100% dead, but not 100% alive afterwards

There is no way I can adequately address the issue of Total Depravity in one blog. So we shall simply, for now, adopt the same logic utilized by Calvinist to test the theory of Total Depravity.

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

Until Sunday

Quotes from Leading Calvinists:

Calvin-“The word many does not mean a part of the world, but the whole human race” Mark 14:24 Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries

“…by baptism we are ingrafted into the Body of Christ…” Institutes of the Christian Religion

Piper-“We must also own up to the fact that our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith.” TULIP: What We Believe about the Five Points of Calvinism: Position Paper of the Pastoral Staff

Sproul- “God wills all things that comes to pass…” Almighty All Over pg.54

Spurgeon- If I am to preach faith in Christ to a man who is regenerated, then the man, being regenerated, is saved already, and it is an unnecessary and ridiculous thing for me to preach Christ to him, and bid him to believe in order to be saved when he is saved already, being regenerate.Am I only to preach faith to those who have it? Absurd indeed! " The Warrent of Faith"

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Please note what I have added under the blog title.

Sola Scriptura and Regeneration

According to Scripture, regeneration does not take place before belief. Consider the following passages:
John 3:15,16That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.

Acts 16:30,31-And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Why do Calvinists insist that the new birth (regeneration) takes place before belief? Some, such as Authur Pink, rush to 2 Thess. 2:13-God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. The only problem is this- that verse is not giving the order of salvation. It is clear by the previous passages what the order is.

There are sincere Calvinists that use the phrase “Sola Scriptura” and attempt to live by it. Yet when is comes down to being confronted with clear passages of Scripture, they run to respected authors such as John Piper, John MacArthur, Authur Pink, and John Calvin to quote their works. Some run to confessions and creeds to back up the theory of Calvinism. The question I ask is this, “What happened to “Sola Scriptura?” If they really lived the motto, there would be no question about the order of regeneration and belief. Who is the final authority? Is it God, or man?

Two Conflicting Wills?

If Calvinism is true, then my three children's fate has been secured by what God has degreed. God has either damned them all to hell, some to hell, or none to hell. If I were a consistent Calvinist, I would have to resign myself to the fact that no amount of prayer would change their "election status". Some would even say that to desire what God does not is a sin. They would say, " Who are you to want what God does not want?" Some Calvinist would agree, some would not.
Some would even go so far as to say that God does desire the salvation of all. They explain that God has two wills that contradict each other. Will someone explain how the sovereign God of Calvinism can have two wills opposite of each other? Oh wait, they would say it is a mystery. Some say mystery, some say contradiction. If this is biblical, show me.
Meanwhile explain this passage- Eze 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Questions That Have Yet To Be Answered

In dissusing Calvinism, I have raised questions that have been ignored or unanswered. I am sure that more will follow in the years to come. These questions will not stump/silense/ all Calvinists. You must first know what they believe by what they state in conversing with them. They are as follows:
1- Does God get His 100% perfect will 100% of the time?
2- Is my humanistic desire for all mankind to be saved a sin?
As stated ealier, some could answer quickly and others may hvae to ponder awhile on it. There will be more to follow. For the non-Calvinites out there, the most likely retreat that a Calvinist will make when "cornered" will be phrases like " It is a mystery." Or " You just don't understand Calvinism." Just a heads up.

John Calvin and Universalism

Many Calvinists mistakenly believe that for one to believe in the unlimited atonement, that would have to make him believe in universalism. They have built this charge on a faulty theory that the death of Christ secures the salvation of the elect. It is the theory of Calvinism that has made this an issue. It should be noted that universalism teaches all will be saved, not that all could be saved. I cannot speak for all that believe in the unlimited atonement, but this is one preacher that does not believe in universalism. Furthermore, I believe that man still has to accept by faith the free gift of salvation. Or course, the Calvinist believes that God gives man the faith to believe.

As for the double payment theory, there is one sin that Jesus could not die for, the sin of unbelief. Calvinist seem to skim over that particular discussion. Even if God did exact double payment for lost people's sins, who are Calvinist to bemoan how God uses His power? Is He not sovereign? "There is no justice in a God that would do that" would be the rally cry. Yet they themselves are oblivious to the fact they believe God is pleased to damn billions, while offering them salvation they could never accept, according to their theory. Where is the justice in that?
When it is all said and done, it is man's unbelief (John 3:18) that sends him to hell. It is not that he is unable to believe, he is just unwilling.

Finally, where does John Calvin tie in with all of this discussion of universalism? As anyone that has studied his works will tell you, Calvin traced his conversion to when he was baptized as an infant. He also forced people to partake in the Eucharist. He killed those that disagreed with his theory about baptism. Is this not a type of universalism? Baptize all the infants to secure their salvation? Force the Eucharist upon those unwilling? And Calvinists accuse me of teaching universalism, when I say the death of Christ made salvation a possibility? At least I do not believe that baptism and the Eucharist made possible the salvation of those willing and unwilling to partake in. If you are reading this and you believe what the Bible says about baptism, know that hundreds of years ago John Calvin would have attempted to silence you also. Thank God we were not in Geneva during the reign of Calvin.

So who really taught universalism?