By johninnc
Matthew 7:13-14: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.
Today I read a comment, on another website, that was highly creative in trying to use scripture to prove the false Calvinist doctrine of predestination.
While the individual who posted this comment is certainly creative, he is “grasping at straws” to avoid the clear teachings of the Bible.
Those clear teachings include who is responsible, and who is not responsible, for a number of things.
First, man’s responsibility;
1. We are responsible for sin. God is not responsible for our sin.
2. We are responsible for accepting or rejecting God’s gracious gift of eternal life. God is not responsible for compelling us to make that decision. As Matthew 7:13-14 (and its companion passage in Luke) clearly teaches, most people will willfully reject the gift of eternal life.
3. We are responsible for believing God’s word when it conflicts with the teaching of men. God is not the author of confusion, so any “paradoxes,” “tensions,” “mysteries,” “enigmas,” or other contradictions of God’s clear teaching on how to receive eternal life are not of God.
Second, Christians’ responsibilities:
1. We are responsible for being faithful stewards of the gospel, even though it is not (and has never been) widely accepted. The rejection of the gospel is pervasive both within, and without, professing Christendom. And, I believe it has been that way from early in church history, to present.
2. We are responsible for participating in fulfilling The Great Commission – preaching the gospel to every creature We are not responsible for who believes and who does not believe the gospel.
3. We are responsible for how we live our lives as Christians. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, but we must choose to walk in the Spirit. We are not responsible for keeping ourselves saved, transforming ourselves, nor examining the way we conduct our lives for an indication of whether or not we possess eternal life. We are also not responsible for looking to others’ behaviors or lifestyles for indicators of whether or not we think those people possess eternal life. And, if we encourage others to look to anything other than God’s promises for assurance of eternal life, we are pointing them away from Christ.
Third, Calvinists’ responsibilities:
1. You are responsible for teaching that God does not desire that all men be saved, even though His word CLEARLY says that He does desire that all men be saved.
2. You are responsible for corrupting the gospel message. Some of you will say that you believe that Christ died for the sins of everyone, but you must torture logic to make that comport with your view that God only elects some to eternal life.
3. You are responsible for teaching that “faith” is the gift of God, while the Bible teaches that eternal life is the gift of God.
4. You are responsible, by logical implication, for teaching that God is responsible for sin. In your twisted defense of God’s sovereignty, you make God responsible for everything.
5. You are responsible for teaching works for salvation. Since God is sovereign, and He elects only those who will receive eternal life, your logical conclusion is that those whom He has elected to eternal life will persevere (to some extent) in a lifetime of holiness and good works.
6. You are responsible for teaching that the “Christian testimony” is a litany of the “I used to do…, but now I don’t do…, and instead I do …”
7. You are responsible for teaching that “saving faith” includes “repentance from sin,” even though there is nothing in the Bible that teaches this. You also teach that God gives people repentance unto eternal life, even though God COMMANDS people to repent.
I would urge everyone reading this today to think about a few things.
If you have believed in Jesus Christ alone as your Savior, and are clear on all of the above, please share the clear gospel with as many people as you can, in the best way that you know how.
If you are clear on the gospel, but are cooperating with a church or ministry that persists in teaching Calvinism and its ugly progeny Lordship “salvation,” separate from them.
If you have believed in Christ alone as Savior, but are still confused or troubled by certain scriptural passages, pray for wisdom and guidance.
And, if you would like to know the truth about how to have eternal life, click below:
Click to access the-gospel.pdf
Notes From A Retired Preacher 
Jim, I’ve prayed for both Matts and their families.
Thanks John, I am glad that it was of encouragement to them.
Thanks also again from praying because there is much power in it. Please also pray specifically for two new attenders both named Matt. They are really searching. The one is a vet struggling with ptsd and was a responder at 911. Both of them are starting to get pushback from family such as “what is with you and this God stuff”. So pray the will continue and we will be able to continue to share the good news.
Jim F
Jim, I’m glad you are teaching. I have prayed for you in that undertaking.
I shared your article with several people at work and with my wife.
One of my friends responded with:
“That hit the spot. Thanks.”
Thanks John,
I decided to take a long absence from things like Facebook so that I can focus more on my blog and more importantly the men’s Bible study at my church. Soon I will take over teaching it every week. I’m excited about that.
As for my latest blog post, that has been a response to two to three months worth of discussions with various believers on Facebook. It certainly felt good to get it off my chest so to speak. It really is amazing how simple things become when we slow down and focus on simple biblical concepts and keep the the main things the main things. Some many want to be in the weeds, even when it comes to theology as well, but understanding the basics is so often taken for granted. But doing so makes us prone to error. I’m praying our nation makes the right choice. And more than that that fellow grace believers continue to be bright lights in the darkness.
Jim, it’s good to hear from you.
I really liked your article on voting and faith!
John,
Yeah, you would think a grace guy could see past the antimony view of election. It tends to be a seminary concoction. Much like many other falsehoods passed of as truth but are just in reality the philosophies of men.
Holly, I think you may have told me about this at some point, but Dr. Fred Lybrand, of the Free Grace Alliance, describes himself as a “moderate Calvinist,” but also “free grace to the core.”
Following is a 2011 quote from his blog, regarding the doctrine of Election:
“I find comfort in mystery, not knowing how it all works. I find fear in tampering with the Word of God.”
One of the commenters to Lybrand’s blog post gave the following awful quote from the 19th century Calvinist/Lordship “Salvationist” Charles Spurgeon:
“Free will I have often heard of, but I have never seen it. I have always met with will, and plenty of it, but it has either been led captive by sin or held in the blessed bonds of grace.”
My comment: one cannot see whether or not someone has eternal life. The Spurgeon quote demonstrates, quite aptly, how denial of free will inevitably leads to “fruit inspection” and, by its inference, salvation by works.
John, I completely agree with Tom, any of the five points denigrates God’s good and Holy character. A Holy Creator who made us to communicate with Him would never make puppets out of His creation — it would be an exercise in futility really.
I heard a great sermon today from pastor Tom Cucuzza on Revelation 8:1-13. There is a parenthetical discussion of Calvinism in the sermon between minutes 26:24-28:54, in which Tom points out that Calvinism – any of its points – is a perversion of the gospel.
Please see sermon attached below:
http://northlandchurch.com/content.cfm?id=213&download_id=2141
You know, in their use of the word Sovereign in so many of the newer translations, the meaning of ruler, or King or Prince, has come to mean a God who ordains everything to come to pass including all evil ever done. In one of their favorite proof texts, 1 Tim 6:15, Potentate is translated as only Sovereign which isn’t really a problem, except we know their definition of it. Oddly the Geneva Bible doesn’t use the word Sovereign there, but Prince.
I had to shake my head at the decimation that The Living Bible did in re-writing another of their favorite proof texts in Ephesians 1:11. It seems like the adding of ‘of sin’ to the word repent, and this violence they did to His Word, whoever the translators were, certainly must have had a real reformed bent… Oddly, the reformed leaning ESV doesn’t add Sovereign in, where it isn’t present even though it does in other places where despotēs, which means Master or Lord is translated Lord in the KJV, they translate it Sovereign Lord in Acts 4:24 and Rev 6:10. I just can’t help see that it is by design.
If I may, I’d like to contrast Eph 1:11 between the KJV and TLB:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: KJV
Moreover, because of what Christ has done, we have become gifts to God that he delights in, for as part of God’s sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be his, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. The Living Bible
Johninnc – thanks for the clarity here.
1. Believing the gospel results in Christ coming into our lives. We are indwelled by the Holy Spirit from the moment of belief.
This happens whether or not we want Christ to come into our lives.
This suggests that one must have to want to have “a relationship” with Jesus in order to be saved. It connotes commitment to a relationship. (Note from John: it was my point that desiring to have a relationship with Christ is not a requirement for eternal life).
I think Revelation 3:20 is written to believers, with whom Jesus wants a more intimate relationship.
2. Repentance, in an eternal salvation context, does not require the desire to be changed and forgiven.
If one must desire to be changed, then he must be willing to turn from his sins.
3. This is an inventive explanation of what it means to confess Christ. It seems to make it synonymous with believing in Him.
Don, I was in a Calvinist debate group for a time, and interestingly, one pastor was lamenting how his elders weren’t coming around to his way of thinking. A couple of other pastors gave him advice on words to avoid, in order to subtly bring in this doctrine. Very dishonest. If what they teach is truth, and the Word of God (which has power) shouldn’t they renounce the hidden things of dishonesty? Not walk in craftiness? Not handle the Word of deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commend themselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God? (taken from 2 Cor 4).
Sorry I posted links. I’ll see if I can find the article again (didn’t bookmark it). The gist was a Southern Baptist blogger lamenting the spread of Calvinists within the leadership and seminaries of the SBC (kinda like ecumenism). A commenter down the page predicted the SBC would go officially Calvinistic in about 10 years.
Don seems like the pastor has missed the point of what Christ has done (Christ and Him crucified as the full payment for our sins and deliverance from death unto eternal life). And what we need to do — believe.
Joy, I apologize, I did not see your post last night. I hope you didn’t feel as if I was piling more info on 🙂
Interesting article here:
(Link removed by administrator. Don, can you copy and paste the salient quote(s) that you would like to highlight?)
But I find the comment by Max a little more than 1/2 way down to be even more interesting.
John,
Thanks for your thoughts. This is the closest thing I could find to what my former college pastor currently presents as the gospel. It seems he’s toned down the louder LS aspects I recall from 20 years ago, or maybe he’s just mellowing with age, I dunno. My thoughts…
1. He could have stopped at #1. He could also have been clearer on the D/B/R of Christ but he addressed that on the prior page. You’re correct about the wanting to receive part.
2. This is where I see LS peeking out. Since “repentance” is not “turn around” but literally “think differently afterwards” (a fact I know he’s aware of) my guess is that “turn around” means “turn from sin” without saying it out loud. The “desiring to be…changed” confirms it.
His presentation is needlessly cluttered and jumbled, but I’ve read worse.
Don, this is interesting.
Following are some of my thoughts:
1. Believing the gospel results in Christ coming into our lives. We are indwelled by the Holy Spirit from the moment of belief.
This happens whether or not we want Christ to come into our lives.
This suggests that one must have to want to have “a relationship” with Jesus in order to be saved. It connotes commitment to a relationship.
I think Revelation 3:20 is written to believers, with whom Jesus wants a more intimate relationship.
2. Repentance, in an eternal salvation context, does not require the desire to be changed and forgiven.
If one must desire to be changed, then he must be willing to turn from his sins.
3. This is an inventive explanation of what it means to confess Christ. It seems to make it synonymous with believing in Him.
Looking for input on this gospel presentation. I’ll withhold comment until after you’ve chimed in.
* * *
OUR RESPONSE TO THE CROSS
1. We respond to the good news with faith:
Read John 3:16, Revelation 3:20. Responding to the good news with faith means trusting in what He did for us on the cross, rather than on what we suppose we can do for Him. Believing the gospel of God’s love leads us to want to receive Christ into our lives.
2. Responding to the good news with repentance:
Read Acts 3:12-19. Repentance is turning around. It is becoming aware of the sins you have committed as a result of being independent from God and desiring to be forgiven and changed.
3. Responding to the good news is acknowledging who Christ is and what he has done:
Read Romans 10:9-10. Confessing Christ as Lord means recognizing that His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave reveal Him as the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. In marriage, once a person takes a person to be his wife, he is married. Once a person confesses Christ as Lord, according to the scripture, they will be saved.
Yes, he has a new film called “Marching to Zion” and talks about the ‘fraud’ of the holocaust and also this ‘fraud’ of a nation of Israel and Judaism in general (which I realize does not save), but yes they are God’s chosen people still. Being chosen for a particular service does not earn them eternal life.
His video (one of them on this) is called the ‘Holocaust Hoax’ on youtube. He also has a website called jewishfables. Trouble is, he gets a lot right, just enough to have an awful lot of followers. But to call it a hoax and a fable, is sad.
Yes, he’s part of a new ‘film’. I ‘think’ I put it on the wiki heresies page. I’ll check tomorrow.
Thank you for jogging my memory, Holly. Steven Anderson basically teaches that Jews are of “the Synagogue of Satan”. He may actually be one of the most blatantly anti-Semitic replacement theologians I’ve ever come across. There are other confusing things I’ve heard him teach, but my memory of it is so vague now it’s almost not worth mentioning. If I ever find it again I’ll report it here. But he’s bad news.
Many thanks to FryingPan9 and JoyFounder for the heads-up on Anderson and Comfort. I had heard their names here and there, but I wasn’t familiar with their teachings.
Interestingly, the legalistic “witnessing” motivations of my earlier days paralleled both of yours, yet without the “benefit” of Anderson and Comfort. Seems there’s always somebody out there with a high profile, corrupting the simple Gospel some way or other.
Thanks Holly > no worries. I have moved on from Pastor Anderson. There are things about him that concern me as well. Also he seems legalistic > saying women should only wear dresses, etc. I sympathize with you, sharing the same town with such an apparent ego! 8D. Fortunately there’s only one Steven Anderson but sadly thousands upon thousands and generations of pastors/theologians continue to preach false gospels leading, and have lead, people to condemnation and judgement.
Joy – I agree on the warning on Steven Anderson, he is here in my town. He is the one that called for his congregation to pray for Obama to be assassinated. He’s also the one who has done the new movie which is total replacement theology and completely anti-semitic. He is not KJV preferred but KJVOnlyist cult, the KJV is THE Bible and the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts are the faulty ones, only the KJV is inerrant (his view). He also teaches that those who believe and teach the pre-trib are heretics. He says he is free grace, however, he has a lot of sneaky law snuck in there, and a lot of errant teaching on the backend. Just want to let you know. If you go to his wife’s website, I’m sure you’ll be able to see more error there.
But the Bible tells us in 1 Cor 5 to not even keep company with a railer. He is one. God bless you for getting away from Comfort, and I hope you don’t mind me filling you in on Steven Anderson. I can share more if you want to know, but I always check them out first before taking teaching, so I can’t say whether or not he has some things right. I just know once I started finding out these things, I decided it was best to avoid him.
I wholeheartedly agree that God can use someone who is errant in one area (or more) to bring people into believing some other things correctly.
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:31
Bryan R, Don & FryingP, Ray Comfort is a heretic and needs to be thrown into false gospel prison. But if he is sent to prison he would never be able to bring the jailor to a saving faith as simple believing wouldn’t be enough for Ray Comfort.
Yes Bryan I joined the WOTM Training course in order to find new ways to witness and ended up doubting my own salvation! Then, like you, instead of witnessing out of love for Jesus and others, which was my original intent, I began witnessing to save myself out of works! Satan never sleeps! Isn’t this a grace oasis? I say that all the time. Praise God for Jack & John guiding us back to Jesus!
FryingP it was Steven Anderson’s YouTube videos that helped me return back to the simple gospel. I started watching his repentance videos and then John MacArthur stuff. After being immersed in Calvanism, JMac, Spurgeon, eveything LS for 40 years Pastor Anderson’s teaching on this was a breath of fresh air and God used it to break my Calvanist chains. Yes Steven Anderson gets carried away and can be ‘over the top’, and I don’t agree with some of his teachings, but he is dead ON with salvation, which is more than I can say for over 90% of today’s pastor/teacher/theologians. It took his yelling to wake me up to my deception and sent me packing 0UT of the works salvation camp.
JoyFounder, you said (about Ray Comfort), “He and his teachings are evil. He devastated my spiritual walk because I thought I wasn’t saved after taking his destructive course. It paralyzed me for several years but God put me on the correct, narrow path.”
I’m with you on that one. I had a very similar experience and could have said exactly the same thing in terms of how damaging being exposed to him was for me. I detest the false teaching he continues to propagate . . .
JoyFounder, I believe the specific YouTube video to which you’re referring has the full title “Ray Comfort Exposed – False Gospel + False Repentance = Heresy x 2”. More than one video on YouTube has the title “Ray Comfort Exposed”.
A word of warning however: That video is posted on the channel “Timotheus” and this user posts a LOT of videos by Steven Anderson, who while staunchly free grace, seems a bit out of his mind on other topics, such as a post-trib rapture and sermons rife with mean spirited epithets hurled at homosexuals. Don’t anyone waste their time watching his stuff like I did. Eventually you’ll regret it.
JoyFounder,
Your experience with Ray Comfort was exactly like mine. My former church played a lot of his stuff in small groups which prompt me to research more of his material and which led me to his book, The Way Of The Master, in the spring of 2012. Well after reading it, I was paralyzed with fear because I didn’t feel I measured up to Ray Comfort’s gospel. Not to mention I was already doudting my self from reading Radical from David Platt a few months earlier. In addition, I had fear for my family, friends and just about everybody at my church. Even though my assurance, joy was taken away, I didn’t know what to do because I trusted my local church wouldn’t promote some false teacher and took it all for granted. Hint to pastors, be very careful to what ministries/teachers you let into your church.
For a while I passed out some of his tracts with a horrible motive of trying to prove I was saved. Because according to Mr. Comfort, if I didn’t witness, then I must not be saved. Needless to say I was tore up until I found this site a few years ago, my life hasn’t been the same since.
Bryan R
Joy,
We had several of Ray’s videos at one time, too. I believe he’s got one of the strongest, sincerest passions for the lost one could have (some have said he’s in it for the $ but I’ve never believed that). Having seen his curriculum, you know that his whole ministry drive has been trying to explain and avoid false conversions in the church, so he believes making sure people are truly convicted of sin *before* they hear the gospel will solve that. But he doesn’t realize that the LS “gospel” plays at least as big a part in that whole downward cycle…people get really convicted of their sin by the Law, which is the whole point, but LS “frees” them with a supposed good news that includes “or else.”
Don
Talking about Ray Comfort is flaring up my memory of the Way of the Master course my family & I took back in 2007. It makes me sick to my stomach as I re-read the syllabus. He and his teachings are evil. He devastated my spiritual walk because I thought I wasn’t saved after taking his destructive course. It paralyzed me for several years but God put me on the correct, narrow path.
Don said;
That’s essentially what I was getting at, Don. And the reason what you said is true is because God’s reach is infinite, unlimited, while ours is finite, limited.
Anybody remember math classes, when you were introduced to handling the concept of infinity? There was this postulate:
“For any finite number ‘n’: Infinity – n = Infinity”.
There were some other comments made that I would like to engage, but it’s 11:45 PM and I’m too tired. Maybe tomorrow, if I may?
Joyfounder,
Agreed. Back in the day, I tried figuring out a way to white out Comfort’s LS appeal in his tracts (which do get read) but couldn’t make it work, so I gave up on them.
Yes 1 Timothy 4:16 cannot be using ‘save’ in the salvation context. There are so many examples of NT passages speaking specifically to believers. And they were SINFUL believers > oh but according to Ray Comfort we are supposed to “repent and stop sinning”. (This is off topic but I watched a HEARTBREAKING YouTube video of RC ‘witnessing’ to a dear young lady and he absolutely destroyed her spirit and terrified her. After that he commanded her to ‘trust in Him and stop sinning’. I’m getting teary eyed and angry just thinking about it.)
Anyway, God repented around 30 times in the OT! What was God repenting to/what? You’re exactly right.
I soaked in many of Tom Cucuzza’s Ephesians series but didn’t finish. I’ll endeavor to complete those! Thanks.
(That Ray Comfort YouTube > Ray Comfort Exposed. Sure you’ve seen it though.) It is GOOD.
This won’t be a new thought for everyone but it bears repeating:
The Reformed tend to say all non-Reformed somehow diminish God by making His responses answerable to human will in the area of our salvation.
Of course, this is either a lie or a claim made from purest ignorance and lack of thinking their own position through.
The God of the Bible (not the god of Calvinism) is so absolutely in complete control that He can give man absolute free will, yet He still remains 100% in control of His creation. EVERY SINGLE THING that He says He will bring to pass WILL come to pass, no matter what man chooses to do or not do.
So of the two, which one is the low, diminished view of God: that He does exactly what He will despite man’s free will? Or that He MUST minutely preordain every single event throughout all human history, else He somehow fails to be in absolute sovereign control, and so is not God?
JoyFounder – I started seeing certain things when I asked questions, and then I remember one teacher saying, just because you see saved, or salvation, do not instantly think ‘eternal life’. He said, ask yourself, is it believers being spoken to? For example what we see in 1 Timothy 4:16.
Timothy was a ‘true son in the faith’, a minister of Jesus Christ, an elder — sent to a church of believers. So what could this mean?
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Obviously Timothy was already saved from death and passed unto life. So this can only be speaking to the error and apostasy we see in 1 Timothy that Paul was warning him of. Once I started understanding that difference, it became more apparent. Even repenting. Repenting from what? Repenting TO what?
One could change their mind and do anything. I learned that when I went searching for a historical Greek source on the word metanoia and found the Plutarch example on Ron Shea’s site, where they two criminals were going to slay a child, and repented and spared his life. Afterwards, they repented again and killed the child. So, repent to what? Repent from what? And also where I see the other words, I’ve learned to ask that question. First, is it believers spoken to? If so, then believers are predestined to what? Elected to what? 🙂 Hope that helps, I think Tom Cucuzza does a good job in explaining that in his Ephesians series on sermonindex (warning, the site itself carries all sorts of preaching).
In Him, Holly
Predestined, chosen, elect to what. Wow I’ve never thought of it like that Holly. This is worth pondering and meditating on.
Same with the words saved or salvation. So many on both sides do not seem to ask what someone is being delivered from, and who is being addressed (such as a believer), so they see ‘saved’ or they see ‘salvation’ and don’t understand it could be a deliverance from a physical illness, or saved from consequences, etc. So always asking questions, a believer doesn’t get saved again, the righteous doesn’t become saved again (as in eternal life). Rom 10:8-9 is a good example, or 2 Cor 7:10 – For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
I have heard so many Arminians use the above to say this speaks to salvation (to eternal life). But they were already believers. Maybe that’s why they believe you get saved again and again and again.
It’s good to ask the question, predestined to what? Predestined according to what? Chosen for what specifically? Elect to what service? Israel was elect, but not elect to salvation, but to a service. Jesus Christ was also elect and didn’t need saving, nor the angels, which are mentioned as elect angels.
I believe some things seem beyond our comprehension, such as what we face (1 Cor 2:9) or just how it works that God always was there. The eternity, the trinity, we believe it, but may not be able to fully comprehend yet as we see in part.
Hi Chas,
I have found that once one honestly and respectfully understands that the “choosing” or “predetermining” God does in the Bible has to do with the position of the believer “In” Christ, and the afforded benefits and privileges respectively, and NOT “personal” election/predetermination as calvinists twist it to be, any ambiguity or misunderstanding quickly dissolves and one sees that the Word of God harmonizes seamlessly.
Thank you for another great article, John.
Chas, we believe God is all powerful,and that he has given us a free will to believe in Jesus as Savior, or not. It can seem like a conundrum that an omnipotent God would not force His will on us in the matter of eternal salvation. But, like you said, the Bible is clear that He does not. Following is an excerpt from our Statement of Faith:
4. The Bible describes God as absolutely all powerful and in His absolute power, gave man a free will to reject the salvation that He has provided. It is God’s will that all would be saved and that none should perish. God foreknows, but does not predetermine any man to be condemned or saved. God permits man’s destiny to depend completely upon man’s choice. I Timothy 2:4; II Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1:2; II Peter 3 9, John 6:64,65; Acts 10:34; I Corinthians 1:21; Ephesians 1:5-14; Romans 8:29-30; Romans 9:30-32.
It is true that Calvinists (and Arminians too) can go through some amazing mental gymnastics in trying to prove their respective conclusions. But whenever I delve into the issue I’ve found that the conclusions either side make are always based on unscriptural assumptions derived from the faulty logic of limited human minds. God’s ways are simply not our ways.
Predestination vs. man’s free will is a genuine conundrum found in Scripture. The confusion comes–not from God–but from us trying to “reconcile” two biblical truths that are beyond our limited capacity to reconcile. But God does not command us to “reconcile” such issues. He commands us to believe His Word as it is written. Getting either Calvinists or Arminians to do that consistently is a miracle only God can perform.
One would think it obvious that any attempt to “balance” God’s infinite, omnipotent sovereignty against our finite, limited free will is an exercise in absurdity; a classic case of getting into “things too high” for mere creatures. Apparently, it’s not so obvious to Calvinists or Arminians.
Clara – great to see you here. I’ve found many good articles on this site.
Thank you so much for this John, I pray also that people will consider this prayerfully and especially with quoting these men. Or sharing platforms with them. It’s not just a minor difference of opinion. This is a matter of life and death.
As always John, a very pointed and compelling article. May all who read it understand and agree that truth is not relative and we’re not just engaged in a game of semantics. There is only one truth, and only one faith. Amen.
John, I agree with Sam. Thank you for telling it like it is. I am prayerful that many with be able to realize the urgency of these issues through this article and that many would come to understand the truth of the clear gospel.
Jim F
Clara, welcome and thanks for your comment.
We hope that you will continue to find this site to be a blessing.
Johninnc that is telling it like it is and all I can say is Amen.
Thank you for sharing this information. I am doing a Study on Lordship Salvation and Calvinizm. This is clear and accurate to Scripture .
Great article, John. Thanks for posting. Seems like the Calvis are all about shifting responsibility and to their own detriment. I appreciate so much your unwavering faithfulness to preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I pray for the Lord’s hand of blessing over this wonderful ministry. It’s my prayer that many more would find this site, believe the Gospel, and/or be delivered from false doctrines. I praise God for that reminder that we are not saved initially by any human effort, nor do we do anything to maintain our salvation — now THAT is Good News. Keep preaching this marvelous Good News, John and expreacherman. There are so many who dying and don’t even know it. God bless you all.
Excellent John. So clear. Thank you.