Salvation, page 6

Provision, election, atonement, faith, security. Most of the argument lives here.

121 questions answered, showing 18 on page 6 of 7. About this doctrine · All topics

• Whosoever WillWhat does Isaiah 64:8, "we are the clay, and thou our potter," mean?Whosoever Will, There Is No Calvinist Potter in the Bible: Isaiah 64:8. “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” And the next verse, “Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever.” (Isaiah 64:9) The clay speaks to the potter. It calls Him Father. It asks for mercy. And it is not rebuked. So Isaiah 45 is not a rule that the clay may never address the potter. It is a rebuke of the posture of striving. The clay that comes as a child asking mercy is welcomed. Isaiah shows you both, in the same book. Scripture, King James Version: Isaiah 64:8, "But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."; Isaiah 64:9, "Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.".
• With Chuck SmithWhat does it mean that the law was our schoolmaster?Chuck Smith, Galatians Study Guide, Galatians 3: The Promise to Abraham: The schoolmaster in the Greek culture was the household servant who escorted the child safely to the place of instruction. The law taught us where we failed to meet God’s standards. It made us realize how our sins separated us from God and how impossible it was for us to be righteous on our own. The law showed us our need for Christ. When we’re justified, God imputes righteousness to us just as if we had never sinned. Scripture, King James Version: Galatians 3:24, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.". Study notes condensed from his teaching by The Word For Today. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• With Chuck SmithWhat does it mean to be justified?Chuck Smith, Why Grace Changes Everything, chapter 3: The Bible says that someone who places his faith in Jesus has been "justified." What does that mean? It means that God has granted us a standing before Him just as if we had never sinned. This was no small feat for God to accomplish! For if we have all sinned and missed the mark, how can God look at us as if we had never sinned and still be just? If He sees our lives as they truly are and must act according to His attribute of justice, how can He treat us as though we were perfect? This is where the power of the gospel comes in. God made the sinless Jesus to be sin for us. The Scriptures declare that God laid on the innocent Christ the iniquities of us all. Jesus literally took my place and took the punishment that was due me as a guilty sinner. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhat does John 3:19 mean, "men loved darkness rather than light"?Whosoever Will, Agapaō: The Word That Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means: The simplest and most defensible definition is to set one's affection on, to value, to direct one's regard toward. The verb describes the act and the direction of love. It does not, by itself, describe the quality of love. The quality comes from who is loving, what is being loved, and the relationship between them. That is why John 3:16 and John 3:19 sit five verses apart in perfect coherence. In verse 16, God sets His affection on the world, the kosmos, the whole rebellious mass of humanity, and gives His Son for it. In verse 19, men set their affection on darkness, skotos, the realm of evil deeds, and refuse the light that came to deliver them. Same verb. Two affections. One running toward sinners. The other running away from God. Scripture, King James Version: John 3:16, "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."; John 3:19, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.".
• Whosoever WillWhat does Jude 4 mean by "before of old ordained to this condemnation"?Whosoever Will, The Decree That Isn't Written Down: The verb is prographo. The New Testament uses it four times. The other three mean written aforetime, set forth publicly, or wrote afore. The object in Jude 4 is “this condemnation,” not a man’s unbelief. Jude then points to prior writing: Enoch (vv. 14-15) and the apostles (vv. 17-18). Men of this kind were written of beforehand. The condemnation awaiting such men was set down in advance. Do not call the verse “only a prophecy.” That overclaims. Say what the grammar says. The object is the condemnation. Jude names prior writings. The verse does not say God decreed these specific men’s gospel-refusal as the cause of their damnation. “ordained to this condemnation” is made to do that work by the system. The word on the page is prographo, and Jude tells you where to look. Scripture, King James Version: Jude 1:4, "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.".
• Whosoever WillWhat does Matthew 23:37 mean, 'how often would I have gathered thy children... and ye would not'?Whosoever Will, Jesus Never Told a Calvinist Parable: Then Jesus stepped out of the parables, stood over the city that was killing Him by inches, and used the same word twice in one sentence: “How often WOULD I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye WOULD NOT!” (Matthew 23:37) In the Greek, His desire and their refusal are the same verb running in opposite directions. How often would I: ethelesa. And ye would not: ouk ethelesate. One verb, one sentence, one mouth. The willing of God collided with the unwilling of Jerusalem, and Jesus chose the vocabulary that makes both real. And in plain discourse, to men standing in front of Him: “And ye WILL NOT come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:40) Not ye cannot. Ye will not. Call that the Thelo Pattern: wherever Jesus names the refusal of God's invitation, in story or in sermon, the word is always will, never ability. The barrier He names is never a missing decree. It is a present will that refuses. A man who believed the refusers were disabled by an eternal decree had the cannot word available in His own vocabulary and declined it forty times. Scripture, King James Version: Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"; John 5:40, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.".
• Whosoever WillWhat does Matthew 7:22-23 mean, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?"Whosoever Will, The Gift Was Certainty: Hold Abraham next to the crowd in Matthew 7, the ones who stand before Christ and hear Him say He never knew them. Look at what they offer in their defense. They prophesied. They cast out demons. They did many wonderful works. Every item on their list is external. Every item is performance. Their entire rebuttal is a scorecard of spiritual activity, and not one line of it has anything to do with loving Him or surrendering to Him. They had been keeping a tally and mistaking the tally for the relationship. Abraham is the photographic negative of that crowd. He brought no scorecard up the mountain. He had no works to recite, no record of wonders to read back to God. He had only a surrendered heart and a willingness to obey when obedience cost him the one thing he could not bear to lose. The Matthew 7 group had the activity and not the heart. Abraham had the heart and, in that moment, not even the comfort of understanding why. Scripture, King James Version: Matthew 7:22-23, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.".
• Whosoever WillWhat happens to babies and children who die? Is there an age of accountability?Scripture gives strong reason to believe children who die before they can understand and reject the gospel are received by God's grace. David said of his dead infant, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (2 Sam 12:23), expecting to see him again.
• Whosoever WillWhat happens to those who have never heard the gospel?Scripture does not detail every case, but it reveals God's character toward them: He "will have all men to be saved" (1 Tim 2:4), is "not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:27), and judges justly. He sends the messenger to the seeking heart.
• With Chuck SmithWhat is a carnal Christian?Chuck Smith, Answers for Today, chapter 20: Paul said, “Brethren, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” The “carnal Christian” is the man who has been awakened by the Spirit of God to his need of Jesus Christ and has received Jesus Christ into his life as his Savior—but he has never submitted his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thus, he is one who believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior but is still ruled by his flesh. Paul said, “I could not speak to you as spiritual but as carnal, even as babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for you have not been able to receive it before, neither are you able now.” The carnal Christian lives in an arrested state of spiritual development. He has never grown beyond the crib or beyond the bottle. He is still as he was 15 or 25 years ago when he first came to Jesus Christ—in the infancy state. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• With Chuck SmithWhat is grace in the Bible?Chuck Smith, Why Grace Changes Everything, chapter 2: The root meaning of the word grace is "beauty." In the New Testament, grace means "God's unmerited favor." Grace is God giving to me something that I cannot obtain on my own. Grace is being accepted by God even though I do not deserve it, even though I am not worthy of it. The Bible teaches that I receive grace on the basis of my belief and trust in God. Hebrews 11:6 declares that without faith it is impossible to please God. We are forgiven by a holy God simply by believing in Jesus Christ and in His death on our behalf. When we place our trust in Him, our slate is wiped clean. Scripture, King James Version: Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhat is hypothetical universalism?Whosoever Will, Not For Ours Only: A real strand within the Reformed tradition, sometimes called classic-moderate Calvinism or hypothetical universalism, holds that Christ satisfied for the sins of all men. The British delegation at Dort held it. Louis Le Blanc, the Leiden theologians, and Barthold Holtzfus all worked in this seam. On that account the satisfaction is universal and the application is particular. So the fork is not whether Christ died for all. It is the intent behind the satisfaction. On the Reformed account, including the moderate one, God desires the salvation of all men but unequally, and especially intends the salvation of those unconditionally appointed to receive faith. On mine, God desires the salvation of all men equally, antecedent to faith, considering man simply as a sinner. Consequently He saves those who are in Christ through faith.
• Whosoever WillWhat is prevenient grace? Does Provisionism teach it?Prevenient grace, in the Arminian sense, is a separate enabling grace given before and apart from the gospel to restore a lost ability to believe. Provisionism does not hold to it. What draws a sinner is the word preached with the Spirit's conviction, not a prior grace.
• Whosoever WillWhat is Provisionism?Provisionism is the view that God has provided salvation for every person in Christ, genuinely offers it to every hearer through the gospel, and saves all who believe. Provision is universal; application is by faith; the refusal is the man's own.
• Whosoever WillWhat is repentance? Is repentance necessary for salvation?Repentance is a change of mind that turns a person from his sin toward God. It is not a work added to faith; it is the turning that faith is, seen from the other side. "God... commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).
• With Chuck SmithWhat is the difference between bearing fruit in John 15:6 and works burned up in 1 Corinthians 3:15?Chuck Smith, Answers for Today, chapter 11: In John’s Gospel, Jesus was talking about the necessity of abiding in Him. If you don’t abide in Him, you cannot be saved, and you cannot bear fruit. Such people who don’t bear fruit will be gathered and burned, because they’re not saved. The passage in 1 Corinthians talks about the works I do as a child of God with the wrong motivation. I may be motivated with the desire to glorify myself or receive praise from men. Such works performed by a Christian will be burned up, though he will be saved, even as by fire. Scripture, King James Version: John 15:6, "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."; 1 Corinthians 3:15, "If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhat is the difference between eternal security and perseverance of the saints?Both teach that a true believer will be saved to the end, but they ground it differently. Perseverance of the saints (the Reformed P in TULIP) rests security on unconditional individual election. Eternal security, as this platform holds it, rests it on the sealing of genuine faith in Christ.
• With Chuck SmithWhat is the difference between grace and mercy?Chuck Smith's three-line definition: "Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what's coming to you. And grace is getting what's not coming to you." The publican asked for mercy, not justice: "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13). Read Chuck on Luke 18:13 in the reader. Chuck Smith commentary used by permission of The Word For Today.