Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 8:7-15.

“7 Then Elisha came to Damascus.  Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, “The man of God has come here.” 8 The king said to Hazael, “Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the Lord by him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”  9 So Hazael went to meet him and took a gift in his hand, even every kind of good thing of Damascus, forty camels’ loads;  and he came and stood before him and said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”  10 Then Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You will surely recover,’ but the Lord has shown me that he will certainly die.”  11 He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept.  12 Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?”  Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel:  their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.”  13 Then Hazael said, “But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?”  And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”  14 So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?”  And he answered, “He told me that you would surely recover.”  15 On the following day, he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died.  And Hazael became king in his place.”  2 Kings 8:7-15.

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Today’s Scripture, particularly verse 12, reminds me of the following Luke 19:41-44.  Like Elisha wept, Jesus wept.  Like Elisha prophesied, Jesus prophesied.  Like Elisha prophesied of destruction, Jesus prophesied of destruction.

“When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace!  But now they have been hidden from your eyes.  For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”  Luke 19:41-44.

We want peace, so we should know “the things which make for peace”.  We want to recognize the time of our visitation when God comes close to us, so to speak.  

“17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 “Your descendants would have been like the sand,
And your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”

20 Go forth from Babylon!  Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.”  Isaiah 48:17-22.

“6 Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.”  Isaiah 55:6-7.

“11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
12 “For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”  Isaiah 55:11-12.

In summary, if we seek peace and well-being, then we should diligently seek the LORD by reading God’s Word and seeking to understand God and His works.  We should forsake our own ways, and seek forgiveness and God’s ways.  

But, there are superficial “Christians”.  They are satisfied with “Cotton Candy Christianity”.  They are content of receiving the most simple and superficial lessons from Scripture usually about something they should do to have a better life.  They don’t diligently study Scripture to learn about God and God’s Works.  In the parable of the sower, they are like:  “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;  yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.  And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”  Matthew 13:20-22.

Reformed Doctrine can help!

Reformed Doctrine reveals God and His Works from “Unconditional Election” through “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” to “Preservation of Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I” and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

Reformed Doctrine causes us to trust ourselves less through “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”.

Reformed Doctrine causes us to trust God more.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 8:1-6.

“1 Now Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn;  for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.”  2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.  3 At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines;  and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field.  4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.”  5 As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field.  And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.”  6 When the king asked the woman, she related it to him.  So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, “Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.”   2 Kings 8:1-6.

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The son of the Shunammite woman died.

But, there is hope! 

God restored his life to him.

The Shunammite woman lost her land after she abandoned it to live in the land of the Philistines for seven years during the famine in Israel.

But, there is hope! 

God restored her land to her.

We too face seemingly hopeless situations.

But, there is hope for us too! 

God restores. 

“He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.”  Psalm 23:3.

“The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.”  Psalm 41:3.

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.”  Psalm 51:12.

“O God, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”  Psalm 80:3.  See similar “chorus” verses Psalm 80:7 and Psalm 80:19.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 7:3-20.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+7&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate;  and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die?  4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there;  and if we sit here, we die also.  Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans.  If they spare us, we will live;  and if they kill us, we will but die.”  5 They arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans;  when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there.  6 For the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.”  7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life.  8 When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them;  and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, and went and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right.  This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent;  if we wait until morning light, punishment will overtake us.  Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

…

14 They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

15 They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste.  Then the messengers returned and told the king.

16 So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans.  Then a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.  17 Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate;  but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.”  2 Kings Chapter 7:  Verses 3-9 and 14-17.

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The four lepers had an unpleasant appearance and did not do anything to scare away the Arameans, but they were lovely in the eyes of the people due to the good news they brought.

Likewise, we may appear plain and without significant personal accomplishments, but we can be lovely in the sight of God’s people, the elect, due to the good news we bring of salvation.

“7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.
9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.”  Isaiah 52:7-10.

Other doctrine claims that they bring good news.  But, is it really good news for salvation to be dependent on man’s works or man’s alleged free-will?

We truly bring good news.  We bring good news of salvation dependent on God alone, “The salvation of our God”.  When we say “Your God reigns!”, we don’t mean that God only reigns over the moon and stars but will not interfere with man’s alleged free-will.  We mean that God also totally reigns over man and salvation.  We bring good news of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation, which summarizes that God has done everything for our salvation, totally as gift for us by His grace alone, from “Unconditional Election” through “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” through “Preservation of Saints”.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 6:24 to 2 Kings 7:1-2.

“24 Now it came about after this, that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria.  25 There was a great famine in Samaria;  and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.  26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”  27 He said, “If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you?  From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” 28 And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?”  And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’  29 So we boiled my son and ate him;  and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’;  but she has hidden her son.”  30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body.  31 Then he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today.”

32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him.  And the king sent a man from his presence;  but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head?  Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door shut against him.  Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”  33 While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “Behold, this evil is from the Lord;  why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

1 Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’”  2 The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”  Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it.”  2 Kings 6:24 to 2 Kings 7:1-2.

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As horrific and sad and apparently hopeless as the effects of the famine and siege had on Samaria when the king’s messenger arrived at the door of Elisha, there was a full deliverance one day later.

We too may be at our wit’s end with no hope in sight, but God can deliver us too that quickly.

“4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified.”
5 But I am afflicted and needy;
Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.”  Psalm 70:4-5.

“O Lord, hear!  O Lord, forgive!  O Lord, listen and take action!  For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”  Daniel 9:19.

“I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
And My glory for Israel.”  Isaiah 46:13.

“6 The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain;
A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow,
And refined, aged wine.
7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples,
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death for all time,
And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,
And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”  Isaiah 25:6-9.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 6:8-23.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+6&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city.  And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master!  What shall we do?”  16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.”  And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw;  and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people with blindness, I pray.”  So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.  19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city;  follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.”  And he brought them to Samaria.

20 When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.”  So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw;  and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.  21 Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them?  Shall I kill them?”  22 He answered, “You shall not kill them.  Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow?  Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.”  23 So he prepared a great feast for them;  and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master.  And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.”  2 Kings 6:15-23.

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We see the miracle of God opening eyes.  We see the miracle of God shutting eyes.  We see the faith in God that declares:  “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  We see the merciful action (of preparing a feast for enemies – see Romans 12:20-21) that could only proceed from this faith.  In summary, we see God causing all things working together for the good of Israel (“And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.”)

“What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?”  Romans 8:31.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28.

We tend to think of this promise of God causing all things to work together for good only in terms of God delivering us from some trouble, but the very next two verses turn our attention to the most important “good” that God causes all things to achieve (which is our salvation).

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called;  and these whom He called, He also justified;  and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  Romans 8:29-30.

This “golden chain of salvation” is the heart of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  God causes all things to work together for good for His elect (“For those whom He foreknew”) which is “Unconditional Election”, the “U” of “TULIP”.  And, the “good” toward which God causes all things to work is the salvation for these unconditional elect (“He also glorified”), which is “Preservation of the Saints” to salvation, the “P” of “TULIP”.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 6:1-7.

“Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us.  Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.”  So he said, “Go.”  Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.”  And he answered, “I shall go.”  So he went with them;  and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water;  and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master!  For it was borrowed.”  Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?”  And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.  He said, “Take it up for yourself.”  So he put out his hand and took it.”   2 Kings 6:1-7.

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God daily bears our burdens.  We see it through Elisha’s miracle of lifting the axe head from the depth of the water to make it float.  We see it through the other different things that Elisha did for his servants.

Elisha allowed his servants to go and prepare a bigger place to live.  Our God does even more.  He Himself prepares a place for us.  “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places;  if it were not so, I would have told you;  for I go to prepare a place for you.”  John 14:2.

Elisha went with his servants on that trip.  Our God does even more.  “… He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”  Hebrews 13:5.

The axe head is a symbol of our burden.  It is heavy, and in this context, losing it was a heavy burden to Elisha’s servant.  But, not only did Elisha miraculously lift the heavy axe head to the top of the water, Elisha lifted the heavy burden off the shoulder of his servant.

In sharpest contrast to the Pharisees who “… tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.” (Matthew 23:4), God daily lifts the burdens off His people’s shoulders.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation.  Selah.”  Psalm 68:19.

And, as Elisha did bear the burdens of his servants, we too are called to “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”  Galatians 5:2.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 5:15-27.  Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Kings+5&version=NASB

I quote only the following verses.

“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought.  As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”  So Gehazi pursued Naaman.  When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?”  He said, “All is well.  My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim.  Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’”  Naaman said, “Be pleased to take two talents.”  And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants;  and they carried them before him.  When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed.  But he went in and stood before his master.  And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”  And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you?  Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants?  Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.”  So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”  2 Kings 5:20-27.

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Gehazi did not turn his thoughts from all the treasure that Naaman brought with him and offered to Elisha.  Eventually, his greed took action.  “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin;  and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. ”  James 1:14-15.

Gehazi’s greed and accomplished sin had startling consequences.  “Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.”  Verse 27.

But, “… From everyone who has been given much, much will be required;  and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”  Luke 12:48.  Gehazi had been given much, the privilege of witnessing Elisha’s miracles and being taken care of by Elisha, and so much was required of him.

There is a warning for us today who also have been given much, the privilege of being able to read all of Scripture and having many preachers and teachers and so many other resources available to help us.

But, there is hope!

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.”  Colossians 3:1-7.

More hope!

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”  2 Peter 1:2-4.

And, there is even more hope beyond the proper focus and resources to escape lust!  

There is the hope of “Preservation of the Saints”, the “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation, as stated in the following part of the Canons of Dordt.

Article 3.  By reason of these remains of indwelling sin, and the temptations of sin and of the world, those who are converted could not persevere in a state of grace, if left to their own strength.  But God is faithful, who having conferred grace, mercifully confirms, and powerfully preserves them herein, even to the end.  FIFTH HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of the Perseverance of the Saints.

Today’s devotion comes from 2 Kings 5:1-14.

“1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram.  The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.  2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel;  and she waited on Naaman’s wife.  3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria!  Then he would cure him of his leprosy.”  4 Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.”  5 Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”  He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.

6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”  7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?  But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.”

8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes?  Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”  9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.  10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.”  11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’  12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  Could I not wash in them and be clean?”  So he turned and went away in a rage.  13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?  How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”  14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God;  and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.”  2 Kings 5:1-14.

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We want salvation on our own terms.

Naaman said:  “Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  Could I not wash in them and be clean?”  So he turned and went away in a rage.”

Likewise, we say:  “Are not works and free-will, the rivers of salvation of our doctrine, better than all the Reformed Doctrine?  Could I not wash in them and be clean?”

But, the word of God determines how we are saved like the word of the man of God determined how Naaman would be made clean.

“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Romans 9:16.

“So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Romans 9:18.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ”  Ephesians 2:4-7.

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31.

And all of this word of God basis of salvation is summarized by “Unconditional Election”, the “U” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  There is no condition that man produces whether it be works or alleged free-will choice or any other condition which motivates God to pick that person for salvation.

Here is what the Canons of Dordt state about “Unconditional Election” in part.

Article 7.  Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault, from their primitive state of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom he from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of Salvation. 

This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than the others, but with them involved in one common misery, God hath decreed to give to Christ, to be saved by him, and effectually to call and draw them to his communion by his Word and Spirit, to bestow upon them true faith, justification and sanctification;  and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of his Son, finally, to glorify them for the demonstration of his mercy, and for the praise of his glorious grace;  as it is written:  “According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love;  having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved,”  Ephesians 1:4,5,6.  And elsewhere:  “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called;  and whom he called, them he also justified;  and whom he justified, them he also glorified,”  Romans 8:30.  FIRST HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of Divine Predestination.