"TULIP- The Flower of Truth Hated by Most Christians!" by Shane C. Montgomery

  Just what is it about this TULIP that makes so many Christians red in the face?

   Five short statements.  Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints.  These five little, quick statements seem to be a declaration of war to many believers.


We know where T.U.L.I.P came from, we know why it came to be and we know why these five little sayings are making a comeback of sorts today, but yet when TULIP comes up in a conversation among believers, to most they are like sharpened knitting needles shoved into the eyes of those who contest them.   Why the fuss?   Why are so many of God's adopted children bent on trampling this delicate flower?   I will attempt to argue this issue without the use of my time machine, it is proving to be more of a hassle than anything else anyway, but that is for another day.

  I guess the first place to start in defending TULIP would be to do what us wicked Calvinist's do best and that being, using Scripture Alone to answer our questions (Sola Scriptura) so lets look at the first evil letter, that being "T" for the Total Depravity of Man- Genesis 6:5- "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."  


Well, that did not take long!   The Sixth Chapter of Genesis tells us that the "Wickedness of man was great in the earth and that all of his thoughts are only evil"   But I wonder it there are any other verses from Scripture, after all, that was from the old, blah, Old Testament, you know, when God was all mean and never happy, so lets look into the New Testament where God is all happy and loving.  10" As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3:10-18 (KJV)  these verses from the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Christians in Rome speak for themselves, but if you are still not yet convinced, here is another one,.... 8" If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."  1 John 1:8-10 (KJV)   Honestly, I can go on all day posting verses from the Psalms, the Old Testament and the New Testament that shows we are all wicked, base creatures at heart and thusly we can not seek a Savior in Christ because we are incapable of even desiring anything good, holy or righteous, so lets just stop here on Total Depravity, it is more than clear in Scripture and Scripture is to be our only basis, that we all have sin, we are all depraved to our very cores.  So lets move on to the second point in our flower, the wicked letter "U" which stands for Unconditonal Election.

  Once again, using only Scripture (Sola Scriptura) we find.... 6" Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.  14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"      Romans 9:6-24 (KJV)  Another one?  Fine...12" But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13 (KJV)   More?    "And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.    Mark 13:20 (KJV)   We get the picture on this right, if not, read Ephesians, the first chapter, you will have no more problems with Predestination or Election, at least you shouldn't.

The Third one, the letter "L" stands for Limited Atonement and we can easily defend Limited Atonement, even when you quote John 3:16 I can answer your arguments (when Christ speaks "Whomsoever" meaning, His Adopted Children) and (He is not speaking to every single member of the world's population, but rather those chosen before the foundations of the earth or those of His Church)  From Scripture?  Well, okay then..1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them".  Eph 2:1-10 (KJV).  That should be argument enough, but if not feel free to look up these additional verses from Scripture.... Romans 9:10-26, Exodus 4:21, Deuteronomy 2:30, Joshua 11:19, 1 Samuel 2:25, Matthew 1:21, Titus 2:14, Galatians 1:3, 1 Peter 2:8 and that is only about 3% of the text which speaks of Limited Atonement. 


 Where are we at?   That's right, the Fourth one, the letter "I", ahh man, just look how sinister that letter is looking!  Seeing it hanging out in "" like that?  You know it is up to no good, but lets see what "I" is, Irresistible Grace!   Really, we have to complain about God's free grace even?!  What ever,  here goes, Sola Scriptura!  14" And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."   Acts 16:13-14 (KJV)    Alright, quiz time, who opened Lydia's heart?  A) The Lord   B) Lydia herself     C) Gary Coleman?      Right, the answer was A)   The Lord.   More?   All right then....8" So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" Romans 8:7-9 (KJV)     Well, this is taking longer than I wanted it to, also, we are getting way off topic, it is starting to resemble one of my sermons, I put together a outline that should take up 45 minutes of preaching and the next thing I know, I have been talking for 2 hours and people are starting to show signs of getting extremely uncomfortable from sitting in our steel chairs that fill it for pews, shot gun preaching at it's best baby!  So let's get to the last one, the letter "P" for the one most people are fine with and that is Perseverance of the Saints.    Ephesians 1:13-14 is one of my favorites here... 13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."

  There is nothing better than knowing that we were chosen by God before the foundations of the earth and that Christ was the Atonement for our sins, dieing on the cross in our place, bearing upon Himself all of our sins, keeping the laws of God perfectly in His life where we could not and thus being a ransom for us, now, having the Comforter, (Holy Spirit) whom dwells in us and seals us and delivers us to the very throne of God in heaven.  That is just so comforting and reassuring, what is there to complain about here?

  Well, we have looked at TULIP, we see there is noting evil about it, we see that we have tons of Scripture to prove the legitimacy of it (Sola Scriptura once again) and we see there is absolutely nothing to complain about, nothing to decry, noting to refute!   When I began pounding on the keys of my Compaq laptop here today, I never meant to go on this long, just wanted to point out how much hatred there is in America over these Calvinistic views on cardinal doctrines of our Christian faith, but what truly bothers me is that who cares who is right or wrong, who cares that we are sinful and wicked and who cares that we cannot save ourselves!  I mean really, so our salvation is 100% God given!   What's so bad about that?  We have a God who loves us when He should despise us!  We have a God who planned our salvation out thousands of years ago, when He did not have to, we have a God who sent His only Son to die for those He chose to save, He sent His Holy Spirit to comfort us and help us grow in grace, to mature in our faith and who will seal us and deliver us to heaven!   So what we are all bad, no one is good, no not one!   What is the big deal that God is the one who does all the work in Salvation?   So what we are all wretched and that we all deserve our just reward, which is everlasting torment and punishment in Hell's every burning fires.

 Unless..... Unless, we are selfish.....unless, we are self-centered........ unless, we are prideful and arrogant!!   Is that it?   The reasons we cannot accept God's Sovereignty is that we want to be little gods!?  Is that it?  Most believers hate TULIP with a passion!   Why?  It simply reflects a loving, gracious, patient, merciful God who does not wish that any of His adopted children should perish, unless these people are so self-centered oppose to Christ-centered that they do not want to get off of His throne so He can have His rightful place at the right hand of God the Father.   Are these people so fallen that they choose to worship self and their goodness over God's free grace?   It is starting to look like it.

  Only a prideful, self-centered, selfish man or woman who is too lazy to study Scripture and is to ignorant to know when a false teacher is pulling the wool over their eyes to see what is not in the Bible and what amounts to a verbal slap in the face to our Sovereign God.   That just might be it friends!   These Christians who claim Synergism over Monergism, these are the ones who desire to be God, they want to kill God and take His place.  Simple as that, what is left to say, other than, if you are stuck in this free-will belief yourself, maybe you are different, maybe it is just a lack of knowledge of what is right before your eyes, if so, repent, study your Bible and ask God to forgive you and for Him to send His Holy Spirit to dwell in you so you might have some discernment to know the truth.  On the flip side, if you hold on to these beliefs and refuse to see the truth of TULIP, which is nothing important in and of itself, only a cute little saying to remind us of Holy God's grace and our wretched state. I am speaking of the ignorant masses who say things like "I do not worship Calvin, I worship Christ!"   Really?  What a moron!   Only a self-centered baby would say something that utterly stupid!   A four legged animal used on farms to pull small carts comes to mind with these people.   No one worships Calvin, how ignorant a thing to say, it is a name, a way to describe and identify a group of believers who trust in the Sovereign God of the Universe.  I have went on too long, forgive me, and if you know someone who hates the Doctrines of Grace, please take the time to witness to them, either they are lost and need to hear the Gospel, maybe for the first time correctly, or they are confused and are listening to a Free Will Baptist preacher who cannot afford to lose them because he has already put a down payment on that new fishing boat.  Either way, stand up for sound doctrine, don't let these people die in their ignorance.     Soli Deo Gloria!    (I guess you have a problem with that as well Arminian)    Shane