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Studies in Genesis, The Tumbling T of Calvin’s TULIP, Lesson VIIa, Thou Shalt Surely Die! JOHN CALVIN’S TULIP Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Genesis 2:17, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Romans 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
So these verses beg the question, What is the death that is introduced here?
Much controversy is currently in play here with regard to New Calvinism so it is important to know what the Bible says about this death.
And so our Sunday School lesson for today will be the first part of a one hour video Dr. Congdon has prepared to answer this question and next week we will see the remainder of this lesson.
Dr. Rob Congdon was here at Grace Bible Church on 6 April 2014 preaching messages on: · The Foundation of Globalization · The Ukraine and Russia, Setting the Stage for Ezekiel's Prophesy · The Final Supra Religion of the World
This video for our lesson today will be from Dr. Congdon’s series from his web site entitled:
Opps! I thought I was a four point Calvinist · The Tumbling T of Calvin’s TULIP · The Tumbling U of Calvin’s TULIP · Coming Soon: The Tumbling L of Calvin’s TULIP And so on eventually I suppose to take in all of the doctrines of TULIP resulting in seeing himself as a Biblicist instead of a Calvinist. In The Tumbling “T,” Dr. Congdon explains how Calvin's foundational teaching on Total Human Depravity determines his four succeeding points of doctrine, often called “TULIP.” Dr. Congdon explains how the definition of Human Depravity must be based upon the biblical definition of spiritual death. One will soon realize that biblical spiritual death is not the same as Calvin’s definition. For Calvin describes the unsaved individual as dead as a stone, incapable of seeing, hearing, or responding in any way to God’s offer of salvation. Hence, Calvin requires a spiritual regeneration, imposed by God, upon individuals prior to their exercising any act of faith in response to God. Biblically spiritual death demonstrates that when an individual hears the Word of God (the Bible) and the Holy Spirit convicts him or her of the truth of the Bible and of their need for forgiveness of their sins, they are free to respond in faith and then regeneration occurs immediately after a true acceptance of God’s gift of salvation by faith alone. In this video, Dr. Robert Congdon explains how Calvin's and the Westminster Confession's definition of Unconditional Election, clearly says God elects or chooses who will go to heaven and who will go to Hell. He compares this definition with the three groups of beings designated "elect" in the Bible to see if Calvin's definition "fits." Those three groups are: the elect angels, the elect nation of Israel, and the church or body of Christ in the Church Age. He demonstrates that Calvin's definition does not fit or cover these three different groups. Further, he shows that the Bible's context of the use of the word "election" or "elect" or "predestined" never involves salvation of an individual, but always is used in a plural context and speaks of one of the three groups. He then offers an alternative view of election that shows that election is a result of one being saved and not the cause that makes one saved. The key to "election" for all three groups is found in the concept of "service to God." Link to You Tube for The Tumbling T of Calvin’s TULIP |