Author: Steve Amato
Description: How did Jesus atone for sin?
Keywords: bible study,Jesus, crucifixion, atonement, ransom, propitiation

## The Evolution of Heresies

Doctrines

OS | People are reckoned guilty of Adam's sin
VS | Vicarious Substitution - God reckoned Jesus guilty of the sins of the world and poured wrath on him
PS | Salvation contingent upon one's level of performance
ET | Eternal Security
SN | Jesus came in human flesh which by the definition of humanity was inhabited by a sinful nature
FW | Free Will
IB | Infant Baptism

Sect | Origin | OS | VS | PS | ET | SN | FW | IB
Orthodox | Idolators | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES
Catholic | Judaizers | YES | YES | YES | NO | NO | YES | YES
Calvinist | Gnostics | YES | YES | NO | YES | NO | NO | YES
Free Grace | Antinomian |  |  | NO | YES | NO | YES | NO
Charismatic | Monatism |  |  | YES | NO | NO | YES | NO

Many of these sects share some heretic orgins, but I've noted the most obvious.

## ELABORATION

CATHOLICISM
see my page on Catholic Judaizers.
Catholicism evolved from the Sect of the Circumcision predominantly operating in the church at Jerusalem. In place of salvation being contingent upon circumcision and following the Law of Moses, Catholicism inserted baptism and compliance to their Catholic Canons.

CALVINISM
Under Calvinism salvation is neither by faith nor by works, but rather by one's arbitrary election which occurred before one was born. As such Calvinism cannot logically speak of a person being saved by faith. For, having been elect prior to birth, one's salvation doesn't change from the time one is born till one's death.
Calvinism is fatalism. It denies free will, ideas of which it gets from its Gnostic origins. People are merely puppets. But who could be the puppet master but God. Logically this means that when people sin, they have no choice in the matter, and it is really their puppet master causing them to sin.
Logically this means that the god of Calvinism is first of all unjust, insomuch as he holds people accountable for things they have no control over. Indeed many a Calvinist would say that "God is unjust in human terms". And so when the Calvinist speaks to humans in human terms he must simply say, "God is unjust". And indeed this is consistent with their view of the Calvinistic concept of "Original Sin" in which people are reckoned guilty of a crime they didn't actually commit. And which is also consistent with their "Vicarious Substitution" view of the Atonement in which, in their view, the god of Calvinism pretended that Jesus was guilty of crimes he didn't commit, namely the sins of world, and poured wrath on him. Thus the god of Calvinism is unjust and also a liar. For he lied to himself concerning Jesus' guilt in order to commit this unjust act. (I don't think I'd be far off comparing the god of Calvinism to Satan)
Another fact which affirms their non-faith, non-works salvation gospel is their view of Infant Baptism in which children of Christian parents are automatically reckoned part of the Church, apart from faith in Christ. To quote John Calvin, the people of the Church are consecrated to God through baptism, "to be reckoned as his people." Both Calvin and Augustine argue this point by way of the analogy of circumcision. Though the difference between Calvinists and Catholics on the point of infant baptism is that Catholics view infant baptism as necessary for salvation, wiping away the sin of Adam, in accordance with the Original Sin heresy, while Calvinists view infant baptism as an acknowledgment that the children of Christian parents are under the New Covenant. And what is the New Covenant?

> "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete" Heb 8:10-13

Now having read the New Covenant, you would think the person under the covenant is by definition "saved", in fact Calvinists waffle on this point. Infant Baptism under Calvinism is essentially meaningless, as is everything else in life insomuch as Calvinism is Fatalism, one's destiny having been determined prior to one's birth, and not having been determined by one's decisions, one's faith, nor one's works, nor one's circumstances, like infant baptism in which the child has no choice in the matter.
See more Heresies of Calvinism

JESUS CHRIST CAME NOT IN THE FLESH
This is a heresy held by many sects of Christianity. Its origin is in Docetism, a sect of Gnosticism. John writes of this, "Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist." 1John 4:3
This is the denial of Jesus' human nature. The word "flesh" ( σαρξ in Greek ) is the same word associated with the sinful nature spoken of throughout the New Testament. The NIV translates σαρξ as "sinful nature" 22 times. Thus one could apply 1John 4:3 to read, "Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the sinful nature is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist." 1John 4:3 And that would be consistent with what John is saying. That is, to deny Jesus' Humanity. For one is not human if they don't have a human nature. And this is also consistent with Heb 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin." If Jesus did not experience temptation from his flesh, he was certainly not tempted in all ways as we are and it could not be said that as such he could sympathize with our weakness if he hadn't been subjected to such weakness as is common to all mankind.
The reason why the heretics don't believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is largely the same now as with the Docetists in the past. Namely they thought it too beneath Jesus to reckon him subject to such a condition. It was too lowly for them to grasp. God incarnate would never stoop to such a condition. Reckoning Jesus as having come in the flesh is to them insulting to God, a blasphemy. I say, to hell with them, literally. As John said of the Docetists, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." 1John 2:19

ORTHODOX
Though often associated with Catholicism, this sect actually differs a bit theologically from Catholicism, though holding some things in common. They are one of the few sects that reject Vicarious Substitution and reject the Augustinian concept of Original Sin held by Catholics and Calvinists.
For more see Orthodox Christianity

FREE GRACE THEOLOGY
This is a new spin on ancient Antinomianism. Namely they believe that there is not necessarily any correlation between one's lifestyle and one's salvation status. They deny the power of regeneration to change a person.
For more see the various articles I've written concerning Free Grace Theology from the Theology Menu.

CHARISMATISM
In particular Pentecostalism is perhaps the most deviant sect of Charismatism in my view. But in general Charismatics are the offspring of the Monatists who viewed personal inspiration, allegedly by the Spirit of God, trumps the Scriptures.

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources