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God
Decreed It To Happen
Part 2
Lapsarianism
(Lap
What?)
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Of all the decrees that God made, five are linked or
connected to the purpose of God in election. Therefore, they are
called the five elective decrees. The order in which these decrees
happened we call lapsarianism.
Lap what? Lapsarianism is really not a mysterious word. It just
takes a little explanation.
Lapsarianism comes from the Latin word for “fall”. When we
are talking about the five elective decrees and using the word
lapsarianism, we are talking
from the fact that man is a fallen being or creature. In
Christianity, it is the study of the order in which God made the
decrees in connection with the fall of man. That’s lap what! As
far as God is concerned, He decreed it in an instant; He is
omniscient and has always known everything at once. But for our
understanding, He needed to put the decrees in order for us. So,
He made Biblical lapsarianism.
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Biblical Lapsarianism
1. Create: God decreed to
create mankind with free will in the state of perfection. Thus, He
created Adam and Eve. He did this in order to resolve the
prehistoric angelic conflict. He wanted to show Satan and the
other fallen angels how just and righteous and good He is. God
also wanted to bring many sons, believers, to glory or to great
rejoicing!
2. Permit the Fall: God
decreed to permit mankind’s fall by man using his own free will.
When Adam and Eve fell, it was just like when Satan and the angels
fell before human history. So, human history was repeating angelic
history, which is why we are part of the Angelic Conflict. We will
be in the angelic conflict until we die. It is a spiritual
conflict and we need to use spiritual weapons.
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3. Salvation: God decreed to
provide eternal salvation for all mankind under the doctrine of
unlimited atonement. This means that Jesus Christ paid the price
for everyone’s sins. The only
thing that keeps anyone out of heaven is not believing in Jesus
Christ as his or her Savior. What a loving, merciful, just, and
forgiving God we have! Satan constantly wants us to question God’s
character and nature. He doesn’t want us to know the plan of
salvation. Satan doesn’t want us to know that God is loving,
merciful, forgiving, just and deals with us in grace! God takes
such good care of us if we let Him! So, let’s walk with God and
not with Satan!
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4. Justly Condemn: God
decreed to leave those who reject Christ as Savior to their just
condemnation. Remember, not believing in Jesus Christ as our
Savior is the only sin that will condemn us. God gives everyone
many times and opportunities to make a choice to believe. He can
never be unjust, unfair, or unloving. Those who reject Jesus
Christ use their own free wills
to say no to salvation.
During their life times, they have said
no to salvation many times.
Bad decisions!
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5. Election and Predestination:
God decreed simultaneously in eternity past both election and
predestination for believers only.
Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God in
eternity past. In Election, God wills His highest and best for
every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Predestination is the
provision of the sovereign will of God in eternity past for the
believer. God supplies the believer with everything that he needs
to live in God’s plan, purpose, and will for his life. God wants
to bless the socks off of every believer! Living in the plan of
God, the believer will get capacity and can enjoy all the
blessings that God has for him! Remember, God has blessings for us
that stagger the imagination! Let’s have our imaginations
staggered!
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Now there are four other types of
lapsarianism: supra-lapsarianism, sub-lapsarianism, infra-lapsarianism,
and Armenian lapsarianism. That’s a mouthful for anyone! None of
these have the events of the five elective decrees in proper
order. Only Biblical lapsarianism does. We’re going to compare
just one, supra-lapsarianism, with Biblical lapsarianism.
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Supra-lapsarianism
In supra-lapsarianism, the decree to
elect comes first. Those who believe this say that God made
a decree to elect some to be saved and to reject all others. They
are saying that some are predestined to go to heaven and some are
predestined to go to hell! For heaven’s sake! This is not how God
works! This ignores the justice and fairness of God. (2 Peter 3:9)
No one is predestined to hell. It is our choice to believe or not
to believe in Jesus Christ. Those who do believe in Jesus Christ
are predestined to go to heaven. Also, how can election be the
first decree since no one had been created?
Election can’t come before
creation and election can’t come before the fall! Election is for
believers only so it has to be last; it has to be number five.
Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us [believers only] to adoption as
sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will….
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Those who believe in supra-lapsarianism
say that next God decreed to provided
salvation only for the elect.
They say that salvation really begins, not when you believe in
Christ, but in eternity past when people were elected. This means
limited atonement for sin, or that Christ died for some but not
for all. This is totally wrong! At birth we were all born
physically alive but spiritually dead. 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as
in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.
All of us have the
opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and go to
heaven. Salvation has to be
third; it has to come after creation and the fall.
1 Timothy
2:3-4 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of
the truth.
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They say that the third thing that God
decreed was to create man,
both elect and non-elect. How could God elect, their first decree,
and save or not save, their second decree, someone that didn’t
exist? Creation has to be
first.
In their belief, the fourth in line was
for God to permit the fall.
The problem with this is that it places election and limited
atonement before the fall instead of after the fall. Man had to
fall before salvation could
be provided, and salvation was provided for
all mankind. Atonement was
made for all mankind’s sins, not a limited amount! Man only has to
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will be saved. Then those
who do chose to believe are elected to go to heaven. The fall has
to be right after creation, so it has to be the second elective
decree!
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Then fifth is the decree to save
the elect. They say that God selected some people to be saved and
the rest to be lost, no matter what they do or think. This is one
of the main problems with supra-lapsarianism; it ignores the part
played by human volition in human history. It ignores the fact
that by their own free choices to reject Jesus Christ as Savior,
people are justly condemned to the lake of fire. What is the
purpose of even being around if we don’t have a choice for
salvation? Supra-lapsarianism is out of order!
2
Peter 3:9 The Lord is not willing for any to perish but for all to
come to repentance [a change of mind].
God, in His sovereignty and omniscience,
put the five elective decrees in a special order so that He would
be glorified. The Biblical lapsarianism glorifies God perfectly.
This order shows the tremendous grace and mercy of God, which is
the very grace and mercy that Satan denies. It is Biblical
lapsarianism that puts election last as the crown jewel of God’s
grace and love. We are all left here in order to advance to
spiritual maturity. We are here to receive divine blessings from
the justice of God imputed to the righteousness of God in us. We
are here to reveal God’s goodness, love, mercy and forgiveness. We
are left here to have capacity and enjoyment for life! Let’s live
in God’s predesigned plan for our lives and let Him reveal His
glory!
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Activity Page
Put the elective decrees in order. Then put them in the flags.
Fall, Salvation, Election and Predestination, Creation,
Just Condemnation
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
5. ____________________________
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God Decreed It To Happen
Part 2
Lapsarianism
Lap What?
References used:
Robert R.McLaughlin Bible Ministries
www.gbible.org
Lessons: 8-26-07,
8-31-07, 9-5-07
Tree of Life:
8-26-07, 9-9-07
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