elect and will
not be removed so that they cannot be lost. Their salvation is
sure.
Bible:
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent
to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. (2 Peter
3:14-15)
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be
justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:4)
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and
someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner
from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a
multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)
But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a
stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you
who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the
conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things
offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the
weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? (1 Corinthians
8:9-11)
They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed
children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray. (2
Peter 2:14-15)
Some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered
shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I
delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1
Timothy 1:19-20)
"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says
He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the
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midst of the seven golden lampstands: "I know your works, your
labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.
And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not,
and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have
patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not
become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you
have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you
have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to
you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless
you repent. (Revelation 2:1-6)
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