From a recent discussion:
Persons constructing straw men of the Calvinist's views by claiming we operate from the same presuppositions they do and therefore believe about our beliefs what they believe about our beliefs leaves no hope for honest discussion.
Instead of erroneously claiming the Calvinist believes this or that, if persons would avail themselves of a Scripturally accurate summary of our beliefs—WCF, with a nice exposition of the same here—much clarity would ensue. Unfortunately some prefer to just parrot the same old canards of others in discussion forums, never digging deeper in order to understand that which they cavil about.
God's love (that is, setting His preference upon another) in the marking out of His children is not random, but from His own wise counsel which is not revealed to us in Scripture.
Are those saved the product of their own good moral abilities to choose wisely?
Were those now saved not wholly at enmity with God, sinning with every breath they drew, before that instantaneous moment when they were born anew (regenerated), and then made able to choose wisely?
The view expressed above of the moral state of the unbeliever does not comport well with what Scripture teaches(Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Eph. 2:2; Eph. 2:4-5; Titus 3:5; John 3:19; Rom. 3:10-12; 5:6; 6:16-20; Eph. 2:1,3;1 Cor. 2:14).
Belief is all of mankind's duty. Whether a person possesses the ability to do so is in no way an excuse for not doing their duty, for all are admonished—not courted, wooed, or begged with God seemingly wringing His hands in hope—to do their duty.
Unless Paul is patently untruthful in Romans 1, no one being honest with oneself can claim they cannot believe upon the Lord. The revealed will of God is in all of Scripture. What God wants us to know about Himself is on every page of Scripture. But let's not mistakenly assume that all of what God's thoughts or all of who God is, can be found in Scripture. We are to think God's thoughts after Him, not to assume our thoughts are exactly descriptive of God's thoughts. If we could fully apprehend the mind of God, we would in fact become gods.
Thus, it is this revealed will of God in Scripture that is man's duty to obey. If we love God we will obey God. Our Lord was not making a request in John 14:15, rather He was stating our moral imperative.
When Our Lord told Nicodemus you must be born again, He was not telling Nicodemus to go out and choose to be born again. Rather, Our Lord was informing Nicodemus of a logical necessity (Greek, dei, for must). By the use of such a strong term, Jesus indicates that regeneration is essential, imperative, and absolutely necessary for salvation. It is a vital link in the chain of sovereign grace.
Unfortunately some students of Scripture have erroneously concluded that because the word dei refers to logical necessity, it also expresses the idea of human responsibility. In other words, they conclude that Jesus is suggesting that Nicodemus take personal responsibility for his own new birth.
Notice, however, that Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to do anything in order to be born again. Our Lord did not instruct him to make a decision, say a prayer, or even to repent and believe the gospel. "Ye must be born again" is simply a statement of fact, not a command to be obeyed. "Ye must be born again" is a declarative—not an imperative—sentence.
In fact, the words of the Our Lord Jesus Christ, instead of suggesting that Nicodemus should assume personal responsibility for his own salvation, teach exactly the opposite idea.
The purpose of the entire passage might be summarized like this:
Regeneration is not something any man can do, for flesh can only produce flesh. It is a miraculous work of God the Holy Spirit, Who blows when and where He pleases. Jesus is saying, "Yes, Nicodemus, the new birth is a necessity, but neither you nor any other man can cause it to happen, even if you could think of a way to return to the womb of your mother. Only God can perform this work."
Perhaps one will object, "To tell a man about the necessity of being born again in one breath, then, that he is utterly helpless to produce such a work in his own soul in the next, is self-defeating and contradictory."
The proper answer is that, on the contrary, our Lord's goal was to expose the fallacy of trusting in one's own efforts and works for salvation. If mere religiosity or devotion to a life of law-keeping could save a person, Nicodemus would have been very safe. But Jesus says no one is safe, regardless of their achievements, family history, social status, or religious fervor. Because of the universality of sin, the new birth is necessary before anyone will see the face of God in peace. Furthermore, because of sin's debilitating effect upon all mankind, no one has the moral ability to rescue himself. John 3:7 does not teach that man must assume responsibility for his own salvation. Instead John 3:7 teaches that the sinner's only hope of eternal bliss is the sovereign grace of God.
If the reader wants to delve a wee bit deeper, my excursus on this point follows:
Resist vain speculation (2 Timothy 2:23). Let's leave that which is not revealed by God in Scripture, e.g., exactly who is or who is not elect, to God alone. When God shuts His mouth, so should we.
AMR
Persons constructing straw men of the Calvinist's views by claiming we operate from the same presuppositions they do and therefore believe about our beliefs what they believe about our beliefs leaves no hope for honest discussion.
Instead of erroneously claiming the Calvinist believes this or that, if persons would avail themselves of a Scripturally accurate summary of our beliefs—WCF, with a nice exposition of the same here—much clarity would ensue. Unfortunately some prefer to just parrot the same old canards of others in discussion forums, never digging deeper in order to understand that which they cavil about.
God's love (that is, setting His preference upon another) in the marking out of His children is not random, but from His own wise counsel which is not revealed to us in Scripture.
Again, see above about such presuppositions about what Calvinists believe versus what we actually believe.
Are those saved the product of their own good moral abilities to choose wisely?
Were those now saved not wholly at enmity with God, sinning with every breath they drew, before that instantaneous moment when they were born anew (regenerated), and then made able to choose wisely?
The view expressed above of the moral state of the unbeliever does not comport well with what Scripture teaches(Jer. 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Eph. 2:2; Eph. 2:4-5; Titus 3:5; John 3:19; Rom. 3:10-12; 5:6; 6:16-20; Eph. 2:1,3;1 Cor. 2:14).
Belief is all of mankind's duty. Whether a person possesses the ability to do so is in no way an excuse for not doing their duty, for all are admonished—not courted, wooed, or begged with God seemingly wringing His hands in hope—to do their duty.
Unless Paul is patently untruthful in Romans 1, no one being honest with oneself can claim they cannot believe upon the Lord. The revealed will of God is in all of Scripture. What God wants us to know about Himself is on every page of Scripture. But let's not mistakenly assume that all of what God's thoughts or all of who God is, can be found in Scripture. We are to think God's thoughts after Him, not to assume our thoughts are exactly descriptive of God's thoughts. If we could fully apprehend the mind of God, we would in fact become gods.
Thus, it is this revealed will of God in Scripture that is man's duty to obey. If we love God we will obey God. Our Lord was not making a request in John 14:15, rather He was stating our moral imperative.
When Our Lord told Nicodemus you must be born again, He was not telling Nicodemus to go out and choose to be born again. Rather, Our Lord was informing Nicodemus of a logical necessity (Greek, dei, for must). By the use of such a strong term, Jesus indicates that regeneration is essential, imperative, and absolutely necessary for salvation. It is a vital link in the chain of sovereign grace.
Unfortunately some students of Scripture have erroneously concluded that because the word dei refers to logical necessity, it also expresses the idea of human responsibility. In other words, they conclude that Jesus is suggesting that Nicodemus take personal responsibility for his own new birth.
Notice, however, that Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to do anything in order to be born again. Our Lord did not instruct him to make a decision, say a prayer, or even to repent and believe the gospel. "Ye must be born again" is simply a statement of fact, not a command to be obeyed. "Ye must be born again" is a declarative—not an imperative—sentence.
In fact, the words of the Our Lord Jesus Christ, instead of suggesting that Nicodemus should assume personal responsibility for his own salvation, teach exactly the opposite idea.
The purpose of the entire passage might be summarized like this:
Regeneration is not something any man can do, for flesh can only produce flesh. It is a miraculous work of God the Holy Spirit, Who blows when and where He pleases. Jesus is saying, "Yes, Nicodemus, the new birth is a necessity, but neither you nor any other man can cause it to happen, even if you could think of a way to return to the womb of your mother. Only God can perform this work."
Perhaps one will object, "To tell a man about the necessity of being born again in one breath, then, that he is utterly helpless to produce such a work in his own soul in the next, is self-defeating and contradictory."
The proper answer is that, on the contrary, our Lord's goal was to expose the fallacy of trusting in one's own efforts and works for salvation. If mere religiosity or devotion to a life of law-keeping could save a person, Nicodemus would have been very safe. But Jesus says no one is safe, regardless of their achievements, family history, social status, or religious fervor. Because of the universality of sin, the new birth is necessary before anyone will see the face of God in peace. Furthermore, because of sin's debilitating effect upon all mankind, no one has the moral ability to rescue himself. John 3:7 does not teach that man must assume responsibility for his own salvation. Instead John 3:7 teaches that the sinner's only hope of eternal bliss is the sovereign grace of God.
If the reader wants to delve a wee bit deeper, my excursus on this point follows:
There is another side to this truth about the necessity of regeneration.
God, in His grace, has so arranged the work of salvation that everyone who was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world will be called into new life at some point in their personal history. The new birth is sure and certain to all of the elect. To everyone for whom Christ died, God will "send the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6).
Just as surely as God requires it, He provides it. To say that the Father did His part in the salvation of sinners, and the Son did His part, but the Holy Spirit will fail to do his part because a person has this assumed free will to refuse, disrupts the unity of the holy Trinity.
Romans 8:28 demonstrates the certainty of regeneration:
"And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
Who loves God? "The called."
Why are they called? Because God "purposed" to call them.
The new birth is a provision of the everlasting covenant: "God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9).
Now trace the "whom's" and the "them's" in Romans 8:29-30. The same group of people God foreknew, He predestinated. The same people He predestinated, He called. The same people He called, He justified, and the same people He justified, He glorified.
The end of Romans 8:30 includes exactly the same number of people who were embraced at the beginning of verse twenty-nine. This indicates that everyone that God loved and Christ Jesus redeemed, will be quickened by the Spirit. The past tense ("called") is employed to show that since God decreed it, it is just as sure to occur as if it had already taken place.
God, in His grace, has so arranged the work of salvation that everyone who was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world will be called into new life at some point in their personal history. The new birth is sure and certain to all of the elect. To everyone for whom Christ died, God will "send the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6).
Just as surely as God requires it, He provides it. To say that the Father did His part in the salvation of sinners, and the Son did His part, but the Holy Spirit will fail to do his part because a person has this assumed free will to refuse, disrupts the unity of the holy Trinity.
Romans 8:28 demonstrates the certainty of regeneration:
"And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
Who loves God? "The called."
Why are they called? Because God "purposed" to call them.
The new birth is a provision of the everlasting covenant: "God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9).
Now trace the "whom's" and the "them's" in Romans 8:29-30. The same group of people God foreknew, He predestinated. The same people He predestinated, He called. The same people He called, He justified, and the same people He justified, He glorified.
The end of Romans 8:30 includes exactly the same number of people who were embraced at the beginning of verse twenty-nine. This indicates that everyone that God loved and Christ Jesus redeemed, will be quickened by the Spirit. The past tense ("called") is employed to show that since God decreed it, it is just as sure to occur as if it had already taken place.
Resist vain speculation (2 Timothy 2:23). Let's leave that which is not revealed by God in Scripture, e.g., exactly who is or who is not elect, to God alone. When God shuts His mouth, so should we.
AMR
