The 5 "Doctrines of Grace" and the Nicene Creed

Mar 24  Hudson Barton. Comments: 0

The so-called "Doctrines of Grace" were established during the Reformation to encapsulate simple truths taken from the Holy Scriptures that are binding upon all believers as fundamental to a true understanding of the nature of God and the purpose of man. They were not then and are not today new doctrines, but rather they reflect the belief of the early church which the reformers thought had been abandoned by Roman Catholics and by the Orthodox Church.  Remarkably, they are easily rediscovered in the Nicene Creed which one might think would continue to be affirmed by RCs and the Orthodox.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  

The following outline follows the Nicene Creed, yet illustrates the 5 "doctrines of Grace" which have come to be known by the acronym TULIP.
  1. God is not in time but is rather outside of it.  He is the author of time.  We can know only what He has made visible to us.  Of this we know that God the Father begat the Son "before all worlds" and appointed all the days of creation to be pleasing to Himself, allowing His creation to set no conditions of its own.  The Reformation calls this "Unconditional Election" because His will is declared before and apart from creation.  Besides what is visible to His creation, He has also made known by his revealed Word that in the Beginning "before all worlds" He contemplated and sovereignly established:
    • the Fall of all creation on account of Adam's disobedience, 
    • the comfort of a particular people to be His own, 
    • the remission of their sin on account of Christ's sacrifice,  
    • the world's final judgement and 
    • His everlasting reign.
  2. The depravity of man is complete such that apart from God coming down from Heaven and becoming incarnate for our sake, we have no way to reach God, nor even to live on this earth.  Apart from Him, we are enslaved to our sin; without the ability to see or hear, or touch or feel; or especially to do "good".  The Reformation calls this "Total Depravity."
    • "Who for us men and for our salvation He came down from Heaven... and I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of Sins."
  3. The Son of God, the Word, became flesh.  He became incarnate through His birth of the Virgin Mary, and was "with us" through His life as the Christ, through His suffering and through His crucifixion.  All this is testified to in the New Testament Scriptures and by the Old Testament Prophets such that man has no excuse to not know that He came into the World to save. For the appointed few, this implanted Word is predestined to bear fruit for God's glory, while the unchosen many will grow up among them as thorns, receiving the benefits of His care but in the end being cast into the fire rather than preserved for His righteous pleasure.  The Reformation calls this "Limited Atonement."
    • "... and was incarnate of the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried."  
  4. Jesus also rose and now reigns from Heaven, having left His Spirit and his written Word to abide with the Church, to comfort His people and to secure their inheritance. The Reformation calls this "Irresistible Grace" for in fact God's salvation purposes cannot be overthrown.
    • "He rose again... and sitteth on the right hand of the Father."  
  5. He is the Alpha and Omega and will make time end just as surely as He made it begin.  His original purpose will be realized when He returns to judge the world and to reveal those whom He calls, saves, and resurrects to live with Him eternally.  The Reformation calls this "Perseverance of the Saints."
    • "I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."  

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