Exploring Theology

One of the most common objections to Reformed Theology (Calvinism) used by non-Calvinists is that Calvinism teaches that God forces people to become believers.  This objection is completely false.  I feel the need to address this objection again in light of a comment made by my Pastor during his Sunday morning sermon on 9/28/08.  He made the comment that God does not force anyone to become a believer.  He was not talking about Calvinism or Election and the comment seemed a bit out of place.

People who use this objection are confusing regeneration and salvation.  I think this is the error my Pastor made during his sermon.  People hear the term Irresistible Grace and they immediately jump to the conclusion that it refers to salvation.  It does not, it refers to regeneration.  I made this error myself until I was better informed.

Calvinists teach that regeneration is the first step in the process of salvation.  It has to be the first step because of our spiritual condition as unbelievers.  Ephesians 2:1-7 says

“(1) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2)  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–  (3)  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  (4)  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  (5)  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–  (6)  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  (7)  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Before we can be saved we must be made alive again.  Until we are made alive (regenerated) we cannot respond to the Gospel.  God regenerates those He has chosen.  Ephesians 1:3-6

“(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, (6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.“

In regeneration, God removes the persons heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27).  He also gives them a new will (nature) (2 Corinthians 5:17) which is no longer a slave to sin.  This new will (nature) can, and does, now choose God and when it hears the Gospel proclaimed.  God does not force a person to become a believer against their will.  As you can see, Calvinists teach that believers have a choice.  The difference is that God knows that they will choose Him because He has already elected them before He created anything.

I hope this clarifies this issue some for those who might be struggling with this objection to Calvinism.  I know until I understood this, I had a hard time with Calvinism.  It was one of the main things that I had to overcome before I could accept the Calvinistic theology.  Please feel free to point out anything that I need to clarify or do a better job explaining.

I am looking for suggestions for a good study of the Book of Revelation for my adult Sunday School class.   Any format (book, audio, or video) will be considered.  Please leave the name of anything you might recommend in a comment.  A brief explanation as to why you like it would also be helpful.

Thanks for your help

Question 25: Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?

Answer: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.

Scripture: Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; John 1:14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 24: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the condition of sin and misery?

Answer: God, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the condition of sin and misery, and to bring them into a condition of salvation, by a Redeemer.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 5:21; 8:29-30; 9:11-12; 11:5-7; Acts 13:48; Jeremiah 31:33.

Comment: The term “covenant of grace” is filled with sweet and precious hope. It refers to the free decision, commitment and oath of God to employ all his omnipotence and wisdom and love to rescue and glorify his people from sin and misery. It is wholly initiated and carried through by God. It cannot fail.

It is valid for all who believe. WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME AND ENJOY THIS GRACE! And, since this “believing” and this “willing” is a work of God’s sovereign grace, those who believe and come are the elect, “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). Thus the covenant was sealed in the heart of God before the world was.

This “covenant of grace” is the cry of victory over all the battle strife in missions. THE GRACE OF GOD WILL TRIUMPH! He is covenant-bound, oath-bound to save all those who are foreordained to eternal life (Acts 13:48)! “Jesus died for the nation (of Jews), and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52).

The battle cry of missions is, “The Lord has other sheep that are not of this fold: He MUST (covenant-bound!!) bring them also. They WILL (sovereign grace!!) heed his voice!” John 10:16.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 23: What is the misery into which all mankind fell through Adam’s first sin?

Answer: All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

Scripture: Genesis 3:8, 24; Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 3:10; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41-46; Psalm 9:17.

Comment: Keep in mind that “liable to” means that these miseries will indeed befall all people unless a special work of God’s grace intervenes.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 22: What is the sinfulness of that condition into which all mankind has fallen?

Answer: The sinfulness of the condition into which all mankind fell is the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the lack of original righteousness, and the corruption of our whole nature (which is commonly called original sin), together with all actual transgressions which come from this nature.

Scripture: Romans 5:19; 3:10; Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 51:5; Matthew 15:19.

Comment:  The Bible says that “in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22) and that “one transgression yields condemnation for all men” (Rom 5:18) and that “one man’s disobedience made many sinners” (Rom. 5:19).  These statements lead us to conclude that God, in a way beyond our comprehension, established a unity between Adam and his posterity which makes it just for us to receive the imputation of his guild and corruption.  He was in some sense our representative head.  We sinned in him and fell with him.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 21: Into what condition did the fall bring mankind?

Answer: The fall brought mankind into a condition of sin and misery.

Scripture: Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:18-19; 7:18; Isaiah 53:6; 64:6; John 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 20: Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first sin?

Answer: All mankind, descending from Adam by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first sin.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 5:12, 18-19.

Comment:  God considered all mankind as being in Adam so that when Adam went bad we all went bad in him.  The nature that we have by virtue of belonging to Adam’s race is morally corrupt.  We are under the wrath of God “by nature” (Ephesians 2:3) from the time we were conceived in the womb.  This is why conversion and salvation must be much more than a “decision” for Christ.  It must be a new creation, a rebirth, an exchange of hearts.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 19: What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

Answer: The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.

Scripture: Genesis3:6,12,13.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)

Question 18: What is sin?

Answer: Sin is transgression of the revealed will of God which teaches that we are to act in perfect holiness from a heart of faith to the glory of God.

Scripture: 1 John 3:4; Romans 5:13; 14:23; 1 Peter 1:16; Matthew 5:48; 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Comment Simplified: Sin is any attitude or desire or action that explicitly breaks a commandment of Scripture, or comes from a heart of unbelief or is not done for the glory of God.

Source: A Baptist Catechism (Adapted by John Piper)