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Quiz: Are you Calvinist or Arminian?

ViaCrucis

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Because confessional Lutheran teaches the bandage of the will which fits on the Calvinists side and also that one can shipwreck one's faith like on the Arminian side.

And these are two sides of the same coin. It is our sinful, carnal will that resents God and refuses Him; and so we cannot come to God by the power of our will since the carnal man hates the things of God (Romans 8:7, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Jeremiah 17:9). For this reason we look not to our own ability, but look outside of ourselves to God's objective, external works, namely the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is on Christ's account that God justifies the world (Romans 5:18), that we might be reconciled to God by His grace, through faith which He Himself grants to us from outside of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:1) having received these good things by the power of God's word through preaching and the Sacraments (Romans 10:17, Ephesians 5:26, Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12-13, Titus 3:5).

The warning against shipwrecking our faith (1 Timothy 1:19), along with many similar warnings, show up in the Scriptures because the struggle between the old man and the new continues down the middle of this life, right up until the last. And thus there is warning against abandoning the ship as it were, or shipwrecking ourselves against the sharp and jagged rocks. Because the old man continues to desire dominance--the old man loves glory and to glory in himself, and thus if left to his own devices asserts himself in all his arrogant pride and hubris. For this reason we are called to the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2), to repentance, to confessing our sins freely (1 John 1:9) even to one another, for prayer and our own spiritual healing (James 5:16).

And so our assurance, our hope, the Anchor and Captain of the Ship of the Church is Christ--and Christ alone shall bring us to that safe harbor on the distant shore of the Age to Come, having passed through judgment, from death to life (John 5:26), the One upon whom our eyes are set as we run the race with the cheering roars of the saints who have come before us (Hebrews 12:1-3). He who has conquered and vanquished sin, death, hell, and the devil takes through the Red Sea of this life into the Promised Land--the resurrection of the dead and the life of the Age to Come.

Christ is our hope and salvation, without Him, apart from Him, we are only condemned sinners. And so God's unconditional election of us sinners in Christ, as well as the warning of shipwrecking our faith, are both solid biblical teachings. The Gospel grants us assurance in Christ, the Law continually mortifies our flesh.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Humble_Disciple

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Not only did Calvin himself not teach limited atonement but neither did the Synod of Dort:


I don't know where limited atonement came from, but it doesn't appear to be what Calvin actually taught. This is why I can't be a five-point Calvinist.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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This is how the doctrine of unconditional election makes me feel, in light of Romans 9: Thank you Lord, for saving me. Thank you for calling me. I'm so sorry for my sins. Help me live in a way that shows gratitude to you for your unmerited grace.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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This article is for those who are worried about whether or not they are among God's elect:

 
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Humble_Disciple

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Four-point Calvinism is the official position of Got Questions, one of my favorite apologetics sites:


Four-point Calvinism is not only closer to what the Bible teaches, it's also closer to what Calvin himself actually taught:

How Calvinistic was John Calvin? What did he teach concerning the extent of the atonement? Let us ponder his own words...
Skip's Lighthouse: CALVIN'S FAVORITE FLOWER WAS NOT A T.U.L.I.P.

Calvin's own writings taught unlimited atonement in numerous places.
 
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BobRyan

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Saul "did not believe in Jesus and did not follow Him – and did not want to" -- then was converted.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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Saul "did not believe in Jesus and did not follow Him – and did not want to" -- then was converted.

Yes, we never know who is potentially among God's elect until they convert. As far ourselves, there are ways of gaining assurance that we are among God's elect.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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Interesting request.

It's why five-point Calvinists aren't really following John Calvin, because nowhere did he, as far as I know, teach the doctrine of limited atonement.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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Some people have an aversion to predestination because they think it means God determines every little thing that ever happens. As Martin Luther explains, we have some measure of free will in all the choices we make, except for the decision to believe the Gospel and come to Christ:


If we are saved by grace alone, then faith is entirely a gift received by Christ, rather than the result of our own effort to believe. Even if we wanted to believe in the Gospel without the Holy Spirit's help, we wouldn't be able to do so, due to our fallen state.

On the other hand, those who are not among God's elect are deserving of hell, because it was their free-willed choice to sin. Rather than complaining that God has chosen to save some and not others, we should be thankful that God has chosen to save anyone at all.
 
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BobRyan

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If we are saved by grace alone, then faith is entirely a gift received by Christ, rather than the result of our own effort to believe. .

"to EACH ONE is given a measure of faith" Rom 12:3 -- . Not "just to the elect".

Rom 10:8-10 points out that it is up to the individual to choose to exercise that faith or not.

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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We should preach the Gospel to all people, because hearing the Gospel is the means by which faith is awakened in God's elect. If not for God's election and call to those we preach, there would be no hope that our evangelistic efforts will be fruitful.

John 6:44
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

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 10
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.


 
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BobRyan

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... If not for God's election and call to those we preach, there would be no hope that our evangelistic efforts will be fruitful.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 12:32 "I will DRAW ALL MANKIND"

All are drawn - but not all come to Him (Matt 7 ) only the "few" are saved.

===========================

Jesus is the "atoning sacrifice for our sins and NOT for our sins only but for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD" 1 John 2:2

But God does not arbitrarily pick one vs another - rather He supernaturally "convicts the WORLD" of sin and righteousness and judgment. John 16.

God is "not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance" - 2 Peter 3

God "came to His OWN and His OWN received Him not" John 1:11

"God is not partial" Rom 2:11
 
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Humble_Disciple

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I want to shout the doctrines of grace from the rooftops. When you realize that unconditional election and irresistible grace are supported by scripture, it's a cause for rejoicing.

Thank you, Lord, for electing me, saving me, and sustaining me, due to no merit on my part whatsoever! I want to live my life in gratitude to You!
 
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Humble_Disciple

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I don't mind that Calvinism offends people. God's grace and God's sovereignty should be offensive to a sinful and unbelieving world.

For those who are aware of their own sin and inability to save themselves, Calvinism should be a breath of fresh air, that saving faith is entirely the gift of God's grace, irrespective of one's free-willed efforts to believe or disbelieve.

 
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Hmm

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I personally like that Calvinism offends people. God's grace and God's sovereignty should be offensive to a sinful and unbelieving world.

It's pretty sad that you find God's grace offensive (I presume you're part of ’the sinful world' and add to it like everyone else) and enjoy thinking that other people also do. It's meant to be received as good news
 
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fhansen

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It's pretty sad that you find God's grace offensive (I presume you're part of ’the sinful world' and add to it like everyone else) and enjoy thinking that other people also do. It's meant to be received as good news
Yes, and false gospels are supposed to be offensive.
 
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Humble_Disciple

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Two Biblical illustrations of the Calvinist doctrine of irresistible grace are the story of Jonah and the story of Paul. Both of them resisted God's calling, and then God used extraordinary means to set them on the right path.

God uses whatever means necessary to draw His elect to Him, no matter how much they might protest or resist, even if it's not as dramatic of a divine intervention as experienced by Jonah or Paul.
 
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