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Salvation as a Gift: An Arminian Attempts to Discredit Calvinism
Here is my response to a meme I came across today which attempts to critique the Calvinist who says an Arminian's choice of following Jesus can be grounds for boasting before God.
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Salvation is a gift, in its entirety. Jesus provides EVERYTHING we need for salvation, including a new heart to believe (Deut 29:4, 30:6; Ezek 36:26; Eph 2:8). Your meme presumes that the new heart to believe is not part of God's gift to us but that faith is something that can naturally spring from our unregenerated human nature, apart from grace, apart from God's gift. Your meme wrongly assumes that the captives do not need liberating from their love of darkness, hatred of the light and unwillingness to come into the light (John 3:19; 1 Cor 2:14) ... since their wills are already good. That this Spirit wrought change of heart is not part of God's grace but that the unhardening of our own heart is something we are naturally willing and able to do on our own. But just like a seed needs rain from heaven to grow so the seed of the gospel needs the Holy Spirit to be germinated. 'No one says Jesus is Lord apart from the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3).
Likewise Jesus declared, "the Spirit quickens, the flesh counts for nothing... that is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me grants it." John 6:63. 65
Yet your position forces you to believe that a person can come to faith in Christ even if the Father DOES NOT grant it, or willing to come even if the Spirit DOES NOT quicken, and so your position by default presumes that the flesh DOES indeed count for SOMETHING, contrary to the bible.
So it appears you have to ascribe your repenting and believing (at least partly) to your own wisdom, humility, sound judgment or good sense and not to Christ ALONE. But the Bible says it is "because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God...therefore let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Cor 1:30-31) ... Your meme assumes wrongly that a person is morally capable to exercise faith apart from any grace when the entire Bible testifies otherwise.
In fact, if a man needs any kind of grace to come to Christ then your meme disqualifies itself from putting forth any meaningful argument.
Through Paul the Spirit says, "even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] quickened us together with Christ — by grace you have been saved—" Eph 2:5
Grace includes the quickening from death ... to say that we believe prior to grace is to turn the gospel on its head.. it is by grace though faith. No faith without grace, no faith without quickening. So your Christmas gift meme forgot to include one of the most crucial gifts - a new heart.
Logic, you say? This is not derived from human logic but God's own word. But it is unaided human logic to declare that man's will prior to salvation is not in bondage to sin, or captive to his lusts, and that some are willing to come to Christ apart from grace.
Mon, 07/03/2017 - 16:46 -- john_hendryx
Here is my response to a meme I came across today which attempts to critique the Calvinist who says an Arminian's choice of following Jesus can be grounds for boasting before God.
-----
Salvation is a gift, in its entirety. Jesus provides EVERYTHING we need for salvation, including a new heart to believe (Deut 29:4, 30:6; Ezek 36:26; Eph 2:8). Your meme presumes that the new heart to believe is not part of God's gift to us but that faith is something that can naturally spring from our unregenerated human nature, apart from grace, apart from God's gift. Your meme wrongly assumes that the captives do not need liberating from their love of darkness, hatred of the light and unwillingness to come into the light (John 3:19; 1 Cor 2:14) ... since their wills are already good. That this Spirit wrought change of heart is not part of God's grace but that the unhardening of our own heart is something we are naturally willing and able to do on our own. But just like a seed needs rain from heaven to grow so the seed of the gospel needs the Holy Spirit to be germinated. 'No one says Jesus is Lord apart from the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3).
Likewise Jesus declared, "the Spirit quickens, the flesh counts for nothing... that is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me grants it." John 6:63. 65
Yet your position forces you to believe that a person can come to faith in Christ even if the Father DOES NOT grant it, or willing to come even if the Spirit DOES NOT quicken, and so your position by default presumes that the flesh DOES indeed count for SOMETHING, contrary to the bible.
So it appears you have to ascribe your repenting and believing (at least partly) to your own wisdom, humility, sound judgment or good sense and not to Christ ALONE. But the Bible says it is "because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God...therefore let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Cor 1:30-31) ... Your meme assumes wrongly that a person is morally capable to exercise faith apart from any grace when the entire Bible testifies otherwise.
In fact, if a man needs any kind of grace to come to Christ then your meme disqualifies itself from putting forth any meaningful argument.
Through Paul the Spirit says, "even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] quickened us together with Christ — by grace you have been saved—" Eph 2:5
Grace includes the quickening from death ... to say that we believe prior to grace is to turn the gospel on its head.. it is by grace though faith. No faith without grace, no faith without quickening. So your Christmas gift meme forgot to include one of the most crucial gifts - a new heart.
Logic, you say? This is not derived from human logic but God's own word. But it is unaided human logic to declare that man's will prior to salvation is not in bondage to sin, or captive to his lusts, and that some are willing to come to Christ apart from grace.
Mon, 07/03/2017 - 16:46 -- john_hendryx
