25-0209p Transcript

Preacher: Scott Reynolds

(0:37) Now, the lesson I’m going to present tonight is targeted to our Wednesday night class (0:44) people.

And normally on Sunday night, that’s who’s here, our Wednesday night class. (0:52) And in the Wednesday night class, we’re studying a series by Dr. Del Tackett called The Truth (0:59) Project. And he’s not Church of Christ.

He’s a Protestant from the Reformation Movement. (1:10) And he does a fantastic job of identifying the philosophies, as the scripture was talking about, (1:22) of the world and the attacks we’re facing from the world. He does a great job on that, identifying and (1:29) and comparing that with scripture.

And his whole point is that we should build (1:36) a Christian, a biblical Christian worldview. But in his presentation, he’s already (1:44) brought through some of his, we all have bias, and he’s brought some of his in, which is Protestant. (1:51) And some of the ideas from Calvinism have played a big part in Protestantism.

(2:02) And so I thought it would be wise for us to see what Calvinism is about, (2:10) so that when we go through the study, we can identify what a creed of man is versus (2:20) we have the Restoration Movement, the motto was, we have no creed but the Bible. So versus the (2:28) Bible, what man thinks versus what the Bible actually says. I saw this article written by David (2:36) Miller, PhD at Apologetics Press.

The link is on the screen. I also have a few copies of what I’m (2:48) going to be reading, and they’re available if you want to. I don’t have as much as there are (2:54) people here, but I do have a few copies available.

And then you can also get it. That is the direct (3:03) link to the article. If you want to take a picture of that with your phone or write it down or (3:09) whatever, you can get access to the article directly there.

So the article is entitled, (3:15) Flaws in Calvinism. David Miller, PhD, published the article in March 6, 2017, (3:23) and we put the Apologetics Press link in there, which is what’s required for us to be able to use (3:30) it without permission, just to be able to use it and present it to you. So the summary of the (3:38) article is, Calvinism, a theological system, is critiqued for its core principles, including (3:46) total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance (3:55) of the saints.

Biblical verses are presented as counter-arguments emphasizing God’s love, (4:03) mercy, and desire for all people to be saved. The article concludes by highlighting the importance (4:09) of repentance and the potential of eternal loss, contradicting the notion of once saved, (4:16) always saved. And there’s not really a lot of commentary in his article.

It’s just stating (4:22) what Calvinism is about, those core principles that he just mentioned up there, five of them, (4:31) five or six, I think. Anyway, and then he just lists Bible scriptures, and we’ll read the (4:40) scriptures. They will also be on the screen for you when we get going.

So the article, (4:50) he gives a little bit of a background on John Calvin. John Calvin lived from 1509 to 1564, (5:00) in the 16th century. He was a French theologian during the Protestant Reformation, (5:07) whose system of Christian theology, primarily expressed in his Institutes of the Christian (5:14) Religion, has exerted tremendous influence throughout the Christian world for nearly (5:20) five centuries.

The central tenets of his thinking have been summarized under the acrostic (5:29) tulip, T-U-L-I-P. Total depravity is the T in tulip. All men have inherited the sin of Adam (5:40) through their parents, and are morally unable to choose to follow God and be saved because of their (5:49) own depraved, sinful nature, which extends to every part of the personality.

And this is really (5:56) why I started looking for something like this article, was when Dell was emphasizing man’s (6:04) sinful nature. In essence, he was saying, we don’t have a choice, we’re just sinful. (6:10) And we start out that way, and that’s this idea of total depravity we inherit from the sin of (6:20) Adam through our parents.

The Bible responses in Ezekiel 18, 19-23, it says, (6:29) Yet you say, why should the son not bear the guilt of the father? Because the son has done what is (6:45) lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and done them, he shall surely live. The soul (6:53) who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt (7:00) of the son.

The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the (7:07) wicked shall be upon himself. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, (7:14) says the Lord God, and not that he should turn away, or turn from his ways, and live? (7:23) Ezekiel 28, 15. They even sacrifice their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed (7:31) innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters.

Zechariah 12, 1. Thus says the Lord, (7:41) who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit (7:46) of man within him. Matthew 18, 2-3. Then Jesus called a little child to him, set him in the (7:55) midst of them, and said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted, and become as little (8:03) children, you will in no way, or in no means, enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19, 14. (8:15) But Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom (8:22) of heaven. Romans 7, verse 9. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, (8:32) sin became alive, and I died.

Unconditional election is the U in TULIP. God chose from (8:44) eternity to save certain people, not based upon foreseen virtue, faith, or anticipated acceptance (8:52) of the gospel. God chose to extend mercy to those he has specifically chosen to withhold mercy from, (9:02) those not chosen.

Those chosen receive salvation through Christ alone. (9:10) Those not chosen receive wrath and damnation. Okay, that’s unconditional election.

You don’t (9:20) have to do anything. It’s whether or not God chose you. And if he chose you, you got it.

(9:26) If he didn’t, you don’t. Bible response. Luke 13, 3. I tell you no, but unless you repent, (9:35) you will all likewise perish.

John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten (9:43) Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 8, 24.

(9:54) Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am he, (10:02) you will die in your sins. Acts chapter 10, verses 34 and 35. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, (10:13) in truth I perceive that God chose no partiality, but in every nation, whoever fears him and works (10:21) righteousness is accepted by him.

Romans 2, 5-11. God will render to each one, according to his (10:33) deeds, eternal life to those who by patience, continuance, and doing good seek for glory, (10:42) honor, and immortality. But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, (10:51) but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation, and anguish on every soul of man who (10:59) does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works (11:07) what is good to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For there is no partiality with God. (11:17) First Peter, chapter 1, verse 17. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges (11:27) according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear, (11:36) and Revelation 22, 17.

Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (11:46) Our responses to unconditional election. The L of TULIP is limited atonement.

(11:56) That’s limited atonement. Christ died only for those whom God specifically pre-decided (12:04) to save, the elect, but not for any others. The Bible responses, 1 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4. (12:15) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved (12:22) and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2, 5 and 6. For there is one God and (12:31) one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. (12:39) Titus 2, verses 11 and 12. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12:47) teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, (12:55) righteously, and godly in the present age.

1 John 2, verse 2. And he himself is the propitiation (13:07) for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. John 3, 17. For God did (13:18) not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him (13:24) might be saved.

2 Peter 3, verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count (13:36) slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all (13:43) should come to repentance. Acts 10, 34. God shows no partiality.

Romans 2, verse 11. For there is (13:55) no partiality with God. The eye and tulip of Calvinism is irresistible grace.

God’s saving (14:10) grace is applied to those whom he has determined to save, the elect, overcoming the resistance to (14:19) the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith. This means that when God sovereignly (14:26) purposes to save someone, that individual certainly will be saved, even against his will, (14:35) if necessary. This purposeful influence of God’s Holy Spirit who creates faith (14:43) within the individual cannot be resisted.

The Bible responses. Deuteronomy chapter 30, (14:56) verse 19. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you (15:05) life and death, blessings and cursings.

Therefore, choose life. Joshua 24, 15. (15:17) Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served (15:23) that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

But (15:30) as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Luke chapter 7, verse 30. But the Pharisees and (15:41) lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

John chapter 12, (15:51) verses 42 and 43. Nevertheless, even among the rulers, many believed in him. But because of (15:59) the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.

For they (16:05) loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Acts chapter 7, verse 51. You stiff-necked (16:15) and uncircumcised in heart and ears.

You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. (16:24) So do you. Acts 13, 46.

And then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, (16:32) it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you rejected (16:38) and judged yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. (16:45) So that’s the responses to irresistible grace of Calvinism.

The P of TULIP (16:56) in Calvinism is perseverance of the saints. And since God is sovereign and his will cannot be (17:05) frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with him (17:13) will continue in faith until the end. They cannot be eternally lost.

(17:22) The Bible responses. Galatians 5, verse 4. You Christians have become estranged from Christ. (17:31) You who attempt to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace.

(17:37) 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 20 through 22. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the (17:47) world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and (17:54) overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for (18:02) them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy (18:08) commandment delivered to them.

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog (18:15) returns to its own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire. (18:33) Hebrews 4, verse 11. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, (18:40) lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

(18:46) Hebrews 6, verses 4 through 6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened (18:55) and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit (19:01) and have tested the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away (19:07) to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God (19:16) and put him to an open chain. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 38 and 39. (19:26) Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

(19:35) But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving (19:42) of the soul. James chapter 5, verses 19 and 20. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the (19:51) truth, as someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the air of his (19:59) ways will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Revelation chapter 2, verse 5. (20:10) Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come (20:16) to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. Revelation 3, 5. He who (20:28) overcomes shall be clothed in white garments and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, (20:36) but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Finally, Revelation 22, (20:46) verses 19.

Revelation 22, verse 19. If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this (20:55) prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life. That’s the article, the five tenets (21:05) of Calvinism, TULIP, and the biblical responses.

Again, like I said, I do have copies and the link (21:16) is there if you need it. This was primarily presented for the Wednesday night class so that (21:23) we can become familiar with the thinking of the Protestant movement. So as we watch the video, (21:33) we can be on guard and the worldview we build will be based solely on the scripture.

(21:44) Okay, so the invitation is being extended to anyone who is of need. So come while we stand and sing.