by Bret Capranica | Feb 1, 2006 | Calvinism
The doctrine of election declares that God, before the foundation of the world, chose certain individuals from among the fallen members of Adam’s race to be the objects of His undeserved favor. These, and these only, he purposed to save. God could have chosen to save all men (for He had the power and authority to do so) or He could have chosen to save none (for He was under no obligation to show mercy to any) – but He did neither. Instead, He chose to save some and to exclude others. His eternal choice of particular sinners for salvation was not based upon any forseen act or response on the part of those selected, but was based solely on His own good pleasure and sovereign will. Thus, election was not determined by, or conditioned upon, anything that men would do, but resulted entirely from God’s self-determined purpose. Those who were not chosen for salvation were passed by and left to their own evil devices and choices. It is not within the creatures jurisdictio to call into question the justice of the Creator for not choosing everyone for salvation. It is enough to know that the Judge of the earth has done right. It should, however, be kept in mind that if God had not graciously cosen a people for Himself and sovereignly determined to provide salvation for them and apply it to them, none would be saved. Election, therefore, is but one aspect (thoughan important aspect) of the saving purpose of the triune God, and thus must not be viewed as salvation. For the act of election itself...
by Bret Capranica | Jan 30, 2006 | Calvinism
While I was in Kentucky for my DMin class, I read through the book, The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended and Documented, by David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas, and S. Lance Quinn. This is a very helpful resource for a simple, straightforward discussion on Calvinism. The book is invaluable for the annotated bibliography of resources that discuss Calvinism. It also provides a good historical look at TULIP’s beginnings and a helpful chart comparing the five points of Armenianism with the five points of Calvinism. Get the book. In conjunction with Fide-O‘s posts this week on Calvinism, and to simply have them summarized for reference on my blog, throughout the week, I hope to summarize each one of the petals of Calvinism’s TULIP as presented in The Five Points. (I’m not commenting on what the guys wrote – I’m verbatim quoting portions of the book). TOTAL DEPRAVITY OR TOTAL INABILITY The view one takes concerning salvation will be determined, to a large extent, by the view one takes concerning sin and its effects on human nature. When Calvinits speak of man as being totally depraved, they mean that man’s nature is corrupt, perverse, and sinful throughut. The corruption extends to every part of man, his body and soul; sin has affected all (the totality) ofman’s faculties – his mind, his will, etc. As a result of this inborn corruption, the natural man is totally unable to do anything spiritually good; thus, Calvinists speak of man’s ‘total inability.’ The inability intended by this terminology is spiritual inability; it means that the sinner is so spiritually bankrupt that he can...
by Bret Capranica | Jul 30, 2005 | Calvinism, Southern Baptist Issues
Bobby Welch, current President of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Pastor of First Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, Florida, is very concerned about baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention. He is also concerned about Calvinists within the Convention and what they are doing to the SBC’s baptism ratio. He posts his concerns on his church’s July 10 Newsletter and makes for an interesting read. Regarding Bro. Bobby’s recent cry for one million baptism’s this year, see my previous comments at FIDE-O. Concerning his Cavinistic concerns and claims, see Rob Wilkerson’s post and a post by Tom Ascol [part 1], [part 2], and [part 3]. I too am concerned about baptisms within the Convention. I am very concerned about my own personal evangelism and that of my congregation. We would no doubt be in Bro. Welch’s crosshairs for our lack of water stirred within the past year. I am grieved when the church is not seeing people openly profess their repentance and conversion through the waters of baptism. But, I’m also concerned about many of the baptisms that ARE taking place. In my experience, many SBC pastors [including myself at one time] are ready and willing to dunk anyone who will repeat a prayer after a minimalist [at best] presentation of the gospel. Perhaps we should also be taking statistics on just how many newly dunked professors of faith are also abandoning their confession and their church. I am not convinced that we are merely ineffective in our follow-up techniques and marketing strategies. Pastor Welch did not discuss anything about the gospel we preach, only the numbers he says we should...
by Bret Capranica | Jun 2, 2005 | Blogging, Calvinism
Phil Johnson has begun his blogging. His blog from yesterday is a great read evaluating the current trends among some Calvinists. I especially enjoyed his comments regarding Calvinism and evangelism. Phil’s blog should be a regular...
