The Doctrines of Grace


Many today identify Calvinism with the system of doctrine that bears the name TULIP. The letters of the acronym correspond to five doctrines known as the doctrines of grace, also as the five points of Calvinism.

Calvin himself never codified the doctrines of grace in this manner. Indeed, he would have objected to how these doctrines are understood and taught by some who call themselves Calvinists. Yet when properly formulated, all five points are Biblical in substance, although they easily become unbiblical both in formulation and in application unless they are kept in balance with the doctrines of responsibility, these recognizing that as a creature made in God's image, man has the power to choose according to the leading of his own heart.

At the outset, I must attach a disclaimer. I address this enormously complex and controversial subject not as a Calvinist defending his own religious heritage. On many points I disagree with Calvin. Moreover, I believe that Calvinism on a popular level has often degenerated into a dangerous heresy known as hypercalvinism—a system of false doctrine which has led many to believe that if someone stands outside God’s elect, salvation is beyond reach even if he asks for it. The truth according to Scripture is that anyone who asks for salvation will be saved. The same system implies, or in some quarters actually teaches, that a person outside the elect takes the road to hell strictly in fulfillment of his destiny foreordained by God. In other words, his damnation is essentially God's fault, not his, whereas in fact that hell-bound road is the natural, purely autonomous preference of every man who has ever lived.

My purpose in analyzing TULIP is twofold: first, to help those within the Reformed movement to exercise more effective restraint against doctrinal deviations and excesses; second, to formulate the doctrines of grace in a manner that will help all readers have a better understanding of the ultimately insoluble riddle of how human freedom operates under a sovereign God.

We will begin by correctly formulating each point of TULIP. Then we will offer counterbalancing truths under the heading of DAISY.

TULIP


Total depravity


Question addressed by the first point:

Who is worthy to be saved?


Defensible answer:

God finds nothing in any man that makes him deserving of eternal life. Every man is totally depraved.


Defense:

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Romans 3:10-12

Indefensible answer:

Man is incapable of doing good.


Refutation:

Although Scripture says, "The plowing of the wicked, is sin" (Prov. 21:4), it is judging not the act, but the motive. The motive may be tainted either by prideful self-sufficiency or by idolatrous dependence on heathen gods. But because plowing helps to sustain life, the act itself may be wholly good.



Unconditional election


Question arising from the first point and addressed by the second point:

Though all men are too wicked to deserve eternal life, God chooses (elects) some for salvation. Does He choose them because they are less wicked?


Defensible answer:

The answer is, no. God's decision to bestow saving grace takes no account of human merit. That is, divine election is unconditional.


Defense:

Paul was saved, though he was the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).


Indefensible answer:

God's bestowal of saving grace is arbitrary.


Refutation:

God's avowal, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Rom. 9:13), does not mean that His love for Jacob was arbitrary or at random. God loves His elect because He made them to be vessels of honor and, seeing the end from the beginning, He has known from eternity past what by grace they would become. So, His election is not without consideration of each man's person and potential. It is motivated by love for those who will someday conform to the image of Christ.



Limited atonement


Question arising from the second point and addressed by the third:

If God saves men although they are sinners, will all be saved?


Defensible answer:

All men will not be saved. The benefits of Christ's atonement are not bestowed on all men, but reserved for a few.


Defense:

Jesus said,

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Point L, properly understood, is a rejection of universalism.


Indefensible answer:

Christ died only for the elect.


Refutation:

Many passages teach that Christ died for all men.

14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

. . . We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.

1 Timothy 4:10

Christ's redemptive work was evidently sufficient to purchase salvation for all men, would they simply accept it. But though it was universally sufficient, it was not universally efficient. That is, it did not actually confer salvation upon all men.



Irresistible grace


Question arising from the third point and addressed by the fourth:

God saves sinners through the gospel, which urges them to believe in Christ as their Savior. But if human depravity will keep at least some from responding correctly to the gospel, will not all be lost, since all are by nature equally froward and hostile to the truth?


Defensible answer:

God is capable of saving a man even though he is God's bitter enemy. Divine grace works irresistibly upon a stubborn heart and transforms it so that it is willing to believe the gospel.


Defense:

Paul, again, is the sterling example. He was the chief of sinners, but God saved him. Moreover, Jesus said that although a camel could go through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man could attain heaven, with God all things are possible (Luke 18:25-27).


Indefensible answer:

God saves sinners against their will.


Refutation:

God never forces a man to accept Christ. Rather, He works in a man's heart and mind until, of his own free volition, he desires to accept Christ.



Perseverance of the saints


Question arising from the fourth point and addressed by the fifth:

If salvation is entirely a work of God, might He take it away just as irresistibly as He gave it?


Defensible answer:

A man truly saved will never lose his salvation.


Defense:

Jesus promised,

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

John 6:37

Indefensible answer:

Any man who believes he is saved can be sure of his salvation.


Refutation:

Jesus warned,

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:21-23


The Doctrines of Responsibility


TULIP clearly presents the Biblical doctrines of divine grace, but ignores the Biblical doctrines of human responsibility. For each of the five points of Calvinism, there is a counterbalancing truth.



Deliberate sin


Possible distortion:

Point T alone could lead some to believe that depravity is a condition we passively receive.


Corrective:

The doctrine of Total Depravity is balanced by the doctrine of Deliberate Sin.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6

We all cooperate with our innate depravity by sinning wilfully. Sin is our conscious choice.



All-encompassing call


Possible distortion:

Point U alone could be taken to mean that some might be denied salvation though they desire it.


Corrective:

The doctrine of Unconditional Election is balanced by the doctrine of All-Encompassing Call.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

. . . And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Revelation 22:17

The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is available to whoever wants it.



Infinite love


Possible distortion:

Some might infer from Point L alone that God is indifferent to the lost.


Corrective:

The doctrine of Limited Atonement is balanced by the doctrine of Infinite Love.

The Lord is . . . longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

God loves the whole world of man, including all who will reject His love.



Spontaneous faith


Possible distortion:

Point I alone could be construed as saying that a man should wait for saving faith to descend mysteriously from above.


Corrective:

The doctrine of Irresistible Grace is balanced by the doctrine of Spontaneous Faith.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:10

Saving faith originates in the authentic desires of a man's heart. It comes not from without, but from within. If, in his heart, a man desires to be saved and believes that he can be saved only through Christ, he need not postpone a decision for Christ until God grants him a special kind of faith. He already has exactly the faith he needs.



Yieldedness of the saints


Possible distortion:

Some might view Point P alone as an excuse for carelessness in the Christian life.


Corrective:

The doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints is balanced by the doctrine of Yieldedness of the Saints.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.

2 Peter 1:10

The proof that a man is saved is a life befitting a saved man.


DAISY


The doctrines that bring TULIP into balance therefore constitute another five points, which we will call the doctrines of responsibility.


TULIP DAISY
T = Total Depravity D = Deliberate Sin
U = Unconditional Election A = All-Encompassing Call
L = Limited Atonement I = Infinite Love
I = Irresistible Grace S = Spontaneous Faith
P = Perseverance of the Saints Y = Yieldedness of the Saints

Questions Raised by the Doctrine of Election


Does not the doctrine of election disregard the free will of man?

It looks to many as if TULIP is saying that every man is appointed to a destiny which he cannot alter—that he faces heaven or hell without consideration of what he himself wants. But TULIP does not deny that a man's future depends on his own free choice. It merely builds on the premise that every man's free choice, apart from grace, is to reject God. Only by grace can a man's heart be changed so that his free choice is to accept salvation in Christ. Yet this defense of TULIP spawns another question.


Would not God be unjust if He granted saving grace to some and withheld it from others?

I will answer this objection by means of a parable. Suppose I see ten people walking resolutely toward a cliff. One is my own child. I vehemently warn them all, but they laugh in my face, push me aside, and dismiss as nonsense the overwhelming evidence I show them of their peril. If I then catch my own child and plead with him personally that he go no further, finally winning his cooperation by strongly declaring my love for him and begging that he remain by my side as proof of his love for me, am I unjust because I do not deal similarly with all the rest, instead letting them suffer the consequences of their stupidity? No, I helped them every bit as much as I was obliged to help them and more than they deserved.

Another question now comes to the fore.


How may we explain the New Testament principle that God desires the salvation of all men?

Who [God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:4

The Lord is . . . longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

One intent of these texts is to help a sinner seeking God's will concerning salvation. God never tells such an inquirer, "I want you to be lost." His answer is always, "I want you to be saved."

To show that this is God's readily available counsel to all sinners, we will reconsider the metaphor of people marching toward a cliff. We will view my personal intervention as a picture of the Holy Spirit working in the heart of someone who belongs to God's elect. But let us imagine that besides my pleas, the ten tramping steadily onward see along the way a multitude of signs and hear a din of voices warning them that they will soon perish. Yet they keep going. The signs and voices correspond to all the evidence in creation of God's existence and all the evidence in man's conscience that the Creator is a moral being who hates sin. The abundance of these warnings during the course of human life confirm God's affirmation that He is not willing that any should perish. No man perishes except by his own free choice, contrary to the wisdom available to a teachable heart.


How do the elect differ from everyone else?

God does intervene to save many from destruction—the ones that Scripture calls the elect. He does not force them to believe the gospel. By no means. Through inner workings of the Holy Spirit, He cultivates in them an ability to exercise a free decision in God's favor. They come to Him by their own free will.

In the parable we presented, the one saved from disaster was called my child. Likewise, every person in the elect has, ever since the eternal foreknowledge of God, been viewed as God's child (Rom. 8:29).

A father-child relationship fosters in the father a kind of love that is especially deep. Why? We can dismiss one possible explanation. His love does not depend on the child demonstrating that by some objective standard, he has a present value or merit greater than the children of other fathers.

One true source of a father's love is his perception that the child reproduces, in some measure, the father himself. It is possible, though beyond proof, that although every human being bears God's image, the ones designed as the elect exhibit His image to a greater extent. We are of course speaking of qualities that, at least before salvation, are strictly unrelated to moral excellence.

A less uncertain source of a father's love is the love he anticipates in return for all that he has bestowed on the child. The benevolent gifts include life itself, provisions to sustain life, and his own love.

Another source is the child's exciting potential, which the father himself will have the privilege of helping the child fulfill. Surely this is a strong basis of God's love for us. We are like raw material taken in hand by a master artist. Why God has chosen each of us in particular as a medium for exercise of his creative genius is an unanswerable question. When he made you and me, he must have put in some color or texture or pliability that He enjoyed the prospect of molding or spreading into a final work of art.

From our discussion so far arises another question, getting to the very heart of the mystery that envelopes the doctrines of grace.


Why has God declined to treat all men as His children?

For an answer, we must offer another parable. Suppose our country was overrun by a foreign army, and as they swept through my town, a hostile soldier came to my door with the obvious intent of shooting anyone he found inside. In self-defense, I would aim my gun at the door and pull the trigger as soon as he burst through. While waiting tensely for the moment of battle, I might well feel that I had no desire to kill this man, that I was not willing that he should perish. Yet to protect everything I held dear, I would not hesitate to kill him as soon as he appeared, and I would rest assured that he himself bore the blame for his death.

We are all like that soldier. We are hardened sinners, with a record of transgressions leaving no grounds in justice to spare our lives. Yet the parable is a poor analogy to God's predicament, because the issue between man and God is more personal. Every man has allied himself with God's archenemy, Satan.

Is God unjust if He does not intervene to save every man from the consequences of his own deliberate treason against God? By no means. He is infinitely gracious to save any man. If He saves us, He is gracious and merciful. If He chooses not to save us, He is altogether just.

In His Word, God provides a still fuller perspective on why He saves only the elect—on why does He not treat all men as His children. Many Christians have not come to terms with the clear teaching of Romans 9.

10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.

Romans 9:10-23

According to this passage, one reason that God does not save everyone is that He is "willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known" (v. 22). He wants mankind to know Him in all the complexity of His person. Inseparable from His character is a holy wrath toward such perfidy as man has committed, and inseparable from His divine resources is the power to implement eternal retribution.

It seems very likely that an eternal display of the dire consequences of rebellion is one necessary precaution against it ever recurring.