Page 6 - Inside Report - 4Q 2016

by Pastor Doug Batchelor

An Amazing
Fact:
Did you know that it is possible to starve to death while still eating three meals

a day? If the food you eat is nonnutritive or has negative calories—meaning

it takes more calories to digest it than it contains—you could experience an

artiicial sense of fullness and well-being yet still suffer from fatal malnutrition.

“The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but

according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will
heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from

the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” —2 Timothy 4:3, 4

T
What Is TULIP?
here are so many lethal views about what constitutes

the true gospel, it boggles the mind.
Calvin’s irst foundational belief is “Total depravity”; that is, all
And it is with some trepidation and great
people are born sinners. This idea is plainly taught in Scripture. The

sadness that I suggest that many sincere Christians have second point is “Unconditional election,” which teaches that God

wholeheartedly consumed these toxic ideas about how to be Himself has chosen who will be saved and who will be lost, a view
saved, because believing in these counterfeit doctrines has with which I respectfully disagree. While God knows all things, the

potentially severe and eternal ramiications.
Lord does not arbitrarily choose who will be saved.

One such view is called “once saved, always saved,” also The third point is “Limited atonement.” It teaches that Jesus died
known as the doctrine of eternal security or the “perseverance to redeem only those who were pre-chosen, the elect, and not everyone.

of the saints.” It is a belief that, I believe, can cause deadly Of course, this notion contradicts 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15, which says,

spiritual atrophy.
“Christ died for all.” The fourth point is “Irresistible grace,” which says
The roots of this teaching go back to a giant of the humans are saved only by God’s will, with no choice on our part. I

Protestant Reformation, John Calvin. This man of deep faith believe both of these are toxic teachings.
The ifth point, and the main focus of this article, is the
was a sincere Bible student and a brilliant scholar. But like
all people, including Martin Luther and John Wesley, his “Perseverance of the saints.” In short, it states that those who are

theology was not perfect. It’s been said that “great men often predestined to be saved cannot be lost, even by their own choice. Once
hold to great heresies,” and I believe this was true of Calvin, youaresaved,youarealwayssaved.Youcanneverloseyoursalvation.

who attempted to systematize his concepts of salvation, Is this doctrine biblical—or is it a dangerous teaching that provides

which form the basis of Calvinism.
a false sense of security and could actually derail a person’s salvation?
The ive points of Calvinism can be summarized by the Though many Bible references are listed for this concept, we’ll look

acronym TULIP. While this article focuses primarily on the carefully at those most used to support the idea that once a person is

last teaching, it is probably helpful for us to briely review saved, he or she is forever locked into that decision.
the others since they are all connected.
We’ll begin by considering the teaching of unconditional election.

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Inside Report 4Q 2016