The apostle Peter said: Acts 4:12,"Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"
This means that salvation can only come through Jesus Christ! He is the only Mediator between God and men (I Tim. 2:5). No one else!
On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter exclaimed: " Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:38-39).
Salvation can only come through Jesus Christ! But think for a moment. Millions -- no, billions -- of people have lived and died, never having even heard of the name of Jesus Christ! Are they forever lost -- doomed for all eternity?
If this life is the only opportunity for salvation, then they must be lost forever! For salvation can only come through the name of Jesus Christ! That's what the Bible says!
The truth is God is not calling everybody to salvation during this age! THIS IS NOT THE ONLY DAY OF SALVATION! The overwhelming, vast majority of mankind will receive their opportunity for salvation at a later time! Does that surprise you?
Jesus told His disciples: "No man can come to me, EXCEPT the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). He added in verse 65: "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father"!
Only those whom God calls can truly understand His truth and His Plan, now! But the rest -- the vast majority -- are not yet called! This means that they will be given their chance for salvation later -- at another time! For those to whom God reveals His truth now, today IS the day of salvation (11 Corinthians 6:2). But the vast majority are now blinded. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "But if it is hid to them that are lost (not lost forever, but in a present condition of being lost, not yet having been called): In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (11 Cor. 4:4).
The apostle Paul explains: "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? GOD FORBID!' (Romans 11:1). Paul goes on: " God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew." He wrote, "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace."
Paul continues, "What then? Israel hath not obtained that whicn he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, AND THE REST WERE BLINDED (According as it is written, God hath given
them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) UNTO THIS DAY" (Romans 11:2-8).
Why Jesus Spoke in Parables
You have probably heard, and assumed, that Jesus Christ spoke in parables to the multitudes, in order to be more understandable. Most people think that Christ spoke in parables to make the meaning of His lessons and stories simple and easy to understand. But what if that such is not the case at all? What if Jesus spoke in parables to obfuscate and to HIDE the truth, so that the masses of people would NOT understand Him?
In other words, He used parables to hide, to cloak, the meaning! Why did He do this? He goes on to explain: "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more in abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." That is, they just don't get it! But why does Jesus hide the real meaning of His parables from them? He continues: "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; LEST at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, AND SHOULD BE CONVERTED, and I should heal them" (Matt.13:12-15).
In other words, He was not at that time CALLING the vast majority of people to salvation! So He cloaked the meaning of His parables, so they would remain blinded to the truth. Why would He do this? As He
said initially, those who are given understanding are HELD ACCOUNTABLE for it, and will be judged accordingly. Knowledge is a dangerous thing. Once we know the truth, we are responsible to OBEY it. If we don't, we heap condemnation upon our heads!
Who Are the "Elect"?
God has revealed His truth only to "the election." Who are they? They are the "elect of God" (see I Peter 1:2, Col. 3:12, Titus 1:1, I Peter 2:6) -- Those who are true Christians, are being given their chance for salvation today, at this time -- "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God" (I Peter 4:17).
Those being called out of this world now, to understand and obey God's truth, are being judged now; but the vast majority of mankind God has allowed to be blinded, and are disobedient, "whereunto also they were appointed" (I Pet.2:8). What will happen to them?
They are not lost forever. God Himself will open their eyes, and show them His truth, at a later time.
Let's understand. God has predestined NO ONE to be lost or to be doomed! Not at all! Predestination has to do with when one is called, and when a person has God's truth revealed to him -- not whether he is going to be saved or lost!
Those called to understand God's truth now have a special blessing. As Paul wrote: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before thefoundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having PREDESTINATED US unto the adoption [or, sonship, in the Greek]of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will . . . in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being PREDESTINATED according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who FIRST TRUSTED IN CHRIST" (Epesians 1:3-12).
Notice! those who have "first trusted in Christ!" This means there are others who will be called later to trust in Christ! They are the VAST MAJORITY!
Those in God's Church today are compared to "firstfruits" of the Spiritual harvest! They are compared to the early "spring" harvest -- but the great "fall harvest" will occur later! they are those who have the "firstfruits of the Spirit" (Romans 8:23). As the apostle James wrote: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that WE should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (Jas. 1:18).
Predestination, then, has to do with the time when we are called. A few are called now, and chosen to become "first-fruits" to God and the Lamb. But the vast majority will be called later
Few realize it, but the Plan of God is revealed in the pattern of the Holy Days which God gave to Israel. The annual Holy Days began with the Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread, in the spring of the year (Lev.23:4-6). The Passover represented the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God's paschal lamb, who gave His life for us (I Cor.5:7). The days of Unleavened Bread symbolize our putting leaven, that which causes bread to "puff up," a type of sin, out of our lives (see I Cor. 5:8).
The Passover represents the beginning of the Plan of God -- not its termination, or ending! The Plan of Salvation begins with the Passover, and Christ our Passover Lamb, who was slain for us on the cross, or tree -- the stake on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Temple platform in ancient Jerusalem. The Plan
of God begins with the "crucifixion" of Christ on the cross -- but it doesn't END there! There is much more to it than that!"Accepting Christ" as Saviour is JUST THE BEGINNING!
What happens after we accept Christ, and His shed blood covers our sins? Even as the ancient Israelites slew their Passover lambs in Egypt, and dabbed the blood on their doorposts and lintels, so that they would be protected and spared when the "death angel" passed over that night, and slew the firstborn of all the Egyptians -- even so the "blood of Christ" causes God to spare us, and put His canopy of protection over us. But that is only the beginning of God's Plan, and the beginning of His Holy Day season!
The teachings of Arminius are not false. Every one of them is very Biblical. In fact as I have said before and will keep repeating it. Every idea and concept of what we call Arminian theology today can be found being taught by the Ante-Nicene Fathers, the Earliest Church Fathers of the first 300 years of church history, some of whom were the direct disciples of John and Paul the Apostles.
How do you account for this if it is a False teaching?
How do you account for the Apostles allowing these men to continue teaching this stuff unless it was what they themselves taught?
How do you dismiss the teachings of the Apostles passed down to their personal Disciples who by the way were also appointed as Church leaders?
Were the Apostles so incompetent that they would allow their Disciples to teach this stuff and then appoint them as Church leaders?
Here are the beliefs of Arminian theology. Please tell me which one you disagree with and where it is not Biblical.
The Five Arminian Articles of Remonstrance
I.That God, by an eternal and unchangeable purpose in Jesus Christ His Son, before the foundations of the world were laid, determined to save, out of the human race which had fallen into sin, in Christ, for Christ's sake and through Christ, those who through the grace of the Holy Spirit shall believe on the same His Son and shall through the same grace persevere in this same faith and obedience of faith even to the end; and on the other hand to leave under sin and wrath the contumacious and unbelieving and to condemn them as aliens from Christ, according to the word of the Gospel in John 3:36, and other passages of Scripture.
II.That, accordingly, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, died for all men and for every man, so that He has obtained for all, by His death on the cross, reconciliation and remission of sins; yet so that no one is partaker of this remission except the believers [John 3:16; 1 John 2:2].
III.That man has not saving grace of himself, nor of the working of his own free-will, inasmuch as in his state of apostasy and sin he can for himself and by himself think nothing that is good � nothing, that is, truly good, such as saving faith is, above all else. But that it is necessary that by God, in Christ and through His Holy Spirit he be born again and renewed in understanding, affections and will and in all his faculties, that he may be able to understand, think, will, and perform what is truly good, according to the Word of God [John 15:5].
IV.That this grace of God is the beginning, the progress and the end of all good; so that even the regenerate man can neither think, will nor effect any good, nor withstand any temptation to evil, without grace precedent (or prevenient), awakening, following and co-operating. So that all good deeds and all movements towards good that can be conceived in through must be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ. But with respect to the mode of operation, grace is not irresistible; for it is written of many that they resisted the Holy Spirit [Acts 7 and elsewhere passim].
V.That those who are grafted into Christ by a true faith, and have thereby been made partakers of His life-giving Spirit, are abundantly endowed with power to strive against Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh, and to win the victory; always, be it understood, with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, with Jesus Christ assisting them in all temptations, through His Spirit; stretching out His hand to them and (providing only that they are themselves prepared for the fight, that they entreat His aid and do not fail to help themselves) propping and upbuilding them so that by no guile or violence of Satan can they be led astray or plucked from Christ's hands [John 10:28]. But for the question whether they are not able through sloth or negligence to forsake the beginning of their life in Christ, to embrace again this present world, to depart from the holy doctrine once delivered to them, to lose their good conscience and to neglect grace--this must be the subject of more exact inquiry in the Holy Scriptures, before we can teach it with full confidence of our mind.
