-From Anonchurchmember – All of a sudden this has become a major issue in so many denominations and social media outlets that I just had to put it my opinion. This is not an in-depth theological thesis, it is just an basic over view of these issues. It is just a brief statement of my view point. Love it or hate it, here I go.
As of late, I have been made aware of this weird debate that is going through Christian circles around the United States. People arguing over Calvinism vs. arminianism, KJVO vs. ESV, and old paths vs. the culture driven church of today. The latter two will be two separate blog posts for a later time, for now we will stick with the CVA (Calvinism Vs. Arminianism) debate. For some reason I have been blinded by this for a very long time and never really thought of any of these issues that are going on. Considering that my twitter stream has been bombarded with all of this information I only thought is necessary to toss my opinion out there and see where it lands.
Calvinism V. Arminianism –
This has been one of the biggest debates that I have seen going on through out the church and recently. I primarily see people from the Baptists denomination turning into Calvinists. Then all of a sudden they go on this crazy apologetic march to show people how they are correct and every one else is wrong. Then because of this, Arminians are jumping to defend their position and this strange clashing of Christians commences in arguing who is correct.
Now I present to you this, they are both wrong. Yes, I said it. With out going into super Biblical dissection and tearing apart both views point by point, My personal opinion is that both sides miss the point and get so involved in the rhetoric of who is correct that both sides forget where they came from. As a semi-scholar myself, I never want to stop learning. I continually strive to acquire more knowledge. I continually try to see what is truth and mine the Bible for all it is worth. I read, listen to, and watch many scholars to derive my personal opinions about what I believe is correct in the Bible. When a person commits themselves to either side of the debate, they appear to stop learning and studying God’s word. They get stuck in a rut of what Calvin or Arminius taught and forget that they to were men who drew their conclusions based on what they believe the word of God taught.
This is my plea. Do not be engulfed in either side of the debate. Both sides of can be both proven right and be torn apart and thrown to the wayside. Study, listen, and learn. Gather all the information and knowledge that you can. For instance, this is one of my stances of the whole CVA debate.
Calvinism states that only God’s elect are saved. That God chooses us and we can never choose God. Human nature is always evil and therefore we never want what is good. (Random Google Reference) To an extent, this sounds true. How could some one that is inherently evil choose something that is good? Then again, I start thinking about John 3:16-21. I also look at the first man. Adam. He was created in a perfect world. God gave him dominion over everything. He basically said everything is yours, do what you wish. The only thing I don’t want you to do is eat of this one tree in the middle of the garden. God gave Adam a choice. He gave him a choice to eat of it, or not to eat of it. With out going to deep into this, I see this as the first sign of free will. Right or wrong. The last issue I have with this is that if people are elect, what is the purpose of the great commission? (For reference) If every person has been predetermined from the beginning of time to either go to Heaven or hell, I should never have to go tell some one about Jesus again. They are already going to one of two places. So then, my time is wasted.
I believe that God knows the choice every person will make. To use terms from other people, He looks down the corridor of time and knows if they will believe in Jesus or reject Him. This is a very short answer to how and why I believe this. I could write a whole paper going into detail about this subject. I also know that my view is easily destroyed. Like I said before I can pick apart both sides of the argument. This is just where I am now. I am always open for more information and opinion changing. ( Ex.- I used to be young earth, and now I am old earth)
Arminianism basically states that you can lose your salvation or fall from grace.(Random Reference) I believe that once saved always saved. You say that you knew someone that was a “Christian” and now they are a back sliden, booze drinkin’, girl lookin’ heathen. They live their life like they were never saved and they lost their salvation. First off, I could never ever in a million years, judge their salvation. Only God knows their heart. I will say that I wonder if they were ever saved in the first place. I have known many people that where “Christians” for a year or two. Then all of a sudden they are not in church. They are out partying and drinking (Thanks for telling me Facebook), and they have had more girlfriends in the past year than you did your whole life. I wonder to my self what happened to them. What happened to that time that you ministered to the high school kid that was drinking every night and now he is on fire for Christ ministering to other youth. I can say this, because I have known many people like this. It is a sad event to see in their lives.
That is why I ask myself,”Where they actually saved in the first place?” I can not judge their heart. It is not my place to. That is up to Jesus. I leave it in His capable hands. I will believe that once saved always saved. Again like stated before, I am up for more knowledge on the subject. I know that my point of view can be torn apart. But this is what I believe right now. I will continue my study and my stance may change in the future.
I hope this gives you a tiny understanding about what I believe. If you disagree that is fine. We can have a discussion about it. I love listening and learning from other peoples view points. If you agree with my view points, awesome! Just do not take what we believe at face value. Learn. Study. Keep moving forward.
Tell me your opinion on the subject! Good or bad let me know! Just be respectful in your response, that is all I ask.
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