Phillips & Wiemers part 3

In this post we will look at this portion of the Phillips quote.

on terms they did not select (so-called "total depravity"), under impossible handicaps they did not choose (depraved in will and 'dead in trespasses and sins')

and

they did not themselves plunge into original sin

I am not certain if John Phillips is outright denying Original Sin, but reading this statement certainly causes one to wonder if Phillips has any idea as to the nature of his own sin or the Scriptural teaching of Federalism.

Romans 5 clearly teaches that all men die for one reason. That reason is all men are united under Adam's headship. When Adam sinned, all of mankind sinned in him. Adam's sin is imputed to every man. If we deny this clear teaching of Scripture, then we by definition undercut the imputation of Christ's righteousness by faith alone.

Another aspect of this quote is that Adam did not choose to sin and embrace the consequences for that sin. God specifically told Adam that in the day he ate of that fruit, he would surely die. Apparently, Mr. Phillips (and I assume Wiemers) do not believe that Adam died. Perhaps he was mostly dead?

A common misunderstanding among Christians is that sin touches every aspect of our lives except our wills. For some reason, our wills are left floating in mid air and untouched by sin. It is as if our wills are not really a part of our very sinful souls. In essence, the human will seems to be thought of as being morally neutral.

This position also assumes that if God gives a commandment, man must have the ability to carry out that commandment. Yet Paul tells us in Romans 3 that the law was not given so that we could obey God, but instead was given to increase our knowledge of our own sin. Romans 3:20

by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

God's sovereign grace may be anathema to Phillips and Wiemers, but that is because they do not recognize how great their fall in Adam is and how great God's grace truly is.

Phillips & Wiemers part 2

Phillips is quoted,

Someone once tried to persuade me that God has chosen some people for salvation and chosen other people for damnation. Such an idea is monstrous.

Has Phillips ever read Romans 9? But I move on to the rest of the quote.

God does not arbitrarily and sovereignly damn the greater part of the human race into an existence they did not seek, on terms they did not select (so-called "total depravity"), under impossible handicaps they did not choose (depraved in will and 'dead in trespasses and sins'), dominated by forces they cannot control (the world, the flesh, and the devil), into a ruined family (Adam's) they did not themselves plunge into original sin, just in order arbitrarily to send people to hell for not choosing a salvation offered only to the 'elect.'

The first error here is that man "did not seek" what God had secretly decreed. It assumes that the Calvinist is saying that God held a gun to Adam's back and made him sin. This is no more true than when God decreed that Jesus would die upon the cross. The men that crucified Jesus did so because they wanted to.

Do we all accept that the event of the cross was not an accident but something God ordained to happen? If so, did the men that murdered the Son of God do so because their creaturely wills desired to do so? Of course!

To put it another way, was God forcing men against their wills to murder the Son of God? Of course not.

Phillips and Wiemers need to understand that man does not have a sovereign will equal to that of God, but instead has a creaturely will. Man's will fulfills the decree of God. God is not forcing man to choose what he desires. Men do what they do because they want to. Yet man also does God's will. This is called Compatabilism.

If Wiemers wants to understand Reformed theology, then he needs to go to the relevant texts such as Genesis 50, Isaiah 10, Acts 4, Romans 9 and many others.

Phillips & Wiemers part 1

John Phillips' first part of the paragraph quoted earlier says,

God does not act in an arbitrary way nor in defiance of the human will when he draws people to Christ.

I am not certain what is meant when non-Calvinists charge Calvinists with the idea that God is being arbitrary. The fact that God does things without explaining to the creature why He is doing them does not makes His secret purposes arbitrary. Does God have to explain to me why my son fell and injured Himself? Does God have to explain to me why my friend's son had an accident? Does God have to explain to me why He decreed Hitler's reign, causing the deaths of millions? Does any of this have to be arbitrary because God chooses to fulfill His own decree?

The other part of this sentence assumes that the drawing in verse 44 is somehow against the will of the creature. In one sense that charge is true. The creature would never on his own choose God. The reason is simple. Unless God draws him, he is not of God. Therefore, unless he is of God, he can not hear God's voice. Therefore, he does not come to God through Christ.

The sinner that is drawn is drawn in such a way that he willingly comes. So much of Galyn Wiemers post is a language barrier problem. Heaven is not filled with people that do not want to be there. Heaven is filled with people who are changed by the grace and mercy of God.

So the charge against R.C. Sproul is not really accurate. Men are dragged in one sense. God must change sinners into saints. In another sense Wiemers is correct in saying that men are not dragged against their will but drawn. This is consistent with John 6:44 and is what Reformed theology teaches.

But as we will see Wiemers' position misunderstands the nature of the will. We will look at that in a future post.

Caricatures of Evangelism

Just saw these on the Founders Blog. They are pretty funny.





Although I am not really certain the second video is much of a caricature since I have actually had that conversation.

Wiemers Citing Phillips On Being Drawn

To be able to anticipate some objections, I thought interacting with a blog post by Galyn Wiemers against the Reformed understanding of John 6:44 would be good preparation for Saturday. Although there is much in this post which causes Calvinists and non-Calvinists to speak past each other, there is one citation that really gets to heart of the issue clearly.

John Phillips says concerning John 6:37: "God does not act in an arbitrary way nor in defiance of the human will when he draws people to Christ. Someone once tried to persuade me that God has chosen some people for salvation and chosen other people for damnation. Such an idea is monstrous. God does not arbitrarily and sovereignly damn the greater part of the human race into an existence they did not seek, on terms they did not select (so-called "total depravity"), under impossible handicaps they did not choose (depraved in will and 'dead in trespasses and sins'), dominated by forces they cannot control (the world, the flesh, and the devil), into a ruined family (Adam's) they did not themselves plunge into original sin, just in order arbitrarily to send people to hell for not choosing a salvation offered only to the 'elect.' That may be some people's idea of God and some people's view of salvation, but such concepts make God out to be a tyrant worse than any in the history of the human race. However, such is not the God of the Bible and such is not the kind of 'salvation' offered us." (The John Phillips Commentary Series, "Exploring the Gospel of John")

Over the next few posts, I will attempt to clarify the major problems with the non-Calvinist's critique of Calvinism as it is articulated by John Phillips.

John 6:44

Another aspect of my conversation with Mr. Webster last Saturday was that he kept speaking about how man must choose God either now or at the Judgment. He seemed to be saying that everyone must have a chance to be a part of Jehovah's Kingdom. So although on the one hand Mr. Webster spoke of mankind needing some kind of atoning work of Christ, on the other hand he seemed to argue that salvation is dependent upon man's will.

This morning I read John 6:44 to my family. It states,

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

Dr. White on the Dividing Line recently discussed this verse in an attempt to interact with George Bryson's internet meanderings. Basically Bryson argued that God draws everyone just as God has invited everyone to come to heaven. Therefore to be invited is equivocated with being drawn. However, this is not what being drawn means.

So I asked my family, if you were to lower a bucket into a well to draw up water, are you "inviting" the water into the bucket? Does the water naturally flow up to the bucket? Or does the water naturally attempt to go the opposite direction and must be drawn up out of the well?

The answer is obvious. Man does not have the natural ability to come to Christ. Christ is a powerful Savior who has come down from heaven to save a people and to save them perfectly. As Jesus said, "I will raise him up on the last day."

Romans 4 For Lunch

During lunch time, I took a few minutes to read Romans 4 to my family. Time was brief so I explained to my kids the purpose of Paul's chapter and its relevance to my JW friend.

I want to be prepared to possibly discuss how one stands before God declared righteous. During Saturday's conversation, good works (as defined by the Watch Tower) was a major basis for Mr. Webster's acceptance before God. In other words, Mr. Webster does not possess the Gospel nor does he know what the Gospel is. He has never presented the Gospel when I have asked because his view of salvation is man-centered.

Pray that I would be able to ask Mr. Webster a simple question. "Who is the blessed man?"

Romans 4:

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.

BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

This Saturday...Lord Willing

Last Saturday, my long time Jehovah's Witness friend, Russell Webster, stopped by for a brief visit. It was brief due to the fact that he was truly not feeling well or due to the fact that I asked him a question he could not answer. Perhaps it was both.

For years I have been praying for Mr. Webster. He has been a Jehovah's Witness for at least 35 years, and I suspect a lot longer. This makes Mr. Webster a true challenge. He is a great example of demonstrating our weakness as Christians. He has the ability of proving that every "method" an average Evangelical may use is useless.

I have come to believe that it is truly the Gospel that saves despite our best efforts and pathetic attempts to be cool. As Romans 1 says,

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

Since it is the Gospel of God that saves, I waited patiently during our conversation as to what question I should ask and when. I could have asked one of three questions, but his words reminded me of getting back to the basics. So at a certain point, I broke into his typical "Isn't the world getting worse eschatology", and asked a simple question.

Do you have Eternal Life?

The question is simple yet profound. He wants to say, "Nobody can know in this life." Yet he knows where that leads him. He says he has Good News for me, yet in a typical man-centered fashion, he wants to make salvation dependent upon man.

I once read to him John 6:37-39. His response to me was, "That is just your interpretation." Pretty odd when I all I did was read the text. This time I read John 6:47,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

I asked him if he had crossed over from death to life,

John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

He then got up and started to make his way for the door. He asked if he could come back this coming Saturday. I don't know if he will. I do know this. He will come prepared. He always manages to find a response from Watch Tower literature.

If you are a Christian, I ask that you pray for the sake of Christ's name that God would be pleased to show mercy to Mr. Webster. He is not able to say he has eternal life simply because he does not have a perfect Savior. His savior is a mere creature who is only able to offer salvation and make men savable (similar to many Evangelicals). However, Lord willing, I will try to present a Christ who is nothing less than God the Son who came to save sinners. That it is by His perfect life, death and resurrection that the sinner will stand declared righteous before a holy and righteous God.

God Bless

This Pretty Much Says It All

Edwards On Pride

"Consider how monstrous pride is in one that professes himself a Christian. Pride and Christianity suit no better together than heaven and hell, or than Beelzebub and the meek and lowly Jesus. Nothing can be more opposite to the nature of the Gospel...Christ tells us that we can't be Christians unless we humble ourselves and become [like] little children, Matthew 18:3."