Attention:

Freedom from Addiction, a class and support group for habitual sin, is changing from Fridays at 7:00pm to Saturdays at 7:00pm.  We meet at the Church House.  There are times when we do not meet due to conflicts with other Church functions and personal schedule difficulties; however, we make it a point to be there.  Please contact me, Aaron Larson, at larsonaj@q.com or #989-4425 to enquire about attending or if you have any questions about what we are doing with this group.

General Questions:

• What's FFA about?

We exist to teach others about our Identity in Christ and to support each other in the truth that we are free in Christ.

• Who should attend?

Anybody can attend this class/group.  Although it seems geared towards the brother or sister who struggles with Alcohol or Drug Addiction issues, it's meant to teach anybody who wishes to learn about who they are in Christ and to show anybody stuggling with a habitual sin (purity issues, co-dependency, food, anger, etc) that they are indeed already free.

• What is used in this class to teach us?

The Bible and the Freedom from Addiction workbook.

Just how important is Salvation?  I'm asking this as a serious question.  I'm sure any one of us as Christians would quickly state "Oh, it's very important!"  In fact, many of us would state "Salvation is  the difference between spending an eterneity with our Glorious Father and His Son in Heaven and an eternity separated from them in Hell."  We would say, "Yes, it's THAT important!"  Besides being an eternal life or death matter, Salvation is also something which brings many of us peace, understanding, identity, and many other wonderful things. If Salvation is so important and such a hugely, immense life and soul changing event,  why don't we evangelize like it is that serious of a matter? 

I've heard of countless stories in the news or from people I personally know about situations where people put their earthly lives on the line saving somebody else.  I'm sure all of you have heard similar stories.  You know, stories like a man running into a building on fire to save a young child. Or, the woman who jumped into a swift river to save the drowning boy.  We've all heard stories like this.  Many of us have children and have maybe experienced situations where we've saved our own children from being hurt at the possible risk of injuring ourselves.  Right?  Situations like this probably happen every day around the world.  Why are we so willing to risk possible physcial harm or death to save somebody else from physical harm, but often won't even lift a finger to warn somebody about the eternal state of their soul?  Think about that for a moment.  Isn't it true?  We'll risk injury or death for a temporary existence but won't risk getting out of our comfort zone for a permanent one.  So, again, just how important is Salvation?

 For those of us who are parents or grandparents, don't we yell at the top of our voices to halt our kids from continueing to cross that busy street after they failed to look both ways?  In fact, wouldn't you even risk injuring the arm of your child or even a stranger's child if you had to forcibly yank them out of the way of an uncoming semi truck?  Would you warn the stanger attempting to sit next to you in the theater that the chair they were about to sit in was seriously damaged? Yes, you would more than likely do all of these things.  Why then, do we avoid talking to our neighbor who we know is a non-believer?  Why do we sit and say nothing at work when a co-worker during a conversation about religion at lunch break states "I am a good person so I don't need to believe everything about God and the Bible in order to get to heaven".  If we truly believe Salvation to be of the utmost importance, why are we so often unwilling to risk the simplest of things?  In fact, isn't it true that Salvation is the ultimate life or death matter?  And, shouldn't we risk ALL so that somebody might hear of it?

 Blessings,

 Aaron

Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 2, 1855, by the
REV. C. H. Spurgeon
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

"And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."—John 5:40.

his is one of the great guns of the Arminians, mounted upon the top of their walls, and often discharged with terrible noise against the poor Christians called Calvinists. I intend to spike the gun this morning, or, rather, to turn it on the enemy, for it was never theirs; it was never cast at their foundry at all, but was intended to teach the very opposite doctrine to that which they assert. Usually, when the text is taken, the divisions are: First, that man has a will. Secondly, that he is entirely free. Thirdly, that men must make themselves willing to come to Christ, otherwise they will not be saved. Now, we shall have no such divisions; but we will endeavour to take a more calm look at the text; and not, because there happen to be the words "will," or "will not" in it, run away with the conclusion that it teaches the doctrine of free-will. It has already been proved beyond all controversy that free-will is nonsense. Freedom cannot belong to will any more than ponderability can belong to electricity. They are altogether different things. Free agency we may believe in, but free-will is simply ridiculous. The will is well known by all to be directed by the understanding, to be moved by motives, to be guided by other parts of the soul, and to be a secondary thing. Philosophy and religion both discard at once the very thought of free-will; and I will go as far as Martin Luther, in that strong assertion of his, where he says, "If any man doth ascribe aught of salvation, even the very least, to the free-will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright." It may seem a harsh sentiment; but he who in his soul believes that man does of his own free-will turn to God, cannot have been taught of God, for that is one of the first principles taught us when God begins with us, that we have neither will nor power, but that he gives both; that he is "Alpha and Omega" in the salvation of men.
Our four points, this morning, shall be: First—that every man is dead, because it says: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Secondly—that there is life in Jesus Christ: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Thirdly—that there is life in Christ Jesus for every one that comes for it: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life;" implying that all who go will have life. And fourthly—the gist of the text lies here, that no man by nature ever will come to Christ, for the text says, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." So far from asserting that men of their own wills ever do such a thing, it boldly and flatly denies it, and says, "Ye WILL NOT come to me, that ye might have life." Why, beloved, I am almost ready to exclaim, Have all free-willers no knowledge that they dare to run in the teeth of inspiration? Have all those that deny the doctrine of grace no sense? Have they so departed from God that they wrest this to prove free-will; whereas the text says, "Ye WILL NOT come to me that ye might have life."

I. First, then, our text implies THAT MEN BY NATURE ARE DEAD.

No being needs to go after life if he has life in himself. The text speaks very strongly when it says, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life." Though it saith it not in words, yet it doth in effect affirm that men need a life more than they have themselves. My hearers, we are all dead unless we have been begotten unto a lively hope. First, we are all of us, by nature, legally dead—"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death," said God to Adam; and though Adam did not die in that moment naturally, he died legally; that is to say death was recorded against him. As soon as, at the Old Bailey, the judge puts on the black cap and pronounces the sentence, the man is reckoned to be dead at law. Though perhaps a month may intervene before he is brought on the scaffold to endure the sentence of the law, yet the law looks upon him as a dead man. It is impossible for him to transact anything. He cannot inherit, he cannot bequeath; he is nothing—he is a dead man. The country considers him not as being alive in it at all. There is an election—he is not asked for his vote because he is considered as dead. He is shut up in his condemned cell, and he is dead. Ah! and ye ungodly sinners who have never had life in Christ, ye are alive this morning, by reprieve, but do ye know that ye are legally dead; that God considers you as such, that in the day when your father Adam touched the fruit, and when you yourselves did sin, God, the Eternal Judge, put on the black cap and condemned you? You talk mightily of your own standing, and goodness, and morality—where is it? Scripture saith, ye are "condemned already." Ye are not to wait to be condemned at the judgment-day—that will be the execution of the sentence—ye are "condemned already." In the moment ye sinned; your names were all written in the black book of justice; every one was then sentenced by God to death, unless he found a substitute, in the person of Christ, for his sins. What would you think if you were to go into the Old Bailey, and see the condemned culprit sitting in his cell, laughing and merry? You would say, "The man is a fool, for he is condemned, and is to be executed; yet how merry he is." Ah! and how foolish is the worldly man, who, while sentence is recorded against him, lives in merriment and mirth! Do you think the sentence of God is of no effect? Thinkest thou that thy sin which is written with an iron pen on the rocks for ever hath no horrors in it? God hath said thou art condemned already. If thou wouldst but feel this, it would mingle bitters in thy sweet cups of joy; thy dances would be stopped, thy laughter quenched in sighing, if thou wouldst recollect that thou art condemned already. We ought all to weep, if we lay this to our souls: that by nature we have no life in God's sight; we are actually, positively condemned; death is recorded against us, and we are considered in ourselves now, in God's sight, as much dead as if we were actually cast into hell; we are condemned here by sin, we do not yet suffer the penalty of it, but it is written against us, and we are legally dead, nor can we find life unless we find legal life in the person of Christ, of which more by-and-by.
But, besides being legally dead, we are also spiritually dead. For not only did the sentence pass in the book, but it passed in the heart; it entered the conscience; it operated on the soul, on the judgment, on the imagination, and on everything. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," was not only fulfilled by the sentence recorded, but by something which took place in Adam. Just as, in a certain moment, when this body shall die, the blood stops, the pulse ceases, the breath no longer comes from the lungs, so in the day that Adam did eat that fruit his soul died; his imagination lost its mighty power to climb into celestial things and see heaven, his will lost its power always to choose that which is good, his judgment lost all ability to judge between right and wrong decidedly and infallibly, though something was retained in conscience; his memory became tainted, liable to hold evil things, and let righteous things glide away; every power of him ceased as to its moral vitality. Goodness was the vitality of his powers—that departed. Virtue, holiness, integrity, these were the life of man; but when these departed man became dead. And now, every man, so far as spiritual things are concerned, is "dead in trespasses and sins" spiritually. Nor is the soul less dead in a carnal man, than the body is when committed to the grave; it is actually and positively dead—not by a metaphor, for Paul speaketh not in metaphor, when he affirms, "You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." But my hearers, again, I would I could preach to your hearts concerning this subject. It was bad enough when I described death as having been recorded; but now I speak of it as having actually taken place in your hearts. Ye are not what ye once were; ye are not what ye were in Adam, not what ye were created. Man was made pure and holy. Ye are not the perfect creatures of which some boast; ye are altogether fallen, ye have gone out of the way, ye have become corrupt and filthy. Oh! listen not to the siren song of those who tell you of your moral dignity, and your mighty elevation in matters of salvation. Ye are not perfect; that great word, "ruin," is written on your heart; and death is stamped upon your spirit. Do not conceive, O moral man, that thou wilt be able to stand before God in thy morality, for thou art nothing but a carcass embalmed in legality, a corpse arrayed in some fine robes, but still corrupt in God's sight. And think not, O thou possessor of natural religion! that thou mayest by thine own might and power make thyself acceptable to God. Why, man! thou art dead! and thou mayest array the dead as gloriously as thou pleasest, but still it would be a solemn mockery. There lieth queen Cleopatra—put the crown upon her head, deck her in royal robes, let her sit in state; but what a cold chill runs through you when you pass by her. She is fair now, even in her death—but how horrible it is to stand by the side even of a dead queen, celebrated for her majestic beauty! So you may be glorious in your beauty, fair, and amiable, and lovely; you put the crown of honesty upon your head, and wear about you all the garments of uprightness, but unless God has quickened thee, O man! unless the Spirit has had dealings with thy soul, thou art in God's sight as obnoxious as the chilly corpse is to thyself. Thou wouldst not choose to live with a corpse sitting at thy table; nor doth God love that thou shouldst be in his sight. He is angry with thee every day, for thou art in sin—thou art in death. Oh! believe this; take it to thy soul; appropriate it, for it is most true that thou art dead, spiritually as well as legally.
The third kind of death is the consummation of the other two. It is eternal death. It is the execution of the legal sentence; it is the consummation of the spiritual death. Eternal death is the death of the soul; it takes place after the body has been laid in the grave, after the soul has departed from it. If legal death be terrible, it is because of its consequences; and if spiritual death be dreadful, it is because of that which shall succeed it. The two deaths of which we have spoken are the roots, and that death which is to come is the flower thereof. Oh! had I words that I might this morning attempt to depict to you what eternal death is. The soul has come before its Maker; the book has been opened; the sentence has been uttered; "Depart ye cursed" has shaken the universe, and made the very spheres dim with the frown of the Creator; the soul has departed to the depths where it is to dwell with others in eternal death. Oh! how horrible is its position now. Its bed is a bed of flame; the sights it sees are murdering ones that affright its spirit;. the sounds it hears are shrieks, and wails, and moans, and groans; all that its body knows is the infliction of miserable pain! It has the possession of unutterable woe, of unmitigated misery. The soul looks up. Hope is extinct—it is gone. It looks downward in dread and fear; remorse hath possessed its soul. It looks on the right hand—and the adamantine walls of fate keep it within its limits of torture. It looks on the left—and there the rampart of blazing fire forbids the scaling ladder of e'en a dreamy speculation of escape. It looks within and seeks for consolation there, but a gnawing worm hath entered into the soul. It looks about it—it has no friends to aid, no comforters, but tormentors in abundance. It knoweth nought of hope of deliverance; it hath heard the everlasting key of destiny turning in its awful wards, and it hath seen God take that key and hurl it down into the depth of eternity never to be found again. It hopeth not; it knoweth no escape; it guesseth not of deliverance; it pants for death, but death is too much its foe to be there; it longs that non-existence would swallow it up, but this eternal death is worse than annihilation. It pants for extermination as the laborer for his Sabbath; it longs that it might be swallowed up in nothingness just as would the galley slave long for freedom, but it cometh not—it is eternally dead. When eternity shall have rolled round multitudes of its everlasting cycles it shall still be dead. Forever knoweth no end; eternity cannot be spelled except in eternity. Still the soul seeth written o'er its head, "Thou art damned forever." It heareth howlings that are to be perpetual; it seeth flames which are unquenchable; it knoweth pains that are unmitigated; it hears a sentence that rolls not like the thunder of earth which soon is hushed—but onward, onward, onward, shaking the echoes of eternity—making thousands of years shake again with the horrid thunder of its dreadful sound—"Depart! depart! depart! ye cursed!" This is the eternal death.

II. Secondly, IN CHRIST JESUS THERE IS LIFE,

for he says: "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life." There is no life in God the Father for a sinner; there is no life in God the Spirit for a sinner apart from Jesus. The life of a sinner is in Christ. If you take the Father apart from the Son, though he loves his elect, and decrees that they shall live, yet life is only in his Son. If you take God the Spirit apart from Jesus Christ, though it is the Spirit that gives us spiritual life, yet it is life in Christ, life in the Son. We dare not, and cannot apply in the first place, either to God the Father, or to God the Holy Ghost for spiritual life. The first thing we are led to do when God brings us out of Egypt is to eat the Passover—the very first thing. The first means whereby we get life is by feeding upon the flesh and blood of the Son of God; living in him, trusting on him, believing in his grace and power. Our second thought was—there is life in Christ. We will show you there are three kinds of life in Christ, as there are three kinds of death.
First there is legal life in Christ. Just as every man by nature considered in Adam had a sentence of condemnation passed on him in the moment of Adam's sin, and more especially in the moment of his own first transgression, so I, if I be a believer, and you, if you trust in Christ, have had a legal sentence of acquittal passed on us through what Jesus Christ has done. O condemned sinner! Thou mayest be sitting this morning condemned like the prisoner in Newgate; but ere this day has passed away thou mayest be as clear from guilt as the angels above. There is such a thing as legal life in Christ, and, blessed be God! some of us enjoy it. We know our sins are pardoned because Christ suffered punishment for them; we know that we never can be punished ourselves, for Christ suffered in our stead. The Passover is slain for us; the lintel and door-post have been sprinkled, and the destroying angel can never touch us. For us there is no hell, although it blaze with terrible flame. Let Tophet be prepared of old, let its pile be wood and much smoke, we never can come there—Christ died for us, in our stead. What if there be racks of horrid torture? What if there be a sentence producing most horrible reverberations of thundering sounds? Yet neither rack, nor dungeon, nor thunder, are for us! In Christ Jesus we are now delivered. "There is therefore NOW no condemnation unto us who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Sinner! Art thou legally condemned this morning? Dost thou feel that? Then, let me tell thee that faith in Christ will give thee a knowledge of thy legal acquittal. Beloved, it is no fancy that we are condemned for our sins, it is a reality. So, it is no fancy we are acquitted, it is a reality. A man about to be hanged, if he received a full pardon would feel it a great reality. He would say, "I have a full pardon; I cannot be touched now." That is just how I feel.

"Now freed from sin I walk at large,
The Saviour's blood's my full discharge,
At his dear feet content I lay,
A sinner saved, and homage pay."

Brethren, we have gained legal life in Christ, and such legal life that we cannot lose it. The sentence has gone against us once—now it has gone out for us. It is written, "THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION," and that now will do as well for me in fifty years as it does now. Whatever time we live it will still be written, "There is therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."

Then, secondly, there is spiritual life in Christ Jesus. As the man is spiritually dead, God has spiritual life for him, for there is not a need which is not supplied by Jesus, there is not an emptiness in the heart which Christ cannot fill; there is not a desolation which he cannot people, there is not a desert which he cannot make to blossom as the rose. O ye dead sinners! spiritually dead, there is life in Christ Jesus, for we have seen—yes! these eyes have seen—the dead live again; we have known the man whose soul was utterly corrupt, by the power of God seek after righteousness; we have known the man whose views were carnal, whose lusts were mighty, whose passions were strong, suddenly, by irresistible might from heaven, consecrate himself to Christ, and become a child of Jesus. We know that there is life in Christ Jesus, of a spiritual order; yea, more, we ourselves, in our own persons, have felt that there is spiritual life. Well can we remember when we sat in the house of prayer, as dead as the very seat on which we sat. We had listened for a long, long while to the sound of the gospel, but no effect followed, when suddenly, as if our ears had been opened by the fingers of some mighty angel, a sound entered into our heart. We thought we heard Jesus saying, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." An irresistible hand put itself on our heart and crushed a prayer out of it. We never had a prayer before like that. We cried, "O God! have mercy upon me a sinner." Some of us for months felt a hand pressing us as if we had been grasped in a vice, and our souls bled drops of anguish. That misery was a sign of coming life. Persons when they are being drowned do not feel the pain so much as while they are being restored. Oh! we recollect those pains, those groans, that living strife that our soul had when it came to Christ. Ah! we can recollect the giving of our spiritual life as easily as could a man his restoration from the grave. We can suppose Lazarus to have remembered his resurrection, though not all the circumstances of it. So we, although we have forgotten a great deal, do recollect our giving ourselves to Christ. We can say to every sinner, however dead, there is life in Christ Jesus, though you may be rotten and corrupt in your grave. He who hath raised Lazarus hath raised us; and he can say, even to you, "Lazarus! come forth."
In the third place, there is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And, oh! if eternal death be terrible, eternal life is blessed; for he has said, "Where I am there shall my people be." "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given unto me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." "I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish." Now, any Arminian that would preach from that text must buy a pair of India rubber lips, for I am sure he would need to stretch his mouth amazingly; he would never be able to speak the whole truth without winding about in a most mysterious manner. Eternal life—not a life which they are to lose, but eternal life. If I lost life in Adam I gained it in Christ; if I lost myself for ever I find myself for ever in Jesus Christ. Eternal life! Oh blessed thought! Our eyes will sparkle with joy and our souls bum with ecstasy in the thought that we have eternal life. Be quenched ye stars! let God put his finger on you—but my soul will live in bliss and joy. Put out thine eye O sun!—but mine eye shall "see the king in his beauty" when thine eye shall no more make the green earth laugh. And moon, be thou turned into blood!—but my blood shall ne'er be turned to nothingness; this spirit shall exist when thou hast ceased to be. And thou great world! thou mayest all subside, just as a moment's foam subsides upon the wave that bears it—but I have eternal life. O time! thou mayest see giant mountains dead and hidden in their graves; thou mayest see the stars like figs too ripe, falling from the tree, but thou shalt never, never see my spirit dead.

III. This brings us to the third point: that ETERNAL LIFE IS GIVEN TO ALL WHO COME FOR IT.

There never was a man who came to Christ for eternal life, for legal life, for spiritual life, who had not already received it, in some sense, and it was manifested to him that he had received it soon after he came. Let us take one or two texts—"He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto him." Every man who comes to Christ will find that Christ is able to save him—not able to save him a little, to deliver him from a little sin, to keep him from a little trial, to carry him a little way and then drop him—but able to save him to the uttermost extent of his sin, unto the uttermost length of his trials, the uttermost depths of his sorrows, unto the uttermost duration of his existence. Christ says to every one who comes to him, "Come, poor sinner, thou needst not ask whether I have power to save. I will not ask thee how far thou hast gone into sin; I am able to save thee to the uttermost." And there is no one on earth can go beyond God's "uttermost."
Now another text: "Him that cometh to me, [mark the promises are nearly always to the coming ones] I will in no wise cast out." Every man that comes shall find the door of Christ's house opened—and the door of his heart too. Every man that comes—I say it in the broadest sense—shall find that Christ has mercy for him. The greatest absurdity in the world is to want to have a wider gospel than that recorded in Scripture. I preach that every man who believes shall be saved—that every man who comes shall find mercy. People ask me, "But suppose a man should come who was not chosen, would he be saved?" You go and suppose nonsense and I am not going to give you an answer. If a man is not chosen he will never come. When he does come it is a sure proof that he was chosen. Says one, "Suppose any one should go to Christ who had not been called of the Spirit." Stop, my brother, that is a supposition thou hast no right to make, for such a thing cannot happen; you only say it to entangle me, and you will not do that just yet. I say every man who comes to Christ shall be saved. I can say that as a Calvinist, or as a hyper-Calvinist, as plainly as you can say it. I have no narrower gospel than you have; only my gospel is on a solid foundation, whereas yours is built upon nothing but sand and rottenness. "Every man that cometh shall be saved, for no man cometh to me except the Father draw him." "But," says one, "suppose all the world should come, would Christ receive them?" Certainly, if all came; but then they won't come. I tell you all that come—aye, if they were as bad as devils, Christ would receive them; if they had all sin and filthiness running into their hearts as into a common sewer for the whole world, Christ would receive them. Another says, "I want to know about the rest of the people. May I go out and tell them—Jesus Christ died for every one of you? May I say—there is righteousness for everyone of you, there is life for every one of you?" No; you may not. You may say—there is life for every man that comes. But if you say there is life for one of those that do not believe, you utter a dangerous lie. If you tell them Jesus Christ was punished for their sins, and yet they will be lost, you tell a wilful falsehood. To think that God could punish Christ and then punish them—I wonder at your daring to have the impudence to say so! A good man was once preaching that there were harps and crowns in heaven for all his congregation; and then he wound up in a most solemn manner: "My dear friends, there are many for whom these things are prepared who will not get there." In fact, he made such a pitiful tale, as indeed he might do; but I tell you who he ought to have wept for—he ought to have wept for the angels of heaven and all the saints, because that would spoil heaven thoroughly. You know when you meet at Christmas, if you have lost your brother David and his seat is empty, you say: "Well, we always enjoyed Christmas, but there is a drawback to it now—poor David is dead and buried!" Think of the angels saying: "Ah! this is a beautiful heaven, but we don't like to see all those crowns up there with cobwebs on; we cannot endure that uninhabited street: we cannot behold yon empty thrones." And then, poor souls, they might begin talking to one another, and say, "we are none of us safe here for the promise was—"I give unto my sheep eternal life," and there is a lot of them in hell that God gave eternal life to; there is a number that Christ shed his blood for burning in the pit, and if they may be sent there, so may we. If we cannot trust one promise we cannot another." So heaven would lose its foundation, and fall. Away with your nonsensical gospel! God gives us a safe and solid one, built on covenant doings and covenant relationship, on eternal purposes and sure fulfillments.

IV. This brings us to the fourth point, THAT BY NATURE NO MAN WILL COME TO CHRIST,

"Grace taught my soul to pray,
And made my eyes to o'erflow;
'Twas grace that kept me to this day,
And will not let me go."

Is there one here—a solitary one—man or woman, young or old, who can say, "I sought God before he sought me?" No; even you who are a little Arminian, will sing—

"O yes! I do love Jesus—
Because he first loved me."

Then, one more question. Do we not find, even after we have come to Christ, our soul is not free, but is kept by Christ? Do we not find times, even now, when to will is not present with us? There is a law in our members, warring against the law of our minds. Now, if those who are spiritually alive feel that their will is contrary to God, what shall we say of the man who is "dead in trespasses and sins"? It would be a marvelous absurdity to put the two on a level; and it would be still more absurd to put the dead before the living. No; the text is true, experience has branded it into our hearts. "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."
Now, we must tell you the reasons why men will not come unto Christ. The first is, because no man by nature thinks he wants Christ. By nature man conceives that he does not need Christ; he thinks that he has a robe of righteousness of his own, that he is well-dressed, that he is not naked, that he needs not Christ's blood to wash him, that he is not black or crimson, and needs no grace to purify him. No man knows his need until God shows it to him; and until the Holy Spirit reveals the necessity of pardon, no man will seek pardon. I may preach Christ for ever, but unless you feel you want Christ you will never come to him. A doctor may have a good shop, but nobody will buy his medicines until he feels he wants them.
The next reason is, because men do not like Christ's way of saving them. One says, "I do not like it because he makes me holy; I cannot drink or swear if he saved me." Another says, "It requires me to be so precise and puritanical, and I like a little more license." Another does not like it because it is so humbling; he does not like it because the "gate of heaven" is not quite high enough for his head, and he does not like stooping. That is the chief reason ye will not come to Christ, because ye cannot get to him with your heads straight up in the air; for Christ makes you stoop when you come. Another does not like it to be grace from first to last. "Oh!" he says, "If I might have a little honor." But when he hears it is all Christ or no Christ, a whole Christ or no Christ, he says, "I shall not come," and turns on his heel and goes away. Ah! proud sinners, ye will not come unto Christ. Ah! ignorant sinners, ye will not come unto Christ, because ye know nothing of him. And that is the third reason.
Men do not know his worth, for if they did they would come unto him. Why did not sailors go to America before Columbus went? Because they did not believe there was an America. Columbus had faith, therefore he went. He who hath faith in Christ goes to him. But you don't know Jesus; many of you never saw his beauteous face; you never saw how applicable his blood is to a sinner, how great is his atonement; and how all-sufficient are his merits. Therefore, "ye will not come to him."
And oh! my hearers, my last thought is a solemn one. I have preached that ye will not come. But some will say, "it is their sin that they do not come." IT IS SO. You will not come, but then your will is a sinful will. Some think that we "sew pillows to all armholes" when we preach this doctrine, but we don't. We do not set this down as being part of man's original nature, but as belonging to his fallen nature. It is sin that has brought you into this condition that you will not come. If you had not fallen, you would come to Christ the moment he was preached to you; but you do not come because of your sinfulness and crime. People excuse themselves because they have bad hearts. That is the most flimsy excuse in the world. Do not robbery and thieving come from a bad heart? Suppose a thief should say to a judge, "I could not help it, I had a bad heart." What would the judge say? "You rascal! why, if your heart is bad, I'll make the sentence heavier, for you are a villain indeed. Your excuse is nothing." The Almighty shall "laugh at them, and shall have them in derision." We do not preach this doctrine to excuse you, but to humble you. The possession of a bad nature is my fault as well as my terrible calamity. It is a sin that will always be charged on men; when they will not come unto Christ it is sin that keeps them away. He who does not preach that, I fear is not faithful to God and his conscience. Go home, then, with this thought; "I am by nature so perverse that I will not come unto Christ, and that wicked perversity of my nature is my sin. I deserve to be sent to hell for it." And if the thought does not humble you, the Spirit using it, no other can. This morning I have not preached human nature up, but I have preached it down. God humble us all. Amen.

Why do we, as Children of God, feel we must pray more, meditate more, get more mentors, be involved in more and more ministries or bible studies in order to become closer to God? Or to become more Christ-like? A better Christian?

Are the Spiritual Disciplines really legalistic? Hmmm....I think not!

It boils down to motivation and attitude. We, as flawed human beings, can turn anything good and righteous into something legalistic. Man, why do we do stuff like this? Well...I think it's because we forget about Grace. We continually forget that there was nothing and is nothing we can do to attain salvation. We must remember this even as Christians. Engaging in the Spiritual Disciplines is great if we are doing it with the right attitude.

If we rest in God and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to bear fruit, we will bear righteous and good fruit. The 'works' which will come out of us will be good. We have it completely wrong and backwards if we think we must do 'works' in order to become good.

So, if we are resting in God, we will be motivated to engage in the spiritual disciplines, because they are a joy and a benefit to be engaged in. We must remember that every good thing comes from God, and since Christ is in us, what comes out of us will be good. So, if we are to pray more or meditate more, it will be because it is a joy and a blessing to do so.

Works come out of who we are in Christ!

Blessings,

Aaron

The Five Points of Calvinism

By Aaron J. Larson

Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

The following is my essay on TULIP: The Five Points of Calvinism.  I have quoted a great deal from Mr. Spencer's book TULIP: The Five Points of Calvinism in the Light of Scripture. His writings are in quotes. 

Total Depravity:

I admit that when I first read about Total Depravity I thought 'No way!'. I did random acts of kindness before I was a Christian. I don't believe I was completely depraved as a human being. I didn't commit any terrible crimes, I paid my taxes, I loved people, and helped people when they needed help. How could I be totally depraved if I did these things? Besides this, if I was totally depraved, how was I able to choose Christ? Where does free will fit into this first point?

Mr. Spencer says, "Total Depravity means that unregenerate man is hopelessly immeshed in sin, bound by Satan with the cords of spiritual death, and wholly disinterested in the things of the Creator. When the time comes that those bonds are broken, and death replaced by eternal life, it is the work of God who, alone, gives the faith which desires and does those things pleasing to Him. This is why Paul tells the Elect,

"It is God who works in you both to will and do of His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13)

This makes sense to me because even if I did things which may have been 'good' they weren't for the pleasure or glory of God. Before I was a Christian, I did not have the Holy Spirit and Christ was not in me. I had not been reconciled to the Lord yet therefore anything I did was not for His Glory. Basically, I was bound to sin and to Satan.

"Total Depravity agrees with Holy Scripture. Man cannot see or know the things which related to the kingdom of God, without being regenerated first by the Holy Spirit. A dead spirit perceives only the things of man and Satan. Hence the words of our Lord to Nicodemus:

"Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3)

I like this scripture as well:

"The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to Him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).

How can one be able to discern the Truth without God? How can I truly do righteous things without being in Christ? The answer is that it would be impossible. Without Christ, I am depraved in my sin nature. I basically walked with Satan before coming to Christ.

"Ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience....fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath" (Eph. 2:2-3)

As a man without the Holy Spirit, I am incapable of truly doing good in the eyes of the Lord. This makes sense to me now because I remember being only oriented to myself or peers or to man in general. Since I was not with Christ, my thoughts, reasoning, etc. were of man and not God. Basically, anything I did was for the glory of myself or Satan.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9)

"There is none righteous, no not one! There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3:10-11).

Mr. Spencer says, "Man is totally depraved in the sense that everything about his nature is in rebellion against God. Man is loyal to the god of darkness and loves darkness rather than The Light. His will is, therefore, not at all "free". It is bound by the flesh to the Prince of darkness grim. Total Depravity means that man, of his own "free will", will never make a decision for Christ. Even our blessed Lord bluntly says:

"Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40).

Mr. Spencer continues..."Man is not saved by some mythical act of his own free will. He is saved by the grace ("unmerited favor") of God who first gives him life and then instills faith in his heart as a free gift. Paul Continues:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God. It is not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9)

Basically, we only hear the voice of Satan unless God gives us ears to hear and eyes to see.

"Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My Word! Ye are of your father the devil" (John 8:43-44)

Since we are a slave to sin and to Satan, we do not really have the free will to choose Christ. God gives us the eyes and ears to see and hear Him. There's nothing that we can do.


Unconditional Election:

To get us going, I'm going to start off by quoting from Mr. Spencer.

"As we think of this point we will remember that the Arminian view is that foreknowledge is based upon the positive act of man's will as the condition or cause that moved God to elect him to salvation. All of the great confessions, in agreement with the Protestant Reformers, declare that election is "unconditional". In other words, the foreknowledge of God is based upon His decree, plan, or purpose which expressed His will, and not upon some foreseen act of positive volition on the part of man."

Paul states:

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose, for whom He foreknew, He also did predestinate...." (Rom. 8:28-29)

Paul continues:

"For the children being not yet born, neither having done either good or evil, that the purpose of God might stand according to election, not of works, but of Him that calleth...it is written, 'Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated'" (Rom. 9:11)

I think these verses speak to the fact that man can do nothing to merit salvation (Total Depravity) and that God Himself, chooses, according to His purpose, who is "elected".

Mr. Spencer says, "The scriptures stress that God does not elect persons to be saved because of some goodness or greatness foreseen in them. On the contrary, He delights in using the weak, base, and useless in a way that guarantees that He alone will gain the glory!"

Paul states "See your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath Chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise! God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things which are: that no flesh should glory in His Presence." (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

  
Paul continues:

"God hath saved us, and called us with a 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...." (1 Tim. 1:9).

I think these verses speak very strongly the message that we can't do anything (works) or exercise some type of positive volition towards God to be "chosen" for election. Look what Jesus said here:

"Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you"

Regarding what Jesus stated above, it looks like Jesus "chose us" before the foundation of our world even occurred! Look at what Paul says below:

Paul says, "According as He hath chosen us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4)

Mr. Spencer says, "Only those whom the Father saw fit to choose of His free will, apart from any condition on their part, are given faith to believe unto salvation."

Note what Luke said in Acts:

"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the Word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed!" (Acts 13:48)

Jesus insists that Life and Faith are the work of God, not the work of man. He says:

"...The Son giveth life to whom He will" and "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom God hath sent" (John 6:29; 5:21).

When Jesus had finished His great discourse upon the fact that He is the "Bread come down from heaven", he said:

"Therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me unless it were given unto Him of My Father. From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked nor more with Him" (John 6:65-66)

About this verse, Mr. Spencer says this: "Why? Because the Son of God insisted that election is based upon the will of God and not the will of man! He deprived them of their ego-inflating notion that some condition of good existed in them that brought about their election."

Again, I think it's pretty clear that man is truly depraved and a child of wrath. Because of this, we can not of our own free will choose Christ. God has already elected us for salvation even before the foundation of the world. Election is based upon the purpose of God in conjunction with His plan. There are no amount of "works" which we could do to become elected therefore election is unconditional.

Limited Atonement:

I admit that the point of Limited Atonement is one of the more difficult points of TULIP to understand. It's probably one of the more controversial ones as well amongst many Christians. This point is still hard for me to grasp although I understand it more than I have in the past. I do think it works nicely with all the other points of TULIP. Let's start off with two pieces of scripture cited below:

"Behold! The world is gone after Him!" (John 12:19)

and

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16)

The question needs to be asked what is meant by the term 'world'. Let's look at what Mr. Spencer says:

"Much of what we think about the atoning death of Christ will be tempered by what we understand the simple word "world" to mean. In the Gospel of John this word has special significance in that it may have any one of seven different meanings: (1) the classical sense, i.e. the orderly universe, (2) the earth itself, (3) the human inhabitants of earth, by metonymy, (4) mankind under the Creator's judgment, alienated from His Life, in the ethical sense, (5) the public who were about Christ, Jews in particular, (6) the kingdom of evil forces, angelic as well as human, as related to the earth, and (7) men out of every tribe and nation, but not all tribes and nations as a whole."

So, which one is it? I think all Christians can agree that not all people were following Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. The Speakers (Pharisees) refused to do so. It's also obvious that the whole world was not following Jesus Christ at that point in time. On that note, it seems to me that "the world" was referring to those persons who were actually following Jesus Christ (Jew and Gentile alike).

"The Calvinist logically assumes the definition of world to be "men out of every tribe and nation, but not all tribes and nations as a whole."

The above quote goes hand and hand with Unconditional Election. I think scripture teaches that election is based on God's purpose as I outlined in my post on Unconditional Election and that there is nothing that we (humans) can do to merit salvation. Humans are totally depraved which shows the point of Total Depravity.

Mr. Spencer says, "You see, if you believe that the Bible teaches that God is sovereign, His plan immutable, and His election unconditional, you must conclude that the atonement is limited to those whom He freely willed to make the objects of grace. (Actually "grace" means "unmerited favor". It is an act which is wholly undeserved, so that the term, by its very nature of definition, denies conditional election.) "

I think this brings up an interesting point. If you can believe that you do not merit salvation by any "works" at all and that it is God who saves you by means of grace, how could election ever be conditional? It is not. Election is definitely unconditional. If election is therefore unconditional and there are no amount of works we can do to merit God's grace of salvation, how can we assume that everyone (the whole world) will receive atonement?

Let's look at what Mr. Spencer says about the Arminian view:

"The Arminian must at least agree that although the blood of Christ is sufficient in value (since it is the "blood of God"), and His death is of infinite worth in the eyes of God, it is efficient or effectual only so far as the elect are concerned (whether the view be conditional or unconditional election). Actually the Arminian view of universal atonement is not tenable. His only out is to say that the will of God is foiled by man, because Christ supposedly died for all men whom God wanted to save, but could not. This, of course, would mean that God is not omnipotent, and that Christ gained only a small victory at the cross, since more men have died in unbelief than have gone to glory through faith in the Savior's finished work at Calvary.

Many Christians believe (I did once as well) that God wants all to be saved which is actually a way of saying you believe in "universal atonement". If "universal atonement" is true, than what does that say about God since more have died as a non-believer than a believer? I think Mr. Spencer brought up a serious point to consider in this. It really does cheapen the victory of Jesus Christ on the cross. It also suggests that God is not omnipotent which He clearly is by evidence of many scriptures throughout the Bible.

Let's look at some scripture which I used to wonder about.

"The Lord is....not willing that any should perish!" (II Peter 3:9).

Here's what Mr. Spencer has to say about the above verse:

"True, but let's be fair with the basic rules of English grammar and interpretation. Begin by answering the question, "To whom is his second epistle, in which this statement is found, addressed?" Hear the apostle's own answer:

"Simon Peter....to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ" (II Peter 1:1).

"He is writing to Believers, to the elect, to those whose faith rests upon the righteousness of God, and not on some condition of righteousness in and of themselves! Next, ask the question, "What is the context of the passage in which the verse in question is found?" The answer is;

"Where is the promise of His coming?" (II Peter 3:4).

Peter's answer:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us..." (II Peter 3:9)

Mr. Spencer continues... "Pause a moment and give a fair answer to the question, 'To whom is Peter addressing himself when he uses the personal pronoun "us"?' Does he mean everyone, elect and lost alike, or is he writing

"to them that have obtained like precious faith with us (II Peter 1:1)

as he says in the salutation of this epistle? The obvious answer is that Peter is speaking of Believers only when he says "us".

Let's look at what Paul says here:

"For (God) hath made (Christ) to be sin for us..." (II Cor. 5:21)

and here:

"God commendeth His love towards us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!" (Rom. 5:8).

And here:

"If God be for us, who can be against us? He who spared not His Son, but delivered Him up for all of us, how shall He not freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" (Rom. 8:31-33).

It seems to me that if you take the scripture in context the only conclusion is that Peter as well as Paul is speaking to the elect and not to the world as a whole. Look what Paul says here:

"Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it [the church]" (Eph. 5:25).

Here's another quote by Mr. Spencer:

"The "all" for whom the Savior died are the elect whom the Father chose to give Him as a Bride "holy and without blemish". He did not elect us because we were holy and blameless! Paul says that God

"hath chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him; in love having predestinated us...." (Eph. 1:4)

Not chosen "because", but chosen "in order that" we might be holy and without blemish before God. We were predestinated "in love" because at no point in Scripture is the term "loved by God" applied to any persons other than the saints! It is never applied to the world at large, where the reprobate would be included. On the latter the "wrath of God" abides, while on the former "there is no condemnation". Only the Elect are the specific objects of the love of God."

Look at what Jesus says here:

"I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine" (John 10:14).

Now look at this:

"I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:15).

I think it would be illogical to assume Jesus was referring to the whole world in John 10:14 when He says "I know My sheep". We already know that not all of the world was following Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry. There were many people during His earthly ministry which Jesus did not know because the Father did not know them. In other words, there were many people (even more now) who will never know God. Only the Elect know God and only the Elect were saved by Jesus "laying His life down for His sheep (Elect)". 

Irresistible Grace:

In my opinion, Irresistible Grace explains how it is God who pulls us to Christ and not ourselves. You should be able to see by now how all the points of TULIP really work together. Calvinism says were are totally depraved as human beings. We are "children of wrath" which means our unregenerate souls are dead and are attracted to the father of lies who is Satan. There is nothing we can do (works) on our own which would allow us to commune with God and have everlasting life. It is only through the will of God that we are elected. We realize our election by being given the gift of faith by God. Without the direct intervention of God, we would remain forever attracted to Satan. How can we choose salvation when we are irresistibly attracted to the god of the dead (Satan)? Irresistible Grace, as with most of TULIP boils down to a free will argument so let's take a look at that.

Mr. Spencer says, "The fourth point of Calvinism counters the fourth point of Arminianism with "Irresistible Grace" versus "Obstructable Grace". The Calvinist insists that salvation is based on the free will of God, and since God is omnipotent, His grace cannot be resisted. The Arminian replies that salvation is based upon the free will of man, who is capable of rejecting the sovereign will of God (even when wooed by the Holy Spirit)."

Do we as Christians really believe we have the power to resist the sovereign will of God? How about Satan? If any of you are willing to believe that Total Depravity has some merit and yet believe in man's free will, how did you overcome the irresistible attraction to Satan as an unregenerate human being?

I think that's an interesting question, don't all of you? I think back on the time when I was a non-believer and remember how I felt and what I thought about. I really was totally depraved. How was I able to get salvation in that state? Did I just wake up one day and choose salvation of my own free will or did God have a hand in it?

Mr. Spencer continues..."Perhaps we should best begin by defining the Greek word charis which is consistently translated "grace" in the New Testament. The basic meaning of the word is "unmerited favor". Grace is something that God does for man, which man does not merit-which he does not deserve by any stretch of the imagination. If man deserves what he gets from God, he has earned it. Works earn rewards, but he who has no works to condition God's favor must cry out for grace. This is the basis for Paul's contention that

"to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt! But to him who worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the un-godly, his faith is imputed for righteousness" (Rom. 4:4-5)

"Since faith is the "gift of God", and is "not of works", it is an act of grace (of "unmerited favor") on the part of God. If the work of faith is man's work then God is indebted to him. However, if faith is God's work and God's gift to man, then man possesses absolutely no condition in himself that merits salvation as a reward."

"(God) hath saved us...not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (II Tim. 1:9).

Let's all think about that. If grace is un-merited and I am a child of wrath, how can I choose anything but the opposite of God which is the death that Satan offers? Personally, I think it's impossible. It's really God's free will we are talking about here and not our own. It is God who chooses to bring us to His Son and not us. He does this by breathing into us the gift of faith. The cool thing is that scripture states God had this planned from the beginning!

I hear a lot of people dismiss Calvinism because of people like Judas. In other words, Open Theists and Arminians say Calvinists believe in a God who is capable of evil. Let's take a look at what Mr. Spencer says.

"Irresistible Grace does not mean that God does violence to man's spirit by forcing him to do something he does not want to do. (He did not force Judas to do what he did. Judas acted freely, according to the good pleasure of Satan his master, by doing what his dead human spirit, his sin-corrupted soul, dictated he should do. That is precisely why Christ, knowing whom He had chosen to be with Him day after day during his three and on-half years of public ministry, chose Judas.) Judas, without coercion, fulfilled the will of God."

God did not "quicken" Judas' spirit with the gift of faith. He allowed Judas to continue to serve Satan in his totally depraved state to bring about His devine purpose!

Getting back to Christ's Irresistible Grace, we find the salvation of Christ truly irresistible once God "quickens" or makes alive all whom he chose in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. This irresistible grace occurs once we are instilled with the gift of faith. It is God, of His own free will, who gives life to whom he chooses.

Mr. Spencer says, "The Arminian, however, insists that the omnipotent God can be obstructed in His will to save all men by the puny, impotent will of any individual. In other words the Holy Spirit Himself is rendered impotent to impart life, if it is the pleasure of the sinner to reject Christ and resist the drawing of the Spirit of God. This is contrary to the words of Jesus:

"The Son giveth life to whom He will..." (John 5:21)

"Nowhere does the Bible say that a man chooses eternal life of his own will. On the contrary Scripture states that whoever the Father gives to His dear Son shall come because it is His will that they come. Hear Jesus!

All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37)

"Who is it that our Lord declares He will never "cast out"? According to His words, given in the first half of the sentence, it is those whom the Father has determined "shall come" to Him. Irresistible grace!"

Getting back to man's free will, let's take a look at the will of God and the will of Satan. Without question, God is the most powerful being in the universe. Period! He created everything including Satan. Now, how about Satan? Satan is without question the most powerful of God's creation. I think it could be found within the Bible that Satan is more powerful than any other angel; however, he does have limitations. We know this because of Job's account. That being true, Satan still has a pretty powerful will. He is strong in his attraction. Now, let's take a look at the human will. Our will is a third rate if not a fourth rate will since other angels are more powerful than us. Given this, are we so egotistical to assume we have more power than Satan and even God to resist their will? Think about this for a moment because I think this is what we are saying if we say he have the free will to choose salvation.

Mr. Spencer says, "Man is a third rate power. He is not able to resist Satan because his will is inferior to the will of the devil. Paul says that the unregenerate, who "oppose" God's servants who teach the Word,

"are taken captive by [the devil] at his will" (II Tim. 2:26)

"How can Satan ensnare the lost "at his will"? For the simple reason that man, without the Holy Spirit, is an inferior power who cannot resist the most powerful creature God ever made! This is why those who are still "dead in trespasses and sins" are governed by the Counter-Plan of the Evil One, walking

"according to the course of this world, (walking) according to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now worketh in the sons of disobedience..." (Eph. 2:2)

"Even the Arminian (or free willer) must realize that when he claims that the grace of the God who wills that all men shall be saved can be resisted and rejected, he is stating that Jehovah is not omnipotent. He is claiming that man, a third rate power, under the control of a higher second rate power, has such fantastic "free will" that he can break the higher power of Satan to "choose" his way to heaven! Or is it that the heavenly Father is "permissive", and wills to allow the objects of His great love to go to hell if they so desire? Or is it that finite man can resist the First Rate Power of Jehovah (the Omnipotent Creator) because he, the third rate power, is greater than God? Unbelievable!"

Really, what Irresistible Grace shows is that man is irresistibly drawn to Satan and has a devil-bound will and not the free will that many people like to claim that man has.

Mr. Spencer continues..."Man needs for God to draw him irresistibly by His grace, or man will never make so much as a single step in the direction of Christ. Hence the words of our Lord:

"No man can come to Me, except the Father who hath sent Me, draw him" (John 6:44)

In conclusion, I think Irresistible Grace is absolutely true if one really approaches it logically. It's really illogical to state we have the free will to choose Christ when we are "born into sin" right from the womb. We are "children of wrath" from the get go. We give ourselves entirely too much credit to assume it is us who "chooses" Christ. How can we possibly choose Christ given our state of being? No, it is the Father who chooses to instill in us the gift of faith which leads to the grace of Christ's salvation which is truly unmerited and wholly undeserved. Praise God! Praise Jesus Christ!

Perseverance:

Since the opposite of Calvinism is really Arminianism, I thought I would start by pointing out that the Arminians had no choice but to end their Remonstrance with the conclusion that Christians can Fall from Grace. Arminians and Open Theists are totally free-will based in their theology. If they assert that one can choose salvation, then the logical conclusion becomes that one can also choose to deny salvation. I am not referring to the choice to become saved but rather to a Christian who at some time chose salvation and then later denied it.

As you can see, and whether you subscribe to it or not, this flies in the face with the theology presented in TULIP. Obviously, I find the notion that a Christian can choose to lose their salvation illogical as well as un-Biblical. I believe TULIP proves this and shows how this is one of the more glaring problems with the notion of free-will.

Mr. Spencer says, "The Calvinists taught that the saints, otherwise known as the 'elect', can never be lost since their salvation is by the will of the unchanging, omnipotent God. Since no condition in man determines his being chosen, because Scripture teaches unconditional election, it stands to reason that there is nothing he can do to get himself 'unsaved' once he has been saved by God's grace. Surely, reasons the Calvinist, if it is the Will of God that I am saved, and since He "changes not", then I begin my salvation, continue my salvation, and enter heaven a saved person because He has willed it so!"

"Of His own Will He conceived us with the Word of Truth" (James 1:18)

Paul assures believers of eternal salvation by saying this:

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ!" (Phil. 1:6)

Mr. Spencer says, "The God who is the Author of the "good work" (which He, not man, began in His elect) will "perform it" (continuous tense, or "keep on performing" the good work in the the saint) until the "day of Jesus Christ," when we shall receive sinless, resurrection bodies! Again, that "good work" will also be His work and not ours! Hence Paul's other words to the Philippian believers:

"Our citizenship is in the heaven, from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like His glorious body according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself"
(Phil. 3:20-21).

Mr. Spencer continues, "Notice to whom the Father has given "all power" so that "He is able to subdue all things to Himself." It is our coming Savior-King! It is the glorious One of whom Scripture says:

"Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He (Christ) should give eternal Life to as many as Thou hast given Him" (John 17:2)

Mr. Spencer says, "How many? Who? The blessed Son of God also stated the plainest terms",

"This is the Will of the Father who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all whom He has given Me, but raise him up in the Last Day" (John 6:39)

Since salvation is given by the grace of God and there is nothing we can do (works) to merit it, isn't it illogical to assume we have the power or free-will to keep salvation? I think not! Look at what Jesus says here:

"I give them [His sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand!" (John 10:28)

Mr. Spencer says, "How long is the salvation which God gives His own? Will the elect sheep of the Good Shepherd ever perish? Whose word do we take? Man's or God's? Why is it that some will take unclear passages of Scripture to attempt to nullify the super clear passages? Can it be because they will not have salvation by God's sovereign grace, but will either have salvation by their own work of faith or none at all? Take the words of Peter, as he was directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit, who wrote that the Elect are destined

"to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, garrisoned in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be uncovered in the last time!" (I Peter 1:4-5)

Look at what Paul says, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day!" (II Tim. 1:12; cf. John 17:11)

Mr. Spencer continues, "Heaven is our home. The Glory of that heavenly dwelling is our inheritance because God has freely willed it so by His grace!"

"In [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own Will" (Eph. 1:11)

"The election have obtained it, the rest were blinded" (Rom. 11:7)

"We are bounded to give thanks for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation" (II Thess. 2:13)

"The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom..." (II Tim. 4:18)

"to them who are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called" (Jude 1)

"And the true God of peace sanctify you wholly, and your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calleth you, who also will do it" (II Thess. 5:23-24)

As blood bought Sons of the King, we persevere because He perseveres! If it is He who keeps us and preserves us, how could we possibly have the power or free-will to fall? I tell you it's ridiculous to believe otherwise! Look at what Jude says here:

"Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the Presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God (our Savior) be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever" (Jude 24, 25)

I like how Mr. Spencer ends his teaching on Perseverance:

"Yes, the saints will "persevere" because the Savior declares that He will persevere on their behalf. He will keep them. If perseverance depended upon fickle man with his fallen sin nature, he would be hopeless. Perseverance of the saints is dependent upon irresistible grace, granted us because Christ died for us since the atonement we have by His blood was limited to the elect. That election, praise the Lord, was not based upon some condition of good foreknown to be in us since "there is none good, no not one." By the grace of God it was an unconditional election because no condition could be found! No condition could be found because man is totally depraved, i.e., totally incapable of exercising good will toward God, wholly impotent to call himself to life or to free himself from the super-human power of the god of the dead."

I hope you all can see how the notion of "free-will" really breaks down when it comes to the keeping of salvation. The notion of a true human free-will just doesn't work. Scripture proves this!

The Bema

By Tim Stevenson

Synopsis:

"Businessman Daniel Mathewson discovers that the way we conduct ourselves daily determines how we experience eternity. Thinking he is beginning just another day, he encounters The Day: the rapture of the church. Escorted by his guardian angel into the heavenly realm, Dan observes the wonders of Heaven, talks with angels, and learns to see life from a totally new perspective.

The first order of business is Tshe Bema, the Judgment Seat of Christ. Millions of saints from every era and nation stand individually before Christ to be evaluated. While all possess eternal life in Christ, they receive different rewards and degrees of glory.

When Daniel appears before the Bema, the Lord gives him truly accurate self-knowledge for the first time in his life. More than anything else, Daniel longs to hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." But, has his life earned that supreme reward?

The certainty of this day of reckoning has profound implications for the way believers should live here and now. The Bema presents this biblical truth in a stimulating, interesting, and understandable way, and helps Christians focus on living in the light of The Day rather than merely for today."

This book has really challenged me to look at how I am currently "running the race" as a Child of God.  I strongly recommend that every Christian read this book and think on the implications of the Judgement seat of Christ.  Although I knew about the Bema, I have never truly pondered on it.  Reading this book has really got me looking at my life and how I am living it as a Child of God.

 --Aaron