The Five Points of Calvinism in the Teachings of Christ

1. The Five points of Calvinism
in the Teachings of Christ
By Dr. Peter Hammond

3. All the leaders of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th
Century were united in proclaiming the sovereignty of God,
the total depravity of man and unconditional election.
On other issues, they may have had their differences, but on
this point, that it is God alone who saves sinners,
they spoke with one voice

4. Salvation is all of God. God, the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, does everything, from first to last, that is
involved in bringing man from death and sin to life and glory.
God completely saves guilty, vile, totally depraved sinners.
Salvation is a work of grace from beginning to end.
All men are by nature spiritually dead and their wills are in
bondage to sin and satan

5. The ability to repent and to place one’s faith in Christ is itself
a gift from God. It takes regeneration by the Holy Spirit to
make the sinner alive and given a new nature. Faith is not
something man contributes to salvation, but it is itself a part of
God’s gift of salvation, it is not the sinner’s gift to God.

6. The Arminian Heresy
Calvinism stands in sharp
opposition to Arminianism,
which is based upon the two
philosophical principles:
1. That divine sovereignty is
not compatible with human
freedom, nor with human
responsibility;
2. That lack of ability limits
obligation.

7. The Arminian position maintained that:
1. Man is never so completely corrupted by sin that he
cannot savingly believe the Gospel when it is put before him;
2. Man is never so completely controlled by God that He
cannot reject His grace;
3. God’s election of those who shall be saved is prompted
by His foreseeing what they of their own accord do;
4. Christ’s death did not ensure the salvation of anyone, but
what it did was create the possibility of salvation for everyone
if they believe;
5. It depends on the believers to keep themselves in a state
of grace by keeping up their faith. Those who fail, fall away
and are lost.

8. The Synod of Dort
It was in response to the
five points of
Arminianism formulated
in 1610 (1. Free Will or
human ability,
2. Conditional Election,
3. Universal Redemption
or general atonement,
4. The Holy Spirit can be
effectually resisted,
5. Believers can fall from
grace) that the Synod of
Dort was convened in
Holland in 1618.

9. The great Protestant Synod of Dort, which convened from
13 November 1618 to 9 May 1619, consisting of 84 learned
church leaders and 18 secular commissioners, included
27 delegates from Germany, Switzerland and England.
There were 154 sessions held during the 7 months.
In response to The Remonstrance of the Arminians, the Synod
defined The Five Points of Calvinism: (1. Total depravity,
2. Unconditional election, 3. Limited atonement,
4. Irresistible grace, 5. Perseverance of the
saints.) as the standard of Protestant orthodoxy.
The Arminian theories were rejected as unBiblical.

10. The Synod rejected the concept of a God who enables
man to save himself and proclaimed a God who saves.
The position that God only built the machinery of
salvation, but that man, by believing, operates it, was
completely rejected.
Our salvation depends upon the work of God alone
and to Him belongs all the glory. God, the Creator, is
the source, the means and the end, both in nature and
in grace.

11. The essentials of The Five Points of Calvinism were upheld
and taught by the church fathers, such as Augustine, and the
Reformers: John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli,
Heinrich Bullinger, Martin Bucer, John Calvin; and
prominent church leaders: George Whitefield, Johnathan
Edwards, John Bunyan, John Newton, William Carey,
Charles Spurgeon, David Livingstone, Abraham Kuyper,

12. Calvinistic soteriology is
commonly summarised
by the acronym
TULIP:
Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the
saints

13. The Five points of Calvinism
in the Teachings of Christ

14. 1. Total Depravity
"For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes
they have closed..." Matthew 13:15

15. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false
witness, blasphemies.” Matthew 15:19

16. "Unless one
is born
again, he
cannot see
the Kingdom
of God”
John 3:3

17. "No one can
come to Me
unless the
Father who sent
Me draws him;
and I will raise
him up at the
last day.“
John 6:44

18. “Nor does
anyone know
the Father
except the Son,
and the one to
whom the Son
wills to reveal
Him.”
Matthew 11:27
2. Unconditional Election

19. "And unless those days were shortened, no
flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake
those days will be shortened.“ Matthew 24:22

20. “For as the Father raises the dead and gives
them life, even so the Son gives life to whom
He will." John 5:21

21. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you
hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it
comes from and where it goes. So is everyone
who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8

22. "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me...
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that
of all He has given Me I should lose nothing,
but should raise them up at the last day."
John 6:37-39

23. “… no one can come to Me unless it has been
granted to him by My Father.” John 6:65

24. 3. Limited Atonement
“… just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life a
ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

25. "I am the good
shepherd. The good
shepherd gives His life
for the sheep... I lay
down My life for the
sheep... My sheep hear
My voice, and I know
them, and they follow
Me. And I give them
eternal life, and they
shall never perish;
neither shall anyone
snatch them out of My
hand.”
John 10:10-11,15,27-28

26. "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world
but for those whom You have given Me, for
they are Yours.... For those who will believe in
Me' John 17:9,20

27. 4. Irresistible Grace
4. IRESISTABLE
GRACE
“ That which is
born of the flesh
is flesh, and that
which is born of
the Spirit is
spirit. So is
everyone who is
born of the
Spirit.”John 3: 6-8

28. "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me...
No, one can come to Me unless the Father
who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him
up at the last day." John 6:37,44

29. "...I have come that they may have life, and
that they may have it more abundantly.. I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My
hand." John 10: 10,28

30. “... whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life." John 3:16
5. Perseverance of the Saints

31. "He who
believes in
the Son has
everlasting
life“ John 3:36

32. "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes
in Me has everlasting life." John 6:47

33. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow Me. And I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; neither shall
anyone snatch them out of My hand."
John 10:27-28

34. CONCLUSION
Man by nature is corrupt, perverse and sinful throughout. The
whole of man’s being has been affected by sin.
This corruption extends to every part of man, his body and
soul, his mind and will.
As a result of this inborn corruption and our sinful choices, the
natural man is enslaved to sin, a child of satan, rebellious
towards God, blind to truth, corrupt and dead in sin.
Consequently, men have cut themselves off from the God of
Heaven and have forfeited all rights to His love and favour.

35. God was under no obligation whatsoever to provide
salvation for anyone. However, by His grace and mercy,
God has chosen to save many, by the Father’s act of election,
by the redeeming work of the Son
and by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit.

36. While Christ’s saving work was limited in that it was
designed to save some, and not others, it was not limited in
value, for His redemption was of infinite worth and is
completely effective in securing salvation for all whom the
Lord chooses.

37. The Holy Spirit never fails to
bring to salvation those sinners
whom He personally calls to
Christ. The work of the Holy
Spirit, which is accomplished
through regeneration, renews the
will so that the sinner
spontaneously comes to Christ of
his own free choice because of
the new nature he has been given.
As his mind is enlightened by
the effectual call of the Holy
Spirit, the renewed sinner
freely and willingly turns to
Christ as Lord and Saviour.

38. In this way, the one who had
been dead in his trespasses and
sins is drawn to Christ by the
inward supernatural call of the
Holy Spirit who through
regeneration makes him alive
and creates within him faith and
repentance.
The irresistible call of the
Holy Spirit is invincible, in
that, it can never be thwarted or
refused, and it never fails to
bring those whom God has
predestined unto life and to true
faith in Christ.

39. The elect are not only redeemed by Christ and renewed by
the Holy Spirit, but they are kept in faith by the power of
Almighty God. Nothing can separate God’s people from His
eternal and unchangeable love. Those who have been
predestined unto eternal glory are assured of Heaven.

40. “They whom God hath
accepted in His beloved,
effectually called and
sanctified by His Spirit,
can neither totally nor
finally fall away from the
state of grace: but shall
certainly persevere there,
unto the end, and be
eternally saved.”
The Westminster Confession of
Faith

41. True believers will always persevere to the end. Those who
fall away do not fall from grace, for they were never in grace.

42. Postmillennialism in the Teachings of Christ
“From that time Jesus began to preach and to
say, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of
Heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:17

43. "Blessed are the meek, For they
shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5

44. "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven." Matthew 6: 10

45. "But seek first
the Kingdom of
God and His
righteousness,
and all these
things shall be
added to you.“
Matthew 6:33

46. "...the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent take it by force."
Matthew 11: 12

47. "The Kingdom of Heaven
is like a mustard seed ...
which indeed is the least
of all the seeds; but when
it is grown it is greater
than the herbs and
becomes a tree ... The
Kingdom of Heaven is
like leaven, which a
woman took and hid in
three measures of meal
till it was all leavened."
Matthew 13:31-33

48. "... I will build My
church, and the
gates of Hell
shall not prevail
against it ...
whatever you
bind on earth will
be bound in
heaven"
Matthew 16:18-19

49. “… but with
God all things
are possible."
Matthew 19:26

50. “Sit at My
right hand,
till I make
Your
enemies
Your
footstool”
Matthew 22:44

51. “All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded
you” Matthew 28:18-20

52. Theonomy
in the Teachings
of Christ
“Man shall not live
by bread alone,
but by every Word
that proceeds
from the mouth of
God.”
Matthew 4:4

53. “...Your will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven.” Matthew 6: 10

54. "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or
the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to
fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven
and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will
by no means pass from the Law till all is
fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the
least of these commandments, and teaches
men so, shall be called least in the Kingdom
of Heaven; but whoever does and teaches them,
he shall be called great in the Kingdom of
Heaven." Matthew 5:17-19

55. “... and
the
Scripture
cannot be
broken"
John 10:35

56. "If you love Me,
keep My
commandments
... He who has
My
commandments
and keeps
them, it is he
who loves Me.“
John 14:15,21

57. "Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone
loves Me, he will keep My Word...“ John 14:23

58. The prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon declared: “It is no
novelty, then, that I am preaching; no new doctrine. I love to
proclaim the strong old doctrines, that are called by the
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… taking these things to be the
standard of my Faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled
with my brethren; I behold multitudes confess the same as I
do, and acknowledge that this is the religion of God’s own
Church.”

59. Spurgeon wrote: “The longer I live, the cleared does it appear
that John Calvin’s system is the nearest to perfection.”

60. Dr. Peter Hammond
Reformation Society
P.O. Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: (021) 689-4480
Fax: (021) 685-5884
Email: info@ReformationSA.org
Website: www.ReformationSA.org

61. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy, to God our Saviour, who alone is wise, be
glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and
forever. Amen.” Jude 24 – 25

69. REFORMATION SOCIETY
PO Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town
South Africa
E-mail: info@ReformationSA.org
Web: www.ReformationSA.org

73. The Church’s One
Foundation

74. 1: The Church’s one foundation, is Jesus
Christ, her Lord,
she is His new creation, by water and
the Word,
from Heaven He came and sought her,
to be His Holy bride,
with His own blood He bought her, and
for her life He died.

75. 2: Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all
the earth,
her charter of salvation, one Lord, one
faith, one birth,
one Holy Name she blesses, partakes
one Holy food,
and to one hope she presses, with
ev’ry grace endued.

76. 3: Though with a scornful wonder, men
see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent assunder, by heresies
distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up: “ How long?”
and soon the night of weeping shall be
the morn of song.

77. 4: The Church shall never perish! Her
dear Lord to defend,
To guide, sustain and cherish, is with
her to the end,
though there be those that hate her,
and false sons in her pale,
against both foe or traitor she ever shall
prevail.

78. 5: ‘Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of
her war,
she waits the consummation, of peace
forevermore,
till with the vision glorious, her longing
eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious, shall
be the Church at rest.

79. 6: Yet she on earth hath union, with God
the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion, with
those whose rest is won,
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us
grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly, on high
may dwell with Thee.