READING TIME: 2-4 MINUTES
March 4, 2020
According to Reformed Theology, if an unbeliever has total inability, how is it that Cornelius (while still an unbeliever) was seeking God in Acts 10:2, 4 by giving alms and prayer? He didn’t become a believer until later on in the chapter (in Acts 10:43-44; compare these verses with Acts 11:17).
The “T” in TULIP” is called “Total Depravity.” At first, “total depravity” sounds biblical and indeed it is, but according to Calvinism, “total depravity” means “total inability.” According to this problematic thinking, because sinful man is dead and unable to respond to the gospel, God must regenerate him so that he can believe.
This is what one reputable Reformed theologian says about the “T” in TULIP:
“Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not – indeed he cannot – choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit’s assistance to bring a sinner to Christ – it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God’s gift of salvation – it is God’s gift to the sinner, not the sinner’s gift to God (Steele The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended, and Documented, 5-6, quoted in Badger 83).”
The Bible doesn’t teach that an unbeliever is unable to respond to the Gospel. It is true that, of his/her initiative, an unbeliever would never place his/her place in Jesus, but an unbeliever can respond to the Spirit’s conviction ministry and the Father’s drawing/wooing ministry. This is a vital distinction!
Cornelius did not believe for the remission of sins until Peter arrived and preached the gospel (10:34-48; cf. 10:43 with 11:17). Cornelius believed during Peter’s preaching, not before. The moment of gospel presentation became the centurion’s pivot point from death to life, darkness to light. Luke clearly defines the moment of gospel hearing as the moment of the Centurion’s new birth. Peter reports that Cornelius was instructed to call for the apostle so that Peter might tell him the words by which he and all his household would be saved (Acts 11:14).
Now, though not a believer, this Centurion was not like a cadaver, unable to respond to God. On the contrary, Cornelius the non-Christian was a devout man and one who feared God and he gave alms and prayed to God always (10:2). He received revelation from God, understood, and obeyed it (10:3, 22); also, the Lord recognized his prayers and alms (10:4, 31). Here was a man with a strong sense of God-consciousness, and the Lord worked in him to bring him to faith in Christ. His prayers and alms did not eternally save him, but his seeking postured him to believe the gospel when he heard it preached.
There is nothing in this chapter to suggest that Total Inability was Cornelius’ condition. It is difficult to say he was crippled toward God, let alone “dead” in the way eisegetes contend. The Centurion was able to hear and believe the gospel. As those in Acts 28:24, he and his family became persuaded of the gospel, at which instant God eternally saved them. Romans 10:17 reveals that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word came by Peter’s preaching, Cornelius heard, and while hearing the word, believed. The Holy Spirit worked through Peter’s preaching to persuade Cornelius of the truth of the Gospel.
We may conclude that man, who has been made in God’s image, can act freely in accord with his nature, even in his fallen state [as Cornelius did!]. Our fallen human nature has residuals of the image of God and is also inclined away from Him. This doesn’t mean that we cannot do the right things, nor does it mean that we cannot believe His message. To argue 1) that unregenerate man cannot meaningfully hear the propositions of the gospel message and 2) to insist that he cannot understand the implications and consequences of unbelief, is to render useless any and every gospel message to the sinner.
Sources Consulted
Badger, Anthony B. Confronting Calvinism: A Free Grace Refutation and Biblical Resolution of Radical Reformed Soteriology.
Hixson, Whitmire, Zuck. Freely by His Grace: Classical Grace Theology. Chapter 5, by Charlie Bing. Grace Gospel Press.
Meisinger, George E. “The Issue of One’s Ability to Believe: Total Depravity/ Inability.” Chafer Theological Seminary Journal Volume 11.1 (2005): 65-96.