Calvinism
God is moving, moving, moving...
Some new ideas have recently come into my life, kindof a twist on faith. A wonderful friend of mine has a full belief in Calvinism (all 5 points) and has shared these new ideas to me. He's thinking this could be the turning point for Miss Dean... possibly the time that God chooses to reveal His real truth, I suppose. So, On with the points as well as my conflict with each---
POINT ONE:TOTAL DEPRAVITY/TOTAL INABLILTY
-meaning that a lost sinner cannot come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as Savior unless he is chosen. Total inability, meaning that no man has the ability to come to Christ and unless God overpowers him and gives him that ability/desire, he will never come to Christ, period.
- Depravity I can deal with total depravity... As humans, we don't deserve our salvation in any way, shape or form. It's the total inability that I have a problem with. I have yet to find it in the bible where it explains that we are lost because we don't have the ABILITY to come to Christ. It's not whether we can or cannot, rather if we will or will not.
- in Matthew 16:24 Jesus says: "If anyone will come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever WANTS to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Jesus stating simply stating whoever wants to, who ever WILL come after me... he can follow me.
- In Revelation, there is a wonderful verse that describes our decision to accept the father's gift. Verse 17 states: "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." Let him TAKE. It's not God spoon feeding it to us, we choose to take this gift he so gives.
- All men are drawn to Christ, but not all men will trust Christ as Savior. Every man will make his own decision to trust Christ or to reject Him.
POINT TWO:UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
- To the Calvinist, meaning some are elected into Heaven while others to Hell. God has already decided who will be saved and who will be lost. The individual has absolutely nothing to do with the decision- Basically, he can only hope that God has elected him for Heaven and not for Hell. John Calvin states in his book "Institutes," Book III, chapter 23: "....Not all men are created with similar destiny but eternal life is foreordained for some , and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestined either to life or to death." So Calvinism teaches that it is God's own choice that some people are to be damned forever. He never intended to save them. He foreordained them to go to Hell. And when He offers salvation in the Bible, He does not offer it to those who were foreordained to be damned. It is offered only to those who were foreordained to be saved. This, obviously, goes against what our first memory verse says - "for God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only son that WHOEVER believes shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
- God in His foreknowledge knows who will trust Jesus Christ as Savior, and He has predestined to see that they are justified and glorified, however, the doctrine that God elected some men to Hell, that they were born to be damned by God's own choice, is not taught anywhere in the Bible.
- Many Calvinist will quote John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." The entire verse reads: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." The verse says nothing about being chosen for Heaven or Hell. It says we are chosen to go and bring forth fruit, which simply means that every Christian is chosen to be a soul winner. The fruit of a Christian is other Christians. Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."
- 2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is patient with you, not wanting ANYONE to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance." It also says in 1 Timothy 2:4 "God our Savior who wants ALL men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth... the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for ALL men." Insinuating not just those that he has chosen... but for everyone who'll believe. Those who teach that God would only have some to be saved, while He would have others to be lost are misrepresenting God and the Bible.
- John 3:36 says "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Can it be anymore simple? - The man in Heaven is there because God sent His son Jesus and the believer BELIEVED. The man in Hell is there because he refuses to come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as Savior.
POINT THREE: LIMITED ATONEMENT
- Christ died only for the elect, for those He planned and ordained to go to Heaven: He did not die for those He planned and ordained to go to Hell. In 1 John 2:2 it writes: "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD."
- Another: 1Timothy 2:5,6 says, " The man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for ALL...."
- More?: I John 4:14, "The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the WORLD."
- Again: John 3:17 says, " For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
-Some argue that if Jesus died for the whole world, the whole world would be saved. No. the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was sufficient for all, but it is efficient only to those who believe. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross made it possible for every man everywhere to be saved. But only those who believe that He died to pay their sin debt and who trust Him completely for salvation will be saved.
POINT FOUR: IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
-God elected some to be saved, and he let Jesus Christ die for that elect group. And now by irresistible grace, He forces those He elected, and those Jesus Christ died for to be saved. Nowhere in the Bible does the word "irresistible" appear before the word "grace". That terminology is simply not in the Bible.
- Grace isrepresented as the irresistible act of God compelling a man to be saved - so that a man has no choice in the matter at all, except as God forcibly puts a choice in his mind.
- Seemingly, irresistible grace means "unable to resist God's grace," when many times it IS, in fact, resisted in the Bible. Proverbs 1:24: "But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; will mock when calamity overtakes you." God calls, and men refuse. Is that irresistible?
POINT FIVE: PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
- To the Calvinist, meaning that the elect cannot lose eternal life but must continue in the faith and remain saved.
-To be sure, the Bible teaches the eternal security of the believer. But the believer's security has nothing to do with his persevering. We are secure because we are kept by God. We are held in the Father's hand. And according to Ephesians 4:30, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
Some new ideas have recently come into my life, kindof a twist on faith. A wonderful friend of mine has a full belief in Calvinism (all 5 points) and has shared these new ideas to me. He's thinking this could be the turning point for Miss Dean... possibly the time that God chooses to reveal His real truth, I suppose. So, On with the points as well as my conflict with each---
POINT ONE:TOTAL DEPRAVITY/TOTAL INABLILTY
-meaning that a lost sinner cannot come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as Savior unless he is chosen. Total inability, meaning that no man has the ability to come to Christ and unless God overpowers him and gives him that ability/desire, he will never come to Christ, period.
- Depravity I can deal with total depravity... As humans, we don't deserve our salvation in any way, shape or form. It's the total inability that I have a problem with. I have yet to find it in the bible where it explains that we are lost because we don't have the ABILITY to come to Christ. It's not whether we can or cannot, rather if we will or will not.
- in Matthew 16:24 Jesus says: "If anyone will come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever WANTS to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Jesus stating simply stating whoever wants to, who ever WILL come after me... he can follow me.
- In Revelation, there is a wonderful verse that describes our decision to accept the father's gift. Verse 17 states: "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." Let him TAKE. It's not God spoon feeding it to us, we choose to take this gift he so gives.
- All men are drawn to Christ, but not all men will trust Christ as Savior. Every man will make his own decision to trust Christ or to reject Him.
POINT TWO:UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
- To the Calvinist, meaning some are elected into Heaven while others to Hell. God has already decided who will be saved and who will be lost. The individual has absolutely nothing to do with the decision- Basically, he can only hope that God has elected him for Heaven and not for Hell. John Calvin states in his book "Institutes," Book III, chapter 23: "....Not all men are created with similar destiny but eternal life is foreordained for some , and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestined either to life or to death." So Calvinism teaches that it is God's own choice that some people are to be damned forever. He never intended to save them. He foreordained them to go to Hell. And when He offers salvation in the Bible, He does not offer it to those who were foreordained to be damned. It is offered only to those who were foreordained to be saved. This, obviously, goes against what our first memory verse says - "for God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only son that WHOEVER believes shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
- God in His foreknowledge knows who will trust Jesus Christ as Savior, and He has predestined to see that they are justified and glorified, however, the doctrine that God elected some men to Hell, that they were born to be damned by God's own choice, is not taught anywhere in the Bible.
- Many Calvinist will quote John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." The entire verse reads: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." The verse says nothing about being chosen for Heaven or Hell. It says we are chosen to go and bring forth fruit, which simply means that every Christian is chosen to be a soul winner. The fruit of a Christian is other Christians. Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."
- 2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is patient with you, not wanting ANYONE to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance." It also says in 1 Timothy 2:4 "God our Savior who wants ALL men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth... the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for ALL men." Insinuating not just those that he has chosen... but for everyone who'll believe. Those who teach that God would only have some to be saved, while He would have others to be lost are misrepresenting God and the Bible.
- John 3:36 says "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Can it be anymore simple? - The man in Heaven is there because God sent His son Jesus and the believer BELIEVED. The man in Hell is there because he refuses to come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as Savior.
POINT THREE: LIMITED ATONEMENT
- Christ died only for the elect, for those He planned and ordained to go to Heaven: He did not die for those He planned and ordained to go to Hell. In 1 John 2:2 it writes: "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD."
- Another: 1Timothy 2:5,6 says, " The man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for ALL...."
- More?: I John 4:14, "The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the WORLD."
- Again: John 3:17 says, " For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
-Some argue that if Jesus died for the whole world, the whole world would be saved. No. the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was sufficient for all, but it is efficient only to those who believe. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross made it possible for every man everywhere to be saved. But only those who believe that He died to pay their sin debt and who trust Him completely for salvation will be saved.
POINT FOUR: IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
-God elected some to be saved, and he let Jesus Christ die for that elect group. And now by irresistible grace, He forces those He elected, and those Jesus Christ died for to be saved. Nowhere in the Bible does the word "irresistible" appear before the word "grace". That terminology is simply not in the Bible.
- Grace isrepresented as the irresistible act of God compelling a man to be saved - so that a man has no choice in the matter at all, except as God forcibly puts a choice in his mind.
- Seemingly, irresistible grace means "unable to resist God's grace," when many times it IS, in fact, resisted in the Bible. Proverbs 1:24: "But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; will mock when calamity overtakes you." God calls, and men refuse. Is that irresistible?
POINT FIVE: PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
- To the Calvinist, meaning that the elect cannot lose eternal life but must continue in the faith and remain saved.
-To be sure, the Bible teaches the eternal security of the believer. But the believer's security has nothing to do with his persevering. We are secure because we are kept by God. We are held in the Father's hand. And according to Ephesians 4:30, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.