Classic Summer 2020: When Public Schools Teach TULIP (Part 2)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry.

Public-School Calvinism Handout and the Basics of TULIP

Mike Abendroth here. In real time, it is September 23rd. Happens to be my son�s 19th birthday. And it happens to be Yom Kippur in Israel. Israel. Although it�s probably about over now. It�s probably night time there.

Probably over. We started last week talking about something my daughter learned at public school, Neshoba High School in Central Massachusetts. I think it�s Bolton, Mass. Isn�t it Bolton, Mass? Stowe sends people there.

Lancaster sends people there. Lancaster. Bolton sends people there. Not Berlin, but Berlin. Sounds the same. Looks the same. Sounds differently. Sounds different. Can we use sounds different? It�s a different sound.

That�s better. Huh? That is better. True story. Even though my English, my Spanglish isn�t as good as it could be, it ain�t what it used to be. It ain�t. No way. I don�t know if I ever paid attention when I was growing up to English class.

I just did what the teacher said. Got the easy A. It was obedient. There�s a different way to get an A if you weren�t smart. And we put clothes in the washer. We drank milk. Milk. M-E-L-K. Washer with the R.

We ate terrible good food. I�ll tell you, my pride doesn�t want to be from Nebraska. Now, you folks that are listening in Omaha, Lincoln, North Platte, County, Crofton, do we have any listeners in Crofton, Nebraska, south of the Gavins Point Dam by the border in South Dakota?

Maybe we have some listeners. I don�t know. Where would our listeners be? Nebraska City, Lincoln? Any listeners in Lincoln? Lincoln? Stinkin� Lincoln? I just, I think probably I�ll just blame me. But I�m trying to get better, et cetera, et cetera.

I�m trying. I am trying. And even figures of speech, like I tip my hand to you. That was a good job you did. No, I tip my hat, tip my hand. I wouldn�t know how to use those. If I tip my hand, I�m showing you something that I shouldn�t be showing you maybe or I intentionally am showing you.

If I tip my hat to you, hey, I take my hat off to you. Good job. All right, back to the point of the day. Puritan theology, the basics, tulip, was a handout given to my daughter as they were studying Puritan theology and Calvinism in light of their Nathaniel Hawthorne scarlet letter book assignment.

Some of the handout is true, i .e., the basics, tulip, they�ve got the titles right, total privacy, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. They have those right.

Now, you might be like R .C. Sproul or somebody else. We like total inability better, total corruption better, unconditional election is just fine, particular redemption instead of limited atonement or definite atonement instead of limited atonement, effectual call instead of irresistible grace, and perseverance of God through the perseverance of the saints so that they�re preserved and that they�re eternally secure.

Which one of those do you like? But in general, I thought it was fascinating that the teacher would actually say, I didn�t learn this in public school in Nebraska. I went to Laura Dodge, then Master�s Elementary School, the Master�s Monarchs, had nothing to do with Master�s Seminary or Andorra College, then I went to Morton Junior High, and then I went to Northwest, Omaha Northwest, and then University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

I didn�t go to University of Nebraska at Omaha, that�s University of No Opportunity is what we call it, UN0. Probably a fine school now, it�s right by Warren Buffett�s house is where it is. So total depravity, we looked at last time, here�s what they said, if you want to know the show, you can talk about last time, we are just today for the show critiquing this to see if we understand what it really is and will feel the undercurrent of the attack against Calvinism, which is of course an attack on the God of the Bible, and is an attack on the pride of man.

I know there�s some trolls out there, and they like it that I�m on World View Weekend, and they like it that I go on Stand Up for the Truth, or shows similar to that, or Wretched Radio, but when they find out I�m a Calvinist, it�s almost every single time, �Oh, I didn�t know you were a Calvinist, goodbye.

I could give you the sermon, I could refer you to the sermon preached by James Montgomery Boyce, �Jesus was a Calvinist if you want to get really mad, go ahead and listen to that. That�ll fry your eyeballs right out, proverbially speaking, figuratively, metaphorically, nonliterally, with lots of merisms attached from top to bottom.

When I say Calvinism, it is a term that I use for an economy of words all jammed into one. If you want it to be a metonym, I guess we could call it that, but it is a summary word. Theological shorthand for God is sovereign over everything, including salvation.

And if he wasn�t, if man was sovereign, nobody would go to heaven. And in response to Arminians, who believe that man wasn�t very bad, God chooses based on man�s choice, which is then ultimately man�s choice.

Jesus dying for each and every person, including Goliath, who dies hating God. Irresistible grace, man is given by the Arminian system so much freedom that he can say no to God when God is affectionately calling.

Oh, certainly man says no to God. Many times regarding the general call, preachers preach and nobody responds, but when the Holy Spirit gives a new heart to somebody, they respond because they have a new nature.

And I think God is powerful enough to do that, don�t you think? See Lydia, Acts 16. Then finally, the Arminians said, Perseverance of the Saints, you can lose your salvation. And of course, in any man-centered system, this is very important to keep the people at bay so they don�t sin a lot, because where grace abounds, maybe we�re going to have to sin a lot, because if grace is grace, then sin is pretty easy.

See Romans 6 .1 to clarify that. Total depravity, everything in a man, we saw biblically last time, Genesis 6, Ephesians 4 and 2, not verse 2, but chapter 2 and chapter 4. Everything about man has been affected by the fall, and he has no ability, total inability might be better, total corruption might be better.

Man has no ability to save himself. Oh, he has ability to sell cookies door to door, he has ability to help his neighbors oxen out of the ditch, but he has no ability to say, I�m going to save myself, and I�m going to redeem myself.

He cannot do that. That�s why he needs a Savior. If man could save himself, then why was Jesus killed? Why did he cloak himself with humanity and then die on a cross? A verse that you ought to etch into your mind with permanent, indelible, is it okay to say magic marker?

If this verse doesn�t rock you, I don�t know what will when it comes to autosotirism, self-salvation. �I do not nullify the grace of God Galatians 2 .21, �for if righteousness were through the law you can get righteousness by keeping the law, �then Christ died for no purpose.

But you can�t get righteousness through the law, because you�re totally depraved, you�re unable, you�re affected by the fall, Adam�s sin was imputed to your account, and consequently you have a sinful nature, so everything you do is sin.

Total depravity, because of the fall of Adam and Eve, mankind is sinful. This little box is right here from the school. Mankind is worthless. We saw that last week, bad terminology, they�re just trying to paint a horrible picture.

Almost all are predestined to eternal punishment. We don�t know. Many are called, few are chosen, Luke 13 passage we looked at. Predestination is used almost every time that I can think of unto salvation.

If you want to systematically say double reprobation, we can talk about that later. God hates the sight of mankind. We looked at Genesis chapter 6. So now we move on to the U. So, TULIP, T-U, now it�s Unconditional Election.

Unconditional Election Before the Foundation of the World

And here�s what the public school handout said of Calvinism in central Massachusetts. Before birth, God selects who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Is that what Unconditional Election teaches?

It is before birth, true, but it is before the foundation of the world. Isn�t that a better terminology? If you would allow me to read Revelation 13, 8, �And all who dwell on earth will worship it and everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who was slain.

Here we have the Lamb�s book of life, the eternal decree written before Genesis 1, 1, that is before you were born. But in the eternal counsels of God, God decides who�s going to go to heaven and puts them in the Lamb�s book of life.

Do we have a Lamb�s book of the damned, like this school handout would insinuate? No. Here in Revelation 17, 8, we move on and it says, �The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.

And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and it is not and it is to come. There are people who are going to follow the beast and go to hell and their names aren�t written, because there is a book where God, in eternity past, based on his own good pleasure, he has his own reasons.

There are reasons why some are written and some are not. But remember, nobody deserves to go to heaven. The angels that fell, God is not unjust for not allowing them a plan of salvation, correct? You have to be very, very careful what we deserve.

This is why grace is so touchy. This is why grace is so unnerving. Because if you really understand grace, then it changes everything. You just can�t live the way you used to, theologically. Revelation 21, 27, �But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb�s book of life.

Going to heaven, going to the new Jerusalem, you have to have your name written in the book of life, before the foundation of the world. So it is true. God does select. That�s a good word for election.

Just put an �s� on it. He selects. The word in Ephesians chapter 1, �He chose us. The other day we had a bunch of homemade corn muffins that the kids made, or one of my kids made, and I said, �I�m going to pick one, and I can pick whatever one I want.

Nobody was bugged at that, and I chose this particular one. That is what election means in Ephesians 1. �For He chose us before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless. Before Him, in love, He predestined us to the adoption of His sons.

If I remember my verses right, my verses, let�s say I go to Slovakia, let�s say I go to Nigeria, let�s say I go to Iceland, let�s say I go to another country, and I walk into a nursery, and it is an orphanage as well.

They have nurseries other places, of course. I have $60 ,000 cash in my pockets, and all the right forms, and I adopt two children out of those 400. I come back to America after paying said fees, and they are my children by last name.

I am their guardian, legally. I am their father. What would you say about me? Mike went there, and out of 500 kids he adopted two, 498 he didn�t adopt. Nobody talks that way. But when it comes to election, that is how we tilt it, because unconditional election robs man, rightfully robs man, of every vestige of pride that he could possibly have because He chose us.

We love Him because He first loved us. It�s all about God, the Savior. Why is Jesus called Savior? Because man can�t save himself. Man might try to get together in one colossal merging tower of Babel attempt to destroy God, but man is not going to save himself.

I believe it was George Whitefield who said, �Man is just as easily able to save himself as he is able to climb a ladder made out of sand to the moon. I kind of like that. Even if Wesley didn�t say it, I mean Whitefield.

If Wesley even said it, I�d like it. Wesley�s got a lot of problems, but once in a while he said something good. No compromise. 30 short chapters. How to think rightly about the subject. Read it once a day for 30 days just to get your mind right.

Written in a style that is biblical, Christ-centered, and certainly not inappropriate. These are things that I�ve taught my son, and you ought to be teaching your children as they grow up. Of course, read it first in the chapters you don�t like.

You don�t have to read to them or talk to your children about it. This is not a how-to book. This is not an anatomy book, or a how-to book, or anything like that. No shame here. No compromise. Unconditional election, it says, secondly, in this handout from the school, the Shoba High School.

�The person�s actions in life cannot change whether a person is chosen as one of God�s elect. I see how they�re trying to phrase that. If we feed the world, or if we�re Mother Teresa, can�t that change it?

If I had to say true or false to that particular statement, I�d have to say true. �A person�s actions cannot change whether a person is chosen as one of God�s elect. Well, it can�t because the figure of speech used in Revelation chapter 3 about I want a race means I want a race.

It doesn�t mean I could possibly race. He says, �No, I won�t a race. How can people read that in any other way except with the theological hermeneutic of Arminianism? It is a lie to tease, to be exact in terms of figure of speech and the negative side of hyperbole.

Isn�t it fun to study the Bible and you get to learn all this stuff? I love to learn. Don�t you love to learn? Learners unite. Let the learners unite. What has to be said in addition to, �A person�s actions in life cannot change whether a person is chosen as one of God�s elect well, you have to say to yourself, �Okay, people are totally depraved.

They�re affected by the fall. In Adam�s fall, we send all to use the Puritan New England primer back in the 1600s. They�re only going to do bad things anyway. They�re not going to do anything worthy of God saying, �I�ll save you� based on that one act.

�Nor can they live up to the standards of God and love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They�ll love their neighbors as themselves. The things that they do, they�ll even have a bad motive.

If they read the Bible, it�ll be as an unbeliever with a bad motive. Reading the Bible is better than reading pornography, but still, it�s sin because without faith in Christ revelation, Romans 8, 8, it�s impossible to please God.

And I think Hebrews 11, I wanted to say Hebrews 11, 6, what does Hebrews 11, 6 say? Those two verses just pop into my mind, and so we�re going to just take a little time because it�s my show. We�re 17 minutes in, you get what you pay for, and 8, 8 says that those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

So unbelievers, they�re not pleasing God if they read the Bible. I hope they do read the Bible because God regularly saves, often saves, as He pleases through people who read, as people read the Bible, through the Word, not through the people, through the Word.

And Hebrews 11, 6, �Without faith, it�s impossible to please Him. There you go, �For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. So unconditional election, it�s true, it�s amazing.

Nobody should be chosen at all, and yet God in His love does choose, and He then will do other things too, but we�re going to keep moving here. Okay, L, letter L, tulip, total depravity, total inability�s better, U, unconditional election, that�s just fine, unconditional selection, unconditional choosing, choosing before people did right or wrong, choosing not based on what man would do.

Oh, I said to my kids last night, during Bible time as we were talking about this, �What�s the opposite of unconditional election And they said, �Oh, Jesus. No, they didn�t. They didn�t. God. It�s conditional election, that God�s choosing is conditioned on man�s response.

So God knows that you�re going to believe, therefore He chooses you, but friends, that�s no comfort, that�s no help, that�s unbiblical, and that is ultimately man choosing. So you can�t get rid of election in the Bible, I mean, I guess you could chop it out, but it�s in there, is my point.

So what are you going to do with it? Well, you could try to redefine it, to make man higher and God less sovereign, but there�s only room for one sovereign in this universe, and it happens to be the triune God.

One God, subsisting in three persons, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, eternally Father, eternally Spirit, eternally the Son. Okay, so conditional election means God sees something, then He reacts, but this is done before time.

This is in the eternal decree and mind of God, the immutable God. Now we move to L. This is the fun one. Total inability, unconditional election, and now L, limited atonement. What would you think would be on this paper for limited atonement?

What is limited atonement? What�s the opposite of limited atonement? Unlimited detonement. No, I�m just kidding. Here�s what the handout said in the show by school, �Ten percent of the Puritans will be one of the ones who go to heaven.

The rest will be doomed to hell. Oh, damn to hell, that�s what limited atonement means. Ten percent. Here�s the other sub-point. There�s two sub-points. Ten percent are supposed to be descendants of God because He had a covenant with them.

Henno. Many of you ask, �What is henno I don�t know. We just make up things. My grandmother, Nona, Roman Catholic, loved her dearly, Swedish. She would answer the telephone. Her number was 402 -553 -3836.

I don�t know whose phone number that is now, but I know the phone number because I called it often, and I installed her phones as a telephone repairman. She had the green rotary, and you would just dial the number to calls, BR -549, on the party line.

No, she didn�t have a party line, so she�d answer the phone, �Henno. �Grandma, it�s hello. �I know. �Grandma, could you say hello again �Henno. So, when you hear something theologically obtuse, unbiblical, you go, �Hello?

Don�t believe that. That�s wrong. Opposite day. Hello. So, we just hear, �Enoko. Say, �Henno. Enoko. Enoko. It sounds like vodka or something. I�m going to get in big trouble if you ever say vodka in big, fat trouble.

I went to the lunch place the other day with Chuck, one of our members here at the church, and I just thought, �What do people do at lunchtime when they�re having martinis, margaritas, having a power lunch, a business lunch

I�d be so passed out. I can�t even stay awake now. I�m exhausted. What is limited atonement? This is where evangelical Christians get really bugged. If you can get past the depravity one, I know it�s hard, but there�s a lot of empirical evidence for total depravity.

If you can get past the unconditional election one, you think this is the hard one, but it�s not as hard as the first two. These are going in sequence, because if man isn�t really depraved, then he could choose.

But since he is depraved, he can�t choose. Therefore, God doesn�t have to choose, but he does choose. He chose me to know that my wife loves me. She chose me as her spouse. That thrills my soul. All that thrills my soul is Jesus and knowing that my wife said yes.

Oh, there are some other things, too. We�re going to talk about limited atonement next time on No Compromise Radio. My name is Mike Abendroth. FaceTime, Twitter, NoCo, YouTube. Lots of people don�t know about the YouTube channel.

A hundred and some videos there you can watch and send to your friends.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God�s Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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