Ok, well the title i just thought, was kinda funny...it really doents Truly pertain to what im about to ask.
And also, Before i ask it...I want to say:
James, Brother you are a good sport...It seems like everyone has ganged up on your beleifs(including myself...and i hardly know you,) God bless you Brother, and i Truly hope you can understand where Calvin, and most reformers faulter in there interpratation of the Gospel, one day.
That said...
"Lets say Calvin was 100% correct, and the reformed theology IS in fact 100% Gospel. Plain and simple.
Could it be possible that YOU, as a calvinist, could indeed NOT be one of The few Chosen?
What makes YOU certain that you are one of Gods children?
Considering that there are 2.7billion professed followers of Christ in the world, and 35,000 different doctrinal beleifs/denominations, And Jesus says FEW will find the Door.
Is it possible for MOST of the reformed beleivers to NOT be those who will make it to the end of the narrow Gate? And maybe...lets say...Umm...Anabaptists will be the ones to adhere till the end? Or ... Armenian pentacostals?
The MAIN question, is JUST becasue YOU nestled into Reformed Doctrine, becasue its what YOU agreed with the most...does that make you Saved? How do you know? And can one who doesnt believe in it, still indeed be one of the Few Chosen? What if ALL Calvinsits are NOT the chosen what so ever?...they got the theology correct...but thats about it...Sorry, You guys were made for hell.
"Lets say Calvin was 100% correct, and the reformed theology IS in fact 100% Gospel. Plain and simple.
James replies:
John Calvin said that he thought that even the best theologian was only about 70% correct.
I don't man is infallible, so I don't believe any theological system is perfect.
That being said, I DO believe Reformed theology is the most accurate that exists.
RK said:
Could it be possible that YOU, as a calvinist, could indeed NOT be one of The few Chosen?
What makes YOU certain that you are one of Gods children?
James replies:
I can ask you the same thing:
What makes you think you are a true Christian?
what makes you think you have been born again?
We Christians are from time to time, to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
We have to test ourselves and see if there is evidence in our lives that we have truly been born again.
Most of these tests boil down to holiness in our everyday lives.
I can tell you first of all, that I know that God has saved me, because he changed me from the inside out.
I believed the Bible was true and it was the word of God for years before I became a Christian. I wanted nothing to do with God. I was lost and I decided to live my life my OWN WAY.
Five years later, the Holy Spirit entered my heart and I was changed. It happened overnight, and I can still remember it.
Since then, and this was 25 years ago, I have been obsessed with God. I go to church and sing songs of praise to God and it is REAL to me. I desire to live a holy life and I HATE my sin!
There was even a time I desired NOT to be saved, and I was backslidden for several years. I applied myself to being backslidden, and after trying so hard NOT to be saved, I just gave up. When God opens your eyes, you can't close them.
You might as well try and become a giraffe. I have spent many years loving God, and attempting to obey Him more and more.
Lost people don't do that. Oh, they may give Christianity a try.
Like you would try Yoga, or try reading some self-help book, but they get over that quickly. I believe I am saved because I have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in my heart, and mind, and because I want to live a holy life. I believe I am saved, because I am trusting ONLY in Jesus for my salvation. I know my so-called good works have mixed motives in them, and I know that all the sins I have committed in life can ONLY be paid for by the perfect work of Jesus, and I believe that THEY WERE PAID FOR AT THE CROSS BY JESUS.
The Bible plainly teaches that those who repent and TRUST in what Jesus did, ARE SAVED. I believe it, and I have for many years.
RK said:
Considering that there are 2.7billion professed followers of Christ in the world, and 35,000 different doctrinal beleifs/denominations, And Jesus says FEW will find the Door.
James replies:
Few in comparison to the total number of people on Earth.
RK said
Is it possible for MOST of the reformed beleivers to NOT be those who will make it to the end of the narrow Gate? And maybe...lets say...Umm...Anabaptists will be the ones to adhere till the end? Or ... Armenian pentacostals?
James replies:
Anabaptists are heretics, or borderline heretics. I am not at all sure about them!
Oneness Pentecostals are not Christians.
The OTHER Pentecostals, the regular ones, not the "Name of Jesus ONLY" crowd, are of the faith.
I tend to think most Reformed believers are saved. And I will tell you why. Reformed churches are the best at being precise about what the Christian faith is.
Yes, of course there are pretenders in Reformed churches.
There are pretenders in every denomination.
I think there are Christians who attend Pentecostal churches who are truly born again, and I would say that the majority of them are saved. That doesn't mean they don't have lousy theology, and their doctrines dishonor and God and hurt the people who are members of that church.
RK said:
The MAIN question, is JUST becasue YOU nestled into Reformed Doctrine, becasue its what YOU agreed with the most...does that make you Saved?
James replies:
NO. Intellectual assent is NOT faith. It is PART of faith.
You can mentally believe in Jesus, and that he died on the cross, and paid for your sins, and then, since you are talking about Reformed theology, you can believe in all the normal positions of Reformed belief, and STILL be LOST!
True faith in Christ, will naturally show itself in the persons life.
IF a person has true faith, then that true faith has effects.
The Reformers said it this way:
"We are saved by faith alone, but by a faith that is never alone."
RK said:
How do you know? And can one who doesnt believe in it, still indeed be one of the Few Chosen?
James replies:
OF COURSE! Dude, if your theology does not have enough room in it to allow for the illiterate Chinese peasant who has only HEARD about Jesus, to be saved, then you need to change your views!~
There are people who can not even read, who may have only heard about Jesus ONCE from a Christian radio show, and they have repented and trust in Jesus, and they ARE saved!
They may live in a small village, and only have seen ONE page of Romans. That may be all that exists of the Bible in their remote part of the world. They could be a prisoner in a communist country, in a prison, and only HEARD about Jesus from another prisoner, and if they accept Jesus, THEY ARE SAVED.
God saves whom He will, and that INCLUDES people like I just mentioned.
RK continues:
What if ALL Calvinsits are NOT the chosen what so ever?...they got the theology correct...but thats about it...Sorry, You guys were made for hell.
James replies:
I have met people who grew up in Reformed churches, and show no signs whatsoever of being born again.
James you summed it up nicely as to what christians see about your life, void of truth and you have no remorse for the lies you proclaim and call to be true. reformed theology.
James you summed it up nicely as to what christians see about your life, void of truth and you have no remorse for the lies you proclaim and call to be true. reformed theology.
1. No one on a discussion group really sees anything about another Christians life. It is just a discussion group. People who know you in real life, and at your church, etc, are the ones who see your life.
2. No, I have no "remorse", because I happen to think that Reformed theology is the most accurate to what the Bible teaches.
I EXPECT you to do the same. If you happen to believe that the Methodist church has the best theology, and you can attend one, then you SHOULD become a member of that church and serve there.
God will hold us RESPONSIBLE for knowing His word, and becoming part of the local church, and Living out what we have learned from the Bible.
So, I think it is TIME PhillpJohn for you to get over the FACT that there are Christians who disagree with you.
Your theology goes AGAINST the majority of Christians for the last two thousand years. This is a FACT.
It is High time you get over the idea that other Christians disagree with you.
Ok...I need to apologise, becaue apparently jokes, dont go over to well here.
So im sorry.
I truly Dont understand as to my previous posts how Total predestination is gospel. I think its wrong to think that, and i think that it ruins people.
this Post was ment to be seen in a sarcastic(but still ultimately releventl) light...I am not, nor did i mean that anyone is going to hell. Im not a judge.
I said it ironicaly, becasue Reforemd doctrine beleives that there are some who CAN NOT BE SAVED...there for those peopel that cant be saved, were destined to hellfire...The bible mentions 2 people like that...ONLY two, Judas, and pharoh...Granted I guess God could do what he wants to, But if thats the case, then reforemd doctrine makes God contradict himself. Allot.
Anyway, I want to appologise, becasue i got my first hate mail today! YAY! ....i wasnt meaning that ANYone is predestined to hell...I was making a point as to how dangerous, 5 point calvanism is...While having a little fun in the process...now i know to never write posts at 3 in the morning...
Calvin was just a guy who tried to intellectuallize the Gospel. He didn't intellectually realize the Gospel is Spiritually discerned. It was others that came along after his death and used his writings at and after the Synod of Dort to bully, persecute and kill fellow Christians. It is obvious to anyone with awareness it is still happening 500 years later (except murder). The Bible is clear, : you will know a tree by its fruit.
Shooting holes in Calvinism is like shooting fish in a barrel. The doctrine is a extremist view of Scripture, relying on misinterpretation, redefining words, speculation and then applying systematic logic to come up with new meanings. They have all the behavioral qualities of a cult, the only thing keeping them from being defined as such; is they affirm the essentials of the Christian Faith, however they do most definitely put their own spin on it, as do the Catholics. Quite simply, I define Calvinists as New Testament Pharisees.
In appearance they do Two, but they deny the only true way to God and to know God, and it is by faith and faith alone and then it is needful to say faith as taught in romans 10 is not a gift it cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, which when you think of it is the foundation of calvinism that being that man can not believe.
Which in turn creates doubt in the hearer instead of faith.
We know that the bible teaches that man will not receive anything from God.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
I heard someone say a few years ago that faith is the most important subject in the bible, at first it startled me and I understood bible faith at the time, and then I ran into Calvinism and when questioned by a calvinist what do you think, I simply replied it is a doctrine of demons. How did I say that, because I know and understand faith and calvinism totally deny's bible faith, and the law of faith.
Every word in scripture is full of faith and full of the supernatural ability for any human to know the will of God for any matter, and to respond to any given scripture with corresponding actions.
For example any human hearing Jn 3:16 is and then believing it's truth and mixing faith with it will be saved, it is that simple.
Every point of Calvinism totally deny's the law of faith. and deny's man ability to choose.
In appearance they do Two, but they deny the only true way to God and to know God, and it is by faith and faith alone and then it is needful to say faith as taught in romans 10 is not a gift it cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, which when you think of it is the foundation of calvinism that being that man can not believe.
Which in turn creates doubt in the hearer instead of faith.
We know that the bible teaches that man will not receive anything from God.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
I heard someone say a few years ago that faith is the most important subject in the bible, at first it startled me and I understood bible faith at the time, and then I ran into Calvinism and when questioned by a calvinist what do you think, I simply replied it is a doctrine of demons. How did I say that, because I know and understand faith and calvinism totally deny's bible faith, and the law of faith.
Every word in scripture is full of faith and full of the supernatural ability for any human to know the will of God for any matter, and to respond to any given scripture with corresponding actions.
For example any human hearing Jn 3:16 is and then believing it's truth and mixing faith with it will be saved, it is that simple.
Every point of Calvinism totally deny's the law of faith. and deny's man ability to choose.
Jfk your post was actually accurate based on what Calvinism teaches, no one has the ability to know if they are of the chosen, can it get any more hateful, than to proclaim this false doctrine?
