Continuation-REFUTING 5-POINT CALVINISM (TULIP) “My wrath is kindled against thee….for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right.” Job 42:7. Question 2: Does man have a free will? Answer: Total depravity is not so much a statement that man is a sinner in need of salvation (true), BUT a statement on the interaction of the will, heart, and mind. Question 3: Is man’s will governed and in bondage to his sinful heart and mind, as Calvinists claim? Answer: Since man’s heart and mind are corrupt, Calvinists claim that the will is incapable of choosing any good at all. Is this true? No, because of these examples: i) Fallen angels were created perfect. If their wills were governed by their sinless hearts and minds, then they were incapable of sin. Yet the fact that they willed to sin proves that one’s will is not governed by our heart and mind. ii) Man was created sinless. If Adam and Eve’s will were governed by their sinless heart and mind, then it would have been impossible for man to sin. That Satan, fallen angels and man have sinned, proves that our will can act independent and contrary to our heart and mind, to decide to do evil. Hence our will is not governed by our heart and mind. iii) We often make hard decisions of our will contrary to our heart (feelings) and mind (reasoning). For example, we say ‘This goes against my better judgment, but I’ll do it for you.’ If our will is not governed by our heart and mind, then we do have the power of choice, and we can choose to come to Christ. Question 4: What if man does not have a free will? What a mockery it makes of Christ’s offer of salvation: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. Question 5: Would a loving God hold out the water of eternal life to thirsty souls if He knew they could not take it? This would constitute false advertising and common deceit. God is not dishonest !!!!! If God asks honest behaviour of us, He will act honestly to mankind. Calling God dishonest is evil. Question 6: The “Total depravity” idea declares that all men are totally incapable of any good deed or righteous act. Is this true? Can an unsaved sinner be kind, honest, caring etc.? Yes. A lost sinner can do righteous acts: “Not by works of righteousness that we have done…” Titus 3:5. Good deeds do not earn merit for salvation, nor can they cancel the guilt and penalty of sin. Question 7: Calvinists quote Ephesians 2:1, that we “were dead in trespasses and sins.” How dead is dead? Calvinists say ‘as dead as a corpse’ so that man cannot hear the call of God. To resolve this problem, Calvinists must change the order of the process of salvation as follows: If natural man is so dead that he cannot hear the call of God to salvation, then before he can hear the gospel invitation, he must be given life. This act of giving life must therefore take place before the sinner can hear or respond to God. It is a decision by God in God’s Sovereign Will to impart faith to selected sinners.” The Biblical order of salvation events are: i) God strives with sinners, convicting them by the Holy Spirit of their sin. (Genesis 6:3). ii) Man repents of his sin, and receives Christ to be his all sufficient Saviour. (John 1:12). iii) God gives the gift of eternal life. (Romans 6:23). iv) The Holy Spirit enters a person the moment he calls on Christ to be his Saviour. (Romans 10:13). The Calvinist order of salvation events are: i) God selects certain sinners to be the object of His grace. ii) God does a work of grace on the sinner, enabling him to be no longer dead and unresponsive, but capable of a true response to God. iii) God gives faith as a gift to the selected sinner. iv) The sinner then believes and is saved. Calvinists misunderstand Ephesians 2:8 to suggest that the gift of God is faith, and not eternal life. “For by grace are ye saved through faith (Greek: pistis, feminine noun); and that (Greek: touto, neuter pronoun) not of yourselves: it is the gift of God…” Question 8: What is the gift of God? Is it salvation or faith? It is salvation because: a) Romans 6:23 says it is eternal life, not faith. “The gift of God is eternal life.” b) In Ephesians 2:8 the Greek word “that” is neuter. This shows us that “that which is not of yourselves” cannot be referring to faith which is feminine, but to something which is neuter, such as salvation and eternal life. Question 9: In what sense is man dead in trespasses and sin? a) By separation from God. Adam and Eve were separated from God after the fall, but they still heard God’s voice in the conversation in Genesis 3:8-24: “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden.” Genesis 3:8. Even murderous unregenerate Cain could hear the voice of God in Genesis 4:6-15. b) By his wayward life, as the prodigal son was separated from his father: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again.” Luke 15:24. c) Not annihilation, because the dead in hell can still speak (Ezekiel 32:20,21; Luke 16:19- 31). Hence, unsaved man is dead in sin, but sinners have the ability to respond. In the grace of God, provision has been made for his cleansing and quickening the moment he looks to Christ and cries “Lord, save me!’ (Luke 23:42 and Isaiah 45:22). Question 10: Is faith a work? If the sinner believes before being saved, isn’t he doing something to get salvation? Does believing in Christ constitute works? No, because: “Therefore it is of faith, that it may be by grace.” Romans 4:16. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works.” Romans 11:6. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:29. Hence faith is not a work a sinner does to merit salvation. TOTAL DEPRAVITY (Completely Crooked) = TOTAL INABILITY When a Calvinist says he believes in Total Depravity, he is giving you a smoke screen to cover what he really believes. He believes that ‘man is unable to repent and believe the Gospel as God commands him’ -To be ccomntinued...
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:13:28 +0000
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