TEXT: Romans 8:8

SUBJECT: Evangelism and the 5 Points of Calvinism #1

I hope this afternoon to commence a monthly studied called "Evangelism and the Five Points of Calvinism". The title is cribbed from Jay Adams' little book, "Counseling and the Five Points of Calvinism". In it, he argues that, if the five points of Calvinism are true, they ought to effect--not only our confessions of faith--but also the way we talk to people about their problems. Is Adams right? I think he is.

The same can be said of evangelism. If the Reformed Faith is true, it must influence our Gospel preaching and private witnessing to the lost world.

Calvinists are often critical of what others are doing to win the lost to Christ. Some of the criticism is just. But we cannot stop there: We must go on to develop our own strategies for reaching the unsaved. And to implement them!

I hope this study will be blessed of God to those ends. Our prayer is David's: "Open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of Your Law".

Calvinism is often thought of in terms of "Five Points". There are, of course, many other points of Calvinism, but we'll stick to the five corresponding to the TULIP.

1. Total Depravity

2. Unconditional Election

3. Limited Atonement

4. Irresistible Grace

5. The Perseverance of the Saints

What is the Reformed doctrine of "total depravity"? Let me begin by reminding you: Total depravity refers only to the sinner, and not to the believer. Christians are not totally depraved because, for Christ's sake, God has forgiven our sins and given us His Spirit to make us holy. That's important to remember.

"Total Depravity" does not mean the sinner is as bad as he can be. The Bible teaches that some sinners are worse than others. For example, though all the kings of Samaria were bad men, one in particular stood out: "But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD" (I Kings 21:25).

Bad men may have good points. Jeroboam was a bad man, as were all his sons. Yet about the family, I Kings 14:13 says: "In him is found something good toward the LORD God of Israel".

How do we explain some sinners being better than others? By Common Grace. God restrains their wickedness; He gives them good manners, tender hearts, heroic wills, and so on. We all know unbelievers whose generosity or self-control makes us look bad by comparison.

"Total Depravity" then, does not mean that Mother Theresa is as wicked as Charles Manson.

It means: The whole person is fallen. The body, the mind, the emotions, and the will are not pure, but corrupted by sin.

The result of total depravity is "complete inability". That is, because man is sinful, he cannot please God apart from Divine grace. Without grace, he cannot believe the Gospel, cannot repent of his sins, cannot love God, and cannot pursue holiness.

Does this apply only to some people or to all? The Reformed Faith teaches everyone is fallen into sin and thus, totally depraved and completely unable to do anything about it.

This, in short, is the Reformed doctrine of "Total Depravity".

Is this doctrine agreeable to the teaching of the Bible? I think it is.

The Bible teaches that everyone is a sinner, Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God".

It also teaches that sin has consequences. It blinds the sinner to the things of God, "...the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe..." (II Corinthians 4:4). It leaves the sinner deaf to the Divine voice, "...their ears are dull of hearing...lest they should hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted..." (Acts 28:27). It enslaves him to sin, "...whoever commits sin is the servant of sin..." (John 8:34). It makes him a child of Satan, "You are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father you do..." (John 8:44). It kills him spiritually, "And you...were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). It alienates him from God and leaves him in despair, "You were without God and without hope in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

I have chosen my verses carefully; if you add them up what you're left with is the Reformed doctrine of Total Depravity.

For further proof, read Romans 1-3. You will see this is precisely Paul's argument. The Gospel is needed because mankind is lost--hopelessly lost--without it.

The doctrine of total depravity is sometimes misunderstood and wrongly applied. Some reason: "If the sinner is dead, there is nothing we can do for him. Preaching to him is no more effective than holding forth at the graveyard".

Most of us don't say this, but live as though it were true. We witness to people who seem interested in the Gospel, but to others--the apathetic or the hostile--we have nothing to say.

They seem so "totally depraved" that we suspect they cannot be saved. At least not now.

If this is a proper inference, I understand why fervent believers want no part of Calvinism. Some years ago, I spoke to a young missionary to Mexico, We had talked theology and church history for a while when I said, "You know, Calvinism is the historic position of all Evangelical Churches". What do you think he said in reply? Something like this: "I know...but I'm a soul winner". He could not see how the two could go together. Nor had he seen any examples of Calvinism blazing forth in Gospel zeal.

The inference, though, is false--as false as it can be! Our Lord believed in "total depravity". He knew quite well that men "Will not come to [Him] that they may have life" (John 5:40). Yet He went to them with the Gospel anyway. And not just the Gospel, but the Gospel, bathed in tears of love "I would...but you would not!" (Matthew 23:37).

What is the proper inference from total depravity? Or, how ought this doctrine affect evangelism?

Firstly, it ought to stir in us feelings of compassion for the lost. They are worse off than we think they are--much worse. Every sinner is under the wrath of God--not future wrath only, but present wrath. "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). Do hungry children touch your heart? Do cancer wards? If so, we ought to be even more stirred by the plight of the lost. For there is a hunger worse than hunger; a cancer worse than cancer. What is it? The sin and misery of living without God in Christ.

It is worth noting: Paul wrote the Book of Romans. It was he who indicted the whole human race and charged his people with raging hypocrisy. Yet it is also he who had "great sorrow and continual grief in [his] heart" for the lost. So great was his compassion that he preferred his own damnation to theirs.

Here is a man who understood total depravity, and who wept over it.

Secondly, it ought to move us to prayer for the lost. Not general prayers, but fervent, patient, and specialized prayers. The sinner is so lost that he cannot save himself, nor can we save Him. But God can, through His Holy Spirit who--like the wind, "Blows wherever it wants". Why not pray the Holy Spirit to come upon our lost friends and neighbors? Ezekiel did: "O breathe upon these slain that they might live!" What did he get? A valley of dry bones turned into a living and "very great army" (cf. Ezekiel 37). Maybe "we have not because we ask not".

Thirdly, it ought to stimulate us to evangelism. On their own, the lost cannot believe the Gospel. But God has a way of giving faith in response to His Word. This is Paul's argument in Romans 10:

"How shall they call on Him

in Whom they have not believed?

And how shall they believe

in Him of Whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear

Without a preacher?

The punchline is v.17: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God".

The Gospel gives no life; God gives life. But God wants us to love and honor His Word, so He normally gives life in connection to the Word. "My Word shall not come back to Me void" is the Divine promise.

The doctrine of total depravity must not deaden our evangelistic efforts. If it does, you've got the doctrine wrong!

It must give us an urgency in preaching the Gospel, for man is lost and there is no other way to be saved but by faith in Jesus Christ, the centerpiece of the Gospel message. May the Psalm be true of us:

"The Lord gave the Word,

Great is the company of the preachers!"

God give us the grace. For Christ's sake. Amen.