One of the main problems with Christians today is that they do not know how to think or reason and consequently can't or won't understand what Scripture is truly saying.
Not only do they not possess simple skills of logical deduction, they have been force fed
presuppositions about Scriptural things and thereby fall into traps of hyper-inductivism.
The inability to read the plain text of the Bible is a disturbing trend among American Christians and much of this is due to preconceived errors about the will of man.
For instance, when they read Romans 7 where Paul is lamenting his struggle with sin, many today feel that Paul is speaking of his pre-conversion struggle.
One reason this is blatantly false is that an unbeliever would never have such a struggle. This should be glaringly clear to a Christian, yet many refuse to see it.
To help us read the Bible, we in the 21st century have the benefit and blessing of so many men of old who spent more time in the Word of God in a month than most of us will in an our entire lives.
We do truly err if we do not listen to what they have to say.
Check out John Calvin in his "Genevan Confession":
"Article 8 - Regeneration in Jesus
Second, we acknowledge that by his Spirit we are regenerated into a new spiritual nature. That is to say that the evil desires of our flesh are mortified by grace, so that they rule us no longer.
On the contrary, our will is rendered conformable to God's will, to follow in his way and to seek what is pleasing to him.
Therefore we are by him delivered from the servitude of sin, under whose power we were of ourselves held captive, and by this deliverance we are made capable and able to do good works and not otherwise.
...
Not only do they not possess simple skills of logical deduction, they have been force fed
presuppositions about Scriptural things and thereby fall into traps of hyper-inductivism.
The inability to read the plain text of the Bible is a disturbing trend among American Christians and much of this is due to preconceived errors about the will of man.
For instance, when they read Romans 7 where Paul is lamenting his struggle with sin, many today feel that Paul is speaking of his pre-conversion struggle.
One reason this is blatantly false is that an unbeliever would never have such a struggle. This should be glaringly clear to a Christian, yet many refuse to see it.
To help us read the Bible, we in the 21st century have the benefit and blessing of so many men of old who spent more time in the Word of God in a month than most of us will in an our entire lives.
We do truly err if we do not listen to what they have to say.
Check out John Calvin in his "Genevan Confession":
"Article 8 - Regeneration in Jesus
Second, we acknowledge that by his Spirit we are regenerated into a new spiritual nature. That is to say that the evil desires of our flesh are mortified by grace, so that they rule us no longer.
On the contrary, our will is rendered conformable to God's will, to follow in his way and to seek what is pleasing to him.
Therefore we are by him delivered from the servitude of sin, under whose power we were of ourselves held captive, and by this deliverance we are made capable and able to do good works and not otherwise.
...
Article 9 - Remission of Sins Always Necessary for the Faithful
Finally, we acknowledge that this regeneration is so effected in us that, until we slough off this mortal body, there remains always in us much imperfection and infirmity, so that we always remain poor and wretched sinners in the presence of God.
And, however much we ought day by day to increase and grow in God's righteousness, there will never be plenitude or perfection while we live here.
Thus we always have need of the mercy of God to obtain the remission of our faults and offences.
And so we ought always to look for our righteousness in Jesus Christ and not at all in ourselves, and in him be confident and assured, putting no faith in our works.
Hmm..isn't that interesting? We see John Calvin clearly affirming that a saved person is freed from the bondage or domination of sin. Then we see in Article 9, he affirms that we remain imperfect, in infirmity, and that we are poor and wretched sinners in the presence of God!
Does this seem like a contradiction to you?
Let me put it to you the way one confused person put his apparent dilemna to me:
Query: If a regenerated Christian's "evil desires of" their "flesh are mortified" "so that" the "evil desires" "rule" them "no longer" and that the regenerated Christian's "will is rendered conformable to God's will, to follow in his way and to seek what is pleasing to him." The regenerated Christian is "therefore" "delivered from the servitude of sin" and "made capable and able to do good works AND NOT OTHERWISE." Then how can "there" remain "always in us much imperfection and infirmity,
so that" the regenerated Christian "always" remains a "poor and wretched" sinner?
And keep in mind, the person who asks this is not legitimately asking, "How can this be?!" He thinks by simply asking the question he is thwarting Biblical theology in order to promote his own theology.
Ok, so first of course, one must have a grasp of the Biblical doctrine of Total Depravity.
This doctrine does not mean that we are as bad as we could be.
It means that our entire beings are infected by sin. Not one square inch is left uncorrupted by the foul mark of sin.
Romans 3 explains this fact well. And Paul makes sure we understand he is talking about every living being.
Man has will, but that will is bound to his sin nature. We get to do exactly as we please every time we make a decision and that is exactly what we do. You will never be able to name a time when your highest desire of will did not win out.
Unfortunately, we only please to do sin all the time.
On our best day, we are failures before God.
God tells us that our very righteous deeds are to Him as used menstrual garments.
Isaiah 64:6
Now follow with me as we exposite Calvin's most Biblical words.
Paul explains it to us here in Romans 6:
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. 6We know that our old selfa was crucified with him in order that the body of
sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has
died has been set freeb from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live
with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer
has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he
lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
"We are by Christ delivered from the servitude of sin, under whose power we were of ourselves held captive, and by this deliverance we are MADE CAPABLE TO DO GOOD WORKS AND NOT OTHERWISE." says Calvin.
And he is right. AS is clearly seen he is merely agreeing with the apostle Paul.
Like God tell us in Romans 8, THE MAN IN HIS FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD.
We need to realize that God commands of men that which men cannot do. This includes believing in Jesus. That pleases God, yet a man in his flesh cannot do this. The very act of believing is a gift from God. Phillipians 1:29
IT HAS BEEN GRANTED UNTO YOU TO BELIEVE AND TO SUFFER FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST.
IT HAS BEEN GRANTED UNTO YOU TO BELIEVE AND TO SUFFER FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST.
In Christ, a saved person, a regenerated person, a person brought from death to life, a born again person NOW HAS THE ABILITY TO OBEY GOD!!!
This is no way negates the fact that a saved person will still struggle with sin as they are sanctified by Christ and await final glorification in the very presence of the Father.
The whole point is, only saved people actually struggle with sin.
In Romans we read paul saying "I do the thing sthat I don't want to do and I don't do the things I do want to do." So many people mistakenly think that Paul is describing an unsaved person.
The absurdity of this interpretation really knows no bounds.
In Romans we read paul saying "I do the thing sthat I don't want to do and I don't do the things I do want to do." So many people mistakenly think that Paul is describing an unsaved person.
The absurdity of this interpretation really knows no bounds.
Again, quite simply, an unbeliever would never have such a struggle.
In Romans 7, Paul is describing a dual nature that exists in all Christians. Now that they have been set free from the dominion of sin, they are free to obey God, yet they still war with that old nature.
We see in Scripture that saved men and women in Christ have been freed from the domination of sin.
Then we have so many Scriptures like 1 John 1:8 where we read:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Bear with me and let us read again and see that John Calvin was simply rightly dividing the Word and soundly expositing Scripture.
When he says:
"Finally, we acknowledge that this regeneration is so effected in us that, until we slough off this
mortal body, there remains always in us much imperfection and infirmity, so that we always
remain poor and wretched sinners in the presence of God. And, however much we ought day by day
to increase and grow in God's righteousness, there will never be plenitude or perfection while we
live here. Thus we always have need of the mercy of God to obtain the remission of our faults and
offences. And so we ought always to look for our righteousness in Jesus Christ and not at all in
ourselves, and in him be confident and assured, putting no faith in our works."
He is helping the faithful through their walk with Christ, reminding them they are no longer in bondage to sin, and that now they have a fight ahead of them as they war inwardly with the remnant of their old stony heart.
Pelagianism is that old heresy that says man is born in the same perfection that Adam was born in. This is is anti-Scripture. If we take this theology to its logical conclusion, then re-birth in Christ by necessity means we may attain unto a sinless state while here on earth.
Is this what you believe? It is called the Holiness Movement and it is heresy.
If it is not what you believe, why do you struggle with the fact that one can be born again, freed from the power of sin, yet still be at war with sin? Why is it hard for you to see that only a Christian has a new will and a new nature and by definition that new nature will be at war with the old one until the day of glorification with Christ?
Why is it so hard for Christians to just stop and think?
Is it because when see paradoxes we immediately call them contradictions?
Methinks so.
You see, when that man asked me the "query" above, he had a presupposed notion that his very question refuted Biblical theology because he viewed Calvin's statements as contradictory. In fact, they are not contradictory at all but in full alignment with Scripture.
A paradox is a seeming contradiction and Scripture has quite a few. As professing Christians, we should be honest enough to dive deep into the Word and understand that there are zero contradictions and zero mistakes.
Discovering, explaining, and otherwise meditating on a Scriptural paradox is one of the most awe-inspiring things we can do as Christians.
So, the man's question does not take issue with John Calvin. The question ultimately takes a beef with God Almighty.
A paradox is a seeming contradiction and Scripture has quite a few. As professing Christians, we should be honest enough to dive deep into the Word and understand that there are zero contradictions and zero mistakes.
Discovering, explaining, and otherwise meditating on a Scriptural paradox is one of the most awe-inspiring things we can do as Christians.
So, the man's question does not take issue with John Calvin. The question ultimately takes a beef with God Almighty.
Clearly, a man in Christ has been given a new will. Therefore, he is free from slavery to sin and now can war against it. Of course, there will be many trials and temptations, but he will be saved to the uttermost by Christ alone.
Romans 6,7, and 8 speak of Justification by faith alone in Christ alone, Sanctification by faith alone in Christ alone, and Glorification by faith alone in Christ alone, respectively.
Those three things, Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification are what constitute salvation.
Those three things, Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification are what constitute salvation.
If you think that the free will of man participates with God in salvation, I plead with you, forsake your man-centered doctrines. May I say to you, you are not thinking properly and you are being dishonest to the Scriptures.
The greatest preachers, teachers, missionaries, and evangelists the world has ever known have been Reformed and Calvinists, because that is the pure, unadulterated, uncompromised, unsensualized Gospel.
If you think that your decision is what allowed God to save you, or if you just don't think it matters and "you are good on your doctrine", you are terribly mistaken, and you have been decieved by deceivers and now you decieve others.
Wake up.
Please don't continue to ignore sound reason and then turn around to ironically use rationalism to attack theology in an attempt to escape Calvinism.
This is the MO of all who have tried such things down through history.
Don't let this be your church!
Pity, it is freewill theology that dominates the visible church, and it is freewill theology that gives so much ground to those who seek to attack Christianity.
Holding to freewillism renders a person incapable of truly explaining the more difficult passages of Scripture.
Come out of the sensualized gospel and embrace authentic Christianity.
You will be glad you did.
You will be glad you did.
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