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notes by Rhyne Putman God Is In
Control Those
Whom He Foreknew… “For those whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His
Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these
whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also
justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:29-30 (NASB Update) Predestined: preordained,
determined beforehand.[1] Two
Views On God’s Sovereignty & Salvation Arminianism.[2]
A doctrine of salvation[3]
that emphasizes the role of man in salvation, and believes that
God’s granting of salvation to individuals is based upon His
foreknowledge of their respective acts of faith.
This theological system teaches that genuinely saved people can
lose their salvation and that some do so through apostasy.
Arminianism is usually contrasted with Calvinism.[4] · Man has the ability to do good, and choose salvation for himself. · God’s election is completely limited to man’s choice. ·
Salvation can be lost. Calvinism. A doctrine of salvation developed from the teachings of John Calvin (A.D. 1509-1564). This theology emphasizes the sovereignty of God in predestinating and electing some to salvation, based solely upon God’s free and unmerited grace. Calvinism is often expressed by the acronym TULIP:[5] Three Types of Calvinists:[6]
· Moderate Calvinists—Believe that human free choice and God’s sovereignty go hand-in-hand. (Many propose this is group's very essence a logical contradiction--nonetheless, this page written from this perspective will uphold this view.) · Extreme Calvinists—Hold to the five points of Calvinism. Are infralapsarians, (lat. infra="below" lapsum="fall"--God elected some to be saved after the fall in the garden.) ·
Superlapsarianism—(or hyper-Calvinists) Hold to
the five points of Calvinism and embrace the idea of
“double-predestination.” Also known as supralapsarians (Lat.
supra="above" lapsum="fall"--God
elected some to be saved and some to be condemned before the fall in
the garden) The Five Points of Calvinism Total Depravity[7] “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” Romans
3:10-12 (NASB Update) Total
Depravity states: 1.
That man is born with an inherited sinful nature (Psalm 51:5),
which we get from Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12-4). 2.
Man is not only separated from God, but also alienated from His
holiness. (Psalm
14:1-3) 3.
Man in his sin is deserving of condemnation.
(2 Thessalonians 1:6-9) 4.
Only by God’s grace are we able to accomplish good.
(John 3:20-21) “You know there is none righteous--Not one who
understands--There is none who seeks God no not one--No not one…. So I
am thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own yeah---Said
I'm so thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own yeah”[8] Derek
Webb, “Thankful” Caedmon’s
Call, 40 Acres The View of Extreme Calvinists ·
An extreme view, known as “Total Inability”[9],
states than man can’t do anything to bring about his salvation.
He lacks the power in his spiritual death to even believe without
God doing the work for him. Unconditional Election “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” Ephesians
1:4a (NASB Update) ·
God elected on His own, without any conditions that
needed to be performed on the part of the elect.[10] God elects us.
There is no question of that—but the question is who is
elected? Election isn’t
based on foreknowledge; it works in accordance with it.
·
There is no necessary condition for God to elect—but
man’s one condition is faith. “In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…” Ephesians
1:4b-5 (NASB Update) Hyper-Calvinists &
Double Predestination ·
In predestination, God elects the believers.
In double-predestination—God elects the believer and elects the
unbeliever. ·
In this view, God is the author of evil—designing it
for His purposes. “Actually, unconditional election makes God a respecter of persons—choosing some and rejecting others—and arbitrarily at that, since they says His selection is not based upon any action of the chosen.”[11] --Robert L. Sumner An
Examination of the TULIP: The Five Points of Calvinism Limited Atonement
or “Particular Atonement” ·
Christ’s Death for His Church: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John
10:15-16 (NIV) “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…” Ephesians 5:25 (NASB Update) ·
Christ’s Death for the World: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
(NASB Update) “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation[12] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2 (NASB Update) Irresistible Grace
Or “Effectual Grace” “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44 (NIV) · Extreme Calvinists hold that the Holy Spirit works against man’s will—compulsively forcing him to chose faith. · Moderate Calvinists believe that God in His grace uses the Holy Spirit to persuade men to faith—in accordance with their choice. ·
Extreme Calvinists hold to the view that the Holy
Spirit does the work of regeneration (when God’s Holy Spirit places a new nature in
you) before you place your faith in Jesus.
Then, when God has regenerated you, you have the ability to place
your faith in Him. “But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves…” Luke 7:30 (NIV) Perseverance of the Saints “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans
8:38-39 (NIV) “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” John 10:27-30 (NIV) · “Once saved, always saved.” ·
The saved, or the elect, have assurance that God will
hold them forever. They
have eternal security. “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 preserve therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”[13] The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 17, 1) “It follows from what was just said that the people of God will persevere to the end and not be lost. The foreknown are predestined, the predestined are called, the called are justified, and the justified are glorified. No one is lost from this group. To belong to this people is to be eternally secure.”[14] --John Piper Author
of Desiring God The View of Extreme
Calvinists [1] Martin, pp. 119 [2] Here are some denominations with Armenian Influence, some stronger in Armenian theology than others: Church of Christ, Methodists, Free Will Baptists, and some Pentecostals [3] Soteriology. A doctrine of salvation. [4] The Believers Study Bible, W.A. Criswell, editor, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers), p.1883 [5] Ibid, p. 1884 [6] Many of these points are taken from the view of Dr. Norman Geisler, a moderate Calvinist who authored a fine book, which speaks about the unity of the Sovereignty of God and the free choice of men. Dr. Norman Geisler, Chosen But Free (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers) 1999. [7] Depravity: a state of internal evil. Also see Week 5, A Demonstration Of Grace. [8] “Thankful” Caedmon’s Call, 40 Acres, words by Derek Webb, 1999 [9] Robert Sumner, An Examination of the TULIP: The Five Points of Calvinism, (Biblical Evangelism, 1972), p. 4 [10] Geisler, p. 67 [11] Ibid, p. 6 [12] Propitiation: atoning sacrifice. [13] Quoted in Geisler, p. 99 [14] “What We Believe About The Five Points Of Calvinism,” John Piper & the Bethlehem Baptist Church Staff, March 1985, Revised March 1998, <http://www.bbcmpls.org/aboutus/tulip.htm> [15] Geisler calls this “false assurance”, and points out that John Calvin himself taught that there was such a thing as a “false work of grace” (Calvin, Institutes Of The Christian Religion, 3.2.). Geisler, p. 99
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