Faith Bible Church: Test Answers

What Are the

"Doctrines of Grace"?

Part Three

Table of Contents

Part One: Take the "Test"

Part Two: Evaluating your Test

Part Three: You Answers in Historical Context

Part Four: Why is this Important to Me?

Part Five: The So-Called "Five Points"

Part Six: For Further Reading

Your Answers in Historical Context

We understand the current theological trends that would lead many evangelical Christians in our day to answer “yes” to these questions, and to defend them with selected verses or passages Scripture, regardless of what any preacher or writer of the past has believed. Of course, the foundation of our faith is the Bible, not human beings! But we also believe our doctrines must consider of all Scriptural passages on a given topic, and not merely those that support our position. A meticulous consideration of the entire body of Scripture is called “systematic theology,” and it was what the church has used for centuries to challenge and condemn error that leads to apostasy. Regrettably, Most of today’s church has little or no “systematic theology,” and modern congregations have unknowingly absorbed the doctrinal carelessness of their spiritual leaders, despite their sincere belief that their opinions come from the Bible!

Though the “False” answers we have briefly given above may surprise and even offend many Christians today, consider that the Reformed positions not only find clear support in the Bible, but were for the most part held by the greatest Christian writers and preachers of all time. C.H. Spurgeon pointed this out in response to those who, in his 19th century, claimed that their freewill beliefs were those of the historic Christian faith:

"It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, that are called by nickname Calvinism; but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will. I should have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic, of no very honorable character, might rise up and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren, I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own church". (Sermon on Election from the text 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14)

Spurgeon's "pilgrimage into the past" brings forth a great cloud of witnesses to the truths of sovereign grace. They were ably defended by Augustine against the teachings of Pelagius in the 4th century, and later set forth in the Synod of Dort’s response to the unorthodox teachings of Arminius in the 17th century. They were held by John Wycliffe & John Hus in the 15th century, and virtually all of the Reformers of the 16th century including William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox; by John Bunyan and nearly every great English preacher of the 17th century; by Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Newton, and nearly every notable preacher of the 18th century; by the first great pioneers of modern missions such as David Brainerd, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, John G. Paton and Andrew Fuller; by most of the great preachers of America's founding period such as William Bradford, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, and Thomas Hooker; by virtually all of the preachers of the great Scottish revivals, along with C.H. Spurgeon, George Mueller; and by most of the greatest Baptist preachers and Bible scholars through at least the middle of the 19th century; and by many others in modern times including John MacArthur, D. James Kennedy, Al Mohler, J.I. Packer, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. They have been held by significant numbers of Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Anglicans, and Baptists, and even Roman Catholics. Furthermore, the answers we have suggested would have been upheld by nearly every widely received doctrinal statement the Christian church has produced since its beginning.

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	What Are the "Doctrines of Grace"? Part Three Table of Contents Part One: Take the "Test" Part Two: Evaluating your Test Part Three: You Answers in Historical Context Part Four: Why is this Important to Me? Part Five: The So-Called "Five Points" Part Six: For Further Reading Your Answers in Historical Context We understand the current theological trends that would lead many evangelical Christians in our day to answer “yes” to these questions, and to defend them with selected verses or passages Scripture, regardless of what any preacher or writer of the past has believed. Of course, the foundation of our faith is the Bible, not human beings! But we also believe our doctrines must consider of all Scriptural passages on a given topic, and not merely those that support our position. A meticulous consideration of the entire body of Scripture is called “systematic theology,” and it was what the church has used for centuries to challenge and condemn error that leads to apostasy. Regrettably, Most of today’s church has little or no “systematic theology,” and modern congregations have unknowingly absorbed the doctrinal carelessness of their spiritual leaders, despite their sincere belief that their opinions come from the Bible! Though the “False” answers we have briefly given above may surprise and even offend many Christians today, consider that the Reformed positions not only find clear support in the Bible, but were for the most part held by the greatest Christian writers and preachers of all time. C.H. Spurgeon pointed this out in response to those who, in his 19th century, claimed that their freewill beliefs were those of the historic Christian faith: "It is no novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to proclaim these strong old doctrines, that are called by nickname Calvinism; but which are surely and verily the revealed truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make a pilgrimage into the past, and as I go, I see father after father, confessor after confessor, martyr after martyr, standing up to shake hands with me. Were I a Pelagian, or a believer in the doctrine of free-will. I should have to walk for centuries all alone. Here and there a heretic, of no very honorable character, might rise up and call me brother. But taking these things to be the standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled with my brethren, I behold multitudes who confess the same as I do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God's own church". (Sermon on Election from the text 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14) Spurgeon's "pilgrimage into the past" brings forth a great cloud of witnesses to the truths of sovereign grace. They were ably defended by Augustine against the teachings of Pelagius in the 4th century, and later set forth in the Synod of Dort’s response to the unorthodox teachings of Arminius in the 17th century. They were held by John Wycliffe & John Hus in the 15th century, and virtually all of the Reformers of the 16th century including William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox; by John Bunyan and nearly every great English preacher of the 17th century; by Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Newton, and nearly every notable preacher of the 18th century; by the first great pioneers of modern missions such as David Brainerd, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, John G. Paton and Andrew Fuller; by most of the great preachers of America's founding period such as William Bradford, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, and Thomas Hooker; by virtually all of the preachers of the great Scottish revivals, along with C.H. Spurgeon, George Mueller; and by most of the greatest Baptist preachers and Bible scholars through at least the middle of the 19th century; and by many others in modern times including John MacArthur, D. James Kennedy, Al Mohler, J.I. Packer, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. They have been held by significant numbers of Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Anglicans, and Baptists, and even Roman Catholics. Furthermore, the answers we have suggested would have been upheld by nearly every widely received doctrinal statement the Christian church has produced since its beginning. Back to Table of Contents.