"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"John 11:25, 26
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:9-13
"What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Romans 9:30-33
Whosoever means whosoever. It is really that simple. Let the Bible determine what you believe and don’t let what you believe determine what you think the Bible says.
Second, the little piece of advice "Let the Bible determine what you believe and don’t let what you believe determine what you think the Bible says." Can be equally pressed on the person behind the article. Are you actually being consistent when presenting such baseless claims.
Now lets consider the two Romans passages when one puts it all back in the over all context of chapters 8-11. We can learn the following things: First, in these chapters one is drawn to the fact that Paul is unpacking what Jesus explain 2 short verse in the Gospel of John Chapter 6:44-45; in that Chapters 8-9 Paul is unpacking the truth that John 6:44 is communicating. then in chapters 10-11 Paul is unpacking John 6 :45. Second, we need to see that the whole passages speak of Gods word in and through the combined work of the Spirit of God and the word in regeneration; only in this man can the man be given the ability to cling to Christ for all his worth.
Now lets deal the next objection,
Galatians 3:1 "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?"
Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
Who has bewitched you to follow this false doctrine? One of the amazing things I have found when I talk to both Calvinists and people who have left Calvinism is that they never tell me they found Calvinistic teachings reading their Bibles. They always tell me they found them reading someone’s book or listening to someone’s teaching tapes! Who has bewitched you?
The man-made philosophy of Calvinism is just that: man-made. You do not find it by studying the Scriptures.This is one of the saddest statements I have ever heard. Calvinism is not the gospel or the good news.1 Corinthians 15:3-6 tells us what that good news is!!
I do not know if this person how ever spoken to Calvinist at all as he claims, but no Calvinist would ever state " they never tell me they found Calvinistic teachings reading their Bibles. They always tell me they found them reading someone’s book or listening to someone’s teaching tapes! This is not what we do, we come to these truth by studying scriptures : such as John 6, Romans 8-11, Ephesians 1 and 2, along with a whole host of other passages.
We only consult other works for a better understanding, there is nothing wrong with this as it is essential to the faith.
While it is true that 1 Corinthians 15: 3-8 does give us the belief that encapsulate the faith; we need to see that Calvinism does not deny them but only brings forth the theological standpoint on these truths with in depth clarity. Something that is missing in the arminian camp and evidently from this persons understanding.
Next, we have this objection:
Romans 1:18-20 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
If men had no chance at all to repent and believe, because God in eternity past unconditionally rejected them to go to hell, then they would have an excuse before God. But as you can see in Romans 1, because of God’s marvelous creation, men will have no excuse on Judgment Day as to why they did not find out whom the God was that made this grand universe. And also why would this all-loving God (1 John 4:7; John 3:16) hold back that grace from so many people? What kind of love is that?
I find such a statement as these to be lacking in the understand scripture provides us for what we actually believe in regards to salvation. Notice this mans words, "If men had no chance at all to repent and believe, because God in eternity past unconditionally rejected them to go to hell," The first problem in this is that he seem to think that the doctrine of equal ultimacy is what we hold too. When in fact, this is not the case at all, the teach of equal ultimacy is a sub-biblical and anti-Calvinistic in nature. What we believe is unequal ultimacy, where God intervene some peoples live and bring them to faith but passes over other and leave them to be judged for their sins. And God is just in this.
Let's consider what Romans 1 actually teaches: First, this is not dealing with salvation; it is in fact, speaking to the most fundamental issue that effects all mankind: The universal depravity of man. Hence, this is why it states "all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men," there is no way around this. Second, not one in this passage nor in the following 2 chapters, ending at Romans 3:20 do we find one thing about salvation
Next, we have this objection:
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
Matthew 7:14,15 "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
There are fables being taught and false prophets everywhere in our world. Are you sure you haven’t been captured by one of them?
Then this person goes to these two scriptures from 2 timothy 4 and Matthew 7, and from these passages he concludes that Calvinism "is a bunch of fables." And as with all else that has been offered as apart of this objection yet he has failed to even support such a claim. And all I need to state is this is nothing more than a opinion which counts for nothing.
On top of this, it is the reformed (Calvinists, Lutherans and Presbyterians) are the only ones who faithfully preach the bible as it should be and in the manner it demands of itself. From an ex-positional and exegetical platform;where every scripture is allocated and it is taught based on its own truth.
Joshua 24:15 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:"
In relation to this above set of texts we need to understand that what the person is asserting is that the idea of a "choice" means that man has the ability to come to Christ, but this fails to take on board the very passage which discount this idea: such as John 6:44,65. Romans 8:7-8. and also 1 Corinthians 2:12-15.One of the challenges that I give to people all the time is to read their Bibles front to back. Actually, it is a good thing to do every year. It is impossible to read your Bible front to back and not realize that everyone of us has to make decisions. We have to make choices, and we are responsible for those choices.We have the ability and responsibility to choose God or not to choose God.
What these passage teach is that man unto himself cannot a) please God the Father, understand the things of the Spirit nor can he even come to the Son. This all means, unless the triune God regenerates a man, he cannot claim to have true freedom and ability to do anything Godly.
Now let me repose the comment to the person: read their Bibles front to back, this time however, you should also read passage by passage until you understand it all in full context.As you do not know it at all.
Next we have the following objection,
Galatians 1:6-9 "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."The objector asks a very important question: "why can we not lump Calvinism into the same camp as the Mormonism and Jehovah Witness" meaning that all three should be seen as cults. Let me be the first to take such an objection apart. First, the reason we do not lump Calvinism in the same camp is because there is no logical connection. Calvin was a Christian theologian and pastor who adhered to the bible in all matters. Second, Calvinism teaches all the cardinal doctrines: the divinity, death and resurrection of Christ. But Calvin also brought out the theological distinctives that flow from the one true God. Predestination, Definite atonement, Unconditional election, Sanctification, and Regeneration.
Why is it that we have no problem saying a Mormon fits in this category, because they believe in a different God and a different Jesus? We have no problem putting a Jehovah’s Witness in this category, because they believe in a different God and a different Jesus. So why is it so difficult to put the teachings of John Calvin in this category when he talks about a God who unconditionally rejects people to hell and of a Jesus that did not die for the sins of the whole world?
Whereas the above mentioned cults deviate from all matter concerning God, redemption and much more.
And based on the last statement, we can see the most amazing assertion being made "So why is it so difficult to put the teachings of John Calvin in this category when he talks about a God who unconditionally rejects people to hell and of a Jesus that did not die for the sins of the whole world?" When he says a) unconditionally rejects, such language is not even found in Calvin's writings the unconditional part is on those who has chosen unto salvation (it is not based on anything they did) and not those who he passes by and leaves in their sin to be judged. b) die for the whole world, it has to demonstrated that the term world mean every single person and not the world of believers (the elect). And how does such a understand fit the other uses of world such as John 15 where the world persecutes the believers.
What about the true application of Galatians 1 which has been ignored in this appeal: the very fact that it speak to the addition of something to that which is also accepted as being true; such a thing as circumcision. It is convenient that a passage can be used to dismiss the reformed faith when there is no objective basis to do so. Calvin never added or subtracted anything from the gospel neither did redefine any doctrine.
Next, we have the last objection to consider:
Yes it is a very serious issue concerning the one true God who he is or isn't, the gospel of Christ. And as we have demonstrated this person is indeed one who needs to take his own advice' for he has made some serious charges which as we can see are based on false information. So I would ask him to "Examine yourself" as you are in grave error.2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
Make sure you test yourself to prove that you are of the faith. This is a very serious issue about the character of God, the gospel, and who God is or isn't. It is not a secondary issue, but a primary one.Some people keep telling me that this is a side issue and not a main issue. Anytime you are talking about the character of God, it is a main issue. Period.
