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JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -<br />
PROF. M. M. NINAN<br />
anything that I could boast of? If I am drowning in the ocean <strong>and</strong> a boat pulls alongside <strong>and</strong> offers to<br />
rescue me <strong>and</strong> I allow them to do that, have I thereby had some part in my salvation from drowning?<br />
Have I done something I could boast of? Of course not! When the sinner hears that Christ loves him<br />
<strong>and</strong> died for him <strong>and</strong> rose from the dead <strong>and</strong> offers him eternal salvation <strong>and</strong> the sinner joyfully<br />
receives that great salvation, that is not works <strong>and</strong> the sinner has nothing to boast about.<br />
The chief passage on the New Birth is <strong>John</strong> 3. In verses 1-8 Jesus teaches Nicodemus that he must<br />
be born again or he cannot see the kingdom of God. In verse 9, Nicodemus asks Jesus how this can<br />
be. In verses 10-21, Jesus answers this question <strong>and</strong> explains how a man is born again, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
answer is that he is born again by believing (Jn. 3:14-16)! This is exactly what the <strong>Calvin</strong>ist says the<br />
sinner cannot do.<br />
How can a dead man believe, he reasons? Well, if we are going to take the “dead man” analogy<br />
literally, a dead man can’t sin either. When the Bible says the sinner is dead in trespasses <strong>and</strong><br />
sins it means that he is separated from God’s divine life because of sin. To take this analogy<br />
beyond the actual teaching of the Bible <strong>and</strong> to give it other meanings, such as to reason that since the<br />
sinner is dead in trespasses <strong>and</strong> sins he must not be able to believe, is to move from truth to heresy.<br />
Ephesians 1:13 also gives the order of salvation. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard<br />
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were<br />
sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” First the sinner believes <strong>and</strong> then he receives the Holy<br />
Spirit.<br />
The order of salvation is made clear in Acts 16:30-31 in the conversion of the Philippian jailer. “And<br />
brought them out, <strong>and</strong> said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord<br />
Jesus Christ, <strong>and</strong> thou shalt be saved, <strong>and</strong> thy house.”<br />
The order of salvation is also made clear in Ephesians 2:8-9--“For by grace are ye saved through<br />
faith; <strong>and</strong> that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”<br />
Faith is the means whereby we are saved, that is our part; it is the h<strong>and</strong> that reaches out to accept<br />
God’s Gift.<br />
2 Thessalonians 2:13 mean, when it says we are chosen to salvation “through sanctification of the<br />
Spirit <strong>and</strong> belief of the truth”? In light of the previous passages, it is obvious that this verse is not<br />
stating the exact order of things. We have already learned that belief of the truth precedes the new<br />
birth.<br />
The Bible vs. the <strong>Calvin</strong>ist doctrine of Irresistible Grace<br />
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