REVISITING CHRIST’S MESSAGE TO TODAY’S EVANGELICALS

Part III: Christ’s Appraisal Of Evangelicals As Two, Offensive, Judging Factions

B. Christ’s Evaluation Of Evangelicals Detailed

2. Christ’s Exposure Of The Factions’ Errant Beliefs Behind Their Errant Judgments

a. The Errant Views Of Depravity And Their Harmful Effects

(Revelation 3:14, 17b[a])

 

I.               Introduction

A.    Having critiqued the errant judgments of today’s two evangelical Calvinist and Arminian factions, Christ detailed how they arrived at this troubling state by the influence of their respective errant BELIEFS!

B.    In Revelation 3:14, 17b[a], Christ exposed the factions’ errant beliefs on depravity and their harmful effects:

II.            The Errant Views Of Depravity And Their Harmful Effects, Revelation 3:14, 17b[a].

A.    In Rev. 3:17b in the Greek text, Jesus said that each faction was “the wretched and pitiful and poor and blind and naked one” (five adjectives linked by four conjunctions), implying that the five adjectives are all inter-related with each other, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 845; A. T. Robertson, A Gram. of the Grk. N. T., p. 777.

B.    Notably, Calvinist theologian Loraine Boettner (The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, 1932, p. 59) wrote that Calvinism’s five points of belief are “not isolated and independent doctrines, but are . . . inter-related . . .”

C.    In viewing these five adjectives in order, we see Christ critiqued the five points of Calvinism in order AND their opposing Arminian beliefs, with insight on the harmful effects that each errant view has on believers:

1.      Calvinism’s first point is “Total Inability,” that unsaved man’s will is so bound to a fully depraved nature that he cannot author faith in Christ, and God must give him the faith to trust in Christ, Ibid., p. 61-82.

2.      Arminianism holds that man’s will and nature are both partly depraved, that unsaved man has free will and cooperates in salvation by giving faith to God (Bettenson, Docs. of the Christ. Chch., 2nd ed., p. 377f).

3.      However, Jesus critiqued both views of human depravity along with their harmful effects on believers:

                         a.  The Laodiceans were first “wretched” (Revelation 3:17b[a] NIV), what translates the word talaiporos in the Greek N. T., and it appears outside of this verse elsewhere in the New Testament only at Romans 7:24 (Moulton & Geden, Conc. to the Grk. Test., 4th ed., p. 932; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 845, 547).

                         b.  Christ thus critiqued the Calvinist view of depravity: (a) talaiporos in the context of Romans 7:15-24 describes one who sins against his will!  (b) Calvinists claim that only carnal Christians sin against their will, that the unsaved will only to sin (John Murray, The Epis. to the Rom., 1975, 256-259)! (c) However, Romans 2:1-3:8 presents unsaved moralists and unsaved Hebrews as both [errantly] boasting that they do NOT sin, what reveals that they can WANT to do what is RIGHT!  (d) Consequently, the will is SEPARATE FROM the sin nature NOT ONLY in BELIEVERS, BUT ALSO in UNBELIEVERS, so Calvinists err in holding that God must give the unsaved elect a gift of faith for them to trust in Christ!

                         c.  Christ also critiqued the Arminian view of depravity: (a) Though the will is separate from the sin nature, Romans 7:15-24 also shows that one is unable to avoid sin in his deeds due to his sin nature!  (b) Man is NOT able to cooperate with God to help produce his salvation, for his sin nature is TOTALLY depraved!

                         d.  Christ’s use of talaiporos in Romans 7:15-24 with Galatians 5:16 also reveals how these beliefs have led to spiritually defeated lives: (a) Calvinists have relied on God’s predestination to make His alleged gift of faith allegedly given to them at salvation strong that they might gain victory over their sin nature SO THAT they have NOT initiated reliance on the Holy Spirit for such victory like Galatians 5:16 teaches!  (b) Arminians have relied on the supposed power of what is really a POWERLESS FAITH to give them victory over their sin nature instead of relying on the HOLY SPIRIT as Galatians 5:16 teaches!

 

Lesson: (1) Calvinists have errantly held that the will is so bound to a totally depraved sin nature that unsaved man cannot trust in Christ but must be given a gift of faith by God to believe.  So, relying on God’s predestination to use His alleged gift of faith to give them victory over the sin nature, saved Calvinists have failed to initiate faith in God that they might have that victory.  (2) Arminians have errantly held that the will and nature are both partly depraved, that the unsaved can then contribute faith to God to help save themselves.  So, believing that their faith has power, Arminians have relied on a powerless faith versus the Holy Spirit for victory over the sin nature.

 

Application: May we avoid both Calvinist and Arminian views on human depravity and hold that the will is a non-depraved entity that is separate from the totally depraved sin nature, that we might then initiate a reliance on the Holy Spirit by faith to live in victory over our totally depraved sin natures (Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 5:16)!