1 --- total depravity .... man is dead in sin, completely and radically impacted by the fall -- the enemy of God --- incapable of saving himself, this does not mean man is as evil as he could be nor does it mean that the image of God is destroyed, or that the will is done away with -- instead it mean that all the pervasiveness of the effects of sin -- and man is outside of Christ is an enemy of GodWith this brief understanding of what doctrine teaches about God; and man in the ultimate sense that God is sovereign and man is not free, but ensnared to his sinful nature.
This includes: man is dead in sin and is unable to make his own salvation by doing what pleases God and cannot of their own will choose to come to the great God YAHWEH
we see the scriptures that mans works are decried by GOD as being unworthy "we have become like one which is unclean, and our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment Isa 64:6" in his sight which leads us to note a few passage with show man is dead in sin (totally depraved).
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth -- genesis 6 :5,11-13
While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.-- numbers 25 :1-5
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts --Isaiah 6 : 5
Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols “. --- Ezekiel 14 :1 -5
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult. Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God. --- Ezekiel 22 :1 -12All the above references shows man is captive to their sinful natures and hence we're dead in our sins (not physically but spiritually); before we are drawn to Christ.
They show that no man, not specific groups but all men who ever existed; even David one of the greatest men of God, who was chosen by God, fell into sin and broke the law of God. in 2nd Samuel 11 -12 .. and this is also seen through many of the king who done evil in the LORDS sight (2nd kings 14 :23 -28, and 15 :8 -12).
To clarify a point, this doctrine does not teach that man is as evil as he could be - indeed can and does do many wonderful things .. the fact is not all men can please God with such thing as they may not be done with the right intent.
And Paul caps this off in the following passages
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not Honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen -- Romans 1 : 18 -25
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.-- Romans 2 :1 -11
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God - Romans 3 :9 -20
These passages make this argument fully explicit in this manner that all (men) have sinned and fallen short of Gods glory .. therefore man can not merit or save them selves since he he is sinful to his nature and spiritually dead
2 --- unconditional election ... God elects a specific people unto himself without any reference to anything they do -- this means that the basis of the elect is solely of God and himself -- his grace, his mercy, his will -- it is not mans action, work or even for seen faith that draws Gods choice, Gods election is unconditional and finalThis doctrine is as the synopsis has it stated "the basis of the election is all in God own will and council," another way to make this clear is that chooses people because of something which in himself, and not anything within the man.
The scripture are what makes this valid:
And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.-- Matthew 24 :22 -26For in this very passage Jesus uses the term "elect" two times with emphasis on the fact that "so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" could be deceived by false prophet and false Christs
we also note the use of the following phrase "no human being would be saved But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short" this could mean the time for the calling of the elect is short
also need to note that the times of deception are on going theme with certain destruction
But the main thing is Jesus is affirming an elect in his very own words and we can't argue with the Lord on this fact:
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” john 6 :35 -40This is only further confirms in the following passages, if this one is not clear enough
Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die -- john 6 :43 -50
here Jesus uses similar terminology to distinguish a fact, and that is there is a select group of people who are saved "elect" as he says to those listening "But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out" and that "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day -- so logically following we have a select people given by the father... and Christ will raise them up on the last day ...
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. --- john 10 :24 -29Here Jesus is in another confrontation with the Jews and they are enquiring into whom he is. Note his response is two fold; he states that he has told him who he was, possibly referring to john 8 :21 -24 -- yet there do not believe.
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me john 17 :9 -11 and 20 -21
And he clarifies this fact by telling them the following, "you do not believe because you are not among my sheep" meaning they are not his elect which the father has given him in john 6. And then we see Jesus is saying that he is not praying for everyone in the world but those who were given to him, and those who come to believe in him through the message of the gospel.
With this all established I now turn my attention to some passage which show that our salvation is a fee gift (unconditional):
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. -- Romans 3 : 21 -31All the above passages show that man is not justified or saved based on any merit of his own account, but through the work of Christ one is justly accepted by the father; these passages exclude all forms of works whether they are law related "in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law" or works of righteousness "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works" so the contrast of the types of works are clearly not the issue as one is qualified and one is not but if this is not enough to determine. Lets see if Paul makes the point any clear
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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— 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. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 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. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them --Ephesians 2 :1 -10
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. -- Galatians 2 :15 -21
Here is another quote from Paul on " works of righteousness being decried as a non factor in salvation of man ..... "saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
So Paul point is totally clear salvation is as Jonah made clear "of the LORD" and man has no co - operation in the matter
3 --- limited atonement ... since it is God's purpose to save a special people for himself, and he has chosen to do so only through the perfect sacrifice of JESUS CHRIST, CHRIST came to give his life a ransom for many so as to save his people from their sins the intention of Christ in his cross work was to save his people specifically, therefore, CHRISTS sacrifice was perfect and complete, for it actually accomplishes perfect redemptionBaring in mind, we have above established two points which closely connect to this doctrine that there is an elect, and they are saved apart from any conditions being applied to themselves for such a graceful gift.
Now we turn to to a few passages from the old testament to substantiate this doctrine being limited in who it will save ... but before this we need to note that both covenants were limited in there purpose, except on occasions like Ruth and the people of Nineveh which fit into the understand of prototype of the 2nd covenant
We need to only see the initial covenant (the 1st) was limited in many aspects; but the most central one is that is was limited a specific people, the Jews.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath -- Leviticus 22 :26 -32This is a fundamentally important passage to focus on as it set up a great amount of the information which is the back ground to the sacrifice of the Messiah. But for now there are only few point i want to raise
a --- "for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God." Here we see that this is a real focal point in Gods understanding of who he is and how man is to relate to him as their master and redeemer, he as their creator and they as his creatures. The other point to raise here is that this was for only the Jews, no other people groups; so there is a limit to who God was present with and how would be saved through his offering.
b --- "It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places" this is the real point that the Jews were the chosen people of God and this has not changed, even today they remain as such to a degree .. as there is a remnant to be called forth .. so this even shows an elect or selection of people
Now we go to the new testament
As we have seen in the first portion of number 2: that even Jesus show that man will be saved by him, but not all men .. just those who God chose in him ... which Matthew and john agree with Paul on this fact -- as we shall see
for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.-- Romans 8 : 28 -30As these passages made it so abundantly clear that there is a selection of believer in Christ who were chosen before all things came to be; not upon anything they have done, but for all that Christ has done as his work transcend all space and time and has an infinite measure to it that does not and can not be limited to time and space, therefore this shows that this salvation is an eternal action which began in God own being.
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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will -- In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, -- Ephesians 1 :3 -5 and 11
4 --- Irresistible grace -- this is the belief that God is able to raise a spiritually dead sinner to life, when God chooses to bring one of his elect to spiritual life , this is not to say men have not resisted God grace, this doctrine speaks specifically to the grace which brings regeneration, not to individual acts of sin committed by believer or unbelieversThis doctrine is the most misrepresented by non reformers, and yet the simple understanding taken from this brief synopsis is that irresistible grace can be defined as resurrection power or regeneration of the spiritually dead person.
With this brief out line we need to clarify this by scriptures -- here we can go to many great passages that demonstrate this fact
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” -- john 11 :17 -27Even though Jesus is the one who is in view as the bearer of a miracle, and Lazarus is the respondent of this miracle. The text shows us something very significant to this doctrine which stems from this phrase, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this." In this we have a statement that defines Deity of Christ; yet what is said of one person is equally seen as being true in all three persons
We we learn from this chapter is that man is spiritually dead, due to sin and it is the heart changing and life transformation of the the call of the Holy Spirit as seen on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit brought new life to apostles and this is true of all believers.
With some other passages that build this truth up to a point where we can establish a few point which are related
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit -- john 3 6 -8The above reference speak to the active work of the spirit in every believer and those who are chosen in Christ are in short destined to be spiritually awakened through all the work of the Spirit. Regeneration and sanctification: they are by the spirit that a believer is conform to the image of Christ, and is given the right to be a son of God through Christ.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him -- Romans 8 :12 -17
perseverance of the saint --- this is to emphasis the work of God (also known as eternal security) makes the point that Gods perfect work of salvation being undone.. when Christ saves one of the elect he(Christ, not the individual) will not fail to keep that person through his life and bring him into his own presence .. CHRIST is a perfect saviourThis in short is the doctrine that once a person is saved; then this person cannot lose his salvation as it is an act of God in 3 stages: God the fathers decree, the sons atonement and the holy spirits work of regeneration and sanctification.
Several passages could brought up in defence of this fact -- such as
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”-- john 6 :35 -40The above referenceS detail what is called eternal security or preservation of a believer; these all give incite to the actual method "and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me." This direct citation shows just how this action of God in the tri personal works that provide us a strong basis of true salvation which is of the LORD
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.-- john 10 :22 -
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory -- Ephesian 1 :13 -
