An Offer We Can’t Refuse?

Can man resist the grace of God? Yes. We do it all the time. In fact, as a result of the Fall (Genesis 3), we are by nature inclined away from God’s grace…and everything else about God. Our desires are contrary to God and we act according to those contrary desires. Necessarily.

So what do we mean by the phrase “Irresistible Grace,” the I in TULIP? Simply speaking, it means that God can and does override our resistance to his grace with his grace in order to change us from being enemies of God to being children of God. In fact, if we are to become children of God, it is necessary that he overcomes our deadness and hatred of him.

Who Put the “L” in TULIP?

I know a lot of people who would say, “I’m a 4-point (or a 4 ½-point) Calvinist.” The point that hangs them up is the “L” which stands for Limited Atonement. This point is the most disputed of the doctrines that comprise the TULIP, even amongst Calvinists. In this post I will attempt to give a brief synopsis of Limited Atonement, provide some alternative language that may be more helpful, present a logical defense of the doctrine, and point to some of its limitations — all in fewer than one thousand words. Here goes.

On What Grounds?

The word “election,” or some form of it, is all over the Bible. God’s people are often spoken of as “chosen,” “foreknown,” “called out ones” (or saints), and “elect.” To argue against God’s choosing a people for himself is simply to deny what is plainly presented in Scripture.

Just How Bad Is It?

We often think of our need for a Savior in terms of our own sins. What I mean by this is that we tend to recall the “bad things” we’ve done and see this collection of misdeeds as the reason we need forgiveness. It isn’t that we don’t need to be forgiven of these things (we certainly do!) but there is something deeper, something more wicked than the sum of all of the worst things we’ve done. In fact, it isn’t our “sins” that are our primary problem. Something darker, deeper and deadlier is at work in us.

Implications

Oscar Wilde said, “An idea that isn’t dangerous has no business being called an idea at all.” Ideas are dangerous things, and this is certainly no less the case when the ideas are about God. As we think through some of the implications of Calvinistic ideas, some questions naturally emerge. These are good and proper questions to ask. Whenever I hear people ask these questions, regardless their conclusions,

What We Believe

Here’s a link to Bethlehem Baptist Church’s statement on their beliefs on the Five Points of Calvinism (led by Pastor John Piper). I would say that this is consistent with what we believe. It is thorough enough (though not exhaustive) to communicate the sense of what we mean by the term Calvinism and the Doctrines of Grace.

Also, here’s a link to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (our church’s confession).

Our Statement of Faith

Bein’ Berean

One more encouragement before we get earnestly into the body of the conversation…

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. [Acts 17:10-11]

Most people, a friend once told me, are down on what they ain’t up on. Copernicus was executed for suggesting that the earth revolved around the sun, and not vice versa. Galileo died under house arrest for attempting to convince the intelligentsia (which, in the interest of full disclosure, included prominent churchmen!) of the same thing. Galileo had devised a handy little devise called the “telescope” that proved his theory. But

Peter Leithart quotes Rowan Williams

Peter Leithart says on his blog today:

In a penetrating article on de doctrina Christiana, Rowan Williams points out that the grotesqueness and strangeness of the Bible is a “prophylactic against fastidiousness,” particularly the fastidiousness that assumes we have “nothing to learn from what startles or offends our taste.”

I raise my eybrows and smile at this kind of thinking!

Barach on Types

John Barach has a helpful post on typology. He opens the post with this:

It’s come to my attention that there are some people who teach that we shouldn’t identify something in the Old Testament as a type of Christ unless the New Testament makes that identification explicit.

The Bible as Lens

Eyeglass lenses serve the purpose of bending (refracting) light in such a way as to make things more clearly perceptible to us. Without going into more detail than would be interesting, I will tell you that there are different kinds of eyeglass lenses, but they can be broken down into two categories (if we’re talking in the plainest terms).