Jesus is the Reason for Calvinism

[Humble_Disciple]

The only reason why I started this thread was to show that Calvinists love Jesus, and that we do take the words of Jesus seriously. The fact that all five points of Calvinism can be demonstrated from the Gospels alone shows that Calvinists care about the person and message of Christ.

Calvinists don't worship John Calvin. There would be no reason to accept Calvinism if it weren't supported by the Bible. The only reason why it's called "Calvinism" is because John Calvin popularized the doctrines of grace.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

 

[Humble_Disciple]

Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

1 Corinthians 2:15-16
The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for,“Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Romans 11:34
Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counselor?

 

[fhansen]

What does the doctrine of "irresistible grace" mean to you? How would you define it, to the best of your understanding? It's better to reject a doctrine for what it is than a strawman that has been made of it.

Since grace is more than favor, but rather the life and the love of the Spirit in us, prompting and moving us to do His will, and since believers often fail to do His will, it's obvious that grace is resistible. That's why sin is even possible, in fact, and God did not create man to sin, and the Spirit now empowers us to overcome sin, and yet we sin. The point is that man can always say no to God, finally to a degree and with a persistence that constitutes a compete turning away from Him, from love of Himself and neighbor.

It’s only called “Calvinism” because John Calvin popularized the doctrines of grace, he did not originate them. It’s the same doctrines that Augustine taught against Pelagius and Luther taught against Rome.

There are numerous Bible verses and quotations from the church fathers supporting the five points of Calvinism. The doctrines of grace are simply a convenient way of articulating what’s already revealed in the Bible.

The God of Calvinism is a step different in nature, with Luther's God similar but not quite as far removed from truth IMO. Augustine's views change, depending on his audience and purpose; Paul was similar in that manner. Both fought legalism in any case.

The Church's basic doctrines on grace were laid down at the 2nd council of orange: The Canons of the Second Council of Orange (529), largely based on Augustine's writings decades earlier. No Reformer should have any argument with the canons listed there until they get to "Conclusions", which continues with the true gospel on justification and salvation accurately taught.

Now, you can pick the following apart but I believe it to accurately reflect the Reformed view vs the Catholic view on some relevant points:

Calvinism focuses myopically on certain passages of Scripture and comes up with a fairly plausible interpretation that nonetheless flies in the face of the overall perspective of the bible (including many specific passages)-as well as the historic understanding of the Christian faith in the east and west. When Scripture and our faith are looked at from the big picture we have the case where sin, an act of the human will beginning with disobedience of God, resulted in death for man, an anomalous, disordered state of separation between himself and his Creator, which casted man into a brave new world of "freedom" where his own will reigns and untold amounts of more sin and atrocities have been committed by man against fellow man as a result.

God never abandoned man, however, but began working immediately on His plan of saving him, a plan that would involve patiently revealing Himself to and guiding and preparing man, eventually through a chosen people, over centuries, to the point where He would finally reveal Himself fully through the person and work of His Son. During all this time sin continued to separate man from God, causing pain and suffering ending in death. The best that could come out of that experience for man is the development of a hatred of sin/evil and a hunger for truth and justice, for something more than man's world had to offer. If nothing else this world provides the perfect milieu for learning that man's will, when left to its own devices, cannot bring any kind of lasting happiness or satisfaction at best, and brings all kinds of ugliness, sin and evil, at worst. It cannot bring life. Man needs something more. And when that Something comes knocking at our door now, we just might be barely smart or wise enough, with grace prompting, to open it. Or not.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me." Rev 3:20

We're here to learn what Adam didn't yet appreciate in Eden:
"Apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

From Eden until now the issue has centered around the human will-as the prize so to speak. Augustine works this out eloquently, incidentally, in "On Free Will" and other works. Will we remain in our pride and our sins, following the family tradition, or will we humble ourselves and turn back to God? Fallen man is characterized as sick, asleep, dead, lost, totally unable to find himself and yet not so compromised in will that he can't weakly muster a yes- or no- when God seeks and finds him, when the light is shown, because the image and voice of God remain in him even though greatly covered, dimmed, corrupted, muted, overridden by other values and agendas oriented towards our pride or preference for ourselves over Him.

But then, in the midst of this patient work of God's, of steering and educating man to finally make the right choice, to finally be truly enabled to make the right choice, of good over evil, life over death, God over no God with the advent of the new Adam, Calvinism has God suddenly saying, "Time out everyone, all the drama has been unnecessary because now I'll simply make the choice for you. Now I'll simply dispose you to choose rightly, without regard to your own will which is always wrong; I'll just make you, or some of you, into beings that can't help but will rightly, who believe in and love Me because that's the only way it can work- you're incapable of anything else. You’re not morally accountable beings anyway. And then I'll send the rest of you, who are likewise unaccountable, to eternal torment, again, without regard to your will. You can do absolutely nothing anyway, including saying “no” to Me, so I’m not blaming anyone because in your fallen state you can do nothing but sin. But I am going to send some of you to HELL regardless, because you’re sinners. All this because of the sacrifice of my Son. And at least those sinners whom I’ve regenerated can thank Me.”

In the true gospel, man can do nothing apart from God, but with Him all things are possible. Man’s first job, not without the absolute necessity of grace, is to turn back to the God he forsook in Eden. Then righteousness, automatically, will begin to prevail in him.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.” Jer 31:33

Again, the human will is the prize, so to speak, not something to be totally manipulated and controlled or overridden in order for us to choose rightly. So God seeks to draw that will into rectitude, to elicit right responses from us like a good parent who wants their children to attain true inner integrity, to own it for themselves. Grace is the means, He is the means, as we accept the offer of Himself, and continue to do so throughout our lives. That’s all we need to know; anything else would be to put the cart ahead of the horse. That’s why this whole endeavor of His has taken so much time to begin with.

His purpose isn’t to merely save a portion of otherwise worthless wretches but He’s had a much grander plan, from the beginning, to produce something, something great, something much better than He began with as He patiently leads His beloved creation into the purpose and perfection that He created it for. Otherwise, He may as well have just stocked heaven with the elect and hell with the rest from the get-go. That sure would’ve precluded a bunch of unnecessary human pain and anguish throughout history. He doesn’t want to run the whole business though, He just knows what we need to learn, that we cannot possibly operate without Him. Man's true justice or righteousness is directly proportional to the extent that he freely wants it himself. To put it another way, love is mans' righteousness, and while love is necessarily a gift of grace, it's also a human choice, or else it cannot and will not be love at all. The freer that choice, the freer from influence, the more perfected in love we are. That's God's goal for man. And as the church teaches, quoting a 16th century believer,
“At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love.”

In his later years Augustine would write this thoroughly Catholic sentiment:
"Nevertheless, lest the will itself should be deemed capable of doing any good thing without the grace of God, after saying, ‘His grace within me was not in vain, but I have labored more abundantly than they all,’ [Paul] immediately added the qualifying clause, ‘Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.’ In other words, Not I alone, but the grace of God with me. And thus, neither was it the grace of God alone, nor was it he himself alone, but it was the grace of God with him."

 

[fhansen]

Irresistible grace doesn’t mean that God’s elect will never rebel, but that God’s grace is powerful enough to overcome the elect’s rebellion, transform their wills and desires, and lead them to ultimate salvation.

Yes, that should be obvious enough, even if the understanding is still erroneous.

 

[fhansen]

According to the doctrine of unconditional election, saving faith is entirely the gift of God's grace, irrespective of our free-willed efforts to believe or disbelieve.

We don't argue that faith isn't entirely a gift of grace, only that we can still refuse and reject the gift-whether when first given-or at any point later.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

We have gone through a pandemic in which over 600,000 Americans have died. We need assurance of salvation now more than ever before.

Other than its support in the Bible, assurance of salvation is why I find Calvinism important. Because of unconditional election and irresistible grace, we can have assurance that God will preserve His saints.

Without the second and fourth points of Calvinism, we cannot have assurance of the fifth. This is why I've done my best to clarify what these doctrines actually mean, as well as their Biblical basis.

When you have the assurance of salvation that Calvinism provides, you can go on to humbly serve the Lord in love and gratitude, no matter what happens in life.

What is Calvinism and is it biblical?

Did the Early Church Believe the Doctrines of Grace?

This is from Martin Luther’s 97 Theses, almost twenty years before John Calvin’s The Institutes of the Christian Religion:

29. The best and infallible preparation for grace and the sole disposition toward grace is the eternal election and predestination of God.
30. On the part of man, however, nothing precedes grace except indisposition and even rebellion against grace.
The 97 Theses | Union Resources

It’s only called “Calvinism” because John Calvin popularized the doctrines of grace, he did not originate them. It’s the same doctrines that Augustine taught against Pelagius and Luther taught against Rome.

 

[John Mullally]

I’m not here to convince non-Calvinists that they must follow Calvinism. I just want them to at least understand its Biblical and historical foundations, so that they will be less likely to condemn Calvinism for something that it isn’t.

When I was a young Christian, my friend tried to sell me on Calvinism because I wanted assurance that I would never fall away. I dismissed the sale because the product was too complex and I figured the NT would directly address such an important matter - which it does in 2 Peter 1:5-10.

At its core Calvinism rests on the fact that everything God desires, He will accomplish. My argument against that is: (a) we can both agree that many will not be saved and (b) Peter and Paul assert that God desires all people to be saved per 1 Timothy 2:4 & 1 Peter 3:9. Check them out for yourself - but these scripture passages are so unshakable that even leading Reformist John MacArthur agrees to the fact that God wants all to be saved in If God Desires All Men to Be Saved, Why Aren't They?

The fact that God does not accomplish everything that He desires does not diminish God's potency or sovereignty - it just means that God has left some things up to man. After all, God did give Adam dominion on earth. However, man's continuous rebellion was so great that both Jesus and Paul termed Satan "the god of this world". God did not give Satan that pseudo authority - guess who did.

 

[public hermit]

There are numerous Bible verses and quotations from the church fathers supporting the five points of Calvinism. The doctrines of grace are simply a convenient way of articulating what’s already revealed in the Bible.

It’s only called “Calvinism” because John Calvin popularized the doctrines of grace, he did not originate them. It’s the same doctrines that Augustine taught against Pelagius and Luther taught against Rome.

Calvinism is not a denomination. It's a system of soteriology, based on the Bible, the church fathers, and the Protestant Reformers, that transcends denominational divisions.

Most importantly, since Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), we should look to the words of Jesus and see if they support the doctrines of grace.

Calvinism is important to me because it's supported by the Bible, and also because of its great benefits. I have never felt more loved by Jesus in my entire life, and I've never felt more secure in my salvation. I am so thankful, that it makes me want to live in love and obedience to Jesus.

Irresistible grace doesn’t mean that God’s elect will never rebel, but that God’s grace is powerful enough to overcome the elect’s rebellion, transform their wills and desires, and lead them to ultimate salvation. John Newton, the songwriter of "Amazing Grace" was a Calvinist.

To believe that Jesus chose me from before the foundation of the world, based on no merit on my part whatsoever, not even my free-willed efforts to believe or disbelieve, and that He will safely lead me to ultimate salvation and never abandon me, no matter how many times I might fall, is very liberating and also very humbling.

Here are just a few verses from the Gospels:

Total Depravity (Total Inability)

Matthew 7:18
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Mark 10:18
Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

John 3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 3
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

John 8:34
Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

John 8:44
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.

Unconditional Election

Matthew 11:27
All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.

Matthew 24
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 26:24
The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.

Mark 13
20 And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
27 And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

Luke 18:7
And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?

John 6
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

John 8:47
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

John 13:18
I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

John 15:19
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 17
2 Since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
6 I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Limited Atonement (Definite Atonement, Particular Redemption)

Matthew 1:21
And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Matthew 26:28
For this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Luke 1:68
Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people

John 10
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep

John 11
49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,
50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”
51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

John 15
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends

John 17:9
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

Irresistible (Enabling, Efficacious) Grace

Matthew 3:9
and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones.

Matthew 19
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Mark 9:24
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Luke 17:5
And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

Luke 24
16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
45 And He opened up their minds, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

John 1
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

John 3:27
John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

John 5
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

John 6
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws (Greek helkó, "to drag") him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

John 10:16
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

John 14
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

John 16
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Preservation/Perseverance of the Saints

Matthew 6:13
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 10:22
And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Matthew 18
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?
13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Luke 22:32
But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren

John 1:12
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

John 3
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 4:14
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 5:24
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

John 6
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

John 10
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

John 17:12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

John 18
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.”
9 This happened so that the words the had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

The preaching of the Gospel is the means God has ordained to awaken faith in His elect. (Matthew 28:19) Some of the greatest missionaries and evangelists have been Calvinists.

I’m not here to convince non-Calvinists that they must follow Calvinism. I just want them to at least understand its Biblical and historical foundations, so that they will be less likely to condemn Calvinism for something that it isn’t.

If your apartment building was burning down, and a firefighter died while saving you but not your neighbor, what would your proper response be?

Should you gripe and grumble about how unfair it was that the firefighter gave up his life for you, but not your neighbor? Or should you be thankful for his sacrifice?

There is nothing unfair about God’s sovereignty in election.(Romans 9:21) No one who desires to be saved will be turned away. (John 6:37) If you sincerely care about your salvation, that’s a sign you are among God’s elect.

If you are an Arminian who loves Jesus, that’s awesome. As the slogan of the Reformation goes, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

I definitely hear you. I could have written this OP twenty years ago. 5* Calvinism worked for me for a long time, and I still contend it's what I needed at that time. I needed to see God's sovereignty in order to trust God's love for me. And, I needed some way of understanding that was intellectually satisfying for me.

I'm still not an Arminian, but I'm much less certain of how love is distributed, and I certainly no longer believe it's not distributed evenly and across the board. I'm much more open to a radically generous distribution of grace. But that's just where I'm at, today. Still learning and trusting.

 

[Clare73]

I definitely hear you. I could have written this OP twenty years ago. 5* Calvinism worked for me for a long time, and I still contend it's what I needed at that time. I needed to see God's sovereignty in order to trust God's love for me. And, I needed some way of understanding that was intellectually satisfying for me.

I'm still not an Arminian, but I'm much less certain of how love is distributed, and I certainly no longer believe it's not distributed evenly and across the board. I'm much more open to a radically generous distribution of grace. But that's just where I'm at, today. Still learning and trusting.

May be time to consider God's secret will and his revealed will (Deuteronomy 29:29), an example of which is seen in Exodus 4:21-23.

"Interesting" way of phrasing belief: "worked for me because that is what I needed at the time."

 

[public hermit]

May be time to consider God's secret will and his revealed will (Deuteronomy 29:29), an example of which is seen in Exodus 4:21-23.

Can God's secret will be known?

 

[Clare73]

Can God's secret will be known?

God's will for Pharoah was secret to Pharoah, but not to Moses.

But then God was more open/clear with Moses than he was with other prophets (Numbers 12:6-8).

However, its operation can be seen in places where specific application cannot be known.

 

[dms1972]

Paul's gospel seems to be what Calvinism is based upon, not the Gospel of the Kingdom which is what Jesus preaches.

Maybe not in your gospel of grace to the gentiles.

But there is justice because there is judgment in the Gospel of the Kingdom.

From what I can see Paul preached the Gospel of the Kingdom.

eg. Acts 19:8 - at Ephesus: Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.

also Acts 17:2-4 - at Thessalonica: As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

I believe I've made pretty much every Biblical and historical argument for Calvinism on this forum that one can possibly make.

As Jesus would say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." My only intention has been to counter anti-Calvinist prejudice, that we are heretics rather than lovers of the Bible and Jesus Christ.

 

[Ligurian]

From what I can see Paul preached the Gospel of the Kingdom.

eg. Acts 19:8 - at Ephesus: Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.

also Acts 17:2-4 - at Thessalonica: As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

Paul's Kingdom of God =/= Jesus' Gospel of the Kingdom
Because where does Paul quote Jesus?

1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Paul is quoting Luke, who so obviously wasn't there.

Matthew was there at the Last Passover, and there's "no body broken for you" in Matthew's testimony, thank the Father. Matthew 26:26-29

John was there, and says Jesus' body wasn't broken, either. John 19:33-35

 

[Humble_Disciple]

This passage doesn't make much sense except in light of unconditional election:

John 6
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray him, because they were never granted to Him in the first place.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

I can tell you from personal experience that I'm not going to choose to obey God unless He chose me first. (John 15:16) When I believed in free will, I used it as a license to sin.

If Jesus bought and paid for me on the cross, as a unique individual, then He deserves my love and obedience in return.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

 

[Humble_Disciple]

 

[Humble_Disciple]

Irresistible (enabling) grace doesn’t mean that God’s elect will never rebel, but that God’s grace is powerful enough to overcome the elect’s rebellion, transform their wills and desires, and lead them to ultimate salvation.

Irresistible Grace - is it biblical?

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the Lord’s Prayer:

Matthew 6
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

In Matthew 6:9, we are asking for God’s name to be hallowed, that the hearts of God’s people will be changed by His grace, so that they will give Him all the glory.

In Matthew 6:10, we are asking that God’s will be done, not our own, on earth as it is in heaven. We are praying for God’s people to do His will, through His enabling grace.

In Matthew 6:11, we are asking that God’s grace free us to trust in His provisions, so that we will not worry over how we are to eat and drink. (Matthew 6:25)

In Matthew 6:12, we are asking God, through His grace, to enable us to forgive our neighbor’s sins, so that our own sins will be forgiven as well. (Matthew 6:14-15)

In Matthew 6:13, we are asking God for the enabling grace which turns us away from the temptations of sin and the wiles of the evil one, the devil.

None of the Lord’s Prayer makes sense without God’s enabling grace to have it accomplished, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Our own free will alone just isn’t up to the task.

If you are an Arminian who loves Jesus, that’s awesome. Your love for God matters more than the rightness of your theology. May God’s will be done in your own life too.

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.