2. Man's Inability - Debating Calvinism

Strange Doctrine

On page 64, James White quotes the 1689 London Confession in his defense which states man was created evilly, for it said man was created "unstable..." Would a loving and righteous God create an unstable man? This makes the god of Calvinism the author of instability. The Confession goes on further to say "man has lost all ability to will the performance of any of those works...that accompany salvation." The obvious question is, if man was never saved, how could he lose what he never had? Adam and Eve never did eat of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden which typifies the life of Christ.

Dissension

On page 65, White quotes Romans 3.10-18. "With their tongues they keep deceiving...And the path of peace they have not known." Is it not true Calvinists argue profusely in a poisoned spirit of dissension, keep deceiving with their words and have no peace? They may find this "uncomfortable" (p.65) to accept, but is nonetheless their nature they seem perpetually unable to escape.

Sufficient Grace for All

On page 66, White suggests that when Paul "asserts that there none who seek after God" that man is Totally depraved. And so he claims "One is focused upon man and his abilities (synergism); one upon God and His (monergism)." But where does Paul take the fact of man's sin nature, and none are without exception, to mean Total depravity or that God doesn't want a relationship that is synergistic? God is a relational Being which is not seen in Monergism. God has graced man with certain innate abilities, one of which is our free-will to receive God's saving redemption by the grace of God. As Watchman Nee says on pages 10-11 of Volume 2 of The Spiritual Man (CFP white cover) under "The Holy Spirit and Regeneration": "When regenerated, man's spirit is made alive through the incoming of God's life. The Holy Spirit is the prime mover in this task. He convinces the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16.8). He prepares human hearts to believe in the Lord Jesus as Savior. The work of the cross has been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus, but it is left to the Holy Spirit to apply the finished work to the sinner's heart...the task of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to sinners what the cross has created and achieved so that they may in fact receive and be saved." The Holy Spirit has His work to do, and man has his work to do which is to repent and believe in Christ to be regenerated by the grace of God. Though the primary work belongs to God, man still has his part to play since he is a sovereign being made in God's image with the soulical function of free-will and a spirit of God-consciousness, able to receive the wooing of the Holy Spirit and through regeneration to commune with God.

Free-Choice

On page 67, White tries to suggest that Romans 8.5-8 is speaking about the unsaved and saved being what they are because his god irresistibly selected the later without any consideration for their choice to able receive God's saving grace. All one needs to do in reply is read four verses:

"For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

This passage is talking about free-will. You have a choice. If you set your mind on the flesh it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. You can't please God if you go that route. But those who are born-again, who are in the Spirit, the Spirit indwells them. You're not one of His sheep if you live by the flesh. What can you do then? Repent and believe in Christ to be regenerated to be a child of God. This is God's will for every man, woman and child. Why else would the gospel of salvation be delivered to the whole world? The sin of Calvinism is this: to assume you don't have a choice: a real choice able to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior. God has provided everyone with sufficient grace to do so: "convinces the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment." Without accepting the choice that is able, you never choose the true Christ, but instead wait for the evil spirit to come over you irresistibly. That is the difference between how God works and how Satan works. God never infringes on man's free-will whereas Satan does.

Whenever you see verses speaking of man's depravity they refer to "propensity to sin" and "separation." Never do they mean Total inability or Total depravity. That is a legalism. Christians reject such extreme view of depravity as an idol and false humility to pride oneself in thinking they have been selected irresistibly and others were denied sufficiency of grace to have the choice.

Not All Drawn are Given

White assumes on page 70, "given" means "drawn" (John 6.43-44), but never is it assumed in Scripture everyone drawn are always given. Without assuming, we can only say God's sufficient grace to all are drawn, but not all drawn are given, because many by their own free-will "draw back unto perdition" (Heb. 10.39). All given are certainly drawn, but not all drawn are always given.

Slavery is Not Inability

On page 71, White assumes "slavery" is Total inability. But reality is even slaves have free-will. Your free-will is not mutually exclusive of being a slave to sin, just Christians are not mutually exclusive of backsliding. A Christian can lose rewards but not life; whereas an unregenerate can remain unsaved or come to the cross as a helpless sinner to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior.

The mistake White always makes is whenever the Scriptures look back upon one's salvation, he changes that to mean nobody has the ability to receive Christ. For example, he quotes John 8.42-47 for that purpose. But read these passages again:

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."

Jesus is describing their condition, not a Total inability. Why waste the energy in telling them? To "convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment." To convince implies you have the choice to respond and be convicted. If this is not what Jesus is doing then His words are all in vain. Paul's travels and preaching, leading people to Christ, was just a meaningless charade. What a strange gospel to accuse them when under Calvinism they would have no grace to be able to have a change of mind. They were just born that way, not of their own doing. They were predestinated irresistibly to Hell and denied enabling grace to have the ability to receive Christ. What love is this? Such an act gives glory to Satan.

Deadly Assumptions

We know White insists on page 72, "One must belong to God, be one of Christ's sheep, to hear His word and therefore believe." But he never looks deeper and at the plain words of Scripture that though certainly someone who belongs to God hears and believes, this does not prevent someone who is not His sheep from hearing and believing. There is, therefore, a hearing unto salvation and a hearing after salvation. Are all hearings the same hearings? Of course not. The question needs be asked, Why is someone not of God? Is it because they were born that way and denied sufficient grace, or is it because they continue to deny God's sufficient and enabling grace? The latter seems more reasonable given these verses.

The Total Depravity Tyrant

A Calvinist writes to me and says, "God makes us willing (John 1.11-13). God initiates your salvation. Your Jesus can not save you unless you give him permission. Sad." Actually, God gives everyone permission so our response is not giving God permission. He has already long since done the permitting. Those "as received him" (v.12) and others "received him not" (v.11) is free-will in action. You can't do it yourself (v.13), for example, by assuming you are regenerated (as Calvinists do), but you must "receive" by faith for God has afforded you this choice. Who are they who "received him...to become children of God" in verse 13? "...them that believe on his name." How can you receive if you assume you can't believe?

The insufficiency of the god of Calvinism is stated by the same Calvinist who writes: "God is good and shows mercy to all who will come to Him for mercy. Calvinist believe everyone has a choice. The problem is man will ALWAYS choose himself over God, unless regenerated by the Holy Spirit." The assumption of Total depravity prevents the Calvinist from believing in and receiving Christ for an irresistibly imposed salvation and accuses those going to Hell for not choosing Him even though the god of Calvinism claims they are born that way. But where does the Bible say a person who is separated from God is not provided sufficient grace and is Totally unable? The Calvinist, who is dead in his sins, does not have a conscience to realize why this is wrong. Would man be wrong to send someone to the gas chambers simply because they were born Jewish?

The Calvinist continues, "It seems that you have forgotten who is the potter and who is the clay. You are a Pharisee. The Calvinist is just as deserving of eternal damnation as anyone else. We are not some elite club. Repent of your hatred." Never think the potter is a ticket to do evil! Why aren't you an elite club? You were selected over others not selected who were not given sufficient grace to even have the choice; nor were you giving appropriate grace by God's standards, because it was irresistibly given to you. Now you pride yourself over others without it. What love is this?