Calvinism’s conception of spiritual death undergirds its belief that Regeneration Precedes Faith. In this essay, I contend that Calvinists do not have a correct understanding of spiritual death, that, in fact, their conception appears flawed…
Dead. Spiritually/in sin
The Awakening of God to Our Sins
The Awakening of God to Our Sins written by SEA member, Roy Ingle Salvation is of the Lord. We affirm that but let us consider that truth played out in our lives. When I was…
Adam Clarke on Ephesians 2:8-9
Adam Clarke on Ephesians 2:8-9 provided by SEA member, Roy Ingle I am studying to teach this weekend from Ephesians 2:1-10 and I was reading from Adam Clarke’s commentary on the passage and I loved…
Adam Heard the Voice of God
Adam Heard the Voice of God written by SEA member, Roy Ingle Some Calvinists such as R.C. Sproul asserts that one must be regenerated before faith because of the nature of total depravity. Since mankind…
Jesus Says the Dead Will Hear Unto Spiritual Life
I want to recommend Chris Chapman’s article available at SEA called, The Extent of Spiritual Death. Chapman’s article does an excellent job of demonstrating from Scripture that the spiritual death described in the Bible does…
Arminius on What the First Sin Produced
Arminius on What the First Sin Produced written by SEA member, Roy Ingle What were the results of Adam’s transgression against God? Arminius answers thus: The proper and immediate effect of this sin was the…
“The Prodigal Son” and Arminian Theology
One of Jesus’ best known parables is the story of “The Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-32). The parable is particularly relevant to Arminian theology. It shows the extent of freedom that God gives to his children.…
Answering “Against Calvinism” on Total Depravity
In their recent book Against Calvinism: Logical Arguments to Disprove the Doctrines of Grace; Including the Definitive Scripture List Refuting Calvinism, constructed by self-publishing CreateSpace, irenic Calvinists Jeff Peterson, Eddie Eddings and Jon J. Cardwell…
Ephesians 2:3; A Devotional
Along with them, we all once lived by the passions of our flesh, doing the desires of the body and of the mind. Like the rest of them, we were children of wrath. What do…
Which Comes First, Faith or Regeneration?
Although I argued that “what” regeneration is is more important than “when” regeneration happens, we do still need to touch on the question of the timing of regeneration. These passages show that regeneration comes after…
A Wesleyan Interpretation of Romans 5-8
A Wesleyan Interpretation of Romans 5-8
From the Wesleyan Theological Journal
Jerry McCant
Any assignment whose parameters are set by others can be threatening. After accepting this assignment, I found this one to be so. First, it was to be a Wesleyan interpretation. Given the many “Wesleyanisms”‘ and the problem Isbell2 had in defining a “Wesleyan position” on the “old man,” I was not too hopeful. I was asked to interpret Romans 6-8 from this Wesleyan perspective. For reasons that I shall discuss below, I was not able to be that restrictive, but found myself forced to consider Romans 5-8 as a unit.
What Can The Dead in Sin Do?
Calvinists love to point out that we are dead in sin. That we are dead in sin prior to conversion cannot be denied (Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13); the question has to do with what it means to be dead in sin.
Calvinist are fond of comparing spiritual death to physical death. This gives them the framework with which to press their theological conviction that regeneration precedes faith. If being dead in sin means that we are as helpless as physical corpses then we are told that we certainly can no more “hear” the gospel or “see” our need for Christ than a physical corpse can hear or see. But is there any justification for such a strict parallel between the spiritual and the physical?
Fletcher on Being “Dead in Sin” Part 2
The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf. Fletcher demonstrated that the Scriptures use the word “dead” in more than one way, and to understand the term…
John Fletcher on Being “Dead in Sin”
The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf. In my interactions with Calvinists the conversation always seems to go back to their conception of being dead in…
Answering Greg Elmquist’s “Four Unanswerable Questions”
The content of this post was authored by J.C. Thibodaux and is posted on his behalf. I came across a writing some time back by Pastor Greg Elmquist called, ‘Four Unanswerable Questions,’ which I’ve seen…
Essay on Ephesians 2.1-10
I. Grace Is Essential Because Sinners Are In A “Dead” State Of Mind. (2:1-3) The Greek text of Ephesians 2:1 begins with, Kai hymas ontas nekros, literally, “and you were dead.” The New King James…
Regeneration Precedes Faith, and Faith is the Gift of God?
In his book How to Be Born Again, Billy Graham states, “Jesus said that God can change men and women from the inside out. It was a challenge -a command. He didn’t say, ‘It would…
