The Bible and Calvinism
The series closes with the five points summarized once more and a look at the Arminian view of divine foreknowledge associated with Dr. Craig. Real mystery remains in God’s eternal prescience, even while affirming the ‘already and not yet’ character of our heavenly life in Christ.
Three reasons for preaching in a redemptive-historical way come first, before turning to the perseverance of the saints. The church is, collectively, Christ’s own body, so our perseverance finally rests on God’s, not our own.
Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones becomes the text for weighing the modern Pentecostal understanding of the Holy Spirit against the teaching of Kuyper, Vos, and Gaffin. Irresistible grace is the Spirit’s work of uniting us to Christ, not mere religious excitement.
Calvinism is a language to be learned, not a system absorbed at a glance, a brief history of the movement suggests. Limited atonement comes next, with the Calvinistic and Arminian positions set side by side.
The historical formation of Arminian doctrine gets traced, returning to the five points of Calvinism to clarify exactly what ‘unconditional’ election means. Good works, and even faith itself, are the result of election and regeneration, not its cause.
The book of Job frames a contrast between Arminian and Calvinistic views of unconditional election here, explored in both its corporate and individual dimensions. Job’s own view of God is transformed only in light of the cross of Christ that was still to come.
The evil evident in both public and private life gets surveyed as evidence of total depravity, offering a careful biblical definition of sin that touches mind, emotions, and will alike. Against that bleak picture stands Christ’s own conquest of sin on our behalf.
The series opens with what it means to be an Orthodox Presbyterian (a church ruled by elders) before introducing the five points of Calvinism centered on God’s sovereignty and predestination. Many of history’s most influential theologians were themselves Calvinists, all pointing back to the cross of Christ.