Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
CALVIN'S CAMELS
Another recommended article:
“Calvin’s Camels” by David Cloud
Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!
INTRODUCTION
Having read John Calvin’s Institutes and having studied the writings of many Calvinists both ancient and contemporary, I am convinced that Calvin was guilty of straining at gnats and swallowing camels. To accept Calvinism (in any of its forms) is to deny the plain teaching of dozens of Scriptures.
I have examined Calvinism many times during the 32 years since I was saved. The first time was shortly after I was converted, when I was in Bible College, and Calvinism was one of the many topics that were strenuously discussed by the students. I had never heard of Calvinism before that and I didn’t know what to think of it, so I read Arthur Pink’s The Sovereignty of God and a couple of other titles on the subject with a desire to understand it and to know whether it was scriptural or not. Some of the students became Calvinists, but I concluded that though Calvinism makes some good points about the sovereignty of God and though I personally like the way it exalts God above man and though I agree with its teaching that salvation is 100% of God and though I despise and reject the shallow, manipulative, man-centered soul winning scheme that is so common among independent Baptists and though it does seem to be supported by a few Scriptures, the bottom line to me is that it ends up contradicting far too many plain Scriptures.
Full article can be found here:
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/calvins_camels.html
“Calvin’s Camels” by David Cloud
Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!
INTRODUCTION
Having read John Calvin’s Institutes and having studied the writings of many Calvinists both ancient and contemporary, I am convinced that Calvin was guilty of straining at gnats and swallowing camels. To accept Calvinism (in any of its forms) is to deny the plain teaching of dozens of Scriptures.
I have examined Calvinism many times during the 32 years since I was saved. The first time was shortly after I was converted, when I was in Bible College, and Calvinism was one of the many topics that were strenuously discussed by the students. I had never heard of Calvinism before that and I didn’t know what to think of it, so I read Arthur Pink’s The Sovereignty of God and a couple of other titles on the subject with a desire to understand it and to know whether it was scriptural or not. Some of the students became Calvinists, but I concluded that though Calvinism makes some good points about the sovereignty of God and though I personally like the way it exalts God above man and though I agree with its teaching that salvation is 100% of God and though I despise and reject the shallow, manipulative, man-centered soul winning scheme that is so common among independent Baptists and though it does seem to be supported by a few Scriptures, the bottom line to me is that it ends up contradicting far too many plain Scriptures.
Full article can be found here:
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/calvins_camels.html
Monday, February 16, 2009
PERPLEXED WITHOUT CONTEXT
I've been made increasingly aware of the importance of CONTEXT when it comes to understanding scripture.
I strongly recommend the following article from David Servant. It looks at the dangers of applying out of context statements.
https://www.heavensfamily.org/ss/e_teachings/bible-out-of-context
I strongly recommend the following article from David Servant. It looks at the dangers of applying out of context statements.
https://www.heavensfamily.org/ss/e_teachings/bible-out-of-context
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
THIS CREATION & GOD'S ULTIMATE PLAN
What is God working towards? What is His ultimate plan for His creation?
Look to the very last thing that He reveals – look what comes after the judgement.
It is a NEW creation – a new heavens and a new earth, populated by those He has redeemed. A new heavens and a new earth where only righteous dwells.
Maybe we should ask – considering the state of THIS creation and considering the sinful state of man (and considering the claims of Calvinists); why didn’t God START with that perfect creation which will give no place at all for unrighteousness. Why did He allow sin to enter the perfect world He created in the beginning?
Why create a human race with the potential for sin, knowing that the majority would have to be dealt with severely; that the majority would end up enduring eternal punishment of the worst imaginable kind? Does He find pleasure in condemning so many to the Lake of Fire?
I don’t think the answer is difficult when we see what the scriptures reveal about Him and His character.
God wants a WILLING people who will love Him, obey Him, and give Him glory.
He wants to demonstrate His justice, His mercy and His love to the people He created.
To achieve all of that in a meaningful way, He had to allow the possibility of rejection. Love is only meaningful if it is given willingly. Obedience is only meaningful if there’s a possibility of disobedience.
God therefore gave Adam the freedom to choose: to be obedient by NOT eating the forbidden fruit – or to be disobedient by eating it. Only by giving that choice could obedience mean anything – it is no hard thing to “obey” if nothing is out of bounds.
However, God was not taken by surprise by Adam’s sin, but HE had already made provision to deal with it in the most unexpected and glorious way. Some details of this can be found in Romans 5, a truth that is more or less summarised in Romans 11.
“God bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”
“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”
God did not use Adam’s sin as an excuse to EXCLUDE people from His eternal plan – but He used it to make His mercy available to ALL – that NO ONE would have access to His eternal purposes through human effort, but ALL could obtain access through the gracious and merciful gift of salvation that He made available to ALL who turn to Him in faith. To ALL who put their trust in His righteousness and His provision and not their own righteousness and their own worth!
Look to the very last thing that He reveals – look what comes after the judgement.
It is a NEW creation – a new heavens and a new earth, populated by those He has redeemed. A new heavens and a new earth where only righteous dwells.
Maybe we should ask – considering the state of THIS creation and considering the sinful state of man (and considering the claims of Calvinists); why didn’t God START with that perfect creation which will give no place at all for unrighteousness. Why did He allow sin to enter the perfect world He created in the beginning?
Why create a human race with the potential for sin, knowing that the majority would have to be dealt with severely; that the majority would end up enduring eternal punishment of the worst imaginable kind? Does He find pleasure in condemning so many to the Lake of Fire?
I don’t think the answer is difficult when we see what the scriptures reveal about Him and His character.
God wants a WILLING people who will love Him, obey Him, and give Him glory.
He wants to demonstrate His justice, His mercy and His love to the people He created.
To achieve all of that in a meaningful way, He had to allow the possibility of rejection. Love is only meaningful if it is given willingly. Obedience is only meaningful if there’s a possibility of disobedience.
God therefore gave Adam the freedom to choose: to be obedient by NOT eating the forbidden fruit – or to be disobedient by eating it. Only by giving that choice could obedience mean anything – it is no hard thing to “obey” if nothing is out of bounds.
However, God was not taken by surprise by Adam’s sin, but HE had already made provision to deal with it in the most unexpected and glorious way. Some details of this can be found in Romans 5, a truth that is more or less summarised in Romans 11.
“God bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”
“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”
God did not use Adam’s sin as an excuse to EXCLUDE people from His eternal plan – but He used it to make His mercy available to ALL – that NO ONE would have access to His eternal purposes through human effort, but ALL could obtain access through the gracious and merciful gift of salvation that He made available to ALL who turn to Him in faith. To ALL who put their trust in His righteousness and His provision and not their own righteousness and their own worth!
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