The “invitation” or “altar call” is a common tradition in many “low church” bodies. Invitations to accept Christ are not new, however, the specific form of invitation known as an “altar call” is a relatively new practice. It started with the evangelist Charles Finney, back in the 1830’s. Other evangelists who have popularized the practice include D.L Moody, Billy Sunday, Corrie ten Boom, and Billy Graham.
The 400th anniversary of Arminius’ “Declaration of Sentiments” occurred last week. We missed the opportunity to mark the anniversary on its exact day here at our site. But it is still worth drawing attention to…
An Attempt to Move the Issue from Prooftexting to Texts which Sustain the Argument Introduction to the Theological Debate For 500 years, much of evangelical Christianity has been split on the issue of whether a…
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the…
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21…
I’m taking a brief break today from the Arminian/Calvinist debate to say a few words about All Saints Day. I’ll post the weekly devotional tomorrow. As many might know, Halloween was originally All Hallows Eve. This was the day before All Hallows Day, a.k.a. All Saints Day.
Originally, this was a day that was set aside to celebrate the day of death for all the martyrs of the church, because celebrating each individually became too cumbersome. Eventually it was expanded to celebrate all of the Saints of the church when persecution died down. It became a day devoted to acknowledging the faithful in the church, and remembering the great heroes of the faith. It is a wonderful holiday to recognize what the power of the Spirit can truly do in us.
This post attempts to put the Calvinistic “never really saved to begin with” view of apostasy to the test when reading select passages relevant to the topic of apostasy. The results speak for themselves.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [proving that he was never in Christ to begin with, making it impossible to ‘remain’ in Him or be ‘cut off’ from Him] Jn. 15:3-6
This post is an excerpt from the book review of Death of Death in the Death of Christ. Owen’s Argument 15: P1: The biblical expression “Christ died for us” means Christ’s death substituted for the…
I grew up in a Southern Baptist church that was focused on the gospel. The issues of Calvinism and Arminianism never came up. I had never even heard that there was a debate until 1998…
Is the grace of God which leads a sinner to salvation by faith or to faith? In Scripture it is by faith, in Calvinism it is to faith. The Calvinist incorrectly assumes that God’s grace is directly related to regeneration in order for the sinner to then have faith in Christ (which is also a gift, in the absolute sense).
He is left to conclude that grace for salvation is not by faith but to faith, since salvation and election is by the unconditional choice of God. This “faith” seems to be one of proxy, for it is not the sinner’s faith, but a faith given to him by God. This is an alien faith. It did not derive from the sinner but was (somehow) “planted within” him. The Scripture behind this idea (so admits the Calvinist) is Philippians 1:29, which reads, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (NASB).
Sometimes theology can make us frustrated, and the Calvinism / Arminian controversy has been making Christians frustrated for centuries. But this can be a good thing if it drives us closer to God in seeking…
I’m sorry that I am late this week. I’m afraid that I had some computer issues.
1 John 4:19; We love, because He first loved us.
This is an important relational aspect between us and the Father. Love does not find its origin in our souls, but in the Divine Being. He is love, and He is the subject and the object of it. I shapes it; designs it; defines it. There is no love without Him.
This post is an excerpt from the book review of Death of Death in the Death of Christ.
The doctrine of justification by faith is the teaching that God pronounces sinners, who are believers, not guilty, based on what Christ has done. God counts our faith as righteousness, based on Christ.
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
The Tale of the Great King There once was the Great King who ruled his land with strength and confidence. Throughout all the land, he maintained peace with an iron hand and a calculating mind.…
Defending a term such as prevenient grace poses the same problem as defending such terms as trinity, total depravity, supra-, infra-, or sublapsarianism, or even Bible, for such terms do not appear in the Bible.
What, then, does the Arminian mean by the term prevenient grace? The word prevenient means “preceding;” thus the term, in its most simple form, means “grace which goes before,” or, “preceding grace” (or, as in ancient usage, “preventing grace”). So when the Bible claims that people are “saved by grace” (Eph. 2:8), Arminians understand that this grace must precede salvation if a person is to be saved (something which no Calvinist would deny).
The following link is to an article by James M. Leonard, “Arminian Baptist,” who argues from the overall text of Hebrews for the actual possibility of believers leaving their faith.
http://jmleonardfamily.googlepages.com/eternalsecurityandexegeticaloverviewofhe2
Is God’s grace irresistible? The answer to that question will be determined by your theological convictions. If God must first regenerate people (whom He has pre-selected for salvation) in order for them to believe, then…
Fear is not in love, but complete love casts out fear; for fear possesses torture, and fearing does not perfect in love. This is a really powerful verse. It comes off of verse 17 which…
For the rest of the series, see 5/6/2008-5/9/288, 5/12/2008-5/16/2008, 6/16/2008, 7/23/2008 Having examined the primary passages that teach apostasy we now examine the passages that the advocates of unconditional eternal security believe clearly support their…
On the heels of my recent post, I am still vying for the universality of the love of God for all people. Again, Fritz Guy writes, “If the preeminent characteristic of God is love, and…
