Good Article Exposing Matt Slick as Not a Christian

Refuting Matt Slick

Now some people might think Matt is something phenomenal, but I've been on PalTalk for many years, and I remember in the early 2000's when he was just your average Calvinist with his little website, and he would argue and debate in chatrooms just like anyone else. He has since moved on and doesn't come to PalTalk much, if ever anymore. Instead he has made CARM into a massive webpage, and apparently gotten a few degrees after his name. Well, all the degrees in the world won't save you from heresy.
Let it be known that I will take on Matt Slick anywhere, anytime (providing my availability), in a formal debate, under a few conditions
1. The topic stays on Calvinism
2. It's moderated by a 3rd party
3. We get equal time to talk
4. It will be recorded, rebroadcast, sold, or otherwise transfered through media exclusively in its entirety. This inlcudes providing it on websites.
This is my challenge, but I know Matt Slick does not like debating Calvinism, through our last experience. Of all the colorful topics he talks about, his very own personal doctrine is something he can't defend.
The first thing that everyone must understand in debating Calvinism, is to not agree to their terms and definitions. Calvinists win their debates against even knowledgeable Christians, by steering the conversation and duping people into agreeing to their interpretations of verses, and even words. The key is to knock their legs right out from under them and strike at the very root of their method--twisting scriptures and fabricating conclusions. Don't play by their rules and you can win every time, as I do.
Here is the one and only Matt Slick on his dissertation of the 5 points of the tulip, taken straight from a link off his site, CARM under the section 'The Calvinist Corner'. Minor editing has been done to improve his grammar and make the points flow a little more coherently, nothing has actually been changed. My responses are in blue.
Total Depravity
Man's heart is evil (Mark 7:21-23)
Man's heart is sick (Jer. 17:9)
Man is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:20)
He does not seek God (Rom. 3:10-12)
He can't understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14)
He is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15)
Is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3)
The Calvinist then says "In light of the scriptures that declare man’s true nature as being utterly lost and incapable, it is not possible for anyone to choose or desire God."
This is the most ASSUMING of all the 5 points of Calvinism, none of those scriptures negate the ability of free will, or the ability to choose right or wrong, the only thing they do is dictate the nature of man. Period.
Assumption #1 Man's nature negates free will
Many scriptures declare free will and choice
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve...
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...

These verses barely scratch the surface especially in the New Testament of people being told to make a choice (usually referring to believing). Although these verses only illustrate God's people as able to make a choice of good or evil, here are scriptures where bad people can make choices too...
Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Clearly wicked people can do good things, a murderer can even choose to not kill, a rapist can choose to not rape, a thief can choose not to steal...or else they would be doing it all the time. This is where Calvinist logic falls flat.
Some Calvinists take it to the extreme of saying that even once they are saved they can not possibly do anything good ever, to them I quote these verses
Act 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
1st Tim 5:22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.
1st John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Now it's true that it is God in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phillipians 2:13). But that does not mean that your own choice and actions have nothing to do with it, else God would be in total control of you, and would also be the one making you sin, which is ludicrous, for sin is not of God.
I further quote Matt Slick on
Unconditional Election
"Calvinism also maintains that because of our fallen nature we are born again not by our own will but God’s will (John 1:12-13); God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29); faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29); God appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48); and God predestines (Eph. 1:1-11; Rom. 8:29; 9:9-23)..... God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not (Rom. 9:15, 21)."
Boy, he really makes a mess of things. John 1:12-13 does not say we are born again of God's WILL, let us actually read verse 13
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Let's remove what we know they were not born of and see what the verse actually says without the Calvinist twist.
John 1:13 Which were born of God.
NOW it becomes clear and fits hand in hand with what Jesus said to Nicodemus, that you must be born again--born of God. Not being born again by-the-will of God, as Calvinists try to make it say. As a sidenote, every version of the Bible agrees with this (my) interpretation, Young's literal translation even clarifies it as saying "begotten of God".
Acts 13:48 ...and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
More assumptions by Calvinists.
The Calvinist confuses this unremarkable verse with some kind of decision in their made up 'eternity past' concept. All this verse is saying is that all the people who had eternal life were believers.
Romans 9:11 is a strawman argument, this has nothing to do with salvation, it is in reference to the Old Testament and chosen Hebrew lineage "in Isaac thy seed shall be called".
Romans 9:15-23 is easy since we already know what God really actually wants for all people.....
2nd Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Calvinists cannot twist this verse and say that the 2nd half applies to believers, since believers have already come to repentance, and as the context around it is in reference to the worldwide flood of Noah's day, when all the people were continually evil.
Romans 8:29 and Ephesians 1:4,5,11 Here are the biggest calvinist verses, along with one of the biggest assumptions. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son..."
Assumption #2 Everyone that God did not foreknow is going to hell
I believe God knows everything ahead of time, so you can't surprise God with your salvation. However, God "foreknowing" someone indicates an intimate and personal thing. A Calvinist would not be a Calvinist without reading something into these verses that it does not say. All these verses are saying is there are those God foreknew and predestined....PERIOD. John the Baptist is the best example of this, he had 1 purpose in life and he served it. This 'foreknown' title cannot mean every single Christian, nor does it mean that everyone who was not foreknown is eternally shafted, because there are those who can and do lose their salvation. (For more on the heresy of OSAS/eternal security, click here or scroll down to see the perseverance of the saints.)
Proof that the Calvinists' dogmatic approach to 'foreknowing' is incorrect is Romans 11:2 "God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew." This is in reference to Israel, and would therefore indicate that all Jews would be in heaven if the Calvinist interpretation of 'foreknowledge' were true. This delves into the John Hagee heresy that there is a separate salvation and gospel for Israel, and a twist of Romans saying that all Jews will be saved, soundly refuted here
Further proof that the predestined, chosen, elect, foreknown etc cannot be every Christian is that Paul in Romans 16:1-15 lists over a dozen believers by name, only ONE of which he mentions was 'chosen'. Paul includes himself in many references to the chosen, only because Aninias was told that he was in Acts 9:15.
Limited Atonement
"Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect. Support for this position is drawn from such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 where Jesus died for 'many'.....and Isaiah 53:12 which is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion where he would bore the sins of many (not all)"
"Many" does not negate "all". 6,000,000,000 people are all the people on Earth, we can also say 6,000,000,000 are many people. Many can mean all, and all can mean many, it works both ways. If the scriptures said "some" or "few" then Calvinists would have a point, but alas they do not. Interestingly enough, you will not find the word "elect" in any of those verses, but yet notice how Calvinists force it into their arguments by adding that word where it doesn't appear.
"John 10:11, 15 which say that Jesus died for the sheep (not the goats, per Matt. 25:32-33)"
We were all 'goats' at one time...Romans 5:6 says precisely "Christ died for the ungodly", and 5:8 says He died for us while we were sinners.
"John 17:9 where Jesus in prayer interceded for the ones given Him, not those of the entire world"
Irrelevant, this was just a prayer, it was not His sacrifice on the cross. (see how Calvinists will get you off track?)
"Acts 20:28 and Eph. 5:25-27 which state that Christ purchased the Church, not all people"
Another irrelevant point, since anyone can be a part of the church.
The two ultimate verses that finishes off this withering petal of the T.U.L.I.P. are....
John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
And 2Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
So how can someone, in this aspect of the doctrine, have been bought by Christ, regenerated, and yet end up denying Him and destroying themself? Mighty big contradiction there.
Irresistible Grace
When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God.
Some of the verses used in support of this teaching are Romans 9:16 where it says that "it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy"; Philippians 2:12-13 where God is said to be the one working salvation in the individual; John 6:28-29 where faith is declared to be the work of God.
Notice now, how he has written an entire paragraph and cluttered it up with the catch phrases, fictional terms, and made up jargon of Calvinism, that DO-NOT-EXIST-IN-SCRIPTURE. What you have just read are several of the fabrications that render Calvinism to sheer rubbish. Yet none of the verses in the 2nd paragraph have anything to do with that paragraph of rubbish, no matter which way you slice it, you can't squeeze THAT doctrine out of THOSE verses. I seriously wonder if he was thinking before he tried to tie them together.
Perseverance of the Saints
You cannot lose your salvation. Because the Father has elected, the Son has redeemed, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation, those thus saved are eternally secure. They are eternally secure in Christ. Some of the verses for this position are John 10:27-28 where Jesus said His sheep will never perish; John 6:47 where salvation is described as everlasting life; Romans 8:1 where it is said we have passed out of judgment; 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises to never let us be tempted beyond what we can handle; and Phil. 1:6 where God is the one being faithful to perfect us until the day of Jesus’ return.
This takes an entire section all of it's own because this goes over into the heresy of O.S.A.S. which is the doctrine of once saved always saved. The hardcore OSAS believers will say that no matter what evil you commit or how often you do it, you cannot under any conditions lose your salvation because you had one tiny little moment of faith in your life and now youve got your free orange ticket to heaven, even if you become a satanic, rapist, serial killer. This lunatic doctrine I can utterly and soundly refute with many many scriptures. Click here for the whole article.
There are 2 divisions of OSAS, the one I just described I like to call OSAS Classic. There is also OSAS Lite which is a softer more rational version of it. Half the calories, but all the alchohol.
OSAS Lite says that if a Christian does sins that are unto death, then they were never saved to begin with, what they fail to realize is that even with that version of it, your salvation is just as conditional as mine...if I commit the sins mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21 then I'm lost, if you commit them, you're lost too--we are in the same boat. The only difference is I believe I lost my salvation, and you believe you were never really saved to begin with.
This doctrine slips through nearly every scripture used to refute OSAS Classic except the best ones, which are Ezekiel 18:24, Hebrews 3:12, 1st Timothy 4:1, Matthew 7:20-23, Revelation 2:5, and the big kicker of them all..Revelation 22:19.
Those 2 verses in Revelations are the best because they are clearly TO Christians, and carry a deadly salvational consequence to them, Christ does not make idle warnings.
Lastly...
Mar 4:23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Jhn 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever... Jhn 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. Jhn 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth. Jhn 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. Mar 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. Luk 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: Luk 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: Jhn 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Jhn 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jhn 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; Jhn 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Jhn 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 1Jo 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.A Calvinist cannot explain away all those verses without running to a made up term, or jargon that doesn't exist in scriptures.


http://www.angelfire.com/planet/love...the/slick.html

I should point out though, of course, the author of this article is not a Christian either, because he rejects John 10.28 those who are born-again "they shall never perish". Neither is the Calvinist a Christian, nor is the non-OSASer a Christian. That latter refused to give His life to be sealed.

The reason why the non-OSASer is confused is because usually he is amillennial. He doesn't see the verses of discipline to Christians as loss of reward and not returning to reign with Christ over the nations (Rev. 2.26,27) for 1000 years, because he doesn't even believe in the millennial kingdom. They claim the 1000 years is figurative for now. But of course, Rev. 20 says there are no more wars and rumors of wars during the millennium. And Satan is cast into the pit for 1000 years. He certainly is not cast into the pit now, for he is called the god of this world, ruler of this world and prince of the air. He is not in the air and ruling if he is locked in a pit sealed and bound.

This is that guys article on OSAS,
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/loveoneanothe/osas.html

He doesn't mention John 10.28 even once in his article which ought to be the centerpiece of the discussion. He is a Remonstrant not an Arminian.