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6. It Is The Moral Duty Of All Sinners To Savingly Believe On Christ?
Commenting on Fuller’s doctrine of Duty-Faith, Piper lays the backdrop: “Remember, the objection is: “It is absurd and cruel to require of any man what is beyond his power to perform.” In other words, a man’s inability to believe removes his responsibility to believe (and our duty to command them to believe). In response to this objection, Fuller brings forward the distinction between moral inability and natural inability. This was the key insight which he learned from Jonathan Edwards, and he gives him credit for it on the third page of The Gospel Worthy…Natural inability does in fact remove obligation…But moral inability does not excuse. It does not remove obligation.” Duty-Faith is a doctrine which asserts that it is the duty of unregenerate sinners…
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7. High-Calvinists Muzzle The Gospel Cry Of The Bride?
John Piper charges the High-Calvinist with “muzzling the gospel cry of the Bride”: “Hyper-Calvinism had muzzled the gospel cry of the Bride (“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price,” Revelation 22:17). For the sake of the life of the church and the salvation of the nations, Fuller took up the battle for truth.” Piper’s charge is utter rubbish! I have never met a professing Christian, subscribing to high views of sovereign grace, who believes the gospel should not be fully and freely preached to all sinners. The type of people Piper calls Hyper-Calvinists exist only in…
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8. Andrew Fuller Escaped Hyper-Calvinism By Searching The Scriptures And The History Of Doctrine?
In detailing Andrew Fuller’s search for the truth, Piper says: “[Andrew Fuller] searched both the Scriptures and the history of doctrine to see if he could find this High Calvinism that had so infected and controlled his denomination…” Fuller’s denomination, if that is what it could be called, is a circle of churches known as Strict and Particular Baptists. In his day, most of the churches leaned or stood squarely on high views of sovereign grace. In our day, the Strict and Particular Baptist heritage has been hijacked by the Moderate-Calvinists (Fullerites/Reformed Baptists). They persistently misrepresent the teachings of High-Calvinism, always putting Fuller's newfangled views in a favorable light. They also audaciously rewrite the history of High-Calvinism, claiming to be the standard-bearers of the…
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Thoughts On High-Calvinism Versus Arminianism and Fullerism
The leading issue which distinguishes a High-Calvinist from the Arminians and Fullerites (Moderate-Calvinists) is the subject of God's sovereignty and man's relatedness to Him. Whereas the Fullerite embraces fairly high views of God's sovereignty, yet he remains as confused as the Arminian on the subject of man's relatedness to the Lord. Two Requirements For Having A Relationship With God There are two requirements if man is to have a relationship with God. First, man must be a spirit being. This gives man the ABILITY to have a relationship with God. God is a spirit, and if man is to know God, he must also be a spirit. This is what it means to be made in God's image. God created only two species of spirit…
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Thoughts On Arminianism
Jerom Zanchius, in the first chapter of his book, “Absolute Predestination”, has helpfully outlined five leading features of God’s wisdom and foreknowledge. In summary, he wrote: First, God is, and always was so perfectly wise, that nothing ever did, or does, or can elude His knowledge. He knew, from all eternity, not only what He Himself intended to do, but also what He would incline and permit others to do. “Known unto God are all His works from eternity ” (Acts 15:18). Second, consequently, God knows nothing now, nor will know anything hereafter, which He did not know and foresee from everlasting, His foreknowledge being co-eternal with Himself, and extending to everything that is or shall be done (Heb. 4:13). All things, which comprises past,…
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The Strict Baptist Movement