Eightball
Senior Member
- Oct 13, 2004
- 1,359
- 253
- 48
Calvinism:
Basically their bone to pick with the Arminian view is this.
The "elect" are those who are "saved" or going to heaven. They were "picked" or "chosen" by God before even time began or the earth or human race existed. I.E. God has by His divine wisdom chosen whom of the human race from it's beginning to it's end will be in heaven with Him. The rest are reprobate and "will not" be saved. God determined this before-hand.
Human will to choose God or Christ by faith is totally in God's hands and man can't conjure-up the will to "choose to believe" in Christ for salvation on his/her own.
Calvinists say/believe that if man can "choose" volitionally by his/her choice to believe that they have interfered or included themselves in the "work of salvation" that they/Calvinists believe is totally of God's domain.
Arminian View: They believe that the "elect" are those that God has fore-known from eternity past as He/God does is not limited by time.
Fore-known as in they/elect were any and all human beings that would by their volitional choice place their faith in Christ for salvation.
A severe or strong view of the Arminians is that salvation can be "lost" if the elect/believer turns away from their Savior/God.
Calvinists believe "once saved, always saved" no matter what the elect does.......They can go on a course of rebellion toward their Maker, but they are securely in His hands regardless. However, through their actions of unbelief or rebellion they will be lovingly disciplined by God in order to bring them back into the "fold".
*******
My views: I'm somewhere in-between on this one.
1. I think that God has created mankind with a "will" or "chooser" that is his/her to exercise in a "yea or nah" way towards his/her Maker.
2. The Calvinist model of the elect being who they are despite their volitional/human choice towards their Maker, IMO seems to lean towards a sort of "Automaton" state-of-being of those called the "elect".
3. If the very nature of God is revealed through Jesus Christ, is their any evidence in the bible about Jesus' teachings/life that indicate that some people are hopelessly "lost" or going to hell no matter what they do or say?
4. The Arminian view that a person can walk away from their salvation or saved-state of being goes cross-hairs with N.T. teaching. In Apostle Paul's letters he clearly states that when a person become a Christian that they become a new creation/creature in Christ....."Old things pass away, new things come their place.." I.E. If the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in the saved person, and the old Adamic nature is replaced with the new nature of Christ, how does one become "unsaved"? Can a caterpillar that became a butterfly become a caterpillar again.......By very nature the butterfly is a new creature, unlike the old one(caterpillar).
5. Many teach that the war that goes on in the true Christian(born again) is a war between the Old nature and New nature. How can this be? If Paul says in the Epistles that we are a new creature/creation in Christ, and that we received the crucified, buried, ressurrected, and ascended life of Christ, how can the old "lost", "Adamic" nature still exist that was at odds with all things of God?
6. However, Christians do sin. Why? Because they are having a Schizoid war in their souls between the Old Adamic nature and the New Christ-nature? Hardly! The power of sin still has access to the Christian as they in their souls are seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, but their "fleshly" bodies that will one day be given-up are still part of the old fallen world; bodies that still get sick, still wither away in so many years................Yet, the soul is no perishable and will post-exist this body that will become dust one day. An unperishable body will be given to all who are God's.
*****
Summation: Calvinists think that if a person chooses Christ through repentance and faith and it isn't something totally fore-ordained then it can't lead to salvation. I can't accept this.
How is it that the Calvinist cannot understand in God's sovereignty that He knows the beginning and the end..............He is the Alpha and Omega! He know's of whom of His creation will "choose" Him and whom will reject Him before they were even an embryo, or even before this terrestrial ball called earth was in existence.
Does God want His saved to be people that didn't by their own volition choose Him? Does God want a bunch of Yes-men/women to enjoy the heavenlies.
Grace of God: Grace=Unmerited favor of God. I.E... None of us deserved His grace, but the very nature of God as revealed both in the O.T. and N.T. through Christ show a God that desires us to "choose". Example: Do we want our children to love us as parents because they were pre-ordained to love us, or do we want our off-spring to love us because of their free-God given volitional choice?
*******
Calvinists and Arminians both have valid biblical points, but both camps take too far and what I believe is out of the realm of biblical accuracy.
Calvinists fear that we are "playing" God's role when we free-will choose Christ. Arminians question the security of salvation of the believer to the extent that the actual security of being one of God's children is never a point of rest, but leaves doubt and causes one to legalistically live the Christian life.
Works don't save.. Fearing that one will lose their salvation will only cause the Christian to worry over every time they commit a folly or perceived sin. Fear of God is not suppose to stem from fear of losing one's beloved relationship with Him. Yes, those that are not saved should and must fear what is in store between them and their Maker, but a healthy understanding of fearing God is the same kind of fear that a child may have in respect to hurting but never severing that relationship. Yes, we can bring a distance between us and our Maker as Christians via sin and turning away from Him and going into a "me, myself" mode of living, but God doesn't unadopt us because of that.
Basically their bone to pick with the Arminian view is this.
The "elect" are those who are "saved" or going to heaven. They were "picked" or "chosen" by God before even time began or the earth or human race existed. I.E. God has by His divine wisdom chosen whom of the human race from it's beginning to it's end will be in heaven with Him. The rest are reprobate and "will not" be saved. God determined this before-hand.
Human will to choose God or Christ by faith is totally in God's hands and man can't conjure-up the will to "choose to believe" in Christ for salvation on his/her own.
Calvinists say/believe that if man can "choose" volitionally by his/her choice to believe that they have interfered or included themselves in the "work of salvation" that they/Calvinists believe is totally of God's domain.
Arminian View: They believe that the "elect" are those that God has fore-known from eternity past as He/God does is not limited by time.
Fore-known as in they/elect were any and all human beings that would by their volitional choice place their faith in Christ for salvation.
A severe or strong view of the Arminians is that salvation can be "lost" if the elect/believer turns away from their Savior/God.
Calvinists believe "once saved, always saved" no matter what the elect does.......They can go on a course of rebellion toward their Maker, but they are securely in His hands regardless. However, through their actions of unbelief or rebellion they will be lovingly disciplined by God in order to bring them back into the "fold".
*******
My views: I'm somewhere in-between on this one.
1. I think that God has created mankind with a "will" or "chooser" that is his/her to exercise in a "yea or nah" way towards his/her Maker.
2. The Calvinist model of the elect being who they are despite their volitional/human choice towards their Maker, IMO seems to lean towards a sort of "Automaton" state-of-being of those called the "elect".
3. If the very nature of God is revealed through Jesus Christ, is their any evidence in the bible about Jesus' teachings/life that indicate that some people are hopelessly "lost" or going to hell no matter what they do or say?
4. The Arminian view that a person can walk away from their salvation or saved-state of being goes cross-hairs with N.T. teaching. In Apostle Paul's letters he clearly states that when a person become a Christian that they become a new creation/creature in Christ....."Old things pass away, new things come their place.." I.E. If the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in the saved person, and the old Adamic nature is replaced with the new nature of Christ, how does one become "unsaved"? Can a caterpillar that became a butterfly become a caterpillar again.......By very nature the butterfly is a new creature, unlike the old one(caterpillar).
5. Many teach that the war that goes on in the true Christian(born again) is a war between the Old nature and New nature. How can this be? If Paul says in the Epistles that we are a new creature/creation in Christ, and that we received the crucified, buried, ressurrected, and ascended life of Christ, how can the old "lost", "Adamic" nature still exist that was at odds with all things of God?
6. However, Christians do sin. Why? Because they are having a Schizoid war in their souls between the Old Adamic nature and the New Christ-nature? Hardly! The power of sin still has access to the Christian as they in their souls are seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, but their "fleshly" bodies that will one day be given-up are still part of the old fallen world; bodies that still get sick, still wither away in so many years................Yet, the soul is no perishable and will post-exist this body that will become dust one day. An unperishable body will be given to all who are God's.
*****
Summation: Calvinists think that if a person chooses Christ through repentance and faith and it isn't something totally fore-ordained then it can't lead to salvation. I can't accept this.
How is it that the Calvinist cannot understand in God's sovereignty that He knows the beginning and the end..............He is the Alpha and Omega! He know's of whom of His creation will "choose" Him and whom will reject Him before they were even an embryo, or even before this terrestrial ball called earth was in existence.
Does God want His saved to be people that didn't by their own volition choose Him? Does God want a bunch of Yes-men/women to enjoy the heavenlies.
Grace of God: Grace=Unmerited favor of God. I.E... None of us deserved His grace, but the very nature of God as revealed both in the O.T. and N.T. through Christ show a God that desires us to "choose". Example: Do we want our children to love us as parents because they were pre-ordained to love us, or do we want our off-spring to love us because of their free-God given volitional choice?
*******
Calvinists and Arminians both have valid biblical points, but both camps take too far and what I believe is out of the realm of biblical accuracy.
Calvinists fear that we are "playing" God's role when we free-will choose Christ. Arminians question the security of salvation of the believer to the extent that the actual security of being one of God's children is never a point of rest, but leaves doubt and causes one to legalistically live the Christian life.
Works don't save.. Fearing that one will lose their salvation will only cause the Christian to worry over every time they commit a folly or perceived sin. Fear of God is not suppose to stem from fear of losing one's beloved relationship with Him. Yes, those that are not saved should and must fear what is in store between them and their Maker, but a healthy understanding of fearing God is the same kind of fear that a child may have in respect to hurting but never severing that relationship. Yes, we can bring a distance between us and our Maker as Christians via sin and turning away from Him and going into a "me, myself" mode of living, but God doesn't unadopt us because of that.