A Summary of Calvinism(Doctrines of Grace/TULIP)

A Summary of Calvinism(Doctrines of Grace/TULIP)

(T.otal Depravity)-Right from the start of our life we think ourselves the rulers of our destiny, the bible, however, tells us otherwise, the bible says that God is the ruler of our destiny and we being sinful try and make destiny about ourselves, what we see as reality is undetermined, autonomous choices but the bible tells us that all choices are predetermined, we know this from verses such as this,(Acts4:27-28). (I.rresistible Grace)-The bible tells us to realize that every man is utterly sinful and unable to seek Christ(Rom3, Eph2) unless they are first reborn (John 3). The bible tells us that Faith itself is the gift of God, NOT of ourselves(Eph2:8, phillipians1:29), we are hopeless sinners dead in trespasses and sins if it weren't for us being quickened unto faith in Christ(Eph 2). (U.nconditional Election)-The bible says that God the Father determines who will be chosen for quickening unto faith in Christ(John 6) and that some cannot accept this teaching-(John 6:44-66). Paul tells us that before we were born or did anything good or bad God chose for us to either A.-give Him glory by our being saved in Christ by grace through faith or B.-give Him glory by being left in our sins and unbelief and punished in Hell, this is done so that no man can boast in their salvation, this is accomplished by election because God's choice then is not based on our faith, good works, or anything else seen by Him beforehand but only according to His unconditional mercy, God does not owe any sinner mercy therefore He is able to freely choose who will be left to justice and who will be shown mercy(Romans 9). Romans 9 explains election to us, anytime we see the word chosen or elect in the bible we should remember what Romans 9 tells us. (P.erseverance of the Saints)-Since we are elected by God the Father before time to be saved in Christ, He is the one who must draw us(John6:44), once we are drawn and quickened unto faith in Christ He will never forsake us or leave us(John 10), the bible never says once saved always saved, rather it says once saved KEPT saved. (L.imited/Particular Atonement)- Finally I will show you the heart of what the bible teaches, and that is that when Christ suffered and died He was actually effectively saving those who He suffered and died for(Matt21, 2Cor19). Now wait a second you might say, didn't Christ suffer and die for the whole world? Yes, Christ did suffer and die for the whole world, but not every single person whoever lived! The bible in the New Testament only tells us once of WHO the world specifically is, you might be surprised to find that world does not mean every single person who ever lived but rather every tongue, tribe, and nation(Rev5:9).
Following Argumentation

Now you may say, but aren't we saved by faith in Christ rather than election? To that we say, election was the guarantee that you would have faith in the appointed time, Christ died for the sin of unbelief for those that are elect so that the Holy Spirit could apply belief AKA faith to them by quickening(John3, Eph2, 2:8). Faith is the result of being regenerated and being regenerated was the result of being bought by Christ in His atoning blood. From our experiential perspective it is backwards, we see that we have faith which results in our regeneration which results in our election, but what we see should never determine what the bible says, and this brings me to the next point.

We must never interpret the bible by our experience but rather our experience by the bible, for example, to us it seems as though our choices are not chosen before hand by God, but the Bible tells us all things, even the choices of men are predetermined and foreknown to come to pass, and foreknowledge is not a foreseeing of events, rather it is causing of events, God is literally SEEING things into the future, just like we READ things onto a blank sheet of paper by writing. The proof text is Acts4:27-28.

Whenever the bible tells us to seek Christ even when according to Rom3 and Eph2 we have no ability we must remember that God often speaks to us from our own perspective so that we can understand, to us it LOOKS like we are the ones seeking Christ, when really it is that God sought after us. Martin Luther had a famous quote that went something like this, " We do everything (it would appear) but (in actuality) contribute nothing, it is Christ who is accomplishing in and through us." It is thought today that Christ needs to recieve glory FROM us, but the biblical position is that Christ is displaying His glory THROUGH us and IN us, He never NEEDS, rather He IS.

Now you have had a glimpse of Redemption as understood by the Historical Protestant, Reformed/Calvinist Christian, to sum up Redemption it is that, the Father elected people to salvation, He chose His son to redeem those people by His blood on the Cross, and the Holy Spirit applied that redemption wrought by Christ's blood by regenerating the heart, mind, and soul and imparting the gift of faith to those whom the Father elected to salvation. Redemption was a Triune effort, this covenant originated by Our Holy, Triune God is referred to by theologians as the Covenant of Redemption.

There, I think that is a concise summary of the 5 points of Calvinism and the Covenant of Redemption as understood biblically, it is not everything but it is the basics in simple form. I sincerely hope this helped in the readers quest for godliness.

In Christ's mercy, Charles Barribeau