Posts Tagged ‘total depravity’
The Verse That Brought Repentance
When I was just a young boy, I attended an Anglican church faithfully. I was an acolyte, president of the church youth program and a lay reader. I was a Christian; or so I thought. It seemed, as it turned out, that I was only a Christian in name only (a CINO).
You see, in being a Christian in name only can be very deceiving, and so many people today are doing the same as I, and are only CINO’s, and do not realize that they are “not” heading for Heaven. I hope you are not one of them.
Then, as an adult, one day came when I heard about two verses in Proverbs 3 that for the life of me I could not get them out of my mind. They bothered me to no end and I just had to find out how to do what they were saying, because I could not do so of my own will; and therein lay the answer.
The two verses to which I refer are these:
Proverbs 3: 5, 6
5. Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.
6. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.
I tried and I tried and I just could not get myself to trust in the way that these verses wanted for me to do. No matter what I did I just could not trust in the Lord. Sounds terrible, does it not?
Then it hit me. How could I trust in someone who I do not know? Who was this Lord in whom I am to trust? Could it be this Jesus I kept hearing about? Oh, yeah, I heard about Jesus, and how they would call Him Lord every time I had gone to church, but I really did not know Him. I had to find out – who was this Jesus.
I knew that my bible was my only true source for learning about Jesus. I had some knowledge of the gospel of John, so I started my reading about Jesus with that book.
Admittedly, the first time through it I really did not get much understanding from it. So I began to read it again and each time I would read a chapter or two I would ask Jesus to give me understanding in these words that I might learn more about Him.
Little by little a verse or two would stand out and they would be quite interesting in little ways, and I realized that I began to trust more and more this Jesus about whom I was studying and to whom I was praying. Then one day it hit me about whom Jesus was – or is. Jesus is God!
By now, not only had I become more dependent on Jesus in giving me understanding in the bible but more importantly, unwittingly, I also became to trust in Him in helping me in my daily life.
I would ask Jesus with help at work, when I was driving and in just making daily decision. I was always, and still do, asking Jesus for guidance in making all kinds of decisions, and trusting in Him for the outcome, as well as trusting in Him to change my direction on anything, if I was going the wrong way.
Through hard times and good times I was looking to the Lord for guidance, even when I did not or could not understand why sometime was happening. Even when my wife was diagnosed with cancer, she is now cancer free. I found myself asking for stronger faith so that I would have deeper trust in the Lord for whatever would happen or in what would be His will.
That is when I realized that in turning from myself, from my self-will, and trusting in the will of the Lord, what I had done was to repent of my own sin of self-will.
This was something I had done all my life. I would look to myself to trust in my own understanding, in any situation for the answer, and to have the self-serving nerve to direct my own life.
It was these two verses from Proverbs 3: 5, 6 that led me to repent of the sin of trusting in myself and to turn to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness, and to come to an understanding of whom is Jesus.
It is in Him that we are to trust for the outcome for all circumstances and situations, and to submit to His Lordship over us in directing our life as He wills.
You see, we are to trust in the Lord Jesus on a daily basis, and to keep trusting in Him even when we do not understand what is happening or why.
In addition, when we acknowledge Him as being Lord of our lives, as God, Jesus has the right to take us down the path that He knows is best for us, and one that will glorify Him.
All it takes is an understanding of who is Jesus, and repentance on your part. That is to turn from your own selfish ways of trusting in yourself, to submitting to the Lordship of Jesus over you.
Only then will you ever find true Godly direction for your life.
The 5 Points Of Calvinism
Part Two: Unconditional Election
As we found out in the last post, no one can come to Jesus unless drawn by the Father. So, if no one can come to Jesus of their own will, who can come? The answer is simple – only those whom the Father draws.
In drawing one to Christ does the Father use a litmus test in doing so? There are those who will say that God chooses those whom He sees accepting Him, but that is not found anywhere in the Bible. What is seen is that in Romans 9 we are told that God chose to love Jacob and to hate Esau before they had done anything good or bad so that His purpose in election would stand. In other words God chooses whom He wills according to His purpose and for His own pleasure, and not because of what He sees that man will do or not do.
In Ephesians 1 we find that God chooses whom He wills according to the kind intentions of His will. So it is not of him who wills or runs but of God Who shows mercy. How then, does this fit in with John 6?
In John 6 we read the following, 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
So, those whom the Father draws to Jesus, and He does so by making them alive in their spirit, He will teach them the sinfulness of man, their condemnation because of the sinfulness and the salvation that is found in Jesus.
Now we know from these verses, 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”, that ALL whom the Father draws will come to Jesus. Because of that then, God chooses whom will be saved unconditionally because salvation is conditioned on what Jesus has done for us and not on what man has done to receive salvation.
God does not base this election on what He sees in man because man is nothing but dirty rags in the sight of God. Only when Jesus is in man does God accept Him based on what Jesus has done for man. Since man cannot come to Jesus unless drawn by the Father, there are no conditions that God puts upon man in order to be saved. Salvation is all of grace, and it is through faith that man is saved. However the faith by which man is saved is the faith of Jesus imputed to man. Man cannot generate any faith towards God for salvation.
So, man is totally depraved and un-able to come to Jesus of his own will in order to be saved, and because of that God unconditionally chooses whom He wills to save, and ALL that He draws to Jesus will come and will be saved.
If God did not do this for us there would no one be saved. That is what Unconditional Election is all about; God saving man when man cannot save himself.
In our next post we will take a look at the ” L ‘ of Tulip and that is Limited Atonement. Here we will see that the sacrifice of Jesus was only for those whom the Father has willed to be saved, and no one else.
The 5 Points Of Calvinism
Total Depravity
Many people do not like to talk about the 5 points of Calvinism. Yet, they are essential to the Gospel and can be found throughout the Bible. So, we are going to take a look at each of these points, one post at a time. The basis for this study will be found in the teachings of Jesus, specifically those found in John 6. Then, as needed, other verses will be looked at as well.
The 5 points can be summed up in the acronym: T.U.L.I.P.
- Total Depravity (Total Inability)
- Unconditional Election
- Limited Atonement
- Irresistible Grace
- Perseverance of the Saints
Now these 5 points do not comprise the totality of Calvinism but they are the basis for it. As mentioned, you can find these 5 points throughout the Bible and they are found in particular in the teachings of Paul, John, Peter and, most notably, Jesus; upon Whom this study is based. So, sit back, grab some coffee and let’s take a look at the first of these points.
Total Depravity: also known as Total Inability.
In John 6: 44 Jesus says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;…”
Note the Jesus said “no one CAN” not “no one WILL”. There is a difference. Jesus says that no one CAN come to Him unless the Father draws them. If the Father does not draw them they cannot come to Jesus, and they will never want to. It’s also interesting to note that this is not the only time Jesus says this. In the same chapter at verse 65 Jesus says, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
Again, He says “no one CAN come to me”. Now think about this. Can is different than will. Can is specific and it is an action that someone has the ability to do. Will is a choice, not an action, and it insinuates that someone has the ability to do something and all they have to do is to Will or Not Will to do so. But if no one CAN do something unless they are given the ability to do so they never will do it. In fact they will never Will to choose to do it because they cannot do so.
So, as for coming to Jesus, no one CAN come to Jesus unless they are first drawn by the Father to do so. If they are never drawn they will never be able to come and they will never choose to come.
Basically, then, man has Total Inability to come to Jesus on their own. The fact is they cannot come to Jesus unless they are drawn by the Father. One reason for this is found in Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Man, in his sinfulness, is dead spiritually and unless he is first made alive and shown his sinfulness, and the fact that he is going to Hell because of it, he will never see a need for salvation. Through being born again man is given the ability to come to Jesus.
Just like Lazarus being dead and in the grave. When Jesus came to the graveside He first specifically called out the name of Lazarus, and when He said “come forth” did Lazarus have the ability at the point to obey the command of Jesus and rise up and come forth? Or did Lazarus first have to be made alive in order to be able to obey the command to come forth? It wasn’t until after being given life was Lazarus able to hear and obey the command to come forth.
Unless Jesus first gave him the ability to come to Him, by making him alive in the flesh, Lazarus was unable to do so. And we are the same, unless we are first called by name, and given life to have the ability to obey the command to come to Jesus, we will never be able to do so and we never will.
Man is in a Totally Depraved state of sinfulness, dead in trespasses and sins, and has a Total Inability to come to Jesus unless he is first given the ability to do so. And by being born again is he given this ability.
In our next post we will take a look at the second in the list of T.U.L.I.P. and that is Unconditional Election. And we will see in the teachings of Jesus how this works. So, if you want to get a head start read John 6 several times, and think of Lazarus and how this might all fit together. You might even figure out for yourself what is meant by – Unconditional Election.
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