Building Bridges: Southern Baptists and Calvinism

Many of you are probably aware of the Nov. 26-28 Building Bridges conference held at the Lifeway Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. This was a historic meeting that discussed Calvinism and it's role in the Southern Baptist Convention. From the accounts I have read, this meeting was a huge success.

All the messages are freely available here and I really hope that folks on both sides of the theological divide will take time to listen to the sermons. I've saved the messages to my computer and I'm listening through them now. So far both sides have (for the most part) presented their case maturely and with a spirit of Christian charity.

Soli Deo Gloria!

If Election is True, Why Evangelize?

This segment of the Amazing Grace DVD addresses the question that most people ask when first exposed to the Biblical doctrine of Sovereign Election:

God's Sovereignty vs. Libertarian Free Will

Another clip from the Amazing Grace DVD. This time dealing with the topic of God's sovereignty and human freedom. The quality is not the best, but it is well worth watching... Ideas have consequences. And when man's freewill is elevated above God's sovereignty, it only leads to problems: theologically as well as socially!

Perseverance: Not a License to Sin!

Another helpful clip from the Amazing Grace DVD.



Hopefully you will see that true Calvinists are not teaching the modern version of "Once Saved Always Saved" -that a Christian is free to live like the devil and have hope of Heaven. It's also worth noting the similarities of the Arminian and Roman Catholic teachings on this issue.

Atonement: Payment or Possibility?

A helpful video segment on a very controversial topic:



From the video Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism

Romans 9...

Dr. James R. White exegetes Romans Chapter 9.

(47 minutes: Plays in Windows Media Player)

I, Robot?

Soon after shifting into the Calvinist camp, one of the first arguments I encountered against my theology was "Calvinism makes man into a robot."

At first glance, this argument sounds logical; for if God has predestined every single detail of everything that happens in Creation (up to and including who is saved), how then can humanity be anything but bunch of robots?

By our very experience in life, we can see that we do make choices. That is, we make real choices that result in real consequences. Yet, somehow in a way that I do not understand, all of our choices are made freely, and yet, preordained by God before the foundation of the world.

To demonstrate this how God's decree and men's choice work together, I ask you to consider the following example from Acts 27:

During Paul's voyage to Rome by Sea, the ship encountered a terrible storm. During the storm Paul tells the sailors that an angel visited him by night and told him that no one would perish, yet the ship would be lost. Later on, some of the sailors decide to escape on a small boat, but Paul tells the Centurion and the soldiers "unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." The soldiers decide to heed Paul's warning and cut the ropes to the small boat and abandon their escape plan. Later the ship wrecks and all 276 souls survive just as the angel foretold.

In this narrative we can get a glimpse of how the choices of men and God's sovereign decree work hand in hand. Paul knows that no lives will be lost because the angel of the Lord told him so, yet, Paul takes action when he sees the men act in a way that will lead to disaster.

Every person on the ship was making choices -of their own volition- concerning everything they were doing. Every choice they made had a potential outcome; yet out of all the possible outcomes, of all the choices that were being made by every person, the final outcome was, in fact, that which God revealed to Paul.

Concerning this passage, the great Baptist theologian John Gill has written:

"[T]his teaches us that the end and means, in the decrees of God, are not to be separated; nor is any end to be expected without the use of means; and means are as peremptorily fixed, and are as absolutely necessary, and must as certainly be accomplished, as the end."

As Gill has stated, God decrees the end and the means to bring about the appointed end. There's not one choice we will ever make, nor action that we will ever undertake that will fall outside of God's providential control. God's control includes actions good and evil alike.

As a matter of fact, the most heinous act in history -the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ- was the totally the fault of wicked men, and yet, predestined by God to take place! (see Acts 2: 22-23) Though men intended to murder Jesus out of the evil in their hearts, God planned Christ's death to redeem His people from their sin.

Even in spite of the example I have given from Acts 27, some will protest that God simply foresaw the outcome of Paul's situation. Likewise, they will also say that God simply foresees who will choose to be saved and who will not -and that He predestines everything accordingly. Many will do this with the intention of "getting God off the hook" for not choosing to save every human being.

Dr. Wayne Grudem explains why the idea of the predestination based on foreknowledge is incorrect:

"The idea that God's predestination of some to believe is based on foreknowledge of their faith encounters still another problem: upon reflection, this system turns out to give no real freedom to man either. For if God can look into the future and see that person A will come to faith in Christ, and that person B will not come to faith in Christ, then those facts are already fixed, they are already determined.

If we assume that God's knowledge of the future is true (which it must be), then it is absolutely certain that person A will believe and person B will not. There is no way that their lives could turn out any differently than this. Therefore it is fair to say that their destinies are still determined, for they could not be otherwise. But by what are these destinies determined? If they are determined by God himself, then we no longer have election based ultimately on foreknowledge of faith, but rather on God's sovereign will. But if these destinies are not determined by God, then who or what determines them?

Certainly no Christian would say that there is some powerful being other than God controlling people's destinies. Therefore it seems that the only other possible solution is to say they are determined by some impersonal force, some kind of fate, operative in the universe, making things turn out as they do. But what kind of benefit is this? We have then sacrificed election in love by a personal God for a kind of determinism by an impersonal force and God is no longer to be given the ultimate credit for our salvation." (From Grudem's Systematic Theology Ch. 32)


Are we really robots? No... The Apostle Paul said we are clay -and the Potter has the right to do with the clay as He sees fit!

You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (Romans 9:19-21 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!

Photo from Wikipedia.

Augustine on Foreknowledge and Predestination

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29 ESV

Often we hear that when Paul says God "foreknew" those whom He predestined, it meant that God simply knew that in the future some would choose to follow Christ and then predestined them accordingly.

Aurelius Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), in his On the Gift of Perseverance, saw things quite differently. The extensive quote below comes from chapter 47 of his treatise:

"These gifts, therefore, of God, which are given to the elect who are called according to God’s purpose, among which gifts is both the beginning of belief and perseverance in the faith to the termination of this life, as I have proved by such a concurrent testimony of reasons and authorities,--these gifts of God, I say, if there is no such predestination as I am maintaining, are not foreknown by God. But they are foreknown. This, therefore, is the predestination which I maintain. [XVIII.] Consequently sometimes the same predestination is signified also under the name of foreknowledge; as says the apostle, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” [Rom. xi. 2] Here, when he says, “He foreknew,” the sense is not rightly understood except as “He predestinated,” as is shown by the context of the passage itself.

For he was speaking of the remnant of the Jews which were saved, while the rest perished. For above he had said that the prophet had declared to Israel, “All day long I have stretched forth my hands to an unbelieving and a gainsaying people.” [Rom. x. 21 et seq.] And as if it were answered, What, then, has become of the promises of God to Israel? he added in continuation, “I say, then, has God cast away His people? God forbid! for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Then he added the words which I am now treating: “God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew.”

And in order to show that the remnant had been left by God’s grace, not by any merits of their works, he went on to add, “Know ye not what the Scripture saith in Elias, in what way he maketh intercession with God against Israel?” [Rom. xi. 4 et seq.] and the rest. “But what,” says he, “saith the answer of God unto him? `I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee before Baal.’” [Rom. xi. 5] For He says not, “There are left to me,” or “They have reserved themselves to me,” but, “I have reserved to myself.” “Even so, then, at this present time also there is made a remnant by the election of grace. And if of grace, then it is no more by works; otherwise grace is no more grace.”

And connecting this with what I have above quoted, “What then?” [Rom. xi. 7] and in answer to this inquiry, he says, “Israel hath not obtained that which he was seeking for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” Therefore, in the election, and in this remnant which were made so by the election of grace, he wished to be understood the people which God did not reject, because He foreknew them. This is that election by which He elected those, whom He willed, in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without spot in His sight, in love, predestinating them unto the adoption of sons.

No one, therefore, who understands these things is permitted to doubt that, when the apostle says, “God hath not cast away His people whom He foreknew,” He intended to signify predestination. For He foreknew the remnant which He should make so according to the election of grace. That is, therefore, He predestinated them; for without doubt He foreknew if He predestinated; but to have predestinated is to have foreknown that which He should do."

Soli Deo Gloria!

Picture from Wikipedia.

Thoughts on Conditional Security and Predestination

As I am able, I plan to continue pointing to reasons why I believe that a true Saint of God cannot forfeit his/her Salvation. In this article I want to write about a controversial, but Biblical, doctrine known as "Predestination."

The passage I want to look at today is one that I would often skip over -or explain away- back when I was an Arminian. The passage is Romans 8: 29 & 30 (ESV):

29. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Notice if you will that this passage says "those WHOM [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." What this passage says is very plain. Some will counter by saying that it means that God used his omniscience (or prescience) to see what was going to happen (what men would choose concerning Christ) and then planned everything accordingly. I used to believe this too, but after thinking about it and studying the Reformed perspective, the Arminian scheme no longer makes sense.

First of all, it says "WHOM He foreknew," not "WHAT He foreknew". Of course God has foreknowledge of all facts past, present, and future; however, this passage is speaking of God foreknowing PEOPLE, not just the facts about people. It speaks of God having a intimate personal knowledge of a person. You will recall that the Bible says Adam "knew" Eve and she conceived. This is the same idea in Romans 8: God had an intimate personal knowledge and relationship with the Elect before the world began (c.f. Eph. 1:4 & 5). For example, look at what God said to Jeremiah:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)

Secondly, I would like you to notice the progression of Paul's statement concerning those whom God has foreknown and predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Theologians have called this the "Golden Chain of Salvation". In this passage we see those whom God predestined (a.k.a. the Elect) would be "called," "justified," and "glorified." Had Paul thought there was a chance of God's Elect forfeiting Eternal Life, he would not been able to write like he did in this passage. Had Paul been an Arminian (pardon the anachronism), the passage would have read much differently.

The "Conditional Security Version" of this passage would read like this:

Those whom God foreknew would choose to be saved he also predestined to the possibility of being conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And some of those whom He predestined He also called and some of those whom he tried to call hopefully will choose to be saved so they can be justified, and of those who might be justified, peradventure some of those could be glorified unless they mess it up somehow.

Thirdly, when it comes to Predestination, it doesn't make sense to say that God "looked into the future" to see how men would act and then predestined them accordingly. If that scheme was true, it would make God a mere observer who was bound to predestine (and then create) things based upon that in which He had no ultimate control. If God simply "looked into the future" and saw how things were already predestined to occur, why then would he have to predestine anything?? The notion of "prescient predestination" is illogical, untenable, and an insult to the Sovereignty of God!

Fourthly, the Arminian must admit that even if men are predestined because God looked into the future, then people are already predestined to go to Heaven or to Hell, from the foundation of the world, whether they like it or not! Ultimately, the Arminian (and Open Theist) schemes are simply ways to deny that God is Sovereign determiner of "all things whatsoever come to pass." (See 1689 Baptist Confession Ch 3)

I believe the Arminian view of God (whether they realize it or not) teaches that God leaves salvation up to chance. However, the God of the Bible, by His very nature, cannot leave anything to chance. In fact, Proverbs 16:33 (ESV) tells us that "the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD"!! As R.C. Sproul says, "chance is not a thing: chance is nothing!" If the eternal destiny of one microbe is left to chance or luck; if one atom in the entire Universe is not under the control of it's Creator, if chance or luck play any part in God's plan of salvation, then God is not Sovereign and our entire belief system is a flimsy house of cards.

The fact is, God already knows who will -and who will not- be saved. Even some Arminians will admit this fact. God can know these things not simply because of His prescience, but because ultimately, it was His choice! He chose whom He chose for His own reasons and for His own Glory. Ephesians 1: 5-6 (ESV) confirms this:

"He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

You see, the plan of Salvation is an infallible PLAN of Salvation. God's not sitting up in Heaven wondering how things are going to turn out. Nay my friends, God is in control and things will turn out exactly as He has decreed.

Those whom God set his affections upon in eternity past have been Predestined to salvation and will be infallibly Called, Justified, and Glorified; none of the Elect will ever perish! Christ will be the firstborn among many brethren because His Father has ordained it to be so! If we serve a Sovereign God, how can His plan to redeem His people go any way but according to His perfect plan? How can the Good Shepherd lose any of His sheep?

Sol Deo Gloria!