It has been awhile sense I have posted consistently and am greatly missing my study and reading time I used to have before I started the job I am in. I have been thinking a lot too about the condition of the church and myself in aspects of my walk with God, how I am living and the study of scripture. Over this past weekend here in Halifax, Nova Scotia we held a Bible Study Conference on the first book of Timothy.
I never got to attend much of it, due to the fact I wasn’t feeling well, but I did make it to chapter 2. If my thoughts are correct out of the 8 leading teachers on the stage, 4 of them would have held to a form of Calvinism where they believed in a personal election.
Yet when the time came for the discussion of verse 4 to take place, the ones who held to the teaching of ” libertarian free will” were the most vocal. Indeed a couple of the men spoke up making it someone clear to one who is a Calvinist what they held to, but still remained I felt someone vague to the general audience.
I have personally become quite tired of the political games that are being played with God’s word. The teaching of Monergism is something clearly taught in scripture and held by the early Christian men, including the Brethren.
So without further ado and more ranting I wish to take the time to explain my stance on what I believe concerning Calvinism using the acrostic T.U.L.I.P
T — Total Depravity
Total Depravity: Although fallen persons are capable of externally good acts (acts that are good for society), they cannot do anything really good, i.e., pleasing to God (Rom. 8:8). God, however, looks on the heart. And from his ultimate standpoint, fallen man has no goodness, in thought, word, or deed. He is therefore incapable of contributing anything to his salvation.
John Frame
For ones who hold to libertarian free will they would node their heads in agreement with this statement; claiming that yes they too agree that man is completely wicked and dead in sin.
The key difference is that they instantly change the word “dead” to “sick”. They, like Pelagius are quick to point out that a person is not so sick that they can not help themselves. A person still has the ability to turn on their own and either accept or reject Christ.
The problem with that thought though is that the term “Total Depravity” doesn’t mean that. So if one claims to hold to the “Free will” teaching, then they do not hold to the Complete Depravity (Total Inability) of man.
The Bible is very clear that man falls completely short in their ability to do anything that can gain favour with God. The most common verses that we tend to go to are verses that are found in Romans chapter 3 that describe us as dead in our sins. Yet God describes our heart all through scripture starting in the first book of the Bible.
Gen 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Dead
The Bible describes us as being dead. We are dead in our sins. A person that is dead, has no ability at all to come back to life. They can not take the first breath which starts the process to bring themselves back from the death bed. In the video there is a illustration of how a dead person simply can not do anything to raise him or herself.
Eph 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–
Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–
Doesn’t Seek
People get things confused easily sometimes. For some reason people think that because the offer is universal then therefore that means that people universally can on their own free will turn and start seeking God. That because God tells them to seek that means they can. First of all the gospel goes out to all the world. The gospel proclaims the glory of God, and is a stumbling block for the ones who don’t believe. Yet we are told clearly that the human does not desire to seek God.
Rom 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
No Interest
1Co 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
I believe the verse is self explanatory. Humans simply have no interest in God, they have no desire, don’t seek, and ultimately are dead.
Scripture is very clear on all these topics. So let’s not get caught up in the thoughts of our own hearts and try to change the meaning of certain words for the purpose of fitting verses into ideas that are more comfortable with our sinful heart.
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.
John Calvin
Next Article……..Unconditional Election
