State of the Church...2024

Every two years Ligonier Ministries, in conjunction with LifeWay Research, conducts a survey of Americans on what they "believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible".  The results of this survey are compiled into a report entitled "The State of Theology".  These results can be seen by going to www.thestateoftheology.com.  They offer an interesting, dare I say disturbing, peek into the visible "church" in America.  

The results of this survey are from 2022 as the results from the 2024 survey have yet to be published.

The survey is not limited to only people who identify themselves as "religious" or "spiritual" or "Christian" or "evangelical".  However, for the purpose of this little series we are embarking upon, we are going to focus on the responses of those participants who identified themselves as "evangelical".  "Evangelicals" were defined by LifeWay Research as people who strongly agreed with these 4 statements in the survey:

1---The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.

2---It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

3---Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.

4---Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.

This post, and subsequent follow-up posts, will take a look at responses that were given to survey statements.  This post is merely going to list statements in the survey and the corresponding percentage of "evangelicals" that either agreed or disagreed with said statement.  In the follow-up posts, we will dissect each response and do some biblical evaluation.

The total number of respondents to this survey was 3011.  The number of respondents that identified as "evangelical", according to the parameters set above, was 711.  That is just a shade less than 25% who considered themselves to be Christians.  

Again, keep in mind that the responses to the statements we are focusing upon were given by people that, first and foremost, stated the Bible was the highest authority for what they believe.  Also, keep in mind that we are only listing statements and responses in this post.  Merely seeing these statements and percentages will give you something to chew on for a little while.  We will get into specifics in later follow-up posts.  Let's dive in.

-----God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

56% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...46% strongly, 10% somewhat.

-----God learns and adapts to different circumstances.

48% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...43% strongly, 5% somewhat.

-----Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.

73% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...70% strongly, 3% somewhat.

-----Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.

43% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...38% strongly, 5% somewhat.

-----The Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being.

60% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...51% strongly, 9% somewhat.

-----The Holy Spirit can tell me to do something which is forbidden in the Bible.

27% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...25% strongly, 2% somewhat.

-----Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.

57% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...36% strongly, 21% somewhat.

-----Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.

55% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...48% strongly, 7% somewhat.

-----Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God.

65% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...61% strongly, 4% somewhat.

-----Gender identity is a matter of choice.

37% of evangelicals either strongly or somewhat agree with this statement...32% strongly, 5% somewhat

This is just a sampling of 10 statements found in this survey.  There are others that I could have included but these 10 are the ones that stood out to me as being the most disturbing.  I could probably sum up the problem we see here in just one post because the nonsense and, quite honestly heresy, evident here boils down to a common denominator.  But there are shades of nuance in the responses that we can unpack a little to provide a better understanding.

I pray you will stick around as we go forward with this series and, hopefully, together, we will be edified and educated in the process.

Some Thoughts on Redemption

Last week Pastor Jim preached on the 4 major themes of Scripture.  One of those themes is redemption and as he was preaching, he stated that redemption was NOT man centered.  There is a ton of truth wrapped up in that statement.  But if this statement is true and salvation is not centered around man, it stands to reason that the emphasis lies elsewhere.  Where is that?

There are several places in the Scripture we can go to answer this question.  In my opinion, Ephesians 1 is one of the best, if not the best, portion of Scripture to look at when speaking about the focal point of our redemption.  Here are the relevant verses...Ephesians 1: 3-14:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to  the praise of His glory. 

(Ephesians 1: 3-14  NASB...Emphasis added is mine)

In these few verses notice everything God did, to whom He did it and the reason for doing what He did.  You will also notice everything that the human being DID NOT DO....

Verse 4---He chose us, before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and blameless

Verse 5---He predestined us to adoption...according to the kind intention of His will...TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY

Verse 7---In Him we have redemption ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE

Verse 9---He made known to us the mystery of His will ACCORDING TO HIS KIND INTENTION WHICH HE PURPOSED

Verses 11 & 12---We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE WHO WORKS ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS WILL...TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY

Verses 13 & 14---Having believed the message of truth, the gospel, you were SEALED IN HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE...GIVEN AS A PLEDGE...TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY

These few verses show the progression, from beginning to consummation, of our salvation.  God does it all.  God the Father chooses and predestines, God the Son provides the redemption and God the Holy Spirit effectively calls and seals.  All of this is done to the praise of His glory, mentioned 3 different times in these few verses.  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the center and focal point.  Mankind is not.

In the Old Testament we see the same thing as well.  In Deuteronomy 7 we read:

The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

(Deuteronomy 7:7-8)

Notice it says He didn't choose the Israelites because they were greater in number.  In other words, there was nothing special about them.  It wasn't because of them in any way.  Rather, it was because the LORD was faithful to keep His oath He swore to their forefathers.  That's why He brought them out of Egypt...the sake of His own glory.  He did not do it because they were so lovable.  He did it because He was so faithful.

The church is filled with people who think they are so incredibly lovable and God simply cannot live without them in heaven at His side.  He just loves them SOOOOOOO much.  To an extent, this is true.  However the love, mercy and grace of God are perfectly balanced along side His justice, righteousness and wrath.  Quite frankly, a human being within the church, or without for that matter, cannot understand how much God loves them until they understand how much they do not deserve it.  Romans 3:10-18 emphatically states this:

THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS GOD;

ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;  THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE;

THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS

WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS;

THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 

DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS

AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN

THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES

(Romans 3:10-18) 

You are not so incredibly lovable that God cannot live without you.  In fact, you are so incredibly wicked and vile that there is no fear of God in you.  In spite of all that, however, God still did everything listed in our opening verses of Ephesians 1: 3-14.  

Make no mistake.  Salvation is centered on God and His glory, not on mankind and his lovableness or anything mankind thinks he may deserve.  Mankind deserves nothing but condemnation from a holy, sinless God.  Romans 3:10-18 is a perfect description of every human being that is dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).  Does this passage describe you?  Are you dead in trespasses and sins?  It need not be that way.    

God is holy and righteous.

You are not holy and righteous. You were born in sin (Psalm 51:5) because of our first parents, Adam and Eve.  Because of their disobedience in Genesis 3, every human being after them is born with an inherently sinful nature that is predisposed to disobedience and sin and deserves God's just wrath and judgment.

There is absolutely nothing that you can do to save yourself from this sinful condition except perfect obedience to God's law.  This is totally impossible.  Isaiah 64:6 tells us that our best deeds are like a filthy garment.  In the original Hebrew, this "filthy garment" is a menstrual cloth used during a woman's period.  That is the picture God the Holy Spirit chose to paint to describe your works.  Your works are that bad in His sight.

Jesus Chris was born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit so as to bypass the sinful nature of mankind.

He lived a life on this earth that was sinless, perfectly obeying the law of God, in your place and for your benefit, because you could not.

Because He lived a sinless, perfect life, Jesus Christ was able to offer Himself as the spotless sacrifice needed to satisfy the just wrath of God against sin.

Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross.  He shed His perfect blood on that cross to take away the sin of all who would believe in Him.  He died on that cross and 3 days later, according to the Scriptures, He was raised from the dead and now sits at God the Father's right hand, interceding on behalf of the redeemed.

If you will place your trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sin, He will give to you His perfect righteousness in exchange for your sinfulness.  God the Father will accept Christ's sacrifice on your behalf and will declare you to be righteous for Christ's sake.  When God the Father looks at you, He will not see your sinfulness.  He will see the blood of His Son covering your sin. Because of this, when you die, you will not suffer the just wrath of God in hell against sin for all eternity but will enter in to the blessed rest that God has prepared for those that love Him.

That is the good news of the gospel.  That is what God has done on behalf of His people.  Trust Him with your soul today.  

Thoughts on 1 Peter 2:4-5

A few weeks ago, Pastor Jim preached on 1 Peter 2:4-5.  I have been mulling that over since then and have some thoughts about what he preached.  I do not wish to trump what he said.  I am merely expanding a little on what he preached.

1 Peter 2:4-5 says:

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Christ is the stone that men rejected.  Psalm 118:22 says this:

The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief corner stone.

This is a messianic prophecy about Christ.  The religious leaders rejected Christ.  They heard the claims that He made about Himself and rejected Him out of hand.  They knew the writings of their forefathers...what we would call the Old Testament.  They knew what was written about the messiah and his coming but Christ was a threat to them.  He threatened their power.  He threatened the hold they had over the people.  He threatened their man-made traditions.  They vehemently fought against Him and attempted to neutralize Him by putting Him to death.  But, as we have seen in 1 Peter, Christ was "choice and precious in the sight of God."  Christ was God the Father's chosen means to bring salvation to sinful men.  Christ was shown to be God's chosen vessel for salvation through His resurrection from the dead.  That's why He is a "living stone."  He is not in the tomb but risen from the dead.  He is alive and has a living relationship with His people.

As believers, we are living stones as well.  We have the very life of Christ residing in us.  And, as "living stones", we are "being built up as a spiritual house" through our relationship to Jesus.  This is where I want to focus.

"Spiritual house" is terminology that is used to describe the church.  When we place our faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, we become a "living stone" and are added to the "spiritual house" of the church.  The Holy Spirit regenerates the dead sinner, thus bringing to life a once dead and stone cold heart.  The once dead sinner, having been brought to spiritual life through the power of the Holy Spirit, suddenly realizes the severity of his situation before a holy and just God.  He then flees to Christ as his only means of salvation from the penalty of his sin.  Because of the work He did on the cross for the redemption of His people, Christ takes the now alive believer and places him, as a "living stone", into His "spiritual house", His body of believers known as the church.

Notice the wording in the text we are examining.  The text does not say, "You also, as living stones, are building up a spiritual house."  The text says, "You also, as living stones, ARE BEING BUILT UP AS A SPIRITUAL HOUSE."  What does this mean?  It quite simply means this:  We, as believers, do not build the "spiritual house."  We are BUILT INTO the "spiritual house" by the Builder of the house.  Christ builds His house...we do not.

In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus asked His disciples who people said He was and they had a myriad of answers to this question.  Verse 15 and following:

He said to them, "But who do you say I am?"  Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

The Roman Catholic Church uses this text to say that Jesus just made Peter the 1st pope and that he is the fountain head of all succeeding popes.  This post is not about the RCC and I am not here to bash the RCC but I will say that this doctrine falls flat on it's face with a little work.

The greek word for Peter is PETROS, which basically means a little rock or stone.  The greek word for rock, used later in the text, is PETRA.  This word means a rock, cliff or ledge.  It is a big, solid rock.  This text is saying that Jesus did not build His church on Peter, PETROS, the little stone.  Jesus builds His church on the PETRA, the big, solid, foundational rock of Peter's confession of Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God.  John MacArthur says that Jesus is making a play on words here, saying that such a foundational, boulder-like truth came from the mouth of Peter, the small stone.  I agree with this assessment.

That is how Christ builds His church.  He builds it as the Holy Spirit brings dead sinners to spiritual life and they confess Him as the Son of the living God through faith by grace.

I say all of this to say this:  

We do not build the church.  The confession of Jesus as the Son of the living God builds the church.  No amount of programs that is done, as a church, will build the church.  Celebrate Recovery does not build the church.  Small group home "bible studies", which are largely a pooling of biblical ignorance, do not build the church.  A sermon series on the gospel principles found in the movie 50 Shades of Grey does not build the church.  A vibrant "worship band", complete with a whole production and stage show, does not build the church.  A large sampling of volunteer ministries that one can join does not build the church.  This builds pride, for sure, but does not build the church.  All these things put butts in pews and fills the "church building" but they do not build the true church.  I have one more.

I may take some heat over this one but that is OK.  It is simply the truth.  I am going to paint with a very broad brush here because not all groups fall into the category I am going to put forth.  In general, though, what I am going to say is true. 

Large youth groups do not build the church.  In fact, I would argue that they are quite detrimental to the growth of the church.  For the most part, a youth group is led by a youth pastor that is not much older than the kids he is pastoring.  He has no wisdom to give the youth.  He is still a young kid himself.  What he has is a plethora of techniques that he learned in seminary to keep kids entertained with a wishy-washy, law-filled, 7 minute pep talk at the end of the night.  What he has is the social gospel.  What he has is a whole host of progressive, liberal ideas about the Bible and what it says about God.  Those ideas have been given to him by a whole host of progressive, liberal professors who do not like what the Bible says and do not know the God contained within the pages. Any attempt to present the gospel is extremely watered down, influenced by the progressive, liberal theology he has been taught.  It is a gospel devoid of grace and stuffed with "Do better, be better."  It is not the gospel. It is works and it is destroying our kids because they realize they can never do what they have been instructed to do.  Eventually, over time, they realize they aren't "good enough" and never will be.  They realize there is no way they can live up to the standard to which they have been yoked and they throw in the towel.  By throwing in the towel, I mean they ditch Christianity all together.  This is, quite simply, the truth.  I have seen it happen with my own children. 

The preaching of the gospel, which is the job of every believer, is what builds the church.  When dead sinners are converted through the work of the Holy Spirit to bring them to spiritual life, Christ adds them to His "spiritual house"...the church.  Christ builds His church through the regeneration of dead sinners who are cut to the heart because of their sin and flee to Him for refuge.  That takes place through one way and one way only...the preaching of the gospel:

So faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.  (Romans 10:17)

Anything other than that is the tickling of ears...and the entertainment of goats.  Those things will fill a building.  It will not build the church.  Jesus does this.  

The gospel...that's the foundation upon which the church is built.

"You keep using that verse..." Inigo Montoya on Isaiah 53:5

Joseph Prince, when waxing eloquent on Isaiah 53 said this:

"But what came on Him was not just the whip stripping the flesh off His back, but your sicknesses and diseases.  Each time He was whipped, every form of sickness and disease including arthritis, cancer, diabetes, bird flu and dengue fever came upon Him.  'The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed'."

Here is the link to the entire piece he wrote.

Joseph Prince on Isaiah 53

Kenneth Copeland had this to say as he gave a prayer we are to pray:

"Father, I come boldly before Your throne to obtain grace to help in time of need.  I have confidence in Your Word, and I take hold of Your promises to heal me.  According to Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24, I resist sickness and disease.  I speak with my mouth and believe in my heart that I am healed of all sickness and disease."

Here is the link to the entire post he wrote.

Ken Copeland on Isaiah 53

To be totally honest, there is so much wrong in both of these posts.  But, we are going to focus on the absolute torturing of Isaiah 53:5 because, as the title of this series says, I do not think this verse means what they think it means.

This post will be short because it doesn't need to be long.  There is one thing that I will employ in this "fact checking" mission:  CONTEXT.

"With His stripes we are healed" are the last few words in Isaiah 53:5.  Here is the entire verse in the KJV that they love to quote: 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:5. KJV)

Just reading the entire verse puts the part they quote into perspective.  But if that context does not satisfy your understanding, here is the next verse:

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6  KJV)

What are they key words here:  Transgressions, iniquities, chastisement, peace.  These are the important concepts that we will come back to.

We must, however, treat a little to verse 4 because this is where the false teachers begin their false teaching.  Verse 4 says:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.  (Isaiah 53:4. KJV)

In the Hebrew, the word translated as "our griefs" is CHOLIY, which means "sickness".  So, the false teachers are right to an extent.  Jesus DID take our sickness on Himself.  However, they completely miss the context.  The first word of the next verse, verse 5, is "BUT".  Verse 5 says:

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:5  KJV)

It does not say he was wounded for our sickness or bruised for our disease.  So what does verse 4 mean?  It means that Jesus was human...just like us.  He suffered...just like us.  He was just like us in every way except one...He never sinned.  And that is why He could be "wounded for our transgressions"....because He was the sinless, perfect Son of God who became the perfect, sinless Son of Man...to live the perfect life that we could not in order that we could have the perfect life that we do not deserve.  We deserve death because of our unrighteousness before a holy God.  God is holy and we are not.  But because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, if we place our faith and trust in Christ, we can have the eternal reward that we do not deserve. 

Isaiah 53:5 has absolutely nothing to do with our physical healing and EVERYTHING to do with our spiritual healing.

Back to the key words:  transgressions, iniquities, chastisement, peace.  He was wounded for our transgressions, or REBELLION in the Hebrew.  He was bruised for our iniquities, or PERVERSITY or DEPRAVITY in the Hebrew.  The chastisement, or DISCIPLINE or CORRECTION in the Hebrew, that brought us peace, or COMPLETENESS, WELFARE, PEACE FROM WAR in the Hebrew, was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed...SPIRITUALLY.  WE ARE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD...WRATH WE DESERVE BECAUSE OF OUR SIN...BY HIS STRIPES IF WE WILL PLACE YOUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.  

That is what Isaiah 53:5 is talking about...your eternal, spiritual healing by the death of Christ.  What the false teachers teach about physical healing being your guarantee is disgusting and shallow.  It is demeaning to Christ and what He accomplished on the cross.

Will you not turn to Him today?  

Call out to Him.  His word assures us:

All that the Father has given Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.  (John 6:37) 

The Gospel...A History Lesson Part 6

 In The Gospel...A History Lesson Part 5, we finished up our discussion of synergism and monergism.  In part 4, we defined and talked about synergism and how that manifests itself within the church.  In part 5, we reviewed what synergism was then embarked on a definition and discussion of monergism.  We also talked about how that manifests itself within the church.  As we move on, it will be beneficial to note that what we are getting ready to talk about is the same topic of discussion we had in the last two "history lesson" posts under a different name.  The reason why I wanted to discuss the topic of synergism and monergism is because I knew that we would be coming to where we are now.  The battle of a synergistic view of salvation versus a monergistic view still rages today.  I use the word battle on purpose because that is exactly what it is...it is a battle of viewpoints.  I hope you will be able to see what I am talking about by the time we finish this post.  To review, very basically...synergism is a combined, cooperational effort between God and man.  God does His part, man does his.  Monergism is God working alone to bring about salvation.  God, and God alone, does it.  

We launched into our discussion of synergism and monergism by talking about, for lack of better terminology, the "disagreement" between Erasmus and Luther.  Erasmus was a synergistic Catholic apologist.  Luther came out of the Catholic Church after having come to a monergistic understanding of salvation.  Luther challenged the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church, launching the Protestant Reformation.  At this time, the arguments and doctrinal disagreements were between the Catholic Church and those who were "protesting" the teachings of the Catholic Church and leaving.  As time wore on, however, the next attack did not come from without the Protestant movement but from within.

Born in 1560 in the Netherlands, James Arminius was exceptionally bright.  Having lost his father at a very young age, a compassionate clergyman took responsibility for the raising of the child and saw to his education.  An intelligent young man with the ability to communicate well, Arminius was given thorough theological training in various schools.  He was licensed to preach in 1587 and became the pastor of an Amsterdam congregation in that same year.  He later became a professor at the University of Leiden in 1603 and stayed in that position until his death in 1609.  Over the span of his life, Arminius came to dismiss and flat out deny many of the teachings of the Reformation and went back to the semi-Pelagian thinking of Rome.  In 1610, a year after his death, several of those who had been influenced by his teaching drew up five articles of faith that were based upon his teachings.  These five points, eventually coming to be known as the five points of Arminianism, stood in direct opposition to what the church of Holland had been teaching since the Reformation.  These five points, also known as the Remonstrance or "protests", were taken before and presented to the Reformed church in Holland.  Those who presented these five articles insisted that the churches' statements of faith, the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism be changed and adapted to conform to the five points of Arminianism that they had drafted.

In November of 1618, there was convened a national "synod", or council, in the city of Dort.  The express purpose of this synod was to examine the views of the Arminians in light of the Scriptures.  This synod was actually an international meeting of some of the best theological minds in Europe.  There were close to 90 representatives from Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland.  Over the course of 6 months or so, until May of 1619, the Synod of Dort held over 150 sessions discussing the five points of the Arminians.  The result of the Synod was a resounding rejection of the five points of Arminianism.

The Synod concluded that merely repudiating what the Arminians said was not enough.  So, in response to the five points that the Arminians raised, the Synod drafted a response, point by point.  These five responses are commonly referred to as TULIP or what has become known as the five points of Calvinism.  They reaffirmed what the Reformed churches already confessed, as stated in the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism.  But not only that, they refuted the errors raised by the Arminians.  These positive affirmations and refutations of error are known as the Canons of Dort and they are just as important today as they were 400 years ago.

J.I. Packer wrote an introductory essay to John Owen's book "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ".  He included a summary of what the five points of Arminianism teach:

1.  Man is never so completely corrupted by sin that he cannot savingly believe the gospel when it is put before him, nor...

2.  Is he ever so completely controlled by God that he cannot reject it.

3.  God's election of those who shall be saved is prompted by His foreseeing that they will of their own accord believe.  (In other words, God elects those who first elect Him...my added commentary)

4.  Christ's death did not ensure the salvation of anyone, for it did not secure the gift of faith to anyone (there is no such gift); what it did was rather to create a possibility of salvation for everyone if they believe.

5.  It rests with believers to keep themselves in a state of grace by keeping up their faith; those who fail here fall away and are lost.  Thus, Arminianism made man's salvation depend ultimately on man himself, saving faith being viewed throughout as man's own work and, because his own, not God's in him.

Introductory Essay to "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ" by John Owen

Chapter 8 from "A Quest for Godliness:  The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life" 

by J.I. Packer

1958 Reprint of John Owen's "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ"

Banner of Truth:  London

https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/packer_intro.html

Basically, what we have encapsulated here in these five points is a return to the synergistic position of semi-Pelagianism and Roman Catholicism.  At the risk of being redundant, this is synergism...a combined effort between God, who takes the initiative and man, who must respond to God...with man's response being the ultimate determining factor in his salvation.  God has provided salvation for EVERYONE.....He has done all He can do by sending His Son to die.....but His death only becomes effective for those, who of their own free will and intelligence, choose to cooperate with Him and accept His grace.  In other words, man's eternal destiny turns on his own will.  It is the catalyst, the key ingredient, the straw that stirs the drink if you will.  So, therefore, it is man's good work of choosing, and not God, who is the determining agent in who receives the gift of grace.  This is synergism.

We talked briefly about the Synod's response to these five points earlier when we referred to TULIP.  Here is what the TULIP means and the corresponding point it is refuting in the five points of the Arminians:

T...otal Depravity.  A better term for this is radical corruption or absolute inability.  This is in response to the Arminian view of free will.

U...nconditional Election.  This is in response to the Arminian view of conditional election.

L...imited Atonement.  I think a better term for this is Particular Redemption.  This is in response to the Arminian view of general, or universal, redemption.

I...rresistible Grace.  Again, a better term for this is effectual grace.  This is in response to the Arminian view of resistible grace.

P...erseverance or preservation of the Saints.  This is in response to the Arminian view that a person, once saved by grace, can become unsaved.

In drafting these five responses, the leaders at Dort were merely reaffirming the teachings of Luther, Calvin and Augustine...that salvation is a work of the Triune God of the universe alone.  The Father chooses, or elects, people to be saved, the Son redeems them through His sacrifice on the cross and the Spirit applies this redemption to the chosen or elect by bringing them to repentance and faith.  The Spirit does this by regenerating the heart, causing the sinner to see himself for what he really is...a wicked creature deserving nothing but just condemnation.  When the sinner is regenerated, or born again, he willingly accepts the gospel message and the grace provided for him by Christ...it is irresistible, or effectual, to him because the Spirit is behind it, causing them to accept it.  The entire operation is a working of God.  It is by and through grace alone.  Therefore, it is the grace of God, and not the good work of man for being smart enough to choose, that determines who will be saved.  This is monergism.

Today, the evangelical landscape is littered with people who lack understanding in two important areas...who God is and who man is.  That is because they, in their corrupted mind, think it is not fair for God to pick and choose and have absolute sovereign control over His creation, doing with it as He pleases.  They also think that man really isn't that bad.  Down deep, most everybody is really pretty good.  When it comes to salvation, the majority of churches hold to an Arminian understanding.  It is all about you and making your choice.  That is what the Arminian believes.  Jesus died for every single person and it is up to them to improve, or accept, the grace that He gives them by exercising their free will.  There is just one problem with "free will":

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.  (John 8:34)

Our will is enslaved to sin...in a spiritual sense.  We are dead in sins and trespasses says Paul in Ephesians 2.  We have free will in one sense and one sense only.  We can choose what we want to eat tonight for supper.  We can choose what pair of pants to put on our body.  We can choose where we work.  That is as far as our will is "free".  Spiritually, our will is enslaved to sin.....dead.  We can choose nothing that is spiritually good:

"There is no one who does good, there is not even one".  (Romans 3:12)

  

"There is no righteous person, not even one; there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks out God".  (Romans 3:10-11)

That is our plight.  That is who we are.  That is where we stand.  Unless we are born again, our wills stay enslaved to sin and we:

"cannot see the kingdom of God".  (John 3:3)

We started this journey back in January with the post "The Gospel...An Introduction".  Two posts followed that...Laying the Foundation and Completing the Foundation.  Then we embarked on a discussion of the TULIP with a couple of posts on Total Depravity.  It then dawned on me that a look at some history in the church would be beneficial, both for me and you.  Thus began "The Gospel...A History Lesson Part 1".  Here we are at #6.  The reasoning behind the history was to show where these competing ideas came from.  It is important to understand that to some extent.  

I am going to repost those first two posts I did on Total Depravity..."The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 1" and "The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 2"...along side this last history lesson post.  Seems to me like they would make more sense after all of the history and this is where the history lesson ends. 

To demonstrate the error of this way of thinking on free will, I am going to end this post with the Prince of Preachers, C.H. Spurgeon.  He had his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek when he preached this many years ago.  But he hit the nail on the head when it comes to making the point he wanted to make....listen to his words:

Lord, I thank thee that I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists.  Lord, I was born with a glorious free will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace.  If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved...Thou gives grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do.  There are many who will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am.  It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not - this is the difference between me and them.

C.H. Spurgeon

Volume One, New Park Street Pulpit 1855

Sermon 52 "Free Will - A Slave"

 

The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 2

Men are doomed. 
They are commanded to do something they cannot do. 
They do not have the ability on their own yet that doesn't change the command.
Men are doomed.

In a Q&A and panel discussion at Grace Community Church regarding election and predestination and the sovereignty of God in salvation, from September 26, 2001, Phil Johnson said the following regarding our responsibility and our ability:

Well, you have to understand that our responsibility is not limited by our ability. Scripture commands us to do a lot of things that we are morally incapable of doing. One that come to mind preeminently is "Be perfect the way God is perfect." I can't obey that command. And yet, is it my duty to do that? Yes, absolutely. So the fact that our ability is limited does not limit our responsibility. That's the error of both Arminianism and hyper-Calvinism; they assume that if our ability is limited, then so must our responsibility be limited. But Scripture doesn't teach that. Scripture calls us to many duties that we cannot possibly fulfill. And it is the duty of all to believe, to trust Christ, to repent. And yet, they don't have the moral ability unless God gives it to them, which is the very thing that ought to drive us constantly to dependence on the grace of God. There's so many things God commands of us that we simply cannot do, that our entire lives ought to be lived just simply depending on His grace, because that's only the power that supplies the ability to do these things. And we can't do it.  
Phil Johnson 9-26-01

Because of the fall,  man's nature is inherently sinful.  Paul to the Romans:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.  For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.  (Romans 5:18-19)

On the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America's website, arbca.com, the 1689 London Baptist Confession, in chapter 6, concerning sin and the fall of man, says this in paragraph 2:

Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.

Here are the Scriptural references that accompany this statement:
Romans 3:23
Romans 5:12
Titus 1:15
Genesis 6:5
Jeremiah 17:9
Romans 3:10-19

The same confession, in paragraph 3, says this:

They being the root, and by God's appointment, standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.

Here are the scriptural references that accompany this statement:
Romans 5:12-19
1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Psalm 51:5
Job 14:4
Ephesians 2:3
Romans 6:20
Hebrews 2:14-15
1 Thessalonians 1:10

Let's break these two paragraphs down some.  Paragraph 2 says "our first parents", meaning Adam and Eve.  "By this sin" means the sin of Eve succumbing to the temptation of the serpent, eating the fruit and Adam willfully going against what God had said by eating the fruit.  "Fell from their original righteousness and communion with God" simply means that, as they were created, Adam and Eve were perfect, sinless, immortal...perfectly righteous before God...in perfect communion with Him. That was destroyed by the sin they committed.  "We in them whereby death came upon all" means that, through Adam's loins, this guilt was passed on to us.  "All becoming dead in sin" means 2 things.  Physical death came to us because of this....also, we died spiritually because of this.  "Wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body" means that our entire being....spirit, soul and physical body....was corrupted and destroyed by the sin of Adam.

Paragraph 3 basically says the same thing with a few addendums.  "Servants of sin" means that, because of the fall, we are now slaves to sin.  Our nature is in bondage to sin.  "Subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free" covers a bunch of ground.  "Subjects of death" is what we weren't.  Humans were created immortal, perfect, sinless.  This act by our parents nullified all of that. This phrase "subjects of death" primarily speaks to physical death.  But the rest of that phrase "all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free" speaks to our spiritual well being.  We are subject to "all other miseries" that accompany the sin of our parents.  We suffer spiritual misery or spiritual death, temporal misery or physical death in other words and eternal misery, meaning the punishment for our sin in hell.  That is our expected end, punishment in hell, "unless the Lord Jesus" sets us free.  It is Jesus who does the work of setting free.  Why?

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him  (John 6:44)

In the original Greek, the word translated as "can" is the word dynamai.  It means to be able or to have the power by virtue of one's own ability.  It is in the present tense, meaning it's happening in actual, real time.  It is in the middle or deponent voice, which according to blueletterbible.org, means that in almost every case, it is translated in the active voice.  That means the subject is the doer of the action.  In this case, the subject is NO ONE.  The mood of the verb is the indicative.  That is merely a statement of fact.  It means that if an action is occurring, has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.  The other word in this statement that needs some consideration is the word "draws", which translates the original Greek word "helko".  That word means "drag off".  It doesn't mean to woo, or to suggest or to entice.  It means "to drag off".  So, if we put all of that together, this is the meaning of the statement in John 6:44.  It means that the subject of the sentence, being NO ONE, "can", has the ability to or is able to by virtue of their own desire, in real, actual time, come to Jesus unless the Father who sent Jesus "drags" the person to Him.  This speaks to the absolute inability of a human being to do anything that is remotely close to being spiritually good.  The word "can" speaks to the ability of a person to do something.  The verse uses the negative, NO ONE, "can", or has the ability on their own.  This is what I meant by my statement at the beginning of this post, "Men are doomed".  It goes back to the quote from Phil Johnson at the beginning.  They are commanded.......

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  (Mark 1:15)

....but they do not have the ability.  It is not a suggestion.  It is not a plea.  It is not Jesus pacing back and forth in heaven, hoping that a person will make a decision.  It is a straight command...."Repent and believe in the gospel".  In Acts 17, Paul, when before the men of Athens on Mars Hill, told them this:

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.  For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’  Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.  Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”  (Acts 17:22-31)

I posted that whole passage to give some context to what Paul was saying.  But the verse important to what we are looking at is verse 30, "God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent".  In the KJV, it says:

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:   (Acts 17:30 KJV)

Repentance is a command.  Believing the gospel is a command, not a suggestion.  But, according to John 6:44 and the Lord Jesus, we can't unless we are "dragged" there.  If we have no ability to come on our own, and have to be "dragged" there, how do we get "dragged"?

The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 1

The gospel...it starts with God and His holiness.  We cannot stand in the presence of His holiness.  We are sinful. He is not.  We are, by nature, inherently sinful because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve.  As the Apostle Paul said to the Romans:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned...  (Romans 5:12 NASB)

Or this:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men...  (Romans 5:18 NASB)

Or this:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  (Romans 3:23 NASB)

Or this from David:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.  (Psalm 51:5 NASB)

Those are just 4 Scriptures, taken from 2 books of the Bible, that testify to the sinfulness of man's nature.  But what is the extent of this sinful nature?  Is man just kinda sinful?  Is he just kinda bad?  Is he partially bad?  Or is he totally bad?  Did Adam's fall leave man merely wounded?  Or did Adam's fall leave man dead? 

We laid the foundation of the gospel in the last couple of posts.  That is, the gospel begins with God and His holiness.  The gospel then moves to man....and his sinfulness before a holy God.  It cannot jump immediately to Jesus dying on a cross for sinners.  That makes no sense to someone who has no concept of sin and how that applies to him.  Not only do we need a right understanding of God and His holiness but we also need a right understanding of man and his sinfulness if we are going to understand how beautiful the gospel really is.  And that is where we are going....looking at the Doctrines of Grace through the lens of the TULIP.  And today we look at the T.....Total Depravity.

The first thing that needs to be done is state what total depravity does NOT mean.  It does not mean that man is as bad and wicked as he could be.  Some people are obviously more wicked and mean than others.  This doctrine also does not mean that an unsaved person cannot do good things.  Jesus Himself said this:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!  (Matthew 7:11 NASB)

Even a rank pagan, a hater of God, can work at the food pantry.  He can volunteer at the Boys club.  He can do a lot of nice, good things.  But, because of his corrupt nature, they are done for selfish reasons.  It'll make him feel good about himself and to impress people. These things are not done out of a heart that is wanting to bring glory to Christ.  It is to bring glory to himself.  It is so he can say, "Look at what I've done.  Aren't I great?"

What this doctrine of total depravity does teach is that, because of the sin of Adam, man's entire nature is corrupted.  His will has been corrupted, held in bondage to sin.  He cannot choose any spiritual good.  He cannot do any spiritual good.  Because of the fall, man's heart is in complete and total rebellion against God.  He does not like God nor can he.  He does not like or understand spiritual truth nor can he. He hates God and is hostile toward Him.  In his wickedness, he suppresses the truth about God and creates an idol of his own making:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  (Romans 1:18-23 NASB)

In response:

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.  For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  (Romans 1:24-25 NASB)

God gave men up.  He turned men loose.  And men loved it:

and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.  (Romans 1:32 NASB)

I'm going to finish this post out with Scripture...no commentary, just Scripture.  This is by no means an exhaustive list concerning this subject but it gets the point across:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  (Genesis 6:5 NASB)

the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth  (Genesis 8:21 NASB)

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?  (Jeremiah 17:9 NASB)

For in Your sight no man living is righteous  (Psalm 143:2 NASB)

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, [i]envy, slander, pride and foolishness.  All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”  (Mark 7:21-23 NASB)

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.  They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.  (Titus 1:15-16 NASB)

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  (Ephesians 2:3 NASB)

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins  (Ephesians 2:1 NASB)

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from birth.  (Psalm 58:3 NASB)

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  (John 3:19-20 NASB)

That is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, through Paul to the Romans and others, of the nature and heart of men.  Men are evil and wicked.  They hate God and want nothing to do with Him.  That is a problem seeing as man has been commanded by Jesus to:

"repent and believe in the gospel.”  (Mark 1:15 NASB)

Men are doomed.  Plain and simple.  What're they to do?  

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