Yes, indeed! Against Calvinism is coming soon to a bookstore or online distributor near you. It won’t be long now. Keep an eye out for it (well, not literally, as Eddie Eddings is keen to remind us).
Against Calvinism: Logical Arguments to Disprove the Doctrines of Grace, including The Definitive Scripture List Refuting Calvinism by Jeff Peterson, Eddie Eddings, & Jon J. Cardwell will be available before you know it.
Read what others are saying about Against Calvinism here.
Posted in Doctrine | Tagged Theology, Truth, Books, Sovereignty | 2 Comments »
A cyber-sabbatical of sorts. We are refraining from partaking in blogging, Facebooking (is that really a verb?) and responding to email from now through Labor Day. We will be monitoring things, just not posting, giving our weary keyboard a rest.
We will return with fresh, clean content, sound doctrine, a swell outlook and who knows what else?
Maybe Santa will come early and drop off my new office chair during the fast…..
Posted in Humor, Levity, Mirth | Tagged Mirth, Levity, Humor | 1 Comment »
Posted in Calvinism, Doctrine, Music, Sin, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth, doctrines of grace | Tagged Atonement, Calvinism, Doctrine, Election, Gospel, Sin, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth | Leave a Comment »
The free will of God, from Boyce’s Abstract of Systematic Theology.
The decrees of God may be defined as that just, wise, and holy purpose or plan by which eternally, and within himself, he determines all things whatsoever that come to pass.
I. This purpose or plan is just, wise, and holy. Since it is formed by God it must have this character. His nature forbids that anything otherwise shall proceed from him. Though 
what he permits may be unrighteous, or foolish, or sinful, these characteristics belong to it because of others; while his will, purpose, or plan continues just, wise, and holy.
It is needful that this fact be always remembered.
Posted in Bible Study, Calvinism, Church History, Doctrine, Free Will, New Testament, Old Testament, Sin, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth, doctrines of grace | Tagged Theology, Calvinism, Doctrine, Predestination, Bible Study, Baptist, Sin, Truth, Old Testament, New Testament, Church History | Leave a Comment »
English teachers everywhere are fanning themselves having read that title, eh?
Our friends of a different theological bent, known in the vernacular as the “wrong” bent, are fond of using the term “free will” whenever any discussion comes up concerning predestination, election, God’s omniscience, whether the Lions should draft Suh and so on. One objection to the Calvinist teaching is that if God intervenes to change someone’s will to incline it in such a manner that the person necessarily loves God and could not choose otherwise, then that love for God is not real.
Our friends would most likely say that for love to be real, the person doing the loving has to have the same ability to love as to not love. That, they say, is what makes the the preaching of the Gospel a true, valid, “well-meant offer”. (One could (and should, in fact) make the point that such is no “offer” at all, but a command to be obeyed with dire consequences for disobedience, which a mere “offer” does not entail.) This “offer” is given to people (mankind) who has the equal ability to say “Yes” or “NO,” with no inclination one way or the other in making their choice beforehand. Also, subsequent to saying “Yes,” the person must then still have the ability to love or to not love – if not, then that love is not a true love but a forced, compulsive love, which our friends would say is no love at all.
The objection our friends bring forth to the Calvinist doctrine on is that the Calvinist says that the Spirit of God will enable the saint to keep on loving God and that this work of the Spirit will necessarily continue throughout the entirety of the life of the elect. Such love, they say, is not true love because there isn’t a possibility for the saint to decide to not love God.
Which brings us to the dilemma such a view engenders: if that’s the case, is God’s love for His people true love? God cannot decide to not love His people, can He? If so, how can His love be true love if He can’t decide to not love them? How about this dilemma: upon glorification, the saints will be unable to not love God. All they will do is love God without the taint of sin that affects their love in this present life? Is the love of the glorified saint in the New Jerusalem true love for his God even though he can’t choose to not love his God?
Just asking.
Posted in Free Will, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth | Tagged Calvinism, Free Will, Bible Study, Truth | 1 Comment »
(In contrast to our recent post, The God of Arminianism)
Is a God who…..
That is not just the “God of Calvinism.” That is the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel, the one true God – that is the God of the Bible, whose purposes will be carried out, whose will is not frustrated by the will of mere creatures such as men or fallen angels, who sits on the spiritual sidelines pining for people to believe in Him but is unwilling or incapable of doing anything to effect His will because He wishes to preserve the free will of man. The God of the Bible is a mighty God, a powerful God who does as He pleases (Psalm 115:3).
That’s our God. Praise Him!!!
Posted in Calvinism, Doctrine, Free Will, Sin, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth | Tagged Theology, Calvinism, Doctrine, Predestination, Bible Study, Truth, Sovereignty | 1 Comment »
By Louis Berkhof.
When God gives names to persons or things, they are names which have meaning and give an insight into the nature of the persons or things designated. This also applies to the names which God has given Himself. Sometimes the Bible speaks of the name of God in the singular, and in such cases the term is a designation of the manifestation of God in general, especially in relation to His people, Ex. 20:7;
“Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)”
Ps. 113:3; “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same Jehovah’s name is to be praised. (Psalms 113:3)”
or simply stands for God Himself,
Prov. 18:10; “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower; The righteous runneth into it, and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10)”
Isa. 50:10. “Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God. (Isaiah 50:10)”
The one general name of God is split up into several special names, which are expressive of His many-sided being. These names are not of human invention, but are given by God Himself.
1. The Old Testament Names of God.
Posted in Bible Study, Church History, Doctrine | Tagged Bible Study, Church History, Doctrine, Theology | Leave a Comment »
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.
Rom 6:13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Rom 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Rom 6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Rom 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
Rom 6:18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
Last week Wayne covered verses 1-11 for you and we now continue with Paul’s discourse on the practical application of what he had presented as the Gospel of God’s free grace in chapter 3:21-the end of chapter five.
One of Paul’s points was that the old self was crucified with Christ, if we look at verse 6, that’s what it says – the old self was crucified with him and then if we back up to verse 5 we are united in his resurrection and if we then back up one more verse we see that we have newness of life – a new life we did not have before. The result of all this – the newness of life, being united in his resurrection and being crucified with him? The end of verse 6 and the verse 7 tells us. The believer has been set from his slavery to sin. If we jump to verse 11 we see that we are thus to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. This is important as we start verse 12 – verse 12 says that we now have power to NOT in where we did not before. (chart on board)
Mr. Griffin should remember our chart and the Latin lesson we had as well about the change in man’s status and abilities to sin or to not sin.
| Pre-Fall Man | Fallen Man | Redeemed Man | Glorified Man |
| Able to sin | Able to sin | Able to sin | Able to not sin |
| Able to not sin | Not able to not sin | Able to not sin | Not able to sin |
Look at the reborn man – again, not every person is born again – only the believer is born again, which makes the statement “born-again Christian” redundant – there is no such thing as a true Christian who is NOT born again and there is no such thing as someone who is born-again who is NOT a Christian.
Posted in Bible Study, Doctrine, Indian River Baptist Church, New Testament, Sin, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth, reformed baptist | Tagged Baptist, Bible Study, Indian River Baptist Church, New Testament, Sin, Theology, Truth | Leave a Comment »
Is a God who……….
Is that the God of the Bible?
Posted in Bible Study, Calvinism, Doctrine, Free Will, Sovereignty, Theology, Truth, doctrines of grace | 4 Comments »
There are only two religions in the world today: one is based upon the so-called Free Will of man, and the other one is based upon God’s Sovereign, Free Grace. Free Will and Free Grace are diametrically opposed to each other – they stand poles apart. For either one to conquer, the other one must be destroyed. Either Free Will destroys Free Grace and becomes lord, or Free Sovereign Grace will destroy Free Will and stand as lord of the battle. If you are saved by Free Will, then it is by the exercise of your own will that you are saved, and not by God’s will. On the other hand, if you are saved only by God’s will – that is, by Sovereign Grace, you are not saved by your own will. The Apostle Paul put it in these words in Rom. 4:4, 5, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” If you are saved by your own will, then that’s works; if you are saved by God’s will, that’s Grace. If you are saved by your own will, you can lose it at any time; if you are saved by God’s will through Free Grace, then you can never lose it at any time.
Posted in Free Will | Tagged Free Will | Leave a Comment »
