The 3 Major Ways of Salvation - Only One Is Right!
The 3 Major Ways of Salvation Compared
There are three major ways people consider salvation to take place in the kingdom of heaven. No regard is given to open theism as a fourth way, since it rejects God's infinite foreknowledge. While the first two ways are not God's way, the third way is, since there can only be one way. It is quite easy to explain.
1) Calvinism. In this belief, its adherents claim that a person is totally deprave so they could never choose the cross unless God acted first to cause them to choose. But this belief is found to be wrong on at least two fronts.
Firstly, we are not totally deprave. Yes we are fallen, but not totally deprave. The difference is that someone who is totally deprave is not made in God's image to be able to choose the cross, whereas someone who is fallen can still choose the cross because they are still made in God's image and alway will be. A person who is fallen is going to hell unless God provides a way out, which He does by the cross of His redemptive design. The fallen person can not choose the cross by their flesh, because God would never accept it. Therefore, the only way to salvation is for the person to choose by the gift given in being made in His image so that he can be drawn by God, receive the gift of faith and redemption of the cross. If we really were totally deprave then it would make God unrighteous because He would arbitrarily save some without regard to their first having the choice, and He would not save others by arbitrarily refusing to save them first before considering their choice. It would make God evil if He made people for hell without first regard for their choice.
Secondly, God wants to walk with His creation, but for God to just make robots whom He causes to choose Him rather than saving those who would first receive Him, then He becomes a weak God who can't allow the person to choose freely. This could never give glory to God for there is something very special in letting the person choose that God values so much. The only way this free-choice was attainable was by making man in His image. Making man anything less than this would not give the man a real sovereign free-will. Since we find no verses in the Bible to support calvinism robots, we must reject it by the Holy Spirit.
2). Non-OSAS. The reason this is wrong is because when God gives eternal life by saving the person at new birth, He foresees infinitely whom to give His life too so that He never takes it away. If man comes along and then says he can lose that life, isn't he abrogating God's Word and not trusting in what God said? Since we can find no verses in the Bible that teach a person can lose salvation and eternal life at new birth, we must conclude God's way is OSAS.
3) God's way of salvation is to predestinate (Rom. 8.29) by foreknowing (v.29) our free-choice (John 3.16) made in His image (Gen. 1.26,27): a conditional election, unlimited atonement, resistible grace, for preservation of the saints.
Very nice! A word for Borat types!
I too have always had the sense that calvinism is like arianism of the naziis. That is an interesting point you bring up. If people are totally deprave then how can they ever know if they are truly saved. Whatever does come upon them they would not know with certainty because they would never be able to discern if it was authentic because of their depravity. For them to claim it is of God is discounted because of their a priori condition of being totally deprave. That is why nobody is totally deprave, but that we are all made in God's image to have a free-choice, a gift God gave us when He designed us.
