Google Reader

There are a number of blogs that I enjoy reading, but there is not enough time to visit each blog every day to see what is new. So I divided those blogs into groups - those I read daily, those I visit at least once a week, those that I visit once a month. However, there are occasions when the daily, weekly, monthly reads don't have new posts. As a result I waste time visiting those blogs, time that could be spent eating a few bowls of Breyers Black Raspberry Chocolate ice cream.

Yesterday I did some research on RSS feeds and learned that I could subscribe to all my favorite blogs through a Feed Reader. I also learned that there are a few thousand Feed Readers, so the decision on which of them to use could be complicated. Since I already have a Google account, I decided to use Google Reader. I use the same login and password for Gmail, CanJAmerican, and now Reader.

Reader provides a "Subscribe" button that I added to my Bookmarks Toolbar Folder in Firefox. To subscribe to a blog I only need to visit that blog, click on the button, and approve the subscription.

The blog list is sorted alphabetically and all new posts are visible in Reader. Now I only need to login to Reader to see all the new posts. I like the feed idea so much that I have added a "Subscribe via reader" option to this blog. Now both of my readers have a choice of receiving my posts in their email or their reader.

This internet thing may yet catch on!

Disclaimer:
All the links (except the Breyers) in this article
are provided solely for information purposes,
and do not in any way imply full and complete endorsement .

Spurgeon for Sunday October 28

Lee Shelton at Contemporary Calvinist has posted Spurgeon's morning reading for October 28th.

Spurgeon's daily readings are also available at the following websites:

Answers in Genesis

Blue Letter Bible

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

Crosswalk

Heartlight

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

Free Will

Download a free PDF of this article

It is often said that Calvinists deny that man has free will. Alan Turner begins his article, titled Man's Free Will, by stating:

Calvinists give lip-service to man's free will, but they do not really believe in it.

He closes the first paragraph with:

It is apparent that although Calvinists are disposed to citing their "free will" shibboleths, they do not, for a moment, believe that man actually has free moral agency.

Jack Cottrell, in his article titled Sovereignty and Free Will, writes:

The Arminian doctrine of free will is, of course, strongly denied by Calvinists. It is said that such a notion of free will is a virtual denial of the absolute sovereignty and responsibility by just doing away with sovereignty. Such a doctrine of free will precludes the sovereignty of God, it is affirmed.

In his conclusion he notes:

The fact that God's control is absolute in the sense that he is the creator of all, and that the limitation with respect to man's will is self imposed also shows that God is sovereign.

My purpose in this article is not only to show that Calvinists do not deny that man has free will, but also to show that they affirm that unregenerate man does not have the capacity to choose Christ. To begin, it is necessary to define free will.

Peter Voss, in an article titled The Nature of Freewill, contrasted free will with animal instinct.

What freewill tries to account for is our introspective conviction that we are in control of many of our choices, and thus our destiny - that we are free to think and decide. We contrast this flexible, conscious control that we enjoy with the involuntary action of, say, our heartbeat or digestion, and with the instinctual imperative of a bird's nest-building or a dog's conditioned response. Our decisions are far more independent of nature and nurture than any animal's; we are aware of our ability to think and of the consequences of our choices - we can claim responsibility for our actions. These are the meaningful differences that give rise to the concept of freewill.

The Wikipedia article, titled Free Will, states that:

The question of free will is whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions and decisions.

Further in the same article we note that:

Society generally holds people responsible for their actions, and will say that they deserve praise or blame for what they do. However, many believe that moral responsibility requires free will. Thus, another important issue in the debate on free will is whether individuals are ever morally responsible for their actions - and, if so, in what sense.

Bob DeWaay, in an article titled Free Will or the Bondage of the Will: Definitions are Critical, writes of two alternative definitions, the first of which is in agreement with the above.

The ability to choose between options, either of which could be actualized by the act of choosing.

The second definition he attributes to Jonathan Edwards.

The ability to choose as one pleases.

This definition is where the difference between Calvinists and non-Calvinists lies.

In a description of the book Freedom of the Will, we learn that Jonathan Edwards:

…was responding to Daniel Whitby's article concerning free will. Edwards stated "...that man freely chooses whatever seems good to him, but that what seems good to him is always based on an inherent predisposition. That inherent predisposition has been foreordained and predestined by a sovereign God who does not inhibit man's ability to freely choose from a limited menu."

Edwards identifies a mans strongest motive as that which determines the will.

Part 1, Section 2 - Concerning the Determination of the Will
With respect to that grand inquiry, "What determines the Will?" it would be very tedious and unnecessary, at present, to examine all the various opinions, which have been advanced concerning this matter; nor is it needful that I should enter into a particular discussion of all points debated in disputes on that other question, "Whether the Will always follows the last dictate of the understanding?" It is sufficient to my present purpose to say, It is that motive, which, as it stands in view of the mind, is the strongest, that determines the will.

In an article titled The Bondage Of The Will, Steven Houck writes:

There is a very serious error which is widely believed and promoted in our day - the error of free-willism. By the term, free-willism, I am not referring to the fact that man has a will. That is certainly Biblical. In the act of creation, God gave to man the faculty of the will and that faculty was not lost in the fall. All men have wills. By those wills we make all kinds of decisions and choices every day. By free-willism I mean the false teaching that man has a free will. Most people believe that man not only has a will but that his will is free.

He adds:

Thus with his free will a man can either choose Christ or reject Him. He can either choose to be a Christian or refuse to be a Christian. The choice is strictly his. While people or things may influence him one way or another, ultimately no one and nothing can make him choose Christ or not. Even God will never sovereignly cause him to accept Christ by changing his will. God makes His own will subservient to the free will of man.

The Canons of Dordt, Third And Fourth Heads Of Doctrine, deny that conversion comes as the result of the exercise of free will.

Article 10
But that others who are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distinguishes himself above others, equally furnished with grace sufficient for faith and conversions as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains; but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who as He has chosen His own from eternity in Christ, so He confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and translates them into the kingdom of His own Son, that they may show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light; and may glory not in themselves, but in the Lord according to the testimony of the apostles in various places.

Rejection 3
That in spiritual death the spiritual gifts are not separate from the will of man, since the will in itself has never been corrupted, but only hindered through the darkness of the understanding and the irregularity of the affections; and that, these hindrances having been removed, the will can then bring into operation its native powers, that is, that the will of itself is able to will and to choose, or not to will and not to choose, all manner of good which may be presented to it. This is an innovation and an error, and tends to elevate the powers of the free will, contrary to the declaration of the prophet: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9); and of the apostle: "Among whom (sons of disobedience) also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph. 2:3).

John Samson, in an article titled Martin Luther on the Bondage of the Will, writes:

Erasmus presupposed that all of God's commands to obey proved that we had the "free-will" to do so. Luther, with great wit and irony exposes why free will is an erroneous, unscriptural doctrine which, ultimately, undermines the gospel itself.

In Luther's On the Bondage of the Will, in which he refers to Erasmus as "friend Erasmus", he writes:

Section 1: Erasmus' Preface Reviewed
But what they assert is this - That there is ability in us; that there is a striving with all our powers; that there is mercy in God; that there are ways of gaining that mercy; that there is a God, by nature just, and most merciful, &c. - But if a man does not know what these powers are; what they can do, or in what they are to be passive; what their efficacy, or what their inefficacy is; what can such an one do? What will you set him about doing?

Section 7: The Necessity of Knowing God and His Power
Therefore, it is not irreligious, curious, or superfluous, but essentially wholesome and necessary, for a Christian to know, whether or not the will does any thing in those things which pertain unto Salvation. Nay, let me tell you, this is the very hinge upon which our discussion turns. It is the very heart of our subject. For our object is this: to inquire what "Free-will" can do, in what it is passive, and how it stands with reference to the grace of God.

It is necessary, therefore, to hold the most certain distinction, between the power of God and our power, the working of God and our working, if we would live in His fear.

Section 167: Conclusion
I shall here draw this book to a conclusion: prepared if it were necessary to pursue this Discussion still farther. Though I consider that I have now abundantly satisfied the godly man, who wishes to believe the truth without making resistance. For if we believe it to be true, that God fore-knows and fore-ordains all things; that He can be neither deceived nor hindered in His Prescience and Predestination; and that nothing can take place but according to His Will, (which reason herself is compelled to confess;) then, even according to the testimony of reason herself, there can be no "Free-will" - in man, - in angel, - or in any creature!

Hence: - If we believe that Satan is the prince of this world, ever ensnaring and fighting against the kingdom of Christ with all his powers; and that he does not let go his captives without being forced by the Divine Power of the Spirit; it is manifest, that there can be no such thing as - "Free-will!"

Again: - If we believe that original sin has so destroyed us, that even in the godly who are led by the Spirit, it causes the utmost molestation by striving against that which is good; it is manifest, that there can be nothing left in a man devoid of the Spirit, which can turn itself towards good, but which must turn towards evil!

Again: - If the Jews, who followed after righteousness with all their powers, ran rather into unrighteousness, while the Gentiles who followed after unrighteousness attained unto a free righteousness which they never hoped for; it is equally manifest, from their very works, and from experience, that man, without grace, can do nothing but will evil!

Finally: - If we believe that Christ redeemed men by His blood, we are compelled to confess, that the whole man was lost: otherwise, we shall make Christ superfluous, or a Redeemer of the grossest part of man only, - which is blasphemy and sacrilege!

Summary

Calvinists recognize that God has created man with the capacity to choose, but because of the fall, man does not have the capacity to choose salvation. The only way for a man to be saved is by the direct involvement of each member of the Trinity. God the Father, in eternity past, chose out of sinful man those He would save. Jesus Christ suffered on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God for those whom the Father chose. The Holy Spirit, through the means of the preached word, draws those whom the Father chose, and for whom the Son suffered.

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

I have a cat. I have a waterbed

I have a cat. His name is Captain Jack. He is stupid. He thinks (or maybe not) that containers with liquid in them are supposed to be knocked over. He is very good at knocking over such containers. He also likes to climb into the bathtub and drink from the faucet.


I have a waterbed. Last week we noticed that there was water in the bed. The water is supposed to stay on the inside of the water mattress, but it was outside. I went to the waterbed store, borrowed an electric pump, drained the waterbed, dragged it out of the house, all to see if I could find a leak.

When I returned to the bedroom I noticed a bottle of water lying in the liner. The cap was off and there was a little bit of water left in the bottle. I said to myself, "Self, have you gone to this much trouble because Captain Jack knocked an open bottle of water off the nightstand into the bed?" Myself answered me and said, "That stupid cat is gonna die!"

So I changed into a black shirt and black pants, so I could be the man in black, went looking for Jack, and when I found him I sang, "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do! Now you're gonna die! And if I ever have a (grand)son, I think I'm gonna name him…." Who am I kidding - I'm not gonna name my grandchildren!

Before I brought the mattress back into the house I still wanted to inspect it to see if there were any leaks, but needed to wait for it to dry. Some time later I began my inspection. I noticed tiny little holes, too many to count, that appeared to have been caused by an animal with claws. This clawed animal had apparently walked across the mattress and punctured it. I think I know which clawed animal it was and I'm going to sing to that cat when I see him next.

I still have a cat. I don't still have a waterbed. It is currently residing in the landfill.

Questions concerning election

I am participating (under the name JohnBrian) in a discussion at Sharper Iron titled Questions concerning election.

My posts primarily contain links to articles relevant to the discussion.

Romans: Points to Ponder

My resignation from my former church was effective on the last Sunday of July. During the month of August we visited four different churches, two out of town while we were vacationing, and two in town when we returned. In one of the churches the pastor was preaching a series on the book of Acts; in the other three, the pastors were all preaching series on the book of Romans. In the bulletin from one of those three churches the following six statements were listed under the heading Romans: Points to Ponder.

1. God loves everybody.
2. Jesus died for everybody.
3. The only way anybody can be saved is through faith in Jesus.
4. We have to tell everybody about Jesus.
5. Anybody who wants to be saved can be saved.
6. When somebody gets saved, God keeps them saved forever.

My purpose here is to show my agreement or disagreement with these six statements.

1. God loves everybody. Agree.

With the distinction that the love he has for a believer is different than the love he has for an unbeliever.

Bruce Goettsche, in an article titled The God Who Loves, writes:

The second misconception is the notion that God loves everyone the same. I love my family, I love my country, I love my job and I love to read…but I don’t love them all the same. God loves believers and unbelievers differently. God loves the world…but He loves His children in a much greater way.

Don Fields, in an article titled Is the Calvinist’s God Loving?, writes:

I have heard many Christians argue against Calvinism and limited atonement (particular redemption) in particular by making the claim that God loves everyone with the same equal, undifferentiated, indiscriminate love. This is known as the unibenevolent love of God.

He adds:

…after looking at every verse in the Bible containing the word “love”, I only found one verse that could lead one to believe that God loves every single person in exactly the same way – John 3:16. It is obvious that every other reference is either limited in extent or in degree.

In an article titled Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin / Love the Sinner, Hate the Sinner, Justin Taylor quotes John McKenzie:

There is a lawful hatred of the sinner; and indeed there must be, since such a hatred is the obverse of the love of God. The love of God hates all that is opposed to God; and sinners – not merely sin – are opposed to God.

Another writer makes the claim that because God don’t make junk…

God´s going to make a winner out of you not the loser you think you are.

He seeks to give an accurate picture of: God, Satan, my response, and you. What is noticeably missing from the you section is that we are sinners deserving nothing but the wrath of God.

Jonathan Edwards, in his great sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, does give an accurate picture of man deserving God’s wrath:

The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.

Ephesians 2:3 informs us that we are by nature children of wrath:

Ephesians 2:1-3

¹ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 are an encouragement to the believer by identifying us as brethren beloved by the Lord.

¹³ But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴ to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God loves everybody, but He does not have the same depth of love for the unregenerate as He does for the regenerate. He loves the elect with a different and much deeper love than the non-elect. His love for His chosen people, His sheep, is of a different quality than the love He has for the goats.

2. Jesus died for everybody. Disagree.

Gospel Outreach Ministries has a link titled Doctrines of Grace. That link leads to a number of other links, most notably links to articles about TULIP. The Limited Atonement article begins this way:

The doctrine of Limited Atonement (or Particular Redemption) is probably the most controversial of the doctrines of grace and most difficult to accept by many believers. Limited Atonement states that Christ’s redeeming work was intended to save the elect only, and actually secured salvation for them. His death was the substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation; including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation.

The article also references a number of Scripture passages, of which these are a sample:

Isaiah 53:11-12 – verse 11 states that Christ will justify many, while verse 12 states that He bore the sin of many. Notice that the word all is not used in this passage.

¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

John 10:15 states that Christ lays down His life for the sheep.

¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

1 Peter 2:24 states that Christ bore our sins.

²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ²² “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; ²³ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed. ²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Later in the Limited Atonement article the writer states:

Therefore, the atonement Christ made for the sins of His people was limited in purpose; not in its value, but in its purpose, for it was designed for the elect of God.

In an article titled The Case for Definite Atonement, Roger Nicole writes:

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.

He adds:

…the choice here is not between limited and unlimited atonement, but between an effective atonement limited in breadth to the redeemed, and an universal atonement limited in depth to the point of ineffectuality.

The Canons of Dordt speak about His death being sufficient for the sins of the world but efficient only for the elect.

Canons of Dordt – Second Head of Doctrine:

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 4
This death derives its infinite value and dignity from these considerations because the person who submitted to it was not only really man and perfectly holy, but also the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, which qualifications were necessary to constitute Him a Savior for us; and because it was attended with a sense of the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin.

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.

3. The only way anybody can be saved is through faith in Jesus. Agree.

With the distinction that faith is a gift from God, and unless and until God gives an individual that gift, he cannot be saved.

Ephesians 2:8-9

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Canons of Dordt – Second Head of Doctrine

Article 7
But as many as truly believe, and are delivered and saved from sin and destruction through the death of Christ, are indebted for this benefit solely to the grace of God, given them in Christ from everlasting, and not to any merit of their own.

Canons of Dordt – Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine

Article 14
Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of God, not on account of its being offered by God to man, to be accepted or rejected at his pleasure; but because it is in reality conferred, breathed, and infused into him; or even because God bestows the power or ability to believe, and then expects that man should by the exercise of his own free will, consent to the terms of salvation and actually believe in Christ; but because He who works in man both to will and to do, and indeed all things in all, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing also.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne, in an article titled Saving Faith The Gift Of God, writes:

When a man chooses an apple off a tree, he generally chooses the ripest, the one that promises best. It is not so with God in choosing the soul He saves. He does not choose those that have sinned least, those that are most willing to be saved; He often chooses the vilest of men, “to the praise of the glory of his grace.”

He goes on to say:

Once I saw no form nor comeliness in Jesus, no beauty that I should desire Him. But He came like a roe or a young hart, leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills. He stood behind our wall, He looked in at the window, showing Himself through the lattice. He showed me His hands and His feet pierced for sinners. He showed me that there was room beneath His shining righteousness. He showed me His heart, the same yesterday, today, and forever; and now I cannot but say, He is to me beautiful and glorious, excellent and comely. If there were ten thousand other ways of pardon, I would pass them all by, and flee to Him. He is altogether lovely. This I trust is saving faith, which is the gift of God.

4. We have to tell everybody about Jesus. Agree.

Because preaching is the means by which the beloved of the Lord come to faith.

Romans 10:13-17

¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” ¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” ¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” ²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Canons of Dordt – First Head of Doctrine

Article 3
And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings to whom He will and at what time He pleaseth; by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" (Rom. 10:14-15).

Canons of Dordt – Second Head of Doctrine

Article 5
Moreover, the promise of the gospel is, that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of His good pleasure sends the gospel.

5. Anybody who wants to be saved can be saved. Agree.

With the distinction that only the elect want to.

Canons of Dordt – Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine

Article 3
Therefore all men are conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage thereto, and without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to return to God, to reform the depravity of their nature, or to dispose themselves to reformation.

Article 10
But that others who are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distinguishes himself above others, equally furnished with grace sufficient for faith and conversions as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains; but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who as He has chosen His own from eternity in Christ, so He confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and translates them into the kingdom of His own Son, that they may show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light; and may glory not in themselves, but in the Lord according to the testimony of the apostles in various places.

Article 12
And this is the regeneration so highly celebrated in Scripture and denominated a new creation: a resurrection from the dead, a making alive, which God works in us without our aid. But this is in no wise effected merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of operation, that after God has performed His part, it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted; but it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and ineffable; not inferior in efficacy to creation or the resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the author of this work declares; so that all in whose heart God works in this marvelous manner are certainly, infallibly, and effectually regenerated, and do actually believe. Whereupon the will thus renewed is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence, becomes itself active. Wherefore also, man is himself rightly said to believe and repent, by virtue of that grace received.

Rejection 4
That the unregenerate man is not really nor utterly dead in sin, nor destitute of all powers unto spiritual good, but that he can yet hunger and thirst after righteousness and life, and offer the sacrifice of a contrite and broken spirit, which is pleasing to God. For these are contrary to the express testimony of Scripture. "Who were dead in trespasses and sins"; "Even when we were dead in sins" (Eph. 2:1, 5); and: "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5); "for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21). Moreover, to hunger and thirst after deliverance from misery, and after life, and to offer unto God the sacrifice of a broken spirit, is peculiar to the regenerate and those that are called blessed. "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me"; "Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar" (Ps. 51:10, 19); "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6).

John 6:37-44 helps us to understand that only the elect are capable of being saved.

John 6:37-39

³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means 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 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

Some months ago I was studying this passage for a Wednesday night series on the gospel. The question that came to my mind, from verse 37, was whether someone can come to the Son apart from the Father giving that someone to the Son. Verse 44 answers that question:

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.

Since both verse 39 and verse 44 speak of raising up at the last day, we conclude that those who are given by the Father in verse 37 are the same ones drawn by the Father in verse 44.

John 10:26 records the words of Jesus to the Jews, telling them that the reason they do not believe is because they are not His sheep. He goes on to say that if the Father had given them to Him, they would believe because that is what those given by the Father do.

John 10:22-30

²² Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴ Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and My Father are one.”

Sometimes when I go to a fast food restaurant, if the server is not busy, I will ask for something that is not on the menu. For example, at KFC I will ask for a hamburger. This usually elicits a puzzled look from the server, who then kindly informs me that they don’t sell hamburgers, they sell chicken. I have the freedom to choose the restaurant, but once I choose the restaurant, I am limited by the menu available at that restaurant. Sinners are limited as well. Adam in the garden made a choice, and as his descendants we are limited to the fleshly menu, which has no spiritual items.

Romans 8:5-8 shows us the two menus, the fleshly and the spiritual:

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

In order for us to be able to order from the spiritual menu the Spirit of God must dwell in us. Ephesians 2:1-10 speaks of our spiritual deadness and the great love and mercy of God, who makes us spiritually alive:

¹ And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The prophet Ezekiel in 11:19-20 speaks of those who have had their stony heart replaced by a fleshly heart being obedient to God.

¹⁹ Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

6. When somebody gets saved, God keeps them saved forever. Agree.

Canons of Dordt – The Fifth Head of Doctrine

Article 8
Thus, it is not in consequence of their own merits or strength, but of God's free mercy, that they do not totally fall from faith and grace, nor continue and perish finally in their backslidings; which, with respect to themselves, is not only possible, but would undoubtedly happen; but with respect to God, it is utterly impossible, since His counsel cannot be changed nor His promise fail, neither can the call according to His purpose be revoked, nor the merit, intercession and preservation of Christ be rendered ineffectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or obliterated.

Article 12
This certainty of perseverance, however, is so far from exciting in believers a spirit of pride or of rendering them carnally secure, that on the contrary, it is the real source of humility, filial reverence, true piety, patience in every tribulation, fervent prayers, constancy in suffering, and in confessing the truth, and of solid rejoicing in God; so that the consideration of this benefit should serve as an incentive to the serious and constant practice of gratitude and good works, as appears from the testimonies of Scripture and the examples of the saints.

Rejection 2
That God does indeed provide the believer with sufficient powers to persevere and is ever ready to preserve these in him, if he will do his duty; but that though all things which are necessary to persevere in faith and which God will use to preserve faith are made use of, it even then ever depends on the pleasure of the will whether it will persevere or not. For this idea contains an outspoken Pelagianism, and while it would make men free, it makes them robbers of God's honor, contrary to the prevailing agreement of the evangelical doctrine, which takes from man all cause of boasting and ascribes all the praise for this favor to the grace of God alone; and contrary to the apostle, who declares that it is God "Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 1:8).

Romans 8:35-39

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.

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Other blog articles I enjoy

Down the right left side of my blog I list some other blogs; those written by my family, those I visit daily, and those that I try to check at least on a weekly basis. There is a fourth category, which is not listed here; blogs that I visit occasionally.

Here are some posts that I have enjoyed recently:

Church Leaders Raise "Age of Accountability"
(Tominthebox – 09/05/07)
The article is satirical, but the discussion in the Comments is serious.

Challenged to Boast like a Christian
(Irish Calvinist – 09/01/07)

If They Call Worship Fun, Then It's Time To Run
(Old Truth – 08/28/07)
Some months ago I heard a preacher state that he liked to have fun when he preached. I enjoy preaching but would never describe it as fun.

Why Passion Leaves the Prayer Closet
(Big Orange Truck – 08/22/07)

A good critique of seekerized church life
(Founders Ministries – 01/10/06)
This post is more than a year old, but I just recently read it.

and the words to a great song:

The Mercies Of God
Jesse B. Thomas / Thomas O. Chisholm © Public Domain

The mercies of God what a theme for my song
Oh I never could number them o'er
They're more than the stars in the heavenly dome
Or sands of the wave beaten shore

Chorus: For mercies so great what return can I make
For mercies so constant and sure
I'll love Him I'll serve Him with all that I have
As long as my life shall endure

They greet me at morn when I waken from sleep
And they gladden my heart at the noon
They follow me on into shades of the night
When the day with it labor is done

His angels of mercy encompass me 'round
Wheresoever my pathway may lead
Each turn of the road some new token reveals
Oh for me life is blessed indeed

His goodness and mercy will follow me still
Even on to the end of the way
I have His sure promise and that cannot fail
That His mercy is mine ev'ry day

5 points and a poem - that's a sermon!