For a paperback book in outline form which addresses over 150 difficult verses that Arminians use against Sovereign Grace, check out: Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace: Rooting Arminianism Out of Every Verse.
For a master copy of the outline, click here:
Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace
E. Forgiveness of sins only through the blood of Jesus Christ.
i. Jesus said in Mar 4:12 that if they would be converted their sins should be forgiven them.
ii. There is an unconditional forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ that is a completed accomplishment for all of God’s children whom He gave to Jesus to die for on the cross (Eph 1:4-7; Col 1:13-14) (see section II,10,A).
iii. There is a temporal and conditional forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ that God’s children can receive if they confess their sins and repent (1Jo 1:7-9) (see section II,10,B).
iv. The shedding of blood is required for any type of forgiveness of sins (eternal or temporal) (Heb 9:22).
v. Remission - Forgiveness or pardon of sins or other offences.
vi. Those who receive the blood of Jesus Christ are only those who were elected UNTO it (1Pe 1:2).
F. Who were “them that are without”? What was their eternal state? What was Jesus trying to prevent them from obtaining?
i. “Them that are without” were unbelieving Jews that were outside of the faith of Christ.
ii. What was their eternal state?
a. They were elect, blood-bought children of God based on the following:
1. They had the ability to have their sins forgiven them, hence the reason Jesus was trying to prevent (definition of lest) them from doing so.
2. Only the elect can obtain forgiveness of sins (see section III,10,E,vi).
3. They had the ability to be converted (hence the reason Jesus was trying to prevent it) which requires hearing, understanding, and believing the gospel (Mat 13:15; Act 15:3 c/w Act 13:48, Act 14:1, 22-23).
4. Unregenerate men CANNOT hear, understand, or believe the gospel (Joh 8:43-47; 1Co 2:14; Joh 10:26).
5. Therefore if these Jews had the ability to be converted, they were elect and regenerate.
b. Based on the above points, these were Jews who were elect, regenerate children of God, but were blinded unbelievers.
c. This should be no stretch to imagine since Paul describes a group of such Jews in (Rom 11:25-29).
iii. What was Jesus trying to prevent them from obtaining?
a. Jesus was trying to prevent them from seeing, hearing, and understanding the gospel and being converted (Mar 4:11-12).
b. Jesus was trying to prevent them from receiving temporal forgiveness of sins.
1. Temporal forgiveness is conditional and may or may not be obtained by God’s children (1Jo 1:7-9).
2. Jesus was not trying to prevent their eternal forgiveness of sins because eternal forgiveness of sins is not conditioned on anything a person does, but on God’s grace alone (see section II,10,A).
G. The reason that Jesus used parables to prevent or guard against the conversion of the unbelieving portion of elect Israel.
i. The gospel was to the Jew first and then to the Gentile (Rom 1:16).
ii. Jesus came to His own and His own received Him not (Joh 1:11).
a. When people rebel and refuse to believe the truth, God will turn them over to strong delusion so that they will believe a lie (2Th 2:10-12; Joh 9:39).
b. A space of repentance is given (Rev 2:21; Luk 13:6-9), and then God gives people what they want as a judgment against them (Pro 1:20-32; Rom 1:21-32).
c. When God’s people will not hearken to His word, He will take it away from them and let them walk in their own counsels (Psa 81:11-12).
d. Jesus was simply ensuring that they got what the wanted.
iii. God’s children can sin and rebel to a point where there is no remedy (Pro 29:1).
a. Israel did so before the Babylonian captivity (2Ch 36:14-16).
b. The nation of Israel, many of whom were children of God, were destroyed in the wilderness because of their unbelief and rebellion (1Co 10:1-12).
c. God was done dealing with unbelieving Israel and therefore took the kingdom of God from them and gave it to the Gentiles (Mat 21:43).
d. This happened in 70AD when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman armies (Luk 21:20-24, 31-32).
e. The same thing can happen to us if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth (Heb 10:26-31; Heb 2:1-4).
iv. Beware that the same thing does not happen to you that happened to them (Rom 11:17-21).
v. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1Co 10:12).
For a master copy of the outline, click here:
Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace
