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The Unambiguous Teaching of our Lord that Regeneration Precedes Faith According to Scripture, all people are born dead in sin (Eph 2:1). This simply means that, as a result of the Fall, people are born without the Holy Spirit and therefore, (left to themselves) are hostile to Christ and unable to understand to spiritual things (1 Cor 1:21). It does not mean they can do (or think) nothing in their state of common grace, but it means they can do nothing spiritual or redemptive ... that they will always think God's word is foolish (1 Cor 2:14) until the...

One of the most promising signs of renewal in Southern Baptist life is the emergence of genuine theological discussion and historical interest. After decades marked by the absence of significant interest in many doctrines, Southern Baptists are awakening to historic doctrinal debates in a new key. As if awakened from doctrinal amnesia, the denomination faces the promise of both renewal and reformation. In this process, we may recover our theological heritage even as we address our modern context of ministry. Dr. William R. Estep, one of Southern Baptists' most distinguished historians, has recently directed attention to a resurgent Calvinism in...

Is God Less Glorious Because He Ordained that Evil Be? Jonathan Edwards on the Decrees of God John Piper The Jonathan Edwards Institute Evangelicals Seeking the Glory of God July, 1998 Fourteen years ago Charles Colson wrote, "The western church – much of it drifting, enculturated, and infected with cheap grace – desperately needs to hear Edwards’ challenge. . . . It is my belief that the prayers and work of those who love and obey Christ in our world may yet prevail as they keep the message of such a man as Jonathan Edwards." That conviction lies behind The...

More Than a Calvinist 1762 To be enabled to form a clear, consistant, and comprehensive judgement of the truths revealed in the Scripture, is a great privilege; But they who possess it are exposed to The temptation of thinking too highly of themselves, and too meanly of others, especially of those who not only refuse to adopt their sentiments, but venture to oppose them. We see few controversial writings, however excellent in other respects, but are tinctured with this spirit of self-superiority; and they who are not called to this service (of writing). if they are attentive to what passes...

BATTLING THE UNBELIEF OF BITTERNESS Romans 12:17-21 11-20-88 While I was at the midyear board meetings of the Baptist General Conference in Madison this week a one pastor confided in me that he gets angry very easily and sometimes has a lot of anger inside even when his people don't know it from the way he looks. He was speaking for many. For some people anger is corked under a calm exterior. It ferments where no one can see it. Others spout off instantly if they get angry. Others turn red in the face and tremble. Others become sullen and...

"GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...." by Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema Preface John 3:16 is probably the most frequently misinterpreted and misused verse in all of Holy Scripture. I refer to the fact, of course, that so often it is explained as meaning that God loves all men and that he gave his Son for all men. Nothing could be farther from the truth! The sad part of this misinterpretation and misuse is that it deprives the child of God, who is in himself an utterly lost sinner, of the very comfort and solid assurance that this Word of God is...

"My aim in this chapter is to show from Scripture that the simultaneous existence of God's will for 'all persons to be saved' (1 Tim. 2:4) and his will to elect unconditionally those who will actually be saved is not a sign of divine schizophrenia or exegetical confusion. A corresponding aim is to show that unconditional election therefore does not contradict biblical expressions of God's compassion for all people, and does not nullify sincere offers of salvation to everyone who is lost among all the peoples of the world."> Are There Two Wills in God? Divine Election and God's Desire for...

George Whitefield Sermon 49On Regeneration 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." That I may therefore contribute my mite towards curing the fatal mistake of such persons, who would thus put asunder what God has inseparably joined together, and vainly think they are justified by Christ, or have their sins forgiven, and his perfect obedience imputed to them, when they are not sanctified, have not their natures changed, and made holy, I shall beg leave to enlarge on the words of the text in the following manner:FIRST, I shall endeavor to explain...

FOREKNOWLEDGE: There's More Than Meets God's Eye Rev. James M. Harrison (Red Mills Baptist Church - Mahopac Falls, NY) "You don't believe in predestination, do you?!" Everyone who openly holds to the doctrines of grace has at one time or another heard this question asked in near hysterical tones. The very question itself implies that predestination is a doctrine dreamed up by some evil disciple of John Calvin, sitting alone in his ivory tower, devising ways of making God appear to be mean and unloving. The reality is that anyone who bows to the authority of the NT believes...

SINFrom Jonathan Edwards: A Mini-Theology, By John H. Gerstner When man sinned he lost all the beauty of his nature. There is nothing left but a filthy and devilish nature that reigns in the hearts of natural men. Edwards constantly preached that man is devoid of the love and presence of God and that this is the root of all evil. We learn from Original Sin that God withdrew when Adam rebelled, and this occasioned man's natural corruption. No infusion or transfusion of corruption was necessary. The theme was developed in the manuscript sermon on Genesis 3:11.(1) Nothing more was...

Limited Atonementby Rev. G. Van Baren One great truth which has ever been emphasized by the faithful church of Christ is the truth of the atonement. To define further the Scriptural idea of "atonement," churches of Reformed, Calvinistic backgrounds speak of "limited" atonement. It is vital for the child of God to understand what is involved in the truth of "limited atonement." This truth concerns the very heart of one's spiritual life. Atonement The word "atonement" is used many times in the Old Testament but only once in the New Testament: in Romans 5:11 -- that is, in the...