My Nephew's Mission Trip

The third generation of the McKillop family is involved in missions, and next month my parents eldest grandson will be going to Indonesia with Surfing the Nations.

Here is the letter I received today concerning the trip. I encourage each of you to pray for him and the team, and if you are able, support his trip financially.

Dear Friends and Family,

The Lord has truly blessed my time in college at UCSB. Through my five Christian housemates and through the community of believers in Real Life - the Campus Crusade for Christ group here at UCSB - he has made my two years here a time of accelerated spiritual growth. God has given me an increased understanding of the Truth of His Word and the deceitfulness of the Enemy. He has also showed me the Power of Prayer in discovering and following God's ultimate purpose for my life. No matter what obstacles I face, whether related to timing, finances, or school, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). This has inspired me to step out in full assurance of faith, and to ask for your support for my Missions trip to Indonesia on July 3-28.

Ever since I was in high school, God has reminded me of His Love for Indonesia. It is the largest Muslim country in the world-centered in the 10/40 window-and it has some of the best surf in the world. I believe God is leading me to use my passion for surfing to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this nation. Matthew 28:19 states "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

By partnering with the nonprofit organization, Surfing the Nations, a team will deliver medical relief, clothing, Bibles, and other essentials to four different islands of Indonesia (Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Gili, and Nusa Lembongan). Focusing on relational ministry, we will be visiting orphanages, hosting local surf contests, and even working in the rice fields with native farmers. While traveling between islands, considerable time will also be spent praying for the people of this land and educating ourselves on how best to evangelize to them.

This trip was placed before me only days ago, but God's plan emerged before time began. His desire is to see all His beloved children come to know Him. I trust that He is the ultimate provider, but here is how you can help:

Financial Support Options:

• Write a check/money order to me.


• Write a check/money order to Surfing The Nations
  ATTN: Raj Devasirvatham (Tax deductible).


• Donate online: Surfing the nations (Tax deductible)
• Click Contributions
• Click Make a Donation online
• Fill out required information
• Purpose of gift GENERAL FUND
• In the note box enter my name as the designation

The Cost:

• Ground Fees - $1,023.75


• Airfare - $1,149.75


• Food/Spending - $500


• Grand Total: $2,673.50

In order to make this trip happen, all Finances are due by Friday, June 12.

Network:

I need you to help network with me. Please pass the word or this actual letter on to others who might be interested in supporting me.

Prayer:

While money is important, it comes at a distant second to my need for your prayers. Since prayer support is so important to the success of this mission, I would like to know if I could count on you in this area.

I understand that this is very short notice, but I have complete faith that the Lord will accomplish a miracle. I truly believe that it is in God's Supreme Will for me to go to Indonesia-whether this year or in the future. I look forward to hearing from you, and to keeping you updated on the progress of this Missions trip. Call me or check out www.surfingthenations.com if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you and God Bless.

Sincerely in Christ,

Raj Devasirvatham

For my nephew's contact information you may email me through my profile.

Disclaimer:
Links in this article are provided solely for information purposes,
and do not in any way imply full and complete endorsement.

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An Examination of Tulip: The Five Points of Calvinism

While unpacking some boxes of books recently I came across a small, 23-page booklet titled, An Examination of Tulip: The "Five Points" of Calvinism!, authored by Robert L. Sumner. The booklet was published by Biblical Evangelism Press, Brownsburg, Indiana, with a copyright date on the inside cover of 1972. The booklet is available through Sumner's website.

I do not recall where I acquired the booklet, nor do I recall having read it previously. As I read through it, I found much to disagree with; my purpose in this article is to critique the arguments Sumner puts forward in his examination of Calvinism.

The booklet is divided into four sections with a short introduction and conclusion. The sections are titled:

1. What are the "Five Points" of Calvinism? (pages 4-11)
2. How Does This Position Effect Evangelism? (pages 11-12)
3. What Is Wrong With the "Five-Point" Position? (pages 12-19)
4. The "Five Points" Effect on Other Doctrines (pages 19-22)

He begins the second paragraph of his introduction by writing:

Those who hold to five-point Calvinism teach that God, in a sense, really doesn't want all men to be saved or to come unto the knowledge of his truth. (3)

and ends the paragraph with the following:

…what they teach amounts to His actually wanting the majority of souls to perish in Hell eternally. (3)

Sumner's objection here is a fairly common objection to Calvinism. What is fascinating to me is that I have never heard or read any Calvinist who would agree with Sumner's representation of Calvinism. Charles Spurgeon, in his Defense of Calvinism, answers the first statement:

Some persons love the doctrine of universal atonement because they say, "It is so beautiful. It is a lovely idea that Christ should have died for all men; it commends itself," they say, "to the instincts of humanity; there is something in it full of joy and beauty."

...If the doctrine be true, that He died for all men, then He died for some who were in hell before He came into this world…

...Once again, if it was Christ's intention to save all men, how deplorably has He been disappointed…

...That seems to me a conception a thousand times more repulsive than any of those consequences which are said to be associated with the Calvinistic and Christian doctrine of special and particular redemption. To think that my Saviour died for men who were or are in hell, seems a supposition too horrible for me to entertain. To imagine for a moment that He was the Substitute for all the sons of men, and that God, having first punished the Substitute, afterwards punished the sinners themselves, seems to conflict with all my ideas of Divine justice. That Christ should offer an atonement and satisfaction for the sins of all men, and that afterwards some of those very men should be punished for the sins for which Christ had already atoned, appears to me to be the most monstrous iniquity that could ever have been imputed to Saturn, to Janus, to the goddess of the Thugs, or to the most diabolical heathen deities. God forbid that we should ever think thus of Jehovah, the just and wise and good!

In the same article, Spurgeon spoke to the issue of the number of the elect:

Think of the numbers upon whom God has bestowed His grace already. Think of the countless hosts in Heaven: if thou wert introduced there to-day, thou wouldst find it as easy to tell the stars, or the sands of the sea, as to count the multitudes that are before the throne even now. They have come from the East, and from the West, from the North, and from the South, and they are sitting down with Abraham, and with Isaac, and with Jacob in the Kingdom of God; and beside those in Heaven, think of the saved ones on earth. Blessed be God, His elect on earth are to be counted by millions, I believe, and the days are coming, brighter days than these, when there shall be multitudes upon multitudes brought to know the Saviour, and to rejoice in Him. The Father's love is not for a few only, but for an exceeding great company. "A great multitude, which no man could number," will be found in Heaven. A man can reckon up to very high figures; set to work your Newtons, your mightiest calculators, and they can count great numbers, but God and God alone can tell the multitude of His redeemed. I believe there will be more in Heaven than in hell. If anyone asks me why I think so, I answer, because Christ, in everything, is to "have the pre-eminence," and I cannot conceive how He could have the pre-eminence if there are to be more in the dominions of Satan than in Paradise. Moreover, I have never read that there is to be in hell a great multitude, which no man could number.

Loraine Boettner, in his book The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (also available here), discusses the same objection:

When the doctrine of Election is mentioned many people immediately assume that this means that the great majority of mankind will be lost. But why should any one draw that conclusion? God is free in election to choose as many as He pleases, and we believe that He who is infinitely merciful and benevolent and holy will elect the great majority to life. There is no good reason why He should be limited to only a few. We are told that Christ is to have the preeminence in all things, and we do not believe that the Devil will be permitted to emerge victor even in numbers. (130)

And further:

There is, however, a very common practice among Arminian writers to represent Calvinists as tending to consign to everlasting misery a large portion of the human race whom they would admit to the enjoyment of heaven. It is a mere caricature of Calvinism to represent it as based on the principle that the saved will be a mere handful, or only a few brands plucked from the burning. (131)

...In answer to those who are inclined to say, "According to this doctrine God alone can save the soul; there will be few saved," we can reply that they might as well reason, "Since God alone can create stars, there can be but few stars." The objection is not well taken. The doctrine of Election taken in itself tells us nothing about what the ultimate ratio shall be. The only limit set is that not all will be saved. (131)

In the opening paragraph of Section 1 Sumner, in an attempt to be "objective, not objectionable, (4)" states:

Opponents usually describe it as hyper-Calvinism, a term which greatly agitates the advocates of five-pointism because "hyper" means "to go beyond the ordinary or norm." While we feel "hyper-Calvinism" is an honest and fair appraisal, since it goes beyond the position of Calvin himself, we will refrain from using the term here. (4)

The Canons of Dordt define Calvinism, not John Calvin's specific writings. Furthermore even though the term "hyper" may be defined in the manner Sumner does, when that term is prefixed to Calvinism it actually has a distinct meaning and Calvinists are as much opposed to hyper-Calvinism as they are opposed to Arminianism.

In a Reformed Perspectives Magazine article titled, What is Hyper-Calvinism?, Jim Ellis writes:

Hyper-Calvinism is a term of derision that today is often used to negatively label anyone with a strong theological view of God's sovereignty in the affairs of men. A legitimate understanding of hyper-Calvinism, in its technical sense, appears to be lost today. It seems as if anyone to the right of one's own theological position is fair game to be labeled a hyper-Calvinist.

...They [the hyper-Calvinists], like the Arminians, mistakenly assume that if it is the duty (responsibility) of fallen man to believe and God indeed calls him to believe, then he must have the natural ability to do so. The Arminian conclusion is that man has a free will and Christ has made an atonement for all alike. The hyper-Calvinist, based on the same assumption, concludes that it is not the duty of fallen man and that God in the gospel does not indiscriminately offer Christ to all men alike; that is in reference to the "outward call" of the Gospel. Thus, in trying to protect the Calvinist doctrines of total depravity and particular redemption (a noble endeavor), the hyper-Calvinist has thrown out the baby with the bath water; namely, the universal call to faith to all who hear the gospel, reprobate and elect alike.

Ellis ends his article by stating that:

...I hope it is clear that hyper-Calvinism is not to be considered a legitimate form of Calvinism, for it is not. By the same token, however, it should also be clear that honest theological discussion should refrain from labeling legitimate variations within orthodox Calvinism as "Hyper-Calvinism."

Phil Johnson, in his Primer on Hyper-Calvinism, defines it as:

…a doctrine that emphasizes divine sovereignty to the exclusion of human responsibility. To call it "hyper-Calvinism" is something of a misnomer. It is actually a rejection of historic Calvinism. Hyper-Calvinism entails a denial of what is taught in both Scripture and the major Calvinistic creeds, substituting instead an imbalanced and unbiblical notion of divine sovereignty.

Due to the fact that Sumner does not distinguish between Historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism, some of his arguments against Calvinism are actually arguments against hyper-Calvinism.

What are the "Five Points" of Calvinism?

Total Depravity

To the fact of man's total and complete depravity, as stated in Sacred Scripture, we heartily concur. Man is completely corrupt from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. (4)

…we readily acknowledge also that man's depravity is such that he cannot and does not initiate any move towards God and redemption on his own. (4)

His statements so far are in complete accord with Calvinism. It is in the next paragraph that Sumner sides with the Arminians, though I am fairly confident he would reject the label.

The Word of God teaches that while man is totally depraved and totally unable to help himself, our Lord draws every man sufficiently and enlightens every man as much as necessary for that individual to make a decision of his own free will. (4)

…It is certainly true that no sinner can come to Christ unless drawn by the Spirit of God; but the blessed Holy Spirit draws every man (John 12:32), giving man enough light so that he is, as Romans 1:20 says, "without excuse." (5)

Jeff Paton, in his article on Prevenient Grace, shows that:

The Spirit is given to all men as the fruit of atonement, and grace works in all, works toward salvation. This holds good of all without exception, has held good since the beginning. It holds good of the unconverted before conversion, of those who never are converted, of the heathen who have never heard of Christ. Anticipating human desire and effort (hence called prevenient grace), it checks and counteracts sin, inspires and fosters good inclination, and allures to the search for more grace. This universal divine working is the source of moral good and beauty in the irreligious. When welcomed and followed up, it passes into saving grace.

J.C. Thibodaux, in an article titled Prevenient Grace and Libertarian Free Will, wrote:

This grace which can overcome the innate sinful desires of men and allow them to receive the gospel message and believe in Christ as Savior is sometimes called 'preventing grace' or 'prevenient grace;' literally, grace that precedes our faith and conversion. This is a prime tenet of Arminianism and has been so since its early days as a theological system.

In John 6:35-44 we read of the Father giving and drawing the elect to His Son:

³⁵ Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." ⁴² They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" ⁴³ Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

This passage shows that not every individual is drawn by the Spirit, because if they were, every individual would be saved. Verses 39, 40, and 44 all speak of raising up on the last day. Those who are given by the Father in verse 37 are those who look on the Son and believe in verse 40, and are those drawn by the Father in verse 44. No one can be drawn by the Father and yet not come to the Son, and all those drawn will come to the Son and will never be cast out.

Unconditional Election

The "U" in Tulip stands for "unconditional election." By this is meant that the decision which determines the individual's destiny is wholly and entirely God's decision, not in the slightest degree that of the sinner. (5)

…This kind of theology simply makes a taunting of the Savior's charge to the people of His day; "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). According to the philosophy of five-point Calvinism, it is not that these sinners would not, but rather that they could not. (6)

When one's theology begins with the idea that man is capable of responding to the call to repent, it logically must conclude that God in some way prohibits certain individuals from responding. The idea Sumner presents is that there are individuals who have a real desire to be saved and they cannot be saved solely because God has not elected them.

Since Calvinism affirms that unregenerate man will not respond to God's call to repent, God must do everything with regard to salvation. God's work begins with regeneration, wherein he removes the "heart of stone" and replaces it with a "heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). This work of God is accomplished by means of the preached Gospel.

Lazarus is a great example in the physical realm of what God does in the spiritual realm. Lazarus, being dead, had no awareness of his deadness, and his physical body was decaying in the grave. The command of Jesus to "come out" (John 11:43) included with it the regeneration of his physically dead body. Upon coming to life he leaves the darkness of the cave and joins the living.

Spiritually dead men have no capacity to regenerate themselves. As the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel, opens their hearts, unstops their deaf ears, and gives sight to their blind eyes, they repent and trust Christ. God is in no way obligated to save any and that, in His mercy and grace He saves many, does not make him unjust in not saving all.

…How deadening five-point Calvinism is to evangelism (6)

Here is where Sumner confuses Calvinism with hyper-Calvinism. Calvinists on the whole reject the kind of evangelism that affirms something along the lines of God-loves-you-and-has-a-wonderful-plan-for-your-life. Sadly, much of what passes for evangelism in our day results in many professors of salvation, but few who actually live a "new creation" life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Limited Atonement

The "L" stands for "Limited Atonement." By this the five-point Calvinist means that Jesus Christ only died at Calvary for the elect - none of the billions of non-elect was included in the provision through the shedding of His blood. (7)

…They argue that if Christ died for all, then, unless His work was a failure, all must be forgiven and taken to Heaven. (7)

…In the dictionary of the "tulip" man, "world" does not mean world; "all" does not mean all; "whosoever" does not mean whosoever; and a brand new language must be understood which, in turn, makes the Bible a hopeless mass of confusion for the average reader - even though he be a child of God. (8)

This is an all-too-common charge against Calvinism, which is answered simply by showing that the immediate context will always determine who is included in the words world, all, and whosoever. James White, in his book The Potter's Freedom, commenting on John 12:32 - "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself (NASB)." - states that:

Reformed exegetes believe that "all men" refers to Jews and Gentiles, not to every individual person, and the context points this direction. (164)

The Second Head of Doctrine of the Canons of Dordt deals specifically with the death of Christ and redemption of man.

Article 3
The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world.

Article 6
And whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves.

Article 8
For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation: that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father; that He should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased for them by His death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever.

Roger Nicole, in his article The Case for Definite Atonement, shows that:

The doctrine is not concerned with the intrinsic value of the sacrifice of Christ. It is freely granted by all parties to the controversy, and specifically by the Reformed, that the death of our Lord, by virtue of His divine nature, is of infinite worth and therefore amply sufficient to redeem all mankind, all angels and the whole world, even a thousand worlds besides, if He had so intended. Rather the point at issue here concerns the chief purpose of the Father in sending the Son and the chief intention of Christ in laying down His life in sacrifice.

…The point at issue here is simply this, whether the Father is sending the Son and the Son in offering Himself did intend to, provide salvation for all men and every man, or whether they intended to secure the salvation of all those and those only who will in fact be redeemed.

In the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, Section 5, we read:

The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself which He, through the eternal Spirit, once offered up to God, has fully satisfied the justice of God, has procured reconciliation, and has purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven for all those whom the Father has given to Him.

On Monday, May 4, 2009, Lee Shelton posted an article on his blog titled Let's Rap About Limited Atonement. It contains a YouTube video by Shai Linne. The lyrics are available through Shai's blog, Lyrical Theology.

Irresistible Grace

Proponents mean by this expression that God's grace, when presented by the Holy Spirit, is of such a nature that it is impossible for the sinner to resist or refuse. (9)

…the five-point Calvinist has invented two calls. One is described as a "general" call, which every sinner is able to hear, and the other is supposed to be an "effectual" call, which only the elect can hear. (9)

Once again, we look to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 1, where we read that:

Those whom God has predestinated to life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time to effectually call by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death which they are in by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. He enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God. He takes away their heart of stone and gives to them a heart of flesh. He renews their wills, and by His almighty power, causes them to desire and pursue that which is good. He effectually draws them to Jesus Christ, yet in such a way that they come absolutely freely, being made willing by His grace.

With regards to Lazarus, it must be noted that Lazarus was incapable of resisting the command of Christ to "come out." After all, it was God in the person of Jesus Christ who issued the command. But if he could have resisted the command, would he have? The answer must be an empathic no! The command included regeneration, and he would not have freely chosen to remain in the tomb with the dead. The command was that which he could freely and eagerly obey.

Some who reject Calvinism mistakenly speak of individuals who desire to come to repentance but cannot, because God has not elected them. Then there are others whom God has elected, but have no desire for repentance and God must forcibly bring them to salvation. That is a preposterous notion! All men who come in repentance to Christ come absolutely freely and willingly, because the Holy Spirit has regenerated their hearts. Praise be to God for His mercy and grace in granting repentance and faith to multitudes from every tribe, tongue, and nation!

Perseverance of the Saints

By this the five-point Calvinist means that the saints are eternally secure in Christ and that once in grace, they are always in grace. This is truly in accord with scriptural teaching, although the terminology here is most unfortunate. As ones who magnify God's grace, surely five-point Calvinist should know that it is not the saints who persevere, but the blessed Holy Spirit. It is His "holding out," not that of the saints! (10)

Gise J. Van Baren, in Chapter 5 of The Five Points of Calvinism, discusses the Perseverance of the Saints.

When one speaks of the perseverance of the saints, there is one element that renders this perseverance of the saints absolutely sure, an element which may never be forgotten. One always perseveres because he is preserved by the living God - and there is no other possible reason for perseverance.

…This truth of the perseverance and preservation of the saints is exactly the truth which is an incentive to the child of God to walk in all godliness and holiness before God. That is a fact. No child of God would ever say that he can sin as he pleases - for he will be preserved anyway. One who says that he may sin as he will is no Christian and gives no evidence of Christ's work in his heart. The Spirit just does not work that way.

The article on Perseverance on the website A Puritan's Mind explains that:

Perseverance of the saints teaches that once God has renewed the heart of a sinner through the application of the redemption wrought by Christ upon the cross, he will continue to be saved and show forth the fruits of that salvation. The sinner perseveres because of Christ, but he continually shows himself as one who has been changed by Christ.

How Does This Position Effect Evangelism?

Here is where Sumner confuses Calvinism with Hyper-Calvinism.

Why waste time, spend money and expend labor for something you cannot change? (11)

…Five-point Calvinism curtails missions, wrecks revivalism and destroys personal soul winning! And if those who hold the "tulip" position are right, why should we get excited about evangelism. (11)

…The whole idea of individual responsibility in soul winning is annihilated in the "tulip" view. (11)

In an article titled Calvinism and Evangelism, Bill Welzien writes:

Many people think that "Calvinist evangelist" is an oxymoron. What do you think? Can someone be seriously Calvinistic and at the same time seriously evangelistic?

…The Calvinist believes that every last one of those who were chosen in Christ before time will by the end of time be brought to saving faith and a vital relationship with God through the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

At this point, the non-Calvinist infers that the impetus and urgency to proclaim the gospel is gone, or diminished at best. After all, if God knows who is going to be saved, and if he will save his elect no matter what, why waste our time evangelizing?

But it is important to recognize that the God of the Bible ordains not only the end (salvation) but also the means to the end (the proclamation of the gospel).

…Does Calvinism take the wind out of the sails of evangelism? Properly understood and sincerely believed, it does exactly the opposite. Believing that God has a sovereign plan to bring all his elect to himself actually encourages evangelism.

What Is Wrong With the "Five-Point" Position?

In this section Sumner looks at five New Testament passages that are "used by the five-point Calvinist," and shows "how they have been taken out of context." Those passages are: Romans 9:10-13; John 15:15-16; 2 Timothy 2:9-10; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; and Romans 8:28-31.

With regard to the Romans 9 passage, Sumner states:

…the whole issue is a national issue, which pertains to governments, not a personal matter dealing with the salvation of individuals.

I wish Sumner had not stopped with verse 13!

Romans 9:14-18

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 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 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his commentary on Romans, has this to say about the passage:

…why is it interesting to note the way in which the Apostle presents this difficulty, this objection, that arises in the minds of certain people? It is because the very form in which he puts the objection helps us to decide whether our exposition up to date has been the wrong one, because it is quite clear that the objection with which the Apostle is going to deal is one which arises as a direct result of what he has been saying; and as I have indicated, if our exposition of what has gone before does not lead to this objection, then of necessity it has been wrong. (139)

…There are those who say that the Apostle, in this whole section from verse 6 onwards, is really dealing with the problem not of individual salvation but of nations - that his only interest is in the position of the Jews as a nation. (140)

…No, what the Apostle is saying from verse 6 to verse 13 is that God, of His own eternal and sovereign will in the carrying out of His own great and eternal purpose, chooses some to salvation and rejects others. That is the conclusion at which we have arrived. That is the only conclusion that leads to this particular difficulty, this charge that people feel in their hearts against God. (144)

James Montgomery Boice, in his commentary on the passage, shows that:

All human beings deserve hell, not heaven. We are not talking about whether all actually end up in hell or whether only some end up in hell and some in heaven. We are talking about what all deserve, and what they deserve is condemnation.

…Deserving is based upon what people have done. Mercy has nothing to do with what people have done but is something that finds its source in the will of God only. (1070)

The "Five Points" Effect on Other Doctrines

In truth and in fact, "tulip" views of election have a deadly detrimental effect on a number of other important Bible truths. (19)

In this section Sumner lists two: prayer and "the biblical teaching regarding training children. (19)" Regarding prayer Sumner declares:

If five-point Calvinism teaching be true, why pray for the lost? Since the matter would have already been arbitrarily settled in eternity past, prayer could not have any possible effect whatsoever on an individual's conversion. (19)

John Piper, in an article titled The Sovereignty of God and Prayer, shows that:

The implicit argument here is that if prayer is to be possible at all man must have the power of self-determination. That is, all man's decisions must ultimately belong to himself, not God. For otherwise he is determined by God and all his decisions are really fixed in God's eternal counsel.

…What I am saying is that it is not the doctrine of God's sovereignty which thwarts prayer for the conversion of sinners. On the contrary, it is the unbiblical notion of self-determination which would consistently put an end to all prayers for the lost. Prayer is a request that God do something. But the only thing God can do to save a lost sinner is to overcome his resistance to God.

…Only the person who rejects human self-determination can consistently pray for God to save the lost.

As to the training of children Sumner, quoting Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. - states that:

…when parents train their children in obedience to Christ and His Word, God has an obligation to save them, help them live victoriously, and take them to heaven when they die. (20)

I would disagree with Sumner about God's obligation. If the children he is referring to do not come in personal repentance, trusting Christ for their salvation, God is in no way obligated to make an exception for them because of the training of their parents.

The remainder of the booklet has a few personal illustrations that I found distasteful. They seemed to be told in a manner that gave prominence to the writer, at the expense of the other party in the illustration.

Sumner closes the booklet by encouraging believers to "…get busy reaching sinners, (23)" which is commendable. We should all heed that encouragement, whether we affirm or reject Calvinism.

All scripture quotations are from the
English Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.

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1000th Visitor

The first visitor to my blog today was the 1000th visitor since I began tracking on October 19, 2007. A special thank you to all who have visited my blog and have been blessed and encouraged by the posted articles.

I also want to thank my big girl Sarah for her help in editing my writing.

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The King's Invitation - a critique

On March 17, 2008, a thread was started on Sharper Iron: Voice of the Evangelists. The thread provided a link to a website of the same name.

I visited the website and found MP3 sermons available for free download. Of the more than 70 evangelists listed on the website, I only recognized the names of two. I am sure that I heard both men preach during the days I spent at Tennessee Temple University.

In 2008, my work required me to travel extensively, and I enjoy listening to sermons while I travel. I downloaded the first sermon in the Gospel Messages category - Tom Farrell: The King's Invitation. I do not know Tom Farrell, nor had I ever heard him preach prior to listening to this sermon. On the whole I was disappointed with the sermon and offer a critique of it here.

01:30 - anybody that wants to be saved, anybody that wants to go to heaven, anybody that wants to live with Almighty God forever, can go to heaven.

I agree whole-heartedly with this statement, but as we will see Farrell believes that everyone has the capacity to WANT TO. I believe the Scripture teaches that only those whom God has regenerated have the capacity to WANT TO, and thus there is a vast difference between his belief and mine.

02:00 - Jesus has opened heaven to everybody.

This is a logical step from the previous statement. If everyone has the capacity of belief, it logically follows that God has opened heaven for everyone. The reverse of this statement is also logical. If God has opened heaven for everyone, then everyone must have the capacity of belief. I believe the Scripture teaches that heaven is reserved only for the elect, and that the elect is a fixed number that were chosen before the foundation of the world, and whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life at that time.

02:30 - you know the truth of the matter is I can get into heaven easier than I can get into the Augusta International.

Farrell is sharing a story about wanting to visit the golf course where the Masters is played. His host informs him that since he is not a member he cannot enter the club. But is heaven really that easy to get into? I think not!

03:10 - God is one hundred percent for receiving those who come to Him by faith...

I totally agree. God accepts all those who come to Him by faith.

…there are some people who teach that God wants some to go to heaven and some to go to hell and He's elected some to go up and some to go down...

This is a very common misrepresentation of Calvinism, so let me attempt to clear up the misrepresentation. God has not elected "some to go up and some to go down." All humanity, as a result of the sin of Adam, is on the wide road down. God's justice is shown in the eternal wrath that is poured out on those who inhabit hell. While Adam's sin does not in any way obligate God to provide a remedy, because of His mercy, he provided Christ as the remedy. In addition to providing Christ, He elected representatives from every tribe, tongue, and nation to go up. On those He bestows His mercy instead of His wrath. Those in hell get what they deserve; those in heaven do not get what they deserve but rather experience mercy and grace. Since He was not obligated to offer mercy to any, we should rejoice in the fact that He offers mercy to many.

...that's absolute nonsense...

I agree. His misrepresentation of Calvinism is nonsense.

...in First Timothy chapter two and verse three, the Bible says "this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth...

I totally agree with his quotation of Scripture.

...you see if you don't get saved, it won't be God's fault, because God wants you to be saved and He wants you to be one of the whosoevers.

I agree with the first half of the sentence. It is not God's fault that people don't get saved, it's because they are enemies of God and willfully reject Christ, preferring to trust in themselves or in the god of their own imaginings for salvation.

I disagree with the last half of the sentence. Since no one but God knows whom the elect are, it is presumptive to state to anyone that "God wants YOU to be saved and He wants YOU to be one of the whosoevers." It would be more accurate to say that "God wants YOU to repent."

05:10 - don't leave here tonight and think God is playing favorites. He wants you in His heaven; He wants to give you the opportunity to be saved.

Paul, addressing the Areopagus as recorded in Acts 17, states the message clearly in verse 17: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent."

07:00 - you will never call on somebody until you realize you have a problem. What's the problem? The problem is sin.

Amen! I believe the Scripture teaches that only those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel, are capable of realizing that they have a problem. That realization leads to repentance and faith.

At 08:40 in the sermon, he begins an illustration about a plumber, which leads into an illustration about a case of strep throat he had while preaching in Nassau, Bahamas, and his trip to a doctor. The point of both illustrations is that we only call on someone when we realize we have a need. The illustrations together consume about four minutes of sermon time.

Personally I do not like sermons that are illustration heavy, especially when the illustrations tend to elevate the speaker's prominence. When I was a child, a particular evangelist was my favorite preacher. I dearly loved to hear him preach, and he and his wife would often stay at my parents' home when he was preaching nearby. The last time I heard him speak was as an adult, and I had asked our pastor if the evangelist could preach, since he would be passing through our town. I was terribly disappointed, as his sermon consisted mostly of illustrations of places he had been and people he had met. Farrell's sermon illustration unfortunately reminded me of that.

17:16 - now here's the bottom line. If tonight you are trusting any part of your goodness to go to heaven, you're not going, and God said so. You may be zealous and work hard and give a lot of money and you be the best sinner in the neighborhood but you're still a sinner and the bottom line is no sin is going to heaven. So you've got to get God's goodness because we don't have it.

Amen!

19:08 - you see there's a time you can't be saved. Now I'm sure that some of you have grown up believing you get saved anytime you want, but let me tell you a Bible story, and tell you what Jesus said.

He then proceeds to tell the story of the guests invited to the supper recorded in Luke 14. At the conclusion of the story he states:

20:20 - when you walk out tonight on God, He could walk out forever on you.

This was the most disturbing portion of the sermon because of the contradiction of this statement with what he said earlier in the sermon. Earlier, quoting from 1 Timothy 2:3, he said that God wants all men to be saved. Here he is saying that God doesn't want all men to be saved. God is likely to make an exception in the case of those who do not respond correctly to this particular sermon. Upon hearing this, I was reminded of the vacuum cleaner salesman who came to our home years ago. He warned us that if we did not buy his vacuum cleaner that evening, we would never have another opportunity to buy that vacuum cleaner again in our entire life. In effect, Farrell reduces the sovereign God of the universe to nothing more than that vacuum cleaner salesman.

22:40 - you get saved from hopelessness
23:40 - you are delivered from habits
25:35 - you're saved from hate

Sinners are saved from their sin against a righteous God, not from hopelessness, habits, or hate. These are byproducts of salvation, not the purpose for salvation.

26:52 - But God began to fill their heart with love …they did to human beings is beyond description. But there is nothing Saddam Hussein ever did in his entire existence that is as bad as the place called hell.

There appears to be a portion of the sermon missing. Farrell is speaking about the anger of a couple toward the man who raped and murdered their daughter, and how God had worked in their hearts. Suddenly he begins talking about Saddam Hussein.

30:04 - how do you get your name in the Book of Life - call.

I believe the names in the Book of Life were added before the foundation of the world, not at the moment an individual calls upon the Lord. Furthermore, I believe the reason anyone calls upon the Lord is because their name is written in the Book of Life.

I would encourage my readers to listen to the above sermon and then listen to the sermon by Paul Washer: The True Gospel (available at www.sermonaudio.com)

Also read the post by Dan Phillips, one of the Pyromaniacs, posted on January 26, 2009: Carpe diem, preacherdude.

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An Historical Day in America

Today is an historical day in the history of these United States of America. For the first time in its more than 200 year history America will inaugurate a man as President who is...

...younger than I am! What's up with that?

Why is it that my doctor, my chiropractor, my mechanic, my mail man and a whole bunch of other people are all younger than I.

I even get the senior discount in places of business without asking for it (and am not about to turn it down either). I must be old.

On a more serious note, my pastor has posted an article titled, By The Content of Their Character, on his blog.

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Loraine Boettner - currently reading

I am reading an excellent book by Loraine Boettner titled The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Pub. Co., 1932). The following paragraphs have been a particular blessing to me.

In Chapter 17, That It Makes God the Author of Sin, Boettner addresses this objection. Beginning on page 233:

Many of the divine attributes were displayed through the creation and government of the world, but the attribute of justice could be shown only to creatures deserving punishment, and the attribute of mercy or grace could be shown only to creatures in misery. Until man's fall into sin, and redemption from it, these attributes, so far as we can learn, had been unexercised and undisplayed, and consequently were unknown to any but God Himself from all eternity. Had not sin been admitted to the creation these attributes would have remained buried in an eternal night. And the universe, without the knowledge of these attributes, would be like the earth without the light of the sun. Sin, then, is permitted in order that the mercy of God may be shown in its forgiveness, and that His justice may be shown in its punishment. Its entrance is the result of a settled design which God formed in eternity, and through which He purposed to reveal Himself to His rational creatures as complete and full-orbed in all conceivable perfections.

Chapter 27 is titled The Practical Importance of the Doctrine. Beginning on page 332:

He will be only a very imperfect Christian who does not know these deeper truths which are brought to light by the doctrine of Predestination. He can have no adequate appreciation of the glory of God, nor of the riches of grace which are given him through redemption in Christ; for nowhere else as brightly as in the predestination of the elect to life does the glory of God shine out in its full-orbed splendor, undimmed and unsullied by human works of any kind. It shows us that all that we are and all that we have that is desirable we owe to His grace. It rebukes human pride and exalts Divine mercy. It makes man to be nothing and God to be everything, and thus preserves the proper relation between the creature and the infinitely exalted Creator. It exalts one absolute Sovereign, who is the universal Ruler, and humbles all other sovereigns before Him, thus showing that all men in themselves and apart from God's special favor are on the same level. It has championed the rights of mankind wherever it has gone, in the State as well as in the Church.

The doctrine of Predestination emphasizes the Divine side of salvation while its rival system emphasizes the human side. It impresses upon us the fact that our salvation is purely of grace, and that we are no better than those who are left to suffer for their sins. It thus leads us to be more charitable and tolerant toward the unsaved and to be eternally thankful that God has saved us. It shows us that in our fallen state our wisdom is folly, our strength weakness, and our righteousness of no account. It teaches us that our hope is in God, and that from Him must come all our help. It teaches us that lesson of which so many are fatally ignorant, the blessed lesson of self-despair. Luther tell us that he "used frequently to be much offended at this doctrine," because it drove him to self-despair; but that he afterward found this kind of despair was profitable and near of kin to divine grace.

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Nyam some Yam

Nyam is the Jamaican Patois word for eat. When we were living in Kingston in the 70's, there was a fast food chain that sold nyamburgers instead of hamburgers.

In the just completed Olympics, Usain Bolt's father credited his son's outstanding performance in track and field to yellow yam, which, along with boiled green bananas, is one of my favorite foods.

I googled the words yam bolt and was fascinated to get 395,000 hits. I also googled the words yam bolt father and got 102,000 hits.

Reuters has an article from August 16, titled Bolt's gold down to yam power, father says.

The Jamaica Gleaner has an article from August 25, titled Yellow Yam - Worth its weight in gold.

My sister Marianne sent me the following in an email, titled Suspected PEDs Mailed to JA's Olympic Camp in Beijing/Ja only.

A 200 kilo shipment of suspected Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) addressed to the Jamaican track team at the Olympic Village was seized by authorities at the Wong Hung Lo docks in Beijing early this morning. Coming on the heels of the disclosure that a member of the JA team has tested positive for a banned substance, the news has rocked the JAAA and cast an even greater pall over the team's preparations for the Games.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior customs inspector told Reuters that suspicions were aroused by the bulky and lumpy shipment which was wrapped in rough, dirty burlap. Stenciled in bold letters on the bag was the address of the Jamaican team at the Village and also the words:

DELIVER TO ASAFA, USAIN, VERONICA and KERRON ... DEM CYAAN RUN GOOD WITHOUT IT.

Upon opening the package, dozens and dozens of a dirty, tubular product was discovered and immediately sent to the WADA lab in Beijing for testing. Chinese customs are certain that they have intercepted a shipment of pure, unprocessed steroids and have put the IAAF and the JAAA on notice that severe action will be taken as soon as WADA confirms their findings.

The picture below is of one of the mystery 'products' from the shipment and was taken at the lab just before testing commenced. We will update this story as soon as there is more to report as indeed the entire world of track and field anxiously awaits WADA's report.

The moral of the story is that if you want to run like lightning you will have to nyam some yam.

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