This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell has a conversation with Dr. Steven Lawson on coming to know and love the Doctrines of Grace.

What are the doctrines of grace? Aren’t these doctrines found only in the Gospel of John and the Letter to the Romans? How should the doctrines of grace affect the life of a Christian?

This season on the Straight Truth Podcast we are conducting interviews with special guests from recent conferences held at Founders Baptist Church.  In this week’s episode, Dr. Richard Caldwell sits down with Dr. Steven Lawson, Founder and President of OnePassion Ministries.  Dr. Lawson was here speaking at the Truth in Love Conference on Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God. In this interview, Dr. Caldwell converses with Dr. Lawson about the biblical doctrines of grace, often referred to as Calvinism and commonly summed up with the acronym TULIP.

Acknowledging the sovereignty of God in salvation

Dr. Caldwell asks Dr. Lawson to first tell us about his exposure to the doctrines of grace, and then about his journey with accepting, and acknowledging the sovereignty of God in salvation. Dr. Lawson tells us that he did not grow up learning these things from the Westminster Confession of Faith. He explains that it was actually in seminary, in his twenties, when he was confronted with the doctrines of grace.

His first response was to reject and argue against these truths with fellow students and even at times with the professors. He says the talks on the sovereignty of God in salvation just arrested his understanding and was antithetical to his way of thinking; to the degree that he felt a little like Jonah trying to run away from these truths as they continued to come up. Yet, as he progressed in his studies through each book and each verse of the Bible, the truth of God’s sovereignty in salvation was there, just waiting for him to see, he just couldn’t get away from it.

Surrender your mind and emotions to the mind and truth of God.

Dr. Lawson goes on to describe that he eventually came to a point where he had to surrender his mind and emotions to the mind and truth of God. He explains that it was not an easy process and he had to wrestle with many things both before and after. As he shares about some of these, we grasp that the importance of his wrestling was over more than just hermeneutical word studies. He tells us though, the longer he chewed on these truths, the sweeter they became. He describes the outcome of his wrestling and surrender as revolutionary and humbling, it elevated his worship of God and changed him in ways he never expected.

These doctrines irrefutably clear

Dr. Caldwell then asks Dr. Lawson to tell us how the doctrines of grace have shaped his ministry. Dr. Lawson explains that having a proper understanding of the doctrines of grace has become the driving force behind his ministry. He is vibrant and passionate about declaring the truths of God’s word. Yet, reminds us that the Bible is its own defense and says, “You don’t have to defend the Bible, it’s like a lion you just have to let it out of its cage.” The doctrines of grace are in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, they are very clear, and when they are taught well, they will be very clear.

Listening to Dr. Lawson teach on the sovereignty of God in salvation makes these doctrines irrefutably clear.  He leaves us with this final thought, “These truths are not hard to understand, they’re just hard to swallow.”