Calvinism vs Arminianism

1  T.U.L.I.P.

Five Points of Calvinism

• T- Man is depraved as far as any ability to have part in his salvation, or to merit the merits of Christ. (Total Depravity)
• U- Election is unconditional. (Unconditional election)
• L- The atonement is limited to the elect. Definite redemption is made. (Limited Atonement)
• I- Grace is irresistible. (Irresistible Grace)
• P- The saints will persevere in the faith, being kept by the power of God. Their salvation is certain. Their salvation is certain. (Perseverance)

Arminius’ five questions to Calvinism

• T- Man, unaided by the Holy Spirit, is unable to come to God. (Agreeable and solidifies the T). However, the will of mankind is involved in salvation.
• U- Election and condemnation are conditioned upon the foreseen faith or belief of man, not upon the sovereign choice of Almighty God.

(I knew you before you were in the womb, Jacob I have loved and Esau have I hated Romans (9:17-22)

• L- The atonement was made for all, but only believers enjoy its benefits. [Is this not the same thing just worded different?]
• I- Grace can be resisted.
• P- The doctrine of the final perseverance of all the converted is still open to discussion. At, least, Christians can “backslide” into not only occasional sin, but lifestyles of habitual sin- and still be saved on the basis of their decision to receive Christ’.

1.1    Commonalities

T– Man is unable to come to God. (John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” And John 6:44 says “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”) We are then persuaded to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour in God’s timing.

U-Election, I will say God does know the beginning from the end and does foreknow each one of us. (For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29 KJV)).

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (Romans 9:17-22 KJV)

Ro 9:11 (For [the children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

Ro 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

Ro 11:28 As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers’ sakes. (also1Th 1:4,2Pe 1:10, Ro 11:5)

To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (1 Peter 1:4 KJV) 2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

L- Same difference either way you say it.

I- Did Abraham say I will not go did Isaiah say send me not. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13 KJV). It is only by God we live and breath and have life God works in us to do His will.

P– Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5 KJV)

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Puritans had a balanced doctrine experience & practical application through unity & brotherhood. They would concentrate on the majors not the minors to keep unity for the purpose of transforming souls. Through God’s Holy Word they would pour into mankind to change the state of their souls. They said they had liberty yet responsibility in self-control and discipline. It was a well balance of God’s Sovereignty and their responsibility. Today we should believe as we cannot lose our salvation. Yet live as though we could. We need to live in reverence, humility and purity in the face of the majestic, Holy and Glorious God, in all integrity & honour serving Jesus as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.

In Christ,

Greg

Hope

Think about these qualities. Patience, meekness, humility and total surrender.

Patience is produced through trials and tribulations. Romans 5:3-5 say, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (KJV). Patience through tribulations builds experience. Every trial we go through adds experience to our list of knowledge based endings. When we go through a trial and the outcome or ending is worst the first. We should have learned to try something different. When we go through a tribulation, with Jesus as our focus, knowing that all things, good and bad, work together for our good, we can look at the situation and say Lord, what am I supposed to learn from this trial? When we come out the other side in victory with Jesus, it builds a positive experience. We will say “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”  This also gives us hope to go through the next trial in life with patience. You will also realize God loves you and will get you through life’s experiences, no matter what they are.

Meekness is strength under control. Jesus is our example. He could have called legions of angels to fight His battles. He had more strength then any army on earth. Yet, He kept all that power under control. He so loved the world that He willingly went to the cross for the joy of offering you salvation. Another example is a horse. A horse has much power, but with the right rider on its back the horse is turned this way and that way. It can be led to pull wagons and plow fields. It is strength that is greater than our own, but it is controlled to produce a proper effect.

Humility is knowing that you are not the greatest or most important thing on earth. In the whole scheme of things, you are but a flash of light in eternity past, present and future. Think soberly about yourself and see yourself from God’s point of view. Then grab hold of His good news. The plan of salvation. Don’t stop there, walk with Him the rest of your days to get the best results out of life, for with Christ I can do all things. Without Him I can do nothing. Think about this. If a thousand years is like a day to God, (this is concerning His promises, He can remember His promises over a thousand years as if it were just yesterday. His love still shines through as He has not forgotten His New Covenant even in this wicked world.). But let’s use it as a time period a thousand years as one day. This would mean a life span of about 80 years would be about 2 hours. So cannot you be good for two hours? When you realize you cannot then stay humble and call out to Jesus.  He can help you.

Finally, surrendering. It usually comes at a turning point in life’s journey. I knew I could not do it on my own, I just did not want to admit it (almost humble). But now I have nowhere else to turn. At the bottom, you cannot get any lower, you may be able to go sideways, but it is like wallowing in the mire. It is still the bottom. There is only one way to look for help and that is up. O, God help me from myself. Total surrender will lift you up and keep you going because God can exalt the humble. The prodigal son is our Biblical example. “And when he came to himself, he said, “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” (Luke 15:17 KJV) He came to himself at his lowest low in a pig pen almost ready to eat the slop. He was starting to move sideways when he looked up and came to himself. He was ready to totally surrender and ask for his father’s forgiveness and was even willing to just be a slave of his father’s household. “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants” (Luke 15:18-19 KJV). Total surrender to his father was the best thing he could have done. Because his father could exalt the humble. After the prodigal son confessed to his father, he said to his servants, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry” (Luke 15:22-24 KJV).

Total surrender to God will begin a lifestyle of hope through patience, meekness, and humility.  Put on the new man, walk with God and begin to live life the way God intended it to be in love, faith and hope.

In Christ,

Greg

Pressed Down Beyond Measure.

2 Corinthians 1:8 says, For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

How can this be, did not God promise us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that He would make a way to escape any temptation above that we are not able to bear? But here Paul said he was pressed down to the point of even life. That sounds like he was pressed down beyond measure. If you had a huge lump of dough and placed it on a table and pressed it down beyond measure it would hang over the sides of the table. Some of the edges may even fall off. Imagine if you were the dough and your extremities were about to fall off. I think that is the way one may feel when they are pressed down beyond measure physically, spiritually or emotionally.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. {common…: or, moderate} (1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV)

So how can this be? I believe God knows how far we can be pressed down. When we go through such experiences that we may feel that are beyond measure God is preparing us to take on something (of equal or greater value to) later on in our life for His glory. Usually when we go through such a tribulation with our eyes on God we gain the patience, experience and hope we need to help comfort others who may be going through something they may feel is beyond measure. The experience we receive knowing God is with us though it all gives us hope to face the next trial as He brought us through the last one.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 KJV)

Paul was really pressed down to the point of death “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: {sentence: or, answer} Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10 KJV). Paul was trusting in God and knew that no matter what God would deliver him because God has the power to rise the dead, to deliver us from eternal death and the wages of death to stand before God in His presence to live. To live, we pass from death to life, the eternal hope of all we may go through. We will live in bliss in God’s presence for eternity. The hope of all hope.

Pressed out beyond measure or a marble? If you are a marble you would not be pressed out. You would not be pliable. You might be good for running into other marbles. We need to be changed from our old rigid selfish nature into a new pliable nature that God can mold us into for His good pleasure. The more you yield unto God the more you will become Christ-like. If you are pressed down like a grape or an olive you can be changed into sacrificial wine or oil. This works with giving physically, emotionally, spiritually, sacrificially, prayerfully, and monetarily. Here are some examples;

Lu 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. {Applies to all examples}

Le 4:12 Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt. {without…: Heb. to without the camp} {where…: Heb. at the pouring out of the ashes,} {Sacrificially; example from O.T. sacrifice}

1Sa 1:15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I [am] a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. {of a sorrowful…: Heb. hard of spirit,} {Emotionally}

1Ki 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is] the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that [are] upon it shall be poured out. Job 30:16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. Ps 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. {out of…: or, sundered} {Sacrificially}

Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. {Physically, Emotionally}

Eze 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. {Spiritually}

2Ch 12:7 And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; [therefore] I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. {some: or, a little while;} {Consequentially}

Isa 26:16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them. {prayer: Heb. secret speech} {Prayerfully}

Ac 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. {God’s gift poured out to those who yield to His will} The best is poured out to those who pour out themselves to God and others.

Ask God to give you a new pliable heart and to take away any stony pieces that may be left. Stand on His promise. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26 KJV)

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary. Tired and true, pure and holy, Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary for You.

In Christ,

Greg

Thy Kingdom come. From the perspective of the Four seeds parable.

Are you conscious naturally or spiritually?

Sometimes we walk around on autopilot. We just do what we do on a daily basis without thinking about what we are doing. When something comes up we just act upon our naturally ability, fix the problem and move back into autopilot. We are not thinking about God just the circumstances of what is next on our agenda. We must become conscious of who we are in Christ. Jesus taught us to pray;

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10 KJV)

I believe that most of us never really think about the meaning of this, Your Kingdom come. It may have different meanings for different people e.g. Christ’s second coming to set up His Kingdom and reign here on earth. But let’s look at God’s Kingdom from this aspect,

The parable of the four seeds.

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. (Mark 4:3-8 KJV)

Jesus gives us the interpretation in verses 14-20;

The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. (Mark 4:14-20 KJV)

We see here the four seeds. The first are these which fell by the way side and are like those who hear the word of God but Satan comes and steals the Word from them. (I believe they are not saved).

The second, fell on stony ground. These too, turn away from the truth when persecution or affliction comes against the Word of God. (again I do not believe these are saved either).

The third seed fell among thorns and the cares of this world choke the Word of God and they do not produce fruit. You will know my disciples by their fruit.

Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

The third seed does not bear fruit and therefore cannot be a disciple of Christ.

The fourth seed fell on good ground and produces fruit some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. This sounds good until you begin to think about it. It would be great to produce fruit for Jesus. Thirty fold sounds like a great increase as well as sixty or an hundred fold. But there is one question we may miss.

If I am produces thirty or sixty fold for Jesus, what am I producing for the reminder seventy or forty fold? Is it worldly? Stagnant? Selfish desires? O, to produce an hundred fold for Jesus should be our goal. My heart aches as I know I fall short…

We must continue sowing seeds for Jesus because it looks like only twenty five percent fall on good ground and even those do not all produce an hundred percent.

But be of good cheer you might sow a seed and produce a Billy Graham who has multiple generations of preacher sowing seeds from your one seed which fell on good ground.

The kingdom of God is here on earth let us help it to grow, spread His Word. Or sow the Word it might fall on good ground.

In Christ,

Greg

Thy Kingdom come.

Are you conscious naturally or spiritually?

Sometimes we walk around on autopilot. We just do what we do on a daily basis without thinking about what we are doing. When something comes up we just act upon our naturally ability, fix the problem and move back into autopilot. We are not thinking about God just the circumstances of what is next on our agenda. We must become conscious of who we are in Christ. Jesus taught us to pray;

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10 KJV)

I would like to expound on two points First, Your Kingdom come then, Your will be done. [The second point is in the longer version of Thy Kingdom come.]

I believe that most of us never really think about the meaning of this, Your Kingdom come. It may have different meanings for different people e.g. Christ’s second coming to set up His Kingdom and reign here on earth. But I look at God’s Kingdom from this aspect,

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: (Luke 17:20 KJV).

The Kingdom of God is not seen in the natural right now for the next verse says,

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21 KJV)

The Kingdom of God is within each believing Christian. There are several verses throughout the Bible which state that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit come to dwell in us. (John 14:23; 17:21) and not just in us but in our hearts, (Gal 4:6 and Eph 3:17).

God’s Kingdom is here on earth because the Godhead dwells in us, in you. But is His Kingdom without observation? It is without observation as far as a physical kingdom in this world but are you presenting God’s Kingdom so others may observe God’s Kingdom? We, the church, God’s children are God’s Kingdom here on earth. Can others see God’s Kingdom in you? These are question that haunt me, because I know I fall short and there are times that people would not recognize that God’s Kingdom is in front of them much less that His Kingdom is in me. Are you consciously presenting God’s Kingdom or are you just living naturally?

O Father, hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. May we bring to light Your Kingdom to others so they may be reconciled to You and that Your Kingdom my reign on earth in the hearts of mankind today. In Jesus name I pray.

God’s will be done is to reconcile others back to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4).

In Christ,

Greg