I am a Calvinist; I believe in election and predestination; but I would not dream of putting it under the heading of essential. I put it under the heading of non-essential… You are not saved by your precise understanding of how this great salvation comes to you. What you must be clear about is that you are lost and damned, hopeless and helpless, and that nothing can save you but the grace of God in Jesus Christ and only Him crucified, bearing the punishment of your sins, dying, rising again, ascending, sending the Spirit, regeneration. Those are the essentials… While I myself hold very definite and strong views on the subject, I will not separate from a man who cannot accept and believe the doctrines of election and predestination, and is Arminian, as long as he tells me that we are all saved by grace, and as long as the Calvinist agrees, as he must, that God calls all men everywhere to repentance. As long as both are prepared to agree about these things I say we must not break fellowship. So I put election into the category of non-essentials.
- D Martyn Lloyd Jones
What is an Evangelical? The Banner of Truth Trust, 1992, p. 87-88.
False gospel. Election is part of the gospel. The book of John shows this. The gospel is a proclamation of who Jesus is and what He did for His elect only.
ReplyDeleteThe word GOSPEL means “good news.The Good News then is what is taught about something good.This teaching is found in Scripture Alone.The Scripture teaches that God is Holy.God’s Holiness and Sovereignty demand Holiness (complete perfection) from every human.Humanity has sinned, fallen from perfection, and commits sins because we are sinners.God is His holiness is required to be just, therefore, the just condemnation for sin is death.Therefore all men are dead spiritually and will die physically and will enter into a second death eternally.So what’s the good news? God sent the Son, fully God, fully man, born of a virgin, prophesied forever, to live as a human being.Jesus is His name. He is the Christ (messiah), or the Holy Anointed of God.He lived a life of absolute perfection without any sin before God as a man.He then died a death that He did not deserve in order to take the punishment (death) of sinners.His death Atoned (paid for) the sins of His people.Jesus’ death satisfied the wrath of God justly, because He substituted in life (obedience) and death (punishment) for His people.God, through the hearing of this truth, brings to life sinners and causes them to be born again to a living hope in Jesus Christ.Jesus rose from the dead and lives today in order to vindicate all His claims and promises.Therefore, Christ has taken the wrath of God from all who believe, those for whom He died and their sins will be held against them no more.The good news then is that those who trust in this redemption through this God-man Jesus, have eternal life.
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DeleteThat is hogwash. You are worse than a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon when it comes to deflecting an argument you can't answer with scripture. What happened to the sacred Calvinist scripture of predestination? Isn't that your gold standard for being one of the elect? The doctrine of election is, in fact, a matter of life or death eternally! I will not write a ten-page defense of the doctrine of free will, but I will give you some scripture and questions on the subject to evaluate them for yourself. After all, I can't convince you of anything; that is the business of the Holy Spirit. According to Lloyd-Jones, preaching was logic on fire, to the whole person, not just to the heart or to the head. Whatever that means. I think the scriptures say that people are saved by the foolishness of preaching, 1 Corinthians 1:21.
ReplyDeleteRead Luke 10:13-16. Note this statement in verse 13; they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. According to Calvinist doctrine only the elect can repent because God regenerates them so they can have faith to believe. Since these did not repent before, they must not be part of the "elect". So how could they repent, as Jesus said? The only logical answer is that it is a freewill choice.
The other gold standard scripture used to support the Calvinist doctrine is Romans 9. Lets us not forget that Romans 8:29-30 is used to bolster their doctrine of predestination. However, chapter 8 addresses the state of Christians, Jews, and Gentile believers, but the audience in chapter 9 is the Jew.
In chapter 9, there are references by Paul to three OT events. Exodus 33:19 in the context Moses seeks forgiveness for the people who had sinned, and God said He would have compassion on whom I will. In the context of Romans 9, Paul is pointing out that Jewish blood alone does not make you one of the elect, vs 8. As far as the story of Pharaoh, Paul used that to illustrate that while Pharaoh had the opportunity to repent, God hardened His heart because of his continual rebellion. Lastly, the reference to the potter is from Jeremiah 18 and is all about choosing to obey God or rebel. In each illustration, people have a clear free will choice to choose their response to God.
If God causes people to believe in Him, then salvation does not come by faith, Ephesians 2:8-9. It comes by compulsion, a forced response. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Of course, the Holy Spirit waters the Word with conviction, but the individual makes a choice.
Please leave the Baptist churches, gather your flocks from the lost and quit bringing division to the church with this heresy.rs very much how you someone becomes part of the elect.
refer to j. a. jones:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.monergism.com/antidote-against-arminianism-ebook THANK YOU
Thank you for this I will be reading this today what looks to be an excellent book.
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