Category: Calvinism

There are times that I am ashamed to refer to myself as a Calvinist. Those who know me may remember that when I initially began to ascribe to the doctrines of grace, I did not even want to use the Calvinist label. I only started using it after I realized how inconvenient it was for me to refuse to use it (as people began calling me a Dortian, after the Synod of Dort). Consequently, I reluctantly began referring to myself as a Calvinist. But, the question is, if I think…

Unconditional election is the doctrine that God sovereignly chooses who will be saved and passes over others. Imagine that all of the tenants of a building gambled away their rent money. They all deserved to be evicted. If the landlord evicted everybody, nobody would condemn him. He was perfectly within his rights. However, suppose that the landlord had immeasurable wealth and would not suffer any financial ruin if he were to pay for the debts of all of his tenants. Would he be under any ethical obligation to pay for…

Does God want every individual to be saved? This is the main deterrent that will prevent people from becoming Calvinists. The idea that God is not actively trying to save every individual is difficult to bear and does not comport with contemporary wisdom regarding freedom of the will. Many people think that every individual is equally free to choose God. God is pleading with each one of us, desperately laboring in vain to win us over. This is the model that many evangelicals will endorse. They will tell us that…

During theological discourse and debate, it is important to try to avoid the dramatic element of the discussion. There is no reason that any of us need to point the finger at one another. When I check my phone, the last thing that I want to see is a host of red-eyed messages touting that I am “afraid to respond.” In what seems to be an attempt to elevate his status as a bona fide theologian, Mr. Eric Lounsbery has challenged Dr. James White to a debate. In this challenge,…

The question of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility on matters concerning salvation is a conundrum that has perplexed theologians and Bible scholars for centuries. On one extreme reside the hyper Calvinists who see God’s sovereignty as entailing no necessitude for evangelism. On the polar extreme reside the open theists who maintain that God’s foreknowledge — as well as his predetermination of future events — is limited. It is my position that both of those extremes are at odds with Scripture and historic Christianity. In this blog post,…

A common feature among world religions is their recognition that man is in need of something. Man needs to be saved. Man cannot stand in the presence of God in his present state. There is something that needs to be done, either by man or for man. The Christian position is that there is nothing that can be done by man, for by man salvation is impossible (Matthew 19:26). But, Christ continues, with God, salvation is possible. The Christian position, then, is illuminated. Salvation is solely a work of God…

The very concept of divine sovereignty and predestination leaves many people staggering, for they do not believe that God predestines anything. They believe in free will, which is usually thought to be in opposition with God’s predestination. After all, if God predestines everything, how could he still hold us accountable? We are just doing what he predestined us to do. We are carrying out the action that he decided that we will carry out. How can he find us guilty, then? If God predestines everything, why does he punish us?…

Is God a moral monster? Is God evil in the Bible? This is a question that is often raised by atheists and other non-Christians who labor to bring forward a case against the biblical model of God. Since God is necessarily righteous, they cannot be believers, for the biblical presentation of God is one that does not measure up. It does not adequately reflect the holiness and righteousness that one would expect from God. This is an atheistic argument that Christians encounter when interacting with the non-believers. Yet, shockingly, and…

If I carefully examine the evidence and data of a certain proposition, I will reach a conclusion regarding the truth value of that proposition. On the basis of that my conclusion, I will take an action. If I had reached an alternative conclusion, I would have taken a different course of action. Humans routinely examine data and react to evidence in a way that they otherwise would not have. For this reason, we seem to have developed this notion of freedom of the will. I can choose to do anything…

There is a slur against the doctrine of eternal security known as ‘once saved, always saved.’ Most people think of the view that if somebody says the Sinner’s Prayer once in their life, that they are saved and that they can go out living a sinful life without reprieve. That is not the doctrine of eternal security. Instead, this is the view that for those who are truly born again, they will definitely continue on the narrow way. This is the view that he who began a good work in…