Dear Rushmore, I read your article, “Does Freewill Exist?” The Biblical text supporting Calvinism is too overwhelming to allow for your argument. Especially on the points: Salvation is by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8; John 6:63, etc, etc.), as spiritual dead person could not answer the salvation call. The Holy Spirit must first help such a person. And indeed God chooses from birth (Malachi 1:3), “…I loved Jacob… and I hated Esau.” On the point, those who once tasted of salvation fall away if they should fall away… I believe accepting (Calvinist?) view is easier to understand based on the First Epistle of John, 2:19, “If they were of us they would have continued with us…” To be fair, I understand there are verses that appear to contradict “salvation by election/calling alone” doctrine. Those in my view, can be explained more easily from Calvinist standpoint than from the other side. Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you and God bless, Zoe Abate
If Calvinism teaches more than the Bible, then it teaches too much, and Calvinism ought to be rejected. If Calvinism teaches less than the Bible, then it teaches too little, and Calvinism out to be rejected. If Calvinism teaches exactly what the Bible teaches, then Calvinism is not needed and ought to be rejected because we already have the Bible – God’s inspired Word.
Merely claiming “The Biblical text supporting Calvinism is too overwhelming to allow for your argument” is not substantiated simply because you affirm it to be true. Characteristically, as you, too, have done, when Bible truth is presented that goes contrary to one’s perceived notions, people often summarily dismiss the Bible truth without attempting to address it directly. For instance, was the biblical principle of Ezekiel 18:20 in the former article too inconvenient to address, because it establishes that babies are not born in sin or that they do not inherit sin (from Adam or anyone else)? Why did you not respond to the passages cited in “Does Freewill Exist” that demonstrate the true role of the Holy Spirit in conversion (2 Peter 1:20-21; Acts 2:1-11; Ephesians 4:11-12), which is not direct operation of the Holy Spirit on any human for the purpose of saving him from anything; passages of Scripture wherein the Holy Spirit acted directly upon a person for the purpose of saving him do not appear in the Bible.
Why did you ignore the passages cited throughout the former article and the references made to them (Acts 8:29, 38; 10:48; Hebrews 5:8-9; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Romans 1:5; 16:26; John 8:24; Luke 13:3; Matthew 10:32-33; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 22:16; 8:22; 1 John 1:9; Revelation 2:10; Matthew 7:13-14; Ephesians. 3:9; Colossians 1:23; Romans 1:16; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Corinthians 10:12)? Why did you not respond to any of the “whosoever” passages that show anyone can respond to the Word of God (Acts 2:21; 10:43; 13:26; Romans 10:13; 1 John 4:15; 5:1; Revelation 22:17)?
Your statement that “Salvation is by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8; John 6:63, etc, etc.)…” would be hilarious if it were not for the seriousness of salvation versus condemnation. I looked at Ephesians 2:8 in over 30 English Bible translations and in a Greek New Testament, and not once does the word “alone” appear in that verse. You may believe that doctrine, but it is not a Bible doctrine, and simply citing a passage does not make it mean what you want it to mean. Scripture citations that are meaningless to your assertion of ‘salvation by grace alone’ followed by “etc., etc.” are poor responses to Bible truth. John 6:63, for instance, has nothing to do with “grace,” but Jesus defined His words in that verse as spiritual truths.
In the next place, I am positive that you do not truly believe (and I know that the Bible does not teach) that salvation comes by grace alone. Do you believe a person must believe the Gospel to be saved, or put another way, do you believe that a person can be saved if he or she is an unbeliever? Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16 NKJV). If you do not accept what Jesus said, then talking about Bible matters is completely useless for you. However, if you do accept what Jesus said in Mark 16:16, then you have surrendered your affirmation that one is saved by grace alone, because you acknowledge that one is saved in faith, too. We could go through the same exercise respecting repentance as well (Luke 13:3). Since grace, faith and repentance are involved in salvation, one is not saved by grace alone. In addition, there are several other New Testament references to elements involved in the salvation of souls besides the ones we noted already: the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7), confessing or acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ – the Son of God (John 8:24; Matthew 10:32-33), immersion (baptism) in water for the remission of sins (Romans 6:3-5; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:20-21), hope (Romans 8:24). Those who are saved are not saved by any single thing alone!
Reference to Malachi 1:2-3 as proof that God chooses persons for salvation or condemnation from birth is flawed. The words “from birth” are not in Malachi 1:2-3. In addition, the context was not dealing with individual persons but with the nations that descended from those two brothers.
Contrary to Calvinistic claims, 1 John 2:19 does not say that the false teachers (“antichrists” verse 18) had never been Christians. At some time, they became false teachers because of their false teaching and action; they did not continue in faithfulness and became manifestly evident as false teachers. If they had continued in faithfulness, they would have continued, but because of their unfaithfulness, they did not continue with faithful Christians. Those false teachers could not have gone out from other Christians had they not been themselves Christians, too. Calvinism is out of sync with the New Testament about apostasy, such as with the following passage.
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:20-22 KJV).
Until such time as you somehow show that this passage does not mean what it apparently says, it stands that Calvinism is wrong and that a Christian can so sin as to be lost.
