Human Moral Inability and the Gospel

 "I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). 

I have written many times about the doctrine of total depravity. This is the doctrine of total inability, which is closely related, but distinct. Total depravity is the condition, while total inability is the result. That is, sin has affected every faculty of our humanity, the result of which is that there REMAINS no native ability in us to perform any moral good. The two things are often equated, but I am treating them separately, because I think that Scripture addresses them separately. 

It is a common error of supporters of free will that the doctrine of total inability is an invention of John Calvin, based on a misreading of the writings of Paul. I deliberately chose the verse above from Jeremiah to show that both aspects of that accusation are wrong. Total inability is an invention of neither Paul nor John Calvin. 

Rather, we see in the prophet his concern that men are unable to obey God from any ability in ourselves. As he faced the coming prospect of the exile of Judah in Babylon, he lamented that Judah could not reform himself. So, he pleaded, "correct me" (verse 24), because I cannot correct myself. That is, speaking on behalf of his people. 

As theologian John Frame has said, "Although fallen persons are capable of externally-good acts (acts that are good for society), they cannot do anything really good, I. e., pleasing to God (Romans 8:8). God, however, looks on the heart. And from His ultimate standpoint, fallen man has no goodness, in thought, word, or deed. He is, therefore, incapable of contributing anything to his salvation."

That is the connection of this doctrine to the gospel. The inability of men to display the righteous nature that God requires would naturally doom all men to eternal judgment (Hebrews 12:14), would display, not injustice on God's part, but rather hopelessness on the part of men. Instead, God established a righteousness which is by faith alone, the imputation of the perfect righteousness of a surety, an alien righteousness, granted to every sinner for whom He died on the cross, Jesus of Nazareth (Isaiah 26:12, John 6:37-39, II Corinthians 5:21). 

"Progressive Christians" and Reinterpreting Scripture on Sodom and Homosexuality

"Progressive Christians" hate what the Bible says about homosexuality, so they rewrite it. For example, we have the story of Sodom, from which we get the word "sodomy," which tells the story of two angels who visit Sodom in the guise of men, in order to save Abraham's nephew Lot from the soon-coming judgment of God on that city and its neighbors. We know the story well. When the men of the city learn of the presence of these visitors in Lot's home, they demand access to the men for sexual relations (Genesis 18:16-19:29). 

According to the progressives, the judgment on Sodom is not due to the effort at homosexual molestation, but rather for the violation of God's standards of social justice. In support of the view, they cite Ezekiel 16:49: "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride , excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." That would seem clear, would it not? 

In isolation, maybe. But that is not a legitimate use of Scripture. 

The passage continues: "They were haughty and did an abomination before Me. So I removed them when I saw it" (verse 50). I attended a church at one time, where the pastor preached as described above, but stopped before reading this verse. I have no doubt that is the usual strategy of such progressives. 

We also have the fuller testimony of another portion of Scripture, this time in the New Testament. In II Peter 2:4-10, that Apostle tells us, "If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for, as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority." 

So, the progressive elevates the possible meaning of one verse over the explicit statements of several other passages. Their effort to replace biblical authority with a cultural fad lies exposed. And traditional Christian belief regarding the immorality of same-sex relations is sustained. 

Unbelief as the De-Throning of God (Men Imagine)

In his book, The Existence and Attributes of God, the Puritan Stephen Charnock tells us, "It is natural to men to abhor those things that are unsuitable and troublesome as it is to please themselves in things agreeable to their minds and humors. And since man is so deeply in love with sin, as to count it the most estimable good, he cannot but wish the abolition of that law that checks it, and, consequently, the change of the lawgiver that enacted it. And in wishing a change in the holy nature of God, he wishes a destruction of God, who would not be God if He ceased to be immutably holy. They do as certainly wish that God had not a holy will to command them as despairing souls wish that God had not a righteous will to punish them; and to wish conscience extinct for the molestations they receive from it is to wish the power conscience represents out of the world also." 

Charnock is expanding on the words of Paul in two  verses in Romans. First, in Romans 1:18-23: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because god has shown it to them, for His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse, for, although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and creeping things." In this passage, Paul tells us several things relevant to Charnock's point. First is that all men have a knowledge of God, which leaves them with no excuse for their unbelief. He has revealed Himself in His work of creation, visible to every eye to perceive. Therefore, when a person claims not to believe in God, he is practicing deception, both to himself and to those around him. The reality is that he knows God, his accountability to God, and the judgment of God which he deserves. And he hates that knowledge, and strives to suppress it in unrighteousness. 

The other passage is Romans 2:15-16: "They [the Gentiles] show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." This is the internal aspect of our innate knowledge of God. In the earlier passage, Paul described the external testimony of God's hand in creation. Here he describes the internal testimony of God's law written in the hearts of men, and the conscience which responds to our choices to disobey that law. 

So inside and outside, every man has a continuous testimony to the existence, holiness, and justice of God. And, as sinners, every man resents that knowledge, and seeks to be rid of it. 

One thing that we can observe about "atheists" is that they are silent about Wicca or Buddhism or the other religions in the world. Because those faiths whitewash our wickedness! It is only the triune God of the Bible that inspires the protests and opposition of their unbelief. Because it is He alone who is known in their hearts, and He alone who cannot be thrown down at their convenience.

Sin, Human Autonomy, and Practical Atheism

In his famous book, The Existence and Attributes of God, Puritan Stephen Charnock tells us, "By the nonregarding [sic, for "disregarding"]of God, men rush into evil. Pharaoh oppressed Israel because he knew not the Lord. If he did not deny the being of a deity, yet he had such an unworthy notion of God as was inconsistent with the nature of a deity: he, a poor creature, thought himself a match for the Creator." He refers to the passage in Exodus known especially for the account of the ten plagues, as Moses tried to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In that passage, we see comments from Pharaoh like, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice and let Israel go?" (Genesis 5:2).

Charnock called this attitude "practical atheism." He notes that Pharaoh never denied the existence of gods, or even of the God. Rather, Pharaoh denied the sovereignty of God, asserting, instead, his personal autonomy from the will and commands of God. That is why Charnock calls Pharaoh's mentality "atheism," because it was a denial, in effect, of the deity, of the Godness, of God. 

This exemplifies, Charnock continues, the attitude behind all the sins of men, whether or not stated explicitly as it was by Pharaoh. It is, in fact, the false promise made by Satan in the Garden, that Adam and Eve would become like gods, deciding for themselves what is good and what is evil (Genesis 3:5). It is as if he told them, "Forget about God and decide for yourselves." And, like Pharaoh long after them, they accepted the promise of Satan. 

How Does the Bible Define Sexual Immorality?

"Let marriage be be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous" -Hebrews 13:4. 

When warning the wicked of the consequences of sexual immorality, we often get a response of, "What's immoral about what I am doing? Everyone else is doing it! The Bible doesn't even define 'sexual immorality.'" Who are you, we are asked, to judge what I do? 

First, let us ask what consequences the Bible warns us will apply to sexual immorality. Is it important enough to worry about it? Here is the Bible's answer: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 6:9-10). So, the Apostle tells us, the sexually immoral are precluded from the kingdom of God. That is, from eternal life with the godly. No more serious consequence can be imagined! 

So what, then, constitutes sexual immorality? We see it in Hebrews 13:4, quoted at the top. The author does not give us a list of forbidden acts (for such, refer to Leviticus 18). Rather, this is one of the few cases in which we are given one moral answer, leaving all others to be excluded. He explicitly tells us that sexual immorality is that which is outside of or besides the marital relationship. And who can be married? "[Jesus said], have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matthew 19:5-6). In these two sentences, Jesus tells us that marriage in God's plan consists of one man joined to one woman, precluding any other combinations, regardless of the tides of political or social opinion. 

It has become defined among the politically correct, whether they claim to be Christians or not, that speaking against any "alternative lifestyles" is judgmentalism, and to be excluded from social discourse or the teachings of church leaders. Yet, what can we say of people who refuse to warn people of the consequences of their choices, given what we know from I Corinthians 6? What could be more hateful than to allow the wicked to go in ignorance into an eternity in Hell?  

The Consequences of Sexual Sin: Are They Hate?

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." - Ephesians 5:1-6 

America is a country which has become unrecognizable, just in my own adult lifetime. As I write this, we see schools and libraries sponsor sexually-explicit "story times" featuring drag queens performing for audiences of schoolchildren. There is a new push to normalize child molestation as a sexual orientation as valid as any other. The new name for it is "minor-attracted individuals." 

Where is the church in this process? There are some churches who are promoting "diversity" by ordaining, not just female pastors, but openly gay and transgendered pastors. In such "churches," the only sin is to criticize such ordinations. Supposedly, Jesus accepted everyone as they are, so we are hateful not to do the same. 

Of course, the Bible is not the standard for making such declarations, because the Bible qualifies as "hate speech," according to such Christians. However, as we see in the passage above, it is the "tolerant" church member who is the real hater. In the holiness of God, sexual immorality is an insurmountable barrier to entry into eternal life. Yet, these Christians choose to withhold any warning of the consequences of sexual sin. They even go further to point the finger, not at perverts, but at true Christian who strive to warn the wicked of the consequences of their wickedness (Ezekiel 3:18-19). 

Abortion as a Cover for Sexual Promiscuity

"Draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit, you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?" -Isaiah 57:3-5. 

Sometimes the Scriptures are quite colorful in their descriptions of human beings. This is one of those times. The prophet rebukes men and women involved in sexual promiscuity. But I want to point especially to the way such men and women try to avoid the consequences of their behavior: by the slaughter of their own children. 

Are we not seeing this in our culture? It has actually been said that the recent Supreme Court decision overturning the abomination of Roe v. Wade that it spells the doom of "hook-up culture." Oh, the horror! But is that not an admission of the reason for so many abortions? The people involved want to satisfy their lusts without consequences, even to the point of murdering their own children! Not because of poverty or abusive partners, but just to avoid the consequences of their own decisions. 

Particular Atonement and the Defeat of Sin

"To take away sin being the end of redemption, to make the work sure, Christ Himself was made sin, imputatively, not inherently. All the sins of those for whom He died met on Him. He and they were so incorporated, as not to be separated by death. Sin could not die, unless Christ died; Christ could not die without being made sin. Nor could He die, but sin must die with Him. Whole Christ, both head and members universally, were all crucified together, and they all rose together, all excepting sin, and that be left in His grave. And let us remember it is there." -Elisha Coles, "A Practical Discourse of God's Sovereignty" (punctuation and grammar modernized) 

King David and the Biblical Doctrine of Total Depravity

When praying to God, King David included this plea: "Enter not into judgment with Your servant, for no one living is righteous before You" (Psalm 143:2). David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, includes a lot of good theology in these two lines of poetry. First, he indicates that he understands that he

Fear of Judgment

deserves the wrath of God. However, as God's servant, i. e., a true believer, he has the right to plead, not God's justice, but rather God's mercy, in not imputing his sin to him. And the second line is, again, the acknowledgement that he deserves the wrath of God, with the additional acknowledgement that this is the natural condition of every human being (compare Ephesians 2:3). 

In theology, we would say that David is describing the doctrine of total depravity. This is the biblical teaching that every descendant of Adam (excepting Jesus alone) is a sinner from conception, with no natural ability to do spiritual good. 

David's profession is distressing to the human heart, because we all naturally want to believe in our worthiness and value. However, from God's perspective, which is that of perfect holiness, we all fall short of His standard (Romans 3:23). And, as David says, that shortfall earns us the judgment of God (Romans 6:23). There is no innocence, no age of accountability, no excuse because of ignorance. 

This is the knowledge that the unbeliever seeks to suppress (Romans 1:18). However, it is only as a person recognizes and acknowledges that he deserves the wrath of God that he can seek the only refuge from that wrath, under the blood of Jesus on the cross, applied to the believer by faith alone. 

Justification by Double Imputation, Through Faith Alone

Orthodox Protestants properly state that justification is by faith alone, without regard to works. That statement is true, and the only way of justification found in the Bible. But we are often week in defining what it is that is conveyed to the believer by means of - not on the basis of - his faith. What is conveyed to the believer is the negative obedience of Christ, i. e., His willing submission to the judgment of the Father for sin, and His positive obedience, i. e., His willing obedience to the law of God as the Second Adam.

The first cancels the sin debt that the elect carried for our sins, while the latter gives us a true righteousness in the eyes of God. 

"If faith in Christ is the only way to be righteous, to the exclusion of all the works of the sinner himself, then the sinner's righteousness with God consists exclusively of the works of Christ in his stead and on his behalf. In the saving work of God of justification the sinner's righteousness is solely the obedience of Christ - His lifelong, perfect obedience to all the commandments of the law in our stead and His obedience in our place to the demand of the law that we be cursed for our transgressions. 'By the obedience of one shall many be [constituted] righteous' (Romans 5:19)" Engelsma, Gospel Truth of Justification, p. 192.

For His negative obedience, we have many passages in the Bible, such as Isaiah 53:4-6: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 

That passage is well-known, but how many can point to the imputation of his perfect obedience? " You will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works" (Isaiah 26:12). See also II Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 13:20-21. When we stand before Jesus, not to be judged, but to have His righteousness and mercy displayed before the universe, we will not be without works. Rather we shall bear His works! 

The Imputation Alone of Righteousness Required by the Nature of Men

"To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.'" 

- Romans 4:5-8.

Referring to the passage above, Rev. Davis Engelsma wrote, "[T]his is truly the state of the justified sinner when God justifies him: he is only, wholly, and truly 'ungodly,' not only devoid of any working of faith,  of any works of faith, of any love of God and of the neighbor, but also guilty of unbelief, of the working of unbelief, of hatred of God, and of hatred of the neighbor. He is only, wholly, and truly 'ungodly' regarding the means of his justification and regarding his righteousness before God that is the content of his justification" ("Gospel Truth of Justification," p. 204).

The contrast in both Romans and in Engelsma's response is between the prior condition of the unbeliever which is changed upon true faith. Paul speaks negatively of lawless deeds forgiven and sins covered, to describe what is done by the imputation of righteousness. Engelsma describes the condition of the unbeliever for which he needs the imputation of righteousness. 

In theology, we call the unbeliever's condition "total depravity." "Total" here is used for extent not for depth. That, the unbeliever's condition is that sin has corrupted all of his faculties, spiritual, mental, emotional, rational, emotional, not that he is as wicked as is possible. Even an exemplar of evil such as Hitler could have done even more evil than he did. And since ever faculty has been corrupted by sin, there can be no contribution from the sinner to his own salvation. It is possible only by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. 

Pride in Hating God

"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

- James 4:4

As I write this, it is June, "Gay Pride Month." Every politician and every big corporation is flying Pride flags or posting them on their advertising. This has all happened in my lifetime. I was born before the so-called Stonewall Rebellion. Now people who were considered criminals have public streets closed to traffic so that they can show their pride and wedding rings. My member of Congress and state Senator post about supporting "equality," without specifying what rights straight people have that gay people don't. 

That is why I started this post with the Bible verse above. The politicians and corporations are advertising their association with the God-haters. The same people will advertise in the Fall for Christmas, the holiday which was once considered a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Not anymore. There is even a children's show on public TV which has a special episode for "winter solstice." Neither Jesus nor Christmas are mentioned, lest they offend. Whom? I don't know. But why are they worried about offending that person while being OK with offending me? 

In addition to James, there is another Bible verse which describes today's America: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" (Isaiah 5:20-21). We have exchanged God's standards for good and evil and substituted those of a particular perspective among men. And what is God's warning about that exchange? "Woe!"

The False Righteousness of Men

"His own perfect work in Jesus Christ satisfies God. The one who believes only, declining to work for righteousness, comes to God lacking all justifying works, only guilty, wholly ungodly in the matter of righteousness, supplicating and magnifying the grace of God."

- Rev. David Engelsma, "Gospel Truth of Justification," pp. 193-4 

In the comment above, Engelsma is paraphrasing several references in the Bible, such as Romans 5:6: "While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." Jesus didn't come to purchase salvation for those who are moral, or who clean up their lives. Rather, he came to save the one who realizes how unclean he is, with nothing of himself to offer. As the Apostle Paul continues (verses 8-11): "God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

We also have the words of Jesus Himself, describing His salvific purpose: "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). He is referring to those who are self-righteous, since "none is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). Since the Fall of Adam, no mere human being has any righteousness in himself by which to please God. All are sinners (Romans 3:23), under the well-deserved wrath of the thrice-holy God, as described above. Every act claimed by a man as his own righteousness is condemned by God, for "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

Instead, we depend on the righteousness of Jesus, which is imputed to the believer the moment he believes: "For our sake He [i. e., the Father] made Him [i. e., Jesus, the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21; see also Isaiah 26:12 and Hebrews 13:20-21).

There is an absolute contrast here: a person can depend on the good works that he imagines he does, and be damned; or he can condemn his own works as the wickedness that they are, under the wrath of God, and seek instead to receive forgiveness and righteousness by faith alone from Jesus alone, and be saved for eternal life.

God Hates Sinners AND Sin

 "God did not hang sin on the cross, except as Jesus Himself bore the sins of all those in whose stead He died, by the imputation to Him of all those sins. God hanged Jesus on the cross. God cursed Jesus, so that Jesus Himself, not some impersonal entity, sin, became 'a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one [not sin] that hangeth on a tree' (Gal. 3:13). Jesus, not sin, cried out in the pain of His punishment in the stead of others, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' Jesus, not sin, died under the wrath of God about three o'clock on Good Friday afternoon."

- Rev. David Engelsma, "Gospel Truth of Justification," p. 165 (emphasis in the original)

It has become a common slogan among American Evangelicals that "God hates the sin, not the sinner." It is a proverb tossed around as a trump for any rebuke against the wicked. 

But is it biblical? 

Those evangelicals will turn purple if I quote Scripture in opposition to their proverb. "The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; You [God] hate all evildoers" (Psalm 5:5). "The LORD tests the righteous,

but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence" (Psalm 11:5). Both of these verses tell us that God's hatred isn't just for sin, but for sinners. And, as Engelsma says in the quote above, it was a Person, Jesus of Nazareth, who was slain on the cross as the surety for elect sinners. It wasn't some amorphous substance called sin. 

The problem is that Christians have allowed the humanists to define the argument. To oppose the works of sinners is "judgmental" and "intolerant." And so it is. But the Scriptures require us to judge sin with God's judgment, whether in ourselves or in others. God's truth requires us to be intolerant of falsehood. If we get called names as a result, well, let us remember what was done to Jesus, and let us give thanks that we have been called to share in some fractional part of the shame that was heaped on Him.

The Righteousness of the Believer Not a Righteousness by Works

 "Christ, and Christ alone, is the source of righteousness, that is, the righteousness that we need and becomes ours by God's act of justification. God has worked out a righteousness in Christ for penitent, believing sinners, and this righteousness is now in that exalted Christ at the right hand of God in Heaven. To grant us and bestow on us this righteousness of God (by imputation), God is pleased to use faith. Faith is the bond of union with Christ through which the sinner receives righteousness." 

- Rev. David Engelsma, "Gospel Truth of Justification," pp. 141-2 

In this paragraph, Engelsma paraphrases what Paul tells us about the failure of the Jews: "Israel, who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness, did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works" (Romans 9:31-32). Where was true righteousness to be found? "Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Romans 3:21-22). 

Jesus addressed this problem with the Pharisees: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you, also,m outwardly appear righteous to others, but, within, you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:27-28). 

For the unbelieving Jews, righteousness was a matter of checking off a list of do's and don't's. This is the way of pseudo-Christian cults even to this day: Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists. But it is not the way of Biblical Christianity, which is a righteousness by faith alone, the perfect righteousness of Christ, applied only by the gift of faith. "For our sake, He [the Father] made Him [Jesus, the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that, in Him, we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21).

Covenant Theology and the Imputation of Sin and Righteousness.

Paul gives us this description of the Gospel and man's need of it: "Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the One who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one Man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one Man’s obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:12-19). 

This is covenant theology in one paragraph. Paul tells us that, in the sin of Adam, all of his posterity became sinners. That means every man, woman, and child, except Jesus, from conception to the end of his or her life, is a sinner. Theologians call this the Covenant of Works, because life and death, both physical and spiritual, were based on the perfect obedience of Adam. If he had remained faithful, his faithfulness would have been imputed to his posterity. However, since he fell, his sin was imputed to his posterity instead. 

Americans hate this biblical teaching, because it violates our cultural belief in the sovereignty of the individual. And I don't mean just atheists. Even professing Christians will hold to some form of individualistic religion, in which every person is responsible only for his own sin and for his own salvation. 

But let us continue with Paul in Romans. 

Paul also tells us that Jesus has a posterity, a posterity which, in Him, receives salvation because of His perfect sinlessness and substitutionary atoning act on the cross. Theologians call this the Covenant of Grace, exactly because it is graciously applied by imputation to all those who receive it by faith alone, which faith itself is a gracious gift of God. 

Strangely, this part of Paul's message is quite popular. Somehow, those individualists who object to sin by imputation don't see their personal sovereignty as violated by the imputation of righteousness! 

We can see the cultural role of this covenant headship in the history of Israel. In Second Samuel 24, the Bible gives us the story of David's census of the people of Israel, without God's command. In verse 1, we are told that it was because God planned judgment against Israel. However, in I Chronicles 21:1, we are told that Satan stirred up the idea in David's heart. Obviously, it was the purpose of God, which He worked through the means of Satan. 

The key verse, though, is II Samuel 24:16: "So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men." It was David who sinned, as he himself admits in verse 10, yet it was those 70,000 men who suffered the consequences. How can that be just? Well, if it is the individual who is primary, then it wasn't just. But that isn't the case. As king, David was the covenant head of the people of Israel, just as Adam and Jesus of their respective peoples. Therefore, when David sinned as king, the sin and its judgment fell on all who were in covenant with God through David. 

This covenant mentality is very different from our modern American culture. We cannot judge it according to our cultural values. Rather, we must understand and accept it on the basis of God's values. To reject the imputation of sin logically requires the equal rejection of the imputation of righteousness.

Man as the Creature and as the Sinner

"When a man sins, he thereby brings a covenantal lawsuit against God. His action violates all five points of the covenant. First, he denies that God is who He says He is: the Lawgiver and eternal Judge. Second, he declares himself no longer under God's hierarchical authority. Third, he says that God's ethical standards do not apply to him. Fourth, he denies that God can or will apply His sanctions, either in history or eternity. Fifth, he asserts that covenant-breakers shall inherit the earth."

- Gary North, "Tools of Dominion"

What North describes here is autonomy, the false belief that mankind is or can be free of God's government. It is the same thing that Satan offered in the temptation of Adam and Eve: "Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). We tend to see these words and think of knowing about good and evil. However, Adam had already been taught about good and evil when God gave him the commandment not to eat of the tree and the consequences if he disobeyed. Rather, Satan is lying to Adam and Eve, promising them that eating of the forbidden fruit will give them the power to decide good and evil. Satan was offering autonomy to Adam and Eve, autonomy from their previous creaturely status, in which they received God's interpretation of good and evil. That is the way in which they would supposedly be like God, having power and authority to interpret for themselves what would be good and evil.

That brings us back to North's comments above. In the reception of Satan's interpretation, a man repudiates his status as God's creation, and seeks to dethrone God as Lawgiver and Judge, imagining, falsely, that he will then be promoted to sit in God's throne. 

The Eternal Reality of Hell Contra Annihilationism

 I have noticed a curious trend among professing evangelicals to adopt the doctrine of annihilationism. That doctrine holds that the wicked who are sent to Hell are burned into nothingness. That is, contrary to the traditional belief, there is no such thing as the eternal, conscious consignment of the wicked to a state of punishment. They are annihilated, hence the name. 

Historically, this doctrine has been associated with the sects, primarily the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-Day Adventists. But in our recent times, it has become mainstream. Even the otherwise orthodox teacher, the late John Stott, adopted it. The spread is because of a growing embarrassment among many over the supposed harshness of the doctrine of an eternal, conscious punishment in Hell. I have been told that annihilationism serves to remove one stumblingblock that keeps unbelievers from accepting the Gospel. 

My response is this: Removing every distinctive doctrine of Christianity would make it more palatable to unbelievers. But, what then do you have left? You have unbelief. You would certainly have no Christianity, and no Jesus. Not in any meaningful sense. The unbeliever hasn't moved to a position of faith. Rather, faith has become unbelief. I cannot accept that as a means of evangelism. 

Furthermore, how does truth change in order to make it palatable to those who deny it? If someone believes that two plus two equals 749, do we stop saying that it really equals four in order to make math palatable to him? I would hope not! 

The proper question is not what the unbeliever thinks, but rather what does God say? 

In answer to that, we have God's word on the subject in Revelation 20:10: "[Then] the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." There is no equivocation here! The torment of the wicked is eternal. They never escape. God's justice never finds satisfaction in mere ashes. 

The problem with the annihilationist assumptions about unbelievers is the acceptance that the stated reason for unbelief is the true reason. The Bible tells us that unbelief is a cover, not an issue in itself. Every person knows that there is a God, and that we are answerable to Him. The issue is that, apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit, every person hates that knowledge, because he loves his sin. Since those two things are incompatible, he must either give up his sin or give up his knowledge of God. His choice? He chooses to suppress his knowledge of God (Romans 1:18-19). Appeasing him by doing away with the doctrine of eternal Hell does nothing to address that deliberate choice. It is like taking an antibiotic in an effort to cure a virus. 

The Limited Atonement of Arminianism

Arminians often accuse Calvinists of denying the atonement to some people by our biblical claim that it was particular. That is, we Calvinists follow the words of Jesus that He would die for those whom  the Father had given Him, His friends, His sheep (John 6:37-39, etc.), or, in the words of Paul, for His Church (Ephesians 5:25). Yes, we believe that the Groom had the right and responsibility to love His Bride, not strange women (Proverbs 5:15).

However, in denying that biblical truth, the Arminian replaces it with an assertion that the atonement was universal, but only partial. That is, Jesus didn't necessarily die to save anyone. Rather, He died merely to make salvation possible.

So, for what purpose did Jesus die: "She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Or, "He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" (I Peter 2:24-25, cp. Isaiah 52:13-53:12). There are two things evident in these verses. First, that the blood of Jesus was intended to cleanse its objects from sins. And notice the pronouns that Peter uses, "our," "you," and "your." Those are particular pronouns, referring his comment to the audience of his epistle. Who was that? "To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again" (I Peter 1:1-3). Peter was speaking to Christians, not to non-Christians. And second, notice that there is no conditionality in these verses. There is no hemming and hawing about what men must do to make the atonement effectual. In fact, the Apostle even says that it is God who causes us to be born again.

However, the Arminian reads those same verses and blanks out the parts that refute him

So, I will ask these questions of the Arminian. Jesus tells us of men who will "die in their sins" (John 8:21). Then He mentions those whose "sin remains" (John 9:41). If Jesus died for the sins of all men, then why do these men still have sin when they die? Then the Arminian is forced to answer, "because they don't respond in faith." Ah, there it is: the Arminian limited atonement! Jesus died somewhat for all men, but that atonement is insufficient, until the man adds his assent.

So, when the Arminian thinks that he is morally superior because the Calvinist says that Jesus fully and effectually redeemed particular people, he is really suppressing his tacit claim that the atonement of his version of Jesus is so limited that it cannot save anyone without a little help from sinful men.

I deny that the Arminian doctrine is moral at all, much less more so that is the doctrine of Calvinism.

The Dominion Covenant, the New Earth, and the Defeat of Satan

In the opening of the Bible, we read, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:1-2). So, God's first step in creating the physical universe was to create the earth, but as a formless and empty ball. The physical universe was a place all of chaos. The remainder of the creation passage describes God's organizing and filling that creation, with both celestial objects and with life, culminating in His creation of man.

And then what was God's plan for man, as expressed in His creation mandates to that man? "Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping them that creeps on the earth...  be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Genesis 1:26, 28). So God's plan for mankind was that we would extend His work of converting chaos into productive order. Men don't have the ability to create ex nihilo, so the expression of that was to be the use of the other living things to become productive under the rule of God.

However, that plan was interrupted by the Fall of Adam and Eve into sin. The consequences of that Fall included the disruption of God's order, and descent into disorder: "The Lord God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.' To the woman He said, 'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.' And to Adam He said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return'" (Genesis 3:14-19). 

Fist, notice who is speaking here, the Lord, i. e., Jehovah. This is the first appearance of this name, the covenant name of the preincarnate Son, who here first appears in His mediatorial role. After the Fall, all of the interactions between the triune Godhead and men occur through His mediation alone. He first curses the serpent, i. e., Satan, as the instigator of these events. The preincarnate Son curses the foe of the Church. Then He proclaims for the first time the covenant of grace, the promises to His church of His own work on our behalf, to defeat this foe and redeem us from the conseque4nces of the Fall. Then He turns to Eve, the first to sin, and pronounces a curse on the essence of her womanhood, childbirth. And last, He turns to Adam, the head of creation, and pronounces a curse on all of Adam's work in fulfilling his role as the viceroy of God. 

This first announcement of the hope of the Gospel will then be expanded in the rest of Scripture. For example, we have the promises of Yahweh of new blessings on agriculture in Isaiah. See, for example, Isaiah 44:3-4, which explicitly unites both childbearing and agricultural blessings with spiritual blessings: "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’ and name himself by the name of Israel." 

The same prophet gives another promise of God with relates it back to the promise of Genesis 3:15: "They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain" (Isaiah 65:23-24). As men experience the restoration of peace to the creation, we will also see the curse carried out of that old foe, the serpent. 

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul picks up the same theme: "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience" (Romans 8:20-25). He personifies the physical creation as waiting impatiently for the Church to reach her glory, because the creation, too, will be released from the curse under which our sin has brought it. 

And Paul makes it explicit that these blessings flow from that first declaration of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." As the body of Christ, we the Church are credited with the victory of Christ through us, finally bringing the chaos we created back to the order which God intended. 

When will these times be seen? Only God knows. However, we can enjoy the hope today that they will come.