The main two verses that Calvinist use are Eph 2:1,5 which states
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
The idea is that man is a corpse, unable and unwilling to respond to the gospel. Because there is no verse in the entire realm of Scripture that states man is so dead that he cannot respond, these are as close as they get. The logic is utilized that dead means dead and that a dead man can no more respond to the gospel then a physically dead man. Never mind that man can reject the gospel, a point some Calvinists skirt around. I mean, if man is so, so dead that he cannot respond, how can he reject it? It would seem that our corpse could respond in some way to the gospel after all.
Ok. Let us assume that the man is a corpse unable to do anything but be dead. Let us imagine that our dead man is a rotten, stinking corpse, unable to move himself and reach toward Christ. According to Calvinism, God gives the corpse new life and makes him willing to believe. God himself has brought new life to a once dead corpse. “Praise be to God,” the once dead corpse explains.
However, what happens when we insert the same logic into the “new life” scenario. The same man is 100% alive. He can do nothing but what God wants him to do. After all, God gave him new life and made him willing to obey the preaching of the gospel. He no longer has to worry about the dead life that once weighted him down. After all, alive is alive. Let us see what thus saith the Lord about this matter.
Romans 7
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Whoa Paul! What are you saying here? Do you still BATTLE the old man, that corpse that was given life? Does your corpse rear his ugly head when you attempt to do right? How can this be right? I though new life was new life! You mean the very thing that made you a corpse (sin), still dwells within you? Paul, you mean there are times when the “100% dead corpse that was given 100% new life actually wins the battle some time?
To the Calvinists out there, they may not recognize the irrational and inconsistency that apparently new life still means battle with the old life. They are willing to take dead in these verses and carry it to an extreme, but as seen it doesn’t seem to work that way with the new life. Did the new life that God supposedly gave them prior to salvation not work? Did it wear off? Why did the power that caused them to believe mysteriously go away?
Why must we still battle the old man? I thought the old man was given 100% life, to combat his 100% death.
The logic doesn’t seem to add up. “But dead means dead” Does the exact same greek word nekros used in the following verses mean the exact same thing?
Lu 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Lu 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Lu 15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Lu 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
No doubt man is dead in sins. But nowhere does the Bible say he is so dead that he can’t respond to the gospel.
As I wrap this up, think of all the feats this corpse can do without God giving him new life.
1.Give his life for others- wait, Jesus said greater love hath no man than this….
2.Do good deeds and place his needs under those around him- wait, you mean he can actually do the second greatest commandment…
3.Obey Scripture and even bless the food.
But He cannot see his need for a Savior? Hmmmm
