As I've been thinking about what to blog about, I have been confronted with the idea of grace and the live of being grace filled. I have always been one to talk about the debate of the will of man and the sovereignty of God and where the line is drawn and also have come to a stance on the subject. I have it all laid out in my head but never on paper so this is my way of laying out what I believe on the very debated topic. I think I might even surprise some of you that I have been over in a teaching situation or one on one discussion about this very topic commonly known as Calvinism vs Arminianism. I don't believe that I will solve this debate for everyone but the issue needs to continue to be hashed out in humility and love; not division and pride which is my overall goal in this discussion.
Personally, I don't like either words (Calvinism or Arminianism) cause 1) the men known for this are pointed to and not what matters is talked about; what God says in His word 2) this separates when we take side of man (hence the word "vs"; also see 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 "I follow.....") 3) Some areas of this debate are laid out a little clearer in scripture then others, but this area of discussion is where discernment comes in to play and the nature of God and nature of man need to be studied (I do believe we can know this more then most think). 4) We need to study this doctrine cause DOCTRINE DOES NOT DIVIDE humans do; biblical doctrine is meant to unify the body of Christ (Deut. 6:4-9; Nehemiah 8:9-12, 9:1-5; 2:42; 1 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrew 4:12-13; Jude v.3-4, 17-25), but to many think doctrine divides when that makes no sense cause the bible is doctrine (this word just means "teaching")
With that said I stand with Martian Luther and what he said about the common believer having the bible in their hands, "the word of God in the hands of the common man can either be the greatest thing that can happen or the worst". This holds true as one of the worst cause now everyone thinks they should or can be a teacher but the Spirit gives gifts as He chooses to individuals He chooses (1 Cor. 12:7, 11) not all believers. With that said, I urge believers everywhere to understand that if your not gifted as a teacher (empowered by the Spirit in a supernatural way) please stop teaching cause your not fulfilling your calling but dividing by teaching bad doctrine and bad doctrine divides!
Below I have laid out the five points of each side not to say this is right and this is wrong but so that we can look at them for just what they are and go from there. Now I do have a personal stance on the issue at hand but I'm not here to tell you what I believe but to look a little at church history, systematic theology, biblical exegesis and specifically biblical context say in accordance with the issue. None of these will be done in any order and some might even be talked about more then others but I don't want to side in such a way that is all one sided but I look at all areas. in this series of blogs (heres my disclaimer to long blogs and many parts to the series). I will though end in someway to bring this into the modern world and the application of this to doing ministry in modern America.
Calvinism
1) Total depravity or total inability
2) Unconditional Election
3) Limited Atonement or particular redemption
4) The efficacious call of the Holy Spirit or Irresistible grace
5) Perseverance of the saints
Arminianism
1) free will or human ability
2) Conditional Election
3) universal atonement or general redemption
4) The Holy Spirit can be effectually resisted or resistible grace
5) Falling from grace
I will do my best to blog on this every few days so as to keep it fresh on our tongues and minds so please feel free to interact, but remember that I am in constant thought flow about this and might cover what you are thinking about in a future section of this particular blog/topic so please bear with me.
Much love in our Lord's name :)
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