Recap: We have been tackling some challenging questions that are often posed by Calvinists which evoke typically unsatisfying answers from the non-Calvinist.
In the last two posts we completed a very brief overview of a very complex issue; the question of why we came to believe in Jesus but our neighbor (or brother, or friend, etc.) did not. I concluded that our belief was due to a combination of God's grace and our response to his grace. The reason our neighbor might not yet believe can be boiled down to wrong-thinking about God. Please take a look at Post 7 and Post 8.
Vexing Question #2
Today we'll look at the following question often asked by Calvinists:
Question #2 - How can a dead person bring himself to life?
The basis for this question is the Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity/total inability which posits that, since the Fall, man is spiritually "dead", rendering him unable to respond to God in any positive way. While there are several passages of Scripture than are used to support this doctrine, a common reference is Ephesians 2:1.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked ... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- (Ephesians 2:1, 4-5 ESV)
The Calvinistic interpretation of Paul’s statement in Eph 2:1 is that, prior to becoming a Christian, we were all dead – that is, "dead like Lazarus" – and all need God/Jesus to bring us to life (vv. 4-5). A person who is dead like Lazarus certainly cannot bring himself to life, so a "quickening"/regeneration act of God (irresistible grace) is required which, they say, God does not offer to all people.
Dead?
First, let's look at the "dead like Lazarus" reference. Is this an accurate assessment of man's pre-Christian condition? A survey through Scripture reveals that the term “dead” is used in at least four different ways with four very different meanings. The question is, which meaning is Paul asserting in Eph 2:1?
Here are four expressions of “dead” found in the Bible:
1. Dead like Lazarus (John 11) = physically dead
2. Dead like the prodigal son (Luke 15) = separated from the Father
3. Dead like Abimelech (Gen 20) = in big trouble; "as good as dead"
4. Dead like the Church in Sardis (Rev 3) = unproductive
(1) John 11 - While it's not reasonable to believe that Paul was telling the saints in Ephesus that they were physically dead, the usual line of argument from the Calvinist is that a spiritually dead person is just as incapable of bringing himself to life as a physically dead person. It is in that sense, they say, that an unregenerate person is "dead like Lazarus." But is that a true statement? Does the Bible equate spiritual deadness with physical deadness?
Let's look at some other ways the word "dead" is used.
(2) Luke 15 - In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the father proclaims, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' . . .” (v.24). Twice in the parable the prodigal son is described by Jesus as “dead”. With this parable, Jesus seems to be referencing a kind of spiritual death in which a person has chosen to separate himself from God. Yet, contrary to the Reformed understanding that a spiritually dead person is unable to come to God, Luke 15:17 describes a self-awakening of the prodigal - "But when he came to himself ... he arose, and came to his father” (Luke 15:20). It seems that a person who is "spiritually dead" has the ability to "awaken" himself, arise, and reconnect with God.
(3) Genesis 20 - God tells Abimelech, . . . "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife" (v. 3). This is clearly an idiomatic expression indicating that Abimelech is in big trouble. Or, we might say that he was “as good as dead” because of his behavior.
Another similar use of the word "dead" that seems to mean "doomed to die" is from the book of Romans, written by the apostle Paul. Some exegetes of the Bible insist that the best way to understand an author's meaning of a particular word is to look at how the same writer uses the word in other contexts. The apostle Paul gives us another example of his intention and use of the word "dead" in Romans 8.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Romans 8:10 ESV)
The Bible affirms that as Christians, Christ is in us, yet we would not agree that our bodies are "dead" unless we are using a common idiom expressing the inevitability that the body is "doomed to die"... eventually, because of sin.
One final point about the effects of sin. Because of God's mercy, sin is always portrayed as a kind of stepping stone, leading to an eventual physical and spiritual death. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (James 1:15 ESV).
(4) Revelation 3 - Jesus tells the Church in Sardis,
"'I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. (Revelation 3:1-2 ESV)
The “deadness” of this church is an obvious reference to their lack of productivity and the incompleteness of their works, reflecting a lack of spiritual vitality.
But God ...
I want to briefly address verses 4 & 5 in Ephesians Chapter 2, which some interpret to mean that the quickening of the Ephesian saints was all God's work - "God made us alive ... by grace you have been saved." Such an interpretation ignores what Paul has just told his readers in Ephesus - that they received the Holy Spirit (grace) after hearing the gospel and believing (Eph 1:13). Yes, God made them alive, but only after hearing and believing the gospel. In short, faith is the catalyst that actuates God's saving grace (Eph 2:8; Rom 5:2). We'll tackle the wonderful gift of faith in greater depth in future posts.
Conclusion
Unlike physical death, the allusion to "spiritual death" in Scripture does not necessarily connote permanence/finality. So when Paul tells the saints in Ephesus, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins”,
Paul could be saying that they were dead like Abimelech – in big trouble, or doomed to die based on their participation in sinful actions, or
Paul could be comparing the previous status of the saints in Ephesus to the spiritual deadness of the Church in Sardis – unproductive, of no value in the kingdom.
But I believe that the context clearly reveals Paul's intention is to let them know that, before the gospel came to them (Eph 1:13), they were dead like the prodigal son – living in temporary spiritual darkness caused by their sin, separated from Christ ... having no hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12).
So, in the end, the Calvinistic interpretation of Eph 2:1, “dead like Lazarus”, is really the only understanding of "dead" that is biblically and lexicologically unsupportable.
To learn more, please consider picking up my book - God's Elect: The Chosen Generation
(also available on Kindle)
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Elect-Generation-John- Chipman/dp/1632695723/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1507WZLOS9FHL&keywords=god%27s+elect+chipman&qid=1682632127&sprefix=god%27s+elect+chipman%2Caps%2C293&sr=8-1
(Also available at Barnes & Noble & Christianbook.com)
Next Post: Next time we'll take on the "granddaddy" of all Calvinist questions - a question that has befuddled non-Calvinists for more than three centuries!
Here's a link to the next post:
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