The Doctrines of Grace
A look at the doctrines of grace
smothered in Scripture and commented on by Mr. Christopher Blum.
Not everyone believes in
grace. Many cheapen grace. Some (most) do not take grace as
it is - pure merciful grace - but desire to to overshadow that
grace with their own works. Works get in the way of grace and rob
God of His glory. Grace must remain grace, true grace, if it is to
be praised and loved. God is gracious. Everyone would admit
that, but most do not stand up to the Scriptural definitions of
grace. How gracious is YOUR God? The following study is an overview
of what we call the doctrines of grace. It is a
happy reminder that one cannot get to heaven by works, and that God
alone is the Saviour through His beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be sure to take time to
click on the footnotes listed as they appear through the document.
These are comments by Mr. Blum to be read. CMM,
December 17, 2004
A
Brief Definition of the Doctrines of Grace,
or the Five Points of Calvinism (T.U.L.I.P.)
by Mr. Christopher Blum
visit
his web blog here
TOTAL
DEPRAVITY
(or Radical Corruption) asserts that because of the Fall, man’s nature
was so drastically affected by sin that he in himself is utterly
incapable of believing the gospel or lifting a finger to do God’s
will. That is not due to God exerting some force to keep him hardened,
but simply due to the desperately corrupt nature of his own heart and
will, making him totally blind and deaf to the things of God. Because
man’s will is not free—for it is in bondage to his evil nature—he
will never, and in fact can never, choose the goodness of God over the
sinful desires of the flesh. Thus, even if the Holy Spirit were to give
man much assistance and help to overcome his sinful nature, see the
light and choose the truth, if any part of that changing-process
were left up to man with his natural will, he would be unable to repent.
UNCONDITIONAL
ELECTION (or
Sovereign Election) asserts that from eternity past, God the Father
chose certain individuals from every tongue, tribe, nation and
generation of humanity to redeem—the elect—and passed over the rest
of mankind—the reprobate. His selection of specific people was not, in
any way, based on or related to a foreknowledge of any future
faith, repentance or actions of theirs. Being completely independent
of any characteristics of the people, God’s choice was rooted entirely
in His sovereign, transcendent, perfect will, the nature or specifics of
which the Bible leaves as a complete mystery to us. However, all those
whom God lovingly predestined to come to salvation will surely and
absolutely be brought so through the death of Christ and the
regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
LIMITED
ATONEMENT (or
Definite Atonement) asserts that Christ’s death on the Cross had only
the elect in mind, and was intended to save them alone. While the
Atonement was infinite in value—for, since even one sin is an infinite
abomination against God, only an Atonement of infinite value could put
away any sin at all—that value was reserved for the elect alone, and
the blood Christ shed on the Cross was offered for their sins alone. Not
even a potential application of it was, in any sense, ever made
to the rest of mankind; in other words, when Christ was shedding His
blood on the Cross, he never thought of his suffering with regard to
anyone but those whom the Father had elected to be redeemed by it. It is
thus incorrect to say that Christ died to save anyone who is now in
hell, or that the Father ever intended for Christ’s blood to
even try to cleanse those people. Furthermore, not only was
Christ’s Atonement designed for, and given to, only the elect; it also
actually secured salvation for them, and purchased all the means to
such, including their faith and repentance, thereby guaranteeing their
salvation. Thus, the Atonement did not merely offer its objects the
opportunity to be redeemed, but it wholly and effectively redeemed them!
IRRESISTIBLE
GRACE (or Effectual
Grace) asserts that when the external call to salvation is made, and the
gospel is proclaimed either through the spoken word or the silent
reading of Scripture, the Holy Spirit extends a special inward call to
the elect people that God wishes to save at that particular time. This
inward call is called regeneration or the new birth, and, far more than
being mere assistance in helping its objects believe, it is an entire
reconstruction of their very natures and intrinsic wills,
transforming them into, as the Bible puts it, “slaves to
righteousness” rather than “slaves to sin.” It is a divine opening
of their eyes—God revealing their sin and His splendor to their
hearts, splendor which they would otherwise never have sought, but
which, once they see, they can never stop desiring and pursuing. Thus,
the Holy Spirit’s work is in no way dependant upon man’s
cooperation for success, for man in his corrupt nature cannot
willingly cooperate, and that is the very thing the Holy Spirit
is changing in him. In other words, while the outward call of the gospel
can be resisted, this inward call of the Spirit cannot; it is always
wholly effectual in accomplishing its purpose of instantaneously
transforming the nature of its recipients from evil to good, so that it
inevitably causes them to joyfully and willingly repent of their deep
sin and choose Christ. Thus, it is God’s choice of the sinner, and not
the sinner’s of God, that ultimately and fully causes salvation, since
the sinner’s very willingness to put faith in Christ is solely a gift
from God that was purchased at the Cross.
PERSEVERANCE
OF THE SAINTS (or
Preservation of the Saints) asserts that once the Holy Spirit
regenerates people, and they place their trust in Christ, they are
eternally kept in their state of salvation by God. For when they were
unregenerate, their wills were held captive to sin, but are now held
captive to righteousness by God. And He faithfully preserves all whom He
set out to save and drew to Him. Likewise, whenever anyone apparently
“receives Christ,” but later falls away and dies in that state, they
were never truly saved at all—for anyone whom the Holy Spirit calls
was predestined by the Father and atoned for by the Son, and thus is
sealed with God’s promise of eternal life. Furthermore, in addition to
eternally preserving the salvation of His elect, God confirms that
salvation by the process of sanctification, wherein the Spirit
continually conforms all believers to Christ more and more as their life
progresses. Thus, the Father’s election, the Son’s atonement and the
Spirit’s regeneration are all confirmed to believers by the witness of
their own changed hearts and minds, and by the production of good works
and fruit.
Scriptures
Supporting the Doctrines of Grace, or the Five Points of Calvinism (T.U.L.I.P.)
Total
Depravity (or Radical Corruption)
Genesis
6:5 (emphasis mine) “The LORD saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Job
15:15-16 (emphasis mine) “Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones,
and the heavens are not pure in his sight; how much less [God puts
trust in] one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice
like water!”
Psalm
14:2-4 “The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see
if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all
turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does
good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up
my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?”
Psalm
51:5 “Behold, I [David] was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did
my mother conceive me.”
Psalm
58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from
birth, speaking lies.”
Ecclesiastes
8:11 (emphasis mine) “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not
executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to
do evil.”
Isaiah
64:6-7 (emphasis mine) “We [humans] have all become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all
fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There
is no one who calls upon your [God’s] name, who rouses himself to take
hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have made us melt
in the hand of our iniquities.”
Jeremiah
13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?
Then also [in the same way] you can do good who are accustomed to do
evil.”
Jeremiah
17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;
who can understand it?”
Job
14:4 “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not
one.”
John
3:3 “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born again [or “born from above”] he cannot see the kingdom of
God.’”
John
6:44 (emphasis mine) “No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the
Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last
day.”
John
6:65 “And he [Jesus] said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can
come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’”
John
8:34 “Jesus answered them [the Jews who had believed in Him],
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to
sin.’”
John
8:47 (emphasis mine) “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The
reason why you [Jews] do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
John
12:37-41 (emphasis mine) “Though he [Jesus] had done so many signs
before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken
by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Lord, who has believed
what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?’ Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah
said, ‘He [God] has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and
turn, and I would heal them.’ Isaiah said these things because he saw
his [God’s] glory and spoke of him.”
Romans
3:10-12, 18 (emphasis mine) “As it is written: ‘None is righteous,
no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have
turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,
not even one…There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”
Romans
8:7-8 (emphasis mine) “For the mind that is set on the flesh is
hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it
cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans
11:7-8 (emphasis mine) “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was
seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it
is written, ‘God gave them [left them with] a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very
day.’”
1
Corinthians 1:18 (emphasis mine) “For the word of the cross is
folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it
is the power of God.”
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.”
1
Corinthians 12:3 “…no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the
Holy Spirit.”
2
Corinthians 3:4-5 (emphasis mine) “Such is the confidence that we have
through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to
claim anything [including faith] as coming from us, but our
sufficiency is from God.”
2
Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only
to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has
blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light
of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Ephesians
2:1-3 (emphasis mine) “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in
the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions
of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
Colossians
2:13 (emphasis mine) “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.”
Titus
1:15 (emphasis mine) “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the
defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their
consciences are defiled.”
Titus
3:3 (emphasis mine) “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient,
led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our
days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”
Unconditional
Election (or Sovereign Election)
Job
42:2 (emphasis mine) “I [Job] know that you [God] can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Psalm
22:9-10 “Yet you [God] are he who took me [David] from the womb; you
made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my
birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm
65:4 (emphasis mine) “Blessed is the one you [God] choose and bring
near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple.”
Psalm
71:6 (emphasis mine) “Upon you [God] I have leaned from before my
birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is
continually of you.”
Psalm
139:16 (emphasis mine) “Your [God’s] eyes saw my [David’s]
unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the
days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of
them.”
Isaiah
43:10 (emphasis mine) “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD,
‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that [not because]
you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before
me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.’”
Isaiah
45:4 (emphasis mine) “For the sake of my [God’s] servant Jacob, and
Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though
you do not know me.”
Jeremiah
1:4-5 “Now the word of the LORD came to me [Jeremiah], saying,
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born
I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’”
Matthew
20:15 (emphasis mine) “Am I [the master of a house] not allowed to
do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my
generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew
22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew
24:21-22 (emphasis mine) “For then there will be great tribulation,
such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and
never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being
would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be
cut short.”
Luke
1:14-15 “And you [Zechariah] will have joy and gladness, and many will
rejoice at his [John the Baptist’s] birth, for he will be great before
the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be
filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”
Luke
19:9-10 (emphasis mine) “And Jesus said to him [Zacchaeus], ‘Today
salvation has come to this house, since [not so that] he
also is a son of Abraham [one of the elect]. For
the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost [sons of
Abraham].’”
John
8:47 “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you
[Jews] do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
John
10:25-26 (emphasis mine) “Jesus answered them [Jews], ‘I told you,
and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear
witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of
my flock.’”
John
15:16 (emphasis mine) “You [the disciples] did not choose me
[Jesus], but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and
bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask
the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
Acts
13:48 (emphasis mine) “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed [not vice-versa].”
Acts 22:14 (emphasis mine) “And he
[Ananias] said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you [Paul] to
know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear a
voice from his mouth.’”
Romans
8:29-30 (emphasis mine) “For those whom he [God] foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in
order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom
he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also
justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Romans
9:11, 14-16, 18-24 “Though they [Jacob and Esau] were not yet born and
had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of
election might continue, not because of works but because of his
call…What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no
means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it
depends not on human will or exertion [Greek “not of him who wills or
runs”], but on God, who has mercy…So then he has mercy on whomever
he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then,
‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who
are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its
molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right
over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use
and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his
wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience
vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the
riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared
beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews
only but also from the Gentiles?”
Romans
11:5-6 (emphasis mine) “So too at the present time there is a remnant,
chosen by grace. But if it [the choosing] is by grace, it is no
longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be
grace.”
Galatians 1:15-16 (emphasis mine) “But when he who had set
me [Paul] apart before I was born,and
who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son tome,
in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not
immediately consult with anyone.”
Ephesians
1:3-6 (emphasis mine) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In
love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according
to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace,
with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Ephesians
1:11-12 (emphasis mine) “In him [God] we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works
all things according to the counsel of his will, so
that [not because] we who were the first to hope in Christ
might be to the praise of his glory.”
1
Thessalonians 1:4-5 (emphasis mine) “For we know, brothers
loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you
not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full
conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for
your sake.”
2
Thessalonians 2:13-14 (emphasis mine) “But we ought always to give
thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God
chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the
Spirit and belief in the truth. To this [sanctification by the
Spirit and belief in the truth] he called you through our gospel, so
that [not because] you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ”
2
Timothy 1:9 “Who [God] saved us and called us to [or “with”] a
holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose
and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”
Hebrews
1:14 “Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent out to serve
for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
James
2:5 (emphasis mine) “Listen, my beloved brothers, has God not
chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and
heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love
him?”
1
Peter 2:8 “…They [those who do not believe] stumble because they
disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”
1
Peter 2:9 (emphasis mine) “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that
[not because] you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Limited
Atonement (or Definite Atonement)
Isaiah
53:12 (emphasis mine) “Therefore I will divide him [Jesus] a portion
with the many,and
he shall divide the spoil with the strong,because
he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the
transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for
the transgressors.”
Luke
19:9-10 (emphasis mine) “And Jesus said to him [Zacchaeus], ‘Today
salvation has come to this house, since [not so that] he
also is a son of Abraham [one of the elect]. For
the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost [sons of Abraham].’”
John
5:21 (emphasis mine) “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them
life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.”
John
11:52 “And [Jesus would die] not for the nation only, but also to
gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”
John
17:1-2 (emphasis mine) “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted
up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify
your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him
authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have
given him.’”
John
17:9, 20 “I [Jesus] am praying for them. I am not praying for the
world but for those whom you [Father] have given me, for they are
yours…I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe
in me through their word.”
John
17:19 (emphasis mine) “And for their [those the
Father has given Him] sake I [Jesus] consecrate myself [or “I
set myself apart” or “I sanctify myself”],that
they also may be sanctified in truth.”
Acts
5:31 “God exalted him [Jesus] at his right hand as Leader and
Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
Romans
5:9-10 (emphasis mine) “Since, therefore, we have now been justified
by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved
by his life.”
Romans
8:32-34 “He [God] who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us
all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things. Who
shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that,
who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is
interceding for us.”
1
Corinthians 1:30 (emphasis mine) “He [God] is the source of your life
in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and
sanctification and redemption.”
Ephesians
5:25-27 (emphasis mine) “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ
loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might
sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without
blemish.”
Titus
2:14 “Who [Jesus] gave himself for us [Christians] to redeem us from
all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own
possession who are zealous for good works.”
Titus
3:5-7 (emphasis mine) “He [God] saved us [Christians], not because of
works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the
washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured
out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being
justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.”
Hebrews
2:14-17 (emphasis mine) “Since therefore the children share in flesh
and blood, he [Jesus] himself likewise partook of the same things, that
through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that
is, the devil, and deliver all those
[all those God had given Him, for the context is speaking exclusively of
them] who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For
surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of
Abraham [the elect]. Therefore [to help the offspring of Abraham] he had
to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make
propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Hebrews
9:12 (emphasis mine) “He [Jesus] entered once for all into the holy
places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of
his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Hebrews
9:14 “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our
[Christians’] conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Hebrews
9:15 (emphasis mine) “Therefore he [Jesus] is the mediator of a new
covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised
eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
Hebrews
10:14 “For by a single offering he [Jesus] has perfected for all time
those who are being sanctified.”
1
Peter 1:1-2 (emphasis mine) “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those
who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the
sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for
sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to
you.”
1
Peter 1:20-21 (emphasis mine) “He [Jesus] was foreknown before the
foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your
sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from
the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
1
John 5:20 (emphasis mine) “And we know that the Son of God has come
and has given us understanding, so that [not “because”]
we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his
Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Revelation
5:9-10 (emphasis mine) “And they [the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders in Heaven] sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you
[Jesus] to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain,
and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and
language and people and nation, and
you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall
reign on the earth.’”
Revelation
13:8 (emphasis mine) “And all who dwell on earth will worship it [the
beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation
of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.”
Irresistible
Grace (or Effectual Grace)
Deuteronomy
30:6, 8 (emphasis mine) “And the LORD
your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so
that [not because] you will love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that [not because]
you may live…And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD
and keep all his commandments that I command you today.”
Deuteronomy
29:4 “But to this day the LORD has not given you [the people of Israel
in Moses’ time] a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to
hear.”
Job
31:4 “Does not he [God] see my [Job’s] ways and number all my
steps?”
Job
42:2 (emphasis mine) “I [Job] know that you [God] can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Psalm
22:9-10 “Yet you [God] are he who took me [David] from the womb; you
made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my
birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm
65:4 (emphasis mine) “Blessed is the one you [God] choose and bring
near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple.”
Proverbs
16:9 “The heart of a man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his
steps.”
Isaiah
45:3-6 (emphasis mine) “I [God] will give you [Israel] the treasures
of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that [not because]
you may know that it is I, the LORD, the
God of Israel, who call you by your name. For
the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by
your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the LORD,
and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you,
though you do not know me, that [not because] people
may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is
none besides me; I am the LORD, and
there is no other.”
Isaiah
55:10-11 “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not
return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my [God’s]
word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the
thing for which I sent it.”
Ezekiel
36:25-28 “I [God] will sprinkle clean water on you [Israel], and you
shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I
will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I
will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my
rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you
shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Daniel
4:35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and
he [God] does according to his will among the host of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him,
‘What have you done?’”
Matthew
11:25-27 (emphasis mine) “At that time Jesus declared, ‘I
thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden
these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little
children; yes, Father, for such was your
gracious will.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.’”
Matthew
16:15-17 (emphasis mine) “He said to them, ‘But
who do you say that I am?’
Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you,
Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my Father who is in heaven.’”
Luke
8:10 (emphasis mine) “He [Jesus] said, ‘To
you [the disciples] it has been given to know the secrets of the
kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that
“seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not
understand.”’”
John
1:12-13 (emphasis mine) “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who
were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the
will of man, but of God.”
John
3:7-8 “Do not marvel that I [Jesus] said to you
[Nicodemus], ‘You must be born again.’ The
windblows
where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it
comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.”
John
3:27 “John [the Baptist] answered, ‘A person cannot receive
even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.’”
John
6:37 (emphasis mine) “All that the Father gives me [Jesus] will
come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John
6:44-45 (emphasis mine) “No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the
Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.”
John
8:47 (emphasis mine) “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
The reason why you [Jews] do not hear them is that you are not of
God.”
John
10:16 (emphasis mine) “And I [Jesus] have other sheep that are not of
this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.
So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
John
10:25-26 (emphasis mine) “Jesus answered them [Jews], ‘I told you,
and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear
witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of
my flock.’”
Acts
2:38-39 (emphasis mine) “And Peter said to them [men in Judea and in
Jerusalem], ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your
children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God
calls to himself.’”
Acts
11:18 (emphasis mine) “When they [the apostles and the brothers] heard
these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then
to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’”
Acts
13:48 (emphasis mine) “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed [not vice-versa].”
Acts 16:14 (emphasis mine) “One who heard
us [Christians] was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a
seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened
her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”
Acts
18:27-28 (emphasis mine) “And when he [Apollos] wished to cross to
Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to
welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through
grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public,
showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”
Romans
1:1, 6-7 (emphasis mine) “Paul, a servantof
Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of
God… including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To
all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans
8:14 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Romans
8:29-30 (emphasis mine) “For those whom he [God] foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he
might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he
predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also
justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Romans
9:16 “So then it depends not on human will or exertion [Greek “not
of him who wills or runs”], but on God, who has mercy.”
Romans
10:20 “Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I [God] have been found by
those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask
for me.’”
Romans
11:7-8 (emphasis mine) “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was
seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it
is written, ‘God gave them [left them with] a spirit of stupor, eyes
that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very
day.’”
Romans 11:29 (emphasis mine) “For the
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
Romans
12:3 (emphasis mine) “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone
among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of
faith that God has assigned.”
1
Corinthians 1:1-2, 9 (emphasis mine) “Paul, called by the will of
God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To
the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every
place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and
ours…God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship
of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1
Corinthians 1:22-25 (emphasis mine) “For Jews demand signs and Greeks
seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to
Jews and folly to Gentiles, but
to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God. For the
foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is
stronger than men.”
1
Corinthians 3:5-7 (emphasis mine) “What then is Apollos? What is
Paul? Servants through [not “because of”] whom you
believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God
gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything,
but only God who gives the growth.”
1
Corinthians 4:7 “For who sees anything different in you? What do you
have that you did not receive [including faith]? If then you received
it, who do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
1
Corinthians 15:10 (emphasis mine) “But by the grace of God I am
what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary,
I worked harder than any of them [the apostles], though it was not I,
but the grace of God that is with me.”
2
Corinthians 3:4-5 (emphasis mine) “Such is the confidence that we have
through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to
claim anything [including faith] as coming from us, but our
sufficiency is from God.”
Galatians 1:15-16 (emphasis mine) “But when he who had set me
[Paul] apart before I was born,and
who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son tome,
in order that [not because] I might preach him among the
Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.”
Ephesians
1:17-19 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of
him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what
is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable
greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working
of his great might.”
Ephesians
2:4-7 (emphasis mine) “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the
great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have
been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might
show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians
2:8-10 (emphasis mine) “For by grace you have been saved through
faith. And this [salvation through faith] is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God, not
a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.”
Philippians
1:29 (emphasis mine) “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.”
Philippians
2:12-13 (emphasis mine) “Therefore, my beloved, as you have
always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for
it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.”
Colossians
2:13 (emphasis mine) “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.”
1
Timothy 1:12-14 (emphasis mine) “I [Paul] thank him who has given me
strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful,
appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer,
persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had
acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for
me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
2
Timothy 2:24-26 (emphasis mine) “And the Lord’s servant must not be
quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring
evil, correcting his opponents [the unsaved] with gentleness. God may
perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and
they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him
to do his will.”
Titus
3:5-7 (emphasis mine) “He [God] saved us, not because of works
done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the
washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he
poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that
[not because] being justified by his grace we might become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.”
Hebrews
9:15 (emphasis mine) “Therefore he [Jesus] is the mediator of a new
covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised
eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
Hebrews
12:1-2 (emphasis mine) “…let us also lay aside every weight, and sin
which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is
set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our
faith….”
Hebrews
13:20-21 (emphasis mine) “Now may the God of peace who brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the
blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you
may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
James
1:17-18 (emphasis mine) “Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is
no variation or shadow due to change. Of
his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that
[not because] we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures.”
James
4:13-15 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into
such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a
profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your
life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then
vanishes. Instead you ought to say,
‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”
1
Peter 1:20-21 (emphasis mine) “He [Jesus] was foreknown before the
foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your
sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from
the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
1
Peter 2:9 (emphasis mine) “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light.”
2
Peter 1:3-4 (emphasis mine) “His [God’s] divine power has granted
to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him who called us tohis own glory and
excellence,by which he has granted
to us his precious and very great promises, so that [not because]
through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful
desire.”
Jude
1:1 (emphasis mine) “…To those who are called, beloved
in God the Father and kept for [or “kept by”] Jesus
Christ.”
Perseverance
of the Saints (or Preservation of the Saints)
1
Samuel 2:9 (emphasis mine) “‘He [God] will guard the feet of his
faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for
not by might shall a man prevail.’”
Job
15:15-16 (emphasis mine) “Behold, God puts no trust in his holy
ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; how much less [God
puts trust in] one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks
injustice like water!”
Psalm
23:6 (emphasis mine) “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
[David] all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house
of the LORD forever.”
Isaiah
43:1-3 “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he
who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I
will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall
not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,
your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for
you.”
Isaiah
54:10 “‘For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but
my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace
shall not be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.”
Jeremiah
32:38-41 “And they [the elect] shall be my people, and I will be their
God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me
forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I
will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away
from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts,
that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I
will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all
my soul.”
Matthew
7:21-23 (emphasis mine) “Not everyone who says to me [Jesus], ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will
of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your
name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare
to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness.’”
Luke
8:13 (emphasis mine) “And the ones on the rock are those who, when
they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root;
they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”
John
6:37, 39-40 (emphasis mine) “All that the Father gives me [Jesus] will
come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out…And
this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of
all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son
and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise
him up on the last day.”
John
6:44 (emphasis mine) “No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the
Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
John
10:27-29 (emphasis mine) “My [Jesus’] sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life,
and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of
my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Romans
5:9-10 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood,
much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while
we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
Romans
6:15-23
Romans
8:29-30 (emphasis mine) “For those whom he [God] foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he
might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he
predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified,
and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Romans
8:35, 37-39 “Who shall separate us [Christians] from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword…No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us. For
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 11:29 (emphasis mine) “For the
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
1
Corinthians 1:7-9 “So that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift,
as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain
you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is
faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord.”
1
Corinthians 12:3 (emphasis mine) “Therefore I want you to understand
that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is
accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the
Holy Spirit.”
Ephesians
1:13-14 “In him [Jesus] you also, when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the
promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we
acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians
4:30 (emphasis mine) “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by
whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Philippians
1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
1
Thessalonians 5:23-24 “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you
completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful; he will surely do it.”
2
Timothy 1:12 “…I [Paul] am convinced that he [Jesus] is able to
guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.”
2
Timothy 4:18 “The Lord will rescue me [Paul] from every evil deed and
bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever
and ever. Amen.”
Hebrews
9:12 (emphasis mine) “He [Jesus] entered once for all into the holy
places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of
his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”
Hebrews
9:15 (emphasis mine) “Therefore he [Jesus] is the mediator of a new
covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised
eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
Hebrews
10:14 “For by a single offering he [Jesus] has perfected for all time
those who are being sanctified.”
Hebrews
12:28 (emphasis mine) “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a
kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God
acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.”
1
Peter 1:3-5 (emphasis mine) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded
through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1
Peter 1:23 (emphasis mine) “Since you have been born again, not of
perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding
word of God.”
1
John 2:19 “They went out from us [from the Christians], but they were
not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with
us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not
of us.”
1
John 2:25 (emphasis mine) “And this is the promise that he
[God] made to us [Christians]—eternal life.”
1
John 5:4 (emphasis mine) “For everyone who has been born of God
overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world—our faith.”
Jude
1:1 (emphasis mine) “…To those who are called, beloved
in God the Father and kept for [or “kept by”] Jesus
Christ.”
Jude
1:24-25 (emphasis mine) “Now to him who is able to keep you
[Christians] from stumbling and to present you blameless before the
presence of his glory with great joy, to
the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,
majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.
Amen.”
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