Lakes Region Reformed Resources

What Are the Doctrines of Grace?

And Why Are They Important for the Christian?

by Keith Comparetto

It is one of the strange phenomena of our times that perhaps a majority of American churchgoers claim to believe the Bible as the verbally inspired Word of God, and yet most have little firsthand knowledge of its contents.  This is truly an American tragedy, for it has provided an atmosphere that has allowed Satan to put forth many counterfeit saints who know little of the power saving grace, and to spread such false doctrine throughout the land “so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24).

Such lack of discernment on the part of those sitting in the pew ought not to be so.  The Bereans in Acts chapter 17 were commended not only because they “received the word with all readiness of mind,” but because they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things [which they were hearing] were so” (Acts 17:11).  But in a day when a meticulous concern for correct biblical doctrine in the pulpit is often called intellectual snobbery or a threat to Christian unity, our stewardship of the precious truths entrusted to us has become more challenging than at any time in recent memory.

Nevertheless, it is the sobering responsibility of the church to be careful about what it teaches and takes in, for as Paul admonished Timothy, right living, and even salvation itself, begin with right doctrine:   “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16).  Furthermore, we believe genuine revival always begins with a humble turning back to the truths of Scripture. This is something unlikely to occur amidst the man-centered and crowd-pleasing antics of many of today’s churches.

Certainly, the numbers of those who describe themselves as “evangelical Christians” have grown over the last several decades, adding many new faces to the ranks of a very old and distinguished heritage. But many have little idea of the great doctrines that have defined and guided their evangelical heritage. One of the aims of Faith Bible Church, as given in our Mission Statement, is “preaching, teaching and upholding the great Biblical Doctrines of Grace,” for perhaps no area of biblical doctrine has been neglected more in modern times than these.  Certainly these truths often make people uncomfortable because they tear down human pride and take us beyond our human understanding.  But we believe we cannot adequately understand our holy and all-powerful God, or our duty to Him, without understanding these deep, biblical truths which have so often been maligned and ignored, but never disproved.

We do not claim to have mastered the knowledge of these mysteries; we seek merely to exalt our God and edify the believer to greater humbleness of heart and holiness of life.  To this end, we urge you first to answer “True” or “False” to the following propositions, and then to think along with us by challenging your mind and heart with the discussion that follows.

Based on your knowledge of what you believe the Bible teaches, please answer “True” or “False” to each the following questions.

Proposition 1:  Man, though he is born in sin, is never so completely corrupted by sin that he cannot believe the gospel unto salvation when it is put before him.

Proposition 2:  The free gift of the gospel and all its benefits is conditioned upon man’s decision to accept it.

Proposition 3:  Regeneration, or the New Birth, is the result of our placing our faith in Christ.

Proposition 4:  God’s “election” (or “predestination”) of those who would be saved simply means that He “foreknows” – or knows before it happens – that they will of their own accord believe the gospel.

Proposition 5:  Christ’s sacrifice did not insure (make certain) the salvation of everyone for whom He died.

Proposition 6:  A Christian’s “sanctification” (growing in grace by turning from sin) is accomplished by means of his or her surrender to the Holy Spirit, thus leading to a holy Christian walk.

Proposition 7:  Because of the biblical doctrine of “eternal security,” the backsliding Christian, though he may have departed from an obedient Christian walk, may still be assured of eternal salvation.

Proposition 8:  God’s offer of salvation is given to all, but He does not determine to make anyone in particular believe the gospel.

Proposition 9:  Man is never so completely controlled by God that he cannot reject the gospel.

Proposition 10:  Christ’s work on the Cross does not guarantee salvation for anyone, but merely the possibility of salvation if they believe.

Evaluating Your Test

If you answered “True” to all or most of the above statements, you are in abundant company today, but you are not in agreement with the evangelical church for most of its history.   Based on their careful study of the entire body of Scripture, here is how most of the greatest Christian writers until the beginning of the last century would have answered the propositions:

Statement 1:  Man, though he is born in sin, is never so completely corrupted by sin that he cannot believe the gospel unto salvation when it is put before him.

Answer:  FALSE.  The biblical doctrine of total depravity teaches not only that man is so depraved that he cannot save himself, but that his depravity extends to every aspect of his being, including his intellect and his will, so that he cannot even believe the gospel unless God enlightens him and draws him to Christ.

Statement 2:  The free gift of the gospel and all its benefits is conditioned upon man’s decision to accept it.

Answer:  FALSE.  The doctrine of unconditional election teaches that our salvation is determined by God before the foundation of the world (though all of the elect will indeed receive the gospel and believe), and not by our human decision. This means our decision to accept the gospel is a result of our election to salvation, and not its cause or condition.

Statement 3:  Regeneration, or the New Birth, is the result of our placing our faith in Christ.

Answer:  FALSE.  Once again, the historic Christian teaching is that the New Birth is the cause, not the result or effect, of our faith – i.e., we are regenerated, and thereby we are given the gift of faith.

Statement 4:  God’s “election” (or “predestination”) of those who would be saved simply means that He “foreknows” – or knows before it happens – that they will of their own accord believe the gospel.

Answer:  FALSE.  The Scriptures teach not merely that God knows who will believe and be saved, but that He determines the elect to salvation, according to His divine decree in eternity past.  Thus, foreknowledge and predestination are true of God in the work of salvation, but they are two very different biblical concepts.

Statement 5:  Christ’s sacrifice did not insure (make certain) the salvation of everyone for whom He died.

Answer:  FALSE.  The doctrine of particular redemption, or limited atonement, which was held by most of the great figures of Christian history, teaches that Christ’s atoning death for His elect insures that all the elect (thus, all for whom He died) will be saved.  According to this view which has significant scriptural support, the atonement is limited only in its scope (by God’s determinate will), but not in its power.

Statement 6:  A Christian’s “sanctification” (growing in grace by turning from sin) is accomplished by means of his or her surrender to the Holy Spirit, thus leading to a holy Christian walk.

Answer:  FALSE.  A “true” answer to this question is to accept the “holiness” view of sanctification, which gained popularity in the 19th century but was contradicted by most of the great doctrinal statements of church history.  The historic view, often called irresistible grace or effectual calling, is essentially that one’s salvation and one’s sanctification are two sides of the same coin; that sanctification is not the result of whether chooses to surrender; rather, it is God working in every true Christian “both to will and to do, for His good pleasure,” while at the same time the Christian is actively involved in obedience to God’s command to “work out your own salvation with fear and  trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

Statement 7:  Because of the biblical doctrine of “eternal security,” the backsliding Christian, though he may have departed from an obedient Christian walk, may still be assured of his eternal salvation.

Answer:  FALSE.  The modern term “eternal security” is claimed by many who claim to be Christians despite their loose living.  The traditional, historic Christian belief was a deeper doctrine called perseverance of the saints, which taught that all true Christians will continue in the faith and ultimately be saved from judgment.  Though a Christian may backslide, we do not know to what degree, and should never rest in fallen biblical characters as a measure of how far we may fall and still be saved. In fact, “backsliding” in Scripture is a sober warning: the word does not appear in the New Testament at all, whereas assurance of salvation in the New Testament always assumes a steadfast continuance in the Christian walk (1 John 2:3-6, 3:18-19).

Statement 8:  God’s offer of salvation is given to all, but He does not determine to make anyone in particular believe the gospel.

Answer:  FALSE.  The traditional Christian doctrine of irresistible (or efficacious) grace teaches that God’s electing grace is always effectual in bringing one to a saving belief in Christ, for “we love Him because He first loved us.”

Statement 9:  Man is never so completely controlled by God that he cannot reject the gospel.

Answer:  FALSE.  The historic view is that man tends to give the power of his own choices too much credit.  Because God decreed it, the Egyptians, who had just lost all their firstborn children because of the Jews and their God, willingly gave to the Israelites their wealth (Exodus 12:36).  Logically, this would have made no sense whatsoever!  The unsaved person rejects the Gospel by nature, so whether or not the lost can or do reject the Gospel is secondary to the biblical fact that not one of God’s elect will reject it.

Statement 10:  Christ’s work on the Cross does not guarantee salvation for anyone, but merely the possibility of salvation if they believe.

Answer:  FALSE.  Once again, the old doctrine of particular redemption teaches that Christ’s work on the Cross was specifically for the elect, not for all, and that it does indeed guarantee the salvation of every elect individual.

We understand the current theological trends that would lead many evangelical Christians in our day to answer “yes” to these propositions, and to defend them with selected verses or passages Scripture, regardless of what any preacher or writer of the past has believed.  Of course, the foundation of our faith is the Bible, not human beings!  But we also believe our doctrines must consider of all Scriptural passages on a given topic, and not merely those that support our position.  A meticulous consideration of the entire body of Scripture is called “systematic theology,” and is what the church used for centuries to challenge even the small errors that lead to apostasy.  Regrettably, most of today’s professing church has precious little systematic theology, and so modern congregations have unknowingly absorbed the doctrinal errors of their spiritual leaders while sincerely believing their opinions come from the Bible.  The sad thing is that in most cases, all or at least most of today’s heresies are errors that have already been renounced in earlier times (though under different names), but too often the modern church, in its mad rush to be in touch with the times, is not willing to evaluate itself in the light of Scripture and church history.

Though  some answers we have given above may surprise and even offend many Christians today, consider that these Reformed positions not only find clear support in the Bible (for those willing to search the Scriptures), but were for the most part held by the greatest Christian writers and preachers of all time.  C.H. Spurgeon pointed this out in response to those who, in his 19th century, claimed that their freewill beliefs were those of the historic Christian faith:

“It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines that are called by nickname Calvinism; but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will, I should have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic, of no very honorable character, might rise up and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren, I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own church”. (Sermon on Election from the text 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14)

Spurgeon’s “pilgrimage into the past” brings forth a great cloud of witnesses to the truths of sovereign grace:

• They were ably defended by St. Augustine the Catholic, against the teachings of Pelagius in the 4th century;
• They were held by the pre-Reformers John Wycliffe & John Hus in the 15th century;
• They were carefully studied out and believed by virtually all of the great Reformers of the 16th century including William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox;
• They were set forth in the 17^th century Synod of Dort’s response to the unorthodox teachings of Jacob Arminius, and preached by John Bunyan and nearly every great English preacher of that century;
• They were cherished by Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Newton, and nearly every notable preacher of the 18th century;
• They were foundational truths for the first great pioneers of modern missions such as David Brainerd, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, John G. Paton and Andrew Fuller;
• They were held by most of the great preachers of America’s founding period such as William Bradford, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, and Thomas Hooker;
• They were accepted by virtually all of the preachers of the great Scottish revivals, along with C.H. Spurgeon, George Mueller; and by most of the greatest Baptist preachers and Bible scholars through at least the middle of the 19th century;
• They have made a long-overdue comeback in the latter 20^th century, and form the theology for many notables in our own times including John MacArthur, D. James Kennedy, Joel Beeke, Albert Mohler, Mark Dever, J.I. Packer, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, and many others.

In fact, the understanding of Scripture which we refer to as “Calvinism” has been held by significant numbers of Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Anglicans, and Baptists, and even Roman Catholics, and forms the basis for the founding documents of nearly every major denomination since the beginning of the Church – being rejected only as a symptom of their progressive departure from the faith. Thus, the answers we have suggested would have been upheld by nearly every widely received doctrinal statement the Christian church has produced since its founding. Our reasons for believing that an understanding of these truths is critical to the continuing power of the Christian faith in the individual Christian and in the world, are given in the following section.

“Calvinism is the Gospel, and nothing else,” C.H. Spurgeon once remarked.  We believe that the theology usually referred to as “Reformed” or “Calvinism” is that which best fits the entire body of Scripture.  Thus, whatever one thinks of John Calvin as a man, we generally agree with Spurgeon’s assessment of Calvinism in his autobiography, a belief he held throughout his entire ministry:

Calvin’s fame is eternal because of the truth he proclaimed; and even in heaven, although we shall lose the name of the system of doctrine which he taught, it shall be that truth which shall make us strike our golden harps, and sing…. For the essence of Calvinism is that we are born again, ‘not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’

Why, then, is an understanding of the sovereignty of God as put forth in the Doctrines of Grace so important?  It is because God’s sovereignty cannot be separated from the very nature of salvation itself.  If salvation is completely a work of God (something theologians refer to as monergism), as we believe it is, then for man to attribute to himself any part of the transaction (this would be called synergism) would be an insult to God and His grace, for God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8).  To put this in practical terms, we are on dangerous ground if we:

• …think that God has promised to save anyone who asks Him, when Scripture tells us that many have asked amiss and not been accepted (Gen. 4:4-7; Psalm 18:41 Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 11:11; Ezek. 8:18; Proverbs 1:28; Mt. Mark 10:17-22; Hebrews 12:17)
• …think we are saved because we have decided to exercise faith in Christ, when the Bible says that even our faith is a gift of God (John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians ).
• …think that our salvation was initiated by anything which we have done, even our coming to believe in Christ, the Bible, or our own sinfulness; praying a prayer of confession; asking Jesus into our heart; going forward in a church service, etc. – when Scripture teaches that the New Birth is an act of God from start to finish (John 1:12-13; John 3:3-8; James 2:17-18)
• …think that we have repented unto salvation of our own free will, when Scripture plainly teaches that it is God who grants repentance (Acts 3:26; Acts 5:31; Acts 11:18; Acts 16:14; 2 Timothy 2:25).
• …attribute an obedient Christian walk to our own efforts, when we are told it is God working in us both to will and to do (Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13)

It is for such dangerous misconceptions as these in the heart of man that the great evangelist George Whitefield felt such a sense of urgency and put his reputation on the line when he wrote a passionate letter to his longtime friend and fellow minister, John Wesley, in 1740 to challenge him on what he considered to be dangerous errors in his theology, the same Arminian errors that had been repeatedly repudiated as heresy in centuries past:

“If I am faithful to God, and to my own and others’ souls,” Whitefield wrote, “I must not stand neutral any longer. I am very apprehensive that our common adversaries will rejoice to see us differing among ourselves. But what can I say? The children of God are in danger of falling into error. … This letter, no doubt, will lose me many friends: and for this cause perhaps God has laid this difficult task upon me, even to see whether I am willing to forsake all for him, or not.”

While it is Scripture, not men, that determines what we believe, it is dangerous to ignore the weight of nearly twenty centuries of careful and spiritual biblical interpretation by God’s choicest servants, whose views received broad acceptance among the believers to whom they ministered.

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).

We are fully aware of people’s misconceptions about the teachings we refer to as the “Doctrines of Grace,” especially the oft-repeated charge that those who preach them are divisive and love creating controversy for its own sake.  Whatever negative labels are attached to us, we do not wear them as martyrs or as a source of intellectual or spiritual pride, nor do we use them to build a wall around ourselves.  To us, these are beloved Bible truths, and therefore we strongly identify with the following statement made by J.I. Packer, which explains why we and many others hold to these truths so passionately:

Without realizing it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. Why?  We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be ‘helpful’ to man – to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction – and too little concerned to glorify God. The old gospel was ‘helpful’, too – more so, indeed, than is the new – but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its center of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the center of reference is man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach people to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.

To those who would be tempted to dismiss this very topic on the basis that “these things have been argued before and never resolved,” we remind our readers of Gamaliel’s advice in John 5:38-39 to the Pharisees who opposed Jesus and His disciples: “Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” Though the doctrines we preach have indeed been attacked and maligned for centuries, no false teachings have survived the prolonged scrutiny of the people of God as have the Doctrines of Sovereign Grace! False teachings such as dualism, gnosticism, montanism, and arianism, that once plagued the Bible-believing churches of God, have been repeatedly rejected, and are now relegated to the cults or have disappeared completely. But from Christ, to the Apostles, to Augustine, to the Reformation, to the Great Awakenings, and into our century, the theology of Sovereign Grace has survived and is once again gaining in approval and acceptance among the saints!

With that said, we humbly encourage you to examine carefully the Scriptures given after each Reformed teaching listed below.  Do not merely ignore them, rationalize them, or try to neutralize them with a verse that appears to teach the opposite – for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, not only those passages we consider easy to understand or “useful” for our own purposes.  Pray and ask God to enlighten you as you meditate upon them.  Do not take the easy way out:  Resist the temptation to dismiss these claims simply because you have heard others speak negatively of “Calvinism,” “Calvinists,” the “Five Points of Calvinism,” or “T.U.L.I.P.”  Study them as if your soul depends on it, and indeed it may, for to exalt man, minimize God, and devalue His great salvation has been the undoing of many.  Though the well of God’s truth is deep, though these “Five Points” may over-simplify the issues, and though we cannot give an exhaustive defense here of the answers we have given to the propositions above, we believe that if these difficult passages are sincerely meditated upon, prayed over, and believed, they will challenge your prejudices and give you a deeper understanding of God, of yourself, of the gospel, and of the world.

I.  Total Depravity teaches that man’s nature is so depraved that he cannot even believe on Christ unless God draws him.  The Scriptures indicate that man in his sins is, among other things, dead (Ephesians 2:1-5), blind (Ephesians 4:18); powerless (Rom. 5:6); stoney-hearted (Ezek. 36:26); an enemy of God (Rom. 8:7); all of which imply a complete inability (John 6:44) to do anything to remedy his condition, including even to believe the gospel.  This does not mean that every person acts out his depravity to the fullest extent possible, for every individual’s behavior and even thought patterns influenced by conscience (“the law written on their hearts” by God, Romans 2:14-15), by personal preferences, and by cultural influences.  But the image of God as it was originally stamped upon man at Creation has been affected in every respect; his intellect, will, and emotions are now fallen; he is dead to God unless and until God, by His mercy, regenerates his heart.

Key Scripture passages:

• Jer. 13:23: Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.
• John 12:37-40:  But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
• 1 Cor. 2:14:  The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
• Rom 3:10-12: As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
• Eph 2:1-3: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
• Other references:  Gen 2:17; Job 14:4; John 3:19; John 6:53; Rom. 3:10-12; Rom 5:12; 2 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor 1:9; Eph. 2:12

II.  Unconditional Election teaches that those who will be saved are chosen before the foundation of the world, based not on whether one chooses to believe but on God’s eternal decree.  The Scriptures teach that God chose His elect completely apart from any merit of our own, even that of believing, which in itself can become a work and a point of boasting.  In a key passage on this subject of unconditional election, Romans chapter 9, the Apostle Paul, knowing that this doctrine would be offensive to his readers, does not soften its meaning, but asserts God’s right to do as he pleases:  “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” (Romans 9:20-21)

Key Scripture passages:

• Psalm 65:4:  Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple.
• John 5:21:  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
• John 13:18:  I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen.
• John 15:16:  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.
• Acts 13:48:  And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
• Acts 16:14:  Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.
• Acts 18:27: And when he [Paul] wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed.
• Rom 8:29-30:  For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom He foreordained, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
• Rom 9:11-13:  For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.
• Eph 1:4-5:  He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love; having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”
• 2 Thess 2:13:  God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
• Rom 9:15-18:  For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. …Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
• Rom. 11:7-10:  What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.” And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.  Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always
• Jude 1:4:  For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Other references:  Exodus 8:23; Ex. 33:19; Deut. 7:6-8. Deut 10:15. 1 Kings 19:18 Ps. 147:20.. Prov. 16:4; Prov. 21:1; Amos 3:2. John 6:37: John 6:65: John 15:16: John 17:9: Romans 9:12-24; 1 Cor. 1:27-29; Eph. 1:4-14; 1 Thess. 5:9.

III.  Limited Atonement, or Particular Redemption, teaches that Christ died on the Cross specifically for the elect, and thus all for whom He died will be saved.  While this point among the five may raise the greatest objection because of verses that appear to teach a universal atonement, the Scriptures indicate that Christ died for His own people (i.e., the elect) and that His death was completely effectual in accomplishing its purposes, despite the fact that much, even most, of mankind does not believe unto salvation.  As noted above, unless one is prepared to say that all mankind shall be saved, one is limiting the atonement!  We believe it is more in keeping with God’s character to limit the purpose or scope of the atonement than to limit its power.

Key Scripture passages:

• Isaiah 53:11:  He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many [not all]; for he shall bear their iniquities.
• Acts 13:48:  As many as were ordained to eternal life [and only they] believed.
• Mat 1:21:  And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for He shall save His people [and only His people] from their sins.
• Mat 26:28:  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many [not for all] for the remission of sins.
• Mark 14:24:  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many [but not for all].
• Luke 1:68:  Blessed [be] the Lord God of Israel; for he has visited and redeemed His people.
• John 6:39:  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. [Thus, all for whom Christ died shall be saved.]
• John 6:45:  It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. [Christ will draw to Himself all who will be the beneficiaries of His atoning death.]
• John 10:11:  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. [And only for the sheep.]
• Act 20:28:  Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. [He has purchased, by His blood, all of the true church of God.]
• Other references:  John 10:14-15, 27-28; John 11:49-52; John 15:13; John 17:2, 6, 9, 12; Rom. 5:19; Rom. 8:28-30.

IV.  Irresistible or Efficacious Grace (“Effectual Calling”) teaches that when God’s electing, saving grace is extended to man, man will respond to its power and the effects will be life-transforming, for God’s purposes will not be thwarted.

Key Scripture passages: 

• Jer 32:40:  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
• Ezek. 36:26:  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh
• Ps. 51:6:  You will make me to know wisdom.
• Psalm 110:3:  Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power.
• John 3:8:  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
• John 15:16:  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit.
• Acts 16:14:  Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.
• 2 Cor. 5:17:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
• 2 Cor 9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
• Eph 2:10:  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
• 2 Thess 3:3: The Lord is faithful and will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
• Tit 2:14:  who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
• Tit. 3:5:  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
• 1 John 3:9:  Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
• Other references:  Ezek. 11:19-20; Jer. 31:18; Rom. 6:14; 1 Cor. 10:13; Eph. 1:19; 1 Pet 2:9; Col. 2:13.

V.  The Perseverance Of The Saints teaches that true saving faith cannot be lost but will cause one to continue in the faith and ultimately be eternally saved.  This is stronger than today’s replacement term, “Eternal Security,” which focuses on eternal life in the future but does not give due recognition to the Holy Spirit’s power in this life to keep the child of God faithful in the Christian walk.  According to Boettner:

The saints, even in this world, are compared to a tree that does not wither (Ps 1:3); to the cedars which flourish on Mount Lebanon (Ps 92:12); to Mount Zion which cannot be moved, but which abideth forever (Ps 125:1); and to a house built on a rock, Matt 7:24. The Lord is with them in their old age (Isa 46:4) and is their guide even unto death (Ps 48:14), so that they cannot be totally and finally lost.

Key Scripture passages:

• Ps 34:7:  The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.
• Ps 138:8:  The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
• John 5:24:  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
• Rom 8:29:  For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained … and whom He foreordained, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
• Rom 11:29:  The gifts and calling of God are not repented of.
• Rom. 14:4:  Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.  Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
• 2 Cor 4:8-9,14:  We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed… knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus…
• Phil 1:6:  Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.
• 2 Tim 4:18:  The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom.
• Other references:  Ps. 23:6 Jer 31:3, John 4:14. John 6:47. John 6:51. John 10:28. John 14:19. 2 Cor 2:14. Eph 1:5. Eph 4:30. Phil 3:20 2 Tim 2:19.  Heb 10:14. 1 Pet. 1:5  1 John 5:13.

If your thinking has been challenged by the Scriptures presented above, we encourage you to read further and consider how a biblical understanding of God’s soveignty embraces all of the above points, especially as they relate to practical Christian living. The articles and books suggested below will help you to do that.

When reading older material on this subject, including some of the works below, one must bear in mind the following: (1) The T.U.L.I.P. acronym that was later popularized to explain the five points described above did not come into vogue until later in the 19th century. Thus, many earlier works on sovereign grace will present the same concepts, but in a different format. (2) Most of those who took the Arminian (or semi-Pelagian) position prior to the 20th century did not believe in what later was called “eternal security.”  They believed a Christian could backslide to the point of losing his or her salvation, and so the Calvinistic writers often spent much of their effort refuting that unbiblical doctrine. (This is especially notable in Spurgeon’s “Defense of Calvinism,” below.) This may seem strange to us in our day when the prevailing modern Arminian thought has added “eternal security” to its belief system, and it may cause many today who do not understand the sovereignty of God and all it implies, to mistakenly consider themselves “Calvinists.” (3) As with any biblical doctrine that has by necessity been debated in the past, things were written in the heat of controversy that may have been retracted or softened later if their authors had had the opportunity to do so. We must continually remind ourselves that “earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) is sometimes a messy business, requiring even the inspired Apostles to use strong language including sarcasm (e.g., 1 Corinthians 4:8-9) to defend God’s precious truth. May our response to their words and methods be forgiving when necessary, so that we may carefully consider what they are presenting without being too easily offended at how they are presenting it.

We are aware of many other excellent books on this topic, but most of the following materials, with the exception of Iain Murray’s The Forgotten Spurgeon, are older works and/or no longer under copyright, and are readily available online.

Books:

• The Five Points of Calvinism, by R.L. Dabney.
• The Forgotten Spurgeon, by Iain Murray.  This book is Copyrighted material published by Banner of Truth books. (We consider chapter 4, “Arminianism & Evangelism,” which is used by permission on our church website, to be a MUST READ!)
• The Practical Implications of Calvinism, by A.N. Martin, explaining how a humbling theology will produce a humble saint.  Available online, or as an inexpensive little booklet published by Banner of Truth.
• The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther’s famous treatise against the notion of man’s free will, written in reply to Erasmus, who in taking the opposite position was arguing for the more man-centered theology of the Roman Catholic Church.  Full and abridged versions are available online.
• The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by Loraine Boettner.
• The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink.  A Christian classic.

Articles:

• “Election,” by J.C. Ryle. In this article we see the doctrine of election presented from the heart of a man who loved the Scriptures and loved the souls to whom he ministered.
• “Objections to God’s Sovereignty Answered,” by A.W. Pink.
• “Objections Commonly Urged Against the Reformed Doctrine of Predestination,” from The Reformed Doctrine of Pre-destination, by Loraine Boettner.
• “A Defense of Calvinism,” a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon’s famous defense of Calvinism which he believed formed the basis for the very definition of the gospel.
• “Sovereignty and Salvation,” another well-known sermon by Spurgeon in defense of Calvinism.
• “Divine Election Illustrated from the Parable of the Great Supper,” by evangelist Asahel Nettleton. In this short excerpt from a sermon, Nettleton uses the great parable to show how man’s natural tendency, when invited to accept the terms of the gospel, is to “make excuse.”  Reprinted in the Appendix of this booklet.

About the Author

John Newton (1725-1807) received godly instruction from his mother as a young child, but she died when he was seven, and after the unwholesome influences of a stepmother and boarding school, he followed his father’s influence and became a sailor. Onboard ship, he became an infidel of the most ungodly sort. Of his condition in those days, he writes, “My breast was filled with the most excruciating passions; eager desire, bitter rage, and black despair”; “I was capable of any thing; I had not the least fear of God before my eyes” and “I was tempted to throw myself into the sea … But the secret hand of God restrained me.” According to one biographer, “It is reported that at times he was so wretched that even his crew regarded him as little more than an animal.” He fell into the hands of a slave-trader in Africa, and suffered all manner of hardships there, being continually insulted and almost starved. He survived to make several voyages to Africa in that shameful occupation of slave-trader, but after being influenced by the reading of a devotional book, followed by a “great deliverance” from a violent storm, he experienced a life-changing conversion to Christ in 1748, at the age of 23. He was ordained to the Anglican ministry about fifteen years later, but the intervening period brought intense biblical study and influential friendships with men of God such as George Whitefield and John Wesley. His 16 years as pastor at Olney brought about his longtime friendship with poet and hymnwriter William Cowper, during which Newton himself wrote the hymns for which he is most famous: “Amazing Grace,” “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken,” “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,” and nearly 300 others. When asked to give up preaching because of the infirmities of old age, he replied, “What! shall the old African blasphemer stop while he call speak?” He remained throughout his life a convinced Calvinist in his theology, and a loving shepherd of souls. Shortly before his death he said, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.”