August 16

August 16, 2009

“TULIP”

(Happy Birthday, John Calvin)

This year marks the 500^th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. He was born in a small town in France on July 10, 1509. Calvin was one of the most significant figures in the Protestant Reformation, and his theology has been the basis of many different denominations—including ours—ever since then. The general term for his thought is “reformed theology”, and it is the basis for all the denominations that have the word reformed in their name, like Christian Reformed, United Reformed, Reformed Church in America, etc. as well as all the different Presbyterians, some Baptists, and so on. Because Calvin was such an influential person, and because we don’t talk much about our historical and theological underpinnings, I thought that we should recognize his birth in some way.

Lots of people have negative impressions about Calvin and his theology, and some of that is probably deserved; but it is also true that Calvin was a man of tremendous intellect and courage and devotion to Christ, and he has influenced Protestant theology for the better for nearly 500 years.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to go into all the different dimensions of Calvin’s life and ministry, so this morning, I’m just going to touch briefly on the main points of his theological legacy. Put on your thinking caps, because some of this is pretty heavy. This is what Paul referred to as the “solid meat”, rather than the milk of the Word. I’m going to preach this morning on the five points of Calvinism, which have been summarized with the acronym TULIP[1].

It starts with something that’s pretty somber. The T stands for Total Depravity.

Total Depravity [i] [ii]

Depravity means sinfulness. There are two aspects of this point. One is that all of mankind is sinful.

A. All of mankind Mark 10:18; Romans 3:10‑20

Sometimes, a person will try to defend themselves in an argument, or a conflict of some sort, by saying, “Nobody’s perfect.” That’s not usually a very helpful thing to say in a situation like that, but it’s the absolute truth. That’s exactly what this doctrine of total depravity means. Nobody’s perfect.

One time a man addressed Jesus as “good teacher”, and Jesus replied, Mark 10:18, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” We usually don’t think of it in these absolute terms, but the truth is that no one is absolutely and completely good except God.

Think of the best person you know—the one who exemplifies what you think of as great character, godly behavior, etc. Even they have faults; and the interesting thing is that the best people on earth are those most able to see the sin in their own lives. In fact, that is one of the traits that we consider praiseworthy—the ability to see our own faults.

The other aspect of this doctrine of total depravity is that not only is the whole human race sinful, but every aspect of our being, individually, is tainted with sin.

B. Our whole being Rom 7:18; Isaiah 64:6

Romans 7:18, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.” Our intellect, our emotions, our will, the way we relate to others, our motives—everything about us is bent, twisted, skewed by sin. Nothing good lives in my sinful nature. As Isaiah said, Isaiah 64:6, “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” All the things we tend to think of as demonstrations of how good we are, God sees as oil rags. They don’t measure up; they don’t score any points with Him; they always fall short.[2]

This is true, whether we look on the outside or the inside of our lives.

1. External and internal Jeremiah 17:9; Matt 5:21-22, 27-28

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” There is something about each of us that is extremely deceitful, so that we even try to deceive ourselves. Sometimes we succeed. There are people who do not believe that they are sinful. They do not see the depth of their depravity. They deceive themselves into thinking that they are sincerely, and deeply good. If you want to get a discussion going in the break room some time, just ask whether they believe that mankind is inherently evil or inherently good.

It was to counteract that sort of self-deception in us that Jesus pushed a little deeper into a couple of the Ten Commandments. The commandment said, Do not murder, but Jesus said it applied even to being angry. The commandment said, Do not commit adultery, but Jesus said it applied even to lustful thoughts. God isn’t just concerned about our outward behavior, but also about our internal thoughts and motives and attitudes as well. At that level, nobody’s perfect.

2. Sins of commission and omission

And while we tend to focus on sins of commission—the things we do that we shouldn’t, God is equally concerned about sins of omission—the things that we should do, but don’t.[3] Most of us have cleaned up a lot of the sins of commission. But we often have a long way to go before we do everything we should. Just consider what’s involved in loving someone: it means we have to be patient with them, and put up with their faults, and forgive them when they hurt us, and give them the benefit of the doubt, and be more sensitive to their needs than our own, etc. We don’t do everything love requires for anyone, much less everyone. Nobody’s perfect.

Total depravity does not mean that everyone is as bad as they could be (that’s clearly not true), or that no one can do good things in and of themselves. It does not negate all the very good things that unbelievers do—they often do remarkably good things. But it does mean that everything we do is tainted with sin. As someone said, “Even when we give someone a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name, we have our thumb in it.” [4]

Unconditional Election Deut. 7:6-8; 10:15; 14:2; Ps 33:12; 65:4; Is 41:8,9; Amos 3:2; John 6:44, 65; 15:16; Acts 2:38,39; 13:48; 14:27; 16:14; 18:27; Romans 8:7,8, 29,30; 9:10-18,23; 11:5; 1 Cor 1:27-29; Eph 1:4,5,11; 2:1-5; 1 Thess 1:4,5; 2 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 1:9; 1 Pet 1:1,2; 2 Pet 1:10

This is the doctrine that many people stumble over. The first thing I would like to say about this is to call your attention to the large number of passages on your sermon outline that teach the doctrine of election, or predestination. I am continually amazed when people express the opinion that the Bible doesn’t say anything about this, because it is all through the Bible: the law, the psalms, the prophets, the gospels, Acts, and the letters of Paul and Peter. And it is not based on just a few obscure terms, but on a broad vocabulary that includes words like chosen, elected, predestined, appointed for eternal life, God opened the door, God opened her heart, the Father draws him, etc. I don’t know how much more biblical support for a doctrine you would need before you believed it.

Let’s look at just a few of these passages. To begin with, God chooses some people to be His.

A. God chooses Deut 7:6; John 15:16; Eph 1:4-5

· Moses said to the Israelites in the desert, Deut 7:6, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”

· Jesus said much the same thing to His disciples: John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last.” That is as true for us as it was for them. There is certainly a sense in which we made a conscious choice to submit ourselves to the King of the universe, to ask Him to be our Savior. But we were only able to make that choice because Jesus chose us first.

· Eph 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 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” This decision God made to save us was made even before He created the universe.

B. It’s a good thing! John 6:44; Rom 8:7 / Heb 11:6

And it’s a good thing God did choose us, because, Jesus said, John 6:44, "No one can[5] come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” It’s just not possible for us to do this on our own. Or as Paul put it, Rom 8:7, “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot[6] please God.” We are trapped in our sinful natures. As long as we are lost, we simply cannot come to Christ in faith. People do not have the ability to choose God if He does not choose us first. If God did not choose some, no one would be saved, because nobody’s perfect.

C. Praise God for choosing us! Rom 11:5; Eph 1:5-6, 11-12

This is why the Bible uniformly sees election, or predestination, as a really good thing! Romans 11:5, “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” We don’t deserve to be saved, but God in His mercy and grace chose us to be saved. Ephesians 1:5-6, “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Many people today think of predestination as a bad thing; they don’t like it. But God’s choice of us is so wonderful, so undeserved, so gracious, that the biblical writers are constantly praising Him for it. If we have a different opinion of this doctrine, something is wrong with us; we need to get our heads turned around so that we see it the way they do.

D. His choice is unconditional Rom 9:10-16; Rom 5:8

The U in TULIP stands for unconditional election. In Romans 9-11, Paul sets out the doctrine of predestination more clearly than any other place. In the course of that argument, he says, Rom 9:10, “Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.11 Yet, before the twins [Esau and Jacob] were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 [his purpose is to save us this way:] not by works but by him who calls--she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger’ [God chose Jacob, the second born son, not the first-born Esau, to be the one who would inherit the blessings of God promised to Abraham. That completely reversed the cultural expectation that the first-born would be pre-eminent. Paul concludes,] … 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.” God does not choose some because they are born first; He does not choose some because they are better than others; He does not choose some because He can see that in the future they will believe in Him. It has nothing to do with us; it is a completely unconditional choice.

Typically in any discussion about predestination, someone will ask,

E. What about free will?

It’s a good question, because the Bible is clear that we are free moral agents, who can and do make moral choices, and that we will experience the consequences, good and bad, of those decisions. There is no question that we have free will in this sense.

But the Bible also says that God chooses some to believe, and not others, and that seems to fly in the face of our free will to decide for or against Christ. The way I have found to reconcile these two truths is to say that we are free to do anything we want to do. We are free to live a life of hedonistic pleasure seeking, or we can become a Buddhist monk; we are free to marry whoever we want; we are free to choose whether to eat that ice cream cone or to opt for a salad. Whatever we want, we can choose. But here’s the rub: we will never want to ask Jesus to be our Savior; we will never want to submit our wills to Christ as Lord, unless God graciously chooses us first. Only after God has given new life to our spirits will we ever want to come to Christ.[7] Before that, we simply can’t (John 6:44; Rom 8:7,8). After we are born again, then we can choose Him.

Limited Atonement. Jn 10:15; 15:13 (Col 1:22); Eph 5:25; Acts 20:28. But see 2 Cor 5:19; 1 Tim 2:6; 4:10; Heb 2:9; 1 Jn 2:2

First, I’ll tell you how this point is typically explained and give some Scriptural support for that, but then I’ll tell you why I partially disagree with it.

The idea here is that the atonement Jesus accomplished on the cross was exclusively for the elect, those who would become believers by putting their faith in Christ. The purpose and scope of the atonement was limited to them. This sounds strange to our ears, but look at these verses:

· John 10:15, Jesus said, “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Who are the sheep of God’s pasture? Only those who believe in Him. The rest are goats.

· John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus laid down His life for His friends. Paul said that people who are not in Christ are alienated from God and are His enemies (Col 1:22), not His friends.

· Ephes. 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” --i.e. for the Church. The implication is that Christ did not give Himself up for those who were not going to be part of “the Church”, the called-out-ones.

So this view is not entirely without Scriptural support; if it were, neither an intellect like John Calvin nor anyone else would have believed it. But I think I see some other indications in Scripture that Jesus died not just for the elect, but for everyone.

· 1 Timothy 4:10, “we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.” He is the Savior of all, but only those who believe will benefit from His death on the cross, so He is especially their Savior.

· 1 John 2:2, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross made atonement not just for the elect who become Christians, but for everyone.[8]

So I would say that I am a 4½ point Calvinist. I believe that the death of Christ was sufficient to pay for the sins of everyone who will ever live, but only those who are elect will be saved.

Irresistible Grace John 6:37; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:29-30

So all people are sinners; God unconditionally and graciously chooses to save some of them, with no regard for their merit; the death of Christ has paid for the sins of the whole world, but only those who trust Him will benefit from that sacrifice. Now the question is, who will trust Him? And the answer from Calvin and Scripture is, All those whom the Father calls.

· John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”[9] The Father is going to give some people to Jesus as His own possession, and everyone last one of them will come to faith in Christ. Nobody slips through the cracks.

· Acts 13:48, “When the Gentiles heard this [Paul’s announcement that the Messiah had come for them, too], they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.” Some people are appointed for eternal life; they are predestined to be saved. And all of those like that who were present there that day believed. None of the elect decided on their own, “No thanks; I’m not interested.”

· Romans 8:29‑30, “ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” The thing to notice in this passage is that there is no slippage. All those God knows in this special way before creation are predestined to be made into the image of Christ. All those who are predestined are called. All those He calls are justified. God’s grace is irresistible.

The underlying reason I believe God’s grace is irresistible is because God is sovereign. He is bigger and stronger than anyone on earth. To say that a mere human, a creation of God, can resist his or her creator, seems blasphemous to me.[10] Some people want to say that we can choose for or against God, that our free will is so strong that we can defy the call of God on our lives. That seems absurd to me. If we are chosen, then when God calls us, we will come.[11] It’s a free choice on our part, but a choice that has only been made possible by God’s prior work in our lives.

And if He calls us, we will persevere.

Perseverance of the Saints Rom 8:29-30, 37-39; John 10:28-29; 1 John 2:19

I am often asked if I believe that once we are saved we will always be saved. The answer is a heartfelt and grateful and confident “Yes!” Here’s why:

· As we just saw in Romans 8:30, “…those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Everyone who is justified by God’s grace will be glorified. No one stumbles in the last 100 yards.

· A little later in that chapter, Paul said, Romans 8:37‑39, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] 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.” Nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ. Nothing anyone else does; nothing I do; nothing.

· Jesus said, John 10:28‑29, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.” You know that Allstate ad, “You’re in good hands with Allstate”? You’re in even better hands with God. That is ultimate, eternal security.

Some people believe that we have free will to choose for or against God, but that once we’re saved, we cannot lose our salvation. That’s inconsistent. If we have the power to get into Christ, then we would have the power to choose to leave Him. But if God is solely responsible for our salvation, then He is responsible, and more than able, to keep us.

A. What about those who fall away? Matt 13:1-23; 1 John 2:19

But we all know people who seemed to believe, but who later fell away from God. I knew a guy who was an amazing leader in his Christian group on campus; he led people to Christ, he was active in discipling others. But after a summer in India, he completely bagged his Christian faith. What about people like that?

I think there are a couple of passages of Scripture that may speak about such people. One is the parable Jesus told about the different soils (Matt 13:1-23). The seed of the Word was sowed on all of them, but in two cases, it appeared to sprout but didn’t amount to anything. In the rocky soil, the plant started to grow, but when persecution came, it died. In the soil full of thorns and weeds, the plant started to grow, but then the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choked the life out of it, and it also died. This indicates that there will be people who seem to have become Christians, they responded in some way initially to the Word of God, but their spiritual life is not deep enough, and they do not persevere in the faith. They never produce any spiritual fruit.

The apostle John described such people this way: 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” In the early church, and all through history, there have been people who attached themselves to the church, who participated in church activities, but they never really believed, so they didn’t really belong to the Body of Christ. If they had, they would have remained steadfast. If we are genuinely saved, we will persevere in our faith to the end of our lives.[12]

The overarching message that we should take away from all these passages of Scripture that teach the doctrines of Calvin’s TULIP is that God is sovereign. We are completely lost in our sinfulness, and can do nothing to save ourselves—not even believe in Christ. But God in His mercy has chosen to save some. In order to accomplish that, He sent His son to the cross, to make atonement for our sin. At some point, He stepped into our lives, irresistibly called us to Himself, and saved us. And then He insures that we will be kept safe in Christ all through our lives. It’s all of God. He gets all the glory! Praise Him!

Brian Day is going to come and sing a song about Calvinism that was written by Zac Hicks, the worship pastor at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Denver.[iii]

BENEDICTION: Romans 11:33-36 33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! 34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? 35 And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? 36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

See Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) for a helpful and readable explanation of these five points of Calvinism: Total depravity, ch.24; Unconditional election, ch.32; Limited atonement, ch.27; Irresistible grace, ch.34; and Perseverance of the saints, ch.40.

For an excellent treatment of election, see R.C. Sproul, Chosen By God, Tyndale House, 1986.

U__________________________ ___________________ Deut. 7:6-8; 10:15; 14:2; Ps 33:12; 65:4; Is 41:8,9; Amos 3:2; John 6:44, 65; 15:16; Acts 2:38,39; 13:48; 14:27; 16:14; 18:27; Romans 8:7,8, 29,30; 9:10-18,23; 11:5; 1 Cor 1:27-29; Eph 1:4,5,11; 2:1-5; 1 Thess 1:4,5; 2 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 1:9; 1 Pet 1:1,2; 2 Pet 1:10

L____________________ ___________________________ Jn 10:15; 15:13; Eph 5:25; Acts 20:28. But see 2 Cor 5:19; 1 Tim 2:6; 4:10; Heb 2:9; 1 Jn 2:2

P________________________ ____ ______ ____________ Rom 8:29-30, 37-39; John 10:28-29; 1 John 2:19

See this sermon online at www.faithepc.org/Sermon%20Archive.htm for additional teaching on this broader topic, including the Reformed Order of Salvation, and a fuller treatment of predestination with answers to common objections to the doctrine. For an excellent treatment of election, see R.C. Sproul, Chosen By God, Tyndale House, 1986.

[1] See Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) for a helpful and readable explanation of these points. Total depravity, ch.24; Unconditional election, ch.32; Limited atonement, ch.27; Irresistible grace, ch.34; and Perseverance of the saints, ch.40.

[2] In fact, if we try to use them to score points with God, as the Israelites were doing in Isaiah’s day, then those “righteous acts” are positively offensive to God, because they imply that we think we can be good enough for Him if we just try hard enough. That’s why Isaiah uses a term for filthy rags that means a menstrual pad, which was ceremonially unclean in the sight of God. It’s not just that our righteous acts fall short of what God expects; it’s that they make us unclean, unfit to be in His presence.

[3] James 4:17 “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.”

[4] Another way to think about all the different aspects of our nature that are fallen: When we are young, we tend to think that our motives are either black or white, all good or all bad. But the older we get, the more clearly we are able to see the gray in our motives. For example, a husband goes out of his way to do something nice for his wife, and he really does love her and want to do that for her. But in the back of his mind is also the thought that if he’s nice to her now, it might put her in a better mood later, and he has plans for “later”. A company owner decides to contribute to a charity in town, maybe by donating something that the church wants to use as a door prize. Very nice; but the owner also knows that he or she is building good will in the community that they hope will come back to them later in increased sales. It’s not strictly altruistic. Every part of our being is poisoned with sin. Nobody’s perfect.

[5] @Û*,ÂH *Û<"J"4, no one is able

[6] @Û *Û<"vJ"4, are not able

[7] See the Order of Salvation in the endnote below.

[8] His death was sufficient to make atonement for everyone, but is only efficient for the elect. I understand Limited Atonement to mean that the purpose of the cross was only to atone for the elect, and I think I disagree with that.

[9] Note the close connection between this verse and v.44 which says that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws them.

[10] I am sure that those who hold this view do not intend to blaspheme God. I think their error is in ignoring all the passages that speak of God’s effective call on our lives. See Romans 1:1; 1:6-7; 8:28; 8:30; 9:12; 9:24; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1:9; 1:24; 1:26; 7:20; Galatians 1:6; 1:15; 5:13; Ephesians 1:18; 4:4; Philippians 3:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 5:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; 1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 9:15; 1 Peter 1:15; 2:9; 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3; Jude 1:1

[11] See endnote below on the Order of Salvation, to see where the “effective call” fits in.

[12] Falling away in this final sense is not the same as a temporary backsliding. Many Christians have fallen into the wrong set of friends, or have become disappointed with God because He allowed some disaster into their lives, or He didn’t answer some prayer that was very important to them, etc., and that has caused them to drift from their relationship with God. But then later in life, sometimes years later, they do come back to a more vital faith, giving credence to the notion that the elect will persevere in their faith.

[i] The Order of Salvation

The Reformed view of the order of Salvation captures much of what has been expressed through the acronym TULIP.

1. Foreknowledge. Rom 8:29; 11:2. Before the Creation, God knew some people in a way that He did not know others. He had His eye on them in a special way.

2. Predestination. Eph 1:5, 11. In love and grace and mercy, God predestined some to be saved. If He didn’t do this, no one would be saved. Since everyone deserves to die for their sin, God is under no obligation to save everyone, just because He saves some.

3. Effective call. This is not just a casual, “Why don’t you come over to my house tonight?” type of invitation. This is different from the general gospel invitation that goes out to all people through God’s servants. It is a summons from the king of the universe, and it is so powerful that it always brings about the response of faith.

4. Regeneration. John 3:3. Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again, which is exactly what re-generation means. Until God gives new life to our spirits, we cannot choose Christ, we cannot repent or trust in Jesus.

5. Repentance/faith go together. They are the next step. When God makes us alive in our spirits, then we can repent; then we can put our faith in Christ.

6. Justification. The moment we do that, we are justified by God’s grace. Our sentence is changed from “guilty” to “not guilty”. It’s “justasifI’dneversinned”.

7. Sanctification. Then the Holy Spirit begins the life-long work of sanctifying us, of making us into the image of Christ.

8. Glorification. And the moment we die, we are glorified—all the sinful, selfish, ugly parts of us are burned away, and we are the person God always intended for us to be.

9. Resurrection. The final step is the resurrection of our bodies, when our spirits will be “clothed” in new bodies suited to live forever in a new heaven and new earth.

[ii] CHOSEN BY GOD—THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION

Article #4 in the Essentials of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church says, "Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God's free grace." This statement is intended to convey the truth of the doctrine of election, or predestination. Since many people come to Faith Evangelical Church from church backgrounds which do not teach predestination, here is a brief outline of the Biblical teaching relevant to that doctrine. The underlined verses are quoted in full beneath each heading; all the verses quoted should be studied in their context.

I. The Doctrine in Scripture

Deut. 7:6-8; 10:15; 14:2; Ps 33:12; 65:4; Is 41:8,9; Amos 3:2; John 6:44, 65; 15:16; Acts 2:38,39; 13:48; 14:27; 16:14; 18:27; Romans 8:7,8, 29,30; 9:10-18,23; 11:5; 1 Cor 1:27-29; Eph 1:4,5,11; 2:1-5; 1 Thess 1:4,5; 2 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 1:9; 1 Pet 1:1,2; 2 Pet 1:10

Deut. 7:6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

JOHN 6:44 "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 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

ACT 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

ACT 14:27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

ACT 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.

ROM 8:7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

ROM 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

ROM 9:10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will

EPH 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

EPH 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.

Notice:

1. The wide variety of passages, both Old and New Testament

2. The vocabulary: chosen, elected, predestined, appointed for eternal life, God opened the door, God opened her heart, the Father draws him, etc.. A rich, diverse vocabulary. The doctrine does not depend on one or two obscure words.

II. God's Choice of Us Is:

A. Gracious

ROM 11:5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

EPH 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

2TI 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.

B. Sovereign

1. Based solely on His purpose and pleasure.

ROM 9:11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger."...16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

EPH 1:5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will

2TI 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.

2. As Sovereign, He has the authority to choose

ROM 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20 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?'" 21 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?

C. Eternal

EPH 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

2TH 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

2TI 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

III. Objections to the Doctrine of Election

A. It destroys free will.

The invitation, with implied choice:

REV 22:17 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.

ANSWER: We have freedom of choice in many things, and will be held accountable for our choices. We are free to choose everything we want to choose. But in fact, we do not ever want to choose Jesus in the flesh. If we wanted to, we could, but we cannot want to without His Spirit working in us.

ROM 7:18 "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature." This is what makes His choice of us so gracious. Without His Spirit moving on us, we would never choose Jesus.

ROM 8:7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Another aspect to this objection is that this doctrine reduces our control over our own destiny. It limits our power, and this is felt to be demeaning.

In fact, because we never could choose God apart from His activity in our lives, God's calling of us gives us an option we did not have before.

B. The Bible says God wants everyone to be saved:

2PE 3:9 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.

ANSWER: Those who do not hold to predestination have just as much difficulty with this verse as those who do. They have to answer this dilemma: If God wants everybody to be saved, why is everyone not saved? The standard answer here is that they do not choose to believe. But if God wants them to, and they do not believe, then those people must be more powerful than God, in that they defy His will. This clearly cannot be.

My answer would be: The Bible speaks of the will of God in more than one way. One is His sovereign will. This is that will by which God brings things to pass with absolute certainty. Nothing can resist the will of God in this sense.

Secondly, there is His will expressed in His commands and laws. It is God's will that we do the things He commands, but we are capable of disobeying this will.

Thirdly, the Bible speaks of the will of God in terms of His disposition, what is pleasing to Him. God does not take delight in the death of the wicked. There is a sense in which the punishment of the wicked does not bring joy to God. He chooses to do it because it is good to punish evil, but He is "sad" about having to do it. This is much the way a judge feels who is saddened by the necessity of imposing a severe punishment on a convicted criminal, but who does it anyway, knowing that it is for the best, and rejoicing in the best.

If we take the first definition of God's will in the 2 Peter 3:9 passage, it forces us to conclude that all will be saved. This is contrary to many passages of Scripture and our own observation. Moreover, we then have the dilemma of men being stronger than God, because if God wills for them to be saved, but they are not, then they have successfully resisted the sovereign will of Almighty God, a clear impossibility. The Arminian view of God reduces Him to a being who is incapable of exerting His will even over a weak, finite, and sinful creature. This is no God at all. By definition, God is all powerful.

The second type of God's will is not applicable here; salvation is not a command expressed in His law.

This passage may be referring to God's disposition, that which would please Him the most. It means that God takes no delight in the perishing of anyone. He would prefer to see everyone saved. But, for reasons that are forever locked in the secret recesses of His will, He chooses to save some but not all.

Another interpretation of this passage focuses on the question of who is meant by "anyone". Peter is writing to Christians. He refers to them when he says, "He is patient with you." If Christians are meant by "anyone", then Peter is saying that God does not will that any Christians should perish. If that is His meaning, then the text would demand the first definition of God's will, and would be one more strong passage in favor of predestination.

C. It destroys human responsibility.

ANSWER: The Bible clearly teaches throughout that we are free moral agents, who can make choices, and will be held responsible for those choices. For example, GAL 6:7, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." And 2CO 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." As mentioned earlier, we can choose to do anything we want to do. But it would appear that in this one case, the case of our salvation, God mercifully makes the choice to save some who, on their own, would never have chosen Him. So the reality is not that God is punishing those who have no choice in the matter, because each person freely chooses to go his or her own way, apart from God (see Isaiah 53:6). Rather, God is graciously saving some who would otherwise have no chance of salvation because of their own sinful nature.

D. It isn't fair.

God is not treating everyone the same, and that is not fair.

ANSWER: If God were to be "fair", He would destroy the whole human race immediately. This would be the only thing God could do in which He would treat us all the same, and not violate His justice. This goes beyond fair to merciful (see Romans 11:5,6; Eph 2:8; 2 Tim 1:9).

Just because He chooses to save some, He does not have an obligation to save all. See the same principle at work in the parable Jesus told about the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16. As He says there, "Are you envious because I am generous?" He is not being unjust to those who are lost—they will receive exactly what they deserve.

E. It is inconsistent with our concept of God as good and loving.

ANSWER: The Bible consistently presents this doctrine as a demonstration of God's goodness, mercy, and love. (See passages above.) If He did not choose some, all would be lost. If we do not see it that way, then we are seeing it wrongly. We must change our thinking to see things from God's perspective, which is always reality.

Also, we must beware of imposing our concept of love on God. All too often we have difficulty thinking of love in conjunction with justice and righteousness. Our love can easily deteriorate into sentimentality, but God's cannot. He perfectly blends love and justice, compassion and righteousness.

F. It destroys evangelism and missions.

This doctrine makes it unnecessary for us to tell people about Christ, since God will save those He wants anyway.

ANSWER: It certainly didn't destroy the impetus for evangelism and missions for Paul, who taught predestination more clearly than any other New Testament writer. In fact, God has chosen to use us as His divinely appointed means for saving those whom He has elected. The fact that God is the one who ultimately saves does not remove the necessity of some practical means for calling those people to Himself.

ROM 10:13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 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? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

1CO 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

2CO 5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

G. Romans 8:29,30 says that God calls and justifies those whom He "foreknew". This means He knew in advance who would choose Him in faith. Then those are the ones he predestined to be saved.

ANSWER: First, we must notice that the text does not say what God foreknew. In fact, it does not say that He foreknew anything about those whom He predestined. It merely says He knew them before they were born. We might compare this to Jesus' response to those who made a claim to salvation on the basis that they had done many wonderful works in His Name: "I never knew you." (Matt 7:23) No matter what we have done or not done in this life, the determining factor in our salvation is whether or not Jesus "knows" us.

A person's faith cannot be the reason God "foreknows" them, because foreknowledge is before predestination, and predestination is before faith. That is to say, it is only those who are predestined who believe, and it is only those who are "foreknown" who are predestined. The process defined for us here in Romans 8 is: foreknowledge ==> predestination ==> calling (and faith) ==> justification ==> glorification. It won't do to take faith out of order and put it as the cause of the first three things, when in fact it is the result of them.

Moreover, other texts (Rom 8:7,8; Eph 2:1-5) are clear that we do not and cannot choose God on our own without His prior intervention. So this cannot mean that God looked down the halls of time, saw who was going to freely choose Him, and then decided to save them, because no one freely chooses Him on their own.

Also, this interpretation makes God's activity in our salvation a passive reaction to our action, rather than active initiation. This is contrary to the pattern we see throughout the Bible.

IV. Practical implications

A. Evangelism

1. Motivation: evangelism is the God-ordained means of calling people He has predestined. We must be about the task of world-evangelization, because God has commanded us to do that, and because this is the way God has chosen to save the elect. Since we do not know who is and who is not chosen, we approach everyone with the same expectation that God may very well call them through us.

2. Confidence: Acts 13:48 "All who were appointed for eternal life believed." This gives us great confidence that we will be successful in our evangelistic efforts.

3. Freedom: while we have a responsibility before God to be active in missions and evangelism, the entire weight of responsibility for the salvation of people does not fall on us. God is the One ultimately responsible for their salvation, not us.

B. An incentive to godly living, motivated by gratitude to God for saving us, which we could not possibly have done by ourselves. He not only provided the satisfaction for His own justice, he then effectively called us into this salvation.

C. Assurance of our salvation.

ROM 8:33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 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.

Since we know that it is God who saves us, and not we ourselves, the security of our salvation is also dependent on God, and not on us.

D. An incentive to worship God.

EPH 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

EPH 1:12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

At the end of his great teaching on predestination in Romans 9-11, Paul concludes with ROM 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

If this teaching is difficult for you to accept, I suggest you do your own inductive study of all the verses listed here, and try to come up with your own understanding of the Scripture that will give full weight to each of them. Be careful not to leave any out, or to distort their clear teaching.

[iii] Don’t Worry, You’re a Calvy

To the tune of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” by Bobby McFerrin

Words by Zac Hicks (http://www.zachicks.com), 2008

(one stanza was omitted because it would not have been clear to the congregation)

John Calvin, he read his Bible

That started a big revival

Don’t worry, be a Calvy

His teaching will set you free

And to boot he’s got a sweet gotee

Don’t worry, be a Calvy

Reformed…

Some say election’s misleading

Ephesians 1, hey, what Bible are you reading?

Don’t worry, be a Calvy

Four-point, Five-point, big debate

Limited Atonement, hey, what’s to hate?

Don’t worry, be a Calvy

Reformed…

~~Openness theology’s a little hazy~~

~~Molinism…philosophically crazy!~~

~~Don’t worry, you’re a Calvy~~

For the elect, Jesus died,

Redemption accomplished, and applied

Don’t worry, be a Calvy

If you fear your soul’s in trouble

Predestination’s single, if not double

Don’t worry, you’re a Calvy

Reformed…

Calvinists they have a flower

TULIP made from sovereign power

Don’t worry, you’re a Calvy

Arminians, they have the daisy

He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me maybe

Don’t worry, you’re a Calvy

Reformed…