Spurgeon's thoughts on Calvinism

Well said.

 

Amen !
All Glory to God !

1 Corinthians 15:
[10] But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

 

Here is more of Spurgeon, this is rather humorous, but it is an excellent point.

" I recollect an Arminian brother telling me that he had read the Scriptures through a score or more times, and could never find the doctrine of election in them. He added that he was sure he would have done so if it had been there, for he read the Word on his knees. I said to him, "I think you read the Bible in a very uncomfortable posture, and if you had read it in your easy chair, you would have been more likely to understand it. Pray, by all means, and the more, the better, but it is a piece of superstition to think there is anything in the posture in which a man puts himself for reading: and as to reading through the Bible twenty times without having found anything about the doctrine of election, the wonder is that you found anything at all: you must have galloped through it at such a rate that you were not likely to have any intelligible idea of the meaning of the Scriptures."

Amen brother Spurgeon.

 

What Is Sovereign Grace - Doctrines of Grace

by Greg Wilson



Frequently I am asked to explain the meaning of the expressions: God's Sovereign Grace or the Doctrines of Grace.

These phrases describe the doctrine of God's Absolute Sovereignty in ALL THINGS. Particular reference is made to God's Sovereignty in the salvation of those whom He chose in Christ from before the foundation of the world.



(Eph 1:4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:



These doctrines are commonly, though erroneously, referred to as Calvinism. I say erroneously, for these truths are far older than John Calvin. These are the very truths taught by Christ and His apostles. These are the doctrines recorded in the Holy Scriptures. These are the essentials of that faith that was once delivered to the saints and which has been maintained by historic Baptists since the Lord founded His church on the banks of the Sea of Galilee.



I realize that these doctrines are now neglected and even vehemently denied by most that call themselves Baptists. This in no way detracts from their importance, nor does it diminish their truth. Indeed, the Scriptures warn of just such a latter day falling away.



(2 Tim 4:3-4) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; {4} And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.



I present these truths as simply as I know how. I only ask that you prayerfully consider them with an open Bible and, if the Lord wills-an open heart.



God's Choice of His Elect is Unconditional and Eternal



The Scriptures teach that salvation is not dependent upon the choice of man, but rather upon the choice of God. God chose certain individuals in Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world, based solely upon His own good pleasure.



(Eph 1:4-5) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: {5} Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,



Christ plainly told His disciples:



(John 15:16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.



So, contrary to today's popular theology, the choice is not man's, the choice is God's; and that choice was made before the world was. That choice was made without reference to anything of merit found in or "foreseen" in the creature.



(Rom 9:11-13) (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth {12} It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. {13} As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.



(2 Th 2:13) But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:



Natural Man is Spiritually Dead and Incapable of Positive Action in the Spiritual Realm

All men fell in Adam, and fallen man is totally depraved, having neither the ability, nor the desire to receive the things of God.

(Rom 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:



(1 Cor 15:21-22) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. {22} For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.



As a result of that universal fall all men are born spiritually dead. This includes even the elect of God, for Paul writes to the saints in Ephesus:



(Eph 2:1) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:



Being spiritually dead, man can do nothing positive in the spiritual realm. Indeed, it has been aptly noted that the only thing a dead man is capable of is stinking. Apart from God's electing and regenerating grace, all men are a stench in His holy nostrils.



(1 Cor 2:14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.



(Rom 3:10-18) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: {11} There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. {12} They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. {13} Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: {14} Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: {15} Their feet are swift to shed blood: {16} Destruction and misery are in their ways: {17} And the way of peace have they not known: {18} There is no fear of God before their eyes.



The Scriptures tell us that unregenerate man is dead. Were his salvation dependent upon him doing something (such as exercising godly repentance and "saving" faith) he would be entirely without hope. The unregenerate sinner is not simply weak, or sick, or injured-he is DEAD! There is no hope for him apart from unconditional divine intervention.



(Col 2:13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;



Apart from the immediate and unconditional imparting of spiritual life by the Spirit of God, man could not and would not come to God. A dead man CANNOT come to God for life. He can only come if God first gives him life.



God's Spirit Imparts Life and Grants Repentance and Faith to God's Elect



God quickens (gives life) to whom HE will. In particular, He gives life to those whom He chose in Christ before the foundation of the world.



(John 5:21) For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.



(John 3:8) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.



Salvation is not in any sense by the will of man; it is by the sovereign will of God.



(John 1:13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.



(Rom 9:15-16) For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. {16} So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.



Regeneration is NOT the result of repentance and faith. A spiritually dead man is incapable of such acts in the spiritual realm. Repentance and faith are the results and evidences of regeneration.



Christ Died for His People and His Death Assures Their Salvation



Christ died for His elect sheep and for them ALONE.



(John 10:11) I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.



Not all men are His sheep. Contrary to most modern preaching, it is NOT belief that makes one a sheep, rather belief MANIFESTS (or reveals) one to be a sheep.



In addressing the religious leaders who rejected His testimony, the Lord said:



(John 10:26-28) But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. {27} My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: {28} And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Note that Christ DID NOT say: "ye are not my sheep because ye will not believe." NO, He said: "ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep."



Christ did not shed His blood in vain for ANY. ALL for whom HE died SHALL be eternally saved-not because of anything they do (including repentance and faith), but solely because of what HE did.



The words that the angel spoke to Joseph before the birth of Christ are of great significance here:



(Mat 1:21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

He SHALL save HIS PEOPLE from their sins. Not that He shall TRY to save EVERYBODY from their sins. Rather, He SHALL save HIS PEOPLE from their sins.



We do not worship a God that is "trying to save everybody," but CANNOT, because they will not cooperate with Him-because they will not LET Him! What blasphemy!! God is Sovereign. He does ALL that He desires. He does not TRY to do anything. I cannot speak for the god you may worship, but my God is not "wishing and hoping and trying" like some impotent mortal. My God is accomplishing all His will. No man can stay His hand! No man can thwart His will!



(Dan 4:35) And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?



(Eph 1:11) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:



When it pleases Him to do so, God gives life to ALL whom he chose from the foundation of the world and to ALL for whom Christ died. ALL of these, and these ALONE, shall come to Christ in God-given repentance and faith:



(John 6:37) All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.



Those That are His Will Persevere Unto the End



Most will acknowledge that there are many false professions of faith made today. Often these professions are made in response to the false gospel of easy-believism. Some even seem to outwardly receive the true gospel for a time-but without inward acceptance. These ultimately reveal their reprobation by a final departing from the faith.



(Mat 13:20-21) But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; {21} Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.



Such that fall away were never regenerated by the Spirit of God. They were never amongst the elect of God. They were never the children of God. Those that are God's elect are marked by their perseverance in the faith. This perseverance is accomplished by the preserving grace of God. It is not accomplished by their own efforts or merits, though they must indeed strive diligently against sin in their own flesh.



The reprobates are marked by their abandonment of the faith that they outwardly embraced for a time.



(1 John 2:19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.



As shown above, coming to Christ does not MAKE one a sheep, but REVEALS one to be a sheep. So this falling away does not UNMAKE one a sheep-rather it REVEALS those who never were amongst his sheep. Such was the case of Judas Iscariot, that son of perdition, and such is the case with many others.



God's People Are Charged to Proclaim His Gospel



God ensures that all of His elect hear and receive the good news of their redemption by Jesus Christ. He accomplishes this through the proclamation of the gospel message. This proclamation brings the knowledge of that which Christ has ALREADY accomplished on the behalf of His people.



The Gospel is not God's OFFER to do something if man will only do something first. The Gospel is the bold proclamation of that which Christ has ALREADY done for the sheep.



Those for whom the gospel message is intended-God's quickened elect-receive it in reality and with great joy and persevere by God's preserving grace. The remainder finally reject it as foolishness or a stumbling stone.



(1 Cor 1:22-24) For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: {23} But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; {24} But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.



(1 Cor 2:12-14) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. {13} Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. {14} But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.



The gospel reveals to the quickened elect sinner that which has already been accomplished on his behalf. God-given faith brings him to embrace his Savior and imparts the comfort and peace that such knowledge alone can bring.



The Lord's church is charged to proclaim the gospel unto all whom the Lord gives them opportunity. In so doing God is glorified whether the message is received or whether it is rejected.



(2 Cor 2:14-17) Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. {15} For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: {16} To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? {17} For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.



Conclusion



From the foregoing, it is evident that the "faith" of most so-called "Independent, Fundamental, Soul-winning Baptist Churches" IS NOT the faith once delivered unto the Saints, nor is it the faith of God's elect. It is certainly not the faith for which the ancient Baptists contended and for which they were persecuted and slain.



(Jude 1:3) Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.



(Titus 1:1) Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;



May the Lord be glorified in this feeble and all together inadequate presentation of His glorious gospel. We realize that most will not embrace this unpopular message. However, we are not ashamed of those things that the Lord has been pleased teach us. We believe it is our duty to honestly proclaim them as He gives us opportunity.

 

Here is a morsel from A.W. Pink :

The Sovereignty of God. What do we mean by this expression? We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the god-hood of God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, doing according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest Thou? (Dan. 4:35). To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in Heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist His will (Psa. 115:3). To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is "The Governor among the nations" (Psa. 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleaseth Him best. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the "Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15). Such is the God of the Bible.

How different is the God of the Bible from the God of modern Christendom! The conception of Deity which prevails most widely today, even among those who profess to give heed to the Scriptures, is a miserable caricature, a blasphemous travesty of the Truth. The God of the twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate being who commands the respect of no really thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is the creation of maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day pulpit is an object of pity rather than of awe-inspiring reverence. To say that God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that God the Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ; when, as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of our fellowmen are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity; is to say that God the Father is disappointed, that God the Son is dissatisfied, and that God the Holy Spirit is defeated. We have stated the issue baldly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is "trying His best" to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the Devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is Almighty and God is no longer the Supreme Being.

To declare that the Creator's original plan has been frustrated by sin, is to dethrone God. To suggest that God was taken by surprise in Eden and that He is now attempting to remedy an unforeseen calamity, is to degrade the Most High to the level of a finite, erring mortal. To argue that man is a free moral agent and the determiner of his own destiny, and that therefore he has the power to checkmate his Maker, is to strip God of the attribute of Omnipotence. To say that the creature has burst the bounds assigned by his Creator, and that God is now practically a helpless Spectator before the sin and suffering entailed by Adam's fall, is to repudiate the express declaration of Holy Writ, namely, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain" (Psa. 76:10). In a word, to deny the Sovereignty of God is to enter upon a path which, if followed to its logical terminus, is to arrive at blank atheism.

The Sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite. When we say that God is Sovereign we affirm His right to govern the universe which He has made for His own glory, just as He pleases. We affirm that His right is the right of the Potter over the clay, i. e., that He may mold that clay into whatsoever form He chooses, fashioning out of the same lump one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. We affirm that He is under no rule or law outside of His own will and nature, that God is a law unto Himself, and that He is under no obligation to give an account of His matters to any.

 

No original thought? This shows and inability don't you think. Must be totally depraved.
May Christ Shine His Light On Us All;
Mike

 

More:

"For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Romans 9:15

In these words the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to withhold his mercy according to his own sovereign will. As the prerogative of life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in his sight. Men by their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they deserve to perish for their sins-and if they all do so, they have no ground for complaint. If the Lord steps in to save any, he may do so if the ends of justice are not thwarted; but if he judges it best to leave the condemned to suffer the righteous sentence, none may arraign him at their bar. Foolish and impudent are all those discourses about the rights of men to be all placed on the same footing; ignorant, if not worse, are those contentions against discriminating grace, which are but the rebellions of proud human nature against the crown and sceptre of Jehovah. When we are brought to see our own utter ruin and ill desert, and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer cavil at the truth that the Lord is not bound to save us; we do not murmur if he chooses to save others, as though he were doing us an injury, but feel that if he deigns to look upon us, it will be his own free act of undeserved goodness, for which we shall for ever bless his name.

How shall those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the grace of God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually excludes it. The Lord's will alone is glorified, and the very notion of human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none more promotive of gratitude, and, consequently, none more sanctifying. Believers should not be afraid of it, but adoringly rejoice in it.


Spurgeon

 

Someone else's thoughts on Calvinism:

http://www.faithalone.org/journal/1995ii/Congdon.htm