Systematic Theology (Part 2), SYSTH4453

October 25
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SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL ON THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION

Recently we readat the material in Dr.Grudem's chapter on "Election and Reprobation." Here is some background to the Dutch wing of this theological development, as well as the statements of the two opposing theological groups themselves.

Very important religious events took place in Holland in the early part of the 17th century. They had to do with the doctrine of salvation taught in the Scriptures. Jacobus (James) Arminius, a Professor of Theology in Leyden University, the great training-ground of the Dutch clergy, denied a number of the teachings of Calvin, and asserted that, while God had made salvation possible through Jesus Christ the Savior, he had left it to the sinner to decide whether he would or would not accept salvation. This implied, of course, that it was possible for Christ to have died in vain. Professor Gomar (whose followers were known as Gomarists or Calvinists, as distinct from the Arminians), a colleague of Arminius; in the University, held to the biblical truth of election and predestination, and taught that the salvation of any person was the result of the sheer grace of God's sovereign will and activity. In 1609 Arminius; died, but his followers pressed their claims and the controversy became so fierce that in 1619 the Synod of Dort (Dordrecht) was convened by the Calvinists to declare and formulate the true doctrine. It was attended by selected representatives from the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Germany and Switzerland. The teachings of the Arminians were condemned, the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism were upheld, and in 93 Canons the chief points of the doctrine of the Reformed Churches were made clear. Three-hundred Arminians were shortly expelled from office in the Netherlands and many of them went into exile. But after 1630 they were allowed to return. To this day the findings of the Synod of Dort are held in great esteem by the Calvinistic Churches of all lands (S. M Houghton, Sketches from Church History, p. 143).

A Comparison of Calvinism & Arminianism, conveying the teachings of the Dutch Remonstrants (Arminians) and the Gomarists (Calvinists), by David Steele and Curtis Thomas:

ARMINIANS

Free-Will or Human Ability
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 the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.

Conditional Election
God's choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world was based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call. He selected only those whom He knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel. Election therefore was determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. The faith which God foresaw and upon which He based His choice was not given to the sinner by God (it was not created by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit) but resulted solely from man's will. It was left entirely up to man as to who would believe and therefore as to who would be elected unto salvation. God chose those whom He knew would, of their own free will, choose Christ. Thus the sinner's choice of Christ, not God's choice of the sinner, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

Universal Redemption or General Atonement
Christ's redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone. Although Christ died for all men and for every man, only those who believe on Him are saved. His death enabled God to pardon sinners on the condition that they believe, but it did not actually put away anyone's sins. Christ's redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it.

The Holy Spirit Can Be Effectually Resisted
The Spirit calls inwardly all those who are called outwardly by the gospel invitation; He does all that He can to bring every sinner to salvation. But inasmuch as man is free, he can successfully resist the Spirit's call. The Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until he believes; faith (which is man's contribution) proceeds and makes possible the new birth. Thus, man's free will limits the Spirit in the application of Christ's saving work. The Holy Spirit can only draw to Christ those who allow Him to have His way with them. Until the sinner responds, the Spirit cannot give life. God's grace, therefore, is not invincible; it can be, and often is, resisted and thwarted by man.

Falling from Grace
Those who believe and are truly saved can lose their salvation by failing to keep up their faith, etc. All Arminians have not been agreed on this point; some have held that believers are eternally secure in Christ -- that once a sinner is regenerated, he can never be lost.

According to Arminianism (Summary):

Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) -- man's response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, "choose" to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man's will plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation.

CALVINISTS

Total Inability or Total Depravity
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 -- 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.

Unconditional Election
God's choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response of obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause of God's choice. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus God's choice of the sinner, not the sinner's choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

Particular Redemption or Limited Atonement
Christ's redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christ's redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation.

The Efficacious Call of the Spirit or Irresistible Grace
In addition to the outward general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably brings them to salvation. The internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be rejected; it always results
in conversion. By means of this special call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited in His work of applying salvation by man's will, nor is He dependent upon man's cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ. God's grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended.

Perseverance of the Saints
All who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus persevere to the end.

According to Calvinism (Summary):

Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

"The Church, of which all churches are members, but rather, self-governing communities of Christians, led by the Spirit, with allegiance only to God through the experience of Christ: precisely the New Testament sense."

David Daniell on William Tyndale's understanding of "ekklesia"

ECCLESIOLOGY: The Doctrine of the Church (Part 1)

From "The Baptist Faith and Message (2000)":
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.

Definition: Hebrew, qa-hal, convocation, congregation, assembly, and e-had, meeting, company, household; Greek, ecclesia, "a called out assembly" or "congregation." In classical Greek, the term referred to those called out by a town crier for a democratic meeting. The church is composed of those who have been called in Christ and regenerated by the Spirit of God. William Tyndale (d. 1536) was right when he opposed Sir Thomas More (Chancellor of England) by translating ekklesia as "congregation," implying that there was not one hierarchical body.

Scope: The invisible or universal church includes those who have already died in the faith, those believers who are yet alive (some also include among these their infant children), and those who are yet to become members of the body of Christ. A professing church may include both those who are members of the true church and those who are not. The NT uses the word church both for local assemblies of believers and for the church universal, though the former is the most frequent application (e.g., 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:2; Eph. 1:22).

Note: Some Dispensationalists make a sharp distinction between Israel and the Church, even into eternity.

Origin of the Church--three theories:

1. Old Testament (elect of Israel, including proselytes);

2. Began with Jesus & disciples during His earthly ministry;

3. Pentecost, the church's birthday.

Baptist theologian Harold Lindsell noted: Whether Israel in the Old Testament is to be equated with the church in the NT is a debatable question, although Acts 7:38 speaks of the congregation [church] in the wilderness. Israel was a true church, but Eph. 3:5 states that the Jewish-Gentile NT church was a mystery not clearly revealed in the Old Testament. In a sense, therefore, the church had its beginnings at Pentecost. Israel looked forward to Calvary, the church looks back at it, but both are redeemed by it.

CHURCH OFFICES AND GOVERNMENT
Q. What are the three constituent parts that comprise a local church?
A. the overseer(s)/pastor(s)/elder(s), the deacons, and the congregation of true believers. See Philippians 1:1

Q. What three typos of church governmental order are most popular in the Protestant churches?
A. Episcopal, Presbyterial, and Congregational

Roman Catholic Ecclesiology

Matthew 16:18-19

[v. 18] Some have interpreted this verse to mean that Christ founded His church on Peter himself. But such an interpretation overlooks some very important elements in this conversation between Christ and His disciples. It is plain that Christ was making a play on words, for Peter and rock are Petros and Petra in the Greek. The church is not built on Peter or any other individual as its foundation stone, for Peter makes it clear in 1 Peter 2:4-8 that Christ Himself is the only cornerstone of the church (cf. also Eph. 2:20-22). The church, then, is built on the Person of the Lord Jesus, and its membership includes only those who have confessed Him as Peter did. The "gates of Hades" [i.e. death, the world of the dead] cannot prevail against this church, for Christ has risen again from the dead and will keep His body safe from the onslaught of death. [vv. 19-20] The "keys of the kingdom" were not given to Peter alone. They were for all of the apostles and for the church in all ages (cf. Matt. 18:18). Nor is it to be supposed that the power of the keys includes the power of any individual to forgive sins. The Greek tense of the verbs shall be bound and shall be loosed means "shall have been." Thus men of God have the power to declare that God has forgiven the sins of those who have repented and received Christ by faith. No one may pronounce absolution, but anyone may announce that sins have been forgiven when the Gospel terms have been met. In Matt. 18:18 Jesus uses the same words in speaking to all the apostles. In John 20:23 Jesus, in identical language, bestows this "power of the keys" on all of the apostles and not simply on Peter alone. Yet Peter made the first significant use of the "keys" in Acts 2 when he preached the gospel to all the pilgrims at Pentecost and proclaimed the message of salvation to them.

Church Discipline (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5,6; Gal. 6:1)

Matt. 18:17 God, who ordained the church, has likewise ordained its government and its order. Order in the church is to be maintained by church discipline, and the effective sanction to enforce discipline is excommunication (Though this is not a biblical term, the principle is there). Scripture enjoins the churches to maintain sound doctrine (1 Tim. 1:3; Titus 1:13) and to see that order prevails (1 Cor. 11:34; Titus 1:5). Offenders are to be dealt with and rebuked (1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:2). Sincere believers are to submit to discipline (Heb. 13:17), which has for its end decency and order (2 Cor. 14:40), as well as the correction of the offender (2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10) and his restoration to fellowship with Christ and true believers (Gal. 6:1). Unrepentant offenders who refuse to accept discipline should be excommunicated from the fellowship of the local church (1 Cor. 5:3-5,13), not simply as a penalty, but to bring them to repentance. Other churches should uphold another church's disciplinary actions. This may best be maintained through careful attention to the church letter granting process, on both ends of the situation.