Today, we'll look at 3 of the 5 points of Calvinism in comparison with 3 of the 5 articles of Arminian remonstrance.  Among the topics will be grace, regeneration, faith, predestination, election, reprobation, and God's foreknowledge.

First: Total Depravity & Human Ability

Total Depravity  (Radical Corruption)
• Regeneration before faith
• Spiritual Life is Bestowed
• Christ is received
  1. Mankind is spiritually dead and under the dominion of sin.  No one can of his own will come to Christ for salvation.  No one has faith unless God graciously bestows it.
  2. Total Depravity is not utter depravity.  We could be more evil!  Rather, it implies radical corruption;  every part of us is corrupt.  Nothing within us is left untouched by sin.  Sin affects every part of us!
  3. How much light does it take to make a blind man see?  A blind man must first be made to see in order for the question to matter.
  4. The objection: What about "seekers"?
     The answer: There is no such person as an unbelieving seeker.  So-called "seekers" are not looking for the True God.  Sproul, Grace Unknown, pg 125, says: "The search for God does not end in conversion; it begins at conversion.

• Scripture:

  "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." (Genesis 6:5)

  "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." (Deuteronomy 30:6)

  "Who can bring what is pure from the impure?  No one!" (Job 14:4)

  "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5)

  "Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies." (Psalm 58:3)

  "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?  Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)

  "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

  "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

  "By their fruit you will recognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." (Matthew 7:16-18)

  "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" (Matthew 19:26)

  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Matthew 23:37)

  "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." (Luke 24:45)

  "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it." (John 5:21)

  "'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.… No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. …The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.  Yet there are some of you who do not believe.'  For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.  He went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.'" (John 6:37,44,63-65)

  "Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ... Why is my language not clear to you?  Because you are unable to hear what I say. ... He who belongs to God hears what God says.  The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.'" (John 8:34,43,47)

  "You did not choose me, but I chose you…" (John 15:16)

  "When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48)

  "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." (Acts 16:14)

  "When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed." (Acts 18:27)

  "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness." (Romans 6:20)

  "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.  You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:5-11)

  "It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy." (Romans 9:16)

  "Everything that does not come from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)

  "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

  "For who makes you different from anyone else?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)

  "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…. For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)

  "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:1-10)

  "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him..." (Philippians 1:29)

  "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature [or flesh], God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins" (Colossians 2:13)

  "To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.  In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted." (Titus 1:15)

  "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

  "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2)

• Cross Reference Romans 10:9 ("If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord...") with 1 Corinthians 12:3 ("No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit...")

• Additional Scripture  (Genesis 8:21; Job 15:14-16; Ecclesiastes 7:20;9:3; Isaiah 53:6;64:6-7; Matthew 15:13; Mark 7:21-23; John 1:12-13;3:3-8,16,19-21,27;5:39-40;12:37-40;14:17; Romans 3:9-18;5:12-19;7:15-19;9:10-24; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17-19; Philippians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Timothy 2:25-26; Titus 3:3-7; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:3,20-21,23)

• Conclusion: God must make us willing and able to come to Him by regeneration, since we, in our sin natures, have neither the willingness nor the ability to come.  In bondage to sin, man cannot generate faith or even the desire to believe.  God must change our natures and give us new hearts in order to make us willing and able to believe.

Human Ability
• Faith before regeneration
• Spiritual Life is Offered
• We must accept Christ
  1. Mankind is under the dominion of sin, but all men have free will and the ability to co-operate with the wooing, prevenient grace that God offers to all mankind.  Since God desires for all men to be saved, it must be possible for all men to be saved.  Anyone can choose to come to Christ for salvation.
  2. The beggar analogy: A gift must be accepted or received.
     The Arminian beggar must reach out his hand to accept the offered alms.  He reaches in order to be reborn.  The Calvinist beggar reaches out, because he has already been reborn.
  3. The objection: Why do some accept/receive Christ while others do not?  What makes the difference?  If it is not grace, then it is something in man (ie, intelligence) which in a sense "merits" salvation.

• Scripture:

  "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.  But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.  You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.  This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (Deuteronomy 30:15-19)

  "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD ." (Joshua 24:15)

  "'Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?'  declares the Sovereign LORD .  'Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?'" (Ezekiel 18:23)

  "Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD , I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways!  Why will you die, O house of Israel?'" (Ezekiel 33:11)

  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

  "He said to them, 'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.'" (Luke 13:24)

  "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)

  "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)

  "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. ...All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ...For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ...No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'  Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. ...I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life." (John 6:35,37,40,44-45,47)

  "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." (John 7:17)

  "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture." (John 10:9)

  "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32)

  "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 2:38)

  "But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers." (Acts 14:2)

  "They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household.'" (Acts 16:31)

  "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  'For in him we live and move and have our being.' ...In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:26-28,30)

  "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." (Romans 3:21-22)

  "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ...How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:9,14-15)

  "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." (Ephesians 1:13)

  "[Praying for all men] is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men." (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

  "(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)

  "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." (James 1:18 (cf 1 Peter 1:23))

  "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:22-23 (cf James 1:18))

  "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

  "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'  And let him who hears say, 'Come!'  Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17)

• Additional Scripture (Numbers 14:11; Isaiah 65:1; Matthew 18:12-14;23:37; Luke 15:11-32; John 1:9,12;3:16-17,34;11:45; Romans 2:4; 1 Corinthians 9:19; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Hebrews 6:17-18;7:25;11:6)

• Conclusion: Arminianism presumes human ability and desire to obey, repent, and believe, since these things are commands of God.  All it takes to free us from the bondage of our sin nature is the message of the Gospel.