(Our response continues.) Malachi declares the Word of the Lord to Israel is, "Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? Saith the Lord: yet, I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau..." (Mal. 1:1,2). The doctrine of unconditional election is Bible truth.

Question: When Paul says in Romans 9:3,4 "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites..." How can you pretend, and say, "Romans 9 has nothing to do with salvation?" In the same chapter, Paul speaks of "vessels of wrath fitted to destruction" (vs. 22). Come, come, brother; you have rejected exegetical integrity. (See: vs. 21,33).

Error #6: You reject the fact the Bible says, "The LORD hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov.16:4). You deny the fact God has "created the waster to destroy" (Is. 54:16).

Error #7: You say, "Nobody was arbitrarily assigned in unconditional election to Hell or to Heaven before the foundation of the world." Have you considered Judas, "the son of perdition"? Jesus prayed when He was with His disciples in the world, saying, He "kept them in (the Father’s) name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled" (Jn. 17:12).

Error#8: You err again when you attempt to disprove reprobation by quoting John 15:16. The passage is directed to his disciples, and is His farewell to them. See the context found in vs. 16-20.

Error #9: I will not call your exegesis of Romans 8:29 error. It is blatantly dishonest. You claim, "It is not talking at all about the Lord assigning some to Hell and some to Heaven in unconditional election before the foundation of the world." You tell what it does not mean, but you do not tell what it does mean.

Paul says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren." Then, in verse 30, the Apostle continues, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

First, the passage is talking about salvation for he speaks of Christ as being the "first-born among many brethren." Second, he speaks of "calling," "justification," and "glorification," yet, the Apostle limits these to "them" whom he "foreknew" and "predestinated"—and applies them to no other people.

It is owing to your fear of these things that you refuse to study what the Scriptures teach concerning them, choosing rather to manipulate the Scriptures to mean what you think they should. Let God be God, and let His Word read as it reads.

Error #10: You are guilty of grave error wen you state, "Salvation is always...conditioned on faith" (p.12). First, if a believer can believe, then, he is not "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1) as the Scriptures state. He is not totally depraved. T.T. Shields ably pointed out to his students that it is a good thing to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and, if a sinner can believe on Christ (a good thing to do), then, the sinner is not totally depraved, but has a spark of goodness in him. This is modernism. In Prov. 21:4, Solomon stated that even the "plowing of the wicked is sin."

Second, If a sinner must exercise faith to be saved, then you believe in salvation by works. Those "dead in trespasses and sin" must first be "quickened" (Eph. 2:1); and, this is the world of the Lord.

Error #11: The idea that Jesus Christ has purchased salvation for every man, woman, boy and girl; that it is reserved in Heaven for them whenever, and if ever they choose to claim it – is Roman Catholic theology. Romanism teaches Jesus’ sinless life and virtuous death has resulted in a reservoir of merits stored up in Heaven. When a good Catholic does penance, he is given some of these merits for his good work. I say, your theology in Roman Catholic in nature.

On the other hand, there are those who believe the efficacy of the work of God is limited by what men do. The Bible teaches the work of God is limited to those he "foreknew" and "predestinated." The Bible teaches the work of God is absolutely efficacious, i.e. Jesus came "to seek" and "to save" that which was lost (Lk. 19:10). He did not come to try to save that which was lost, but to save that which was lost. While the Bible limits the work of Christ to "His people" (Matt. 1:21), you limit the work of Christ according to what men do. Man is not the master of his fate, nor the captain of his soul.

Error #12: You state, "Nobody will be at the Judgment of the Great White throne, and consigned forever to Hell for whom the blood of Christ was not shed on the cross" (p. 13). Horrors! First, by this statement you make the blood of Christ of no affect! It does not accomplish a thing, but only makes the salvation of a sinner possible. Second, by your statement, you make the blood of Christ of no value, for while Christ shed His blood for a sinner, and pad his sin-debt, the sinner will still go to Hell! Shame on you!

Error #13: You quote John 1:29; "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," and you say, "’world’ means ‘everybody.’" You don’t believe that—I know you don’t. If Jesus was taking away the sins of everybody, you would be a Universalist.

Error #14: You quote Heb. 2:9, which says, "...that he (Jesus) by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Have you never learned that every epistle in the New Testament is written to Christians? Check it out – I lie not.

"For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all..." (I Tim. 2:5,6). Christ, the only Mediator between God and men, gave Himself a ransom for all men without distinction. The context is that prayer should be made for "kings, for all that are in authority" (vs. 2). Therefore, "all" used here speaks of "all without distinction," but NOT "all without exception."

In I Tim. 4:10, we read, "...we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour (i.e. the "Deliverer") of all men (temporarily), specially of those that believe" (spiritually).

John is a Jew. His Gospel and epistles are written to Jews. So, when he writes, "...the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (I John 4:14); and "...He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2), the Apostle tells his Jewish hearers that Christ is the Saviour of all men, and not the Saviour of Jews only. This is the significance of Jesus’ statement: "That many shall come for the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness..." (Matt. 8:11).

Error #15: You err by failing to grasp the significance of the "two-edged_ sword of the Spirit. The Word of God was never intended to save everyone: it is designed to save some, ad to call everyone 4else to judgment. The same gospel that saves some hardens others.

You ask, "Are you theologians trying to tell us that God is a hypocrite—that He gives a general call and doesn’t mean it?" No, we are saying, the General Call of Go is designed not to save sinners, but to make sinners all the more accountable to God.

While Arminians are downcast that "No one got saved," the Apostle rejoices: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ...for we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish: to the one we are a savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life.... For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God..." (II Cor. 2:14-17).

Error #16: While you balk at God’s truth concerning Irresistible Grace, and quote Acts 7:51, "...You do always resist the Holy Ghost..." you again fail to understand some Scriptures are written from God’s standpoint, and others are written to express man’s responsibility. Remember Jesus’ words "Murmur not among yourselves." No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him..." (Jn. 6:44).

Consider the words of the Apostle: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). The fact a person wants to do God’s pleasure, and them who do His pleasure—both are owing to God’s work in them. I think, brother, that you "protest too much" against Bible truths you have been unwilling to accept.

Error #17: Brother, you are patently dishonest when you quote Matt. 20:16 – "...For many are called but few are chosen" and say, "where is the verse? It is at the end of a Parable. The Parable has to do with service and rewards, not with salvation from sin..." (p. 14). You forgot to quote the first verse that says, "For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder..." This Passage certainly does speak of heaven but in the form of workmen receiving their rewards.

You should note vs. 15 as well: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Does God have the right to do what He will with His creatures, and especially with man?--with all that he has made? You do not seem to think so.

You do concede the next time the phrase is used (Matt. 22:14) "For many are called, but few are chosen" that this does speak of salvation. Yet, it reads the same way as in the Parable in Matt 20. Consider verse 2: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son..." Again, he speaks of the kingdom of heaven.

The verses (20:16; 22:14) read, "For many are called..." This is the General Call that occurs every time a person hears, or reads the Gospel. It may even occur through an act of providence such as a tornado, or an earthquake. The second part of the verse reads, "but few are chosen." This is the specific or personal call. It occurs when the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

Error # 18: I heard you speak at Bob Jones University when I was a student back in the mid-60’s. I believe you to be an honorable man, so, when you say, "I am against TULIP theology that says it is the perseverance of the saints that gets us to Heaven" -I will chalk that up to ignorance. TULIP theology teaches no such thing. The doctrine of the Perseverance of the saints teaches only what the Bible teaches on the subject: namely, that true Christians persevere, i.e. they continue in the faith once delivered to the saints. Perseverance is the evidence that one is a true Christian. TULIP theology never has taught that believers get to Heaven by their perseverance. You ought not to speak ill of what you do not know.

Error #19: You say, "IF you are a Bible-believing preacher, you will be neither a Five Point Calvinist, nor an Arminian." Nonsense, If you preach that men can frustrate the will of God, you are an Arminian. You are a humanist: you many not be a secular humanist, but you are a religious humanist. I am a Five Point Calvinist because that is what the Bible teaches. It is the truth.

The "P" in the acrostic stands for both the Perseverance of saints, as well as their Preservation by Christ. Wonderful truth that it is, we are also told, "He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matt. 24:13). We are not saved by our perseverance, but we who are being saved will persevere. Our salvation is certain, and final.

Error #20: You state, "I am not an Arminian," but you are. Your soteriology is essentially that taught by Jacob Harmensen (Arminius) back in the early 17^th century.

Error #21: You are difficult to answer because you talk out of both sides of your mouth. Having earlier said most emphatically that you believe in conditional salvation (i.e. salvation conditioned upon faith, you yet conclude your article by saying, "I believe we are saved by the blood of Christ and saved forever. It is totally a work of God." You are intellectually dishonest: you either believe salvation is conditioned upon what the sinner does, such as believe—which is a good work, and not a bad one like rejecting Christ—or, you believe it is totally a work of God. You cannot have it both ways.

Now, the Bible says we ought to look unto Jesus because He is the "Author and Finisher of our faith." Note again: It is Jesus who is the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2).

After enunciating volumes of diatribes against Bible believers whom you call "Calvinists," you end by speaking of "grace" –God granting to us what we do not deserve; and of the unmerited, unconstrained love of God toward Hell-deserving sinners. "I am for the Lily of the Valley, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am against TULIP theology. ‘In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.’ Amen!"

Brother, you don’t know what you believe. But the harm you have done to precious souls by maligning and alienating us who swear allegiance to the Bible—I say, you have caused great harm. James wrote, "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation" (Jas. 3:1).

It never ceases to amaze me when the world refers to fundamentalists as "Calvinists." Perhaps they know something you are not willing to admit.

I am a Five Point Calvinist who has been saved by the grace of God, and called into His service. I love the Gospel and the privilege of spreading His Word. Therefore, this summer when Atlanta expects 1.2-2 million visitors during the two weeks the Olympics will be there, we intend, Lord willing to print the Gospel in the Atlanta Constitution and the Atlanta Journal one day at a cost of $4455 –very difficult for our small congregation. But, with 530,000 newspapers being printed daily over the event, what an opportunity to get the Word of God out to the public. Many foreigners will attend the event. We are praying many will be saved, and others will be edified in the faith once delivered to the saints.

"May God Smile On You." -J.S. Bach

(ss) Timothy Fellows (copy sent to David Cloud)

Fornication among teenagers is fatal to the stability of families, and, therefore, to the stability of society. Neither government sponsored hype to "Just Say, ‘No’;" nor church sponsored programs where teenagers sign pledges to "wait until marriage" will be effectual so long as

* parents allow their pre-teen daughters to be boy-crazy, and their pee-teen sons to have a girl-friend;

* so long as parents allow their daughters to dress as if they were harlots;

* so long as parents encourage their children to pet by allowing them to date without restrictions and without supervision;

* so long as parents allow their children to listen to Rock, the music of rebellion produced by the drug culture;

* so long as parents allow their children unlimited use of the television, and to read lewd literature;

* so long as the aim of public education is to educate children in all the corners of nastiness -parents specifically, and society in general play the hypocrite, because they only pretend to be interested in stopping teenage pregnancy, or what the Bible calls "bastardism."

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA -We will be preaching at the Sovereign Grace Church Wednesday June 19-Sunday June 23rd at their Spring Bible Conference.

We would appreciate your prayers, and would be delighted if any of our readers could attend. John Ashwood is the able pastor of this godly assembly.

UPDATE ON THE PROJECT FOR THE OLYMPICS -As of May 17th, we have $2474 of the $4455 needed to print our tract "THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD" in the "Atlanta Constitution" and in the "Atlanta Journal" for one day.

We are very grateful to the many who have contributed to make this a reality; but the printing of it is not all we desire: we are asking thc Lord to honor His Word, and call many to repentance, and to comfort and edify His Church. Will you also intercede for these? -As of today, May 17th, we still lack $1981.

1.) "God is not wicked to deny repentance, faith, forgiveness, etc. to undeserving sinners." -Frank Hutto

2.) "Evolutionists freely use words like ‘perhaps,’ ‘possibly,’ ‘we think,’ ‘it may,’ ad infinitum. Can a person be a scholar who does not know anything?"

3.) "You have been instructed from your childhood in the knowledge of your lost state by nature --the absolute necessity of a change of heart, and an entire renovation of soul to the image of Jesus Christ --of salvation thro’ His meritorious righteousness only--and the indispensable necessity of personal holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." (Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress to his daughter).

-The Wallbuilder Report, Winter 1996-

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