Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

!! A.                  the tulp system of calvinism

 

!!! 1.                  *T-*otal Depravity—Two Schools of Thought.

Among Calvinist there are basically two schools of thought with regard to “total depravity” the “Hard View” & “Soft View.”

However, the difference between authentic Calvinists (as it related to depravity) is one of /degree/ and not /kind./

!!!! a)                  *The Soft View:* The unregenerate man is sinful in every area of his life, but not necessarily as sinful as he can be.

The whole of mans being has been affected by sin, the corruption extends to every part of man, his body and soul: sin has affected all (the totality) of man’s faculties, his mind, will, etc.  Another author says that: no matter how much each of us has sinned, we are able to think of worse sins that we could have committed.

Even Adolph Hitler refrained from murdering his mother.

!!!! b)                  *The Hard View:* Other Calvinists see the soft view of Total Depravity as a compromise.

Another author says that: man by nature in all his existence, with all his heart and mind and soul and strength, has become a servant of sin, and that he is entirely incapable of doing good and inclined to all evil.

!!!! c)                  *The /Inoperable /Will of Man: *What we cannot do because of Total Depravity from a Calvinistic perspective, is of course very important to a Calvinistic definition of Depravity, especially as it relates to a gospel presentation directed at the unregenerate.

!!!!! (1)                 *Ephesians 2:1: The Unregenerate Are Not Only Unable To Do Good *(as well as unable to refrain from doing bad) spiritually in a general sense, but more specifically, they are */unable/* to respond to God or the Gospel *(/to any degree/)* while in an unregenerate state or */before/ /being born again/.*

The unregenerate man (in so far as responding to God, the Gospel, etc. is concerned) is dead and therefore */inoperable/.*

!!!!! (2)                 *Spiritually Death to a Calvinists Means: *the elimination of all human ability to understand or respond to God, not just a separation from God.

According to the Calvinists, the unregenerate man is /unable to receive Christ as Lord and Savior/, /believe in Christ/ or /the Gospel when preached to him/, or do anything to /accept the free gift of eternal life/ offered to him and be saved.

!!!!! (3)                 *The Response To Ephesians 2:1:* Death in the Bible is a strong expression meaning that fallen beings are totally separated from God.

As Isaiah put it, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God (Is.59:2).

Death does not mean a total destruction of all ability to hear and respond to God, but a complete separation of the whole person from God. 

!!!!!! (a)                 The Unsaved Persons Can Perceive the Truth of God (Romans 1:18-23)

!!!!!! (b)                Adam and Eve Heard & Understood the Words of God After the Fall (Gen.2:15-17;

3:10).]

!!!!!! (c)                 The Image of God in Fallen Man is Effected but Not Erased (Genesis 9:6)

!!!!!!

I believe that even after the fall of man, even in our sinfulness, we are still made in the image and likeness of God, but that image was /effaced /by the fall but not /erased, /the image and likeness of God has definitely been shattered and affected.

This is why murder (Gen.9:6) and even cursing (James 3:9) other people are sins.

But yet there’s something still residing within man, that’s not the ability to save, or even an ability to say: “oh I get it, now I will receive Christ.”

There is still something there that when God brings revelation to a person that he is still able to respond, not on his own but only by the Spirit of God working.

!!! 2.                  *U-*nconditional Election.

*/                /* When God elected /He did not consider mans will/ in the process He sovereingly chose to save people, & He Sovereignly chose to condemn or bypass others

·                     If Total Depravity says that the unregenerate */cannot/* believe the Gospel or receive Christ, or in any way respond positively to God in his unregenerate state, Unconditional Election says that this does not matter (for the unregenerate elect).

·                     For God has, from all eternity, elected some to be saved unconditionally.

·                     Calvinistically speaking, faith in Christ is therefore not a */condition/* for the salvation of the lost but a */consequence/* of regeneration for the elect.

In other words, faith in Christ is not a */requirement /*for being born again, but a */result/* of being born again.

!!!! a)                  Spiritual Birth Before Saving Faith:

!!!!! (1)                 *A Man Must Be Born Again First In Order To Believe In Christ: *only after spiritual birth can you have and exercise saving faith in Jesus Christ.

A certain author says: A Cardinal point 0of Reformed theology is the maxim: “Regeneration precedes faith.”

!!!!! (2)                 *The Point Is That You Can Go From Death To Life Without Faith In Christ.*

Faith in Christ from a Calvinistic perspective comes with that life but is neither needed nor possible before that life begins.

!!!!! R.C. Sproul goes on to say: /“//Without rebirth we have no desire for Christ.

Without a desire for Christ we will never choose Christ.

Therefore we conclude that before anyone ever will believe, before anyone can believe, God must first change the disposition of his heart”./

Look at Romans 5:10—the Bible is definitely clear as to the fact that man is spiritually depraved and spiritually dead he has no goodness in him, he doesn’t seek after God he’s actually God’s enemy.

We must take a careful look at some other things to consider.

!!!!! (3)                 *Cornelius Acts 10:1-4,24,44*—Cornelius is a Roman Centurion & yet he is searching for God He had come from the Pagan roots of Romanism or from Rome with all of its many gods and has probably been introduced to Judaism to the Idea of One God. 

!!!!!! (a)                 This man knows nothing about Jesus Christ, he’s not saved because Peter is going to come and preach and he is going to get saved later on.

So he is definitely not a Christian here.

!!!!!! (b)                Now if he is /totally depraved/ then he would not be able to receive anything spiritually from an angel either.

So here is a man who seems to be doing some spiritual good but he’s not saved but God receives this as a memorial, God took not of this.

God didn’t say “hey your spiritually dead and I wont receive anything from you.” 

!!!!!! (c)                 So here we have an unbeliever doing something that shows something of the image and likeness of God in this man.

So there is a possibility for man to do good, not for salvation, but to give indication that his heart is open to the truth of the gospel.

And because he did this God sent further revelation to him.

!!!!!! (d)                Now, when God gives a man revelation & he closes off to that, God is under no obligation to give him any more detail.

Its not a matter of not having enough facts, its closing off to the facts that God is trying to communicate to you.

Evidently this guy was /bent/ in the right direction, was he still under God’s wrath at and deserving of eternal death at this point, absolutely.

But there is something in him, that God took notice of.

!!! 3.                  *L-*imited Atonement

This is sometimes referred to as /definite/ or /particular/ atonement.

That is to say that Christ died for some (i.e., the elect) and not for others (i.e., the unelect).

!!!! ·                     Logically, since Calvinists believe that God only intended to save the elect, only the elect would need Christ to die for them.

·                     God never intended many in the world (i.e. the unelect) to be saved, they see ho reason or purpose fro Christ to die for them.

·                     Therefore, what Christ did for the elect—providing the basis for salvation, including the propitiation for and forgiveness of sins—He did not do for the unelect; nor did He ever intend to.

·                     *Refuting Limited Atonement:* John 1:29; 3:16; Luke 9:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:14; Acts 17:30; Accountability: Matt 11:20-24

 

!!! 4.                  *I-*rresistible Grace.

According to Calvinism, the unregenerate elect /cannot /respond to the Gospel or appropriate by faith what Christ did for them on the cross.

Therefore, God must also make provision for the elect, give them a new and spiritual birth (regeneration), and then give the newly regenerate person the faith to appropriate that provision.

In other words, /God’s grace is invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended… God makes your will willing.

/

!!!! a)                  *Make Them an Offer They Can’t Accept: *Calvinistically speaking with regard to the /unelect/, we Christians are to “invite the unelect in” but they cannot accept that invitation… The rub is this:

!!!!! (1)                 While we are promising “salvation to /all/ who repent and believe,” we are supposed to know that many of them cant and are not supposed to repent and believe.

·                     It’s like saying to a man without a hand, “Please, reach out with your hand, and take this gift.”

·                     It is also like saying to the blind, “I promise you eyesight on the condition you can see all the colors of the rainbow first.”

·                     As a bird with a broken wing is “free” to fly but not able, so the natural man is free to come to God but not able.

·                     R.C.Sproul Says: /The Calvinist view of predestination teaches that God actively intervenes in the life of the elect to make absolutely sure that they are saved… Of course the rest are invited to Christ and given the opportunity to be saved if they want to…/ / /

 

!!!! b)                  *Can God’s Grace & Holy Spirit Be Resisted?

Yes!*

!!!!! (1)                 2 Thessalonians 2:10 says, They perish because they /refused/ to love the truth and so be saved

!!!!! (2)                 John 3:18: We are not condemned because we have no opportunity to be saved, but a person is condemned because he makes a choice not to believe.

!!!!! (3)                 In John 5:40 Jesus said,  “But you are not /willing/ /to come/ to Me, that you may have life.”

!!!!! (4)                 Matthew 23:37; Jesus clearly acknowledges the fact of human resistance and rejection (John 12:46-48)

!!!!! (5)                 Clearly, God's grace can either be resisted or received by the exercise of human free will (Acts 7:51; Rom.10:21; Heb.10:26,29).

!!!!! (6)                 The unsaved are /“without excuse”/ (Romans 1:20).

!!!! c)                  *The Conclusion of Irresistible Grace: *God appears to offer salvation to all—i.e., the general and outward call—but only intends to save some (the elect), and insures that the some He intends to save—without regard to the faith or willingness of the elect.

!!!!! (1)                 the elect cannot help but believe and be eventually saved &

!!!!! (2)                 the unelect cannot help but not believe and be ultimately damned.

!!! 5.                  *P-*erseverance of the Saints

Those that are elect, God will cause to persevere to the end.

A true believer will /not/ fail to persevere because he /cannot/ fail to persevere.

The saved will persevere in holiness and faith to the end of their life on earth, thereby proving they are among the elect.

Those who do not persevere in faith and holiness until the end have proved they were never saved and therefore not among the elect.

!

II.

five points of arminianism

 

!!! 1.                  Election Based On Foreknowledge—God chose based on the fact He knew you would respond

!!! 2.                  Unlimited Atonement—Jesus paid the sin debt of the world

!!! 3.                  Natural Inability—This relates to /total depravity/ in Calvinism.

Natural inability says, sin has come in and effected mankind but he still made in the image and likeness of God and has the ability as God’s Spirit would work on him to draw men into a relationship with God. 

·                     He cant do it on his own so it’s a /natural inability/, he cant determine to say, “I am going to seek God” because there is none who seek Him (Rom.3).

·                     But if God by His Spirit convicts man and draws him, through the grace of God then he has the ability to respond to that.

There is still something left in mankind of the image and likeness of God.  

/ /

!!! 4.                  Prevenient Grace—Grace that goes ahead of grace.

!!!

This means that when Jesus died on the cross, there was a grace that was distributed to all of mankind.

In one sense it didn’t overturn Adams sin upon us but, it elevated mankind to a point that now when he hears the gospel he actually has a choice.

Because it’s a grace that goes ahead of saving grace.