Free gracers vs Calvinists
Free gracers vs Calvinists
There is a conflict ongoing among Christians between the free gracers and the calvinists[1].
There is a conflict and a controversy between easy believism and lordship salvation[2].
Its a conflict between the five solas[3] and the five points of Calvinism[4].
I personally believe the five solas to be correct rather than the five points of calvinism regarding eternal salvation.
I believe that it is wise to win souls to Christ.
(Proverbs 11:30 [KJV]) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
I believe that those that are into easy believism are more likely to win souls to Christ than those that are into calvinism. So I believe that there is more wisdom in those that are into easy believism than those that are into calvinism.
Five points of Calvinism
So looking at the five points of Calvinism. The first one being Irresistible grace.
Well it says that God has foreknown those that are eventually going to heaven, that is glorified.
(Romans 8:28-33 [KJV])
[28] And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
[32] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
[33] Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
So we can see that for the saints grace is irresistable.
The second point of Calvinism is Limited atonement.
Well the truth about that is that the atonement is not limited.
(John 3:16 [KJV])
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But not everyone believes, like those where the seed falls by the way side. Their spiritual father is Satan. They are the tares and they don't get saved. So even though there is no such thing as limited atonement, there is such a thing as people that don't get saved and people that end up burning in the lake of fire for eternity.
So from a prophetic perspective the limited atonement is correct. In the sense that if we go beyond space and time then it is true that some people did not get the atonement because they did go to the lake of fire. But we are not to judge. We don't have the mind of God.
(Matthew 7:1-2 [KJV])
[1] Judge not, that ye be not judged.
[2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
So we can get judged among people when we judge others, even though that is not Gods judgement. Its the judgement of men. But the judgement of men can bring the snare and can be about physical survival.
The third point of Calvinism is Perseverance of the Saints.
(Romans 8:28-31 [KJV])
[28] And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
We can see from Romans 8:28-31 that all things work out for good to them he did foreknew. I dont think that means physical riches and survival in this world. We see in the bible that men of God can be poor also the martyrs didnt survive. What it is talking about regarding perserverance of the saints is that they will all go to heaven and that even if they murder like david did or fornicate like samson did or some other sin.
Perseverance of the saints as plainly stated in Romans 8:28-31 is that God will take you into heaven when you die no matter what you do after you have been eternally saved which happens at the point of salvation. Once saved always saved is true for those who are saved as we can see in Romans 8:28-31.
Now the fourth point of Calvinism is total depravity.
It is true that some people dont come to faith in Christ. They just dont. No matter how much you preach the gospel to them. It might seem like these people are in total depravity.
It is also true that we when we were lost were the servants of sin at least to some degree because of that we were living a life of sin. Goats are the servants of sin. They live for sin, its their purpose in life and since many dont get saved and eventually end up in the lake of fire, which is a very stupid thing to do since getting saved is easy.
All that it takes is that someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as we see multiple times in scripture.
But some don't, so maybe they are in total depravity. I dont know for sure.
(John 3:11-21 [KJV])
[11] Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
[12] If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
[13] And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
[14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
[15] That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
[16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 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, 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.
[21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
So it is my believe that the reason that many people don't come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is that they don't want to come to the light because they know their deeds are evil.
That is too bad for them because their is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ.
The last point of Calvinism is unconditional election. This doctrine states that God before the creation of the world predestined some people to be saved and go to heaven.
(Romans 8:28-31 [KJV])
[28] And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
[29] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[30] Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
[31] What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
And we can see in Romans 8:28-31 that whom God did foreknow he also glorified. So it is clear that those that God did predestine to go to heaven those also go to heaven, all of them.
Five Solas
The five solas are by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone by scripture alone to the glory of God alone.
These solas are all correct.
The only thing that I think can be misinterpreted is by scripture alone. In the sense that I believe someone can be saved by faith alone in Christ alone without the scripture.
When I was saved I had no access to an inspired bible. All I had access to was a modern version bible and I was saved praying to Jesus.
But once I was saved my life really took of when I started reading the king james bible. It then took me years to unsnare myself from the trouble I had gotten into during my first 5 months as a babe in christ when I had become part of two churches. Two churches that one of them was filled with modern version believers and the other church was run by a false accuser.
Anyway I continued reading my king james bible daily and I was saved out of their mess and am now unchurched. Thank God for that.
So anyway I believe all the five solas to be true with the exception of that I believe people can be saved without the scripture and without the inspired bibles.
See also
References
- ↑ Free grace theology on wikipedia, section Comparison to the five points of Reformed Theology, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_grace_theology#Comparison_to_the_five_points_of_Reformed_theology
- ↑ Lordship salvation controversy at Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordship_salvation_controversy
- ↑ Five solae on wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_solae
- ↑ Category:Five Points of Calvinism on Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism#Five_Points_of_Calvinism