Appointed for the Defense of the Gospel (Part 4a)
Calvinism Predestination Error Ephesians 1:3-12
Don’t be confused but the goal of this issue is to present facts from God’s word and prove predestination of the church is a true and scriptural doctrine and also will by the same scripture will prove that the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and election is not true. In Predestination there are 5 tenants or points. Often remembered by the acronym “TULIP” popularized in the 1963 booklet “The Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended, Documented” by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas. (T)otal depravity: Summarily, as a consequence of the fall of man into sin, every person is enslaved to sin and that people are not by nature inclined to love God but rather to serve their own interests and to reject the rule of God. We would be careful to note that this doctrine is derived from Augustine’s explanation of Original Sin. And the phrases, “totally depraved” and “utterly perverse” used by Calvin, cannot be found in the inspired word of God. In everything we study; Never forget the words of Paul (Gal. 1:6-8). (U)nconditional election: God has chosen from eternity those whom he will bring to himself not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people; rather, his choice. He withholds mercy from those not chosen and those chosen receive salvation through Christ alone. (L)imited atonement: Also called “particular redemption” or “definite atonement”, asserts that Jesus’s substitutionary atonement was definite and certain in its purpose and in what it accomplished. They teach only the sins of the elect were atoned for by Jesus’s death. This doctrine tries to get around the Bibles profession that “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15) They teach, “The atonement is sufficient for all and efficient for the elect.” (I)rresistible grace: The saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (that is, the elect) and overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith. This means God’s Holy Spirit cannot be resisted. The Holy Spirit “graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ.” (P)erseverance of the saints: Used to refer to all who are set apart by God, and not of those who are exceptionally holy, canonized, or in heaven. Asserts since God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end.
This doctrine: “It Is Injurious to the Salvation of Man”: The doctrine of predestination means man can do nothing to effect or influence his salvation nor to prevent damnation of his soul. If this be true, and it’s not, why give up lust of the eyes, flesh and pride of life? Why not enjoy and live a life of a true pagan, doing evil, disobeying God’s holy word, living in sin, lust, fornication, homosexuality, even denying the very existence of God? Where is the motivation for good? Why should anyone be concerned about the soul’s salvation? Why pray? Why study God’s word? Why share the good news about Jesus? This teaching causes so many to be lost because…
It Changes The Grounds of Our Salvation: Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Acts 20:28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” No need for the blood. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). (1) According to the Bible, man is saved through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Calvinism makes one’s salvation dependent upon the election of God prior to all the ages began and—NOT—Jesus’ blood, falsely teaching that God decides who will and will not be saved. Long before the cross God already made a list saving some and condemn others making the shedding of the blood of Christ, nothing more than a salvation drama. The offensiveness of this teaching is great because…
Predestination is Offensive to the Nature of God: The Lord had John pen, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). John also by the Spirit penned, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Wait! God gave Jesus as an atoning sacrifice to who? Whosoever (everyone), then answer this, “Who then does God not love?” The answer is No one! Calvinism wants us to believe that the God of Love, created the greater portion of men for eternal damnation (Matt. 7:13-14) to the praise of His glory. What kind of perverted use of the term “[ἠγάπησεν] love” does this demonstrate? It is repugnant to the goodness of God because it teaches that God has willed the greatest possible evil, “eternal damnation in Hell”, to the greater number of His creatures.
It Is Hostile to The Nature of Eternal Death: Eternal death is presented as “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6:23) and given to those whom when Jesus returns, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:8-9) Who are “those”? It is for the enemies and adversaries of God (Matt. 25:41; Heb. 10:27). Yet, according to predestination, God created man in such a way as He cannot keep from sinning. Then, He withheld from man a sufficient portion of His grace as to enable him to believe and obey the gospel. Then, He condemned to hell the man who could not keep from doing this, who simply carried out God’s will. Hence, the doctrine of predestination is contrary to the nature of both eternal life and eternal death.
This false teaching would have never gotten off the ground if the author had just understood that it was not man that God predestined, but the church. Using a simple common grammatical practice called, “antecedent” on all the uses of “our”, “us” and “we” would prove this point as the letter was written to the “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus” and from this first verse forward every “our”, “us” and “we” refers to a saint, whether and apostle or member of the local church.
This will be continued in our next issue. Know this, that the word of the Lord is the seed planted, and every good heart that received it will be saved, and that’s according to Jesus (Luke 8:4-15).
In Love
Dave Scarpino