It doesn't matter if you agree or not. Is God's word says it that settles it. God's word stands and everything else Falls. Free Will choice is nowhere found in the Bible your choice in the flash does not stand in heaven that's why all the Angels fell with the Devil cuz they were not wholly like the other two thirds are holy doing the will of God and God Alone. Just like the Lord's Prayer Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name die kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. On Earth as it is in heaven we need to live a life down here as the Angels live up in heaven doing God's will
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
What many seem to fail to understand is that our 'will' is a gift from God (part of 'in His image'). We can not boast about anything. We Must be free to come to God willfully or else it is meaningless. This is the whole point of God's excercise. It brings God pleasure that the believer loves Him because the believer wants to. The 'regeneration first' idea destroys that.
I've read a lot of people saying that the Arminian vs Calvinist debate is not worth arguing about. This suggests that there are no real-life implications which come as a result of one's views on the matter. I think this is not the case - there are big implications, such as the level of one's gratitude for God for salvation. I used to be Arminian and am now convinced by Calvinism, and it has had a huge impact on my love for and gratitude towards the God who unilaterally saved me that *all* the glory should go to him!
@@Vlugazoide Very true Fernando! And yet on Arminianism God is responsible for 95% of salvation, and we get 5% of the credit for exercising our free-will to decide for God. There is a reason the Bible talks of being *born* again - nobody chooses to be born!
@@Crucian1 not exactly the credit, more of the role. Since God is the only one to praise and the only one with worth and holiness. But yes, your point is true. We only act on being like Judas (seeing wonders and wanting God to work our way), Moses (seeing the character of God and just bending into his grace and will) or the people of Israel who were killed by their brethren in the desert (who simply didn't care about their God). So yes, our role is being magnified and giving up
deraquis If you were taking some of the glory when you were an Arminian, then I would say you weren’t really saved. Because it’s by faith, means that you can’t boast. I’m surprised you were revelling in the fact that you believed.
I once was a reformed person. I now believe both sides are true and are married together, since both arguments are based in scripture. (All scripture is breathed out) I love how John taught his message on Tulip, it still rings true in my head. Doctrines are not weapons to win arguments, they are there for us to know God on a deeper level. To enjoy Him, and to be in Awe of His greatness which is unsearchable. Now to Him who is able to keep us from stumbling, be All the Glory!
I think I'd be happier saying both sides take extreme positions verging on error - they tend not to acknowledge that the truth is found in the paradox of the middle ground. Men want to box God in by the level of their reasoning, overlooking that the Lord is much greater than us and not restricted by our inability to cope with paradoxical positions!
John, while I appreciate your desire to be reconciled with the Arminian camp, I fail to understand how on earth you could say that both sides are based in Scripture when in fact they are diametrically opposed! Nowhere in all of Scripture will you find any support for the idea that we have a free will unhindered by the fall so that we can freely choose to place our faith in God, nowhere will you find support for the idea that one who has been genuinely saved can then somehow lose that salvation, and nowhere will you find support for the idea that Christ died only to make it possible for all mankind to be saved. It’s simply not there without taking things out of context, twisting Scripture, or not understanding it’s meaning. For example, if Christ died, NOT for the certain salvation of specific individuals but only to make it possible for all men to be saved, then that means it’s actually possible that all men might be saved and that’s universalism hence no need for hell. It also means that it’s possible in that scenario that all men might reject Christ in which case God’s plan of redemption was a colossal failure. But we know that neither of those is true. Only SOME people are saved. These are the elect to which Scripture refers time and again. The two sides are in agreement on much, yes. But there are some very critical issues on which they are worlds apart.
@Allen Combs Mathew 25 puts some light on the matter. Jesus says to the goats depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his Angels. He'll was not a place ever intended by God for man to go to. The goats had made a choice out of their own free will to do wrong, hence why Jesus in the end counts them worthy of going there.
Welcome to the Lutheran view my friend! I’m not a Lutheran but I see it as the best view we can take without overemphasis on either side. The “Crux Theologorum”.
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
Pastor John Piper ! Thank you for your enlightenment of Ephesians 2:4-7. I understand now about your point of irresistible grace. I now understand that this saving grace is really a blessed and divine assurance throughout eternity. Not only will I be alive in Christ, He will also seated me with Him in the Heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6) This verse also tells me that Christ's grace is not only incomparable, He will also share His glory with me, as written in Romans 8:17.
I appreciated Pastor John's explanation and trying to represent Arminianism as fairly as possible. I know this question came up in the apologetics class I am currently teaching and we will discuss it next class. I think three things need to be fleshed out before discussing this matter. First, Are we addressing what we think about the labels or the theology behind the labels? Do we have a definition of that theology based on scripture? If we get caught up with theological labels named after men, we may give the appearance of following those men (even if we don't) and this violates 1 Corinthians 1:11-12. We need to define the doctrines behind the theology we're speaking of and have Bible references to back it up. Second, because this is a discussion among Christians, we need to be clear about our view of sin (total depravity), the attributes of God (particularly His sovereignty, omniscience, love, and justice), and again, give Bible references and be able to bring our interpretation of those Bible references to the table. Someone on either side of this discussion (or even someone taking a middle ground) may have different definitions of these things. We need to study our Bibles and check them carefully to see if it is true (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:11). Third, this is a theological discussion; therefore we must leave out emotion, philosophy, and are preconceived notions about the labels. Again, the Bible must be our guide, not anything outside of it (because this will violate Proverbs 3:5 and Colossians 2:8). I've seen back and forth in comment sections where I see little or no scripture, but many accusations, insults, and philosophical views (particularly through analogies) instead of going verse by verse through texts. Calvinisms will accuse the other side of not reading their Bibles, not giving glory to God, and accusing them of adding works to salvation. Not every non-Calvinist considers themselves an Arminian and they shouldn't be pigeon-holed by a certain description; they are believers that love the Lord and desire the salvation of the lost. Name calling and lack of respect is not necessary. Many non-Calvinists, on the other hand, will accuse the Calvinist of being unsaved, having a wicked god that is the author of sin, and twisting scripture. This, as well, is unfair since many Calvinists also love the Lord and go proclaim the gospel to the lost. I've made comments about this subject on many posts and have personally been called names by people that profess to be believers. This is not the heart of Jesus' words in John 13:35. Unless both sides can sit down with their scriptures and go through text of scripture verse by verse to flesh out the doctrines in question, it will always be philosophical musings, emotional insults, and no desire to hear the other side. The discussion is not to win an argument, but to see what the Bible says in its entirety.
@iFoundTruth I agree with you. I've been a believer for 20 years and for the first nine or ten, I didn't know what Calvinism or Arminianism was. I was just a born again Christian, my identity first and foremost in Christ (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). I've shared this in other comments; because of something that happened in the first year of my salvation, I vowed to the Lord that I would read my Bible from beginning to end in a year every year until He took me home. This is my nineteenth year reading the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 (not mentioning this to be boastful, but to share a problem I had in about my eight or ninth year of my salvation). Every year I would get to Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 9 and the context of it seemed clear. It showed that God was sovereign (along with Isaiah 46:9-11). I asked some brethren at my church about this, and for the first time I heard the word "Calvinism." The crux of the comments about my question of Romans 9 was, "You've been watching Calvinists, haven't you?" I had no clue what they were talking about, and when they described Calvinists or Calvinism to me, it was always in the most wicked of terms. I didn't want anyone to think I was like that. The problem is, there was no Biblical explanation or interpretation of Romans 9 verse by verse (which is what I was asking for) and no Bible verses that explained the "wicked" doctrines of these "wicked" Calvinists. The crux of what they were saying is, "Calvinists twist scripture to make God a wicked god and man a robot. God is a god of love according to John 3:16 and their view makes this a lie." Well, I didn't want to be lumped into that group, but I was still reading my Bible and finding other verses that basically spoke of God's sovereignty and still didn't have an answer. (By the way, Arminianism wasn't mentioned until they contrasted it against Calvinism, but I never got an explanation of what they believed at all.) I did what any good Berean would (Acts 17:11), I studied the scriptures to see if something were true. I began listening to both sides of this "debate." I remember listening to Dave Hunt, a brother whose broadcast have blessed me richly, going back and forth with another guy named James White and for the first time thinking that Dave wasn't answering the question. Then I saw a video on a Christian TV cable network (it was called SkyAngel, but it no longer exists) that talked about God's love and sovereignty, and this video was in several parts so I had to watch it for weeks. It went into all the verses (and others) I questioned and did a good job of explaining it. I actually knew it was truth, but I was still upset and didn't want to believe it because I thought it was unfair. I struggled with this for two years until I finally came to the conclusion that God is God and His goodness is not measured by our standards. The bottom line, the Bible had to be my guide (2 Timothy 3:16-17) based on its context, content, and grammar. I couldn't base any of these doctrines on leaning on my own understanding (which Proverbs 3:5 speaks against) or philosophies and vain deceit after man's traditions (Colossians 2:8 speaks against that). This matter has to be studied through different verses. If Romans 9, John 6:37-44, Ephesians 1:4-5, 2:1-3, Isaiah 46:9-11, Proverbs 16:9, and other verses like this can't be reconciled with John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4-6, Titus 2:11, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 2:2, and other verses, then we either make God's Word contradictory or we are going to misinterpret the plain context of verses to fit our view. This is the reason no one should truly use the label of Calvinist or Arminian; they should call themselves born again Christians that believe the doctrines of the Bible and flesh out those doctrines without labels. Unfortunately, the preconceived notion of the labels and the in-fighting has caused believers to spout their opinions and not scripture (in love and meekness). Thanks for reading and God bless.
@@markusw.2690 I'm also Arminian, both are true in Biblical standpoint, but different hermeneutics of interpretation The problem you guys (Calvinist) only oppose Arminianism, why don't you guys also oppose Lutheranism, Methodism, and Anglicanism ?? I used to be Calvinist who believed in pre-destined and everything should be God's responsibility. Now I believe there is also our human parts (free-will) in accepting HIS call or ignoring HIS call ( Prov 1:24 )
@@juliansihite1289 sorry, if you think you have done "your part" you must think you are better than your neighbor, who doesn't have done "his part". But Apostle Paul says, that we have nothing to boast of! Nothing! It's all of Grace. OF COURSE we are called to repent and believe in Jesus Christ! But without the initiative of the Holy Spirit - we can't. Why? Because we are DEAD in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2). What can a dead man do by himself?
@@markusw.2690 Paul's election and his calling were based on God's foreknowledge of his decision to believe. (Gal 1:15-16) Judas was given a choice, but he was not saved. Free-will matters (John 6:70; Jude 1:4) I'm more mix between Calvin and Arminian standpoints. But I'm locally rooted in Arminian Pentacost Church
Jason Schmidt Eph 2 isn’t saying this faith is the gift of God. Salvation is. Because you’re saved by grace through faith, therefore salvation is a gift..... Rom 3: 27 ¶ Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Rom 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If faith were the gift of God then grace would precede faith. It doesn’t. Rom 5: 1 ¶ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Faith is our access to grace. Calvinism is wrong.
If we are dead in our trespasses and sins, as Scripture affirms over and over, then there is no possibility of our deciding anything because we’d have to be spiritually alive to do so. It is Christ who makes us come alive in Him and causes us to see His glory, His love, His forgiveness, so that the only possible thing we CAN do is bow before Him in humility and adoration, committing every aspect of our lives to His service. It’s His decision, from start to finish (from before the foundations of the world) and my insisting that I have a part to play in it comes only from my sinful pride. To God and God alone be the glory forever!
@@josephbrandenburg4373 you absolutely have a part in your sanctification. James said faith without works is dead. Our works are the evidence of a genuine saving faith. The part where we do nothing because a spiritual corpse can do nothing, is in our salvation. Scripture says over and over again that God chooses us. If we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1) then we are completely unable to do anything pleasing to God, especially manufacturing a faith which Scripture says is a gift from God, NOT OF WORKS so that no one can boast. If we choose God then we most certainly have done a good work and have reason to boast. We rob God of His glory. But if He chooses to save a remnant of undeserving sinners for His good pleasure (Eph. 1), then He gets ALL the glory, as He rightly should. To God alone be the glory!!
@@misfitstranger the passage you are referencing is referring to "grace" "and that is not of yourself, it is a gift" refers to the grace (the grammatical gender of "that" and "grace" align in the Greek, "faith" is the wrong gender). You shouldn't misuse the passage, it undermines the better points you're making. I don't ever understand what people mean by "glory" when they talk about this subject. What exactly is "glory"? How do you define it? Why does God want it? Can it be stolen -- and if so, does that mean that God's determination was for himself to be robbed of it? I'm not trying to be difficult here. It's utterly vague to me. So anyways, thank you for answering my first question. I agree that sanctification is a "synergistic" process. But I think that "Perserverence of the saints" is the idea that "remaining" a Christian is monergistic. I don't have a strong opinion about OSAS, but I think it's a better position than either Arminian "apostasy" or Reformed "perserverence". Anyways, I think that the idea that being a believer is the only thing we "CAN" do butts up against a metaphor the Bible uses to describe our relationship with God. How is Christ like a bridegroom if his bride cannot refuse him? Isn't that more like a kidnapper?
I like John's gracious way to deal with a position he personally disagrees with. Why do we need a man-made system to understand grace, election, and predestination, be it Calvinism or Arminianism? Both systems somehow fall short of the whole truth, otherwise it would be stated as such in the bible. Salvation is a person, not a theory. The gospel is the power of God to save, not a paradigm. I still wonder why God saved me, the gospel is a mystery, and I will take forever to comprehend its depth and wisdom.
macolyis It sounds like you wanted to be able to understand the bible. It sounds like you wanted to be freed from demonic possession. No one claims that we can free ourselves. We say that we can cry out to God for salvation. He’s the one who saves.
Too many are divided on whether they chose God or He chose them. It shouldn’t matter UNLESS a persons faith is in the act of their choice or decision and Not in The actual person and work of Christ. I know many people who claim to be saved because they made a profession.
"Jesus went on to say, “This is why I told you (v44) that no one can come to me unless the Father has ENABLED them!" John 6:65 Grace is God working in us called synergy! "Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent!" John 6:28-29 "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose!" Philippians 2:12-13 God gives all Grace by the Holy Spirit which enables all to come to Christ by their free will! In Calvinism some were created and born dead in sin to be damned and have no chance to be saved and no choice in the matter whatsoever! This evil God is not irresistible.
Can we just accept that no matter how much scripture we know we simply don't have all the answers an maybe never will. Trust that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and let him show you the way. Don't be foolish in your own knowledge.
When will those who call themselves "Calvinists" admit that the doctrine began with Augustine's attempt to explain how infants could become the "elect" through water baptism? Since the child had not come to faith, it must be based on the will of another. It could have nothing to do with the will of the child. See Dr. Ken Wilson's research on the writings of Augustine in the link below. th-cam.com/video/BnOMORGM2Qw/w-d-xo.html
I agree. People can get way too bogged down in divisive issues and that makes us look bad to the world. Our finite minds can never grasp the full complexity of God and his ways. Especially a danger if they’re writing a book about it!!!!
The less one knows Fear of the LORD, and ' Go and learn what this means, I desire Mercy , not sacrifice" the more likely one is going to actualize the sovereignty and authority' of the human heart in their understandings..
Without wanting to sound controversial, wouldn't it be great if we could take as much effort to celebrate our shared reformed beliefs rather than arguing about the differences? Not saying which path I walk but some of the comments I'm reading are not what I expect from people who follow Christ. Peace to you all brothers and sisters.
Who can resist God’s will? God does not learn. Grace means some are saved not all. Prevenient grace is a total hash and unbiblical. Partial regeneration.... no bueno. Election answers why am I a Christian.
Or is it possible that there is another answer out there that our human minds can’t comprehend 🤷♂️ cause God blows our minds, so he has some answers we can’t comprehend
Agreed. "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." (Eccl 11:5)
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything as per Calvinism; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
I once turned on the TV to a program called "Will and Grace," I thought that I was going to be watching a debate between an Arminian and a Calvinist... Boy was I WRONG! Those who subscribe to the idea of man’s “free will” will usually describe it as a "Libertarian Free Will," and to have a Libertarian Free Will means that man is an autonomous being who operates independently and is not controlled by others or outside forces. Friend, that is a description of God, not man, therefore to subscribe to the notion that man has a libertarian free will is to subscribe to the lie that "you will be like God..." (Genesis 3:4-5) But it is actually far worse than that, Libertarian Free Will is an assertion of an autonomy even from God; that man is sovereign over his own heart, and if man is sovereign over his own heart, then even God has no determinative power over the choices that he makes, neither does God even have the power of simple persuasion since man’s autonomy would free his own determinative will from any causation, so instead of an individual merely being "like God" in that His will is neither determined nor persuaded, in asserting that not even God can determine his will, he pushes God out of His throne, stripping Him of His power, and grants to himself a power that is greater than Yahweh, about whom we know that nothing comes to pass without His determining will (Lamentations 3:37), and nothing can be done outside of or against His determinative will (Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 33:9-11, 103:19). Indeed, without realizing it, those who assert libertarian free will are standing with Satan's 5 "I will" statements in Isaiah 14:13-14: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” The audacity is terrifying. The question then needs to be asked, is man’s will free to do only as he pleases, or is God’s will free to do only as He pleases? There could only be three possibilities: it may be one or the other, it may be neither, or it may be both. We know that the answer cannot be neither, because if we were to assert that God’s will is not free, then the immediate problem is to determine what it is that places limitations on God? And we know that God is all powerful, able to do all that can be done, and He is subject to no one (Isaiah chapters 40-45). We also know that the answer cannot be both, for if both man and God each have a will that enables them to do only as they please, what then happens when the two wills are contradictory to one another? Nebuchadnezzar certainly understood that man’s will cannot override that of God’s (Daniel 4:35). The answer then is that only God’s will is free; man’s will therefore is subject to, and contingent upon the will of God who works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). If, however, an individual agrees with scripture that God retains the right to intrude into the will of man at any time, and for any reason that He chooses (cf. Genesis 20:6), then libertarian free will is disproved, and those who continue to assert man’s Libertarian Free Will are shown either to actually believe in some other form of “free will” that they have failed to define, or they are shown to be inconsistent, and inconsistency is a sign of a faulty position.
If God's will is always done that means God is the one responsible for everything that happens. How can he justly punish anyone for doing evil when he is the one that determined that they must do it in the first place? Also, why would God himself do things that are contrary to his own will? Example: He doesn't desire that any perish but that all repent 2 Pt 3:9 and wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth 1Tim 2:4 yet many die unsaved/separated from him and go on to enteral torment. Obviously something is very wrong with this picture.
@@evanu6579 Jesus didn't think that this passage was limited to the king of Babylon. He uses verse 12 to describe Satan's fall; see Luke 10:18 and Revelation 12:8-10. The passage in Isaiah 14 speaks to the king of Babylon AND to Satan who is behind him. Take a look at Ezekiel 28:12-17 for similar language where the passage speaks to both the king of Tyre AND Satan.
@@lmorter7867 You said: *"How can he justly punish anyone for doing evil when he is the one that determined that they must do it in the first place?"* EXCELLENT question! Look at the life of Joseph - God ordained that Joseph go into slavery (Genesis 45:8) so that He might, through Joseph, preserve his people that they might become a nation from whom the Messiah would come. God intended the action (Joseph going to Egypt) for the glory of God while Joseph’s brothers on the other hand, sold him into slavery out of jealousy (a sinful act). Here we see in this one act ordained by God, two intentions: God ordains an action and intends it for good, while men perform the action and intend it for evil (Genesis 50:20). Proverbs 16:9 - The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. God is sovereign over all and ordains whatsoever comes to pass, and whatever He ordains, because God’s will is perfectly righteous and holy, His intention is always for the glory of God, and His will always serves that purpose. Man’s will however is fallen because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5), and unless his will is captivated by the righteousness of God working within his will to do and to work for the glory of God (Philippians 2:12-13), he will always work out what God ordains for his own sinful purposes. In this way, God ordains whatsoever comes to pass, but He is not the author of sin - the existence of sin is in His eternal plan, therefore He has indeed ordained it, but he never commands individuals to act sinfully; that they do out of their own intentions that have become fallen in Adam. God decreed the action and meant it for good, but men performed the action and meant it for evil. Because men perform the action intending it to fulfill their own sinful desires, although the action was decreed by God for His glory, men remain culpable for actions that they perform according to their own wicked intentions. (cf. Isaiah 10:5-11) Remember James 1:13-14 - “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” God does not make men evil in order that they might carry out the decrees of God for wicked purposes. All men who are of natural generation from Adam have inherited a fallen nature (Romans 5) and are by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), and they will naturally act out God's decrees for their own wicked intentions, so, of course God does not tempt men to act wickedly, wickedness is in their nature thanks to Adam, and every man will be held accountable for acting upon the wicked intentions of his heart. You said: *"why would God himself do things that are contrary to his own will?"* Another excellent question. You need to understand that God wills things in two different senses. The Bible demands this by the way it speaks of God’s will in different ways. Edwards uses the terms “will of decree” and “will of command.” Jonathan Edwards explains in his book "The Freedom of the Will" that “God's will of decree (or sovereign will) is not his will in the same sense as his will of command (or moral will) is. Therefore it is not difficult at all to suppose that the one may be otherwise than the other: his will in both senses is his inclination. But when we say he wills virtue, or loves virtue or the happiness of his creature; thereby is intended that virtue or the creature’s happiness, absolutely and simply considered, is agreeable to the inclination of his nature. His will of decree is his inclination to a thing not as to that thing absolutely and simply, but with reference to the universality of things. So God, though he hates a thing as it is simply, (such as sin) may incline to permit it with reference to the universality of things." This is a fundamental truth that helps explain some otherwise perplexing things in the Bible, namely, that God often expresses his will to be one way, and then acts to bring about another state of affairs. o God opposes hatred toward his people, yet ordained that his people be hated in Egypt (Genesis 12:3; Psalm 105:25-”He turned their hearts to hate his people”). o He hardens Pharaoh’s heart, but commands him to let his people go (Exodus 4:21; 5:1; 8:1). o He makes plain that it is sin for David to take a military census of his people, but he ordains that he do it (2 Samuel 24:1; 24:10). o He opposes adultery, but ordains that Absalom should lie with his father’s wives (Exodus 20:14; 2 Samuel 12:11). o He forbids rebellion and insubordination against the king, but ordained that Jeroboam and the ten tribes should rebel against Rehoboam (Romans 13:1; 1 Samuel 15:23; 1 Kings 12:15-16). o He opposes murder, but ordains the murder of his Son (Exodus 20:13; Acts 4:28).
Lawrence Stanley Luk 10 and Rev 12 happened at the cross. Michael was at war with Satan while Jesus was in earth. Jhn 12: 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die. Rev 12 specifically says that NOW is salvation. That’s at the cross. Eze 28, is just about the king of Tyre. Satan isn’t mentioned there either.
Prevenient grace to all is Biblical. “From the standpoint of the gospel they (Jews) are enemies for your (Gentiles = all non-Jews) sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.” - Romans 11:28-32 (NASB)
Rascal All of everyone. You can’t affirm the first all to mean every single person and then create a new definition for the second all. That’s not how it works. That’s interpreting Paul’s point through a theological system, not what he actually says. Romans 11 makes it clear throughout the chapter that anyone (Jew or Gentile) can be grafted into God’s covenant people (the body of Christ) if they don’t persist in unbelief. Romans 11 also affirms that any Jew or Gentile can be cut off for unbelief. Because of God’s grace and mercy, there’s not one single person on earth who absolutely CANNOT be grafted into the body of Christ. Ironically, even John Calvin says this. He’s being inconsistent with his other teachings when he says that, but even he understood that he couldn’t overlook passages like this. He just throws it into the mystery bucket.
I went to a fantastic Wesleyan seminary with people I consider brothers and sisters in Christ. Even so, I find prevenient grace to be a mess. There’s nothing in Scripture that points to making a person who is dead in sin half alive so he can will himself toward full life.
Prevenient grace is another word for "free will". Arminianism would say God's trying his hardest but he is too much a gentleman to override a person's will. In the Arminian worldview, there could be a situation where no one would be saved and heaven would be empty of saved human souls if everyone of their will decided against trusting Jesus for salvation.
What I understand is that God has called everyone and made his grace available for everyone through Jesus Christ. But the final decision is up to us to repent and believe in his son and have faith in him. If that wasn't the case, why would call call us to repent? Why would he tell us to turn our hearts? Why does it say "believe and be saved"? It doesn't say "wait for God to make you believe in him". If that wasn't the case, why would he judge people?
Daniel 4:35 ESV / 1,832 helpful votes All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Although leaning towards Calvinism myself, the scripture given does not adequately support the argument for ultimate self determination. In the Arminian view, Christ is still raising us up and making us alive together, the Grace of God is doing all of the work, they simply say that it is us who allow God to do that. Are there other scriptures that we could turn to in order for a more complete understanding of this fundamental point? I've been wrestling with this for a while now.
FORGET ABOUT CALVINISM OR ARMINIANISM MY FRIEND. IF YOU HAVE DECLARED WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS IS LORD AND GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO BE SAVED. THAT DOESN'T MEAN ONCE YOU ARE SAVED ABANDON GOD FOR GOOD. REMEMBER, GOD HAS ORDERED US TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING. WORKS WON'T GET YOU SAVED, BUT IMPORTANT OBEYING THE HOLY WORD OF GOD. GOD BLESS YOU. JOHN 3:16-18
Rush Leigh Raising us up and making us sit together in the heavens with Christ is after you’re in Him through faith. Besides that, these are spiritual blessings that we have in Christ Jesus in heavenly places. It’s only because you’re in Him. Before you were in Him you had no hope. None of these blessings were yours.... Eph 2: 11 ¶ Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Without hope!! But now in Christ....!!! God bless.
I appreciate Piper's attempt to represent classical Arminianism accurately, but his approach is misguided. Working to clarify strengths of Arminian theology and weaknesses of Calvinism on my channel, especially regarding Romans 9-11.
Your video on Rom 9-11 in missional perspective was so helpful. Seeing that God chooses his people to be the instrument by which those who were passed over come to salvation really opened my eyes to the accuracy of the Arminian perspective. Thanks!
Yes! OFE vids helped me understand the Calvinism debate. I hope you are going to do more on Romans 9-11. We need more Arminian interpretations of that passage.
Please explain to me how Calvinism explains how God would only chose some and not others; discounting large swaths of people the opportunity to find Salvation? I believe that every person has the freedom to choose, or not, a faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I believe that every person, once saved, should continuously work out their faith, seeking to repent and pick up their cross daily, and that each promise of God is preceded with a caveat that we must follow Him.
God chose only Abraham a sinner among a multitude of sinners ,God chose Israel a sinful nation over other sinful nations ,God chose Jacob a sinner over Esau a sinner ,Isaac over Ishmael,Jesus chose his disciples,He chose Paul. Redemption was at work before God created the heavens and the earth ,and God chose whom he would adopt as his sons Eph 1:4-5
Stephen said “ye do always resist the holy spirit” in Acts 7:51, so resisting the holy spirit IS possible, and could potentially be the very unforgivable sin of the blasphemy of the holy spirit. irresistible grace means God could literally save everyone if He wanted to, but chooses not to. and yet scripture says over and over that “God wills for all men everywhere to be saved.” so while much of calvinism is true, irresistible grace is a plain contradiction to scripture. as for arminians, one problem they have is that it is possible for one to lose their salvation. God repeatedly tells us in His word that He knew who will be saved from the foundation of the world. Romans 8:29-30 says everyone that God once justifies (saves) will also be glorified (new body, etc.). therefore the truth is very much in the middle, and i don’t yet know of a particular denomination that holds to such views.
When we are made alive in Christ, we get a new heart that loves the truth and are drawn to the Truth. Here is irresistible grace. Christ is so irresistable that we cannot but love Him and follow Him and want to know Him more and more! I thank God for this grace. If left to myself I would have never chosen the right thing and would go to hell. But God!!!!!! He saves those He loves. He doesn't lieve the decision to the stupid sheep. How wonderful!!
Anyone that is saved, ask genuinely, did you truly feel like you could resist what was revealed to you at the moment of salvation? Did any of you feel like you could look at the truth of salvation, ball it up and put it in a nutshell and understand jesus saves us and then you take that nutshell and decide to throw it away and walk away not saved and choose to not accept the truth, could you have done that in your own personal testimony? I've asked that myself because we can only personally ask that because our salvation is only between ourselves and God and no one else. I personally know that God opened my eyes and did the work for me to enter in, not ever being able to reject it. If rejection was possible then I think it would have to present its self but it never did because I was chosen. It's like trying to say the sky isn't blue when it actually is. If you are saying it isn't blue then you are insane and choose not to believe its blue. It's not that you don't believe its blue, it's you don't want it to be blue. God meets everyone spiritually where they need God to be and I believe the ones that reject him do so of their own doing because of pride of life not want to accept the truth of bending the knee to christ. The ones that accept him are chosen because of the willingness to bend the knee. Free will is apart of Gods image but can only be God honoring when we bend the knee and we can do that only after jesus died and rose again. After that the holy spirit could influence our free will to bring us to salvation. Before the cross Gods influence was all external but with the holy spirit its internal. God can finally make two become one. God is outside of time and with that he can choose us through predestination but free will in an eternal God image way still determines our salvation. In a carnal, worldly timeline Gods will determines how we become saved. Meaning he decides what our testimony will be and when were born ext.... but we eternally(through free will) have already determined our salvation. So God through his knowledge and being outside of time being infinite has already figured out what makes you tick and if you will accept being 2nd to Him. Then he takes the answer(you). And places you in the when and the where and we will find out the why when we go back to Him in heaven.
I came to faith as a child, so I never had this Damascus Road-type experience. According to Calvinists, they claim everyone is born a hater of God. Well, if I was, it was before I could even comprehend anything. I don’t ever remember consciously hating God in my life. There are millions of testimonies similar to mine that I have yet to hear a Calvinist explain. As for your post, there have been testimonies of people who resisted multiple times and felt a tug but didn’t give in until like the 13th time. So how would a Calvinist explain that?
@@BK-yz7px B K from the moment of the Fall, all humanity is totally deprived and in sin (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23). None is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks for God (Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3). You may not have consciously formed the thought that "man, I hate God," but when we love other things - including ourselves - more than God, we are in fact disobeying God's commandments. I too was born into a Christian environment and became a born-again Christian at an early age without the Damascus experience, but that is not to say I had never loved anything else more than God before my salvation. Even afterwards my flesh would be drawn to things other than God if left unchecked and that's the human condition of all, including Christians, even Paul writes "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Just because you weren't aware of your own sin before salvation, it doesn't mean what the bible says is untrue or applies only selectively. If you feel that you have no sins to repent, or you are resisting the idea of total depravity, then that alone is a sin that you need to repent, for no one is holy besides God, no one is blameless besides Jesus, and pride in the form of self-righteousness is the father of all sin.
blingx2sys Stop accusing me of something I never said. I’m merely speaking truthfully of my experience. I’m not going to lie for the sake of Calvinism. Lying is a sin. What I’m pointing out is that almost all Calvinists I hear will say all men are hating God as in they are shaking their fist at God. When you are a 2-year-old, you are not shaking your fist at God. Even in Calvinism if God decided to regenerate me and millions of other people before we are even aware of anything, that still eliminates the idea that everyone is consciously hating God. That’s just a problem in Calvinism, and they never seem to deal with that group of people. Also, even most Calvinists affirm that the Bible implies an age of accountability.
blingx2sys This is John MacArthur on the age of accountability. This is a Calvinist perspective in the link below. Other Calvinists, meanwhile, deny it. But I think John MacArthur makes a great case. Adam Harwood, of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote a whole book on this issue. Here’s the MacArthur link: www.gty.org/library/articles/A264/the-age-of-accountability
@@BK-yz7px I happened to come across your other comment demanding John Piper to explain total depravity, which implied to me that you don't believe that all humanity is completely under sin and fall short of God, which is in contrast of what the bible says. I personally have not heard that expression of "shaking fist" at God from any Calvinist, and if that's what some Calvinists say, I'm sure that's just that - an expression, for the bible does not define sin as simply and exclusively shaking fist at God. As for the 2 year old, or even the newborn - they are all under sin in the sense that they are self-centered and selfish even in their innocence. Parents actually have to teach them to share their toys, they demand 100% of attention all the time, the whole world revolves around them. They are innocently rebellious (ever seen a toddler tantrum?) because they are not naturally going to obey parents, it takes a lot of nurturing and teaching to get them to behave in morally acceptable ways. My nephew when he was just over a yeat old, as sweet and innocent as he was, had no issue disregarding my bodily fatigue and pain while he just wanted to hop on my back for fun, for goodness's sake!! Also, you and I both agree lying is sin, right? Children are natural liars, there are psychology studies after studies proving that they can innocently lie. Yes it may not be a consciously made behaviour - but that just goes to show that, even in our most untainted instinct, we are totally under sin from the moment we are born, whether we are aware of it or not. That's why all humanity, regardless of age, needs Jesus! Why did he ever need to die if humans are not completely deprived and could somehow find their way back to God in the state of sin?
John, do you use the prevenient grace doctrine to witness to the unsaved? Should we completely understand it before we witness to unsaved? I am sarcastic of course. I have been saved 50 years and it has made not a wit of difference in my walk with Jesus. How does Prevenient Grace apply to the thief on the cross who crossed from railing abuse to plea for salvation. Grace did not preceed his plea.
Arminianism is the product of people's belief that it is unfair of God to sentence anyone to eternal hell without giving that person a fair chance to believe. Ask any Arminian. It starts, not with scripture, but with a feeling that Calvinism makes God unjust; God is not unjust; therefore, Calvinism must be wrong. But a right, scriptural analysis reveals that God is just; everything God does is just; therefore, God is just in condemning whom he pleases, and saving whom he pleases.
@@madcow9421 Why would I tell someone that when no one knows who the elect are? That's silly. Read the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22. The external call goes to all; God makes the inward call to the elect, which only he can do.
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything as per Calvinism; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
@@Mike-qt7jp ??? This is not the place for an argument but that does not negate that view of Scripture. How about when God says that he chooses some people for hell and some people for heaven or that some are elect. "Calvinists only those who take scripture at face value and don't try to explain it away." That quotes from an Armenian by the way
@@Mike-qt7jp I'm sure you mean well and may love Jesus a whole lot and if you are my brother then I don't want to say anything other than what would be encouraging to you. But in your well meaning, don't dismiss the entirety of scripture for your own comfort.
@@Mike-qt7jp😅😅😅😅 Jeremiah 1 I knew you before.... your passage proves total depravity ignoramus the opposite of your blasphemy 😅 He causes everything good everything bad is in his absence you have no clue what Christianity or Calvinism is sit down and listen zombie self righteous narcissist arminains 🤦
The other divide is that Calvinist happily enjoyed the fruits of slavery, often choosing to remain silent or opposing the Arminians who widely argued against slavery. I believe in both free will and God’s sovereignty. I do not believe in slavery.
@Ben Jones Hallelujah, what a Savior! From where you're at, keep going to Romans 12:1 especially the 5 beautiful verses before that :) Each in his own order :) as in First Cor. 15 and then wait, trust and obey, like there's no other Way!
he is angry with the wicked all day every day it's a miracle he would want to save anyone it's Gods authority vs mans. your dumbedt down strawman notwithstanding 😅😅😅😅
Rofl. Ephesians 2:4-7. So you literally skip the next verse that clarifies that "made us alive with Christ" is through faith. Paul says "made us alive with Christ" = "by grace you have been saved". Then Paul immediately says in the next sentence, By grace you have saved THROUGH faith. We are regenerated THROUGH faith, or as John Calvin says in his Ephesians 2:8-9 commentary "received by faith alone".
I think we so proudly proclaim our views as if we are sovereign you find scripture on both sides of views our minds cannot comprehend God and all his ways does not matter how many degrees we have the bible says how beautiful are the feet the bring the good news God does not look at man made doctrines but He does look at how many people have brought into His kingdom we are called to to take the good knews and how He moves in people's hearts we do not know but scripture does say by faith we come to Christ now did He generate all that faith in me or only some so I could accept Chist I dont truly know but I know He does give me a choice to continue in this faith so we are really stretching scripture when we remove free will from man Godbless
Arminianism does not worship a sovereign God. If anything happens outside of God determining it, then it is outside of God’s sovereignty. God is not sovereign then. Arminians are atheists worshiping a false god. This is truth and love.
Preveniant grace is best understood by the doctrine of repentance. For example scripture says God calls sinners to repentance. If repentance is irresistible by means of effectual grace than God is merely playing a game with sinners. For scripture says he desires for sinners to repent, waits for us to repent, gets angry when we don't repent. If he is the one making us repent, scripture becomes very confusing.
For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:6-11 NKJV
I agree. Even as someone who considers themselves more Calvinistic. Arminianism doesn’t teach that we saved ourselves. It does however teach that we atleast make a choice in accepting Gods offer of salvation and then God does everything else and seals us with his holy spirit creating a new heart in us. A Calvinist would consider accepting this offer through faith to be a work of man in and of itself which they would consider synergistic.
1 Corinthians 3:1-7 KJVS [1] And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. [2] I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. [3] For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? [4] For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? [5] Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? [6] I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. [7] So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase: What we likely have here is a prime example of what Apostle Paul prophesied about. Ephesians 4:14-15 KJVS [14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; [15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: If you want to understand sound doctrine study the Word and let the unction of the Holy Ghost teach you. 1 John 2:20,27 KJVS [20] But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. [27] But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. www.justifiedfreely.com
If you don't read the Bible and study the verses you quote by context please do us a favor and don't comment here..you're just confusing people with your opinions and self made ideas!
I just follow someone no one talks about much, Jesus Christ the Son of God. To me following Calvin or Amenius is the same as following Mary. The Lord has always given Grace, it is His character. Follow Him. Grace is simply unearned favour especially the favour of having our sins forgiven and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is very simple.
bible is very clear that you have no free will to be born of your physical birth and you have no free will to be born of your spiritual birth. john chapter 3 makes it extremely clear. next
Referencing a verse and then saying next before hearing another perspective reminds me of Aminians who quote John 3:16 and then ignore any thoughtful Calvinist interpretations
@Hosanna well I'm not a Calvinist, but I guess I don't see the problem for calvinism in that section. Why do you think Calvinists would have trouble with that text?
@Hosanna Okay, I see what your saying now. I think Calvinists believe in a type of free will called compatibilism. They believe a person always chooses their greatest desire at any given moment, and since their desires are all determined by factors outside of them (ie God), their choices are likewise determined. That's why Calvinists will say that you do what you want and are therefore accountable. Whether you think this is a sufficient explanation for how sinners are morally responsible under determinism is a separate point. In this case, I think a Calvinist would take john 3:16 as an example of total depravity and people following their own desires. "he’s clearly saying men willfully love to do evil things like steal and fornicate. That’s free choice" I assume that a Calvinist would agree with you here. Calvinists believe sinners "freely" and "willfully" choose their sin. As long as you define "freely" in the context of always following your greatest desire.
Draw nigh unto me and I will draw nigh unto you seek and you shall find God's going to do his part with Grace but we still have to do our part and respond and actively stir up the gift though is within us it says in Revelation Jesus says I come to knock on the door and if any man will open the door I will sup with him and he with me citizen John that God gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him will have eternal life so it says who so ever that means everyone God is not willing that any should perish but all coming everlasting life
Then, why isn't everyone saved? Some people are not chosen? Yes, the glory is Al His for the hole process of regeneration, but some people chose not to accept His gift.
While I absolutely believe God causes/ordains/determines some things. I don’t believe He causes everything to happen. In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, "People built high places to sacrifice their children (in fire) to foreign gods, and He (God) says, "I did NOT COMMAND this, nor did it enter my mind." These are just a few of the MANY verses that speak of people making a choice; where Calvinism says, there is "No choosing" God decides. Isaiah 56:4 says, "For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who CHOOSE what pleases me..." Isaiah 65:12 says, "...I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and CHOSE what displeases me.” Isaiah 7:15 says, "...He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and CHOOSE the right..." Proverbs 3:31 says, "... Envy thou not the oppressor, and CHOOSE none of his ways." 1 Chronicles 21:11 says, "So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your CHOICE: three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord..." By the way, the Calvinist will often quote Jesus, "No one can come to me unless the Father draws him." I agree. BUT, it says "unless the Father draws him." It does NOT say unless the Father CAUSES him or FORCES him to come to Christ.
In Ephesians, chapter 2, St Paul addresses the mainly Gentile believers as : ' you were dead in trespasses and sins...', yet he himself had also been dead, but a different version of 'dead', dead in self-righteous religious works (Hebrews 6:1.) ! How can the Judge of all the Earth hold someone responsible, if he had no say in the decision or the final outcome whatsoever (hyper-calvinism) ? Human beings are certainly not lifeless clay (Romans 9:21.) after all, nor are they mindless animals (according to godless Darwinism), but somewhere in between, cooperation is required (Psalm 32:8,9.) !
According to Jesus, Paul was dead in his trespasses and sins. "For sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4 God-the-Son said to the Pharisees which had come from Jerusalem , Mark 7, "For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition (Grk paradosis) of men as the washing of pots and cups; and many other such like things do ye." A former Pharisee from Jerusalem: "And I profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions (Grk. paradosis) of my fathers." - Paul, Galatians 1 But Jesus said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition (paradosis). _ This said, I agree with the end of what you said. We are responsible. We can choose whatever we want. No caveat. But, when and if we do choose, we give ALL glory and credit to God. This is a mystery, but one the Bible teaches. I think we do well to leave God's matters to him and just believe all that he says as little children. (Matt 18:3) :] Thanks for reading.
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, .
I came across this You Tube channel by Dr. Gene Kim. He just put up a video called: "Top 10 Christian TH-cams you must delete!" because according to him they preach Calvinism and it is wrong. Well, he sent me here, and I'm glad, because I just found out that I am indeed a Calvinist, and if I have to delete a channel it will be his.
How many verses are not in red letters or are they all in red letters spoken by Jesus? NO MAN 🚹 CAN COME TO ME unless the father who sent me DRAWS HIM 💘, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44 John 15:18 19 if the world hated you, you know it hated me before I hate you. If you were of the world the world would love its own but because you are not of the world, BUT I HAVE CHOSEN YOU OUT OF THE WORLD 🌎, therefore the world hates you. John 3:16-21 King James Version (KJV) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ( IS GOD'S CHOSEN ELECT) in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him MIGHT BE SAVED. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, (BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD 🌎) BECAUSE HE HATH NOT BELIEVED IN THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, AND MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. 20 FOR EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, lest his deeds should be REPROVED OR EXPOSED. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. So now if we were all born with sin and it takes the Holiness of God to break the bondage of sin how did Darkness decide to allow God into their life? How could mankind who was in bondage of sin break themselves free to ask God into their heart When God Says in HIS word that he CHOSEN HIS OWN BEFORE the FOUNDATION of the WORLD 🌎 in the BOOK of LIFE were SEALED and closed. Then he said let there be light. Ephesians 1:4 5 and Romans 8:29 30 John 15:4-5 4 Abide in me, and I in you. AS THE BRANCH CANNOT BEAR FRUIT OF ITSELF, EXCEPT IT ABIDE IN THE VINE; NO MORE CAN YE, EXCEPT YE ABIDE IN ME. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: FOR WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING.
Jeffrey Martin Jesus chose the apostles as faithful witnesses to bring His message to the world. Read John 6;45. Those who were taught by the Farher and learned would come to Jesus. The Father taught through prophets. John the Baptist was sent to turn the hearts of the people to the Lord that all men through him might believe. Luk 7: 29 ¶ And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. I feel like you need to widen your lens and discover the entire story of the bible. Zooming in on a passage here and there has skewed your conclusions. God bless
Y’all I have a question. If it’s true that Gods grace is irresistible, then why do people resist the Lord? It seems to me that we have a choice to make.
Calvinism understanding of the Bible is that the grace of God that brings salvation is specific to the elect only and is irresistible because it brings them out of darkness in the light but for the non-elect God withholds that same so they they happily continue to be dead in trespasses and sins.
I used to consider myself Calvinist and at one time was deeply studied in it. The Calvinist view is not that all of God's Grace is irresistible, but rather that there is a certain sort of grace, an electing grace which he gives to his eternally chosen over and above his 'common grace.' A term that most calvinists I knew / still find more suitable than "irresistible" is "effectual:" it's a grace that is effective to remove any and all resistance to his gospel work. I no longer call myself a Calvinist (I never did like the term) although I still maintain that election, in the general essence expressed by the "reformed" camp, is a manifestly scriptural doctrine. What I no longer will engage in, however, is the systematizing and logic-chopping of things which are God's business, "neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." (Psalm 131) Many Christians, whether Arminian or Calvinist, are fully content to leave as mystery how the Lord is ONE Lord yet expressed in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost... yet somehow find themselves far more confident in their theological systems to discern the mystery discussed in this video. It's better, it would seem, to be as Jesus called us to be: like so many little children (Matt 18:3) who are happy to leave our Father's matters to him. As His kids we should believe with ZERO caveat, that "God is not willing any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" _and_ with ZERO caveat believe him when he says, "no man can come to me except the Father who sent me draw him, and all who the Father draws will come to me."
Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; (Edwards, Wesley, Calvin, Arminius, included) yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. ECC 8:17
By His Stripes Regeneration happens after faith.... Jhn 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) All that believed would receive the Spirit after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.... Jhn 14: 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Jhn 15: 26 ¶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: Jhn 16: 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. The Holy Spirit is first given here.... Jhn 20: 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: So they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until after the resurrection as Jesus stated in John 7. That’s well after the disciples believed, and many others as well...... Jhn 2: 23 ¶ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. Luk 7: 50 ¶ And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. Even after the resurrection, faith still preceded regeneration..... Eph 1: 13 ¶ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Just to clarify what regeneration is. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.... Rom 8: 9 ¶ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Spiritual life happens after belief..... Jhn 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. The disciples hadn’t received this life before the resurrection of Christ..... Jhn 14:19 ¶ Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. Peter hadn’t yet been converted..... Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Matt 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.)
In Ephesians 2:8, grace is the gift from God and not faith. Faith is our response to the grace that God is giving... Man has the free will to receive or reject the goodness of GOD... if you read the entire Bible nowhere you can find a word SOVEREIGN attached to the word GRACE..
And nowhere in the Bible can you find the words "free will", but you WILL find that man's plans WILL be frustrated by God, meaning He has ultimate say in all things.
“Dead in tresspasses” should be read as a phrase not “Dead, in trespasses.” The tresspasses made it us dead. We are condemned with a sentence of death.
Why Don't you People just Follow Jesus..Like He asked you To? Instead of contending over men's opinions? Jesus Made is very Clear and Simple What He Wants us to Teach and Do in Matthew 5 6 7. I never hear any of Jesus actual Real Gospel on this site.
I don't identify as either, though I keep being asked what I believe in. Is it necessary to classify believes to either of the 2? I like David pawson or even Spurgeon's stand on this, where he says: how can you reconcile friends . Is it possible for you, Pastor John, to explain if there is a more biblical theology to salvation than either calvinism or arminianism? Because there seems to be biblical bases for and against either. Perhaps both have borrowed some things from the tradition of man rather than from the word of God.
@From The Darkness To The Light did he explicitly say this or is it inferred by calvinist. I do not know but from the written down sermons of his that I have read. He does not specifically identify with either.
What about Lutheranism and Provisionism (Traditional Southern Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, all of the early church for 400 years before Augustine, etc.)? Why do church “leaders” continue to insist on constantly painting a false dichotomy?
@@jacksobrooks it is, but if it's not a "salvation issue" in my opinion, it's not something to argue over. I tend to find that when people argue over things like this that people's minds are usually already made up on the issue.
@@jacksobrooks it then turns into a pointless, heated argument with each side claiming they are the more spiritual Christian and it just looks bad to the world. Unbelievers just use things like that to mock us. I think it's better, that if you feel like a brother or sister is in error to perhaps have a short conversation with them. If they are not receptive then let it go and pray for them. Better to show the love of Christ than to argue with each other. That is what will draw unbelievers to Christ. Not bickering about things like this.
At 3:15 Piper got it a little wrong. People like lightened flowers do say that men can produce their own faith in God completely apart from God. And that after they produce their own faith and God sees it, then God chooses them. In an interview with dr. Olson Flowers expressed that view and Olson disagreed. Which would make Flowers a Pelagian.
You are wrong about Flowers. He doesn't teach that people can produce their own faith apart from God. He agrees that all men must be drawn by God (John 6:44) as scripture clearly teaches. Paul teaches in Romans that God reveals himself to all through his creation which is why all can and must be held accountable when they are commanded to believe. Jesus goes on to explain in John 6:45 how God draws people to himself - "It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.". He explains that they are drawn by what they hear and believe. We need the power of the Holy Spirit in order to be regenerated. No where does scripture teach that God regenerates men first. It teaches the opposite. The Holy Spirit is received after you believe not before. Paul says in Gal 3:2 that the Spirit is received by hearing and believing. He says in Eph 1:13 that we were included in Christ when we heard the message of truth and were marked in him with the seal of the Holy Spirit when we believed not before. Calvinists have the cart before the horse on this one. They conflate faith with works so they had to come up with the idea that regeneration precedes faith. Paul contrasts faith with works. Faith is not a work. Everyone is capable of believing God or rejecting him. Jesus explains how God's free grace works with faith and trust in the beautiful story of the Prodigal son. The son was dead to the father yet he came to his senses on his own and went back to the father. The father didn't forcibly make his son come to him or make him work to earn his love back. He received him with open arms simply because his son humbled himself and came to him. This is a picture from Jesus of our heavenly Father. Until we "humble ourselves (which require free will) we can't receive God's free grace. God gives favor/grace to the humble but opposes the proud (too many vs that say this to list). Everyone is fully capable of recognizing God and believing Him. Jesus also said - "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He was lifted up on the cross. Prior to the cross God drew men
This post could not be less accurate. I've been following Leighton Flowers for years and every broadcast where faith is brought up he denounces the idea that man can produce faith in and of themselves. I listened to that whole interview. Please send a time stamp of where he said that "man can produce faith completely apart from god." soteriology101.com/2019/05/04/is-faith-effectually-given/ Flowers believes that faith is granted, enabled, and a gift from God, just not an effectual gift As a brother in Christ I'm asking that you don't make comments like this is if you are uninformed, or that you don't spread lies if you are informed
If determinism is true, than Leighton is a "pelagian" because God willed that he be so to glorify himself. So I see no problem with being a pelagian or anything else for that matter.
I like this. But still disagree with him lol. He is all caught up on this idea that we have to participate in some way in order to be saved.. an analogy that comes to mind is that of turning on a light in the house. What is powering the light? Is it the switch you had to hit, or the electricity? If no electricity was coming to the switch, the switch wouldn’t do anything. So the prevenient grace brings the electricity to the switch then we hit the switch, then the electricity is able to power the light. All the “work” is done by the electricity yet we still find that we have to freely participate.
The Arminian believes total depravity. If this is true, in your analogy the sinner has no desire to flip the light switch on. Actually, he can’t, because he’s dead and dead men can’t choose to do anything, let alone chose God.
@@albertchanggg that's why, paraphrasing John Wesley, we NEED God's grace in us to even make us consider hearing the truth about the gospel. And this is made by the holy spirit, and he nicknamed it prevenient grace, a grace that "flows" with the preaching
Fernando Gonçalves irresistible grace is a better term hahaha. Prevenient Grace is conditional... total depravity makes it impossible to respond in faith... that’s the point we bible believing Calvinists are making. We can’t muster up the faith to respond in our sinful rebellion.
The distinction between Calvinism and Arminianism regarding the role of God's grace in salvation. - A question is raised about prevenient grace, which is the idea that the Holy Spirit enables potential belief through cooperation. - Calvinism and Arminianism both agree that fallen humanity cannot save themselves, but they differ in how divine grace works within the human heart. - The central difference is whether grace enables a choice to believe or irresistibly draws individuals to faith, with Calvinism emphasizing irresistible grace.
If God , willing that none should perish, has had His willingness made of no effect, by a weak sinner with a weak and sickly will, what kind of God is He? How has your freewill served you ? Why does God do this : JOH12.40 "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. " if He wants "all" to be saved ? If Jesus is willing to save "all", like His Father, why did He use parables here in MAR4.11 "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: MAR4.12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." He blocked them from receiving the truth. Why would we try to explain it away when it is plainly put ? Why did Jesus appear to paul and not his companions, when on the road to kill more christians ? What about Pauls freewill ? Did God not want to over ride the free will of Pauls companions ? If God, willing to save all, appears to Paul in a very radical way, thwarting Pauls pathetic will, which at the time was set on killing christians, why dont God appear to "all" in some way, to save them ? Pauls doctrines line up with the stories all through the bible, which show God's choice to save or condemn. Arguing over the word "all" is not the right way. God is sovereign. He has mercy on those He wants to save. Solomon knew that you come up against the infinite God whose ways are past finding out when He brings you far enough to see the boundaries between the finite and the infinite : ECC11.5 "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." There is danger in false doctrine, and what the Lord has revealed of Himself we should take at face value.
God has made men w free will. Not robots. He is looking for relationship and love not puppets He controls. YOU must choose Christ or you will never enter His kingdom.
Calvinists (Highly respected Sproul, etc) believe God the Father the first person of the Trinity poured out His wrath and cursed and cut off His Son the second person of the Trinity while on the cross thereby splitting apart the Trinity which is the heresy of Arianism and Nestorianism. See 1 Corinthians 12:3 John 10:30 There was no imputation or transfer of our sins onto Jesus, an innocent victim, while on the cross! Sin is not a thing! Proverbs 17:15 Deuteronomy 24:16 Jesus died in order to raise from the dead thereby conquering death, sin, and the devil for everybody, otherwise even unbelievers would not raise from the dead. 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 Hebrews 2:14-15 1 Corinthians 15:22 Calvinists believe God created people, and all people are born dead in sin through zero fault of their own, but God only chooses to save some and be regenerated. The others go to hell. So, Calvinists basically say God creates some people who have no choice but to go to hell. How does the Calvinist explain away their evil wrathful God? There is no wrath in the eternal Trinity of God. "God is love!" 1 John 4:8 When people reject the love and grace of God, God's love becomes wrath for them! Judas Iscariot committed suicide having rejected Christ's love! John 3:19-21, 36 The conversion of Lydia, Read Acts 16:13-15! God in His providence brings Lydia and Paul together. Lydia is dead in sin, but God gives her grace and opens her heart to respond to Paul's message in either repentance or rejection. (Acts 26:20) Lydia responds in repentance and has her sins washed away in Baptism (Acts 22:16) being buried and raised with Christ in washing and regeneration and made righteous! Romans 6:1-5 Colossians 2:11-15 Acts 2:38-39 John 3:5 1 Corinthians 6:11 Nicene Creed Like Lydia everybody is given grace in some manner to repent and are responsible and without excuse. Romans 1:18-23 Acts 17:30-31 "And Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view!" 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 1 Timothy 2:3-6 John 6:51
Calvinism teaches that God humbles us and makes the choice for us. The Bible doesn't teach this. It's says we must humble ourselves. It can't be both ways.
@@billyr9162 If you think about it you will see that is exactly what it teaches. A person is not humbling themselves if someone else is making them do it. That's called force. True humility must come willingly from the heart which requires a free will.
This is the way I see it, help me if I am wrong please. You are an unbeliever you hear Gods word and become curious, you hear what the gospel is and decide if you want to give it a shot or not. You believe Jesus is the one true God and you are truly repentant in your heart and ask God to forgive you and guide you. Then he enters your heart by the holy spirit, opens your eyes to see the light. You then declare a war on your sin through a repentant heart and your new found light and the holy spirit guiding you, and live the rest of your life in faithfulness to Him because he has revealed is love to you. You respond by worshiping Him and learning what he wants for you through His word to keep you spiritually wise and to keep your faith strong this is the sanctification process. BUT if you have seen the light and you CHOOSE to instead not worship or read the bible... you read less and less you return to your old ways of sin, you start to backpedal. Then you could lose the light and ultimately fall away.
@@tommymcdonagh8566 the problem of most christians is the lack of studying the Bible and understanding it by context and also looking at the verses in the wholeness of the Bible..so nothing will contradict ...actually God commanded that we continue to study.."study to show yourself approve by God" the word study there is in the future perfect tense which means continually...I just hope more Christians read their Bible...😌
The strongest argument for calvinism (I hate that term) is the work of the trinity in salvation. Also, when Jesus saud he came for His sheep, that whole passage. Also, the bible refers to goats and sheep, but I cannot think of any place where goats turn into sheep?
M. D.D The sheep and goats was decided from their works Read Ezekiel 34. The goats were the Israelites who rejected God. God hardened them so that they couldn’t become sheep. Read Rom 11. God bless.
Ephesians 2:1-3 describes how we all were once "goats." Just doesn't use that term, but Paul says we were all, BY NATURE, children of wrath, like the rest. Our natures have been changed.
Dan Adams Amen. 1Cor 6: 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Ah yes the most hated doctrine. That He is sovereign in salvation. 🙂 ARMINIANISM AND CALVINISM - THE RADICAL DIFFERENCE A.W. Pink The radical difference between Arminianism and Calvinism is that the system of the former revolves about the CREATURE, whereas the system of the latter has the CREATOR for its centre of orbit. The Arminian allots to MAN the first place, the Calvinist gives GOD that position of honor. Thus the Arminian begins his discussion of salvation with justification, for the sinner must believe before he can be forgiven; further back he will not go, for he is unwilling that man should be made nothing of. But the instructed Calvinist begins with election, descends to regeneration, and then shows that being born again (by the sovereign act of God, in which the creature has no part) the sinner is made capable of savingly believing the Gospel. [A.W. Pink - ‘Salvation from the pleasure of sin’] And incidentally whatever gives God ALL the glory, THAT is what is right! “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake”! [Psalm 115:1]
I find it interesting that Calvinists always offer only 2 alternatives when it comes to Salvation; Calvinism (irresistible grace) and Arminianism (prevenient grace). The Bible does not teach either of these views. There are many sinners like Charles Templeton who, having placed their faith in Christ, became atheists later in life. Were Templeton, and many others, brought to faith by God’s irresistible grace as described by Piper or were they free to respond to the Gospel having been aided by God’s prevenient grace as taught by Arminianism? If such people were effectually called then this calling must have failed. If they responded to the Gospel having first received prevenient grace then they must have lost their Salvation. Neither of these situations align with Scripture. It is clear from Scripture that God loves all His fallen creation and that He has provided for all. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and, as John said, we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. It is also clear from Scripture that Jesus paid the penalty for sin for all sinners. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and Jesus has tasted death for all men. God desires that all come to repentance and a knowledge of the Truth, and in fact, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent. The Bible even says that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. The Bible is very clear that anyone can be saved. Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life and for whoever will call on the name of the lord will be saved. Paul was trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. John wrote that these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. We are made in the image of God and have all that is required in order to believe or reject the message. And of course we have the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement. Hence, the two options provided by Piper are not Biblical and the answer to Salvation is that faith comes by hearing and hearing of the Word of God; and all can hear and respond to the message of Truth.
It's very interesting me that your so called 'proof' comes from an anecdotal experience (not even your own), and not from an exegetical exposition of the Scriptures themselves. Sure, you took a few verses out of their context and attempted to twist them to suit your view, but you have no meaningful, objective basis for your claim, at least not presented here.
@@justinbirkelo6806 [your so called 'proof' comes from an anecdotal experience (not even your own), and not from an exegetical exposition of the Scriptures] Sounds like you have been listening to James White. If you have a good answer to explain how evangelist Charles Templeton responded to the Gospel and then became an atheist, then please provide it here. [you took a few verses out of their context] Please explain how these verses have been taken out of context. If you know what these verses really mean then please explain it here. [attempted to twist them to suit your view] How have I twisted them? So what did John really mean when he said, “we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” When you have explained what John really meant to say then perhaps you can explain what the other verses really mean. [you have no meaningful, objective basis for your claim] Spoken like a true Calvinist. Since you are so knowledgeable concerning God’s Word, please explain how an infinitely loving God, who is rich in mercy and grace, and kind in all His deeds, would provide saving faith to so few of His fallen creation. In the case of the Japanese people this would be just 1% of the population .
@@gregjay9933 I simply asserted that you have not presented any meaningful, scriptural, or objective basis for the claim you made concerning Charles Templeton. Based on the way you phrased the statements made in the earlier comment, I assume you hold to the doctrine of conditional security, in which case you would - by necessity - need to back that up with Scripture, properly exegeted; as with any other doctrine. That's all that was being said there. As to the answer concerning Charles Templeton, I would say this: I do not know his story. So, I cannot speak concerning him specifically, nor did I ever claim to be able to, as that would be presumptuous. The point being made, again, was that it was a folly argument to point to his 'testimony' of falling away as an authoritative example to validate your doctrine. As for the verse quoted above in John, I believe it means exactly what it says, that '...we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world...', that is, that '...we...', i.e., John and they who believe, aka the apostles, aka, those counted among the elect, have seen, and testify that Jesus,the Son, was sent by the Father, to be the Savior of the world. {Insert Arminian eisegesis of the word 'world', substituted for 'every individual of the world'}. You make a chief mistake in the insertion of a word or words into the text that do not exist within the text itself. Bear in mind that despite the consistent testimony of the Old Testament, the Jews did, and still do to this day, hold to a view which secludes them from the rest of the world in terms of salvation. They believe much as is presented in the beginning of Romans 9, that because they are mere descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, they are children of God. When John and others write in terms of Jesus being the '...Savior of the world...' this is what they are referring to, and it would have been understood as such by those who originally received these words. It was a radical thought to the ancient world that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the Savior of more than just Israel, but indeed has a chosen remnant from every tribe, tongue and nation. This is what it means. Counter point to this particular piece of your response, if Jesus atoned for every individual, elect or not, how then, do you account for the testimony of God unto Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:14? ' "...Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." ' (see context for fuller understanding). Exegetically, there is no way around this. The Old Testament saints were never justified by the works of the Law, I'm sure we can agree, though they served a purpose as a tutor to point to Messiah. Since Adam, all have been justified by grace through faith in Christ alone, some looking forward, others backward in time. So, please explain the words of the Living God, that Eli's house would NEVER be atoned for by sacrifice or offering FOREVER. Is God lying? As for your last point about God being infinitely loving, I suppose you would have to further define what you mean by infinitely loving. If by infinitely loving, you mean to say, 'all loving', then you are simply mistaken. According to Scripture, the wicked are equally the objects of God's hatred as well as His temporal grace and love (in a way we can perhaps never understand as finite beings). If by infinitely loving, you mean that He has chosen a specific people upon which to lavish the boundless depths of His glorious grace and love, His riches of mercy, into the eternal ages to come, then yes, I would agree. This is consistent with the teaching of Ephesians 2. To be honest, the fundamental issue with this is that we as sinful creatures tend to lean toward a belief system which mandates the sovereign God to indiscriminately pour out His love and grace and mercy equally upon all, in terms of eternal salvation. Not only is this inconsistent with Scripture, it is blatantly prideful, arrogant, and wickedly entitled for creatures to assert that if God does what He pleases with His creation, then that God cannot be loving. It was the correction of this fundamental misunderstanding of who God is, and who I am as a created being of His in relation to Him, that led me to eventually cast aside my pride and entitlement that I held against these teachings for years, and to buckle under the eternal weight of these truths. What a freeing, peaceful, empowering thing! What a MERCIFUL God we serve, who chose us in Him apart from anything beyond Himself. What a beautiful truth, that salvation, from start to finish, is ENTIRELY a work of the sovereign, holy One.
its your meaning of "free will" that is distorted. We only choose to follow Christ because God ENABLED us. (this is biblical) Without the Holy Spirit's awakening of our soul, we become self-righteous religious people. We are so broken and filthy that If it was up to us, we would pursue our flesh desires 100% guaranteed. But because its the work of God's Grace we can humbly cry out, "I was once blind, but now I see". You can't produce this by your own nature. IMPOSSIBLE.
+Marty Blackman..Jesus definition of "church" was revelation from the Holy Spirit to you personally. That is how Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ. Paul's definition of "church" is a Heirarchy of titled men to Tell you what to Do. They are Very different. Paul taught that obeying the commandments will Not get you to Heaven and to Seek titled men for your help. Just as you are doing Here. Seeking Piper instead of Christ..Himself.
Most of his analysis of the difference is correct, but he makes a mistake in assuming everything that is not Calvinism is Arminianism. Most Christians, and the early church, did not think that the state of fallen man was such that he could not just repent and trust God without some special, mystical 'grace' coming down from God first.
Pastor John's fair treatment of this matter is an example of how to treat those we disagree with.
It doesn't matter if you agree or not. Is God's word says it that settles it. God's word stands and everything else Falls. Free Will choice is nowhere found in the Bible your choice in the flash does not stand in heaven that's why all the Angels fell with the Devil cuz they were not wholly like the other two thirds are holy doing the will of God and God Alone. Just like the Lord's Prayer Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name die kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. On Earth as it is in heaven we need to live a life down here as the Angels live up in heaven doing God's will
@@mauricejchiassonread isaiah 10:5-chapter 11 then delete your comment
It’s all the Lords work. Give him all the glory
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
What many seem to fail to understand is that our 'will' is a gift from God (part of 'in His image'). We can not boast about anything. We Must be free to come to God willfully or else it is meaningless. This is the whole point of God's excercise. It brings God pleasure that the believer loves Him because the believer wants to. The 'regeneration first' idea destroys that.
God made me alive with Christ! Praise God! All the glory to Him!
Oly MH
After you believed. ;)
How beautiful to experience what John Piper just described. It truly is the Irresistible grace of God that brings about the true conversion of a soul!
100%
I used to be religious driven by emotionalism but now i'm born again because only God can open the eyes of the blind... like me ☺
I've read a lot of people saying that the Arminian vs Calvinist debate is not worth arguing about. This suggests that there are no real-life implications which come as a result of one's views on the matter. I think this is not the case - there are big implications, such as the level of one's gratitude for God for salvation. I used to be Arminian and am now convinced by Calvinism, and it has had a huge impact on my love for and gratitude towards the God who unilaterally saved me that *all* the glory should go to him!
Yet arminianism also agrees with both Soli Deo Gloria and Sola Gratia...
@@Vlugazoide Very true Fernando! And yet on Arminianism God is responsible for 95% of salvation, and we get 5% of the credit for exercising our free-will to decide for God. There is a reason the Bible talks of being *born* again - nobody chooses to be born!
@@Crucian1 not exactly the credit, more of the role. Since God is the only one to praise and the only one with worth and holiness. But yes, your point is true. We only act on being like Judas (seeing wonders and wanting God to work our way), Moses (seeing the character of God and just bending into his grace and will) or the people of Israel who were killed by their brethren in the desert (who simply didn't care about their God). So yes, our role is being magnified and giving up
@@Vlugazoide Even if its 5% in our sinful flesh we are prone to easily multiply that 5% to way more than it is.
deraquis
If you were taking some of the glory when you were an Arminian, then I would say you weren’t really saved.
Because it’s by faith, means that you can’t boast. I’m surprised you were revelling in the fact that you believed.
I once was a reformed person. I now believe both sides are true and are married together, since both arguments are based in scripture. (All scripture is breathed out) I love how John taught his message on Tulip, it still rings true in my head. Doctrines are not weapons to win arguments, they are there for us to know God on a deeper level. To enjoy Him, and to be in Awe of His greatness which is unsearchable. Now to Him who is able to keep us from stumbling, be All the Glory!
I think I'd be happier saying both sides take extreme positions verging on error - they tend not to acknowledge that the truth is found in the paradox of the middle ground. Men want to box God in by the level of their reasoning, overlooking that the Lord is much greater than us and not restricted by our inability to cope with paradoxical positions!
John, while I appreciate your desire to be reconciled with the Arminian camp, I fail to understand how on earth you could say that both sides are based in Scripture when in fact they are diametrically opposed! Nowhere in all of Scripture will you find any support for the idea that we have a free will unhindered by the fall so that we can freely choose to place our faith in God, nowhere will you find support for the idea that one who has been genuinely saved can then somehow lose that salvation, and nowhere will you find support for the idea that Christ died only to make it possible for all mankind to be saved. It’s simply not there without taking things out of context, twisting Scripture, or not understanding it’s meaning. For example, if Christ died, NOT for the certain salvation of specific individuals but only to make it possible for all men to be saved, then that means it’s actually possible that all men might be saved and that’s universalism hence no need for hell. It also means that it’s possible in that scenario that all men might reject Christ in which case God’s plan of redemption was a colossal failure. But we know that neither of those is true. Only SOME people are saved. These are the elect to which Scripture refers time and again.
The two sides are in agreement on much, yes. But there are some very critical issues on which they are worlds apart.
@Allen Combs Mathew 25 puts some light on the matter. Jesus says to the goats depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his Angels. He'll was not a place ever intended by God for man to go to. The goats had made a choice out of their own free will to do wrong, hence why Jesus in the end counts them worthy of going there.
Welcome to the Lutheran view my friend! I’m not a Lutheran but I see it as the best view we can take without overemphasis on either side. The “Crux Theologorum”.
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
Pastor John Piper ! Thank you for your enlightenment of Ephesians 2:4-7. I understand now about your point of irresistible grace. I now understand that this saving grace is really a blessed and divine assurance throughout eternity. Not only will I be alive in Christ, He will also seated me with Him in the Heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6) This verse also tells me that Christ's grace is not only incomparable, He will also share His glory with me, as written in Romans 8:17.
What a beautiful way of explaining the differences with love and respect.
I appreciated Pastor John's explanation and trying to represent Arminianism as fairly as possible. I know this question came up in the apologetics class I am currently teaching and we will discuss it next class. I think three things need to be fleshed out before discussing this matter.
First, Are we addressing what we think about the labels or the theology behind the labels? Do we have a definition of that theology based on scripture? If we get caught up with theological labels named after men, we may give the appearance of following those men (even if we don't) and this violates 1 Corinthians 1:11-12. We need to define the doctrines behind the theology we're speaking of and have Bible references to back it up.
Second, because this is a discussion among Christians, we need to be clear about our view of sin (total depravity), the attributes of God (particularly His sovereignty, omniscience, love, and justice), and again, give Bible references and be able to bring our interpretation of those Bible references to the table. Someone on either side of this discussion (or even someone taking a middle ground) may have different definitions of these things. We need to study our Bibles and check them carefully to see if it is true (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:11).
Third, this is a theological discussion; therefore we must leave out emotion, philosophy, and are preconceived notions about the labels. Again, the Bible must be our guide, not anything outside of it (because this will violate Proverbs 3:5 and Colossians 2:8).
I've seen back and forth in comment sections where I see little or no scripture, but many accusations, insults, and philosophical views (particularly through analogies) instead of going verse by verse through texts. Calvinisms will accuse the other side of not reading their Bibles, not giving glory to God, and accusing them of adding works to salvation. Not every non-Calvinist considers themselves an Arminian and they shouldn't be pigeon-holed by a certain description; they are believers that love the Lord and desire the salvation of the lost. Name calling and lack of respect is not necessary. Many non-Calvinists, on the other hand, will accuse the Calvinist of being unsaved, having a wicked god that is the author of sin, and twisting scripture. This, as well, is unfair since many Calvinists also love the Lord and go proclaim the gospel to the lost. I've made comments about this subject on many posts and have personally been called names by people that profess to be believers. This is not the heart of Jesus' words in John 13:35.
Unless both sides can sit down with their scriptures and go through text of scripture verse by verse to flesh out the doctrines in question, it will always be philosophical musings, emotional insults, and no desire to hear the other side. The discussion is not to win an argument, but to see what the Bible says in its entirety.
I'm not gonna act like I read all of that but I liked the last part lol.
@iFoundTruth I agree with you. I've been a believer for 20 years and for the first nine or ten, I didn't know what Calvinism or Arminianism was. I was just a born again Christian, my identity first and foremost in Christ (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11). I've shared this in other comments; because of something that happened in the first year of my salvation, I vowed to the Lord that I would read my Bible from beginning to end in a year every year until He took me home. This is my nineteenth year reading the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 (not mentioning this to be boastful, but to share a problem I had in about my eight or ninth year of my salvation).
Every year I would get to Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 9 and the context of it seemed clear. It showed that God was sovereign (along with Isaiah 46:9-11). I asked some brethren at my church about this, and for the first time I heard the word "Calvinism." The crux of the comments about my question of Romans 9 was, "You've been watching Calvinists, haven't you?" I had no clue what they were talking about, and when they described Calvinists or Calvinism to me, it was always in the most wicked of terms. I didn't want anyone to think I was like that. The problem is, there was no Biblical explanation or interpretation of Romans 9 verse by verse (which is what I was asking for) and no Bible verses that explained the "wicked" doctrines of these "wicked" Calvinists. The crux of what they were saying is, "Calvinists twist scripture to make God a wicked god and man a robot. God is a god of love according to John 3:16 and their view makes this a lie." Well, I didn't want to be lumped into that group, but I was still reading my Bible and finding other verses that basically spoke of God's sovereignty and still didn't have an answer. (By the way, Arminianism wasn't mentioned until they contrasted it against Calvinism, but I never got an explanation of what they believed at all.)
I did what any good Berean would (Acts 17:11), I studied the scriptures to see if something were true. I began listening to both sides of this "debate." I remember listening to Dave Hunt, a brother whose broadcast have blessed me richly, going back and forth with another guy named James White and for the first time thinking that Dave wasn't answering the question. Then I saw a video on a Christian TV cable network (it was called SkyAngel, but it no longer exists) that talked about God's love and sovereignty, and this video was in several parts so I had to watch it for weeks. It went into all the verses (and others) I questioned and did a good job of explaining it. I actually knew it was truth, but I was still upset and didn't want to believe it because I thought it was unfair. I struggled with this for two years until I finally came to the conclusion that God is God and His goodness is not measured by our standards.
The bottom line, the Bible had to be my guide (2 Timothy 3:16-17) based on its context, content, and grammar. I couldn't base any of these doctrines on leaning on my own understanding (which Proverbs 3:5 speaks against) or philosophies and vain deceit after man's traditions (Colossians 2:8 speaks against that). This matter has to be studied through different verses. If Romans 9, John 6:37-44, Ephesians 1:4-5, 2:1-3, Isaiah 46:9-11, Proverbs 16:9, and other verses like this can't be reconciled with John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4-6, Titus 2:11, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 2:2, and other verses, then we either make God's Word contradictory or we are going to misinterpret the plain context of verses to fit our view. This is the reason no one should truly use the label of Calvinist or Arminian; they should call themselves born again Christians that believe the doctrines of the Bible and flesh out those doctrines without labels. Unfortunately, the preconceived notion of the labels and the in-fighting has caused believers to spout their opinions and not scripture (in love and meekness). Thanks for reading and God bless.
Thank you for this... You did great👏
@@2timothy23 Thank u brother
Eric Smith well said. Thank you brother
I am Armininan and the message in this video is beautiful
Why then are you still arminian?
@@markusw.2690 I'm also Arminian, both are true in Biblical standpoint, but different hermeneutics of interpretation
The problem you guys (Calvinist) only oppose Arminianism, why don't you guys also oppose Lutheranism, Methodism, and Anglicanism ??
I used to be Calvinist who believed in pre-destined and everything should be God's responsibility.
Now I believe there is also our human parts (free-will) in accepting HIS call or ignoring HIS call ( Prov 1:24 )
@@juliansihite1289 sorry, if you think you have done "your part" you must think you are better than your neighbor, who doesn't have done "his part". But Apostle Paul says, that we have nothing to boast of! Nothing! It's all of Grace. OF COURSE we are called to repent and believe in Jesus Christ! But without the initiative of the Holy Spirit - we can't. Why? Because we are DEAD in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2). What can a dead man do by himself?
@@markusw.2690 Paul's election and his calling were based on God's foreknowledge of his decision to believe. (Gal 1:15-16)
Judas was given a choice, but he was not saved. Free-will matters (John 6:70; Jude 1:4)
I'm more mix between Calvin and Arminian standpoints. But I'm locally rooted in Arminian Pentacost Church
@@juliansihite1289 Again: What can a dead man do? You need to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit in the first place before you can (and want) believe.
We are saved by grace through faith. Faith is a gift from God, so no man can boast.
Where does your faith come from?
Jason Schmidt
Eph 2 isn’t saying this faith is the gift of God. Salvation is. Because you’re saved by grace through faith, therefore salvation is a gift.....
Rom 3: 27 ¶ Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Rom 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If faith were the gift of God then grace would precede faith. It doesn’t.
Rom 5: 1 ¶ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Faith is our access to grace.
Calvinism is wrong.
It isn't "this faith". Look at the gender in the Greek.
Faith comes from hearing a message about Christ.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.. all glory to CHRIST. Explained well pastor John! Thanks. Greetings from Hongkong
If we are dead in our trespasses and sins, as Scripture affirms over and over, then there is no possibility of our deciding anything because we’d have to be spiritually alive to do so. It is Christ who makes us come alive in Him and causes us to see His glory, His love, His forgiveness, so that the only possible thing we CAN do is bow before Him in humility and adoration, committing every aspect of our lives to His service. It’s His decision, from start to finish (from before the foundations of the world) and my insisting that I have a part to play in it comes only from my sinful pride. To God and God alone be the glory forever!
So if I don't have any part to play in it- why is sanctification a difficult process?
@@josephbrandenburg4373 you absolutely have a part in your sanctification. James said faith without works is dead. Our works are the evidence of a genuine saving faith. The part where we do nothing because a spiritual corpse can do nothing, is in our salvation. Scripture says over and over again that God chooses us. If we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1) then we are completely unable to do anything pleasing to God, especially manufacturing a faith which Scripture says is a gift from God, NOT OF WORKS so that no one can boast. If we choose God then we most certainly have done a good work and have reason to boast. We rob God of His glory. But if He chooses to save a remnant of undeserving sinners for His good pleasure (Eph. 1), then He gets ALL the glory, as He rightly should. To God alone be the glory!!
@@misfitstranger the passage you are referencing is referring to "grace" "and that is not of yourself, it is a gift" refers to the grace (the grammatical gender of "that" and "grace" align in the Greek, "faith" is the wrong gender). You shouldn't misuse the passage, it undermines the better points you're making.
I don't ever understand what people mean by "glory" when they talk about this subject. What exactly is "glory"? How do you define it? Why does God want it? Can it be stolen -- and if so, does that mean that God's determination was for himself to be robbed of it?
I'm not trying to be difficult here. It's utterly vague to me.
So anyways, thank you for answering my first question. I agree that sanctification is a "synergistic" process. But I think that "Perserverence of the saints" is the idea that "remaining" a Christian is monergistic. I don't have a strong opinion about OSAS, but I think it's a better position than either Arminian "apostasy" or Reformed "perserverence".
Anyways, I think that the idea that being a believer is the only thing we "CAN" do butts up against a metaphor the Bible uses to describe our relationship with God. How is Christ like a bridegroom if his bride cannot refuse him? Isn't that more like a kidnapper?
"The power of God's grace."
Best Tony intro ever
I like John's gracious way to deal with a position he personally disagrees with.
Why do we need a man-made system to understand grace, election, and predestination, be it Calvinism or Arminianism? Both systems somehow fall short of the whole truth, otherwise it would be stated as such in the bible. Salvation is a person, not a theory. The gospel is the power of God to save, not a paradigm. I still wonder why God saved me, the gospel is a mystery, and I will take forever to comprehend its depth and wisdom.
macolyis
It sounds like you wanted to be able to understand the bible. It sounds like you wanted to be freed from demonic possession.
No one claims that we can free ourselves. We say that we can cry out to God for salvation. He’s the one who saves.
you should make this into a little booklet, very clarifying on the subject :)
Too many are divided on whether they chose God or He chose them. It shouldn’t matter UNLESS a persons faith is in the act of their choice or decision and Not in The actual person and work of Christ. I know many people who claim to be saved because they made a profession.
"Jesus went on to say, “This is why I told you (v44) that no one can come to me unless the Father has ENABLED them!"
John 6:65
Grace is God working in us called synergy!
"Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent!"
John 6:28-29
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is
GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU
to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose!"
Philippians 2:12-13
God gives all Grace by the Holy Spirit which enables all to come to Christ by their free will!
In Calvinism some were created and born dead in sin to be damned and have no chance to be saved and no choice in the matter whatsoever!
This evil God is not irresistible.
Can we just accept that no matter how much scripture we know we simply don't have all the answers an maybe never will. Trust that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and let him show you the way. Don't be foolish in your own knowledge.
Do you believe man is the potter or maker of God making Him an actual eternal Savior by man's will?
When will those who call themselves "Calvinists" admit that the doctrine began with Augustine's attempt to explain how infants could become the "elect" through water baptism? Since the child had not come to faith, it must be based on the will of another. It could have nothing to do with the will of the child.
See Dr. Ken Wilson's research on the writings of Augustine in the link below.
th-cam.com/video/BnOMORGM2Qw/w-d-xo.html
@@SpotterVideo do you think that's why people are still fighting over this issue if that ever was the reason which I don't think it was?
I agree. People can get way too bogged down in divisive issues and that makes us look bad to the world. Our finite minds can never grasp the full complexity of God and his ways. Especially a danger if they’re writing a book about it!!!!
@@Beth-ju7nb agree as well. I declare myself an Arminian, but I don't think my doctrine is in any way flawless or complete in any sense.
The less one knows Fear of the LORD, and ' Go and learn what this means, I desire Mercy , not sacrifice" the more likely one is going to actualize the sovereignty and authority' of the human heart in their understandings..
Calvinism is HIGHLY misunderstood by its opponents. No need to debate!
That is part of the problem with some of the arguments against it.
Calvinists also misunderstand their opponents too
@@albinsiby729 way more than Arminians misunderstand calvinists, sadly. This is not a criticism, is a call to approximation
Two conflicting terms, irresistible and willingly.
What a blessed birthday gift
Cub Art happy birthday 🥳
Without wanting to sound controversial, wouldn't it be great if we could take as much effort to celebrate our shared reformed beliefs rather than arguing about the differences? Not saying which path I walk but some of the comments I'm reading are not what I expect from people who follow Christ. Peace to you all brothers and sisters.
If you study both, you will se they agree in more super important gospel points and disagree in other ones, way less in the core.
Five Points is an excellent book.
THE HOLY BIBLE IS EVEN BETTER. GOD BLESS YOU.
@@mercibeaucoup2639 Agreed! =)
Who can resist God’s will? God does not learn. Grace means some are saved not all. Prevenient grace is a total hash and unbiblical. Partial regeneration.... no bueno. Election answers why am I a Christian.
Thank you so much
Jesus HIMSELF Said that no one can come to the FATHER UNLESS the THE FATHER DRAWS him....Yes?
Agreed. That's why prevenient grace is necessary
Or is it possible that there is another answer out there that our human minds can’t comprehend 🤷♂️ cause God blows our minds, so he has some answers we can’t comprehend
Agreed.
"As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." (Eccl 11:5)
so beautifully explained although I've been a Calvinist beforehand.
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything as per Calvinism; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
I once turned on the TV to a program called "Will and Grace," I thought that I was going to be watching a debate between an Arminian and a Calvinist... Boy was I WRONG!
Those who subscribe to the idea of man’s “free will” will usually describe it as a "Libertarian Free Will," and to have a Libertarian Free Will means that man is an autonomous being who operates independently and is not controlled by others or outside forces. Friend, that is a description of God, not man, therefore to subscribe to the notion that man has a libertarian free will is to subscribe to the lie that "you will be like God..." (Genesis 3:4-5) But it is actually far worse than that, Libertarian Free Will is an assertion of an autonomy even from God; that man is sovereign over his own heart, and if man is sovereign over his own heart, then even God has no determinative power over the choices that he makes, neither does God even have the power of simple persuasion since man’s autonomy would free his own determinative will from any causation, so instead of an individual merely being "like God" in that His will is neither determined nor persuaded, in asserting that not even God can determine his will, he pushes God out of His throne, stripping Him of His power, and grants to himself a power that is greater than Yahweh, about whom we know that nothing comes to pass without His determining will (Lamentations 3:37), and nothing can be done outside of or against His determinative will (Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 33:9-11, 103:19). Indeed, without realizing it, those who assert libertarian free will are standing with Satan's 5 "I will" statements in Isaiah 14:13-14: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” The audacity is terrifying.
The question then needs to be asked, is man’s will free to do only as he pleases, or is God’s will free to do only as He pleases? There could only be three possibilities: it may be one or the other, it may be neither, or it may be both. We know that the answer cannot be neither, because if we were to assert that God’s will is not free, then the immediate problem is to determine what it is that places limitations on God? And we know that God is all powerful, able to do all that can be done, and He is subject to no one (Isaiah chapters 40-45). We also know that the answer cannot be both, for if both man and God each have a will that enables them to do only as they please, what then happens when the two wills are contradictory to one another? Nebuchadnezzar certainly understood that man’s will cannot override that of God’s (Daniel 4:35). The answer then is that only God’s will is free; man’s will therefore is subject to, and contingent upon the will of God who works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11).
If, however, an individual agrees with scripture that God retains the right to intrude into the will of man at any time, and for any reason that He chooses (cf. Genesis 20:6), then libertarian free will is disproved, and those who continue to assert man’s Libertarian Free Will are shown either to actually believe in some other form of “free will” that they have failed to define, or they are shown to be inconsistent, and inconsistency is a sign of a faulty position.
Lawrence Stanley
Isaiah 14 isn’t Satan. It’s the king of Babylon.
If God's will is always done that means God is the one responsible for everything that happens. How can he justly punish anyone for doing evil when he is the one that determined that they must do it in the first place?
Also, why would God himself do things that are contrary to his own will? Example: He doesn't desire that any perish but that all repent 2 Pt 3:9 and wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth 1Tim 2:4 yet many die unsaved/separated from him and go on to enteral torment. Obviously something is very wrong with this picture.
@@evanu6579
Jesus didn't think that this passage was limited to the king of Babylon. He uses verse 12 to describe Satan's fall; see Luke 10:18 and Revelation 12:8-10. The passage in Isaiah 14 speaks to the king of Babylon AND to Satan who is behind him. Take a look at Ezekiel 28:12-17 for similar language where the passage speaks to both the king of Tyre AND Satan.
@@lmorter7867
You said: *"How can he justly punish anyone for doing evil when he is the one that determined that they must do it in the first place?"*
EXCELLENT question! Look at the life of Joseph - God ordained that Joseph go into slavery (Genesis 45:8) so that He might, through Joseph, preserve his people that they might become a nation from whom the Messiah would come. God intended the action (Joseph going to Egypt) for the glory of God while Joseph’s brothers on the other hand, sold him into slavery out of jealousy (a sinful act). Here we see in this one act ordained by God, two intentions: God ordains an action and intends it for good, while men perform the action and intend it for evil (Genesis 50:20).
Proverbs 16:9 - The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
God is sovereign over all and ordains whatsoever comes to pass, and whatever He ordains, because God’s will is perfectly righteous and holy, His intention is always for the glory of God, and His will always serves that purpose. Man’s will however is fallen because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5), and unless his will is captivated by the righteousness of God working within his will to do and to work for the glory of God (Philippians 2:12-13), he will always work out what God ordains for his own sinful purposes. In this way, God ordains whatsoever comes to pass, but He is not the author of sin - the existence of sin is in His eternal plan, therefore He has indeed ordained it, but he never commands individuals to act sinfully; that they do out of their own intentions that have become fallen in Adam. God decreed the action and meant it for good, but men performed the action and meant it for evil. Because men perform the action intending it to fulfill their own sinful desires, although the action was decreed by God for His glory, men remain culpable for actions that they perform according to their own wicked intentions. (cf. Isaiah 10:5-11)
Remember James 1:13-14 - “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” God does not make men evil in order that they might carry out the decrees of God for wicked purposes. All men who are of natural generation from Adam have inherited a fallen nature (Romans 5) and are by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), and they will naturally act out God's decrees for their own wicked intentions, so, of course God does not tempt men to act wickedly, wickedness is in their nature thanks to Adam, and every man will be held accountable for acting upon the wicked intentions of his heart.
You said: *"why would God himself do things that are contrary to his own will?"*
Another excellent question. You need to understand that God wills things in two different senses. The Bible demands this by the way it speaks of God’s will in different ways. Edwards uses the terms “will of decree” and “will of command.” Jonathan Edwards explains in his book "The Freedom of the Will"
that “God's will of decree (or sovereign will) is not his will in the same sense as his will of command (or moral will) is. Therefore it is not difficult at all to suppose that the one may be otherwise than the other: his will in both senses is his inclination. But when we say he wills virtue, or loves virtue or the happiness of his creature; thereby is intended that virtue or the creature’s happiness, absolutely and simply considered, is agreeable to the inclination of his nature. His will of decree is his inclination to a thing not as to that thing absolutely and simply, but with reference to the universality of things. So God, though he hates a thing as it is simply, (such as sin) may incline to permit it with reference to the universality of things."
This is a fundamental truth that helps explain some otherwise perplexing things in the Bible, namely, that God often expresses his will to be one way, and then acts to bring about another state of affairs.
o God opposes hatred toward his people, yet ordained that his people be hated in Egypt (Genesis 12:3; Psalm 105:25-”He turned their hearts to hate his people”).
o He hardens Pharaoh’s heart, but commands him to let his people go (Exodus 4:21; 5:1; 8:1).
o He makes plain that it is sin for David to take a military census of his people, but he ordains that he do it (2 Samuel 24:1; 24:10).
o He opposes adultery, but ordains that Absalom should lie with his father’s wives (Exodus 20:14; 2 Samuel 12:11).
o He forbids rebellion and insubordination against the king, but ordained that Jeroboam and the ten tribes should rebel against Rehoboam (Romans 13:1; 1 Samuel 15:23; 1 Kings 12:15-16).
o He opposes murder, but ordains the murder of his Son (Exodus 20:13; Acts 4:28).
Lawrence Stanley
Luk 10 and Rev 12 happened at the cross. Michael was at war with Satan while Jesus was in earth.
Jhn 12: 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
Rev 12 specifically says that NOW is salvation. That’s at the cross.
Eze 28, is just about the king of Tyre. Satan isn’t mentioned there either.
Prevenient grace to all is Biblical.
“From the standpoint of the gospel they (Jews) are enemies for your (Gentiles = all non-Jews) sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.” - Romans 11:28-32 (NASB)
Rascal All of everyone. You can’t affirm the first all to mean every single person and then create a new definition for the second all. That’s not how it works. That’s interpreting Paul’s point through a theological system, not what he actually says. Romans 11 makes it clear throughout the chapter that anyone (Jew or Gentile) can be grafted into God’s covenant people (the body of Christ) if they don’t persist in unbelief. Romans 11 also affirms that any Jew or Gentile can be cut off for unbelief. Because of God’s grace and mercy, there’s not one single person on earth who absolutely CANNOT be grafted into the body of Christ. Ironically, even John Calvin says this. He’s being inconsistent with his other teachings when he says that, but even he understood that he couldn’t overlook passages like this. He just throws it into the mystery bucket.
You know what, just let's preach the gospel, hard! That's it.
I went to a fantastic Wesleyan seminary with people I consider brothers and sisters in Christ. Even so, I find prevenient grace to be a mess. There’s nothing in Scripture that points to making a person who is dead in sin half alive so he can will himself toward full life.
Prevenient grace is another word for "free will". Arminianism would say God's trying his hardest but he is too much a gentleman to override a person's will. In the Arminian worldview, there could be a situation where no one would be saved and heaven would be empty of saved human souls if everyone of their will decided against trusting Jesus for salvation.
What I understand is that God has called everyone and made his grace available for everyone through Jesus Christ. But the final decision is up to us to repent and believe in his son and have faith in him. If that wasn't the case, why would call call us to repent? Why would he tell us to turn our hearts? Why does it say "believe and be saved"? It doesn't say "wait for God to make you believe in him". If that wasn't the case, why would he judge people?
Of course God makes us alive. We cannot do it ourselves. That’s what Arminians believe.
Daniel 4:35 ESV / 1,832 helpful votes
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Although leaning towards Calvinism myself, the scripture given does not adequately support the argument for ultimate self determination. In the Arminian view, Christ is still raising us up and making us alive together, the Grace of God is doing all of the work, they simply say that it is us who allow God to do that.
Are there other scriptures that we could turn to in order for a more complete understanding of this fundamental point? I've been wrestling with this for a while now.
FORGET ABOUT CALVINISM OR ARMINIANISM MY FRIEND. IF YOU HAVE DECLARED WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS IS LORD AND GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO BE SAVED. THAT DOESN'T MEAN ONCE YOU ARE SAVED ABANDON GOD FOR GOOD. REMEMBER, GOD HAS ORDERED US TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO EVERY SINGLE HUMAN BEING. WORKS WON'T GET YOU SAVED, BUT IMPORTANT OBEYING THE HOLY WORD OF GOD. GOD BLESS YOU. JOHN 3:16-18
Rush Leigh
Raising us up and making us sit together in the heavens with Christ is after you’re in Him through faith. Besides that, these are spiritual blessings that we have in Christ Jesus in heavenly places. It’s only because you’re in Him. Before you were in Him you had no hope. None of these blessings were yours....
Eph 2: 11 ¶ Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Without hope!! But now in Christ....!!!
God bless.
When Our Father reveals himself, how can He be denied?
Adam and Eve
I appreciate Piper's attempt to represent classical Arminianism accurately, but his approach is misguided. Working to clarify strengths of Arminian theology and weaknesses of Calvinism on my channel, especially regarding Romans 9-11.
Your video on Rom 9-11 in missional perspective was so helpful. Seeing that God chooses his people to be the instrument by which those who were passed over come to salvation really opened my eyes to the accuracy of the Arminian perspective. Thanks!
Yes! OFE vids helped me understand the Calvinism debate. I hope you are going to do more on Romans 9-11. We need more Arminian interpretations of that passage.
@@stevesmith8974 Thanks so much!
@@ronjackson3066 Glad you found the videos helpful!
Subscribed to OFE. Great material. So clear! Thanks!
There is another position other than Calvinism and Arminianism. This either-or only is not a fair debate.
Sadly there must be explanation like this. It was very good. The sad part is the debate that is preached rather than the Gospel.
Please explain to me how Calvinism explains how God would only chose some and not others; discounting large swaths of people the opportunity to find Salvation? I believe that every person has the freedom to choose, or not, a faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I believe that every person, once saved, should continuously work out their faith, seeking to repent and pick up their cross daily, and that each promise of God is preceded with a caveat that we must follow Him.
Why did God only choose Israel as His people in the Old Testament? It’s the same for His spiritual Israel of the new covenant.
God chose only Abraham a sinner among a multitude of sinners ,God chose Israel a sinful nation over other sinful nations ,God chose Jacob a sinner over Esau a sinner ,Isaac over Ishmael,Jesus chose his disciples,He chose Paul. Redemption was at work before God created the heavens and the earth ,and God chose whom he would adopt as his sons Eph 1:4-5
Stephen said “ye do always resist the holy spirit” in Acts 7:51, so resisting the holy spirit IS possible, and could potentially be the very unforgivable sin of the blasphemy of the holy spirit.
irresistible grace means God could literally save everyone if He wanted to, but chooses not to. and yet scripture says over and over that “God wills for all men everywhere to be saved.”
so while much of calvinism is true, irresistible grace is a plain contradiction to scripture.
as for arminians, one problem they have is that it is possible for one to lose their salvation. God repeatedly tells us in His word that He knew who will be saved from the foundation of the world. Romans 8:29-30 says everyone that God once justifies (saves) will also be glorified (new body, etc.).
therefore the truth is very much in the middle, and i don’t yet know of a particular denomination that holds to such views.
Learning some Greek would really help. Because The Bible surely was not written in English. It says something very different in Greek.
When we are made alive in Christ, we get a new heart that loves the truth and are drawn to the Truth. Here is irresistible grace. Christ is so irresistable that we cannot but love Him and follow Him and want to know Him more and more! I thank God for this grace. If left to myself I would have never chosen the right thing and would go to hell. But God!!!!!! He saves those He loves. He doesn't lieve the decision to the stupid sheep. How wonderful!!
Anyone that is saved, ask genuinely, did you truly feel like you could resist what was revealed to you at the moment of salvation? Did any of you feel like you could look at the truth of salvation, ball it up and put it in a nutshell and understand jesus saves us and then you take that nutshell and decide to throw it away and walk away not saved and choose to not accept the truth, could you have done that in your own personal testimony? I've asked that myself because we can only personally ask that because our salvation is only between ourselves and God and no one else. I personally know that God opened my eyes and did the work for me to enter in, not ever being able to reject it. If rejection was possible then I think it would have to present its self but it never did because I was chosen. It's like trying to say the sky isn't blue when it actually is. If you are saying it isn't blue then you are insane and choose not to believe its blue. It's not that you don't believe its blue, it's you don't want it to be blue. God meets everyone spiritually where they need God to be and I believe the ones that reject him do so of their own doing because of pride of life not want to accept the truth of bending the knee to christ. The ones that accept him are chosen because of the willingness to bend the knee. Free will is apart of Gods image but can only be God honoring when we bend the knee and we can do that only after jesus died and rose again. After that the holy spirit could influence our free will to bring us to salvation. Before the cross Gods influence was all external but with the holy spirit its internal. God can finally make two become one. God is outside of time and with that he can choose us through predestination but free will in an eternal God image way still determines our salvation. In a carnal, worldly timeline Gods will determines how we become saved. Meaning he decides what our testimony will be and when were born ext.... but we eternally(through free will) have already determined our salvation. So God through his knowledge and being outside of time being infinite has already figured out what makes you tick and if you will accept being 2nd to Him. Then he takes the answer(you). And places you in the when and the where and we will find out the why when we go back to Him in heaven.
I came to faith as a child, so I never had this Damascus Road-type experience. According to Calvinists, they claim everyone is born a hater of God. Well, if I was, it was before I could even comprehend anything. I don’t ever remember consciously hating God in my life. There are millions of testimonies similar to mine that I have yet to hear a Calvinist explain. As for your post, there have been testimonies of people who resisted multiple times and felt a tug but didn’t give in until like the 13th time. So how would a Calvinist explain that?
@@BK-yz7px B K from the moment of the Fall, all humanity is totally deprived and in sin (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23). None is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks for God (Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3). You may not have consciously formed the thought that "man, I hate God," but when we love other things - including ourselves - more than God, we are in fact disobeying God's commandments. I too was born into a Christian environment and became a born-again Christian at an early age without the Damascus experience, but that is not to say I had never loved anything else more than God before my salvation. Even afterwards my flesh would be drawn to things other than God if left unchecked and that's the human condition of all, including Christians, even Paul writes "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Just because you weren't aware of your own sin before salvation, it doesn't mean what the bible says is untrue or applies only selectively. If you feel that you have no sins to repent, or you are resisting the idea of total depravity, then that alone is a sin that you need to repent, for no one is holy besides God, no one is blameless besides Jesus, and pride in the form of self-righteousness is the father of all sin.
blingx2sys Stop accusing me of something I never said. I’m merely speaking truthfully of my experience. I’m not going to lie for the sake of Calvinism. Lying is a sin. What I’m pointing out is that almost all Calvinists I hear will say all men are hating God as in they are shaking their fist at God. When you are a 2-year-old, you are not shaking your fist at God. Even in Calvinism if God decided to regenerate me and millions of other people before we are even aware of anything, that still eliminates the idea that everyone is consciously hating God. That’s just a problem in Calvinism, and they never seem to deal with that group of people. Also, even most Calvinists affirm that the Bible implies an age of accountability.
blingx2sys This is John MacArthur on the age of accountability. This is a Calvinist perspective in the link below. Other Calvinists, meanwhile, deny it. But I think John MacArthur makes a great case. Adam Harwood, of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote a whole book on this issue. Here’s the MacArthur link: www.gty.org/library/articles/A264/the-age-of-accountability
@@BK-yz7px I happened to come across your other comment demanding John Piper to explain total depravity, which implied to me that you don't believe that all humanity is completely under sin and fall short of God, which is in contrast of what the bible says. I personally have not heard that expression of "shaking fist" at God from any Calvinist, and if that's what some Calvinists say, I'm sure that's just that - an expression, for the bible does not define sin as simply and exclusively shaking fist at God. As for the 2 year old, or even the newborn - they are all under sin in the sense that they are self-centered and selfish even in their innocence. Parents actually have to teach them to share their toys, they demand 100% of attention all the time, the whole world revolves around them. They are innocently rebellious (ever seen a toddler tantrum?) because they are not naturally going to obey parents, it takes a lot of nurturing and teaching to get them to behave in morally acceptable ways. My nephew when he was just over a yeat old, as sweet and innocent as he was, had no issue disregarding my bodily fatigue and pain while he just wanted to hop on my back for fun, for goodness's sake!! Also, you and I both agree lying is sin, right? Children are natural liars, there are psychology studies after studies proving that they can innocently lie. Yes it may not be a consciously made behaviour - but that just goes to show that, even in our most untainted instinct, we are totally under sin from the moment we are born, whether we are aware of it or not. That's why all humanity, regardless of age, needs Jesus! Why did he ever need to die if humans are not completely deprived and could somehow find their way back to God in the state of sin?
So people who reject Christ, does not have the Grace Of God
John, do you use the prevenient grace doctrine to witness to the unsaved? Should we completely understand it before we witness to unsaved? I am sarcastic of course. I have been saved 50 years and it has made not a wit of difference in my walk with Jesus. How does Prevenient Grace apply to the thief on the cross who crossed from railing abuse to plea for salvation. Grace did not preceed his plea.
Arminianism is the product of people's belief that it is unfair of God to sentence anyone to eternal hell without giving that person a fair chance to believe. Ask any Arminian. It starts, not with scripture, but with a feeling that Calvinism makes God unjust; God is not unjust; therefore, Calvinism must be wrong.
But a right, scriptural analysis reveals that God is just; everything God does is just; therefore, God is just in condemning whom he pleases, and saving whom he pleases.
God then very pleased to condemn you. Just tell everyone you’re the object of wrath chosen for destruction. You surely believe the truth?
@@madcow9421 Why would I tell someone that when no one knows who the elect are? That's silly. Read the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22. The external call goes to all; God makes the inward call to the elect, which only he can do.
When there are two views, ask yourself:
Which one glorifies God more?
Isaiah 42:8 "... my glory I give to no other..."
Here is absolute Biblical proof that God does NOT cause or determine everything as per Calvinism; In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, “They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal-something I did NOT COMMAND or mention, nor did it enter my mind.” 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is…not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.” and yet, it also has Jesus saying, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction (hell) and many are on it, but straight and narrow is the road that leads to life (Heaven) and few ever find it."
@@Mike-qt7jp ??? This is not the place for an argument but that does not negate that view of Scripture. How about when God says that he chooses some people for hell and some people for heaven or that some are elect.
"Calvinists only those who take scripture at face value and don't try to explain it away."
That quotes from an Armenian by the way
@@Mike-qt7jp I'm sure you mean well and may love Jesus a whole lot and if you are my brother then I don't want to say anything other than what would be encouraging to you. But in your well meaning, don't dismiss the entirety of scripture for your own comfort.
@@Mike-qt7jp😅😅😅😅
Jeremiah 1 I knew you before....
your passage proves total depravity ignoramus the opposite of your blasphemy 😅
He causes everything good everything bad is in his absence you have no clue what Christianity or Calvinism is sit down and listen
zombie self righteous narcissist arminains 🤦
The other divide is that Calvinist happily enjoyed the fruits of slavery, often choosing to remain silent or opposing the Arminians who widely argued against slavery. I believe in both free will and God’s sovereignty. I do not believe in slavery.
In a nutshell, it's God wants to save all but can't, vs God can save all but won't.
@Ben Jones Hallelujah, what a Savior! From where you're at, keep going to Romans 12:1 especially the 5 beautiful verses before that :) Each in his own order :) as in First Cor. 15 and then wait, trust and obey, like there's no other Way!
he is angry with the wicked all day every day it's a miracle he would want to save anyone
it's Gods authority vs mans.
your dumbedt down strawman notwithstanding 😅😅😅😅
@@CarmenCastille Love never fails
Rofl. Ephesians 2:4-7. So you literally skip the next verse that clarifies that "made us alive with Christ" is through faith. Paul says "made us alive with Christ" = "by grace you have been saved". Then Paul immediately says in the next sentence, By grace you have saved THROUGH faith. We are regenerated THROUGH faith, or as John Calvin says in his Ephesians 2:8-9 commentary "received by faith alone".
Surely an all-knowing God could have inspired a book with clearer instructions.
Very well explained!
I think we so proudly proclaim our views as if we are sovereign you find scripture on both sides of views our minds cannot comprehend God and all his ways does not matter how many degrees we have the bible says how beautiful are the feet the bring the good news God does not look at man made doctrines but He does look at how many people have brought into His kingdom we are called to to take the good knews and how He moves in people's hearts we do not know but scripture does say by faith we come to Christ now did He generate all that faith in me or only some so I could accept Chist I dont truly know but I know He does give me a choice to continue in this faith so we are really stretching scripture when we remove free will from man Godbless
Arminianism does not worship a sovereign God. If anything happens outside of God determining it, then it is outside of God’s sovereignty. God is not sovereign then. Arminians are atheists worshiping a false god. This is truth and love.
yes indeed 😢
Preveniant grace is best understood by the doctrine of repentance. For example scripture says God calls sinners to repentance. If repentance is irresistible by means of effectual grace than God is merely playing a game with sinners. For scripture says he desires for sinners to repent, waits for us to repent, gets angry when we don't repent. If he is the one making us repent, scripture becomes very confusing.
Your name makes your Arminian defense confusing.
For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:6-11 NKJV
Piper is wrong. Arminianism doesn’t say we save ourselves. That’s ridiculous.
I agree. Even as someone who considers themselves more Calvinistic. Arminianism doesn’t teach that we saved ourselves. It does however teach that we atleast make a choice in accepting Gods offer of salvation and then God does everything else and seals us with his holy spirit creating a new heart in us. A Calvinist would consider accepting this offer through faith to be a work of man in and of itself which they would consider synergistic.
1 Corinthians 3:1-7 KJVS
[1] And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. [2] I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. [3] For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? [4] For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? [5] Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? [6] I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. [7] So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase:
What we likely have here is a prime example of what Apostle Paul prophesied about.
Ephesians 4:14-15 KJVS
[14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; [15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
If you want to understand sound doctrine study the Word and let the unction of the Holy Ghost teach you.
1 John 2:20,27 KJVS
[20] But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. [27] But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
www.justifiedfreely.com
If you don't read the Bible and study the verses you quote by context please do us a favor and don't comment here..you're just confusing people with your opinions and self made ideas!
And telling them to go to hell. May God help us...we became childish buffoons...
I just follow someone no one talks about much, Jesus Christ the Son of God. To me following Calvin or Amenius is the same as following Mary. The Lord has always given Grace, it is His character. Follow Him. Grace is simply unearned favour especially the favour of having our sins forgiven and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is very simple.
AMEN.
bible is very clear that you have no free will to be born of your physical birth and you have no free will to be born of your spiritual birth. john chapter 3 makes it extremely clear. next
Referencing a verse and then saying next before hearing another perspective reminds me of Aminians who quote John 3:16 and then ignore any thoughtful Calvinist interpretations
@Hosanna well I'm not a Calvinist, but I guess I don't see the problem for calvinism in that section. Why do you think Calvinists would have trouble with that text?
@Hosanna Okay, I see what your saying now. I think Calvinists believe in a type of free will called compatibilism. They believe a person always chooses their greatest desire at any given moment, and since their desires are all determined by factors outside of them (ie God), their choices are likewise determined. That's why Calvinists will say that you do what you want and are therefore accountable. Whether you think this is a sufficient explanation for how sinners are morally responsible under determinism is a separate point.
In this case, I think a Calvinist would take john 3:16 as an example of total depravity and people following their own desires.
"he’s clearly saying men willfully love to do evil things like steal and fornicate. That’s free choice"
I assume that a Calvinist would agree with you here. Calvinists believe sinners "freely" and "willfully" choose their sin. As long as you define "freely" in the context of always following your greatest desire.
Why does god have something so important - so totally confusing?!! Why not commit a whole book to the gospel?
Draw nigh unto me and I will draw nigh unto you seek and you shall find God's going to do his part with Grace but we still have to do our part and respond and actively stir up the gift though is within us it says in Revelation Jesus says I come to knock on the door and if any man will open the door I will sup with him and he with me citizen John that God gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him will have eternal life so it says who so ever that means everyone God is not willing that any should perish but all coming everlasting life
Then, why isn't everyone saved? Some people are not chosen? Yes, the glory is Al His for the hole process of regeneration, but some people chose not to accept His gift.
Romans 3:10-17
While I absolutely believe God causes/ordains/determines some things. I don’t believe He causes everything to happen. In Jeremiah 19:5 God says, "People built high places to sacrifice their children (in fire) to foreign gods, and He (God) says, "I did NOT COMMAND this, nor did it enter my mind."
These are just a few of the MANY verses that speak of people making a choice; where Calvinism says, there is "No choosing" God decides. Isaiah 56:4 says, "For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who CHOOSE what pleases me..." Isaiah 65:12 says, "...I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and CHOSE what displeases me.” Isaiah 7:15 says, "...He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and CHOOSE the right..." Proverbs 3:31 says, "... Envy thou not the oppressor, and CHOOSE none of his ways." 1 Chronicles 21:11 says, "So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your CHOICE: three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord..."
By the way, the Calvinist will often quote Jesus, "No one can come to me unless the Father draws him." I agree. BUT, it says "unless the Father draws him." It does NOT say unless the Father CAUSES him or FORCES him to come to Christ.
In Ephesians, chapter 2, St Paul addresses the mainly Gentile believers as : ' you were dead in trespasses and sins...', yet he himself had also been dead, but a different version of 'dead', dead in self-righteous religious works (Hebrews 6:1.) !
How can the Judge of all the Earth hold someone responsible, if he had no say in the decision or the final outcome whatsoever (hyper-calvinism) ?
Human beings are certainly not lifeless clay (Romans 9:21.) after all, nor are they mindless animals (according to godless Darwinism), but somewhere in between, cooperation is required (Psalm 32:8,9.) !
According to Jesus, Paul was dead in his trespasses and sins. "For sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4
God-the-Son said to the Pharisees which had come from Jerusalem , Mark 7, "For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition (Grk paradosis) of men as the washing of pots and cups; and many other such like things do ye."
A former Pharisee from Jerusalem: "And I profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions (Grk. paradosis) of my fathers."
- Paul, Galatians 1
But Jesus said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition (paradosis).
_
This said, I agree with the end of what you said. We are responsible. We can choose whatever we want. No caveat.
But, when and if we do choose, we give ALL glory and credit to God.
This is a mystery, but one the Bible teaches. I think we do well to leave God's matters to him and just believe all that he says as little children. (Matt 18:3)
:] Thanks for reading.
I am a Christian
@Jamie Hampton which one is the correct one?
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
.
I came across this You Tube channel by Dr. Gene Kim. He just put up a video called: "Top 10 Christian TH-cams you must delete!" because according to him they preach Calvinism and it is wrong. Well, he sent me here, and I'm glad, because I just found out that I am indeed a Calvinist, and if I have to delete a channel it will be his.
Your a woman and women are easily deceived. CALVINISM WILL SEND YOU TO HELL.
How many verses are not in red letters or are they all in red letters spoken by Jesus?
NO MAN 🚹 CAN COME TO ME unless the father who sent me DRAWS HIM 💘, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44
John 15:18 19 if the world hated you, you know it hated me before I hate you. If you were of the world the world would love its own but because you are not of the world,
BUT I HAVE CHOSEN YOU OUT OF THE WORLD 🌎,
therefore the world hates you.
John 3:16-21 King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ( IS GOD'S CHOSEN ELECT) in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him MIGHT BE SAVED.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, (BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD 🌎) BECAUSE HE HATH NOT BELIEVED IN THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, AND MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL.
20 FOR EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, lest his deeds should be REPROVED OR EXPOSED.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
So now if we were all born with sin and it takes the Holiness of God to break the bondage of sin how did Darkness decide to allow God into their life? How could mankind who was in bondage of sin break themselves free to ask God into their heart When God Says in HIS word that he CHOSEN HIS OWN BEFORE the FOUNDATION of the WORLD 🌎 in the BOOK of LIFE were SEALED and closed. Then he said let there be light.
Ephesians 1:4 5 and Romans 8:29 30
John 15:4-5
4 Abide in me, and I in you. AS THE BRANCH CANNOT BEAR FRUIT OF ITSELF, EXCEPT IT ABIDE IN THE VINE; NO MORE CAN YE, EXCEPT YE ABIDE IN ME.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: FOR WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING.
Jeffrey Martin
Jesus chose the apostles as faithful witnesses to bring His message to the world.
Read John 6;45. Those who were taught by the Farher and learned would come to Jesus. The Father taught through prophets. John the Baptist was sent to turn the hearts of the people to the Lord that all men through him might believe.
Luk 7: 29 ¶ And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
I feel like you need to widen your lens and discover the entire story of the bible. Zooming in on a passage here and there has skewed your conclusions.
God bless
Y’all I have a question. If it’s true that Gods grace is irresistible, then why do people resist the Lord? It seems to me that we have a choice to make.
You could see a miracle and deny God, but when He enters your life, you are his. Calvinists just believe that God does this with the elected.
Calvinism understanding of the Bible is that the grace of God that brings salvation is specific to the elect only and is irresistible because it brings them out of darkness in the light but for the non-elect God withholds that same so they they happily continue to be dead in trespasses and sins.
"They resist always" it says.... Unpardonable sin is what all people do who are not chosen to believe. They resist the Holy Spirit ALWAYS.
I used to consider myself Calvinist and at one time was deeply studied in it. The Calvinist view is not that all of God's Grace is irresistible, but rather that there is a certain sort of grace, an electing grace which he gives to his eternally chosen over and above his 'common grace.' A term that most calvinists I knew / still find more suitable than "irresistible" is "effectual:" it's a grace that is effective to remove any and all resistance to his gospel work.
I no longer call myself a Calvinist (I never did like the term) although I still maintain that election, in the general essence expressed by the "reformed" camp, is a manifestly scriptural doctrine. What I no longer will engage in, however, is the systematizing and logic-chopping of things which are God's business, "neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me." (Psalm 131)
Many Christians, whether Arminian or Calvinist, are fully content to leave as mystery how the Lord is ONE Lord yet expressed in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost... yet somehow find themselves far more confident in their theological systems to discern the mystery discussed in this video. It's better, it would seem, to be as Jesus called us to be: like so many little children (Matt 18:3) who are happy to leave our Father's matters to him.
As His kids we should believe with ZERO caveat, that "God is not willing any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" _and_ with ZERO caveat believe him when he says, "no man can come to me except the Father who sent me draw him, and all who the Father draws will come to me."
Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; (Edwards, Wesley, Calvin, Arminius, included) yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
ECC 8:17
Union of the spirit before union of faith
By His Stripes
Regeneration happens after faith....
Jhn 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
All that believed would receive the Spirit after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension....
Jhn 14: 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Jhn 15: 26 ¶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Jhn 16: 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
The Holy Spirit is first given here....
Jhn 20: 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
So they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until after the resurrection as Jesus stated in John 7. That’s well after the disciples believed, and many others as well......
Jhn 2: 23 ¶ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
Luk 7: 50 ¶ And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Even after the resurrection, faith still preceded regeneration.....
Eph 1: 13 ¶ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Just to clarify what regeneration is. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit....
Rom 8: 9 ¶ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Spiritual life happens after belief.....
Jhn 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
The disciples hadn’t received this life before the resurrection of Christ.....
Jhn 14:19 ¶ Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Peter hadn’t yet been converted.....
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
(Matt 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.)
In Ephesians 2:8, grace is the gift from God and not faith. Faith is our response to the grace that God is giving... Man has the free will to receive or reject the goodness of GOD... if you read the entire Bible nowhere you can find a word SOVEREIGN attached to the word GRACE..
And nowhere in the Bible can you find the words "free will", but you WILL find that man's plans WILL be frustrated by God, meaning He has ultimate say in all things.
“Dead in tresspasses” should be read as a phrase not “Dead, in trespasses.” The tresspasses made it us dead. We are condemned with a sentence of death.
Why Don't you People just Follow Jesus..Like He asked you To? Instead of contending over men's opinions? Jesus Made is very Clear and Simple What He Wants us to Teach and Do in Matthew 5 6 7. I never hear any of Jesus actual Real Gospel on this site.
kathleen Wharton these are questions that people send in
@Odd Fish I think she comes on here to complain about St Paul and John Piper being false teachers 😁
I don't identify as either, though I keep being asked what I believe in. Is it necessary to classify believes to either of the 2? I like David pawson or even Spurgeon's stand on this, where he says: how can you reconcile friends . Is it possible for you, Pastor John, to explain if there is a more biblical theology to salvation than either calvinism or arminianism? Because there seems to be biblical bases for and against either. Perhaps both have borrowed some things from the tradition of man rather than from the word of God.
@From The Darkness To The Light did he explicitly say this or is it inferred by calvinist. I do not know but from the written down sermons of his that I have read. He does not specifically identify with either.
What about Lutheranism and Provisionism (Traditional Southern Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, all of the early church for 400 years before Augustine, etc.)? Why do church “leaders” continue to insist on constantly painting a false dichotomy?
I guess because that wasn't the question which was asked.
And Molinism
Why everyone forgets molinism? I don't believe in it, but is interesting!!!
Because molonism is not orthodoxy. It’s a radically different view of the orthodox view of God which both Calvinists and Arminians affirm
I absolutely agree with John Swenson.
I try personally to stay out of the whole calvinist vs arminian thing. I don't like getting into things like that, that divide us as believers.
Amen
I think the content of what we believe is of great importance. Very important subject.
@@jacksobrooks it is, but if it's not a "salvation issue" in my opinion, it's not something to argue over. I tend to find that when people argue over things like this that people's minds are usually already made up on the issue.
@@jacksobrooks it then turns into a pointless, heated argument with each side claiming they are the more spiritual Christian and it just looks bad to the world. Unbelievers just use things like that to mock us. I think it's better, that if you feel like a brother or sister is in error to perhaps have a short conversation with them. If they are not receptive then let it go and pray for them. Better to show the love of Christ than to argue with each other. That is what will draw unbelievers to Christ. Not bickering about things like this.
@@steveparks2976 I agree. What, in your opinion, is something that would be worth disputing over?
At 3:15 Piper got it a little wrong. People like lightened flowers do say that men can produce their own faith in God completely apart from God. And that after they produce their own faith and God sees it, then God chooses them.
In an interview with dr. Olson Flowers expressed that view and Olson disagreed.
Which would make Flowers a Pelagian.
You are wrong about Flowers. He doesn't teach that people can produce their own faith apart from God. He agrees that all men must be drawn by God (John 6:44) as scripture clearly teaches. Paul teaches in Romans that God reveals himself to all through his creation which is why all can and must be held accountable when they are commanded to believe. Jesus goes on to explain in John 6:45 how God draws people to himself - "It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.". He explains that they are drawn by what they hear and believe.
We need the power of the Holy Spirit in order to be regenerated. No where does scripture teach that God regenerates men first. It teaches the opposite. The Holy Spirit is received after you believe not before. Paul says in Gal 3:2 that the Spirit is received by hearing and believing. He says in Eph 1:13 that we were included in Christ when we heard the message of truth and were marked in him with the seal of the Holy Spirit when we believed not before. Calvinists have the cart before the horse on this one. They conflate faith with works so they had to come up with the idea that regeneration precedes faith. Paul contrasts faith with works. Faith is not a work.
Everyone is capable of believing God or rejecting him. Jesus explains how God's free grace works with faith and trust in the beautiful story of the Prodigal son. The son was dead to the father yet he came to his senses on his own and went back to the father. The father didn't forcibly make his son come to him or make him work to earn his love back. He received him with open arms simply because his son humbled himself and came to him. This is a picture from Jesus of our heavenly Father. Until we "humble ourselves (which require free will) we can't receive God's free grace. God gives favor/grace to the humble but opposes the proud (too many vs that say this to list).
Everyone is fully capable of recognizing God and believing Him. Jesus also said - "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He was lifted up on the cross. Prior to the cross God drew men
Billy R
All men have faith. God doesn’t make men exercise their faith in Christ. He actually had to prevent some from doing it.
This post could not be less accurate. I've been following Leighton Flowers for years and every broadcast where faith is brought up he denounces the idea that man can produce faith in and of themselves. I listened to that whole interview. Please send a time stamp of where he said that "man can produce faith completely apart from god."
soteriology101.com/2019/05/04/is-faith-effectually-given/
Flowers believes that faith is granted, enabled, and a gift from God, just not an effectual gift
As a brother in Christ I'm asking that you don't make comments like this is if you are uninformed, or that you don't spread lies if you are informed
If determinism is true, than Leighton is a "pelagian" because God willed that he be so to glorify himself. So I see no problem with being a pelagian or anything else for that matter.
@@117-d7r
It has nothing to do with determinism. It has to do with family. Agope
I like this. But still disagree with him lol. He is all caught up on this idea that we have to participate in some way in order to be saved.. an analogy that comes to mind is that of turning on a light in the house. What is powering the light? Is it the switch you had to hit, or the electricity? If no electricity was coming to the switch, the switch wouldn’t do anything. So the prevenient grace brings the electricity to the switch then we hit the switch, then the electricity is able to power the light. All the “work” is done by the electricity yet we still find that we have to freely participate.
The Arminian believes total depravity. If this is true, in your analogy the sinner has no desire to flip the light switch on. Actually, he can’t, because he’s dead and dead men can’t choose to do anything, let alone chose God.
@@albertchanggg that's why, paraphrasing John Wesley, we NEED God's grace in us to even make us consider hearing the truth about the gospel. And this is made by the holy spirit, and he nicknamed it prevenient grace, a grace that "flows" with the preaching
Fernando Gonçalves irresistible grace is a better term hahaha. Prevenient Grace is conditional... total depravity makes it impossible to respond in faith... that’s the point we bible believing Calvinists are making. We can’t muster up the faith to respond in our sinful rebellion.
@@albertchanggg not advocating to my theology, just defending its non-heresy status and explainin some points. Btw, I'm a lover of calvinism as well
Nice
The distinction between Calvinism and Arminianism regarding the role of God's grace in salvation.
- A question is raised about prevenient grace, which is the idea that the Holy Spirit enables potential belief through cooperation.
- Calvinism and Arminianism both agree that fallen humanity cannot save themselves, but they differ in how divine grace works within the human heart.
- The central difference is whether grace enables a choice to believe or irresistibly draws individuals to faith, with Calvinism emphasizing irresistible grace.
If God , willing that none should perish, has had His willingness made of no effect, by a weak sinner with a weak and sickly will, what kind of God is He? How has your freewill served you ? Why does God do this : JOH12.40 "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. " if He wants "all" to be saved ? If Jesus is willing to save "all", like His Father, why did He use parables here in MAR4.11 "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: MAR4.12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." He blocked them from receiving the truth. Why would we try to explain it away when it is plainly put ? Why did Jesus appear to paul and not his companions, when on the road to kill more christians ? What about Pauls freewill ? Did God not want to over ride the free will of Pauls companions ? If God, willing to save all, appears to Paul in a very radical way, thwarting Pauls pathetic will, which at the time was set on killing christians, why dont God appear to "all" in some way, to save them ? Pauls doctrines line up with the stories all through the bible, which show God's choice to save or condemn. Arguing over the word "all" is not the right way. God is sovereign. He has mercy on those He wants to save. Solomon knew that you come up against the infinite God whose ways are past finding out when He brings you far enough to see the boundaries between the finite and the infinite : ECC11.5 "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." There is danger in false doctrine, and what the Lord has revealed of Himself we should take at face value.
God has made men w free will. Not robots. He is looking for relationship and love not puppets He controls.
YOU must choose Christ or you will never enter His kingdom.
Calvinists (Highly respected Sproul, etc) believe God the Father the first person of the Trinity poured out His wrath and cursed and cut off His Son the second person of the Trinity while on the cross thereby splitting apart the Trinity which is the heresy of Arianism and Nestorianism.
See 1 Corinthians 12:3
John 10:30
There was no imputation or transfer of our sins onto Jesus, an innocent victim, while on the cross! Sin is not a thing!
Proverbs 17:15
Deuteronomy 24:16
Jesus died in order to raise from the dead thereby conquering death, sin, and the devil for everybody, otherwise even unbelievers would not raise from the dead.
2 Corinthians 5:14-16
Hebrews 2:14-15
1 Corinthians 15:22
Calvinists believe God created people, and all people are born dead in sin through zero fault of their own, but God only chooses to save some and be regenerated. The others go to hell.
So, Calvinists basically say God creates some people who have no choice but to go to hell.
How does the Calvinist explain away their evil wrathful God? There is no wrath in the eternal Trinity of God.
"God is love!"
1 John 4:8
When people reject the love and grace of God, God's love becomes wrath for them! Judas Iscariot committed suicide having rejected Christ's love!
John 3:19-21, 36
The conversion of Lydia,
Read Acts 16:13-15!
God in His providence brings Lydia and Paul together. Lydia is dead in sin, but God gives her grace and opens her heart to respond to Paul's message in either repentance or rejection. (Acts 26:20)
Lydia responds in repentance and has her sins washed away in Baptism (Acts 22:16) being buried and raised with Christ in washing and regeneration and made righteous!
Romans 6:1-5
Colossians 2:11-15
Acts 2:38-39
John 3:5
1 Corinthians 6:11
Nicene Creed
Like Lydia everybody is given grace in some manner to repent and are responsible and without excuse.
Romans 1:18-23
Acts 17:30-31
"And Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view!"
2 Corinthians 5:14-16
1 Timothy 2:3-6
John 6:51
all your saying is you don't believe the bible and God is unjust
zombie minion fake
Calvinism teaches that God humbles us and makes the choice for us. The Bible doesn't teach this. It's says we must humble ourselves. It can't be both ways.
Wrong Calvinism didn't teach that. Please pay attention.
@@billyr9162 If you think about it you will see that is exactly what it teaches. A person is not humbling themselves if someone else is making them do it. That's called force. True humility must come willingly from the heart which requires a free will.
@@lmorter7867
Quit using your fickled human reason as the basis for what is true.
Billy R is mad
@@adamh5153
Im not mad
This is the way I see it, help me if I am wrong please. You are an unbeliever you hear Gods word and become curious, you hear what the gospel is and decide if you want to give it a shot or not. You believe Jesus is the one true God and you are truly repentant in your heart and ask God to forgive you and guide you. Then he enters your heart by the holy spirit, opens your eyes to see the light. You then declare a war on your sin through a repentant heart and your new found light and the holy spirit guiding you, and live the rest of your life in faithfulness to Him because he has revealed is love to you. You respond by worshiping Him and learning what he wants for you through His word to keep you spiritually wise and to keep your faith strong this is the sanctification process. BUT if you have seen the light and you CHOOSE to instead not worship or read the bible... you read less and less you return to your old ways of sin, you start to backpedal. Then you could lose the light and ultimately fall away.
Scary.
Then your salvation is your work which clearly go againts scripture! 😓
@@jpneri6570 amen.
@@jpneri6570 people believe in the human power. But Gods devine power keeps his children.
@@tommymcdonagh8566 the problem of most christians is the lack of studying the Bible and understanding it by context and also looking at the verses in the wholeness of the Bible..so nothing will contradict ...actually God commanded that we continue to study.."study to show yourself approve by God" the word study there is in the future perfect tense which means continually...I just hope more Christians read their Bible...😌
The strongest argument for calvinism (I hate that term) is the work of the trinity in salvation. Also, when Jesus saud he came for His sheep, that whole passage. Also, the bible refers to goats and sheep, but I cannot think of any place where goats turn into sheep?
Some reformed pastors in Brazil offer the term calvinian, as "like Calvin, not as disciples of calvin"
M. D.D
The sheep and goats was decided from their works
Read Ezekiel 34. The goats were the Israelites who rejected God. God hardened them so that they couldn’t become sheep. Read Rom 11.
God bless.
Ephesians 2:1-3 describes how we all were once "goats." Just doesn't use that term, but Paul says we were all, BY NATURE, children of wrath, like the rest. Our natures have been changed.
Dan Adams
Amen.
1Cor 6: 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Ah yes the most hated doctrine. That He is sovereign in salvation. 🙂
ARMINIANISM AND CALVINISM - THE RADICAL DIFFERENCE
A.W. Pink
The radical difference between Arminianism and Calvinism is that the system of the former revolves about the CREATURE, whereas the system of the latter has the CREATOR for its centre of orbit. The Arminian allots to MAN the first place, the Calvinist gives GOD that position of honor.
Thus the Arminian begins his discussion of salvation with justification, for the sinner must believe before he can be forgiven; further back he will not go, for he is unwilling that man should be made nothing of.
But the instructed Calvinist begins with election, descends to regeneration, and then shows that being born again (by the sovereign act of God, in which the creature has no part) the sinner is made capable of savingly believing the Gospel.
[A.W. Pink - ‘Salvation from the pleasure of sin’]
And incidentally whatever gives God ALL the glory, THAT is what is right!
“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake”! [Psalm 115:1]
I find it interesting that Calvinists always offer only 2 alternatives when it comes to Salvation; Calvinism (irresistible grace) and Arminianism (prevenient grace). The Bible does not teach either of these views.
There are many sinners like Charles Templeton who, having placed their faith in Christ, became atheists later in life. Were Templeton, and many others, brought to faith by God’s irresistible grace as described by Piper or were they free to respond to the Gospel having been aided by God’s prevenient grace as taught by Arminianism?
If such people were effectually called then this calling must have failed. If they responded to the Gospel having first received prevenient grace then they must have lost their Salvation. Neither of these situations align with Scripture.
It is clear from Scripture that God loves all His fallen creation and that He has provided for all. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and, as John said, we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. It is also clear from Scripture that Jesus paid the penalty for sin for all sinners. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and Jesus has tasted death for all men. God desires that all come to repentance and a knowledge of the Truth, and in fact, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent. The Bible even says that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.
The Bible is very clear that anyone can be saved. Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life and for whoever will call on the name of the lord will be saved. Paul was trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. John wrote that these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
We are made in the image of God and have all that is required in order to believe or reject the message. And of course we have the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement.
Hence, the two options provided by Piper are not Biblical and the answer to Salvation is that faith comes by hearing and hearing of the Word of God; and all can hear and respond to the message of Truth.
Greg Jay Agreed. Both Calvinism and Arminianism come from Augustine and are not rooted in the teachings of the true orthodox, original Christians.
It's very interesting me that your so called 'proof' comes from an anecdotal experience (not even your own), and not from an exegetical exposition of the Scriptures themselves. Sure, you took a few verses out of their context and attempted to twist them to suit your view, but you have no meaningful, objective basis for your claim, at least not presented here.
@@justinbirkelo6806 [your so called 'proof' comes from an anecdotal experience (not even your own), and not from an exegetical exposition of the Scriptures] Sounds like you have been listening to James White. If you have a good answer to explain how evangelist Charles Templeton responded to the Gospel and then became an atheist, then please provide it here.
[you took a few verses out of their context] Please explain how these verses have been taken out of context. If you know what these verses really mean then please explain it here.
[attempted to twist them to suit your view] How have I twisted them? So what did John really mean when he said, “we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”
When you have explained what John really meant to say then perhaps you can explain what the other verses really mean.
[you have no meaningful, objective basis for your claim] Spoken like a true Calvinist.
Since you are so knowledgeable concerning God’s Word, please explain how an infinitely loving God, who is rich in mercy and grace, and kind in all His deeds, would provide saving faith to so few of His fallen creation. In the case of the Japanese people this would be just 1% of the population
.
@@gregjay9933 I simply asserted that you have not presented any meaningful, scriptural, or objective basis for the claim you made concerning Charles Templeton. Based on the way you phrased the statements made in the earlier comment, I assume you hold to the doctrine of conditional security, in which case you would - by necessity - need to back that up with Scripture, properly exegeted; as with any other doctrine. That's all that was being said there. As to the answer concerning Charles Templeton, I would say this: I do not know his story. So, I cannot speak concerning him specifically, nor did I ever claim to be able to, as that would be presumptuous. The point being made, again, was that it was a folly argument to point to his 'testimony' of falling away as an authoritative example to validate your doctrine. As for the verse quoted above in John, I believe it means exactly what it says, that '...we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world...', that is, that '...we...', i.e., John and they who believe, aka the apostles, aka, those counted among the elect, have seen, and testify that Jesus,the Son, was sent by the Father, to be the Savior of the world. {Insert Arminian eisegesis of the word 'world', substituted for 'every individual of the world'}. You make a chief mistake in the insertion of a word or words into the text that do not exist within the text itself. Bear in mind that despite the consistent testimony of the Old Testament, the Jews did, and still do to this day, hold to a view which secludes them from the rest of the world in terms of salvation. They believe much as is presented in the beginning of Romans 9, that because they are mere descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, they are children of God. When John and others write in terms of Jesus being the '...Savior of the world...' this is what they are referring to, and it would have been understood as such by those who originally received these words. It was a radical thought to the ancient world that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the Savior of more than just Israel, but indeed has a chosen remnant from every tribe, tongue and nation. This is what it means. Counter point to this particular piece of your response, if Jesus atoned for every individual, elect or not, how then, do you account for the testimony of God unto Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:14? ' "...Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." ' (see context for fuller understanding). Exegetically, there is no way around this. The Old Testament saints were never justified by the works of the Law, I'm sure we can agree, though they served a purpose as a tutor to point to Messiah. Since Adam, all have been justified by grace through faith in Christ alone, some looking forward, others backward in time. So, please explain the words of the Living God, that Eli's house would NEVER be atoned for by sacrifice or offering FOREVER. Is God lying? As for your last point about God being infinitely loving, I suppose you would have to further define what you mean by infinitely loving. If by infinitely loving, you mean to say, 'all loving', then you are simply mistaken. According to Scripture, the wicked are equally the objects of God's hatred as well as His temporal grace and love (in a way we can perhaps never understand as finite beings). If by infinitely loving, you mean that He has chosen a specific people upon which to lavish the boundless depths of His glorious grace and love, His riches of mercy, into the eternal ages to come, then yes, I would agree. This is consistent with the teaching of Ephesians 2. To be honest, the fundamental issue with this is that we as sinful creatures tend to lean toward a belief system which mandates the sovereign God to indiscriminately pour out His love and grace and mercy equally upon all, in terms of eternal salvation. Not only is this inconsistent with Scripture, it is blatantly prideful, arrogant, and wickedly entitled for creatures to assert that if God does what He pleases with His creation, then that God cannot be loving. It was the correction of this fundamental misunderstanding of who God is, and who I am as a created being of His in relation to Him, that led me to eventually cast aside my pride and entitlement that I held against these teachings for years, and to buckle under the eternal weight of these truths. What a freeing, peaceful, empowering thing! What a MERCIFUL God we serve, who chose us in Him apart from anything beyond Himself. What a beautiful truth, that salvation, from start to finish, is ENTIRELY a work of the sovereign, holy One.
Why do calvinists always think it's that can speak for the bible; and the apostles must be wrong?
I'm confused... Where does free will fit in for the Calvinist?
its your meaning of "free will" that is distorted. We only choose to follow Christ because God ENABLED us. (this is biblical) Without the Holy Spirit's awakening of our soul, we become self-righteous religious people. We are so broken and filthy that If it was up to us, we would pursue our flesh desires 100% guaranteed. But because its the work of God's Grace we can humbly cry out, "I was once blind, but now I see". You can't produce this by your own nature. IMPOSSIBLE.
Piper misrepresents Arminianism. Smh.
+Marty Blackman..Jesus definition of "church" was revelation from the Holy Spirit to you personally. That is how Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ. Paul's definition of "church" is a Heirarchy of titled men to Tell you what to Do. They are Very different. Paul taught that obeying the commandments will Not get you to Heaven and to Seek titled men for your help. Just as you are doing Here. Seeking Piper instead of Christ..Himself.
No, we are just asking help
Most of his analysis of the difference is correct, but he makes a mistake in assuming everything that is not Calvinism is Arminianism. Most Christians, and the early church, did not think that the state of fallen man was such that he could not just repent and trust God without some special, mystical 'grace' coming down from God first.
Read christopher ness book
An antidote against armininism