Is Paul Washer a Calvinist?

[Iconoclast]

No I did not nor do I blame God for mans sin but that is what the WCF & LBCF do. Man sins because man sins.
Did you not read the text?

God has given man a freed will or God controls all things, as in nothing happens that He has not decreed. {"freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass" LBCF, chp 3 sec 1}
You have to pick one or the other.

Calvinists like to say:
If people have free will then God could not be sovereign. God is all sovereign therefore free will is impossible.

But that only works if we use their definition which means meticulous control. I agree that God is sovereign and because He is He can do whatever He wants with His creation. That includes giving man a free will, in other words the ability to choose. The ultimate choice being either to turn to Jesus the Christ in faith or to reject Him. God is love and He loves the whole world and wants all to come to a saving faith in His son Jesus the Christ.
So my question is why would He not give all men the ability to make that choice?

Men choose things everyday. That does not indicate anything about the condition of the will.
That God ordains whatsoever comes to pass does not suggest He is the author of sin.

Do you believe anything comes to pass that God did not ordain?
Does anything happen outside of His knowledge or control?

 

[Silverhair]

From Jesus, who stated all are slaves to sin, unless he sets them free!

Salves to sin doe not equate to no free will. Even the slave to sin can and will do good deeds. Jesus also said "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He also said "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." both indicate that man have a choice to make. Free will.

 

[Silverhair]

Men choose things everyday. That does not indicate anything about the condition of the will.

Joh 5:40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

 

[Yeshua1]

The bible does not teach that anywhere.

We still have full free will?

 

[Yeshua1]

Salves to sin doe not equate to no free will. Even the slave to sin can and will do good deeds. Jesus also said "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He also said "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." both indicate that man have a choice to make. Free will.

We are still free to do what we desire, but we have fallen sin natures that will not desire to serve nor please God!

 

[Martin Marprelate]

LBCF — Chapter III: Of God's Decree

You left a few things out of your quotations from the Confession - most importantly, the Bible proof texts - so I have taken the liberty of inserting them.

1. God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; [Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18] yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin [James 1:15, 17; 1 John 1:5] nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty, or contingency of second causes taken away but rather [Acts 4:27-28; John 19:11] established, in which appears His wisdom in disposing of all things, and power and faithfulness [Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3-5] in accomplishing His decree.
Yes indeed; isn't this wonderful? The world is not running out of control with God standing by, wringing His hands and saying. "Oh how I wish I could do something about it all! But I'm just not powerful enough!" No! God is in control of His creation and is bringing it to the denouement He decreed before the world was.

2. Although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all [Acts 15:18] supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything [Romans 9:11-18], because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.

3. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory [1 Timothy 5:21; Matthew 25:34, 41], some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the [Ephesians 1:5-6] praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their [Romans 9:22-23; Jude 4] just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice.

We know that 'there is none righteous, no, not one' (Romans 3:9-18), so that God would be perfectly just in committing all mankind to hell. But in His mercy, God has decreed salvation for a vast crowd of undeserving sinners (Revelation 7:9-10), including you and me, and He has accomplished this without prejudice to His justice (Romans 3:26; 1 John 1:9) through the propitiation accomplished at measureless cost by our Lord Jesus Christ. If that is not wonderful, I don't know what is!

I do not know if you have any unconverted friends or family, but if you do I hope you are consistent enough not to pray for them. In your view, God has resigned all responsibility for the salvation of the lost. It's up to them whether they sink or swim. But to the Calvinist, it is God's absolute sovereignty that gives hope. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, God will open blind eyes, unstop deaf ears and revive dead hearts! In the meantime, we besiege heaven with our prayers, knowing that 'the prayer of a righteous man (that is, one whom God has justified) is powerful and effective.' Exactly how it is, we do not know, but we know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all that we ask or imagine.

 

[Iconoclast]

Joh 5:40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Exactly SH.They are not willing. They never will be willing unless given the new heart.
Now you are getting it.

 

[Iconoclast]

We still have full free will?

Who says free will exists at all?
The bible does not.
You.have to import it from carnal natural philosophy.
Do you think Jesus had free will to sin?
Do you think your will ,will be free to sin in heaven?

 

[Salty]

Do you think Jesus had free will to sin?

That question deserves a thread of its own:

Jesus was the God-Man

 

[Silverhair]

Exactly SH.They are not willing. They never will be willing unless given the new heart.
Now you are getting it.

So your saying that if Christ was being honest He should have said "you are not willing to come to me because haven't given you a new heart yet"
The context proves you wrong.

Your theology makes you jump to some strange ideas about God.

 

[Silverhair]

Who says free will exists at all?
The bible does not.
You.have to import it from carnal natural philosophy.
Do you think Jesus had free will to sin?
Do you think your will ,will be free to sin in heaven?

Oh so now you are admitting that the Calvinist God is in fact a puppet master and is also the author of all sin. Nice of you to finally admit that your theology is flawed. As I said before now you can start to reorient your Calvinist view toward a biblical view.

 

[Silverhair]

Who says free will exists at all?
The bible does not.
You.have to import it from carnal natural philosophy.
Do you think Jesus had free will to sin?
Do you think your will ,will be free to sin in heaven?

Let me see if I can find any thing that shows free will.

Lucifer, son of the morning Isa 14:12
'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation Isa 14:13
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High Isa 14:14

That seems like free will to me that is unless God made Him think that way which begs the question. If God made Lucifer think that way then why did He cast him out of heaven?

So to answer your question Yes we will have a free will in heaven.

 

[Iconoclast]

So your saying that if Christ was being honest He should have said "you are not willing to come to me because haven't given you a new heart yet"
The context proves you wrong.

Your theology makes you jump to some strange ideas about God.

Not at all....They are fully responsible to comeActs17:30

 

[Iconoclast]

Oh so now you are admitting that the Calvinist God is in fact a puppet master and is also the author of all sin. Nice of you to finally admit that your theology is flawed. As I said before now you can start to reorient your Calvinist view toward a biblical view.

Because you are ignorant on this topic, do not let your lack of biblical base try and put words in my mouth.
Until you read the confession of faith with comprehension, you will never come to truth

Your ideas are defective.

 

[Iconoclast]

Let me see if I can find any thing that shows free will.

Lucifer, son of the morning Isa 14:12
'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation Isa 14:13
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High Isa 14:14

That seems like free will to me that is unless God made Him think that way which begs the question. If God made Lucifer think that way then why did He cast him out of heaven?

So to answer your question Yes we will have a free will in heaven.

Sorry you error once again.
Rebellion doesn't equal free will.
It is self will in rebellion to God.

 

[Silverhair]

Sorry you error once again.
Rebellion doesn't equal free will.
It is self will in rebellion to God.

So by your words rebellion is not free will so the only other option is a controlled will which makes your version of God the author of the rebellion.

lucifer no free will
God decrees all things
God decrees all that lucifer does
God the proximate cause of rebellion

As I said your view of the bible is leading you down a bad path. IMHO You are more concerned about protecting your Calvinist view than you of protecting the character of God.

And I have taken the time to read over the WCF & LBCF and I even have Calvin's commentary and his institutes. The one thing that I find in common for all of these is the over all obfuscation.

For a clear example of that see your own words:
Rebellion doesn't equal free will
It is self will in rebellion

I do not think calling someone "ignorant of a topic" is a Christian attitude.
We are just going to continue to disagree so this is a fruitless exercise.

I will bid you adieu

 

[Iconoclast]

So by your words rebellion is not free will so the only other option is a controlled will which makes your version of God the author of the rebellion.

lucifer no free will
God decrees all things
God decrees all that lucifer does
God the proximate cause of rebellion

As I said your view of the bible is leading you down a bad path. IMHO You are more concerned about protecting your Calvinist view than you of protecting the character of God.

And I have taken the time to read over the WCF & LBCF and I even have Calvin's commentary and his institutes. The one thing that I find in common for all of these is the over all obfuscation.

For a clear example of that see your own words:
Rebellion doesn't equal free will
It is self will in rebellion

I do not think calling someone "ignorant of a topic" is a Christian attitude.
We are just going to continue to disagree so this is a fruitless exercise.

I will bid you adieu

Nice try but it is not going to work here today.
You have failed to answer what you were asked... does anything take place that God did not ordain. Instead you change the wording to make it as if God ordained sin as if God is the cause of sin you're the one doing that not the reform people. You said you read the 1689 confession of Faith the wording of the decree and you see very clearly they say that God is not the author of sin but he establishes second causes he doesn't do away with second causes if you would understand what that means you wouldn't post what your posting. You wouldn't feel the need to change the wording of the Confessor or my wording so you can do what you want and try to sneak away but the fact is you're not dealing with the issue so maybe you shouldn't have posted on it unless you were prepared to be answered and give a proper response to what you were asked. The only thing non-Christian here is the disingenuous attitude and looking to change the wording and then sneak out on whole thing so that's I think what you need to look at a little more

 

[Silverhair]

Nice try but it is not going to work here today.
You have failed to answer what you were asked... does anything take place that God did not ordain. Instead you change the wording to make it as if God ordained sin as if God is the cause of sin you're the one doing that not the reform people. You said you read the 1689 confession of Faith the wording of the decree and you see very clearly they say that God is not the author of sin but he establishes second causes he doesn't do away with second causes if you would understand what that means you wouldn't post what your posting. You wouldn't feel the need to change the wording of the Confessor or my wording so you can do what you want and try to sneak away but the fact is you're not dealing with the issue so maybe you shouldn't have posted on it unless you were prepared to be answered and give a proper response to what you were asked. The only thing non-Christian here is the disingenuous attitude and looking to change the wording and then sneak out on whole thing so that's I think what you need to look at a little more

It is so sad when your only argument is that I disagree with what they wrote
"you see very clearly they say that God is not the author of sin but he establishes second causes he doesn't do away with second causes"
but you clearly miss what they said just before
"God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass."
You say He {God} doesn't do away with second causes but if God decreed all things then He decreed the second causes and so it all goes back to God again. Your and their own words show the flaws in Calvinist theology.

Just because they added those words as an after thought to get themselves off the hook for making God the author of sin does not change the fact they put Him there.
As I said you are more concerned about the LBCF than you are about the character of God.

What it all comes down to is I will believe the bible and defend the character of God while you can believe the LBCF and defend Calvinism.

Once again I bit you Adieu.

 

[Silverhair]

You left a few things out of your quotations from the Confession - most importantly, the Bible proof texts - so I have taken the liberty of inserting them.

1. God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; [Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18] yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin [James 1:15, 17; 1 John 1:5] nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty, or contingency of second causes taken away but rather [Acts 4:27-28; John 19:11] established, in which appears His wisdom in disposing of all things, and power and faithfulness [Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3-5] in accomplishing His decree.
Yes indeed; isn't this wonderful? The world is not running out of control with God standing by, wringing His hands and saying. "Oh how I wish I could do something about it all! But I'm just not powerful enough!" No! God is in control of His creation and is bringing it to the denouement He decreed before the world was.

2. Although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all [Acts 15:18] supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything [Romans 9:11-18], because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.

3. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory [1 Timothy 5:21; Matthew 25:34, 41], some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the [Ephesians 1:5-6] praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their [Romans 9:22-23; Jude 4] just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice.

We know that 'there is none righteous, no, not one' (Romans 3:9-18), so that God would be perfectly just in committing all mankind to hell. But in His mercy, God has decreed salvation for a vast crowd of undeserving sinners (Revelation 7:9-10), including you and me, and He has accomplished this without prejudice to His justice (Romans 3:26; 1 John 1:9) through the propitiation accomplished at measureless cost by our Lord Jesus Christ. If that is not wonderful, I don't know what is!

I do not know if you have any unconverted friends or family, but if you do I hope you are consistent enough not to pray for them. In your view, God has resigned all responsibility for the salvation of the lost. It's up to them whether they sink or swim. But to the Calvinist, it is God's absolute sovereignty that gives hope. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, God will open blind eyes, unstop deaf ears and revive dead hearts! In the meantime, we besiege heaven with our prayers, knowing that 'the prayer of a righteous man (that is, one whom God has justified) is powerful and effective.' Exactly how it is, we do not know, but we know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all that we ask or imagine.

You seem to have missed the point or you just do not want to admit that both the LBCF & WCF, both man written documents, by there own words make God the author of sin. Note “God has decreed… freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass;”

If as those documents state God controls all things then how does that not mean all sin included. I am just pointing out the logical outcome of the Calvinist view of the sovereignty of God. Are you now saying that God is not sovereign?

As a Baptist I see God as Sovereign but I do not see Him as the puppet master that Calvinist theology requires.


Now point 2

Excuse me but did you not quote “God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass;” and now you say “Although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass,” then you add “yet hath he not decreed anything, because he foresaw it as future,”. If God did not decree any thing because He foresaw it as future then He must have decreed all things that were going to happen, with no exception, so we still have God by Calvinist logic decreeing all sin and thus is the author of all sin. That is not something that I would want to charge God with but then I am not a Calvinist.


Point 3

This, to my mind, has to be the must illogical statement I have seen come out of Calvinism. On one hand you say that God is Sovereign and controls/decrees all things and that no one is powerful enough to overrule God. Then you say that some of these God hating humans are powerful enough to do just that. How is that possible? God must have decreed that some of those God hating humans were lost from eternity. So how those people, that He decreed were doomed, would bring Him glory I am not sure.

Martin I agree God would perfectly just in committing all mankind to hell. But where is the mercy in sending a vastly larger number of people to hell when they did not have the option to trust in God and be saved. That is not justice that is just an arbitrary, unjust and unloving decision made in eternity past. No matter how you try to twist it it still comes out the same the LBCF & WCF, which are Calvinist documents, do not line up with or do justice to the God of the bible.


Why would you think that my biblical view means that God has resigned all responsibility for the salvation of the lost. Who do you think saves?

The bible is clear about that

Jn 3:14-18 For God so loved the world...that whoever believes in Him should not perish

Jn 12:32 if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself

1Ti 4:10 God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Jn 16:8 He will convict the world of sin

1Ti 2:3-4 God our Savior who desires all men to be saved

Jn 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life

Rom 10:9-10 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe...you will be saved

Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,


But He saves on the condition of faith. Jesus said in Mar 1:15 Repent, and believe in the gospel. For the Jews of His time that would be believe the prophecies written of Him. For all mankind since His resurrection it would be those and the information we have about Him.


God saves those that trust in Him “saved through/by faith” that is what the bible tells us. Calvinism says we have to be saved before we can have faith, “saved unto faith”. Calvinism would have us saved before we believe which is an unbiblical view.


I must admit I am curious as to why you would feel you have to “besiege heaven with our prayers” since you say that God has decreed “all things” and has elected everyone in eternity past. Do you think your prays will make any difference in the number that are chosen. Another thing to consider, you may be praying for someone that God has already consigned to hell for His glory. Who knows it could even be one of your loved ones.


Martin I only say this to point out the flaws that are in the Calvinist view. When you take those views to the logical end they are not good.

 

[Iconoclast]

It is so sad when your only argument is that I disagree with what they wrote
"you see very clearly they say that God is not the author of sin but he establishes second causes he doesn't do away with second causes"
but you clearly miss what they said just before
"God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass."
You say He {God} doesn't do away with second causes but if God decreed all things then He decreed the second causes and so it all goes back to God again. Your and their own words show the flaws in Calvinist theology.

Just because they added those words as an after thought to get themselves off the hook for making God the author of sin does not change the fact they put Him there.
As I said you are more concerned about the LBCF than you are about the character of God.

What it all comes down to is I will believe the bible and defend the character of God while you can believe the LBCF and defend Calvinism.

Once again I bit you Adieu.

Not really. The confessional truths are based on scripture and the character of God.
Evidently you have something of a hatred for truth to ascribe sin to God.
No Reformed person would think of such a thing.
You do not understand what the word ordained means so you cannot grasp the Confessional statement.
How you are twisting the words shows this.
I asked you can you name anything that comes to pass that was not ordained to happen.