Doctrine #56: Calvinism

Causality: "The tree (cause) is known by its fruit (effect)." Throughout this chapter, Jesus demonstrated the Pharisees were contradictory. In this verse, Jesus wanted the Pharisees to state their will and stop being contradictory.

We will be judged according to our works (including words) and will give an account of our lives in the day of judgment. The word "word" in verse 36 was rhema - "the revelatory and powerful word without precedent that brings salvation when it comes from God." Above, we saw when people speak words without precedent, they are attempting to be the source, to be God. Everyone will have to give an account of the words they speak that do not have a precedent. Again, this was the same application in verse 32 relative to speaking a word against the Holy Spirit. For verse 37, if someone speaks a wrong word based on understanding, this was logos. For example, teaching about the Holy Spirit incorrectly because you have interpreted a Bible passage wrong is not rhema. The source was the Bible and you would have erred in your understanding. However, teaching something wrong about the Holy Spirit based not on the Bible, but on something you believe is rhema. This wrong doing will have to be paid for in the day of judgment, unless the person responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and confessed and repented. Jesus' point here was the Pharisees were not confessing and repenting so they would have to pay for this in the day of judgment.

This chapter began what was referred to as "The Sermon on the Mount." This was Jesus' premier teaching.

Our Righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This usage of "kingdom of heaven" was referring to eternal paradise with God. The "righteousness" here was God's Righteousness through you via the Holy Spirit: grace.

Chapter 7 concluded the "Sermon on the Mount."

Jesus got more specific about the "narrow gate." Not everyone who SAYS the right thing will make it to heaven. The key to getting into heaven is to DO the Will of the Father. From the context of this chapter, this sounded like it was something that few actually did. Those who DO the Will of God enter the kingdom of heaven. This usage of the kingdom of heaven referred to the eternal Kingdom with God in heaven. Our actions are what matter because they are an effect of our internal causes. However, Jesus immediately addressed "good" actions from "bad" causes.

These people did these works in their own strength, not as an effect of having God flow through them. This introduced two key Doctrine:

1. People are able to have righteousness from themselves. People with Calvinistic beliefs state that people are totally depraved, that people have nothing good within themselves. Actually, people have good in themselves that results in good works, otherwise Jesus was wrong. Jesus was never wrong.

2. Getting to heaven is an effect of knowing God, of having God operate through you as a cause. This was grace: "the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life." The people Jesus was referring to did good works of themselves, however, they didn't act in grace. They didn't allow God to be the cause of their words and actions.

So, Jesus' comment from earlier in this chapter did create the context for this verse: we will know the person by the fruit they produce over the long term. Even though these people produced what appeared to be good fruit in the short term, at Final Judgment we will find out if this fruit was from God or their own strength. This was consistent with the first verse of this chapter: Don't judge! What person is able to judge whether these people were doing these miracles in their own strength or by having fellowship with God?)

Worse: A person who uses this passage as support to why he is supposed to judge others would be putting himself in God's place because it was Jesus who will be the one who judges these people. Notice, the last two passages both stated God was the one who would judge these people. Anyone who uses these passages to justify their judging of others is acting as if they are God.

Paul established four different communications with God. Notice, prayer was listed separately which proved that not all communication with God was called prayer.

Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for all men and for all that are in authority. The reason: so that we can live a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.

Doctrine: It is God's Will that all men are saved. This meant that God's Will is for everyone who has ever lived, is living, and will live to be saved.

Doctrine: Not all Israelites were of Israel. Paul's reason for his premise (that God's Word was not wrong or useless) was that it was the individual's choice to recognize the value within God and to humble himself and accept justification by faith, which determined if he was saved.

Verse 8 was really a restatement of the reason. Paul's reason removed the belief that birth determined Salvation. Being a Jew did not mean you were automatically, and against your will, a child of God. Being a child of God depended on the individual's choice to live after the Spirit instead of the flesh. Those who chose to be children of the flesh were not children of God, even if they were born a Jew. Notice, Paul specifically began this portion of his presentation being in sorrow over the Jews and their decision not to accept Christ. If Paul was expressing Calvinistic doctrine, he would not be in sorrow for the Jews refusal to believe in Christ because it would be "God's Will" and Paul completely supported God's Will. Next, Paul supported this premise and reason with a reference to Genesis 18:10.

The word "election" came from the Greek word eklektos (Strong's #1588) which meant "select; by impl. favorite." These "elect" were children of God. Why? Because they walked after the Spirit. These people were God's "favorite" because they were the best or the "select" just like some products are considered the "select" because they are the best, not because the manufacturer and consumer believes that declaring something "select" makes it the best. Remember, the reason behind the premise was that people were not believers because of their birth, but because of their choice to think well of God (glorify Him as God), humble themselves and accept justification by faith. Paul then gave his second scriptural support with Genesis 25:23.

Verses 10-12 made up a crucial sentence. At this point there were two ways this sentence could be interpreted. The Calvinist would say God declared the younger good and the older bad, and that declaration made Jacob good and Esau bad. Ignoring everything in this book that preceded this sentence would also lead to the conclusion: God did this to make sure we knew that our being good and attaining Salvation had nothing to do with what we chose to do, but with God irresistibly calling Jacob and believers to be good.

On the other hand, the person who interpreted this verse in context with the rest of this book would say God saw the younger would be better at humbling himself and better at having faith than the older, so God declared it ahead of time to emphasize the fact that our Salvation had nothing to do with our works, but instead on our ability to humble ourselves. However, this still would not mean that the younger would end up having faith in God and the older would not have faith in God. It just meant that the older would end up serving the younger because the younger was better before he had the ability to do anything. This also introduced the idea that we are not all created equally. At this point, we don't know if the elder and younger are "good" or "bad," we just know the younger will be better than the elder. The key to understanding which interpretation was closer to Paul's intent depended on the third scripture he referenced.

Paul referenced Malachi 1:2-3. Please read all of Malachi 1 from this commentary to get the full explanation, especially if you do not agree with the following: "hated" meant "loved less." So, this verse also showed that everyone was not created equally: God loved Esau, but He loved Jacob more.

In the Malachi verses immediately after Malachi 1:3, God called His people "Jacob" and the nation of Edom "Esau." The rest of the Malachi passage showed God treated Jacob better than Esau. In Malachi 1, both Jacob and Esau responded to God's different level of love by being disobedient. So, the closest interpretation for the previous verses had nothing to do with being "good." Here is the summary that is written in this commentary for Malachi 1:

Esau was "hated" (loved less) than Jacob. Both responded poorly, which justified God. There was nothing God could have done to cause Esau and Jacob to be righteous and focus on Him because He tried both methods, and both chose to focus on themselves. God's loving response was to punish both of them. All of the calamity that came upon Esau and Israel was in response to how each of them chose to live. Also, both of their responses justified God's decision to turn His focus to people outside of His people: Gentiles.

The passage from Malachi showed that even though God loved Jacob, it did not result in Jacob choosing to be obedient to God. That point blatantly contradicted the Calvinistic interpretation above because God calling Jacob (His people) did not result in the Jews choosing Salvation, which was why God said He would offer Salvation to the Gentiles. The Malachi passage supported the contextual interpretation from above.

Paul referenced the scripture from Malachi to support his point (reason) that being Jewish did not equate to being Righteous as well as God loving Jacob more from birth did not result in all the Jews attaining Salvation. Remember, we are all "children of the promise" and it is up to us to walk by the Spirit in order to be "elect." Paul showed that God stopped having mercy on the Jews and reached out to the Gentiles because He was looking for people who would recognize the value within Him (glorify Him as God) to accept justification by faith. Notice, how this interpretation continued to fit the context of the following verses.

"My little children" were new believers. John wrote these things so that they would not sin. However, if you sin, you have an Advocate: Christ. "Advocate" meant "lawyer." Christ is a Lawyer for believers. He pleads the cause of believers who sin before a judge. Who is this judge?

God the Father is the objective Judge. He sees sin and recognizes the unrighteousness and injustice. Christ is our Lawyer. He pleads our case to God, the Judge…and Christ paid the bill.

Christ is our propitiation. His Blood paid for our sin. Not only for our sins (believers) but for the sins of the whole world (everyone who has ever lived, is living, and will live…believer and unbeliever). Notice, Christ did not only die for believers. Christ provided everything necessary for Salvation for everyone. It is the choice of the individual whether Salvation is attained. It is the responsibility of the individual.

Doctrine: Jesus was the prophesied Passover Lamb. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and declared "Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!" Again, John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Messiah and used a reference from God's Word to make others aware.

Premise: Jesus was also made a little lower than the angels (while on earth) that by the grace of God, He would taste death for every man. If Christ had not been made lower than the angels, He would not have been able to die. Jesus died for the sins of everyone. Salvation is available to all. Next, Paul presented his reason.

James referenced Proverbs 3:34. The proud were the ones who were speaking in their own strength for the world. This actually limited the ability of the Holy Spirit to speak through the person, which was grace. James referenced the scripture to show that God resisted the proud. The only way God can grow a person not flowing in grace is from the outside, from resisting them. However, God gives more grace to the humble. God grows the humble person more from the inside. Believers are humble and will be able to speak more and more for God via grace. God has provided everything necessary for Salvation. The proud people are at fault when they do not receive grace. Pride is "unwilling to consider you are wrong and in need of nothing." Someone in pride is not going to reflect God's influence in their life, they are going to present their own influence which is actually from the world. They will speak for the world.

Therefore, we ought to progress further than the foundational principles, unto perfection.

Paul listed the foundational Doctrines: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection, and eternal judgment.

Concerning verses 4-6, see also Hebrews 10:26. These verses meant that the only way to gain Salvation is by grace through faith (which begins with repentance/humility). These verses did not mean that if we had already lived of the Holy Spirit and fall away, we cannot again attain Salvation. These verses meant that if we have received this gift and then fall away, we ought to know that there is no other way to attain Salvation, other than through repentance.

We cannot skip over repentance and just act as if Christ was "recrucified." Paul began this chapter stating that the foundational Doctrines should not be repeatedly done because once they were done (and understood) we ought to grow past these to maturity. In verse 6, Paul was building on verse 1: do not try to pretend that you have not sinned and act like this was the first time you received Christ's death on the cross as paying for your sins.

John stated that whoever believes (is fully convinced) in Jesus will have eternal life. Your beliefs come out in your actions. A person who believes in Jesus lives by grace through faith.

Doctrine: God sent Jesus because He loves the world. God offered the world a value (eternal life) without expecting anything in return. God does not make us believe in Jesus.

The Spirit spoke expressly that in the end times, some shall depart from the faith. The falling away will come from within the church, people forfeiting their Salvation. Notice, central to this falling away will be doctrines of demons: doctrines that are not God's non-contradictory Biblical Doctrines.

If these people state that they are following God's Doctrines, but they cannot support it with the Bible...and they continue to justify themselves instead of considering they are wrong, they will become hypocrites. Jesus said hypocrites go to hell: Matthew 24:51. Notice, continuing to justify one's self in this error while holding others to a higher standard (hypocrisy) would lead to these people having their consciences seared over. These people will eventually be unable to feel guilt or the conviction from the Holy Spirit. People who are unable to feel conviction to the extent they confess and repent are people who have prevented themselves from receiving Salvation.

These people will place laws on others. Notice the two Doctrines that become corrupted: Marriage and dietary.

This spoke about people who knew the way of Righteousness but turned from it. It was better for these people if they had never known it. The more a person knows, the more destructive they can become if they become evil. Lucifer is the most destructive because of the beings who are destructive, he knew the most. Peter then referenced Proverbs 26:11...