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5 Points of Calvinism also known as ‘The Canons of Dort’
An official document written in 1619 by the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, it was written in response to a document drafted by followers of Jacob Arminius in 1610 called ‘The Remonstrance’. It was organized into 5 main points, and became known as the 5 points of Calvinism. We use the acronym TULIP to describe the points. The first lesson will be on the first point of Calvinism, T – which stands for Total Depravity:
Total Depravity:
The Arminian Position is that man is spiritually sick, but has some inherent goodness within him. Adam’s fall affected man, but still left him with the ability to choose spiritual goodness, and our eternal destiny is based on our choice to accept or reject God.
The Reformed Position is that we are unable to choose spiritual goodness. Adam’s fall completely corrupted our nature, and because of that corruption we are spiritually dead. The unsaved are deaf, blind, and ignorant to God.
Points to support this:
1. We are spiritually dead – Colossians 2:13 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven
us all our trespasses.” We are spiritually dead in our sins. Why? Let’s look at
the beginning, with God’s initial warning to Adam. Genesis 2:16-
“How does that apply to me?” one may ask. “After all, if it just happened to Adam, how can it affect me?” Let’s look at Romans 5:12, and 19b for the answer: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…. for as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners.
2. This spiritual death is total within us. It corrupts our entire being. Isaiah 1:5b, 6 “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.” There is no part of us that is spiritually ‘neutral’ – Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” Note that this is Paul who was saying this. Paul, who had been miraculously saved by God’s grace, still recognized the utter corruption of his flesh, and how he was unable to do anything about it by himself.
3. This spiritual corruption stems from the heart. Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Listen to that – the heart is fully set to do evil. Ecclesiastes 9:3 “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. This is also mentioned in Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Not partly sick, but fully sick, and fully set to do evil; not just because sometimes you have a bad day, not just because you’re stressed, not just because you can’t take it anymore. This is our default position. In computer terms – this is our ‘factory setting’. This is a stark contrast to the modern message of “follow your heart” “listen to your heart” and “trust your heart”. Since it is sick, full of evil, and not to be trusted, why would I want to do that?
4. Because of this corruption, and its totality, we are slaves to sin and Satan
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5. Because those outside of Christ are of the devil, all ‘good intentions’ are inherently
evil, and cannot be considered good at all. Many are particularly fond of John 3:16.
Many times often using it as a flowery justification for their own wickedness, claiming
that they have a free pass they can use at any time. “But God so loves the world,
right? He forgives everyone no matter what they’ve done, right”. Far from it, dear
friend – keep reading. John 3:19-
6. So, because of this death, because of this saturated corruption, because it is impossible for the unsaved to please God by anything that they do; we are totally unable to repent, to come to Christ, and to generate faith on our own. Simply put, the dead cannot raise themselves. 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Not able to understand. Christ tells us in Matthew 11:27 where this understanding comes from, since it does not come from ourselves “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. And again in John 6:65 “And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." Belief is granted to us, we cannot do it ourselves, it is from God, through Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit – Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.
Now, lest we give in to temptation and become haughty in our salvation, and through
that pride view the unsaved with contempt, we would do good to remember that it is
by God’s grace that we are no longer in this wretched state of spiritual death. Turn
to Titus 3:3-
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