Weekly Devotional 8-5-24 Unimaginable Mercy and Grace
A few months ago a friend asked about the acronym “TULIP” of Calvinism and rather than get into a deep theological discussion about it I thought best not to answer his question at that time. In his curiosity he went online to www.thecalvinonline.com website and found the following:
T—total depravity. This does not mean that people are as bad as they can be. It means that sin is in every part of one’s being, including the mind and will, so that man cannot save himself.
U—unconditional election. God chooses to save people unconditionally; that is, they are not chosen on the basis of their own merit.
L—limited atonement. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was for the purpose of saving the elect.
I—irresistible grace. When God chooses to save someone, He will.
P—perseverance of the saints. Those people God chooses cannot lose their salvation; they will continue to believe. If they fall away, it will be only for a time.
My friend is Arminian in his theology and cannot accept that God does not efficaciously call everyone when he chooses certain ones for salvation and not others.
In answer, God does offer salvation to everyone. John 3:16 for instance says, “16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. But it is also true that all persons before regeneration are spiritually dead toward God and have no desire or ability to believe until God works the work of regeneration in them. Ephesians 2:1-5 clearly supports this truth; “1And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved”.
The apostle Paul in explanation of salvation wrote, “9If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.
I would ask my friend, irrespective of others, have you trusted in Jesus for your salvation, and do you openly confess with your mouth that God has raised Him from the dead?
Believing in Jesus for salvation means just that, He has paid the price of our salvation. If one believes that he or she can be saved in any other way they do not truly believe in the finished work of Jesus. From the cross He said, “it is finished” (John 19:30) meaning He had fulfilled God’s requirement of salvation, there is nothing one can add to His offering. The apostle Peter speaking of Jesus proclaimed, “12Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). If one truly trusts in Jesus for his (or her) salvation, they will eventually come to understand that it was God who called them out of spiritual darkness in order that they could believe and will be thankful for His mercy and grace.
Steve
stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; the Work of God on Behalf of Man