For those who want to know the Free Grace view of calvinism / arminianism...

WD, I've only scanned the first one, but tend to be in basic agreement with the premises put forth. I will have to study this more closely. I suspect you and I are fairly close on this, at first glance.
In His grace,
Ed

 

Can we take another post on Calvinism?

Ugh.

 

webdog,


No, I don't have a "hard time reading".

[ February 09, 2006, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: DHK ]

 

webdog,

I found this statement from the website which you referenced above:

"No act of obedience, preceding or following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as commitment to obey, sorrow for sin, turning from one’s sin, baptism or submission to the Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered part of, faith as a condition for receiving everlasting life (Rom 4:5; Gal 2:16; Titus 3:5). This saving transaction between God and the sinner is simply the giving and receiving of a free gift (Eph 2:8-9; John 4:10 ; Rev 22:17 ). "

Do you believe this? Do you believe repentance is NOT necessary to be saved?

 

I believe that.

 

I love how Free-Gracers see themselves above the fray. Oh those silly Calvinists and Arminians with their man-made systems. We only seek the truth...blah, blah, blah. Free-Grace theology is just as much of 'system' as C or A.

The bottom line of Free Grace theology is that they answer Paul's question in Romans 6:1 - YES!!! - Sin all you want, because all you have to do is believe in the facts of the Gospel and you are saved. Pathetic.

 

Webdog,

All your whining against "systems" is just as much of a "system" as anything else. Even if you say "there are no systems that explain biblical truth" - that in itself is a system (a contradictory one, BTW), by which you attempt to explain what you believe.

The point is, we all have systems of explaining what we believe and why we believe it. Some systems are more organized, more formal, more conistent than others, but nonetheless, we all have a system.

[ February 09, 2006, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: DHK ]

 

So what is that Free-Grace website other than words written by men??? I guess that makes it a man-made system, too.

Debate the differences in systems (i.e., beliefs) all day long,

[ February 09, 2006, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: DHK ]

 

The Calvinist believes A, B and C - that is his system.

The Arminian believes D, E, and F - that is his system.

Webdog believes X, Y and Z - that is his system.

It's not that complicated.

 

The ABC's were meant as an illustration, and since you gave further example, we'll clarify this:

Webdog believes A, B, D and F - that is his system.

You see, a system is just another word for person's total beliefs. I assume you have beliefs, so the totality of your beliefs are your system. Everyone has one - it is inescapable. I'm not trying to attack your beliefs; I'm just trying to show you that you have beliefs.

 

This ignores the need for repentence which Jesus proclaimed during his earthly ministry.

I think where we get confused is an inadequate understanding of what saving faith is. It is required that we have faith in someone. That someone is God. God is an absolutely righteous being and cannot abide sin.

If we understand that, and acknowledge our place before him, then and only then do we see our need for a saviour. Once you understand this, you have a choice to make - repent of your sin and cry out to God for mercy, or believe the FACT of the sacrifice of God's son as payment for our sins, assume it applies to you because you decided it must, and continue on in an unchanged life. The first choice leads to new life in Christ, the second leads to deceiving ourselves.