by Herb Evans
Salute Rufus CHOSEN IN the Lord, and his mother and mine . . . -- Rom. 16:13
Total depravity, "Unconditional election to salvation," Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints (TULIP) are companion doctrines of the Augustinian, Baptist Flower Children (Calvinists and Sovereign grace Baptists). The Unconditional Election doctrine is a misrepresentation of God's sovereign grace.
Of course, God is sovereign but not at the expense of His other attributes, i.e., holy, merciful, just, sinless, good, loving, and etc. Still, the question is not whether God is sovereign, for He does exactly what He wants to do as He well pleases; the question, really, is, "What does God want to do?" Calvinists, using interpolations and stretches, try to prove unwritten salvation and probation intentions and decrees made out in eternity somewhere before the recipients are born.
It is the height of depravity to pretend to know God's unwritten intentions and that flies in the face of His ways and thoughts, which are even higher than those of the Calvinists, who pretend to know them. God's sovereign intentions are written in His book - not eternity, namely, to seek and to save sinners and the lost. Anything contrary to or less or more than that is wrong . . . dead wrong! Saved individuals are always, as Rufus, ELECTED or CHOSEN IN THE LORD; no one is ever elected or chosen "OUT of the Lord."
Unconditional Election versus Conditional Salvation
The election of cities (1 Kings 8:44, 48; 11:36),
places (Deut. 12:21,26; 16:11),
tribes (Deut. 5),
Israel (Deut. 7:6-8; Ps. 135:4; Isa. 45:4),
the Seed of Israel (Deut. 10:15),
Jacob (Isa. 44:1,2; Ps. 105:6; 1 Chron. 16:13),
nations and peoples (Ps. 33:12),
churches (1 Pet. 5:13),
kings and rulers (1 Sam. 10:24; 2 Chron. 6:6),
special ministries (Deut. 21:5; 1 Chron. 15:2),
apostles (Luke 6:13; John 6:70; Acts 1:2; Mark 3:14),
Jesus (Isa 42:1; 1 Pet 2:6),
and Angels (1 Tim. 5:21)
are “UNCONDITIONAL” but are totally within the confines of scripture. The supposed unconditional salvation or damnation of sinners is not within the confines of scripture, unless Augustine, Luther, and/or Calvin wrote certain epistles.
Election in Time versus Eternity
And BECAUSE [conditional] he loved thy fathers, therefore he CHOSE their seed AFTER [in time not eternity] them . . . -- Deut. 4:37
. . . the LORD thy God hath CHOSEN THEE to be a special people unto himself, above all people THAT ARE [in time - not eternity] upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor CHOOSE you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and BECAUSE [conditional] he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers [in time - not eternity] . . . -- Deut. 7:6,7, 8
Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he CHOSE THEIR SEED AFTER [in time - not eternity] after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. -- Deut. 10:15
. . . the LORD hath CHOSEN THEE to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations THAT ARE [in time - not eternity] upon the earth. -- Deut. 14:2
Thus saith the Lord GOD . . . when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God; -- Ezek. 20:5
Salute Andronicus and Junia . . . who also were in Christ BEFORE ME[in time - not eternity]. -- Rom. 16:7
And not only this; but WHEN [time] Rebecca also HAD CONCEIVED [in time] by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being NOT YET BORN [but conceived], neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to ELECTION [in time] might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. -- Rom. 9:10-12
If Paul and Adronicus and Junia were elected to salvation before the foundation of the earth, Paul could not say that Andronicus and Junia were in Christ before him. Election to salvation is in time not in eternity. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! Amen! Does I have a witness?
Are You a Believer or a Realizer?
Calvinists, for the most part, have no specific experience of salvation. They do not believe unto salvation but believe that they must be regenerated before they repent, believe, become a son of God, or receive the Holy Spirit or receive Jesus Christ--since such things are said by the scriptures to occur before salvation. Consequently, at some point, they merely “REALIZE” that they are one of the elect, only after they are regenerated and then and only then are they enabled to believe. So, you are left with born again (regenerated) unbelievers, who still must believe.
Therefore, they are Realizers with no real experience of salvation. Ask any Protestant Calvinist or Sovereign Gracer (among Baptists) for their testimony of salvation, and see if we have them correctly evaluated them.
Actually, they are almost as bad off as Arminian Charismatics, lacking real assurance of their salvation, since they cannot tell you how they KNOW they are one of the elect. They must persevere to the end in order to know for sure that they are one of the elect. Ask a Calvinist how he knows that he is one of the elect, and you will certainly get something different from, “Well, I repented and believed and received Christ at such and such a time, and so therefore I KNOW that I am one of the elect.” You may get some replies like, “Well, I must be one of the elect for I am interested in the Bible, etc.” The Bible tells us that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, not GUESS or REASON or REALIZE or THINK that you are one
of the elect.
–by Herb Evans
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
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2 comments:
Thanks for this post. It gave me much food for thought -- and plenty of research opportunity. So much so that my next two blogs came from ideas found here and backed up with verses. Much appreciated!
Good, solid truth put simply. Thanks
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