Where do you stand on the Calvinism and Arminianism debate, and what resources do you recommend?
I’ve often been asked, Where do you stand on the Calvinism and Arminianism debate, and what resources do you recommend?
I came to Christ in a church that was Arminian, so that was naturally my early leaning. I went to a Bible college and seminary that were both middle of the road where neither hard core Calvinism nor Arminianism often surfaced in class, though on a continuum, some faculty would lean more toward one than the other.
As the years went by, struck by the power of God’s sovereignty and grace, I became increasingly closer to what is called a Calvinist rather than an Arminian (though I dislike both labels). As I say in other articles on the EPM website, I believe that Christ died for all, not just the elect, which is the one and only major tenet where I depart from Calvinism (not for logical reasons, but simply because after studying the passages they still seem to me to be saying Christ died for everyone.) So I am what might be called a four point Calvinist, though many 5-point Calvinists hate that term, believing it all stands or fall together. Logically, I see what they mean, it’s just my understanding of biblical passages that gives me pause. (It’s not because I haven’t read extensively and discussed the matter with many people I respectfully disagree with.)
One of my most favorite (living) preachers ever, Paul Washer, recently found himself in San Antonio, TX preaching, and I stumbled across the video.
Enjoy! I’ll put some notes below of where I got this. The sermon is entitled “He drank your hell”…Notes from the originating page.
This is the sermon Paul Washer preached in San Antonio 2 nights ago, it was a blessing. We will have 2 hours of Ask Pastor Washer coming up on IBH in the following weeks. This was preached in our church building – Fatty’s Burger Joint.
If you are interested in following Paul Washer on twitter, or learning more about his ministry, click away. Be blessed by this message!
At what point do you deal with sin? Not at the point of behavior…but at the point of desire. The person who is able to control his emotional responses is able to deal effectively with sin…You must deal with sin in your life. If you expose your emotions to the baited hook, you may find yourself getting hooked unless you take immediate action.
No doctrine is more despised by the natural mind than the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. Human pride loathes the suggestion that God orders everything, controls everything, rules over everything. T he carnal mind, burning with enmity against God, abhors the biblical teaching that nothing comes to pass except according to His eternal decrees. Most of all, the flesh hates the notion that salvation is entirely God’s work. If God chose who would be saved, and if His choice was settled before the foundation of the world, then believers deserve no credit for their salvation.
But that is, after all, precisely what Scripture teaches. Even faith is God’s gracious gift to His elect. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65). “Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). Therefore no one who is saved has anything to boast about (cf Eph. 2:8, 9). “Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).
The doctrine of divine election is explicitly taught throughout Scripture. For example, in the New Testament epistles alone, we learn that all believers are “chosen of God” (Titus 1:1). We were “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11, emphasis added). “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world … He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (vv. 4, 5). We “are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son … and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). READ MORE
“God has often forgiven sinners, but He never forgives sin; and the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of Another having borne his punishment; for ‘without shedding of blood is no remission’ (Hebrews 9:22).” -A.W. Pink
Charles H. Spurgeon observes that you have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say, but you never heard an Arminian prayer–for the saints in prayer appear as one in word, and deed, and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free will; there is [...]
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Matthew’s explanation of the significance of the virgin birth came within the revelatory dream God gave to Joseph. Such extraordinary, direct communication evidently occurred while Joseph slept. Matthew does not record any detail of Joseph’s immediate reaction, except to say that he woke up and obeyed the angel’s instructions: “Then Joseph, being aroused fro […]
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*This was taken from Eternal Perspectives. You can read the full blog entry here:
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