Churchwork
05-30-2009, 01:27 AM
Is the purpose of Calvinism to:
a) cast doubt on the true believer's faith, for Satan gets off on creating troubles for God's children? Or,
b) is to keep a person from being born-again, by placing that person in a false salvation by making them think they are saved though it is not real, so the person over time is detracted and turned off from Christianity to be eternally lost? Or,
c) does the person choose Calvinism as a sign of their own free-choice to enter into a false salvation, because they want to one-up-man-ship God?
Though (a) can certainly be true, it usually only affects the carnal Christian. (b) cannot be true because it places the ultimate cause of a person's unsalvation on Satan where the person had no choice in the matter. Hence, (b) is partially true. It is not the main reason a person remains unsaved. (c) has to be the main reason the person is unsaved, for he tries to get into the mind of God, ultimately placing himself above God by dictating upon God, contrary to the Scriptures, how God creates and saves apart from a free-will of mankind.
Abiding in our own conscience, we must conclude Calvinism is a sign of a unsalvation, for how can such a person be saved who admits he refused to repent to the cross and believe in Christ, but insists he had no choice in the matter; there was nothing he could do about it.
When I was born-again, I heard the call of God drawing me and received it, accepting the fact that all things sum up in Christ. I could have resisted it (presumably), but I didn't resist. Was I so convinced intuitively that I couldn't resist what was so deeply felt in my inner man? In that sense was I regenerated somehow unbeknownst to me which then gave me faith to believe? Or was I presented such convincing data that led me to a choice which I conceded willingly that Jesus Christ is God and I was no longer a sinner, but a child of God?
As best as I can tell, I was presented God's grace that convicted and convinced me which led me to a choice, and that choice I made was an eternal one for Christ. This agrees with how I read the Bible. However subtle and small the seed was that began to grow from my choice to believe in Christ to be saved by grace through faith and born of the God for the Holy Spirit to enter my spirit, it is a fact that is undeniable. I don't see how in a million or a trillion years I could ever reject Christ. It is unfathomable and absolutely impossible. I am His forever! But not because He chose me and there was no option for me, but because I was given the option. Now I am sealed forever, covered by the blood of the Lamb. Amen.
Whereas a Calvinist can never know for sure he has been chosen because it doesn't depend on his choice. Perhaps a Calvinist for many years can be convinced he is a believer, but over time, he will realize he can't know this for certainty as John Calvin said in his Institutes about reprobates, "enlightening some with a present sense of grace, which afterwards proves evanescent."
I can't help but think of the phrase, "the unexamined life is a life not worth living".
a) cast doubt on the true believer's faith, for Satan gets off on creating troubles for God's children? Or,
b) is to keep a person from being born-again, by placing that person in a false salvation by making them think they are saved though it is not real, so the person over time is detracted and turned off from Christianity to be eternally lost? Or,
c) does the person choose Calvinism as a sign of their own free-choice to enter into a false salvation, because they want to one-up-man-ship God?
Though (a) can certainly be true, it usually only affects the carnal Christian. (b) cannot be true because it places the ultimate cause of a person's unsalvation on Satan where the person had no choice in the matter. Hence, (b) is partially true. It is not the main reason a person remains unsaved. (c) has to be the main reason the person is unsaved, for he tries to get into the mind of God, ultimately placing himself above God by dictating upon God, contrary to the Scriptures, how God creates and saves apart from a free-will of mankind.
Abiding in our own conscience, we must conclude Calvinism is a sign of a unsalvation, for how can such a person be saved who admits he refused to repent to the cross and believe in Christ, but insists he had no choice in the matter; there was nothing he could do about it.
When I was born-again, I heard the call of God drawing me and received it, accepting the fact that all things sum up in Christ. I could have resisted it (presumably), but I didn't resist. Was I so convinced intuitively that I couldn't resist what was so deeply felt in my inner man? In that sense was I regenerated somehow unbeknownst to me which then gave me faith to believe? Or was I presented such convincing data that led me to a choice which I conceded willingly that Jesus Christ is God and I was no longer a sinner, but a child of God?
As best as I can tell, I was presented God's grace that convicted and convinced me which led me to a choice, and that choice I made was an eternal one for Christ. This agrees with how I read the Bible. However subtle and small the seed was that began to grow from my choice to believe in Christ to be saved by grace through faith and born of the God for the Holy Spirit to enter my spirit, it is a fact that is undeniable. I don't see how in a million or a trillion years I could ever reject Christ. It is unfathomable and absolutely impossible. I am His forever! But not because He chose me and there was no option for me, but because I was given the option. Now I am sealed forever, covered by the blood of the Lamb. Amen.
Whereas a Calvinist can never know for sure he has been chosen because it doesn't depend on his choice. Perhaps a Calvinist for many years can be convinced he is a believer, but over time, he will realize he can't know this for certainty as John Calvin said in his Institutes about reprobates, "enlightening some with a present sense of grace, which afterwards proves evanescent."
I can't help but think of the phrase, "the unexamined life is a life not worth living".