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From: Jurianto Joe 
Subject: predestine
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From:    IN%"wity@iastate.edu" 18-OCT-1992 00:10:55.67
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: Part One (1 of 5)
 
      Introduction to Election
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
         Election! -- What a blessed word!  What a glorious doctrine!
      Who does not rejoice to know that he has been chosen to some
      great blessing?  Election is unto salvation -- the greatest of
      all blessings.  And strange to say, this is a neglected truth
      even by many who profess to believe it, and others have a
      feeling of repulsion at the very mention of this
      Bible-revealed, God-honouring, and man humbling truth.
      Spurgeon said, "There seems to be an inveterate prejudice in
      the human mind against this doctrine, and although most other
      doctrines will be received by professing Christians, some with
      caution, others with pleasure, yet this one seems to be most
      frequently disregarded and discarded."  If such were true in
      Spurgeon's day, how much more so in this our day.  Concerning
      this doctrine there is an alarming departure from the faith of
      our Baptist fathers.  Touching this article of our faith
      Baptists have come to a day when they have a Calvinistic creed
      and an Arminian clergy.
 
         But there are some who love the doctrine of Election.  To
      them election is the foundation dug deep for the other
      doctrines of human redemption to rest upon.  They love it
      enough to preach it in the face of criticism and persecution.
      They will surrender their pulpits rather than be silenced on
      this precious tenet of the once delivered faith.  But all who
      love the doctrine were once haters of it, therefore, they have
      nothing in which to take pride.  Every  man by nature is an
      Arminian.  It takes the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit
      and the Word of God, taught by the Holy Spirit, to cause a man
      to love the doctrine of election.  How deeply important that
      believers should be learners.  To do this we must acknowledge
      the superior wisdom of God whose thoughts are not as our
      thoughts.  The Bible was given to correct our thinking.
      Repentance is a change of mind resulting in a change of
      thinking.  We are not to come to the Bible as critics; the
      Bible is to criticize us.  We cannot come to the Bible
      infallibly, but by grace we can come humbly.  May grace be
      given to every writer and reader that we may have the right
      attitude of heart before God.  The surest evidence of a saved
      state is to have the right attitude towards the Word of God.
      Dear reader, let the writer warn you against "poking fun" at
      any doctrine of the Bible.
 
         The doctrines of grace have found expression in two systems
      of theology commonly known as Calvinism and Arminianism.  These
      two systems were not named for their founders, but for the men
      who popularized them.  The system of truth known as Calvinism
      was preached by Augustine at an earlier date, and before
      Augustine by Christ and the Apostles, being especially
      emphasized by the Apostle Paul.  The system of error known as
      Arminianism was proclaimed by Pelagius in the fifth century.
      Between these two there is no middle position; every man is
      either one or the other in his religious thinking.  Some try to
      mix the two but this is not straight thinking. To say that we
      are neither Calvinistic nor Arminian is to evade the issue.
      Paulinism is represented by either Calvinism or Arminianism.
      The true system is based upon the truth of man's inherent and
      total depravity; the false system is based upon the Romish
      dogma of free-will.

From:    IN%"wity@iastate.edu" 19-OCT-1992 15:36:56.01
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: Part One (2 of 5)
 
      General Remarks to Disarm Prejudice
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
         There is no doctrine so grossly misrepresented.  Brother
      A.S. Pettie's complaint against the enemies of total depravity
      is equally applicable here, when he says, "From hostile lips a
      fair and correct statement of the doctrine is never heard".
      The treatment that the doctrine of election receives from the
      hands of its enemies is very much like that received by the
      primitive Christians from pagan Roman Emperors.  The ancient
      Christians were often clothed in the skins of slain animals and
      then subjected to attack by ferocious wild beasts.  So the
      doctrine of election is clothed in an ugly garb and held up to
      ridicule and sport.  We will now try to strip this glorious
      truth of its false and vicious garment with which enemy hands
      have robed it, and put upon it the garments of holiness and
      wisdom.
 
       1. Election is not salvation but is unto salvation.  "What
      then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but
      the election (elect) hath obtained it, and the rest were
      blinded" (Ro. 11:7).  "God hath from the beginning chosen you
      to salvation" (2Th. 2:13).  Now then, if the elect obtain
      salvation, and if election is to salvation, election must
      precede salvation.  Men are saved when they believe on Christ
      not when they are elected.  Roosevelt was not president when he
      was elected, but when he was inaugurated.  There was not only
      an election to, but an induction into the office.  God's elect
      are inducted into the position of saintship by the effectual
      call, (the quickening work of the Holy Spirit) through which
      they become believers in the Gospel. See:
 
        # 1Co 1:29  2Th 2:13,14
 
       2. Election is not the cause of anybody going to hell, for
      election is unto salvation.  Neither is non-election
      responsible for the damnation of sinners.  SIN is the thing
      that sends men to hell, and all men are sinners by nature and
      practice -- sinners altogether apart from election and
      non-election.  It does not follow that because election is unto
      salvation that non-election is unto damnation.  SIN is the
      damning element in human life.  ELECTION HARMS NOBODY.
 
       3. Election belongs to the system of grace.  In Paul's day
      there was a remnant among the Jews who were saved according to
      the election of grace (Rom. 11:5).  The attitude of men towards
      election is the acid test of their belief in grace.  Those who
      oppose election cannot consistently claim to believe in
      salvation by grace.  This is seen in the creeds of Christendom.
      Those denominations that believe in salvation by works have no
      place for the doctrine of election in their confessions of
      faith; those that believe in salvation by grace, apart from
      human merit, have not failed to include election in their
      written creed.  One group is headed by the Roman Catholics, the
      other group is headed by the Baptists.
 
       4. Election does not prevent the salvation of anybody who
      wants to be saved.  But the distinction needs to be made
      between a mere desire to escape hell and the desire to be
      saved from sin.  The desire to be saved from hell is a natural
      desire -- nobody wants to burn.  The desire to be saved from
      sin is a spiritual desire resulting from the convicting work of
      the Holy Spirit, and God's electing grace is the very mother of
      this desire.  To represent election by saying that God has
      spread the Gospel feast, and a man comes to the table hungering
      for the bread of life; but God says "No, this is not for you,
      you are not one of my elect",is to misrepresent the Holy
      Doctrine.  Here is the truth -- God has spread the feast but
      the fact is nobody wants to come to the table.  "They all with
      one consent began to make excuse".  God knew just how fallen
      nature would act, and He took no chance on His table being
      filled, so, He tells His servant to go out and compel them to
      come (Luke 14:23).  Were it not for the redemptive work of
      Christ there would be no Gospel feast; were it not for the
      compelling work of the Holy Spirit there would be no guests at
      the table.  A mere invitation brings nobody to the table.
 
       5. Election means that the destiny of men is in the hands of
      God.  Many of us have regarded as an axiom the statement that
      every man's destiny is in his own hands.  But this is to deny
      the whole tenor of Scripture.  At no time is the destiny of the
      saint in his own hands, either before or after he is saved.
      Was my destiny in my own hands before I was saved?  If so, I
      regenerated myself; I resurrected, by my own power, myself out
      of a state of sin and death; I am my own benefactor and have
      nobody to thank but myself for being alive and saved.  Perish
      such a thought!  By the grace of God I am what I am.
 
        # Joh 1:13  Eph 2:1-10  2Ti 1:9  Jas 1:18
 
         Is my destiny in my own hands now?  Then I will either keep
      myself saved or I will lose my salvation.  The Bible says we are
      kept by the power of God through Faith.
 
        # 1Pe 1:15  Ps 37:28 Joh 10:27-29  Php 1:6  Heb 13:5
 
      If my destiny is not safe in my own hands after I am saved then
      how could it be thought to be safe in my own hands before my
      conversion?
 
         The saint dies, his body is consigned to the grave and
      becomes a dust-heap.  Is his destiny in his own hands then?  If
      so, what hope has he of ever coming out of the grave with an
      immortal and incorruptible body?  None at all if his destiny is
      in his own hands.
 
         Such a theory, that the destiny of the saint is or ever has
      been in his own hands, reverses the very laws of nature and
      implies that water can rise above the level of its source; that
      man can lift himself into the attic by his boot-straps; that
      the Ethiopian can change his colour, and the leopard can remove
      his spots; that death can beget life; that evolution is true
      and God is a liar.  The theory that one's destiny is in his own
      hands begets self-confidence and self-righteousness; the belief
      that destiny is in the hands of God begets SELF-ABNEGATION AND
      FAITH IN GOD.
 
       6. Election stands or falls with the doctrine of God's
      sovereignty and man's depravity.  If God is sovereign and man
      is depraved, then it follows as a natural consequence that some
      will be saved, none will be saved or, all will be saved.  The
      practical results of election are that some, yea many, will be
      saved.  Election is not a plan to save a mere handful of folk.
      Christ gave Himself a ransom for many.
 
         # Mt 20:28  Re 5:9
 
      God's sovereignty involves His pleasure
 
         # Joh 5:21  Mt 11:25-27
 
      His power
 
         # Job 23:13  Jer 32:17  Mt 19:26
 
      and His mercy.
 
         # Ro 9:18
 
       7. The elect are manifested in repentance and faith and good
      works.  These graces, being God-wrought in man, are not the
      cause but the evidences of election.
 
         # 1Th 1:3-10  2Pe 1:5-10 Php 2:12,13  Lu 18:7
 
      The man who doesn't pray, who has not repented of his sins and
      trusted Christ, and who does not engage in good works has no
      right to claim that he is one of God's elect.

From:    IN%"wity@iastate.edu" 21-OCT-1992 00:43:30.10
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: Part One (3 of 5)
 
      Some False Views Examined and Refuted
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
         Many professing Christians really have no view of election.
      They have not given it enough thought and study to even have
      any opinion about it.  Many have erroneous views.  We shall
      notice some of them.
 
       1. The view that men are elected when they believe -- This
      view is easily refuted for it is contrary to both common sense
      and Scripture.  Election is to salvation, and therefore, must
      precede salvation.  It is nonsense to talk about electing a man
      to something he already has.  The man has salvation when he
      believes and hence election at that point would not be
      necessary.  ELECTION TOOK PLACE IN ETERNITY; SALVATION TAKES
      PLACE WHEN THE SINNER BELIEVES.
 
       2. The view that election pertains only to the Jews -- This
      view robs Gentiles of the comfort of Ro 8:28-39.
 
         # Ro 8:28-29
 
      Moreover, Paul, who was an apostle to the Gentiles, says that
      he endured all things for the elect's sakes that they might
      obtain salvation.
 
         # 2Ti 2:10
 
       3. The view that election took place in eternity, but that it
      was in view of foreseen repentance and faith.  According to this
      view, God, in eternity, looked down through the ages and saw
      who would repent and believe and those who He foresaw would
      repent and believe were elected to salvation.  This view is
      correct in only one point, namely, that election took place in
      eternity.  It is wrong in that it makes the ground of election
      to be something in the sinner rather than something in God.
      Read Eph 1:4-6 where election and predestination are said to be
      "According to the good pleasure of His will" and "To the praise
      of the glory of His grace".
 
           # Eph 1:4-6
 
      This view thought the popular one with the majority of Baptists
      today, is open to many objections.
 
           (i) It denies what the Bible says about man's
           condition by nature.  The Bible does not describe the
           natural man as having faith.
 
              # 1Co 2:14  Joh 3:3
 
           Both repentance and faith are gifts of God, and God did
           not see these graces in any sinner apart from His purpose
           to give them.  "Him hath God exalted with His right hand
           to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to
           Israel, and forgiveness of sins", Acts 5:13 "When they
           heard these things they held their peace, and glorified
           God, saying, `Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted
           repentance unto life'", Acts 11:18.  "In meekness
           instructing those that oppose themselves; if god
           peradventure will give them repentance to the
           acknowledgement of the truth" 2Ti 2:25. See also:
 
               # Eph 2:8-10  1Co 3:5
 
           Election was not because of foreseen faith, but because of
           foreseen unbelief.  It is not the election of God's
           faithful ones, but the faith of God's elect, if we are to
           keep Scriptural words
 
               # Tit 1:1
 
           (ii) It makes the human race differ by nature, whereas,
           the Bible says, we are all by nature the children of wrath
           and all clay of the same lump.
 
               # Eph 2:3 Ro 9:21
 
           Men are made to differ in the new birth.
 
               # Joh 3:6
 
           (iii) It perverts the Scriptural meaning of the word
           "foreknowledge".  The word as used in the Bible means more
           than foreknowledge about persons, it is the foreknowledge
           of persons.  In Ro 8:29,30, the foreknown are predestined
           to the image of Christ, and are called, justified and
           glorified.  In 1Pe 1:2, the word for "foreknowledge" is
           the same as "foreordain" in the twentieth verse of the
           same chapter, where the meaning cannot be "foreknowledge"
           about Christ.  God's foreknowledge about persons is
           without limitations; whereas, His foreknowledge of persons
           is limited to those who are actually saved and glorified.
 
           (iv) It is open to the strongest objection that can be
           made against the Bible view.  It is often asked, "If
           certain men are elected and saved, then what is the use to
           preach to those who are not elected?" With equal propriety
           we might ask, "If God knows who is going to repent and
           believe, then why preach to those who according to His
           foreknowledge, will not repent and believe?" Will some
           repent and believe whom He foreknew would not repent and
           believe? If so, He foreknew a lie.
 
         Right here is the weakness of much of modern missions.  It
      is based upon sympathy for the lost rather than obedience to
      God's command.  The inspiration of missions is made to rest
      upon the practical results of missionary endeavour rather than
      upon the delight of doing God's will.  It is the principle of
      doing a thing because the results are satisfactory to us.
 
         If we are faithful, God is as pleased with our efforts as when
      there are no results.  Ponder
 
         # 2Co 2:15,16
 
      The elect prior to their conversion are known only to God.  We
      are to preach the gospel to every creature because He has
      commanded it.  He will take care of the results. Compare with:
 
         # Is 55:11 1Co 3:5,6 Joh 6:37-45
 
      It is ours to witness; it is His to make our witnessing
      effective.

From:    IN%"wity@iastate.edu" 22-OCT-1992 00:18:17.02
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: Part One (4 of 5)
 
      The Doctrine Defined, Explained and Proved
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
         What is election as the term is used in the Bible?  Election
      means a choice -- to select from among - to single out - to
      take one and leave another.  If there are a dozen apples in a
      basket and I take all of them there has been no choice;  but if
      I take seven and leave five there has been a choice.  Election,
      as taught in the Bible, means that God has made a choice from
      among the children of men.  In the beginning God set His choice
      upon certain individuals, whom He gave to His Son, and for whom
      Christ died as their substitute, who in time hear the Gospel
      and believe in Christ to life everlasting.  Let us amplify by
      raising three very pertinent questions.
 
        1. WHO DOES THE ELECTING?  Who chooses the persons to be
      saved?  If men are chosen to salvation, as the Scriptures
      affirm, who does the choosing?  There must be a selection or
      universalism.  The language of Scripture seems peculiarly
      definite in reply to this question.  Mark 13:20 speaks of the
      ELECT, whom He ELECTED, rendered in our version, "The elect's
      sake whom He hath chosen".  The word election is associated
      with God not with man.  God is the CHOOSER, His people are the
      CHOSEN, and grace is the source.  The theology, that God votes
      for us, the Devil votes against us, and that we cast the
      deciding ballot is entirely outside the pale of Scripture
      teaching, and is almost too ridiculous to notice.
 
        # Joh 15:16  2Th 2:13  Eph 1:4
 
         2. WHEN WAS THE ELECTING DONE?  For the answer we are shut up
      to the Scriptures.  But the BIBLE answers with sunlight clearness.
      In Eph 1:4 we read that "He chose us in Him before the
      foundation of the world".  The expression, "before the
      foundation of the world is found in Joh 17:24, where it speaks
      of the Father's eternal love for the Son, and in 1Pe 1:20,
      where it refers to the eternal determination of the Divine mind
      concerning the death of Christ.  There are many similar
      expressions. ELECTION IS ETERNAL!
 
        # Re 13:8  2Th 2:13  2Ti 1:9
 
         3. WHY WAS THE ELECTING DONE?  Was it on the ground of
      something good in the sinner?  Then nobody would have been
      elected for there is none good.  Holiness is not the cause but
      the effect of election.  We are chosen that we should be holy not
      because we are holy (Eph 1:4).  Nor, as we have already seen,
      is election in view of foreseen repentance and faith.  Election
      is the cause of repentance and faith and not the effect of
      these graces.  To say that God chose men to salvation because
      He foresaw that they would repent and believe and be saved is
      to attribute foolishness to the infinitely wise God.  It is as
      if the president should issue a decree that the sun must rise
      tomorrow because he foresees that it will rise; or as if a
      sculptor should choose a certain piece of marble because he
      foresaw that it would make itself into the image he wanted.  We
      challenge any Arminian to raise these questions and get his
      answers from the Scriptures.

From:    IN%"wity@iastate.edu" 23-OCT-1992 01:17:46.54
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: Part One (5 of 5)
 
      Objections Considered and Answered
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
         Many are the objections brought against this doctrine.
      Sometimes the objectors are loud and furious.  Alas! that so
      many of these objectors are in Baptist ranks.  To preach this
      old-fashioned doctrine of our faith as did Bunyan, Fuller,
      Gill, Spurgeon, Boyce, Broadus, Pendleton, Graves, Jarrell,
      Carroll, Jeter, Boyce Taylor and a host of other representative
      men of our denomination is to court the bitterest kind of
      opposition.  John Wesley himself never said harsher words
      against this blessed tenet of our faith than do some so-called
      Baptists of today.  Arminianism that offspring of popery, has
      had an abnormal growth in the last decade or two as the adopted
      child of a large group of Baptists.
 
        1. IT IS OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION LIMITS GOD'S
      MERCY.  Right here we criticize the critic, for he who makes
      this objection limits both God's mercy and power.  He admits
      that God's mercy is limited to the believer, and to this we
      agree; but he denies that God can cause a man to believe
      without doing violence to the man's will, and thus he limits
      God's power.  We believe that God is able to give a man a
      sound mind (2Ti 1:7) and make him willing in the day of His
      power. (Ps. 110:2) At this point we must face two self-evident
      propositions.  First, if God is trying to save every member of
      Adam's fallen race, and does not succeed, then His power is
      limited and He is not the Lord God Almighty.  Second, if He is
      not trying to save every member of the fallen face, then His
      mercy is limited.  We must of necessity limit His mercy or His
      power, or go over boots and baggage to the Universalist's
      position.  But before we do that, let us go "to the law and to
      the testimony", which says, "I will have mercy on whom I will
      have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
      compassion...Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have
      mercy and whom He will He hardeneth" (Ro 9:15-18).  It needs
      to be said for the comfort and hope of great sinners, that
      God's mercy is not limited by the natural condition of the
      sinner.  All sinners are dead until God makes them alive.  He
      is able to take away the heart of stone.  No man is too great
      a sinner to be saved.  We can pray for the salvation of the
      chief of sinners with the assurance that God can save them if
      He will.  "The King's heart is in the hands of the Lord as the
      river of water; He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Pr
      21:1).  We rejoice to say with Jeremiah that there is nothing
      too hard for God.  We can pray for the salvation of our loved
      ones with the feeling of the leper, when he said, "Lord, if
      thou wilt thou canst make me clean" (Mt 8:2).  When Robert
      Morrison was about to go to China, he was asked by an
      incredulous American if he thought he could make any
      impression on those Chinese.  His curt reply was, "No, but I
      think God can."  This should ever be our confidence and hope
      when we stand before sinners and preach to them "CHRIST AND
      HIM CRUCIFIED".
 
        2. ANOTHER OBJECTION TO ELECTION IS THAT IT MAKES GOD UNJUST.
      This objection betrays a bad heart.  It would obligate the
      CREATOR to the CREATURE.  It makes salvation a divine
      obligation.  It denies the right of the potter over the clay of
      the same lump to make one vessel to honour and another to
      dishonour.  By the same parity of reasoning it makes the
      governor of a sovereign state unjust when he pardons one or
      more men, unless he empties the prison and turns all the
      prisoners loose.  Our view of election is in harmony with what
      even the Arminians allow to be proper and just for a human
      governor.  All can see that a governor, by pardoning some men,
      does not harm others, who are not pardoned.  Those who are not
      pardoned are not in prison because the governor refused them a
      pardon but because they were guilty of a crime against the
      state.  Isn't God to be allowed as much sovereignty as the
      governor of a state?  Salvation, like a pardon, is something
      that is not deserved.  If it were deserved, then God would be
      unjust if He did not bestow it upon all men.
 
           Salvation is not a matter of justice but of mercy.  It
      wasn't the attribute of justice that led God to provide
      salvation but the attribute of mercy.  Justice is simply each
      man getting what he deserves.  Those who go to hell will have
      nobody to blame but themselves, while those who go to heaven
      will have nobody to praise but God.
 
        # Ro 9:22,23
 
        3. IT IS AGAIN OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION IS AGAINST
      THE DOCTRINE OF WHOSOEVER WILL.  But the objector is wrong
      again.  Our view explains and supports the doctrine of
      "WHOSOEVER WILL".  Without election the invitation to
      "WHOSOEVER WILL" would go unheeded.  The Bible doctrine of
      "WHOSOEVER WILL" does not imply the freedom or ability of the
      human will to do good.  The human will is free, but its freedom
      is within the limits of fallen human nature.  It is free like
      water; water is free to run down hill.  It is free like the
      vulture; the vulture is free to eat carrion, for that is its
      nature, but it would starve to death in a wheat field.  It is
      not the buzzard's nature to eat clean food; it feeds upon the
      carcasses of the dead.  So sinners starve to death in the
      presence of the bread of life.  Our Lord said to some sinners,
      who were in His very presence "Ye will not come unto me that ye
      might have life" (Joh 5:40).  It is not natural for a sinner to
      trust in Christ. Salvation through trust in a crucified Christ
      is a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Greek;
      it is only the called, both Jews and Greeks, who trust it as
      the wisdom and power of God.
 
        # 1Co 1:23,24
 
         Here is a physical corpse.  Is it free to get up and walk
      around?  In one sense, yes.  It is not bound by fetters.  There
      is no external restraint.  But, in another sense, that corpse
      is not free.  It is hindered by its natural condition.  It is
      its nature to decompose and go back to dust.  It is not the
      nature of death to stir about.  Here is a spiritual corpse -- a
      man dead in trespasses and sins.  Is the man free to repent and
      believe and do good works?  Yes, in one sense.  There are no
      external restraints.  God does not prevent but offers
      inducements through His Holy Word.  But the corpse is hindered
      by its own nature.  There must be the miracle of the new birth,
      for except a man be born from above he cannot see or enter
      into the Kingdom of God.
 
        # Joh 3:3-3:5
 
         It is painful to some of us to see our brethren forsake the
      faith of our Baptist forbears at this point and join the ranks
      of the Roman Catholics and other Arminians.  If anyone doubts
      this charge let him read the article of faith adopted by the
      Catholics at the council of Trent (1563).  I quote their
      statement on the freedom of the human will -- "If anyone shall
      affirm that since the fall of Adam man's free-will is lost,
      let him be accursed."  But alas, in this day, such a spirit is
      not confined to the Roman Catholics.  Horatius Bonar makes the
      following quotation from John Calvin: "The Papist theologians
      have a distinction current among themselves that God does not
      elect men according to their works which are in them but that
      He chooses them that He foresees will be believers."
 
        Ah, the real trouble with the objector is not election; it is
      something else.  His real objection is to total depravity or
      human inability to do good.  I can do no better here than to
      quote from Percy W. Heward of London, England.  He says, "It
      seems to me that the majority of objections to God's sovereign
      grace, to God's electing love, are actually objections to
      something else, namely objections to the fact that man is
      ruined.  If you probe beneath the surface you will find that
      very few object to election.  Why should they?  Election harms
      no one.  How can the picking of a man out of doom harm anyone
      else?  The real objection at the present day is not to
      election, though that word is made the catchword of sad
      controversy -- the real objection is to that fact which is
      revealed in Psalm 51, that we are shapen in iniquity, that we
      are born sinners by nature, dead in sins, until, as we read
      concerning Paul in Galatians 1, "It pleased God, who separated
      me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
      His Son in me..." Ah, beloved friends, we deserve nothing but
      doom.  Acknowledge this and election is the only hope.
      Acknowledge that we are poor lost sinners, dead in trespasses
      and sins, only evil continually; acknowledge that there is in
      man no natural spark to be fanned into a flame but that
      believers are born again of incorruptible seed which the Lord
      places; acknowledge that if anyone is in Christ that there is a
      new creation, for we are His workmanship, having been created
      in Christ Jesus; - and election must be at once recognized."
 
         Every real believer on his knees subscribes to our view of
      election.  You cannot pray ascribing some credit to self.
      Sovereign grace will come out in prayer though it may be left
      off the platform.  No saved man will get down on his knees
      before God and claim that he made himself to differ from others
      who are not saved, but with Paul he says, "By the grace of God
      I am what I am."  And in praying for the lost we supplicate God
      to convict and convert them.  We do not depend upon the freedom
      of their wills but beg God to make them willing to come to
      Christ, knowing that when they come to Christ He will not cast
      them out.
 
        # Jo 6:37
 
         A Methodist minister once went to hear a Presbyterian
      minister preach.  After the sermon, the Methodist said to the
      Presbyterian, "That was a pretty good Arminian sermon you
      preached today." "Yes," replied the Presbyterian, "We
      Presbyterians are pretty good Arminians when we preach and you
      Methodists are pretty good Calvinists when you pray." MORE
      TRUTH THAN POETRY HERE!!
 
        4. IT IS ALSO OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION IS A NEW
      DOCTRINE AMONG MISSIONARY BAPTISTS.  The fact is that it is so
      old-fashioned that it has about gone out of fashion .  The
      ignorance betrayed in such a claim is indeed pitiable.  In
      refutation we resort to two sources of information (a)
      Confessions of faith; (b) Statements of representative
      preachers and writers.
 
        (a) CONFESSIONS OF FAITH
 
         The Waldenses declare themselves as follows: "God saves from
      corruption and damnation those whom He has chosen from the
      foundation of the world, not from any disposition, faith or
      holiness that He foresaw in them, but His mere mercy in Christ
      Jesus His Son, passing by all the rest according to the
      irreprehensible reason of His own free-will and justice."  THE
      DATE OF THIS CONFESSION WAS 1120!!!
 
         The London Confession (1689) and the Philadelphia Confession
      (1742) read as follows: "By the decree of God, for the
      manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined
      or foreordained to ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ, to the
      praise of His glorious grace; others being left to act in their
      sins to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious
      justice."
 
         The New Hampshire Confession (Article 9): "We believe that
      election is the eternal purpose of God according to which He
      graciously regenerates, sanctifies and saves sinners; that
      being perfectly consistent with the free-agency of man, it
      comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that it
      is a most glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, being
      infinitely free, wise holy and unchangeable; that it utterly
      excludes boasting and promotes humility, love, prayer, praise,
      trust in God, and active imitation of His free mercy; that it
      encourages the use of means in the highest degree; that it may
      be ascertained by its effects in all who truly believe the
      Gospel; that it is the foundation of Christian assurance; and
      that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves demands and
      deserves the utmost diligence."
 
        (b) REPRESENTATIVE PREACHERS AND WRITERS!
 
         John A. Broadus, former president of the Southern Baptist
      Theological Seminary: "From the divine side, we see that the
      Scriptures teach an eternal election of men to eternal life
      simply out of God's good pleasure."
 
         A.H. Strong, former president of Rochester Theological
      Seminary: "Election is the eternal act of God, by which in His
      sovereign pleasure, and on account of no foreseen merit in them,
      He chooses certain of the number of sinful men to be recipients
      of the special grace of His Spirit and so to be made voluntary
      partakers of Christ's salvation."
 
         B.H. Carroll, founder and first president of the
      Southwestern Baptist Seminary: "Every one that God chose in
      Christ is drawn by the Spirit to Christ.  Every one predestined
      is called by the Spirit in time and justified in time, and will
      be glorified when the Lord comes." Commentary on Romans, page
      192.
 
         J.P. Boyce, founder and first president of Southern Baptist
      Seminary: "God, of His own purpose, has from eternity
      determined to save a definite number of mankind as individuals,
      not for or because of any merit or works of theirs, nor of any
      value of them to Him; but of His own good pleasure."
 
         W.T. Conner, professor of theology, Southwestern Baptist
      Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas: "The doctrine of election means
      that God saves in pursuance of an eternal purpose.  This
      includes all the gospel influences, work of the Spirit and so
      on, that leads a man to repent of his sins and accept Christ.
      So far as man's freedom is concerned, the doctrine of election
      does not mean that God decrees to save a man irrespective of
      his will.  It rather means that God purposes to lead a man in
      such a way that he will freely accept the gospel and be saved."
 
         Pastor J.W. Lee, of Batesville, Miss.: "I believe that God
      has foreordained before the foundation of the world that He
      would save certain individuals and that He ordained all the
      means to bring about their salvation on His terms.  Men and
      women are not elected because they repent and believe, but they
      repent and believe because they are elected."
 
         To the above list of well known and honoured Baptists we
      could add quotations from Gill, Fuller, Spurgeon, Bunyan,
      Pendleton, Mullins, Dargan, Jeter, Eaton, Graves, and others
      too numerous to mention.  It is sadly true that many of our
      pastors hold election as a private opinion and never preach it.
      We personally know a number of brethren who say that election
      is clearly taught in the Bible, but that we cannot afford to
      preach it, because it will cause trouble in churches.  This is
      worse than compromise: it is surrender of the truth.  It is a
      spirit that leads preachers to displease God in order to
      please men.  The writer believes that silence upon this subject
      has wrought more harm than open opposition to it.  Those who
      openly oppose election will, sooner or later, make themselves
      ridiculous in the eyes of all Bible loving Baptists.
 
        5. IT IS FURTHER OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION MAKES
      MEN CARELESS IN THEIR LIVING.  It is said that belief in the
      doctrine leads men to say, "If I am elect, I will be saved; if
      I am a non-elect I will be lost, therefore, it matters not
      what I believe or do." The same objection has been
      persistently made against the doctrine of the preservation of
      the saints.  This is bald rationalism.  It is the setting of
      human reason against divine revelation.  It takes no account
      of the operation of the grace of God in the human heart.  If
      Baptists surrender election on such a ground, to be
      consistent, they will have to surrender the doctrine of
      preservation on the same ground.  Election does not mean that
      the elect will be saved whether they believe on not, nor does
      it mean that the non-elect will be damned regardless of how
      much they may repent and believe.  The elect will be saved
      through repentance and faith, and both are gifts from God as
      already shown; the non-elect do not repent and believe.
 
         The objection we are now considering is simply not true to
      fact.  Believers in election have been and still are among the
      most godly.  Augustus Toplady challenged the world to produce a
      martyr from among the deniers of election.  The Puritans, who
      were so named because of the great purity of their lives, with
      few exception (if any), were believers in personal, eternal,
      unconditional election, and of course, in the security of the
      believer.  Modernism, that spawn of the pit, is rapidly
      adding to the number of its adherents, but they are coming from
      the ranks of Arminianism.  Others have challenged the world to
      find a single Higher Critic, or a single Spiritualist,
      or a single Russellite, or a single Christian Scientist, who
      believes in the absolute sovereignty of God and the doctrine of
      election.  Without an exception these awful heretics are
      Arminians to a man.  This is a significant fact that is not to
      be winked at.
 
        6. OBJECTORS CLAIM THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION DESTROYS THE
      SPIRIT OF MISSIONS.  They boldly assert that if unconditional
      election should find universal acceptance among us that we
      would cease to be a missionary people.  There is an abundance
      of historical evidence with which to refute this claim.  Under
      God, the father of modern missions was William Carey, a staunch
      Calvinist.  Andrew Fuller, first secretary of the society that
      sent Carey to India, held tenaciously to our view of election.
      It did not destroy the missionary spirit of these men.  "The
      proof of the pudding is in the eating." Belief in election did
      not destroy the missionary spirit in Judson, Spurgeon, Boyce,
      Eaton, Graves, Carroll and a host of other Baptist leaders.
      The Murray church, which Dr. J.F. Love called the greatest
      missionary church on earth, heard election preached by Boyce
      Taylor for nearly forty years.  The greatest missionary churches
      among us today are those that have been purged from the
      heresies of James Arminius.
 
         Election is the very foundation of hope in missionary
      endeavour.  If we had to depend upon the natural disposition
      or will of a dead sinner, who hates God, to respond to our
      gospel, we might well despair.  But when we realize that it is
      the Spirit that quickeneth, we can go forth with the gospel of
      the grace of God in the hope that God will cause some, by
      nature turned away, to be turned unto Him and to believe to
      the saving of the soul.  Election does not determine the
      extent of missions but the results of it.  We are to preach to
      every creature because God has commanded, and because it
      pleases Him to save sinners by the foolishness of preaching.
      We believe more in election than the Anti-mission Baptists.
      We believe that God elected means of salvation as well as
      persons to salvation.  He did not choose to save sinners apart
      from the gospel ministry.
 
        # Ro 1:16
 
         Election gives a saneness to evangelism that is greatly
      needed today.  It recognizes that sinners "believe through
      grace" (Acts 18:27) and that while Paul may plant and Apollos
      may water, God gives the increase.  Arminianism has had its
      day among Baptists and what has it done?  It has given us
      man-power, but robbed us of God's power.  It has increased
      machinery but has decreased spirituality.  It has filled our
      churches with Ishmaels instead of Isaacs by its ministry of
      "sob stuff" and with the methods of the "counting house".
 
         If this little tract need further Scriptural support, the
      following Scriptures will give it:
 
        # Ps 65:4 Ac 13:48 Joh 6:37,44,45 17:1,2
        # Mt 11:25,26 1Co 12:3 2Co 10:4

From:    IN%"hermanto@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu"   "Hermanto" 23-OCT-1992 09:22:34.39
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: another article about election
 
Hi,
     Sebelumnya biar saya memperkenalkan diri dahulu. Saya Hermanto, asal dari
kota Malang, sekolah di Ohio State University, mau ngambil Industrial & Systems
Engineering, baru saja memasuki 19 tahun, dan baru 2 tahun-an menerima Kristus.
 
     Menanggapi article-article ttg Election dari Wity, saya merasa tidak
memiliki pengetahuan apa-apa ttg doktrin, terutama yang ini.  Dari dahulu saya
memegang pandangan bahwa kita diselamatkan itu by Grace, tapi peran freewill
juga ada. Membaca article-article dari sdr. Wity, terlintas banyak sekali
pertanyaan-pertanyaan. Dan hal tsb membuat saya melihat-lihat beberapa buku
yang lain yang memuat ttg Election ini. Dan dari buku "Know What You Believe",
karangan Paul E. Little, saya mendapat sesuatu yang baru. Memang buku itu tidak
menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan saya, tapi setidaknya membuat keinginan saya
untuk bertanya menjadi redam. Entah kenapa, saya nggak tau. Di bawah ini saya
tuliskan cuplikan dari buku itu, semoga bisa dijadikan bahan pertimbangan bagi
semua.
 
-------------
 
   God "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1
Tim. 2:4).  That some men are not regenerated or reborn is not God's fault.
The responsibility rests with men.  Our Lord diagnosed this problem.  When
speaking to a typical group, He said, "These Scriptures ...testify about Me,
yet you refuse to come to Me to have life" (John 5:40, the word 'refuse' is
added).  It wasn't that they could not have come, but that they would not.
They deliberately refused to believe the message delivered to them.
 
     How men actually come to faith in Christ is a profound question.  Some, by
approaching the problem entirely from man's side, have tended to eclipse the
sovereignty of God.  Others, by approaching it only from God's view, have
seemed to obligate man's freedom.
 
     We need to understand several theological terms to avoid confusion and
popular misconceptions.  These terms are : election, predestination, and
foreknowledge.
(ketiga-tiganya saya tidak mengerti)
 
                    ELECTION
                    --------
 
Election has to do with God's choice of certain groups and people to receive
His grace.  This choice is based on His sovereign pleasure and not on the
value, goodness, or disposition of those chosen.  In the Old Testament, God's
election is illustrated in His choice of Abraham, with whom He made an
everlasting covenant, and of Abraham's descendants, the nation of Israel, to
have a special relationship with Himself (Gen. 11:31-12:7).
 
     Election, as used in the New Testament, has to do with God's choice of
particular individuals for salvation.  Jesus said, "And He will send His angels
and gather his elect from the four winds" (Mark 13:27).  Christians are "chosen
(elect) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Peter 1:2).  God
"chose (elected) us in Him before the creation of the world...In love He
predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance
with His pelasure and will" (Eph. 1:4-5).  Jesus Himself explicitly said,"You
did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16).
 
(bersambung.......)

From:    IN%"hermanto@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu"   "Hermanto" 23-OCT-1992 10:00:23.16
To:      fica-net@vms.macc.wisc.edu
Subject: (samb.) another art. ab. Election
 
(sambungan)
               PREDESTINATION AND FOREKNOWLEDGE
 
Closely allied to election are predestination and foreknowledge.
Predestination is a term used only of Christians.  It indicates that God's
purpose for a believer - that he become Christlike - is sure to be fulfilled.
"For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of
His Son....And ...those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He
also glorified" (Rom. 8:29-30).  Foreknowledge, predestiantion, calling,
justification, and glorification are all grouped together in one "package".  A
person who has one of them has them all.  The sequence indicates that apart
from the grace of God we cannot trust in Christ.  Jesus said,"No one can come
to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44).
 
     Like election, predestiantion is according to God's sovereign purpose and
will.  It is not based on any merits in those persons whom He has chosen.
 
     It is important to realize that all men are sinners and are under the
judgement of God.  "God in sovereign freedom treats some sinners as they
deserve...but He selects others to be "objects of His mercy," receiving the
"riches of His glory" (Rom. 9:23).  This discrimination involves no injustice,
for the Creator owes mercy to none and has the right to do as He pleases with
His rebellious creatures (Rom. 9:14-21).  The wonder is not that He withholds
mercy from some, but that He should be gracious to any."
 
     The purpose of the Bible's teaching on election and predestination is to
lead pardoned sinners to worship God for the grace they have experienced.  They
come to see, in unmistakable terms, that salvation is all of God and not all of
themselves.  They also come to see that since they were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, their election is eternal and therefore certain.
This inspires devotion and love to Christ in gratitude for God's unfathomable
love.
 
     The popular misconception of election and predestination as the arbritary
acts of a capricious tyrant is totally foreign and unfair to Scripture.  The
attitude often expressed by unbelievers is that if they are elect, they'll get
into heaven anyway, and if they're not, there's no use in their trying.  In
either case, theyreason, they needn't be concerned.  This is a tragic
misconception.  No one in hell will be able to tell God, "I wanted to be saved,
but my name was on the wrong list."
 
     Election and predestination are always to salvation and its blessings -
never to judgement.  It is true that no one believes on the Saviour unless God
the Holy Spirit convicts him, but it is also true that those who do not trust
Christ choose not to believe.  God never refuses to save anyone who wants
salvation.
 
     Some feel that the expression, 'chosen according to the foreknowledge of
God" (1 Peter 1:2), means that God elects to salvation those whom He knows in
advance will respond positively to the Gospel.  But foreknowledge is not hte
same thing as foreordination or election.
 
     Throughout church history, honest differences of opinion have arisen about
these complex and not-fully-explainable doctrines.  Each believer should be
persuaded in his own mind about them, and should show a charitable spirit
toward those who differ with him.
 
............................................................................
 
                                        " Know What You Believe "
                                             Paul E. Little
 
 
 
 Yang paling menarik perhatian saya adalah kalimat ini:
 
"This discrimination involves no injustice, for the Creator owes mercy to none
and has a right to do as He pleases with His rebellious creatures."
 
 
Salam dalam Kristus,
hermanto