Featured Question about Calvinism

Yes He does say the words of John 3:18, but He also says:

“"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.” (Joh 10:26 NKJV)

Not, "You are not of my sheep because you do not believe." Sinners who are described as being dead in trespasses and sins are in no position to make a choice without God first taking action.

 

Just get on the Monergism.com website and plug in Freedom of the Will in the search. If you have never tried to read Edwards be prepared to give up and go back several times and to suffer from exploding head syndrome.

 

There's a huge difference between diagnosing why a person doesn't believe versus telling them why they cannot believe. It is obvious that you have read this text {John 10:26} as "But you CANNOT believe" so as to fit your sorteriological view.

Reading that verse in context will clear up your error. Joh 10:24-27
Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. They made the choice to not believe.

Jesus encouraged those whom He declared were not His sheep/followers to consider the evidence of His miracles in order to believe in Him and become His sheep/followers. John 10:37-38

God has taken action with which to draw man to Himself. He uses creation, conviction of sin, the gospel message, etc. We are all dead in sin prior to our trusting in God for our salvation.

 

Just wanted to add that if your time is limited I noticed that Robert Picirilli's book "FREE WILL REVISITED A Respectful Response to Luther, Calvin, and Edwards" is a good read. He's more on the free will side but I think he explains Edward's take very well and fairly. It's worth the 10 bucks to get it. And you may save your sanity.

 

If you say so.

 

We certainly disagree. I like to think I accept what the bible says, contextually considered, rather than Jesus is God but did not know everything because that is beyond my understanding, rather than my premise, God knows everything imaginable is unfounded. Similarly, when God says "now I know, to question that as Satan questioned God's statement to Eve, did God really mean that, seems unwise.

But in any event, I presented my view that we make a choice that has not been predestined. Certainly not the Calvinist view!.

 

If God chooses to know what will happen in the future, then that foreknown event will happen as God foreknew. Thus, by choosing not to know who will hear, heed and commit to the gospel fully, God provides us (everyone initially lost) with the choice of life or death, rather than predestining life for some and death for all the rest.

Crystal ball theology is false theology. This is the false premise that God can, being outside time, see any point in history and know what happens. Not biblical.

God declares the end from the beginning says whatever God says will happen in the future, will happen in the future. Thus all of His prophecies are predestined, because He will intervene and make happen what He said will happen. This is very different from "crystal ball" theology, it is biblical theology.

Yes, when God created our universe, He also created "time" as part of the "space-time" continuum, but that does not indicate "time" (lets call it eternal time rather than created time) does not exist in His supernatural realm. Note that the souls in heaven asked "how long" a time will it be until something predestines happens. Thus they were experiencing "eternal time."

Bottom line, check and see if what I say is well supported in scripture, or whether what you had been taught can be supported.

Isaiah 46:10

 

1. Recall the verses that say God will forgive our sins and remember them no more forever? (Hebrews 8:12) Thus Scripture teaches God can limit His knowledge to whatever He desires. To claim otherwise is to deny God is all-powerful

2. To claim God is not God because He does not have unbiblical attributes is nonsense.

3. Scripture says "now I know" not now I already knew.

4. Scripture indicates God is not outside of time. Only that He created physical time. The fact that His realm experiences time disproves your speculation.

5. Just because God can wait and allow humans to act, does not mean He cannot act, intervene, and bring about any event or circumstance He desires.

 

Either we believe the bible means what it says, or we treat the bible like a smorgasbord, taking what we like and leaving the rest.

I do not believe you are responding to what I post. A line like "there may not have been a crucifixion" after I said God intervenes and brings about what He said would happen, shows complete disregard.

 

It's simple-CALVINISM IS FALSE ! In Scripture, Jesus often said "whoever", but ont one "whoever if elect".

 

But Calvinists and Arminians agree that Jesus said "whoever", but He didn't say "everybody". Rather He said:

“15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Joh 3:15-16 NKJV)

Calvinists say that according to the bible, it is those sinners whom God has elected that believe. Paul writes of this in Ephesians:

“3 ¶ Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,” (Eph 1:3-9 NKJV)

God chose, predestined, made us accepted, gave redemption.

 

That's Vanology in a nutshell; Humanism.

 

Calvinism is in my opinion false doctrine. Advocates of Calvinism cannot refute the biblical basis that precludes Calvinism. So, rather than fall silent, some advocates resort to name calling and misrepresentation. For example:
1) Vanology agrees with 2 Peter 2:1 that teaches Christ "bought" people heading for destruction. My inference, Christ died for all humanity, not a preselected subset of humanity. Thus He became the means of reconciliation for the whole of humanity, 1 John 2:2

2) Vanology agrees with 2 Thessalonians 2:13 that teaches God choose Thessalonians through faith in the truth, thus a conditional election for salvation.

3) Vanology agrees with Matthew 13:18-23 that teaches the lost can some of the time seek God and understand the gospel.

 

Ec 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

God does not oversee his creation by the principle of sovereignty or determinism but by providence. Otherwise it would be silly to pray. You asked the Lord for a safe trip on your 20 mile journey and he knows about the drunk up ahead so he delays you with a flat tire along your route so what would have happened did not. This is why he instructs us by saying "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

 

Your problem is that, like the Sadducees, you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (Mark 12:24). The Scriptures plainly teach that God ordains all things (e.g. Matthew 10:29-31) and that He has endued Man with free will.(e.g. Deuteronomy 3:19; Matthew 17:12; James 1:14). Until you submit your puny, earthbound intelligence to the Bible, you will never understand it. Job asked, "Can anyone teach God knowledge?" (Job 21:21). The answer is, no. God's ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. We have to humble ourselves before God (1 Peter 5:6) and admit that He is able to ordain all things and give Man free will whether we can understand it or not (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Man's inability to please God is not something organic. There is nothing in his constitution that prevents him from obeying the command to repent and believe (Mark 1:15). But of themselves men prefer darkness to light (John 3:19) and they want to do their own thing (e.g. Jeremiah 44:16-17). If God left Mankind to his own devices, no one would be saved (Romans 3:9-18). But in His mercy, God has decreed salvation for a vast multitude of people (Revelation 7:9-10). These people God gave to Jesus Christ and He has saved every one of them by His atoning death. Not one of those will be lost (John 6:49).