In last week’s bulletin article I left out the letter “I” in the T-U-L-I-P acrostic (another one of my now becoming more fre-quent senior moments). So here is an explanation of that. The letter “I” stands for Irresistible Grace. It means that all who will be saved will be drawn to God and there is nothing they can do about it (in last week’s bulletin article this statement was put after the letter “L” by mistake). John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” This verse speaks of our free will. We have the right to receive or not to receive Christ. It is our choice (in last week’s bulletin article this paragraph was put after the letter “L” by mistake; this paragraph, though, correctly points out the fallacy of Irresistible Grace). The doctrine of Irresistible Grace equates the deadness of the sinner with a dead body. As one would not command a corpse to act in order to have life, so one cannot tell a “dead” sinner to act. The Holy Spirit, then, must directly effect the salvation of the elect.
Yet spiritual death cannot be equated with physical death. Physically dead people not only cannot believe, but they cannot sin or do anything else.
Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world….” A sinner’s death is not one of inability to act. A sinner walks or lives in his sinful lusts. A sinner is dead in his trespasses and sins. He is separated from God because of his sins (Isaiah 59:1-2). To be dead in our sins is to be in an unforgiven state. The Jews who heard Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 resisted the grace of God by resisting God’s Word. Stephen said to them, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51).
It is possible for us to set aside or frustrate the grace of God (Galatians 2:21), to receive the grace of God in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1), and to insult the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29). How? By refusing to obey the Word of God. The grace of God is not irresistible.
Thankfully we can accept the grace of God by realizing our
sinful condition and by obeying God’s gracious terms of pardon (Mark
16:16; Acts 17:30; Romans 10:9-10). We are not robots. We have free
will either to accept or resist God’s grace.
All of the cases of conversion to Christ in the NT book of Acts show that the Holy Spirit convicted and converted sinners by the words of the gospel of Christ. The Holy Spirit does not operate separate and apart from the Word of God in the conversion process, but rather through it. To repeat the conclusion of last week’s bulletin article, T-U-L-I-P is a false doctrine. Do not be deceived by this error. Accept the truth of the Bible. Do what it says to become a Christian and be faithful.
-Scott Vifquain
“Visit many good books, but live in the Bible” (Charles Spurgeon)
“A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t (Charles Spurgeon)
Yet spiritual death cannot be equated with physical death. Physically dead people not only cannot believe, but they cannot sin or do anything else.
Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world….” A sinner’s death is not one of inability to act. A sinner walks or lives in his sinful lusts. A sinner is dead in his trespasses and sins. He is separated from God because of his sins (Isaiah 59:1-2). To be dead in our sins is to be in an unforgiven state. The Jews who heard Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 resisted the grace of God by resisting God’s Word. Stephen said to them, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51).
It is possible for us to set aside or frustrate the grace of God (Galatians 2:21), to receive the grace of God in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1), and to insult the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29). How? By refusing to obey the Word of God. The grace of God is not irresistible.
Thankfully we can accept the grace of God by realizing our
sinful condition and by obeying God’s gracious terms of pardon (Mark
16:16; Acts 17:30; Romans 10:9-10). We are not robots. We have free
will either to accept or resist God’s grace.
All of the cases of conversion to Christ in the NT book of Acts show that the Holy Spirit convicted and converted sinners by the words of the gospel of Christ. The Holy Spirit does not operate separate and apart from the Word of God in the conversion process, but rather through it. To repeat the conclusion of last week’s bulletin article, T-U-L-I-P is a false doctrine. Do not be deceived by this error. Accept the truth of the Bible. Do what it says to become a Christian and be faithful.
-Scott Vifquain
“Visit many good books, but live in the Bible” (Charles Spurgeon)
“A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t (Charles Spurgeon)