Intangible Calvinism versus Practical Arminianism

 

Have you ever considered that Calvinism is totally intangible? I have been thinking deeply about the Sovereign Will of God versus the Freedom of Choice in salvation issue. It occurred to me that Calvinism exists completely hypothetically. Here is the link to an Open Bible Info search on Predestination Scriptures - https://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination

 

Now what I mean by Calvinism being Totally Intangible is that Calvinists believe that God is sovereignly responsible for choosing the elect. They believe that through Grace God draws people to the Saviour. That he makes those people able to accept salvation and changes their nature so that they love God and repent. Through Christ Jesus they are justified. Through the Holy Spirit they are sanctified and stay with Jesus Christ. God makes them so they cannot be lost and enables them to coexist with God for eternity. The elect are all fallen humanity and totally depraved so could not even choose to ask God for salvation of their own volition. God does it all. This is generally speaking how Calvinists see the issue.

Now my question here is, other than the predestination scriptures in the bible can we see any evidence of these Calvinist presumptions taking place. Can we see God's grace enabling elected persons to choose Christ? As far as I can see no we can't. Can we see them being justified or sanctified? Again no we can't. Can we see God changing them according to His sovereign will? May be, but not really. So Calvinism is dependent entirely on the faith of the Calvinist to exist. None of its claims can be verified in the real because God is Spirit and He does it all. It has been argued that by Calvinists that men are like puppets and all that we do comes from God. I know this may seem to be a simplistic way of viewing Calvinism but bear with as we consider the Wesleyan Arminian view point.

In a complete reversal of the intangibility of Calvinism. Arminianism is almost completely observable. Arminians believe that Grace enables a person to accept or reject the gospel. This is the gospel plainly stated by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 3-4 " For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."  From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/1_corinthians/15.htm>

Now, Arminians follow the Great Commission laid down by Christ Jesus in Matthew chapter 28 verses 19-20 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/matthew/28.htm>

 

Arminians believe that the lost are given the choice to accept or reject the gospel as it described by Paul in First Corinthians and that God given Grace enables them to do this. In this vain we share the gospel and push hard for the lost person to accept the gospel. You can see people convicted of their sins by the Holy Spirit standing before you. You can see them make the decision to accept or reject the gospel. You can see the change made in the lives of those who accept the redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross. You can see those who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and His work as He quickens them in the service of the Saviour. All of these are visible and tangible in the reality of daily life.

 

So what can we conclude? Well you can see that Calvinism is a hypothetical anomaly that generates considerable disruption to the Church. It also generates considerable friction among believers thus creating division in the Church. It may be said the Calvinism largely on focuses on believers and how they became saved rather than unbelievers who need salvation. It can disincentivise believers to evangelise as there seems little point to share the gospel to someone who may be predestined already to salvation by God. Arminianism on the other hand is simply a practical bible based methodology centred on sharing the gospel among the nations in obedience to Christ Jesus by enacting His Great Commission of Matthew twenty eight. At its core it is the single act of each believer picking up their cross and following Jesus Christ. To me Arminianism is the truth and way that believers have functioned since the first century Church. It is what we do in daily life as Christians.

 

Matthew Chapter 9 verse 37-38 "Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/matthew/9.htm>

Sin Separates Us from God

 

Isaiah 59:2 "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/sin_separates_us_from_god>

 

You may ask why did God send His only Son to die for us upon the Cross while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). The prophet Isaiah said in the verse above that our iniquities, sins, made a separation between us and our God. God is Righteous (Psalm 11:7), and he cannot tolerate sin and evil (Proverbs 6: 16-19).

 

God sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life John 3:16. Where sin separates us from God. The redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross was to pay our sin debt and to reconnect those who believe on Him the living God. To reverse the fall of man. To make those who believe on Jesus Christ forgiven of their sins in justification and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in repentance and baptism, lead those believers to sanctification and the righteousness of God.

 

So that where Romans 3:10 says "There is none righteous, not even one." Where Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned all fall short of the Glory of God." Where Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death but the freely given gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Then when realise the truth of Isaiah 53 verse 6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." And, with our eyes wide open to our sins we fall to our knees and cry out to our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of our souls. That we might washed clean with His blood in sacrifice for our sins with garments washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, Yeshua.

 

Listen my friends. Repent for Jesus is coming soon.

Virtuality or Reality

 

I've been labouring over trying to understand the Reformed position on Predestination. As you may know with this issue you have the Calvinists who hold to the idea of a Sovereign God who predestines those who are saved and by proxy, or design, those who are consigned to damnation. How you view the later depends on what you believe God to be capable of.

 

The other side of the Reformed ledger is held by the Arminians who hold that the lost have freedom of choice in relation to accepting the gospel and on seeing that they will have faith He predestines them to salvation. Those who reject the gospel are doomed already as described in John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…" From <https://biblehub.com/john/3-18.htm>

 

These are simplistic descriptions of the theology involved in this issue. However, these are not the thoughts I want to share with you today. I have been troubled by an idea that has been on the edge of my mind for some-time now that I believe is central to predestination and its impact on the way Christians lead their lives. It goes something like this: Calvinism and the Doctrine of Predestination are a virtuality. What I mean by this is that you can contemplate Calvinism with your intellect but you cannot verify predestination in your daily life or reality.

 

So what I'm saying is that Predestination can be read about in the bible and it can be thought about in your mind but it is a matter of faith. Much as believing on Christ Jesus or being an Atheist is a matter of faith. There is no sound or solid evidence in our life that we are predestined and that the actions that constitute our lives are predestined by God. We can believe the bible that we are predestined but as far as we can go with it is to decide what that means to us and what we will do about it. Calvinism and Predestination are in a virtuality. They do not constitute reality.

 

The reality is that God has given us a life with the intention that we should find Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, and believe on Him to eternal life. We can then live that life to the glory of God. Whether we are predestined or not is irrelevant because to us it appears we have the choice about how we live our life.

 

Every-day we have the very real responsibility to make scores of decisions that affect ourselves and those around us. If this is all predestined then it really doesn't appear that way. It seems more like we are grabbing the steering wheel of life, white knuckled, in the face of an onslaught of adverse and at times downright dangerous events than can and will affect us and those we love. It really seems like most of humanity are just doing the best they can.

 

I mean if this is all predestined why do I bother to get up in the morning. It doesn't matter if I get out of bed anymore because whatever I do it isn't going to change anything is it? It's all predestined. I sure don't need to be concerned anymore. I mean what can I do. Nothing right?

 

Actually, and thankfully. I don't subscribe to that particular nonsense. I believe as I mentioned earlier that God has given us a life for a purpose. Firstly, to choose or reject the gospel and secondly to use that life to the glory of God if we accept the gospel. Which brings me to another important indicator that God expects us to choose and to choose wisely. Christ Jesus told the disciples that he was going to the Father so that he could send the helper (the Holy Spirit).

 

John 14 25-28 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said ,‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. From <https://biblehub.com/nkjv/john/14.htm>

 

Now Jesus said he was sending the Holy Spirit to help believers. One assumes that since the Holy Spirit is being sent to help and that His work in our hearts is going to produce fruit. That the changes that the Helper makes in our hearts are real and genuine. The question that I'm asking here is if we are all predestined and everything in our lives is foreordained why would the Father bother to send the Holy Spirit? If everything is predestined then there can be no changes made. Essentially any further intervention is pointless.

 

This brings me back to my main point. Predestination is all very well and it may be true but it exists in a virtuality whereas life as we experience it is reality. All of the struggle that accompanies life that includes love, hate, kindness, anger, friendship and competition is real. So we have a life to live and if we are Christian and saved then we have to use it glorify the Almighty God. So my advice is that virtuality's are all very well but reality is what you are faced with in Christian living. You have decisions to make and a righteous life to live.

Choice or Predestination

 

Ezekiel 18:23 "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/i_take_no_pleasure_in_the_death_of_the_wicked_i>

 

Just looking at some scriptures that appear to indicate that God wants the wicked to repent and that it appears it is the choice of the wicked to do the repenting. Rather than the wicked being predestined at the whim of God. Of course I have no doubt that those of a mind to double predestination have all the facts sorted for the argument that counters this proposal.

 

Ezekiel 33:11 "Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/i_take_no_pleasure_in_the_death_of_the_wicked_i>

 

So, once again Yahweh is instructing Ezekiel to tell the wicked that they have the option to repent and to turn back from their evil ways. Reminds me of 2Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14 where Yahweh says that if the people repent and turn from their wicked ways he will heal the land.

 

 

Isaiah 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. " From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/i_take_no_pleasure_in_the_death_of_the_wicked_i>

 

It certainly  seems as if Yahweh is offering the wicked the opportunity to make a decision here. Can there be any doubt that this is not about predestination but about choice. Could it be that predestination relates to corporate Israel and the Bride of Christ and that salvation is purely about making a decision which Grace in the gospel gives us the ability to make that choice?

 

1 Timothy 2:4 "Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." From <https://www.openbible.info/topics/i_take_no_pleasure_in_the_death_of_the_wicked_i>

 

 Do all of these scriptures that speak of Christ dying for all and desiring all to be saved really only mean the remnant? Does Yahweh lock out people from salvation on a whim just to ensure His sovereignty?  There would certainly seem to be more than a little doubt about this theology.

Christ Died For You. That You May Live...