A message I sent to a friend who is quite inclined towards Calvinism. : )
I was recently introduced by a friend to this guy who is new here in Qatar. I invited him to church and it turned out that he was a Primitive Baptist.
I was recently introduced by a friend to this guy who is new here in Qatar. I invited him to church and it turned out that he was a Primitive Baptist.
Primitive Baptists also adhere strongly to the doctrines of Election and Predestination and we had quite a lengthy discussion on this topic already.
It is not that I don't adhere to the doctrines of election and predestination, but the differences lie in how we see the manner it was carried out.
And it seems to me that the Calvinist view is that the Lord hand picks His sheep. I don't see it that way and I don't think it has Scriptural basis. I believe it is just an assumption from Scripture.
How one becomes a sheep I believe is not by hand picking. It is illustrated in the verse below:
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
It is simple; you trusted after you hear the word of truth, and after you believed you were sealed by the Holy Spirit.
And there is only 1 verse in the Bible where it clearly tells us how election was carried out by the Lord. It is in:
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
There is only 1 element in the exercise of election and that is according to the foreknowledge of God. And it is made to pass through the sanctification of the Spirit.
In contrast, the Lord's death on the cross was determined using two elements, 1) foreknowledge of God; and 2) determinate counsel of God, as we see in the following verse:
Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Again, the point of contention here is not election and predestination but the manner by which it was exercised.
And foreknowledge is simply this: knowledge of an event before it actually happens. A subtle example would be in:
Joh 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Notice how the Lord said "before that Philip called thee..." before that event, or before Philip acts to call him, before the happening of that event, the Lord said. I saw thee.
And I believe God saw already the entire history of mankind and He was happy with how it turned out. We see the end of all things in the book of Revelation. And we see a victorious ending.
But in all this, these are the parties that are involved and performs their own separate, independent, sovereign wills:
1. God makes His move
2. Sin / Satan makes his move
3. Man makes his move
Although God is sovereign over all, He does not overthrow Man's sovereignty so that He may create in Man a character like His; although free yet always righteous!
It is not that I don't adhere to the doctrines of election and predestination, but the differences lie in how we see the manner it was carried out.
And it seems to me that the Calvinist view is that the Lord hand picks His sheep. I don't see it that way and I don't think it has Scriptural basis. I believe it is just an assumption from Scripture.
How one becomes a sheep I believe is not by hand picking. It is illustrated in the verse below:
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
It is simple; you trusted after you hear the word of truth, and after you believed you were sealed by the Holy Spirit.
And there is only 1 verse in the Bible where it clearly tells us how election was carried out by the Lord. It is in:
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
There is only 1 element in the exercise of election and that is according to the foreknowledge of God. And it is made to pass through the sanctification of the Spirit.
In contrast, the Lord's death on the cross was determined using two elements, 1) foreknowledge of God; and 2) determinate counsel of God, as we see in the following verse:
Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Again, the point of contention here is not election and predestination but the manner by which it was exercised.
And foreknowledge is simply this: knowledge of an event before it actually happens. A subtle example would be in:
Joh 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Notice how the Lord said "before that Philip called thee..." before that event, or before Philip acts to call him, before the happening of that event, the Lord said. I saw thee.
And I believe God saw already the entire history of mankind and He was happy with how it turned out. We see the end of all things in the book of Revelation. And we see a victorious ending.
But in all this, these are the parties that are involved and performs their own separate, independent, sovereign wills:
1. God makes His move
2. Sin / Satan makes his move
3. Man makes his move
Although God is sovereign over all, He does not overthrow Man's sovereignty so that He may create in Man a character like His; although free yet always righteous!
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