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Why Calvinism cannot be true


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Many put this with a perspective of dealing with eternal life; being born again. However, I would ask that you look at a different perspective. Would it be possible that Peter was speaking of the NT church? He was speaking to those in NT churches and including himself as in one.

I see elect as a description of those in the NT church and it does not declare elect to eternal life but elect to a promise. Just as those who were part of Israel were called elect, it was dealing with the promise made unto Abraham. Not a promise of eternal life but a promise of the seed and a promise of the land of Canaan.

1 Peter 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.

Elect for what? Watch this:
1 Peter 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Next verse:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,

The sentence doesn't stop there though:

that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

What exactly was chosen before the foundation of the world? The answer is given, "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love". Again, not dealing with salvation. Dealing with a completely different issue.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

What calling is Paul talking about here? It is not salvation. This is a calling after salvation. That calling is to suffer and follow him.

Watch the progression of that verse:
1)Who hath saved us

The first thing that must take place before you can get to the holy calling is you need to be saved. Then you can move to the next part:
2) and called us with a holy calling

Once saved you can be called to that holy calling. Not before. Certainly two separate things and issues. What is that calling?

8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

and later on he reiterates this:

12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Observe though that he is not dealing with their salvation, but dealing with something that follows salvation.


Romans 8:29-30, Whom he did foreknow He did predestnate, whom the very same one he predestinated He called, whom he called, Those he justified (Salvation).
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WE can only be justified by faith. When are we justified? When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

To justify means to "delare righteous" It means to be regard or treated as righteous. To Justify means to set right with God on the basis of faith. When does this happen? When We trust Christ as our Savior and Lord.

1. We were justified when we trust Christ, 1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. (ASV) You cannot be saved without being justified.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

"Being justified" is an Aorist passive participle in the Greek and says "having been justified by faith" We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

When are we justified when we trust Christ by faith. This is Bible Baptist doctrine.

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WE can only be justified by faith. When are we justified? When we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

To justify means to "delare righteous" It means to be regard or treated as righteous. To Justify means to set right with God on the basis of faith. When does this happen? When We trust Christ as our Savior and Lord.

1. We were justified when we trust Christ, 1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. (ASV) You cannot be saved without being justified.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

"Being justified" is an Aorist passive participle in the Greek and says "having been justified by faith" We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

When are we justified when we trust Christ by faith. This is Bible Baptist doctrine.


If you observe the progression of the verse, you will see that it is dealing with being conformed to his image. That does not happen to an unregenerate. Nor does it happen once you get saved. That happens over time. The process described in 30 is how we(those who are already saved) become conformed to his image. These things happen AFTER salvation. I find it very interesting how closely Romans 8:30 parallels 1 Timothy 3:16:

Romans 8:30 ... them he also called:

1 Timothy 3:16 ... God was manifest in the flesh,


Romans 8:30 ... them he also justified:

1 Timothy 3:16 ... justified in the Spirit,


Romans 8:30 ... them he also glorified.

1 Timothy 3:16 ... and received up into glory.


The full process complete. Christ was the forerunner for us of Romans 8:30. The believer is to walk the footsteps of Christ and be finally received up into glory at God's appointed time. However, just because God has determined(predestined) a certain walk for our lives doesn't mean we necessarily follow his plans, though we should. We see this happen time after time in the Scriptures. It is our responsibility to walk by faith. Only then will God direct us each step of the way. However, God does have a predetermined/predestinated plan for our lives and that is that each believer be conformed to the image of Christ.
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If you observe the progression of the verse, you will see that it is dealing with being conformed to his image. That does not happen to an unregenerate. Nor does it happen once you get saved. That happens over time. The process described in 30 is how we(those who are already saved) become conformed to his image. These things happen AFTER salvation. I find it very interesting how closely Romans 8:30 parallels 1 Timothy 3:16:

Romans 8:30 ... them he also called:

1 Timothy 3:16 ... God was manifest in the flesh,


Romans 8:30 ... them he also justified:

1 Timothy 3:16 ... justified in the Spirit,


Romans 8:30 ... them he also glorified.

1 Timothy 3:16 ... and received up into glory.


The full process complete. Christ was the forerunner for us of Romans 8:30. The believer is to walk the footsteps of Christ and be finally received up into glory at God's appointed time. However, just because God has determined(predestined) a certain walk for our lives doesn't mean we necessarily follow his plans, though we should. We see this happen time after time in the Scriptures. It is our responsibility to walk by faith. Only then will God direct us each step of the way. However, God does have a predetermined/predestinated plan for our lives and that is that each believer be conformed to the image of Christ.



Rom 8:29 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.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

We were predestinated before we experienced salvation. Yes We were predestinated, marked off before hand, in eternity past, to be conformed into the likness of His Son which would come in the future.

In verse 30 We see how he brings the elect through all the necessary steps To glorification, the likeness of Christ. Those He predestinated, these very same one He called ( this is the effectual call to salvation, those He called, these very same ones He justified, those He justified, these very same ones He gloried.

The first two steps forknowledge, and predestination are in eternity past. The effectual call takes place in the future when the elect hear the gospel mesage. Justification takes place when they trust Christ. Glorification will take place in the Future, this is final salvation. At that time we will be completely conformed into the image of His Son.

God Bless
John
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Yes, we were predestined... We meaning those who believed.

God knows the end from the beginning. He knows who will curse Him tomorrow, and He knew Adam would sin, but we can't say either is His will, and it certainly doesn't mean we have no choice. God knows everyone who will believe in Christ, and He predestines them all for salvation, adoption, to be conformed to the image of His Son, etc... But it's a different story to make that into a decree and put into a neat little box. Speaking of boxes... Schroedinger's cat, here we come! :bonK:

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Yes, we were predestined... We meaning those who believed.

God knows the end from the beginning. He knows who will curse Him tomorrow, and He knew Adam would sin, but we can't say either is His will, and it certainly doesn't mean we have no choice. God knows everyone who will believe in Christ, and He predestines them all for salvation, adoption, to be conformed to the image of His Son, etc... But it's a different story to make that into a decree and put into a neat little box. Speaking of boxes... Schroedinger's cat, here we come! :bonk:


Even if you believe that God foresaw who would be saved in Romans 8:29, and then predestinated them to salvation He foreknew them in eternity past He predestinated them in eternity past.
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No where in the scriptures can it be found where God predestinated anyone to have eternal life.

He predestinates(predetermined) that believers should be conformed to the image of Christ.(Rom 8:29)

He predestinated that the Holy Ghost would call those who have already believed to a new life(of service to him along with persecution). (Rom. 8:30)

He predestinated that all those who believed would be in the adoption of children to Jesus Christ. (Eph. 1:5)

He predestinated that believers should live their life for God's glory. (Eph. 1:11)

And he foreknew who would believe on him.

However, no where in the scriptures does it speak of being predestined to believe. That simply comes from a heretical, misleading, Satan-led, and perverted teaching of calvinism. God did not predetermine who would believe.

However, God did determine(predestinated) before time that the wages for sin is death. So we were all predestinated to an eternity of torments in hell. And God also determined before time that he would send his Son to take that penalty of death for all those who might believe. Yet God only foreknew who would accept the Savior.

I majored in physics in college and one thing that I seem to find in the scriptures is that God is not confined by time like you or I or the creation. He sees everything as having already happened because to him it already has. He dwells outside the confines of time yet also is eternally present in time past present and future. So for him to foreknow something means he's already there and has already seen it happen. Now I will state that this is my opinion based on what I've studied in the scriptures. However, if you study how God told Moses to tell the Israelites "The I AM has sent you," It becomes apparent that God certainly has a different perspective on time then we do. Also the scriptures says:

Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

This implies God having a relationship with time that far exceeds our linear understanding.

So I would say that when God says he knows about something that will happen, it is not because he necessarily made it happen(though he may make it come to pass) but it is because he is already there.

So when he foreknows who will accept Christ and who won't, it is not that he made them or didn't make them accept Christ. It is simply that he already is at the end. He is "the ending".

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