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Answering Calvinism

Answering Calvinism. Dr. John Oakes Manila Jan 23, 2016. Discussion Questions. Is predestination biblical? What scriptures would you use? Is God absolutely sovereign? Is God’s will always done? Are human beings born guilty of the sin of Adam (and Eve)?

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Answering Calvinism

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  1. Answering Calvinism Dr. John Oakes Manila Jan 23, 2016

  2. Discussion Questions Is predestination biblical? What scriptures would you use? Is God absolutely sovereign? Is God’s will always done? Are human beings born guilty of the sin of Adam (and Eve)? Is “the fall of man” a biblical concept? If so, what is the nature of that fall, and what are the implications for us as individuals? Is the idea of free will biblical? Scriptures?

  3. What is Calvinism? Was John Calvin a Calvinist? Def: The “reformed” theological system most commonly associated with the reformer John Calvin. Better: The theological system based on the assumption of the absolute sovereignty of God and the concept of total depravity of mankind.

  4. Outline I. The history of Calvinistic thinking. II. Implications on Christian theology, doctrine and practice. III. Biblical teaching on free will, the fall of man, predestination and perseverance. IV. Refuting Calvinism and Calvinist proof-texts.

  5. But First… Total Depravity Def: When Adam (and Eve) rebelled and sinned, the result was the “fall” of mankind, which means that all subsequent humans arecompletely depraved. We genetically inherit the sin of Adam and are born in sin. As a result, we are absolutely powerless, not only to stop sinning but to decide to respond to God’s love, to obey him, to repent and put our faith in him.

  6. I. The History of Calvinistic Thinking Where did all this originate? Augustine! Augustine of Hippo (354-430) “The City of God” Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Martin Luther (1483-1546): an Augustinian monk. Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) Reformed Churches. John Calvin (1509-1564) “Institutes of the Christian Religion”

  7. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) The City of God: God’s Sovereignty Total depravity Monergism (only God) Double Predestination? Original Sin Infant baptism required for salvation Former Manichaean (dualism) Confessions Opposed Pelagius Augustine of Hippo (from 6th century)

  8. Augustine on Free Will “Tiny babies are not weighed down by their own sin, but they are being burdened with the sin of another.” “A man’s free will avails for nothing except to sin.” "It is, therefore, in the power of the wicked to sin; but that in sinning they should do this or that by that wickedness is not in their power, but in God's, who divides the darkness and regulates it; so that hence even what they do contrary to God's will is not fulfilled except it be God's will.“ “Men’s evil wills are prepared by God and predestination. God, in his timeless wisdom had decided to prepare only the will of a few.” Calvinism is, in essence Augistinism.

  9. Pelagius AD c. 354-430 Works Salvation? Affirmed the existence of free will. “Evil is not born with us, and we are procreated without fault.” Rejected infant baptism. Taught that we become holy through our own effort. “Since perfection is possible for man, it is obligatory.” We did not sin in Adam. We sinned like Adam.

  10. Augustine’s Response to Pelagius 1. Death came from sin, not man's physical nature. 2. Infants must be baptized to be cleansed from original sin. 3. No good works can come without God's grace. 4. Children dying without baptism are excluded from both the Kingdom of heaven and eternal life. Conclusion: We should be cautious against letting what we believe be a response to our opponents.

  11. Julian of Eclanum (c. 386-c. 455) • “You [ie. Augustine] think that your Lord is capable of committing a crime against justice such as is hardly conceivable even among the barbarians.” • Accused Augustine of Manicheism and of making God the creator of both good and evil. “We maintain that men are the work of God, and that no one is forced unwillingly by His power either into evil or good, but that man does either good or ill of his own will; but that in a good work he is always assisted by God’s grace, while in evil he is incited by the suggestions of the devil.”

  12. Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274 Disciple of Aristotle Scholasticism Arguments for existence of God Synergism?

  13. Thomas Aquinas: “God, therefore, is the first cause, who moves causes both natural and voluntary. And just as by moving natural causes He does not prevent their actions from being natural, so by moving voluntary causes He does not deprive their actions of being voluntary; but rather is He the cause of this very thing in them, for He operates in each thing according to his own nature.” In other words, Aquinas believed in free will and not a strict monergism.

  14. Martin Luther 1483-1541 Augustinian Monk Faith Alone Grace Alone Scripture Alone Predestination

  15. Martin Luther: “Away with James… His authority is not great enough to cause me to abandon the doctrine of faith [alone] and to deviate from the authority of the other apostles and the entire Scripture.” St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others [Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians] for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.” Also questioned canonicity of Hebrews because of its teaching on perseverence of the saints.

  16. Luther and Free Will “Free will is an empty term whose reality is lost and a lost liberty is not liberty at all” “Free will is really a fiction… everything takes place by absolute necessity.” Luther, Assertio, 36

  17. Luther and Double Predestination "All things whatever arise from, and depend on, the divine appointment; whereby it was foreordained who should receive the word of life, and who should disbelieve it; who should be delivered from their sins, and who should be hardened in them; and who should be justified and who should be condemned." Melanchthon and the Lutheran Concord taught single predestination. Luther left it as a mystery.

  18. Ulrich Zwingli 1484-1531 Opposed baptismal regeneration Double Predestination Reformed Theology “Those individuals who end up damned forever in hell are also eternally determined by God for that fate.”

  19. John Calvin1509-1564 Institutes of Christian Religion His emphasis: the sovereignty of God TULIP

  20. Calvin on Predestination We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which he determined with himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others. Therefore, as any man has been created to one or the other of these ends, we speak of him as predestined to life or death.” Uses Eph 1:4, John 17:6 and 6:37 and Romans 9

  21. Calvin on Total Depravity (Institutes 1.15.4) “Even though we grant that God’s image was not totally annihilated and destroyed in him [Adam], yet it was so corrupted that whatever remains is frightful deformity.” “What remains in men? They are only vermin and rottenness”

  22. Theodore Beza (1519-1605) Successor to Calvin in Geneva Created what now called Calvinism TULIP Supralapsarianism (as opposed to infralapsarianism)

  23. TULIP • Total depravity • Unconditional election • Limited atonement • Irresistable grace • Perseverence of the saint (once saved, always saved) • This entire system is: • Logical and • Built on the doctrine of Original Sin/Total Depravity.

  24. Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) Student of Beza Opposed Reformed idea of predestination. Synergism: God works together with our free will to bring about salvation Are we Arminians?

  25. Arminius and “Prevenient Grace” Arminius: "the grace sufficient for salvation is conferred on the Elect, and on the Non-elect; that, if they will, they may believe or not believe, may be saved or not be saved.“ A human being cannot, on his or her own, turn to God. God grants all sinners prevenient grace (prevenient meaning "coming before"). With this prevenient grace (or with its effects on the fallen human), a person is able to freely choose to place faith in Christ or reject his salvation. If the person accepts it, then God justifies him and continues to give further grace to spiritually heal and sanctify him.

  26. English and American Puritanism Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 “A Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God.” How do we know we are of the elect?

  27. John Wesley (1703-1791) and Methodism "The will of man is by nature free only to evil. Yet... every man has a measure of free-will restored to him by grace." "Natural free-will in the present state of mankind, I do not understand: I only assert, that there is a measure of free-will supernaturally restored to every man, together with that supernatural light which 'enlightens every man that comes into the world.'”

  28. 1800’s America: Happy CalvinismOnce Saved, Always Saved • Revivalism on the Frontier • Barton Stone rejects Calvinism • Mourner’s Bench Charles Finney 1835 • Once God saves you, in is impossible to lose your salvation, no matter what. • Billy Sunday Early 1900s “The Sawdust Trail”

  29. Evangelicalism: Soft Calvinism 1950s Billy Graham Bill Bright Four Spiritual Laws Sinner’s Prayer "Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

  30. II. Implications of Calvinism a. Rejection of baptismal regeneration. b. Lack of motivation toward repentance and effort toward righteousness. c. Strange ideas about creation. d. Once saved, always saved. e. Lack of intrinsic motivation for evangelism f. Arrogance toward the lost. g. Intellectualism. h. Lack of assurance of salvation.

  31. III. Biblical teaching on free will, the fall of man, predestination and perseverance. • Q: Scriptures which appear to support the doctrine of predestination? • Q: Is a believer in this false doctrine lost? • Q: Scriptures which prove free will and refute predestination? • Q: Where do we go first to learn what happened at the Fall?

  32. The Fall of Mankind Genesis 3:1-13 Adam and Eve give in to temptation and eat the fruit. What were the immediate consequences? Gen 3:21-14 1. They lost their innocence. 2. They “became like one of us, knowing good and evil. They gained a propensity toward sin—a “sinful nature.” 3. They lost access to the tree of life. Did they lose physical immortality or did they die spiritually or both? But… They did NOT become totally depraved.

  33. Did Adam and Eve, and did we lose our free will in the Fall? • They (and we) still had “free will”!!! It is God’s sovereign will that we have free will because he loves us. Love gives a choice. By definition, it is impossible to make someone love someone else. If the decision to love is not free then it is not love. Deut 30:19-20 Joshua 24:15 Ezekiel 18:19-20

  34. Before Romans 5 and 8-10,Q: Is God’s Will Always Done? Matthew 6:10. Your will be done…. Matthew 23:37 ..but you were not willing. Ezek 18:31-32 I take no pleasure in the death

  35. Is Faith Alone Biblical? James 2:14-26 Galatians 5:6 Faith expressing itself in love John 6:29 The works God requires? To believe in him.

  36. Is Baptism a Work for Salvation? Baptism is passive. It is done to us. Coll 2:12-13 If baptism is a “work” it is a work of God, not of us.

  37. Romans 5:12-19 Adam and Jesus Adam and Jesus are both very similar and very different. Romans 5:12, 17, 18 The central question: What was the effect of Adam’s sin? Does this passage support “Original Sin”? Zwingli: “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.”

  38. The Effect of Adam’s Sin a. Sin entered the world. b. Death came to all (physical or spiritual or both?) c. All sinned We are not guilty of Adam’s sin, but because of what he did, all of us will sin. We have “fallen.” 5:13 Sin is not taken into account when there is no law… Romans 5:20, Romans 7:13 Q: Do you see sin as utterly sinful?

  39. Romans 5:15-19 Adam and Jesus 5:15 The gift is not (exactly) like the tresspass. The gift: Jesus The tresspass: Adam similar but different. One act let to many sins vs. The many sins led to one act. The gift followed many sins, while the condemnation followed one sin. v. 18-19 condemnation for all and life for all….

  40. The Second Adam in 1 Cor 15 1 Cor 15:20-23 This is about the physical resurrection, to he is discussing the physical results of Adam’s sin. NOT the same subject as Romans 5. 1 Cor 15:45-49 A difficult passage, but the same topic. Again, talking about physical things and the resurrection.

  41. Romans 8:28-39 God’s provision for us Romans 8:28 Q: Is God’s will always done? Even the things that are NOT according to his will he can use for our benefit. Romans 8:29 Does foreknowledge = predestination? Paraphrase: Those who God, in his foreknowledge, knew would be saved by the blood of Jesus, he predestined the possibility of that salvation.

  42. TULIP Does Romans 8:29-30 give support for Calvinism/TULIP? T Total depravity U Unconditional Election L Limited Atonement I Irresistible Grace P Perseverance of the Saints (once saved, always saved) In a word: No! 1 Tim 2:4, Deut 30:19-20, 2 Cor 5:15

  43. Romans 8:30 Paraphrase of Romans 8:30 (in a sense) all are predestined, but not all those who are predestined are called (hear the message), and not all those who are called are justified (saved) , and not all those who are justified are glorified (make it to heaven). But… For those whom God foreknows, all of these are true of all of them. Who is predestined, called, justified and glorified? Calvin and Zwingli: a tiny minority who God chooses. All others were created in order to go to hell. Paul: Those God foreknew would be saved.

  44. Romans 8:30 Paraphrase of Romans 8:30 (in a sense) all are predestined, but not all those who are predestined are called (hear the message), and not all those who are called are justified (saved) , and not all those who are justified are glorified (make it to heaven). But… For those whom God foreknows, all of these are true of all of them. Who is predestined, called, justified and glorified? Calvin and Zwingli: a tiny minority who God chooses. All others were created in order to go to hell. Paul: Those God foreknew would be saved.

  45. Romans 8:31-39Security in Christ Does this passage support “once saved, always saved”? (also John 10:27-29) Answer: No! Nothing ourside ourselves can separate us, and nothing can snatch us out of Jesus’ hand, but we can walk away. The point: We can and should feel very confident in Christ. Q: Do you feel this way?

  46. Romans Ch 9-11 God rejects Israel and chooses the Gentiles Romans 9:1-5 Paul is getting really emotional here. Why? Because he REALLY loves the Jews, but he is about to deliver some news they do not want to hear. God has rejected (physical) Israel and has chosen the Gentiles. The context: There are some Jewish Christians who are jealous and upset with God (and maybe with Paul) that he is allowing Gentiles into the kingdom so easily.

  47. Romans 9:6-9Not all Israel is Israel Romans 9:6 Not all Israel are Israel (in two senses) Romans 9:7 “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned” (Gal 4:21-31) 9:8 In other words, the children of promise, who walk by faith (not physical children) will be reconciled. Q: What should we rely on? The promise.

  48. Romans 9:10-16God’s Predestination Q: What is God’s predestination like? TULIP? 9:12-14 The older will serve the younger (Genesis 25:19-26) Jacob have I lived, Esau I hated (Malachi 1:2-3 I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy (Exodus 33:19) In all three cases, God chose Israel. Did they complain when that happened? Answer: It is about God trying to bless his people.

  49. Romans 9:17-29More examples of God’s Predestination Romans 9:17 Did God predestine that Pharaoh would go to hell? What about Judas? The purpose in both cases: to free God’s people from slavery, physical and spiritual. 9:19 Jews: Fine. If so, then I am not responsible for my own sin. 9:20 Who are you, O man, to talk back to God. 9:22 God: If I use the stubbornness of the Jews in order to help the Gentiles be saved, you should be happy about that!

  50. The Potter and the Clay Romans 8:21 I am the potter. Other potter/clay examples: Jeremiah 18:1-10 God chooses Moses, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel and Jonah. All chosen for “special duty.”

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