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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 24
11 November 2007
The Five Points of
Calvinism
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Nov 4, 07)
Text:
Eph
2:1-10
We have learnt the five Sola
Statements to commemorate the 16th Century Reformation.
Truly, we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, and by
Christ alone, and we know this truth through God’s Word, the Scripture
alone, so we give all glory to God alone. Today, by God’s grace, we are
revising the five points of Calvinism (TULIP), which is about God’s
sovereign and gracious salvation for totally depraved and hopeless
sinners.
It should be noted that Calvinism was set
forth by John Calvin (1509-1564), a great Reformer and theologian of the
16th Century, who did learn it from the teaching of the
Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophets and the apostles, so when
we say that we are for Calvinism, it does not mean we follow Calvin, but
the Lord Jesus Christ and the Scripture. We shall search the Scripture
to prove this truth later, but now it is good for us to know a
historical background of Calvinism.
A Brief Historical Background
The doctrines of John Calvin had been
heartedly accepted in Holland during the 16th Century
Reformation. Although the Reformed Church was the majority in Holland, a
growing number of Mennonites and non-reformed groups gradually exposed
their protest against the Reformed faith. However, the greatest
opposition was known as the Arminian revolt headed by James Hermanszoon
(1560-1609), in Latin Jacobus Arminius, a native of Holland,
studied Calvinism in Geneva from 1582-1587 under Theodore Beza
(1509-1605), a successor of John Calvin. Returning to Holland, Arminius
became pastor of a prominent church in Amsterdam, and later he became
professor at the University of Leyden in 1603 and instructed his system
of doctrines against Calvinism, which he left to his successors before
his death in 1609. In 1610, his followers submitted their “Five
Articles of the Arminians” known as The Remonstrance of 1610,
signed by 46 ministers, opposing the Belgic Confession and the
teaching of John Calvin. Then, the official response came from the Synod
of Dort, which was held in Dordrecht by the Dutch Reformed Church on 13
November 1618 (the first meeting) with delegates from the Reformed
churches in France, Germany, Switzerland, England and Scotland. Based on
the sole authority of the Scripture, the Synod rejected Arminian views
and set forth the Reformed doctrine, known as the Canons of Dort, in the
final meeting (the 154th) on 9 May 1619, stating the Five
Points of Calvinism in response to the Five Articles of the Arminians.
And TULIP, the state flower of Holland, is used as an acronym of the
Five Points of Calvinism: Total Depravity; Unconditional Election;
Limited Atonement; Irresistible Grace; Perseverance of the Saints. By
God’s grace, let us go through these five points based on the Scripture.
Total Depravity
Like Arminians, many
still believe that human beings are capable of exercising their free
will to accept or to resist God’s salvation. However, God’s Word
confirms that human beings, by Adam’s Fall (Rom 5:12), are totally
depraved, corrupt, sinful and rebellious:
“The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9),
and “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:7-8), and “who were dead
in trespasses and sins… the children of disobedience” (Eph 2:1-2),
etc. An unsaved person is not only spiritually dead toward God
(incapable of communicating with God, knowing His truth, obeying His
will – 1 Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7; Eph 2:12; Col 1:21) but also dead in
trespasses and sins (enslaved to sin – John 8:34, Mark 7:21-23; Rom
7:19). Dear friends, it is good to see that we have a totally depraved,
rebellious and sinful nature so that we may humbly trust in the Lord and
His grace alone and not in ourselves.
Unconditional Election
Like Arminians, many
still believe that God’s election is conditional based on human faith.
They say God has chosen you because He has foreseen and foreknown that
you would believe in Him. However, as human beings are totally depraved,
dead in sins and under the power of darkness of Satan, they are
incapable of choosing God in faith and submission. Many profess that
they believe and accept the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, but whether
they seriously believe and submit to the Lord and God’s Word does count.
The saving faith and submissive heart must come from God alone (John
1:13; Eph 2:8; Heb 36:26-27). The Scripture confirms that it is God’s
sovereign will, grace, love, and mercy alone that He has unconditionally
chosen us: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18), and
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16), and
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world” (Eph 1:4), “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy… Even so then at
this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace” (Rom 9: 16; 11:5), and “Who (God) hath saved us, and
called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim 1:9), etc. Dear friends, God
has chosen you and me not because of any good thing in us but because of
His sovereign grace and mercy alone. Seeing this we shall be grateful to
Him and love Him more and more.
Limited Atonement
The term “limited” has
brought up a lot of controversy with different interpretations.
Hyper-Calvinists believe that God only loved the elect and Christ’s
atoning death is only for the elect; as a result, they deny the free
offer of the gospel and do not promote evangelism. This belief is
unbiblical. Arminians believe that Christ’s atonement is universal,
equally for all mankind without exception. This is only true for God’s
common grace. According to the Scripture, with His common grace, God did
and does love all mankind without exception and Christ did die for all
mankind without exception, but due to the totally depraved, sinful, and
rebellious nature of human beings, they do not want to repent but ignore
or reject God’s love and salvation in Christ (John 3:19-20; 2 Thess
2:10-11). Thus, if they are condemned to Hell, it is their fault and
accountability and they cannot blame God for their condemnation. In such
human hopelessness and helplessness, God has manifested His special
grace to save those He has unconditionally elected. Then, we must
understand that Christ’s atoning death is sufficient for all but only
efficient for the elect who are enabled by God’s grace to repent and
believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour with
their submissive heart. All this is by God’s grace alone and by His
gracious work alone, so all glory be to Him alone. No one can boast in
God’s sight (1 Cor 1:29; Eph 2:9).
Then, the term “Limited
Atonement” should be understood in its efficiency and not in its
sufficiency. As we do not know whom God has chosen, we are to preach the
Gospel and sow the seed of God’s Word, hoping that God will use His Word
to touch some souls and “as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed” (Acts 13:48). Dear friends, knowing God’s special grace,
we shall humbly thank God and love Him more as well as give Him all the
glory when He uses us to bring some souls to His salvation.
Irresistible Grace
Like the Arminians, many
believe that human beings with their free will may resist God’s grace or
His call. Yes, they may resist God’s common grace, but cannot resist
God’s special grace. This does not mean human beings are like puppets
and God is like a puppeteer. That is blasphemy! Once God has chosen you
and started His good work in you, at first you may not fully see God’s
grace or His gracious work in you, but later you will. The Holy Spirit
convicts you of your sins, convinces you of God’s righteousness and
judgment (John 16:8), opens your heart and mind to see God’s love and
salvation in Christ (Luke 24:45; Acts 16:14; Eph 1:17-18; 2:8), draws
you to Christ (John 6:37,44,65), gives you no peace nor rest until you
repent and cry into the Lord for help, forgiveness and salvation, and
grants you faith to believe and rest in Christ and God’s Word (Eph 2:8).
Thus, God’s call and grace cannot be resisted. When Jesus’ disciples saw
the rich young man leave and heard Jesus say that “It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God,” they asked Him, “Who then can be saved?”
Dear friends, who do you think can be saved? Let us hear the Lord Jesus’
words, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are
possible” (Matt 19:24-26). Yes, the truth is that it is impossible
for totally depraved and sinful men to be saved by themselves, but thank
God that all things are possible with Him. If He graciously draws you
and me to His salvation, we cannot resist His special grace! Praise the
Lord and thank Him for His grace!
Perseverance of the Saints
Like Arminians, many see
that their salvation is up to their willingness to choose and believe,
so they cannot be sure that they are saved forever but may lose it. What
a pity for them! With human depraved and sinful nature, with the attacks
and temptations from Satan, and with the hatred and persecutions of the
world, no one can persevere unto the end without God’s grace, help,
strength and protection. That is the fate of the unregenerate believers
whose hearts are like the stony or thorny ground. However, once you are
truly born again by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, you are
“partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), the seed of God’s
eternal life is in you, and you will not purposely continue living in
sins, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1
John 3: 9) but will keep yourself, “We know that whosoever is born of
God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and
that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18). Most importantly,
the Lord Himself will keep you as He has promised and you will never
perish, “And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all;
and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father’s hand”
(John 10:28-29), and “Now unto him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24). Thus, once saved, for ever saved,
and God’s grace is sufficient to keep His children faithful until the
end without giving up their faith. God’s children may backslide and be
disciplined or chastised, but in the end they will repent. They may lose
their reward but not their salvation built on the foundation of the Lord
Jesus Christ (1 Cor 3:15). Calvinism opponents usually quote Hebrews
6:4-6 to refute the perseverance of the saints, “For it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the
good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall
fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
Here we must understand that these verses are for professing believers
who are not born again like Judas Iscariot, who directly heard God’s
Word and saw miracles from the Lord Jesus, tasted His goodness and was
among the twelve whom the Lord gave “power and authority over all
devils, and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1), but he was neither born
again, nor fully submissive to the Lord and His Word, nor saved. We
cannot say Judas lost his salvation because he was not saved in the
first place. Many profess that they are saved nowadays, even those who
claim that they can perform miracles in Jesus’ name but are not
submissive to the Lord and His Word, Jesus says, “Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful
works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from
me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:21-23).
Conclusion
Dear friends, it is vital for
you and me to acknowledge our totally depraved nature so that we shall
humbly trust in God, love Him and thank Him more for His salvation in
Christ. We must be sure that we are born again and submissive to the
Lord and His Word. May the Lord, who has graciously chosen us and saved
us, continuously keep us faithful unto Him and His Word and use us as
His witnesses wherever we are until He comes, all for His glory. Amen.
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