Time magazine has published a series of articles: 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now. One of those has been the "resurgence" of Calvinism. Evangelicals in the U.S. are buzzing about this recognition and it's truly amazing to me that this biblical worldview has caught the attention of the secular American public. Albert Mohler and others have commented on this article in their blogs (click on the web link to the right for Mohler's blog or the link below for the full article).
Calvinism is another term for Reformed biblical thought, which is how Protestantism originally left the Catholic Church. Reformed theology is opposed to the modern version of inconsistent Arminianism that is more accurately described as Semi-Pelagianism. There are several points of contention between the Reformed and Semi-Pelagian (Arminian) views with the major one being the Doctrine of Election or Predestination. Modern Semi-Pelags consider the human free will to be the determining factor of one's salvation. The Scripture is very clear in Romans 8 and 9, Ephesians 1 and 1 Peter 1, that God is the One who chooses, by His grace alone, who receives salvation. In the end, it is God's free will that overshadows ours. After all, He is God.
"But that's not fair!!! We have the right to choose for ourselves where we will end up for eternity." In a sense, yes, every individual has a personal responsibility before God for their sin: once a person has heard the Gospel and rejects it, they will receive greater condemnation than those who haven't heard. But over and above this, God is the one who changes the heart when it hears the Gospel call. Isn't that what we pray for when we want to see our loved ones repent? "Lord, please open their eyes, that they might see the beauty of Christ, repent and turn to You." Truly we are "dead in tresspasses and sins," not wounded, and the only one who can give life, new birth, is Christ by the predetermined will of God. When someone is "born again" (John 3:3-8) does that person choose to be born or is birth something that happens to them, by which they have no active role? Read the text just as someone reads the newspaper. Just because the Truth is hard to accept doesn't make it any less true.
Because someone calls themselves a Calvinist doesn't mean they have a "holier than thou" attitude. It makes us more humble and grateful!!! When someone realizes that God, out of His love and kindness, chose any person to be saved from the effects of sin makes God a VERY gracious God. He could have left me hardened in my sin, completely exposed to the cup of His wrath, justly receiving what my sins deserve, but by His grace alone He regenerated my dead soul and quickened my heart to see the beauty of the holiness of Christ. Praise the Lord!!!! because I was once dead and now I'm alive! I totally did not deserve it! There is no reason why He should save me, except that He chose me. This is what makes God's grace so amazing!!
Calvinism is another term for Reformed biblical thought, which is how Protestantism originally left the Catholic Church. Reformed theology is opposed to the modern version of inconsistent Arminianism that is more accurately described as Semi-Pelagianism. There are several points of contention between the Reformed and Semi-Pelagian (Arminian) views with the major one being the Doctrine of Election or Predestination. Modern Semi-Pelags consider the human free will to be the determining factor of one's salvation. The Scripture is very clear in Romans 8 and 9, Ephesians 1 and 1 Peter 1, that God is the One who chooses, by His grace alone, who receives salvation. In the end, it is God's free will that overshadows ours. After all, He is God.
"But that's not fair!!! We have the right to choose for ourselves where we will end up for eternity." In a sense, yes, every individual has a personal responsibility before God for their sin: once a person has heard the Gospel and rejects it, they will receive greater condemnation than those who haven't heard. But over and above this, God is the one who changes the heart when it hears the Gospel call. Isn't that what we pray for when we want to see our loved ones repent? "Lord, please open their eyes, that they might see the beauty of Christ, repent and turn to You." Truly we are "dead in tresspasses and sins," not wounded, and the only one who can give life, new birth, is Christ by the predetermined will of God. When someone is "born again" (John 3:3-8) does that person choose to be born or is birth something that happens to them, by which they have no active role? Read the text just as someone reads the newspaper. Just because the Truth is hard to accept doesn't make it any less true.
Because someone calls themselves a Calvinist doesn't mean they have a "holier than thou" attitude. It makes us more humble and grateful!!! When someone realizes that God, out of His love and kindness, chose any person to be saved from the effects of sin makes God a VERY gracious God. He could have left me hardened in my sin, completely exposed to the cup of His wrath, justly receiving what my sins deserve, but by His grace alone He regenerated my dead soul and quickened my heart to see the beauty of the holiness of Christ. Praise the Lord!!!! because I was once dead and now I'm alive! I totally did not deserve it! There is no reason why He should save me, except that He chose me. This is what makes God's grace so amazing!!
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