shedding light on calvinism and arminianism part two, "the depravity of man" total...

Shedding Light on Calvinism and Arminianism

Part Two,"The Depravity

of Man"

Tot•al de•prav•i•tyPronunciation: (tōt'l di-prav'i-tē), —n. Theol. the Calvinist doctrine that humankind's entire nature, including its reason, is corrupt or sinful as a result of the Fall and that people are therefore completely dependent on God for regeneration.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary



of Man"

Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ -

Calvinism Total Depravity

it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God.

From Steele and Thomas' The 5 Points of Calvinism



of Man"

Arminianism Natural Inability

Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner posses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to

either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act and precedes the new birth. Faith is man's response to the prevenient grace of God. the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.

From Steele and Thomas' The 5 Points of Calvinism



of Man"

mon•er•gismPronunciation: (mon'ur-jiz"um), —n. Theol. the doctrine that the Holy Ghost acts independently of the human will in the work of regeneration.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary

syn•er•gismPronunciation: (sin'ur-jiz"um), —n.Theol. the doctrine that the human will cooperates with the Holy Ghost in the work of regeneration.



of Man"

"Total Depravity is a very misleading term. The concept of Total Depravity is often confused with the idea of utter depravity... Total Depravity is not utter depravity. Utter depravity would mean that we are as sinful as we can possibly be. We know that is not the case. No matter how much each of us has sinned, we are able to think of worse sins that we could have committed. Even Adolf Hitler refrained from murdering his mother."

R. C. Sproul, Chosen By God



of Man"

"For our nature is not only utterly devoid of goodness, but so prolific in all kinds of evil, that it can never be idle. Those who term it concupiscence use a word not very inappropriate, provided it were added (this, however, many will by no means concede), that everything which is in man, from the

John Calvin Institutes

intellect to the will, from the soul even to the flesh, is defiled and pervaded with this concupiscence; or, to express it more briefly, that the whole man is in himself nothing else than concupiscence."



of Man"

But was there not good mingled with the evil? Was there not light intermixed with the darkness? No; none at all: "God saw that the whole imagination of the heart of man was only evil." It cannot indeed be denied, but many of them, perhaps all, had good motions put into their hearts; for the Spirit of God did then also "strive with man," if haply he might repent,

The Works of John Wesley, vol. 6

more especially during that gracious reprieve, the hundred and twenty years, while the ark was preparing. But still "in his flesh dwelt no good thing;" all his nature was purely evil: It was wholly consistent with itself, and unmixed with anything of an opposite nature.



of Man"

Jer. 13 ~ 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.

Calvinist "proof texts"



of Man"

1 Cor. 2 ~ 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.




of Man"

Rom. 3 ~ 10 As it is written:"There is none righteous, no, not one;11 There is none who understands;There is none who seeks after God.12 They have all turned aside;They have together become unprofitable;There is none who does good, no, not one."13 "Their throat is an open tomb;With their tongues they have practiced deceit";"The poison of asps is under their lips";


14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;17 And the way of peace they have not known."18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."



of Man"

Rom.3 ~ 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…




of Man"

Rom. 5 ~ 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—




of Man"

Rom.8 ~ 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.




of Man"

Eph. 2 ~ 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience…




of Man"

Col.2 ~ 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses…




of Man"

"A cardinal point of Reformed theology is the maxim: "Regeneration precedes faith."

R. C. Sproul, Chosen By God



of Man"

1) Election

The Calvinist'sordo salutis

2) Presdestination

3) Gospel Call

4) Inward Call

5) Regeneration

6) Conversion (faith and repentance)

7) Justification

8) Santification

9) Glorification



of Man"

"We must not get the notion that the people come to Jesus, and as a result of that they are 'born again'... Those who do come to Jesus are not therefore born again, but on the contrary indicate that they have been born again. In other words, they are not born again because they have come to Jesus but they have come to Jesus because they have been born again."

John H. Gerstner, The Predestination Primer



of Man"

"If a man were dead, in a natural and physical sense, it would at once be readily granted that there is no further possibility of that man being able to perform any physical actions. A corpse cannot act in any way whatever, and that man would be reckoned to have taken leave of his senses who asserted that it could. If a man is dead spiritually, therefore, it is surely equally as evident that he is unable to perform any spiritual actions."

Loraine Boettner,The Reformed Doctrine of

Predestination



of Man"

1) Is it necessary for us to be born again so that we can believe the Gospel (as Calvinism contends) or must we believe the Gospel in order to be born again?

Two Questions:

2) Can man be totally depraved and still exercise a God-given faith in response to the Gospel?



of Man"

"Now, since Christ confers upon us, and we obtain by faith, both free reconciliation and newness of life, reason and order require that I should here begin to treat of both."

John Calvin,Institutes



of Man"

John 1 ~ 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Arminian "proof texts"



of Man"

John 20 ~ 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.




of Man"

Acts 17 ~ 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent…




of Man"

Rom. 1 ~ 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.




of Man"

Rom. 10 ~ 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:


"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,Who bring glad tidings of good things!"16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.



of Man"

2 Thess. 2 ~ 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.




of Man"

John 3 ~ 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.




of Man"

1) Outward Call

The Arminian'sordo salutis

2) Faith/Election

3) Repentance

4) Regeneration

5) Justification

6) Sanctification

7) Glorification

shedding light on calvinism and arminianism part two, "the depravity of man" total...

Documents

concept of total depravity

shedding light

points of calvinism

idea of utter depravity

sinner alive

lost sinner

sinner posses

human nature