“I have my own private opinion, that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen which Christ wrought upon the Cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called.” – C. H. Spurgeon
Total Inability: Left to ourselves as fallen sinners, we are entirely unable and unwilling to choose God: “Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”” –John 6:43-44
Unconditional Election: God chose those whom He would save by His sovereign will and out of mercy, not according to any work of merit or faith foreseen in them: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, and that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you.” –John 15:16
Faith is the gift and work of God, not of ourselves: “Then they said to Him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”” –John 6:28-29
Effectual Calling: All those whom God calls to faith in Christ, He saves, without exception: “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” –John 10:2-4
Irresistible Grace: All people whom God chooses to save are utterly unable to resist His work in them or thwart His purpose for their salvation: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.” –John 6:37
Eternal Security: It is impossible for those whom God gives saving faith in Christ to ever lose their salvation: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” –John 10:27-29
Definite Atonement: Christ came to die for a specific set of people out of the world: the elect, His own sheep: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” –John 10:14-15
“I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” –John 17:9
God’s Foreknowledge and Eternal Purpose: Before He created the world, God knew whom He would save, and who would reject the gospel and not believe: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are the spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.) And He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.” –John 6:63-65
Predestination: Christ did not only accomplish redemption for those who believed in Him before and during the time He lived on Earth, but for all those who would believe in Him in the future: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” –John 17:20-21
Soli Deo Gloria- To God Alone Be the Glory! Amen.
This is a re-posting from Joseph Boyd's Facebook page. (Re-Posted here by permission.)
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See also: Jesus' Commentary on John 3:16
And: Jesus' Comments on the "Five Points" of Calvinism
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4 comments:
It's hard to deny Jesus in His own language! Solus Christos!
Jesus explains it best, doesn't he?
The more we let Jesus explain His theology, the less likely we are to mess it up when we try to explain it! Calvinism is simply a well-arranged summary of what He is trying to say.
Jeff
Jeff,
That is one thing that I love about the Canons of Dort. The articles, as well as the paragraphs rejecting the errors, incorporate so much of Scripture itself.
Craig
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