A Quest for God’s Glory Makes the Supralapsarian

Scott Price

Throughout recorded theological history nicknames have been created, some good and others bad. When asked if I am a “Calvinist” I must be careful how to answer because they may be wondering if I am a Calvinist in my view of baptism or church government. On the other hand they may think that Calvinism is equated to what a Freewill Arminian Baptist would call eternal security with no effectual atonement to ground it on. Thanks, but no thanks. But if you mean do I hold to the doctrine commonly called Sovereign Grace that includes 5 points in the form of T-U-L-I-P, then yes, I am very much so a Calvinist in that sense. It is a shame that truth so precious has become referenced by the name of a mere man. But if it is a means to use to communicate initially in today’s world then I will take advantage of it just as I would a letter, computer, cell phone or any such other communicating device. Today, some 400-500 years after the systematic formation (not the creation of the actual truth of these doctrines since they are very Biblical) of these doctrines for easy remembrance and use in study, one must even distinguish further their position for clarifying where they stand.

Today, for example, the term or name Christian has been watered down so much that it means so many DIFFERENT things to so many people that it is seemly a weak term left by itself without further clarification. This is the same with the term Calvinism. This site seeks to make the necessary clarifications and expose misconceptions of what has at times been called “High Calvinism”. Drugs are not done to get me high. I do not in any case promote high mindedness, but rather the very opposite. If any know me they know I do not promote a high spot for myself (Popish) in my view of the way the church is run (religion’s way of separating “clergy” from “laity”). This is not the high I speak of when readily identify with the nickname of High Calvinist. It is a high view, a Biblical view, of the only true Most High God and a high view of His grace. Every attempt is made to NOT undervalue or conceive of His grace as being something common or ineffectual. This is for His glory, His very Name’s sake.

Note very carefully that this blog site is for educational purposes; Mainly MY education, yours too hopefully, unless you already know everything. Please get involved and take a little time to view Him as “high and lifted up”. We will look at gospel doctrine, gospel theology, theological history, real conspiracies against the truth, investigating past and current controversies about sovereign grace, define theological terms such as Supralapsarianism, Infralapsarianism and Hyper-Calvinism, looking at the different views of Predestination by even using charts, etc., all to see the interesting world of the Christ centered Supralapsarian mind-set. It is my comfort zone.

Do you find yourself or others almost apologizing for God’s absolute sovereignty in all things, trying desperately to phrase things so people don’t accuse the God of the Bible of being a monster? Have you developed your doctrine in such a way as to try to give God an excuse or conditions for being sovereign? Are you embarrassed by a sovereign God who really does not give all without exception “chances” to go be saved or does not get the gospel to everybody without exception (the old: man-on-the-dessert-island question?). Do you have a problem talking about what is commonly called Double Predestination? Does it make you nervous? Do you use the phrase Reprobate and explain it in such a way that God did not do this on purpose but rather some Divine reluctance? Do you claim you left Arminian works-based religion but still use much of the same language in describing God? Do you think none of this really even matters in the first place? Think again….at least think.

Lastly, I say all this, having been somewhat in a different zone (as what some call a “Low Calvinist” or Infralapsarian) very early after my conversion and even 4-5 years prior to my conversion as a Calvinist who did not know the Lord. I thank God for providentially sending the various means that led me a different Lapsarian view, the higher and Biblical view of God as He is on His throne. This will be a place where current and past preachers, theologians and writers will be referenced so you may do further study. I have a brief list offered of Supralapsarians. We need links provided for good articles and sites that promote Supralapsarianism. We will give names of books and even book reviews of good books dealing with these issues. God uses means for these truths to enter the mind-gate and we want them available as many people as possible. They have been suppressed way too long.

That is what this blog site is designed for, to attempt to promote thinking in this neglected area. Requesting someone to think at all is very offensive to many in this day and age. These are just a few things we plan looking into. Stick around. Visit, partake, participate, give feedback, spread the word, etc. Hope to hear from you very soon.

 

God Immutable – It Goes Beyond Him Merely “Knowing”

Most church goers who talk about Predestination, when entering into the subject, say “Yes God knows what’s going to happen”. That is their version of Predestination. That’s it. That’s all. If you pry deeper and get them to explain more they go on to explain that God uses His power to launch His mind into the future to look and find out what is going to happen. They will read a text like this – Acts 15:18 “All His works are known to God from eternity.” They will still go on to say that this means God looks down through the future to see (this implies He learns) to see what He will do.

God is immutable, which means He does NOT change. This means He does not learn too. Why are all His works known to Him from all eternity? Not just because He is Omniscient (all-knowing) but because He decreed everything that He does. His purpose, decree, will or pleasure is already in Him and ahead of and drives all that happens through Him. God does not scramble and react to man’s will, nervously coming up with a plan B. He is not anxious like us humans. He doesn’t try things to how they will come out like some experiment. He does all things according to His purpose and none can stop Him or question Him (Isaiah 46:9-11, Dan 4:35).

God drives it all and doesn’t work from the seat of His pants like we do. He doesn’t chase His tail like a silly dog wondering why He can’t catch it. He does all His pleasure (Psm 115:3) and He has thought about it BEFORE He does it. This is the God of the Bible and all others are idols. These idols are represented in most churches and people like to have it so. They want a god they can control and have on a leash. After all, they claim they have freewill and that their god would not dare violate that.

Variety of Salvation Views Categorized

This list was gathered and edited by David Bishop

I. Hyper-Calvinism –
A. Beliefs – the Gospel should only preached to the elect; usually anti-missionary
B. Proponents – Joseph Hussey, John Skepp, some English primitive Baptists.

II. Ultra High Calvinism –
A. Beliefs – that the elect are in some sense eternally justified. Denies the Well– Meant Offer, Common Grace, and the idea that God has any love for the non-elect.
B. Proponents – John Gill, Herman Hoeksema

III. High Calvinism –
A. Beliefs – most deny the Well-Meant Offer, Common Grace and the idea that God has any love for the non-elect. Most are Supralapsarian. All believe redemption is applied by legal imputation.
B. Proponents – Theodore Beza, John Owen, Augustus Toplady, Gordon Clark, Arthur Pink

IV. Moderate Calvinism –
A. beliefs – that God does in some sense desire to save the reprobate. Most affirm Common Grace. Most are infralapsarian. Most believe redemption is applied by faith
B. Proponents – John Calvin, John Murray, RL Dabney, James White

V. Low Calvinism –
A. beliefs – that Christ died for all in a legal sense, so one can speak of Christ dying for the non-elect. That God has two distinct wills. Affirms the Well-Meant Offer and Common Grace
B. Proponents: Amyraldrians , RT Kendal, R C Sproul, John Piper, Paul Washer

VI. Lutheranism –
A. beliefs – that Calvinist over emphasize God Sovereignty over man’s responsibility. That Christ died for all in legal sense, that some are predestined on to life but none are predestined onto death. That the sacraments are means of grace regardless of one’s faith.
B. Proponents – Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Rod Rosenbladt

VII. American Baptist –
A. beliefs – that God has given man libertarian freedom, that God’s knowledge of future is based on His foreknowledge. That Christ died for all and desires all to be saved. Once a persons believes the gospel, he is eternally secure. Rejects Calvinism, some would even call it heretical.
B. Proponents – Jerry Falwell, Adrian Rogers

VIII. Arminianism –
A. beliefs – that God has given man libertarian freedom, that God’s knowledge of future is solely based on His foreknowledge. That Christ died for all and desires all to be saved. A person can fall from the state of grace i.e. lose ones salvation, since it is our free will that chooses Christ at conversion.
B. Proponents: Jacob Arminius, John Wesley, some Methodists, Chuck Smith

New Section on our Main Website with “Absolute Grace” Articles

Please take the time to visit my main site and check out a page I added around Feb 2014. Many good articles that harmonize with those of this blog. I am always looking for good articles, audio messages and video on Supralapsarianism, Double Predestination, anti-common grace, etc. (links to other blogs and websites too), so if you come across any you can email me a link to gospeldefense@gmail.com  Here is the link to the newer page on our site – http://www.gospeldefense.com/absolute_grace.html

Thanks,

Scott Price

The Off-Tone Disharmony of “Low Calvinism”

Some call it Hypo-Calvinism and some call it Low Calvinism but when you boil it down it’s an attempt to protect God for His own  absolute sovereignty in all things, especially salvation. It is an eventual and intentional watering down of the Doctrines we know as Sovereign Grace (T.U.L.I.P.).

I remember back in 1990 a friend of mine told me about what some 5 pointers believed called Common Grace and The Free Offer. I had been converted to the truth of God’s gospel 3 years earlier. My response to him was – Those doctrines sounds like the Arminianism I came out of. He was amazed at my answer and said my response was consistent. It was just one more filter in place when it came to purchasing books or listening to sermons.

What amazed me was the high percentage of 5 pointers tend to take this low view of God’s salvation by sovereign grace. If I were to take a stab out percentages I would guestimate about 85% of Calvinists are Hypo-Calvinists or Low Calvinist. The push Common Grace, the Free Offer and try to say God has two wills, They reject Double Predestination, Reprobation and they have  a view that God loves the non-elect and desires their salvation to a certain extent. Some have a weak view Adam’s sin imputed and reject that it is the ground of condemnation.

Where is all this doctrinal weakness heading? What damage is it doing? At what point does any of this affect the gospel? I do think I know where all this came from, Yes, Satan, of course, but it seems when the dominoes accelerated when Jacob Arminus was influence by a Jesuit Priest to drop his Supralapsarianism and pick up Infralapsarianism. The rest is history, as they say. Anyone do any thinking about all this? Feel free to comment and post links of interesting historical connections to the whole issue.

Not Ashamed of His Absolute Sovereignty

There is constant pressure from weak religion, even “Evangelicals”, who claim to believe in the fundamentals, to tame down or even toss out the sovereignty of God in all things. They gang up, they recruit, they form alliances with those of influence, they accuse us of having a God who is a monster or that we teach in a God who runs us like robots.

In our work of the ministry, trying to represent the character of God as accurately, as Biblically possible, do we think compromise with the religious world will do us or anyone else any good? If we were to follow their lead or bend to there pressure do you think it would open the door to have more people listen to us? I tell you it will NOT open any doors, but it would actually be shutting the door by misrepresenting the character of God.

Our job is not to tone down and form a god that matches the human pride of man, one who we can manipulate with our will. Our task is repeat what the word of God says about who God is. This is the way to glorify God, just repeat what God has already said about Himself. That is confessing Him. To “confess” something is to say the same word (or agree) about what is being said. We are not to fall for the weak and detracting arguments that we think God makes robots when the Scripture clearly show ALL humanity is clay from the same lump. Yes, God is the Potter of that clay and He alone decides what to form the clay into. After we are reminded of that text the little robot comment seems to fizz out.

The point is, no matter what objection or appeal that religion has or tries to use against our God we need not compromise who God truly is. If we do compromise isn’t it a sign that we are actually ashamed of His character? Are you afraid you will run off one of God’s elect with clear truth that offends? God’s people have to take in several aspects of, both, the cause and affect of the truth of God’s word that promise success of His word to be able to remain spiritually sane in this life.

So, which is it? Do you serve up the message with a dash of sugar and sparkles (half-truths or in other words – LIES) to fancy the character of God to the world making Him a god of the imagination or do you speak the truth without compromise and see His glory work? It’s not rocket science is it?

Video of the Supra Position

Unconditional Love