DOCTRINES OF GRACE
Total Depravity - Man - in his unredeemed state - is totally incapable of pleasing God because of his sinful nature. He neither seeks God, nor knows Him, but is spiritually dead, - unable to please God, and utterly sinful in every way. This is not to say that he is as bad or evil as he could be, but that there is no true goodness in him.
Born dead in to sin- Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Mathew 8:22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins
Romans 3:11 There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
Accountability - What we have here is a paradox of sorts. God is sovereign, but yet He made man accountable for his sinful life.
Romans 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Mans moral inability does not annul his responsibility. Quite the contrary - it compounds it. Keep in mind it was man who brought this sinful nature upon himself.
Unconditional Election - Man cannot save himself neither in whole nor in part. Only God can save man. The good news of the Gospel is that God out of His love, mercy and grace for us has provided that way.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
Before God had created anything, God had foreordained that He would choose (Eph 1:4-5) some of mankind to be saved from the sin that Adam had cast on all of us. God called these people His elect (Mark 13:20) and they are sinners who have been chosen to receive salvation.
Ephesians 1:4-5 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.
In a general sense God does call all people to come to faith and be saved (1 Tim 2:3-4), but in another sense God does only choose some sinners to be saved (John 17:2).
1 Timothy 2:3-4 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
John 17:2 "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
God did not choose the elect on the basis of anything they had done or will do, it was a free gift by His grace alone.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
If you think that in some way God is unfair in His choosing those that will be saved, God says this.
Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "
Limited Atonement - The question always seems to be who did Christ die for? Well if we look at scripture what we will find is that Christ died for those God has predestined to come to faith.
Now there is a sense in which Christ through His death and resurrection has given the world a chance to come to faith on their own and by this gain salvation.
John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
But in another sense we see that Christ only died for the elect that God has predestined to be saved.
Romans 8:28-30 28"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
So which is right? Well we know that the word of God is infallible and does not contradict itself, so with that in mind we must believe that this can only fit together by the understanding that the "whoever believes" must be the predestined. We also see this in John 17:2.
John 17:2 "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him."
In Ephesians 5:25 we see an even more clearer verse showing exactly who Christs atoning death was for.
Ephesians 5:25 "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her"
The fact is that on our own we have no hope because we do not seek God and righteousness through Christ, we are all undeserving sinners and if we are looking for what is fair then hell is our only option. It is only because of God and His work in us that moves us to Christ and our faith.
Romans 3:10-11 10As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."
Irresistible Grace - God chose the elect and Christ payed the price for their sin by His willingness to go to the cross.
God loves all people in a general sense but there is a special love for those that He has predestined or called to faith in Him and in Christ.
In Luke 6:35-36 We see that God calls the saved to have love and mercy on our enemies and those who are ungrateful and wicked as God Himself does.
35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
But this again is a love that in no way rivals the love for those God has called to Himself. Everyone has been given a common love and mercy by God, we know this due to the fact that God has allowed anyone to live at all, being all are sinners and all have fallen short of the righteousness God has called them to.
God has called all to faith, this I would say all Christians believe, but God again has done a special work in the elect.
In John 6:44 We read about this special call from God to those He has chosen and the inability of those to come to Him if He has not called them.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
And in Romans 8:28-30 We see this process from beginning to end, God doesn't say that if after we are called if we decide to come to faith then He will see us through the rest of the process, no God says that "He" will fulfill this process from beginning to end in us Himself to assure it.
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
The elect are not born again because they believe, but they believe because they are born again. God has opened up their hearts and minds to be able to be live.
Acts 16:14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
John 3:3-8 3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
If it were left to us we could not come to faith in any way on our own, but it is by the sovereign grace of God and His calling to those He has chosen.
Perseverance of the Saints - God has promised the elect two things. First He promised never to forsake them. Second, He promised to work in the lives of the elect in a way that will not allow them to turn away from Him.
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Jeremiah 32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
The elect are secure in the hands of God and of Christ, the elect like the kitten who is taken by the scruff of its neck by the mother cat, is secure for she will never allow the kitten to fall to its death, she is in complete control not the kitten.
Christ himself states the fact that the elect are secure and that He will never even loose one who has been chosen by God.
John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Those who "fall away" were never saved to begin with. Had they been truly saved God would not have allowed them to fall but would have insured their perseverance.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Born dead in to sin- Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Mathew 8:22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins
Romans 3:11 There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
Accountability - What we have here is a paradox of sorts. God is sovereign, but yet He made man accountable for his sinful life.
Romans 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Mans moral inability does not annul his responsibility. Quite the contrary - it compounds it. Keep in mind it was man who brought this sinful nature upon himself.
Unconditional Election - Man cannot save himself neither in whole nor in part. Only God can save man. The good news of the Gospel is that God out of His love, mercy and grace for us has provided that way.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
Before God had created anything, God had foreordained that He would choose (Eph 1:4-5) some of mankind to be saved from the sin that Adam had cast on all of us. God called these people His elect (Mark 13:20) and they are sinners who have been chosen to receive salvation.
Ephesians 1:4-5 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.
In a general sense God does call all people to come to faith and be saved (1 Tim 2:3-4), but in another sense God does only choose some sinners to be saved (John 17:2).
1 Timothy 2:3-4 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
John 17:2 "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
God did not choose the elect on the basis of anything they had done or will do, it was a free gift by His grace alone.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
If you think that in some way God is unfair in His choosing those that will be saved, God says this.
Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "
Limited Atonement - The question always seems to be who did Christ die for? Well if we look at scripture what we will find is that Christ died for those God has predestined to come to faith.
Now there is a sense in which Christ through His death and resurrection has given the world a chance to come to faith on their own and by this gain salvation.
John 3:16 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
But in another sense we see that Christ only died for the elect that God has predestined to be saved.
Romans 8:28-30 28"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
So which is right? Well we know that the word of God is infallible and does not contradict itself, so with that in mind we must believe that this can only fit together by the understanding that the "whoever believes" must be the predestined. We also see this in John 17:2.
John 17:2 "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him."
In Ephesians 5:25 we see an even more clearer verse showing exactly who Christs atoning death was for.
Ephesians 5:25 "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her"
The fact is that on our own we have no hope because we do not seek God and righteousness through Christ, we are all undeserving sinners and if we are looking for what is fair then hell is our only option. It is only because of God and His work in us that moves us to Christ and our faith.
Romans 3:10-11 10As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."
Irresistible Grace - God chose the elect and Christ payed the price for their sin by His willingness to go to the cross.
God loves all people in a general sense but there is a special love for those that He has predestined or called to faith in Him and in Christ.
In Luke 6:35-36 We see that God calls the saved to have love and mercy on our enemies and those who are ungrateful and wicked as God Himself does.
35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
But this again is a love that in no way rivals the love for those God has called to Himself. Everyone has been given a common love and mercy by God, we know this due to the fact that God has allowed anyone to live at all, being all are sinners and all have fallen short of the righteousness God has called them to.
God has called all to faith, this I would say all Christians believe, but God again has done a special work in the elect.
In John 6:44 We read about this special call from God to those He has chosen and the inability of those to come to Him if He has not called them.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
And in Romans 8:28-30 We see this process from beginning to end, God doesn't say that if after we are called if we decide to come to faith then He will see us through the rest of the process, no God says that "He" will fulfill this process from beginning to end in us Himself to assure it.
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
The elect are not born again because they believe, but they believe because they are born again. God has opened up their hearts and minds to be able to be live.
Acts 16:14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
John 3:3-8 3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
If it were left to us we could not come to faith in any way on our own, but it is by the sovereign grace of God and His calling to those He has chosen.
Perseverance of the Saints - God has promised the elect two things. First He promised never to forsake them. Second, He promised to work in the lives of the elect in a way that will not allow them to turn away from Him.
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Jeremiah 32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
The elect are secure in the hands of God and of Christ, the elect like the kitten who is taken by the scruff of its neck by the mother cat, is secure for she will never allow the kitten to fall to its death, she is in complete control not the kitten.
Christ himself states the fact that the elect are secure and that He will never even loose one who has been chosen by God.
John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Those who "fall away" were never saved to begin with. Had they been truly saved God would not have allowed them to fall but would have insured their perseverance.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
(Romans 1:16) "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
The Doctrines of Grace are foundational and have been taught since the earliest of church fathers. It was taught by the likes of the Apostle Paul, the great Augustine, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and Mathew Henry. In more recent times we see those such as Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Pink, Martin Lloyd-Jones, James I. Packer and James Montgomery Boice.
Most protestant denominations that had been founded within the reformation times had been built on confessions of faith that clearly uphold these doctrines, such as the Westminster Confession (Presbyterianism), the Canons of Dort (Reformed), the Thirty-nine Articles (Episcopalianism), the Baptist Confession of 1869 (Baptists), and the Savoy Declaration (Congregationalism) to name a few.
The Doctrines of Grace also hold high the sovereignty of God and His gift of salvation to those which He alone chooses. They emphasize over and over that God is God and man is man.
Most protestant denominations that had been founded within the reformation times had been built on confessions of faith that clearly uphold these doctrines, such as the Westminster Confession (Presbyterianism), the Canons of Dort (Reformed), the Thirty-nine Articles (Episcopalianism), the Baptist Confession of 1869 (Baptists), and the Savoy Declaration (Congregationalism) to name a few.
The Doctrines of Grace also hold high the sovereignty of God and His gift of salvation to those which He alone chooses. They emphasize over and over that God is God and man is man.
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