“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not
acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the
mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from
evil” (Heb. 5:13-14).
As a person matures in their walk with the Lord, at some
point they will need to wrestle with many theological topics. Otherwise, they
are refusing to accept the meat of Scripture as Paul alludes to in Hebrews
5:13-14. One such topic that has wide reaching implications is the debate
between Calvinism vs. Arminianism. As we saw last month, “Calvinism and
Arminianism are two systems of theology that attempt to explain the
relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter
of salvation. Both systems can be summarized with five points” known as TULIP (for
an overview of this topic please see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2018/05/theology-201-3-pick-brighter-tulip-part.html).
This month we will examine the first point: Total Depravity
(Calvinism) vs. Tremendous Value (Arminianism). This issue centers on, can a
person can freely choose to love God in return and receive His offer of
salvation (Arminianism)? Or does God need to make a person love Him and
receive God’s offer of salvation since mankind is completely incapable by
themselves (Calvinism)?
Calvinism teaches that mankind is so affected by the
negative consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden that we are
enslaved to sin to the point that we can only choose evil. This is known as Original
Sin. Calvinist, J.O. Buswell, Jr. explains, “All men naturally descending
from Adam, without exception, are guilty sinners, lost, judicially under the wrath
and curse of God. . . I became a wicked, guilty sinner in the garden of Eden.”
Or, simply stated, everyone born since Adam and Eve inherited their sinful
nature and thus are headed to hell from birth. Along these same lines,
Calvinists teach that people are inherently evil (Rom. 3:10, 23).
On the other hand, Arminianism asserts that people cannot
be held accountable for others’ sins but for their own (Is. 59:2; Ezek. 18:20, for
more information see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2016/07/man-image-of-god-7-do-all-babies-go-to.html?m=0).
Along these same lines, Arminianism teaches mankind is inherently good, yet
each person, just like Adam and Eve, freely chooses to do what is wrong.
Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God created mankind upright, but men have gone in search of
many schemes.”
Even after the time of Adam and Eve, all people were
created in the image of God (Gen. 9:6). Yet, when given the choice, every
person turns from that uprightness to go after their own sinful desires (Ecc.
7:29b; Rom. 3:10). Now some will use this as an argument for total depravity,
that mankind cannot do anything but live ungodly. However, by the same token,
that argument would have to be made against Adam and Eve that they too had a
sin nature. Yet that would shift the blame for man’s sinfulness onto God, and
God is not the author of sin (1 Cor. 10:13; James 1:13), and all that God
created, including Adam, Eve, and all of mankind for that matter is “very good”
(Gen. 1:31). Thus, it is not that mankind is depraved and that is why all sane
and mentally competent people eventually sin. Rather, every person, just like
Adam and Eve, by their own freewill make the choice to go our own way and sin
instead of following what God commands (Isa. 53:6; Ezek. 3:18; Rom. 4:25).
The second fundamental argument of Calvinism’s Total
Depravity asserts that mankind is completely unable to do anything to bring
about their own salvation. Frequently the most common passages that Calvinists
will point to as support for this is Ephesians 2:1, “As for you, you were dead
in your transgressions and sins.” From this passage and elsewhere Scripture
does affirm that every person prior to becoming a Christian is spiritually
dead. Calvinists then argue that since a dead person is completely incapable of
responding or bringing themselves back to life, so too is it impossible for any
person to change their state of being dead in their sins by themselves.
The Arminian view agrees with Calvinism that salvation
originates and ends with God, thus mankind cannot save himself. However,
Arminians argue that the Gospel message, that is, the plan of salvation through
Jesus demands a response on the part of each spiritually dead person. Take for
example the following: “Come now, let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18), and
“choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deut. 30:19). In Acts
2:37, when 3,000 people were convicted by their own sinfulness, and asked Peter
what they needed to do in order to be saved, Peter did NOT respond to them by
saying that there is nothing that you can do, only God can cause you to
be saved. Rather, Peter stated very clearly that there was something for them
to do: “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).
The point is that we must not underestimate the power of
the preached Word of God; “it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who
believes” (Rom. 1:16). Alger Fitch writes, “If the word of Christ was powerful
enough to create the universe (Heb. 1:2; 11:3), raise the dead (John 11:43), or
still a storm (Matt. 8:26), who can deny its power to reach a depraved sinner?
The Holy Spirit works through the Word in the conversion of sinners. “Faith
comes from hearing the message”- (Rom. 10:17)… We will never find our own way
to be with God. On our own, we could never make it. But, God’s Son, the Good
Shepherd, calls us and if we “listen...and follow” (John 10:27), we will be led
home” (Pick the Brighter Tulip, pgs. 26-28).
Therefore, even a spiritually dead person is capable of
responding, and thus, does have a vital role in their own salvation. So, yes,
as Romans 3:23 teaches, the totality of mankind are sinners lacking the ability
to rescue themselves. But no one is so depraved that they cannot freely say
“Yes” to Jesus’ gracious offer (John 3:16).
That is the tremendous value that God created you and me
with. We are all made in His image. He has given every person a similar
opportunity to freely choose to love and obey Him, or to choose our sin
instead. Sadly, every person who reaches the age of accountability freely
chooses sin, just like Adam and Eve did. Yet true love demands a choice. And
thankfully, God’s tremendous value that He sees in us doesn’t end with our
sinfulness. God provides us with opportunities to respond to His love for us.
So what about you? Have you responded to His love and offer of grace? You can.
Therefore, I admonish you to let today be the day that you say “Yes” to Jesus.
In His service,
Matt
P.S. If you would like more information on this
topic, please see “Three Arguments Against Total Depravity” by Matt Elton;
available from http://lhim.org/blog/2014/02/06/three-arguments-against-total-depravity/
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