THE CURE

Our grand rounds session has at this point met an impasse. We should all be horrified and left hopeless with the above information. To summarize, humanity as a whole has been afflicted by a ravaging disease that has killed its host in every case. No one is immune, and there is no cure. Or is there?
This is the good news of the gospel. That there is hope for those who have been stricken. There is a healing agent. The medication is a one-time dose, and offers a 100% cure. No one can call himself a child of God without acknowledging the healer of humanity’s greatest plague. Jesus the Christ, God incarnate is our great physician, and His sacrifice on our behalf is the elixir of salvation from this great disease. It is given freely to those who believe, graciously and unconditionally. It not only restores fully, but imparts benefits to the recipient that go far beyond. What great news indeed, and rightly all Christians should rejoice at this reality.
It is part of that rejoicing, that theologians have endeavored to learn more about its mechanism. The fact alone that a certain medicine promotes vascular health is of little interest to the cardiologist. They are interested in learning how it does such a thing. Most people don’t seem to care about how antibiotics work as long as they eradicate their infection. However, the well-informed patient (as well as medical professionals) have a necessarily greater appreciation for the medical cure than the uninformed. How much greater is the joy found in the restoration of health when a fuller comprehension of the disease and its cure is attained?
One can only appreciate something as far as he or she understands it. More so, one can only worship something to the extent that they know it. Likewise, if we stop at the message of “salvation by faith alone”, we miss in part the richness of the cure. This is the goal of theology. To study and attempt to understand as much as finite beings can, the inner workings of God’s redemptive plan.
Reformed theology is such an attempt. It has been known by numerous different names in the history of the church. Many may be more familiar with the terminology “doctrines of grace”, “covenant theology”, or more bluntly “Calvinism.” The terminology is less important than the ideas they represent (as such I will be using each interchangeably in this book). It is my belief that Calvinism (as it is known popularly by) is the most biblical representation of the nature of the cure. Its high view of the sovereignty of God as well as the harmony and inerrancy of His Word are unparalleled among other approaches. But before we dive into the details, allow me to give a brief summary of its doctrine.

TULIP
Any medical student worth his salt will tell you the importance of memorization tools. The scope and depth of each graduate level test would make passing such an examination almost impossible unless you either had a photographic memory or (like most) applied such memorization techniques. Usually these methods utilize simple mnemonics or acrostics. Even in elementary school, you may recall committing the colors of the rainbow to memory with the now familiar verse of “Roy G. Biv”.
Basically, those first two years of medical school are chalk full of such devices. Some are less than tasteful, but they all get the job done when it comes test time. And amazingly, as one graduates and gets into practice, they stick with you and become useful practical reminders of the important facts. An example from anatomy class I recall is the use of the acrostic NAVEL to remember the medial to lateral position of one’s “nerves, arteries, veins (empty space), and lymphatics”. One can imagine how practical this memorization tool became in residency when it was time to place central venous lines into critically ill patients.
Calvinism likewise uses a simple and yet catchy acrostic for memorization of its basic five doctrines. I remember my father impressing upon me the significance of TULIP from an early age. Seems like most Sundays he would have me recite the facets that each letter stood for. For those not familiar, TULIP represents the five basic concepts most commonly associated with Reformed theology and stands for the following:
T: total inability of man
U: unconditional election
L: limited atonement
I: irresistible grace
P: perseverance of the saints

We will be exploring each of these tenets throughout this book, but we need to first make something very clear. In the richness and scope of Reformed theology, TULIP is just the tip of the iceberg. It serves as a necessary framework on which we need to build upon to understand the full counsel of God. Our ultimate goal here will be to put muscle and tissue onto the skeleton that TULIP provides.
It is here that our grand rounds have come to an end. We leave the lecture hall aware of the significance of the disease. Subsequently, we should be in awe of its cure. This amazement has its foundation in one very important question. The question is that of our justification (how can sinful man be made right with God). In short, how can a terminally ill sinner become well in the presence of a holy and righteous God? This question is foundational in our appreciation of the cure. If you have not pondered this, you have not yet fully appreciated the disease and our state of sickness. Let us not be like the cancer survivor who is happy to just be alive. Let us truly delve into the nature of the miraculous chemotherapy that delivered us from the grave.