Featured Lapsarianism

Are you allowed to do that? Aren't you supposed to just realize you are elect?

 

I'd like to think that Godly people like Gill weren't just wasting ink, but found that searching the scriptures Honors God Almighty.

From: A Body of Doctrinal Divinity (eBook) | Monergism

BOOK II: Of the Acts and Works of God.

1. Of the Internal Acts and Works of God; and of His Decrees in General.
2. Of the Special Decrees of God, Relating to Rational Creatures, Angels, and Men; and Particularly of Election.
3. Of the Decrees of Rejection, of Some Angels, and of Some Men.
4. Of the Eternal Union of the Elect of God Unto Him.
5. Of Other Eternal and Immanent Acts in God, Particularly Adoption and Justification.
6. Of the Everlasting Council Between the Three Divine Persons, Concerning the Salvation of Men.
7. Of the Everlasting Covenant of Grace, Between the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
8. Of the Part Which the Father Takes in the Covenant.
9. Of the Part the Son of God, the Second Person, Has Taken in the Covenant.
10. Of Christ, as the Covenant-Head of the Elect.
11. Of Christ, the Mediator of the Covenant.
12. Of Christ, the Surety of the Covenant.
13. Of Christ, the Testator of the Covenant.
14. Of the Concern the Spirit of God Has in the Covenant of Grace.
15. Of the Properties of the Covenant of Grace.
16. Of the Complacency and Delight God Had in Himself, and the Divine Persons in Each Other...

BOOK III: Of the Eternal Works of God.

1. Of Creation in General.
2. Of the Creation of Angels.
3. Of the Creation of Man.
4. Of the Providence of God.
5. Of the Confirmation of the Elect Angels, and the Fall of the Non-Elect.
6. Of the Honour and Happiness of Man in a State of Innocence.
7. Of the Law Given to Adam, and the Covenant made with Him in the State of Innocence...
8. Of the Sin and Fall of our First Parents.
9. Of the Nature, Aggravations, and Sad Effects of the Sin of Man.
10. Of the Imputation of Adam's Sin to all His Posterity.
11. Of the Corruption of Human Nature.
12. Of Actual Sins and Transgressions.
13. Of the Punishment of Sin.

BOOK IV: Of the Acts of the Grace of God, Towards, and Upon His Elect in Time.

1. Of the Manifestation and Administration of the Covenant of Grace.
2. Of the Exhibitions of the Covenant of Grace in the Patriarchal State.
3. Of the Exhibition of the Covenant of Grace Under the Mosaic Dispensation.
4. Of the Covenant of Grace, as Exhibited in the Times of David, and the Succeeding Prophets, to the Coming of Christ.
5. Of the Abrogation of the Old Covenant, or First Administration of it, and the Introduction of the New, or Second Administration of it.
6. Of the Law of God.
7. Of the Gospel.

BOOK V: Of the Grace of Christ in His States of Humiliation and Exaltation, and in the Offices Exercised by Him in Them.

1. Of the Incarnation of Christ.
2. Of Christ's State of Humiliation.
3. Of the Active Obedience of Christ in His State of Humiliation.
4. Of the Passive Obedience of Christ, or of His Sufferings and Death.
5. Of the Burial of Christ.
6. Of the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead.
7. Of the Ascension of Christ to Heaven.
8. Of the Session of Christ at the Right-Hand of God.
9. Of the Prophetic Office of Christ.
10. Of the Priestly Office of Christ.
11. Of the Intercession of Christ.
12. Of Christ's Blessing His People as a Priest.
13. Of the Kingly Office of Christ.
14. Of the Spiritual Reign of Christ.

 

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

As long as you don't adopt, "believe"-only, as "a way of salvation", without the implied Conviction brought about in the Jailer, from what he had heard from and about his captives, as well as the implied Repentance (and Faith or Belief) taught all throughout the New Testament.

If you are Convicted from Paul's message of sin and the Cross, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you better bring forth fruits met for Repentance, as evidence of a genuine Salvation experience, and not just a Decisionism/ or Easy Believism hoax.

From: DECISIONAL REGENERATION
by
James E. Adams

"No more soul-destroying doctrine could well be devised than the doctrine that sinners can regenerate themselves, and repent and believe just when they please.

." As it is a truth both of Scripture and of experience that the unrenewed man can do nothing of himself to secure his salvation, it is essential that he should be brought to a practical conviction of that truth.

"When thus convicted, and not before, he seeks help from the only source whence it can be obtained.14
...

And if you don't assume the Jailer's experience directly had any association with "thy house", (sometimes a stretch 'Covenant Theology' tries to make wanting to get the kids in on Salvation, from being in Covenant(??) with someone else saved, like their parents) other than Paul knew they would be going along to preach the Gospel to them.

How much did this Jailer have going for him?

CONVICTION from what Paul was known for preaching, we know.

But, how many lost people come along asking, "what must I do to be saved?"

One more STIR going on on that fellow.

Praise the Lord.

 

I am a supralapsarian. Moved from the infralapsarian position last year.

"Most calvinists today are infralapsarians and they believe that God decreed to send Christ and save His people because of the fall. In the infralapsarian scheme God chooses to save individuals out of the mass of fallen humanity and then passes over the rest of humanity in reprobation. Infralapsarians usually claim to be against equal ultimacy, but it is my opinion that they cannot logically escape the conclusion that “passing over” is the same as “not electing” which is really election to the negative. It is my opinion that infralapsarianism is really a scheme of selection and not the biblical doctrine of election. Infralapsarians are often found to be opposed to supralapsarianism because they usually believe that supralapsarianism makes God the “author of sin.” What I find odd about that phrase is that it is nowhere to be found in Scripture, yet it’s a phrase that is often guarded like a sacred cow not to be touched. For the record, I do not believe evil and sin originate in the character of God but that He predestined these events for His purposes. It is impossible for God to sin, so I really don’t see what the big deal is. If you want a good definition of sin or evil, just look to God for the definitions as these things are the exact opposite of His Holy Nature. While infralapsarians often accuse supralapsarians with charging God as the “author of sin,” supralapsarians can equally charge infralapsarians with believing that God allowed sin to happen and did nothing to stop it! If I had to pick which one was worse based solely on logic, I’d have to conclude the infralapsarian scheme is because it depicts God with not getting what He wanted and without power to stop something He did not predestine. Infralapsarians also have difficulty explaining where sin came from and sometimes refer to a strange doctrine known as eternal law that exists outside of God which God Himself is bound to obey. I don’t know where any scriptural foundation for this strange belief is found, so you’ll have to ask an infralapsarian that believes in these things to explain this for you if you’re interested. It is my belief that God is the eternal law if there is such a thing."

- rest at Confession of a Hyper-Calvinist - Brandan Kraft (pristinegrace.org)

"The nature of purpose and design necessitates a supralapsarian scheme of the eternal decrees, in which the decree of election and reprobation appears before the decree for the fall of humanity, and in which the decree for the fall of humanity appears before the decree for the creation of humanity. The infralapsarian scheme places the decree of election and reprobation after the decree for the fall of humanity. One reason for this is to arrange the decrees so that the decree for reprobation applies to actual sinners, whereas the supralapsarian would say that God decrees the fall of humanity so that he would accomplish the decree of reprobation. Supralapsarianism is the biblical and rational order. Infralapsarianism confuses logical conception with historical execution, so that not only is it contrary to fact, but it makes nonsense of some of the divine decrees. For any given decree, it leaves the purpose of the decree unspecified until the next decree. But then there is no reason for the present one, so that it becomes arbitrary. Thus infralapsarianism is blasphemous by implication, since it insults God's intelligence and denies his rationality."

- Vincent Cheung, Systematic Theology - excellent discussion of this subject from the top of page 116 to the middle of page 118

 

"To sanctify something means to set something apart. I believe that the sanctification of God’s people originally took place in eternity when God separated the elect from the reprobate. In time, the elect experience cleansing from sin and consecration for service to God. This is a continuous event with a definite starting point in time; but there are many today that teach Christians continue to progress in holiness over time. While it is true that Christians do grow in spiritual knowledge and maturity, it is not true that they achieve greater or lesser holiness as they live out their lives. A Christian is not any more sanctified if he does more good works for the day, nor is he any less sanctified if he fails to keep his good works for the day as many modern day calvinists teach. What those who teach the doctrine of progressive sanctification fail to realize is that Christ is the sanctification for every Christian. Every Christian’s holiness is complete in Christ and their sanctification is held securely by Him! Sanctification is entirely a work of Grace. Christ’s perfect holiness – His perfect obedience is the surety every elect child of God needs and has to be viewed with pleasure by their Father in Heaven. Good works are not necessary to earn the pleasure of God as He is already pleased with His children based on Christ’s merit alone. Usually those who maintain that the Christian is responsible for progressing in sanctification call those who disagree with them hyper-calvinists. We believe in “continuous sanctification” not “progressive sanctification.” There is a big difference in this terminology!"

- from Confession of a Hyper-Calvinist - Brandan Kraft (pristinegrace.org)

 

With all due respect to GotQuestions.org

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

 

I should have included the link to Vincent Cheung's Systematic Theology that I quoted from in my post #9 above -

Systematic Theology (vincentcheung.com)

 

Election takes place per Acts 16:31. Not before. What is before the foundation of the world is God's choosing per Ephesians 1:4. And one being elected is do to that choosing per Mark 13:20. Both those references are unique references. Disagreements are over how these teachings are to be interpreted.

 

These things are so far above us that it's borderline blasphemy to discuss them but the issue is really about what God's primary purpose is. If you believe that God determines everything according to his will then the question is "What exactly does His will mean?" If God decreed that man would fall before man existed then man HAD to fall, and the charge that God's primary will was that man sins and falls has some validity. It also means that God chose as HIS own will, that he create men for the purpose of burning in Hell.

To decree to most people means to make it so because you want to make it so with you as the primary cause. That is why most people find supralapsarianism odious. They believe it slanders God. Carefully read the infralapsarian position and it deliberately makes the fall of man man's own doing and man's own fault. Now if God knows everything and is all powerful and could have prevented it from happening and yet didn't - so is there really any difference. And right there is a major reason many people reject Calvinism. In my opinion meticulous predestination is the biggest weakness of the whole system.

But the real difference is the question of what did God WANT most to happen? Supralapsarianism makes the primary causal decree of God to be the damnation of many people who did not even exist yet. Infralapsarianism, although still accepting God as sovereign is worded carefully to put the fall and man's original sin on man with God coming up with a gracious plan to save some.

 

'Preciate you sharing that with us.

I believe with these verses the way you see them and "body" meaning only a dismembered thing, you have at least three teachings in your body of doctrine, along with the fall being something to do with learning the knowledge of good and evil.

Anything else?

Oh yeah, you know Greek.

And "through faith" is a phrase completely detached and divorced from, "for by Grace are you saved...that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God", in every way possible.

Got it.

 

Good. However, the elect's standing before God in Christ is not changed regardless of what they might say after hitting their thumb with a hammer. Now the elect's state - their emotions and the circumstances that God places them in - changes depending on how they react to the joyful moments and to the troubles of life and to their circumstances and to the temptations of their flesh, but the elect alway stand perfectly righteous in Christ, the Lord their Righteousness.