Calvinism 4: Irresistible Grace

Irresistible Grace:

We all know basically what irresistible means, but do we know what grace is? As a child, I was taught that grace is “a free gift that I don’t deserve.” While this is true, what is the gift? In English, if we could not use the word “grace,” what would be used instead to convey the same meaning?

The first use of the word is in Genesis, when God decides that He is sorry that He made man.

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."

Genesis 6:8

Grace was free, as we can see, no trade or exchange of goods here. Grace is an attitude of God toward those who find His favor. Grace is why Noah didn’t die by inhaling a lungful of water. Grace can be called “help,” or “the attitude of one to give help to another.”

We are also told to act in a gracious way to one another:

"A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion.”

Psalm 112:5

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good
for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."

Ephesians 4:29

God is said to give grace even to Christians.

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:16

Notice that wording: Grace to help. Whatever the problem, grace is the answer. It’s like the band-aid of the spiritual world. And who does God give this help to?

"But He gives more grace.

Therefore He says:

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

James 4:6

The humble are those who will ask for help, and God enjoys helping them. The proud don’t think they need any help.

This equation will be simplistic and not thorough, but it will help you remember this point I’m trying to make:
GRACE = HELP.

Now sure enough, we all know that we can give people help when they don’t want it. Hospitals, if they receive someone who just took too many sleeping pills, will pump the person’s stomach without that person’s permission.

God’s help, though, is not forced. It is help that can be rejected or turned away from.

"We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to
receive the grace of God in vain."

2 Corinthians 6:1

"You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law;
you have fallen from grace."

Galatians 5:4

By the way, I don’t believe that “falling from grace” being to lose one’s salvation, but rather to reject the day-to-day help that God offers us. And trust me, as Christians, we need all the help (grace) that we can get!
Most of the verses that mention grace in the New Testament say something like this:

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 1:2

Amen to that! With all our sin and weakness, it’s a good thing that God offers us so much grace/help. It is by God’s help that we are saved. We, helpless sinful beings, can ask God for help, as discussed in the last email.
God, because He’s just so awesome, chooses to help, and it’s His help that saves us. “By grace you have been saved.” If God wouldn’t have gone out of His way, and by that I mean if He hadn't been willing to die a painful death, we would not have anyone to help save us from sin and death no matter how hard we cried for it.

The Calvinist view of irresistible grace is that when God gives us grace, we don’t want to resist. God regenerates our hearts and minds, and then we have faith.
I have a couple problems with that:

• A. The Bible does not say be saved and then believe, but rather believe and then you will be saved.
• B. The common term for that sort of thing is mind-control.
• C. God gave man free will, and seems to prefer interacting and relating to people who can choose to respond to Him.

God, though what I’ve seen in His interactions with humans throughout the Bible, likes to use external, rather than internal, forces to deal with people. Consider Jonah for a moment. He didn’t want to go to. God could have, I’m sure, used mind control. Now when I say "mind-control," I don't mean forcing people to do something against their will, because of course if you control their mind, you control their will! You simply make sure that everyone wants to do what you want them to do, and then they just do what they want.

He could have given Jonah “grace” to see with compassion the lost souls of Ninevah so that Jonah would have happily trotted off to follow God’s command, but no. God had Jonah tossed in a large fish, and even after that Jonah had attitude! God’s will of reaching the Ninevites was accomplished, but He didn’t even need to pull out His mind-control super weapon. God can rule just fine without mind-control, and He prefers it that way.

Think of the garden of Eden. God’s perfect and ideal set-up for mankind. It was “good.” But man still had a choice to follow and love God, or not. It’s always been that way. God seeks a relationship with mankind. A real relationship.

We can see all through the Bible, His love letters and longing to have a close and trusting relationship with us. He didn’t want robots, who have no choices but do what they are programmed to do. Even His angels who praise and serve Him all day long had the option to leave. Even so, when God created man in the garden of Eden, He gave man a choice: love or leave. Sadly, we choose to give up perfection for some tangy fruit and the promise of “being like God.”

We didn’t love Him, we were jealous of His position. God didn’t draw them back to Him using the mind-powers of grace. No. He kicked them out of the garden. He’s very straightforward that way.
Calvinists will hear me, and respond that God is recorded to have “hardened” people’s hearts, or that:

"The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes."

Proverbs 21:1

God does harden people’s hearts; but only those that choose for themselves to harden it. If you desire hardness, He will give your heart hardness. But if you desire grace, then He will show mercy and regenerate your heart. He does do “open-heart surgery,” but only with your consent.
You’ll notice that before God is said to have hardened Pharaoh’s heart only after this:

"But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also;
neither would he let the people go."

Exodus 8:32

In the same way, God turns the heart of the King wherever He wishes. And where does He wish for it to turn?
We find the answer here:

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap."

Galatians 6:7

So I maintain that God does not use mind-control grace, which is not, I believe, a Biblical meaning of grace, to change people’s minds. He many times gives people what they want. An excellent and very frightening example of this is how God dealt with the Israelites in Isaiah. He tells them to listen, and they do not heed His Word. Then they ask for an explanation of God's will, not to heed it but so that they can judge it and make fun of it. At that point, God says that He will close their ears so they will not hear and understand until He is done judging them. For the next probably fifteen chapters, God judges them, and not once does He tell them to listen. That just goes to show you that God is not an unreasonable being who commands people to do what they are not able, through His help, to do. Finally, He is done judging and tells them again to listen and repent, and they do!

The point is, is you ask God for Himself, then He delights to reveal Himself to you.

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart"

Psalm 37:4

However, if you want to shut your ears, or if you prefer a lie to truth like King Ahab did, then He will punish you by giving you what you want. If you want to close your ears, God will punish you by closing your eyes. If a person wants their heart to be hardened, God will harden their heart. If a person wants none of God, then through eternity, they will get none of God, which is Hell. C.S. Lewis once said that in the end, there are two types of people: those that say to God: "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says: "they will be done." This is astonishing. This is unbelievable. This is what the Bible tells us is true. I don't claim to understand why God gives people what they want - why He is so kind, so harsh, or even why salvation is so "human-focused" and "man-centered." [The whole point of salvation being to save us humans, you know] I don't claim to understand why God is so loving and witty. I just read the Bible, and am left in Awe.

God does not give people irresistable grace. He chooses to offer people grace that they can say "no" to. He wants man to have free will, and if that's what He wants, then that's what He is going to make happen!

Calvinism 5: Unconditional Election

Calvinism: Unconditional Election

And we’ve finally made it to the ugliest and most debated part of Calvinism: the cosmic dice. We know from the Scriptures that some people are predestined to heaven.

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Romans 8:29

We also know that some people are determined to be sent to Hell.

"What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?"

Romans 9:22–24

The difference between me and a Calvinist would be this: I say there is a reason for different destinies. A Calvinist would say that the election to heaven or not (Hell) is unconditional. Technically, unconditional means having no conditions: that is, randomness. So then it’s because of “randomness” that I will go to bliss forever, but my best friend will burn in Hell? I would gladly trade places so that my friend whom I love will not suffer so!

Now, of course, some say that there is no condition in us, but a condition in Him that determines who He will save. The condition is in God? What does that even? I agree that God determines salvation, being the One to do the saving, and that He picks the conditions, but what would it even mean that the condition is "in" Him?

To predestine some to salvation and some to torment, for the same crime, would be unjust and unloving. Love would be to offer salvation to all, each of us whom He made and loves dearly, enough even to die for us. Righteousness would not require that, but love would. Justice would be to give us all what we deserve—eternal death. I would accept either from the hand of God.

God does not, however, offer one or the other, but both: At the cross of Calvary came perfect love and perfect justice. Love gives all the chance to be saved. Justice requires the punishment of the Substitute, and all who refuse to accept His payment as their own. To give love to half and justice to half would just like the proverbial cutting the baby in half! God is not like that. He is like Solomon, who offered to cut the baby in half, knowing that mother, who loved the child, would object to this fair but dreadful proposal.

He could have justly given us all over to our dreadful deserved punishment, but He didn’t, because He loved us. Now Calvinists expect me to believe that this same God who loved me so much that He would die a torturous death to same my pitiful life would not so much as try to save my brother, though it cost Him nothing more? That He would take a “buy one get one free” deal, but then leave the free one to die? Justice is pictured as a blindfolded woman holding a scale. Justice is that two of the same, having committed the same crime, neither being repentant, will both get the deserved punishment.

Mercy is when one is repentant, and for that one, the sentence is lessened. Even those in a human court know this deep down. Even though who claim that there are no absolutes will call it “unjust” if the professor gives them a bad grade just because he didn’t like them. If a judge were to have two of the same, having committed the same crime, neither being repentant, and were to give one freedom and the other death, no one would call that just. This is what Calvinists claim that God does.

Where is the Biblical basis? If you read through the Old Testament and get to know God, you will find that He is loving and just. He’s not always fair, but He is always loving and just. You will see that the Calvinist ideas of offering love to only some and justice only to others is neither love nor justice and is not the God of the Bible.

This cosmic dice randomness is not Biblical. God is very conditional. He’s always giving conditions for this and that.

"Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, "You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'"

1 Kings 9:4–5

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

Malachi 3:10

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

There are always conditions. If you do this, this will happen. If you do that, that will happen. This will only happen to those who do that. The condition for blessing people in the Old Testament was doing good works. The condition for being saved in the New Testament is faith.

Now let me say this: Something can be conditional, but still undeserved. John Piper, a calvinist actually, understood this concept and wrote about it clearly in His book "future grace." He points out the fact that just because grace in the life of believer is conditional, (God gives grace to the humble), it is by no means deserved. I would say that conditional definitely does not imply deserved. Our salvation is conditional, but we still don’t deserve it. Let me give an example of another case of something conditional that is not deserved: Let’s say I go out right now and shot every red-head that I meet. Those killings would be conditional: the condition being the color of their hair, but that doesn’t mean that they deserve the death penalty.
In the same way, salvation is conditional, but not deserved.

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."

Ephesians 1:4–5

Yes, God predestines us, but it’s not unconditional. He predestines people according to His good pleasure. This good pleasure He does not keep a secret from us:

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him."

Hebrews 11:6

"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears."

2 Samuel 22:7

"So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'"

Acts 1:31

I do not understand how people can claim that salvation is "unconditional" when throughout the entire Bible, God spells out His conditions very clearly. He is very clear about who He finds good pleasure in saving. Not once is salvation offered without a condition.

"Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses."

Psalm 107:28

"You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask."

James 4:2

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. "

Ps 51:10-11

"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Romans 10:9

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Matt 11:28

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"

John 1:12

"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent"

Acts 17:30

" He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

John 3:36

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.'”

Numbers 21:8

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,"

John 3:14

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

God is just to all. He is loving to all. He is merciful to all. He is the great and pure and holy "I AM." He does not save some and leave others to burn for some "unconditional" reason. That reminds me. The other day I was recommending that Mom find a counselor, and she was complaining that she didn't know how to find a good one, and said "What, do you want me to just go out and pick a random counselor?" And my brother Caleb responded "No, you should go out and pick one unconditionally!" If election is not based on a reason, or on a condition, then it is unreasonable, or random. We know that God is neither. He loves all enough to want all to be saved. He is merciful to all.

He is a picky God, and only saves people "according to His good pleasure." He is picky about who He spends eternity with, and lays out His condition very clearly throughout the entire Bible. God delights to save those pitiful beings who call out "help us!" He could be like the big blue guy from "Watchmen" who said that "someday, mankind will look up to me and cry 'save us,' and I will look down and say 'no.'" God could be like that, and be perfectly just and righteous... but He isn't. He's so much more awesome instead!

Calvinism 6: Limited Atonement

Calvinism: Limited Atonement

Limited atonement is an issue that, for a long time, I saw no point in debating. Calvinism stands or falls based on the other points. Recently, however, I began to see that scripture clearly does support the idea of unlimited atonement, that is to say, Christ died for all. I also began to see that it does make a difference whether or not Christ died for some, or for all. Although the application remains the same, the purpose and intent of the death of Christ reveals to us that which is important to God. The issue of why the most important event of all history happened is actually more important to our lives than we might think. We are to have the mind of Christ, and if He cared enough to die for reasons that we don't even care to look into, how is that godly?

"Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

Exodus 33:13

"He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel"

Psalm 103:7

"Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths."

Psalm 25:4

We are called not just to know the acts of the Lord, like all the disobedience children of Israel, but to know His ways as Moses did. We are told in Exodus 33:11 that God spoke to Moses as a man speaks to his friend.

"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

John 15:15

Now, there are verses in Scripture that say specifically that Jesus died for us, the elect.

"As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."

John 10:15

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her"

Ephesians 5:25

I do not argue this point: of course Christ died for us! It does not, however, say that Christ did not die for all. Some calvinists will trip over the question of "for whom was the atonement designed?" If atonement was intended for all, and all are not saved, then has God failed? But we know that God does not fail, therefore, they reason, atonement must not be for all. If atonement is only for some, those few must be the elect, for the Bible clearly states that Christ died for His sheep. The dilemma is a false dilemma because those are not the only two options. A third alternative is that Christ's sacrifice was intended to provide salvation for all, and to procure salvation for the elect. Christ died to provide salvation for all, and He does not fail to procure salvation for those who call on Him.

"And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Acts 2:21

There are many verses that plainly and clearly state that Christ died for everyone, and in a few moments, I intend to list several of those verses for you. Now, as you may have guessed, calvinists are aware of these verses in the Bible. How then are they able to remain blind to the obvious truth of the verses? Calvinism generally try to get around the verses and explain them away by constantly redefining words. To the calvinist, "all" means "some," and "the world" means "the elect," but only in verses that are contrary to their docrine. Verses that they love and agree with, such as:

"They have all turned aside,They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."

Psalm 14:3

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness."

Psalm 50:12

Suddenly, "all" really does mean "all of all," and "the world" means "the whole world." Now, I personally believe that no word in the Bible is an accident. If God said "all," there is this slight chance that maybe, just maybe, He really did mean all. I am not even kidding about this, I wish I was, that calvinists, in an attempt to explain away verses that contradict their doctrine, write that "it is clear that all is not all."(cited from "the five points of calvinism, by Palmer)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. "

John 3:16-17

It seems fairly clear to most anyone reading the text that God loved the "world" so much that He gave Christ to die for that same "world," which is the same whole "world" that is in danger of being justly condemned. The Bible says "the world," it means "the world," and it is clearly the same "world" that deserves condemnation. One notable calvinist, John Owen, responded to the passage with this shocking retranslation: "God so loved his elect throughout the world, that He gave his Son with this intention, that by him believers might be saved"! Yes, well, as Norman Geisler said, "this needs no response, simply a sober reminder that God repeatedly exhorts us not to add to or subtract from His words." And I would add that maybe God did mean just the elect... OR maybe He actually meant what He said...! :)

"And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world."

John 12:47

Again, calvinism claims that "the world" here in used only in a limited sense, meaning only part of the world, namely the elect. They will point out verses such as John 12:19 as an example of the limited usage of the word "world." That verse is where the pharisees are complaining to one another that "the whole world has gone after Him!" Those flawed humans were first of all using a hyperbole, whereas Jesus was speaking sincerely. Also, flawed humans often speak things that are not true: that same "whole world" the pharisees spoke of, later decided to crucify Christ. God never speaks untruth.

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."

1 John 2:2

The point of this verse is very clear: Christ is not only a propitation for our sins, but also for the world, the whole world. No further comment should be needed. Calvinism claims that what the verse is really trying to say is that Christ died not only for the sins of the elect Israelites, but also for the elect from the rest of the whole world. This is an obvious case of eisegesis, which is reading into the text. If you study the word (cosmos) and the context, you will find that same word used a few verses later, when John exhorts us not to love the world, or the things of the world. Later he uses the word yet again when he says "we know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one." It seems very clear then, then when he says cosmos, and in fact the "whole cosmos," he is not just referring to the elect.

It does kinda bug me sometimes when people misinterpret what I say. For instance, I will say "please finish the dishes before you play outside," and then I'll leave. I will have more than one reason for asking this, but suppose the main reason I said that was that company would be visiting for supper, and I wanted the place to look nice. I come back later, to find the dishes still not done, and ask the person in question, and they respond "Well, yes, but I knew that when you said that, you meant that you wanted me to get my chores down today before going off and amusing myself. But x-and-such brother wanted me to play air-soft, and I am of course going to finish dishes before I go out and amuse myself, but I am amusing my brother right now, which is completely selfless, and I was sure you wouldn't mind." They have no right to suppose that they knew all the reasons I gave that order, or that I meant it differently than I said it. I'm sure that God is equally unhappy when He says "the whole world," and we say "well, of course, but I knew that what you really meant was the elect from around the whole world!"

"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction."

2 Peter 2:1

The terms used to describe those people leave little doubt that they are lost souls. They are "false prophets," "false teachers," they deny the Lord, are "destructive," and bringing themselves "judgement." (vs 2) They are also, in verse three, compared to fallen and unredeemable angels who were cast into hell. By all account, it does not appear that these people are saved! Yet the verse tells us plainly that it is these reprobate sinners who the Lord bought. Also see 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 and Romans 5:6. Again I would say of all these verses that God meant the words that He inspired people to use. If the meaning had been "the elect," He could have easily had that written. The word "elect" was, in fact, a regular part of New Testament vocabulary (see Mt 24:24, Mk 13:22, Luke 18:7, 1 Peter 1:2, Rom 8:33, Col 3:12, 1 Tim. 5:21, Titus 1:1) This is also true of the words "some" and "few." Yet in the whole Bible, in the whole New Testament, not once does the Bible say that Jesus only died for the elect. Now isn't that interesting...?

Other verses to consider, regarding God's desire for all to be saved and command that all be saved:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

2 Peter 3:9

"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent"

Acts 17:30

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

1 Timothy 2:3-4

"Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time"

1 Timothy 2:6

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."

Hebrews 2:9

As you can see, I do not rely on one or two "proof verses," but rather I see throughout the Scripture a landslide of verses that clearly teach that Jesus loves you, died for you, and wants you to be saved - whoever you may be. The offer of redemption is clearly open to all. Jesus Christ our Savior died for the sins of the world. I should not have to argue to defend each one of these verses. If you do not believe the Word of God, you will not listen to me either. I have come to see that Christ's blood was not only shed for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole entire sinful world. I should add, with reference to conditional election, that although the offer of salvation is open to all, not all will believe, and therefore not all will be saved. That is clear from the Bible.

Calvinism 7: What Difference Does It Make?

Calvinism: What Difference Does It Make?

Many times, when I bring up the fact that I am adamantly opposed to the doctrines of Calvinism, people wonder what difference it really makes. Calvinists love God, help others, and live a good life. Yes, and I support and love all fellow Christians, Calvinists or anyone else. But I do not support false views of God because the truth is the best.

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 8:32

I want people to be free, and to see themselves, others, and God as they really are. A distorted view of God may not seem to be harm, but when people misunderstood my beloved, I’d rather they see how awesome He is!

Whether or not we believe the doctrine of Calvinism will determine how we answer these important life questions:

· What’s love?

· What’s justice?

· What does God delight in that we should delight in?

· What is God cool with that we should be cool with?

· Do we see the best or worst in people, including ourselves?

· What is personal responsibility?

· Is life about relationships, or various agendas?

Along with my answers, I’d attached various works of art that put the question into a visual format. What’s love? Loving includes action. Just as faith without works is dead, if you say “be warmed and filled,” but do not feed or clothe that person, that love is dead. (See James 2.)
Calvinism teaches that God not trying to save some people from Hell is “a different kind of love. I believe that not trying to help is not love. True love motives helping, if you see someone in a bad situation.
Calvinism teaches that only some receive the offer of loving help (grace) from God. I believe that we all receive the offer loving help from God. We need to pass that loving help along to everyone who comes across our path.

What’s justice? What we think is just from God will determine what justice we use toward others. If we believe that we must be fair, then we will give each child the exact same amount of cookie and try to give each the same chance at winning, even if they differ in age.

If we believe that justice means, as Calvinism teaches, punishing one deserving party, but letter the other off free, then our children will see the injustice and grow bitter or spoiled. If we see that God is just to all, not necessary fair, but loves mercy, then we will discipline those under us, but be quick to be merciful to the repentant child rather than always laying on them the full penalty.

What does God delight in that we should delight in? God delights in setting captives free, in letting the blind see, and the deaf hear. God delights in showing grace and helping people.

Calvinism teaches that God sets some free, and helps some people, but delights in withholding the same from others for the sake of His own glorification. We should learn to delight ourselves in what delights God. We want to be like Him
.
If God delights in setting captives free, and desires all captives to be free, then we should also rescue people with passion.

If God delights in offering a helping hand to all who desire it, then so should we.

What is God cool with that we should be cool with? Calvinism teaches that God is cool with millions going to Hell. That’s all part of His plan, and He’s cool with that. I believe that God wants no one to go to Hell. He allows it to happen because of the hardness of people’s hearts, but He is not cool with it, and we shouldn’t be cool with it either!

We should give our lives, if need be, to share the gospel and try to help rescue as many as we possibly can! We shouldn't just be cool with the suffering of others, so long as we are doing fine.
Do we see the best or worst in people, including ourselves? Many calvinists look around them and see lots and lots of depravity; they don’t see any good in people or in themselves. We are told in the Bible to focus on what is pure, good, of good report, etc. There is so much beauty that God has created in people that they don’t see.



Humility is not believing that we are less or worse than we are, but rather seeing all that we are, and see how small and helpless that is!


Man’s depravity and selfishness can actually lead him to God. The prostitutes and tax collectors came to Jesus for help first.


What is personal responsibility? Calvinism teaches that we have free will in that we freely choice what God puts in our hearts to desire. That so-called “free choice” is caused by God, and yet we are held responsible for it.

If I were to translate that into real life, when Daniel pushes David into a vase, which falls and breaks, I will hold David responsible even though Daniel was the cause.

On the other hand, I believe that God does not “cause” some to be saved, and leaves others on His black list.

I believe that we all have personal responsibility where we cause our actions and are held responsible for our eternal destiny. Is life about relationships, or various agendas?

Finally, if Calvinism is true, then this world was not created so that God could have a real relationship with us, where He would love us, and we could choose to love Him back. God’s pleading with unrepentant Israel throughout the Bible would be a charade, since He predestined them to reject Him and caused their hearts to be hardened.

God goes through with all these plans of sending some to Hell and other to heaven merely for His own glorification. I believe that we all should glorify God forever, because life is not a charade, and because life is about having relationships with God and with each other.

We will have these relationships throughout eternity and “that’s what it’s all about!” I don’t believe the idea of “unconditional election” gives God any glory.
It is a gross misunderstanding of His amazing and pure character.

And yes, we may all at some points find the truth offensive, but God is God and we are not. We must accept that He shows mercy to whom He shows mercy - not for the reasons that we perhaps think He should, but according to His good pleasure, and according to the conditions that He decrees.

God Bless!

Humility, And How I Acheived It

That title may not be completely appropriate to this blog, mainly because this blog is not about how humble I may or may not be, but rather is about what humility truly is.

I just have always loved the concept of writing a book with that title, simply because it's so humorous. Speaking of humor, I really do believe that one of the ultimate tests of humility is whether or not a person is able to laugh at themself. Anyway, what I propose to discuss in this blog is whether or not a person can know that they are humble, what humility would look like if we were all perfect beings, and how to show humility when arguing with people.

"Humility is to make a right estimate of one's self. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought, though it might rather puzzle him to do that." - Charles Spurgeon

"When we become aware of our humility, we've lost it." - Unknown

I would have to agree with Spurgeon that humility is a right estimate of one's self. Humility is not telling yourself that you are somehow less pretty or talented than you actually are. False humility is just as inaccurate as pride is, and many times they both lead to the same kind of problems. A proud person does not trust God's guidance, and suffers because of it. A falsely humble person is constantly in a trial because they never truly enjoy God's love... usually because they view themselves as unlovable. Neither truly trusts God and enjoys His love for them: weak, frail, sinful people that they are. And both leads to treating other people badly. A proud person will criticize others mercilessly, and view them with contempt. A falsely humble person will be either always miserable and negative, or constantly looking for reassurance from others - either way, they are a burden to those around them. Both are a trial and a burden to others.

If humility is making a right estimate of one's self, I think that it is very important to study the Bible enough to truly understand who we are and what we are. We are not lacking in intrinsic value, we are all lovable, we are fallible and prone to making dumb mistakes on a consistent basis, we are weak, we as christians are perfectly righteous, (the real you - "It is no longer I, but the sin that is in me" - the old nature still trips us up) we each are talented and gifted, we each are beautiful examples of God's creations, we each glorify God, we are awesome. (If anyone of you are unaware of where those concepts are found in the Bible, ask me, and I'll give you references) We can figure out a right estimate of ourselves, and then claim to be humble. We can be aware of our humility, and not lose it in the process. But we cannot assume that if we are humble for an instant, that the humility will continue - no, we must continue to work on being humble.

Yesterday, I was chatting with my brother about the idea of perfection. If we were all sinless and perfect beings, would it be okay to be proud? I came to the conclusion that it would not. If we were perfect, then we would humility be grateful to God for how awesome He made us, and be subject to Him. Pride is when a perfect being (Lucifer) was not content to be a perfect angel, but proudly conceived that he could be something else: a perfect god! It's a funny idea, thinking about perfect beings being humble. But of course they would have to be, or they would no longer be perfect! Christ Himself was perfect, and therefore perfectly humble, even though He was perfect and He was God! (Phil 2:8) What a concept! It makes my brain tingle...

It seems to me that one of the times when a person is mostly likely to be accused of a lack of humility is in the middle of a discussion or argument. If a person presents his or her argument clearly, and the other party still refuses to agree, it is a common assumption that it's because of a lack of humility on the part of the other party... especially if the other party is younger and less experienced. This reasoning is flawed, and we can see throughout history a great many righteous humble men who honestly disagreed with each other and never came to agreement. When debating or confronting people, it's important to show humility by avoiding either of these pitfalls: not verbalizing respect for the other person or refusing to honestly listen to and prayfully consider what the other person has to say.

The first is simply thoughtlessness. If you are debating with someone, it is prideful to be inconsiderate of their feelings by never showing respect or affection, but only disagreeing with their point of view. The second is a more serious case of pride. Humility demands that you might be incorrect, and that the other person, who perhaps may even be more wrong than you are, may have some part of the truth that you do not have! Therefore, humility demands that you at least listen to and seriously (and prayerfully) consider what they have to say. Humility does not demand that they are correct or that you have to believe everything you hear, or everything that the majority teaches. Come to think of it, if you are arguing, and you assume that the only possible reason for the other person not to agree with you (assuming that obviously you are correct, assuming that they must not be simple deceived, but actively flawed) you are the one with the pride problem... ;)

So that is my belief about humility... and as Maxwell Smart once said:

"And that belief is unshakable, unarguable, and incontrovertible!!!!
Of course, I could be wrong..."

Hehe
Humility is not believing that you are less valuable than dirt, but rather having a proper estimate of one's self. Pride and false humility are perhaps equally inaccurate points of view about who you are. We could all be perfect, and someday, in heaven, we will be perfect - and yet even in perfection, it's possible to be humble. And last but not least, even if you disagree, talk and listen to others in humility and gentleness.

Oh - and one final thing: you are all awesome! I thank God for you all!

(And it's not pride to believe that that is actually true!)

I Love to be Wrong!

Well, that's not really accurate... at all. I don't love to be wrong.

What I'm trying to say is that I love to learn that I have been wrong. Now, many consider this quite odd. Most people generally do not like to hear that they are wrong and if someone proves to them that they are, in fact, wrong, they usually will feel more annoyed than happy. So, I felt like writing a blog, explaining to the world that I am not just crazy: that I have a rational and logical reason for being happy to discover that I've been completely mistaken. In fact, I think that if more people saw things the way I did, and really didn't mind discovering their own flaws and confusions, that we would all live in more perfect peace and happiness. So why is it that I don't mind learning that I am wrong? Put simply, it's because I love to be right. To discover that I have been wrong is to discover that I can escape from that path!

Let me explain in further detail. I put forward first off the simple presupposition that if an idea or action is wrong, then it is not the best, and will lead to various negative outcome. I will be in a bad situation. Now, if I am in a bad situation, there are two possibilities:
1 - I am doing everything correctly
2 - I am doing something incorrectly
Now let us suppose that I am being persecuted for my faith in Christ, in which case I would be doing everything correctly, but still in a painful situation. It is of course awesome to suffer for what's right, but the fact that I am in the right is a painful fact because it means I have to continue with what I'm doing and believing, even though it's going to continue to be hard. On the other hand, let us suppose that I am being picked on because I am tactless, in which case I could make the painful situation dissolve simply by acting differently! What joy, what freedom, what relief is found in that sentiment! It's like all I have to do is to push one shiny button, and my problem goes away! Now that is awesome.

This is not limited to merely doing things incorrectly, but also applies to thinking incorrect thoughts, which can have much more subtle negative consequences. Subtle or not, I know that truth is more awesome, and am glad to avoid all the consequences of believing lies! As you can see, then, as a mere matter of practicality, understanding where one is wrong is the best thing that can happen to a person! If I believe that guns work without being loaded, and then learn that I am wrong: that a gun works better if it actually has ammunition in it, it is going to help me in a big way when I actually get out there on the battlefield!

The one thing that mainly holds people back from this very practical way of viewing things is that many people simply don't like the idea that they are wrong, or have been doing things wrong for any period of time. Personally, I have come to be quite familiar with the fact that I am often quite dumb and mess up quite a bit. It doesn't bother me anymore. (Perhaps because I have learned to accept and love myself, even with all my flaws) I am not shocked to learn that I am wrong anymore than I would be shocked to hear that my Mom is going to Walmart. She goes to Walmart almost every day, and I'm sure that I'm wrong more often than that!

So, basically, since I don't see it as a negative to see that I am wrong (I am used to it) and I do see it as a positive to learn a better and more practical way to think about and do things, I love to learn that I have been wrong! I love to see where I am wrong, because I love to be right! You see, one of the the only ways to become more right is to see where you are wrong currently. I should add that I have this view in mind when I sometimes argue with other people. My basic point is never "you're wrong and I'm so much smarter than you," but rather "I have good news for you! The world is so much more awesome than you think it is!" Also, just because I am glad to see that I have been wrong does not mean that I am easy to persuade: I study and think about everything I believe. If you can honestly show me where and how it is invalid, then I would love to learn from that! But until then, as my brother says, "I believe what I believe, and I'm going to believe the heck out of it!"

God Bless!

We should all love ourselves more!

It seems to me that in the mind of many people, mystery surrounds the concept of love, and especially self-love. If I told a standard christian that they need to love themselves more, after their initial expression of shock, they would probably explain to me that the problem with this world is that people love themselves too much; that pride is loving oneself, and is the ultimate sin; that we are to instead love others and love God. Also, there sometimes seems to be an unspoken supposition that almost everyone on earth does love themselves. I would disagree with all of these intuitive positions, and I will show that Biblically we are to love ourselves, and that the problem with our culture, even in the christian community, is not too much self-love, but too little.

Let me begin by quoting the two most important commandments:

Matthew 22:37-40
"Jesus said to him, '"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the first and great commandment."
And the second is like it:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'”

For the record, we are lovable! Every person on earth is valuable and lovable, scripturally, even though we are all fallen beings.

Psalm 139:14
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."

Notice the phrase "love your neighbor as youself;" it implies that you should be loving yourself. Since all the law and the prophets hang off of this, I think it's an important concept to truly understand - so that's mainly why I'm writing this blog to describe my understanding of what the Bible teaches about godly self-love. The other reason that I'm writing this blog is that I was talking to a friend about this yesterday, and he said that I was talking way too fast, and should write a blog to explain my point of view. So I did. :) By the way, this will be a somewhat lengthy blog, but it's well worth it!

Now I'll begin by clarifying some basic definitions that I like to use:

1. Selfish: Is making an idol of self, and not being a servant to others. Not taking proper care of oneself, but pursuing childish and self-destructive wishes - gluttany, overworking to be rich, etc.
   Philippians 2:3
   "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."



2. Self-centered: Misunderstanding one's place in the universe; thinking that everything revolves around us, rather than understanding that our true place in life is to revolve around God, serve Him, enjoy Him, and glorify Him.
   Revelation 4:10
   "The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne..."



3. Self-Interest: Loving oneself in a godly way, taking an interest in what is truly best for oneself and going to God to meet those needs. (True self-interest will always drive us to God, and never away from Him)
   Psalm 23:3
   "He restores my soul;He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake."

Obviously, I am for self-interest (which is a subset of true self-love, which I will define extensively in just a moment) and against self-centeredness and selfishness. By the way, this is the end of the introduction - all that you've read so far only introduces the topic, and now I will delve into actual content!


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And what is the biblical way to show love? The biblical model of showing love to humans is the same whether it is applied to showing love to others or to self - we are all human, and none of us is more or less lovable than anyone else. In today's culture, many people think of love as an emotion, or perhaps thoughts of esteem, but true love is much more than that: it's a choice about how to view and treat people. I'll map out several verses throughout the Bible that instructs us on how to love (others and self):

To love someone is to delight in them.

Proverbs 3:12
For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

We delight to hang out with those we love, but here in America, where we so seldom have time to ourselves, we have forgotten how to be alone; how to enjoy our own company. In fact, I am reminded of a quote that I like: "I always have plenty of company, especially in the morning, when no one calls."

To love someone is to want what's best for them.

Romans 10:1
" Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved."

You'll notice that loving someone isn't always wanting them to get what they want, but wanting them to have what is truly best for them, which oftentimes will mean dying to themselves. In the same way, we are each to love ourselves and want what is truly best for ourselves, not just what pretty deceptive trinkets Satan dangles in front of our eyes.

To love someone is to actively help them get what is best for themselves.

James 2:16
"And one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?"

As you can clearly see from this verse, true love is not just passively sortof wanting what is best for someone, but actually striving for it! We want whats best for others, and are willing to sacrifice so that they can have it. We love ourselves, and diligently seek those good things that God has for us.

To love someone is to show tough love, not just spoiling them.

Proverbs 13:24
"He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly."

That's right, when I speak of self-love, I'm not talking about some sort of wishy-washy liking of self that prompts one to spoil themselves. No, I am talking about that intense, fearful, powerful love that God has for us when He insists that we cannot come to come heaven as we are, but must die and be reborn. I am talking of a love that everyone wants, but no one wants to experience. You must love yourself enough that you don't let yourself slip into sin and accept your own excuses - you must love yourself enough to take away from yourself what you think you want most in life. You must love yourself enough to discipline yourself for this marathon that is life.

[Important note: just as a father who disciplines a son should challenge him, and keep him accountable, he is not to be verbally abusive or overly harsh. In the same way, it is not right be overly harsh or verbally abusive toward yourself!]

To love someone is to teach and guide them.

Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."

Now this is a very very extremely important point. When you correct someone, it's not best to simply tell them where they should tell where they should be in life, (ie "you need to trust God more") but rather to actually show them how to do to that! Pat answers don't work to teach others, and they won't work to teach yourself. You need not only a destination, but a path to get there. And if you can't find the way to get to where you want to be in life, get counsel from others! (others who can actually teach you, btw, not just those who will give you more pat answers)

To love someone is to be gentle and gracious when they slip up.

Ephesians 4:32
"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

I'm trying to wrap a whole lot into this point: the idea that love is patience, not judging others when they fall but helping them, kind and gentle in rebuke, and full of compassion and gracious speech. This is a big deal not only because it's exceptionally hard to show others this kind of love, but because so many people have a double standard about this. So many christians will try to be gentle with others, but will mentally rips themselves up one side and down the other when they mess up. This is not godly! This should not be happening! We need to be patient, kind, and gentle to ourselves! Or else we will never learn. You do not learn best from those who yell at you, but those who care for you and patiently lead you - like the good shepherd.

To love someone is to be concerned with their physical well-being.

1 Corinthians 6:19
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"

Also thinking back to the verse I quoted from James, we can see that if we love someone, we will be not only concerned with their mental and spiritual well-being, but also the day-to-day practical sort of needs. If we love ourselves, we will do our best to maintain fitness and health and stuff like that.

To love someone is to praise and encourage them when they are on the right track.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

Too often we rebuke each other for our short-comings, but do not praise and encourage each other for what we do right. Even more, we tend to criticize ourselves excessively, yet starve ourselves of praise. When we truly love someone, we praise them for what they do right - and that includes ourselves!


As a side note, given the above explanation of love, could anyone really say that most people love themselves? Not really. People spoil themselves and are selfish, to be sure, but true self-love is not something I see an awful lot.
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As you can clearly see, we are meant to love ourselves. Not in a cheap, shallow, worldly kind of selfishness, but agape love! We should accept ourselves in humility, want what is truly best for ourselves enough to show ourselves tough love and pursue what we need even when we don't feel like it - we are to study and guide ourselves in the ways of righteousness, being patient and gentle with ourselves when we slip up, and encouraging ourselves once in a while, rather than only criticizing. God enjoys hanging out with us, and enjoys hanging out with Himself; why then should we not enjoy hanging out with Him, and enjoy hanging out with ourselves?

I want to add something very important. It is not accident, no mere matter of verbage, that God instructs us to love our neighbor AS ourself. He also invented math, and you might notice that God implies a correlation between loving self and loving others. Our love for others should be equal to the love we have for ourselves. I would go so far as to suggest that we will always love others as we love ourselves, or else hate others as we hate ourselves. Why? Because the same thing that makes your neighbor valuable and lovable makes YOU valuable and lovable. If you do not understand that basis for love of others, you will not truly love self. Conversely, if you do not understand your own value, you will not truly understand the value of others.

This may not always appear to be the case, as when a person praises others, but constantly puts themself down, or when a man is so proud that he will not lift a finger to help someone who is dying right next to him. But I maintain that in the first case, the one who praises others praises what they do, rather than having unconditional love for them: the most unkind, proud, and cruel people I've ever known have the ones who admit to hating themselves, but insist they love others. I also maintain that in the latter case, those who are proud do not love themselves, or accept themselves for who they are: faulty, weak beings like the rest of us. Because they do not accept themselves, they lie to themselves in their mind about who they are, and make themselves believe that they are better than they really are - for if they were for an instant to see what they actually are, they would condemn and despise themselves without love as they condemn and despise everyone else! Pride, then, is the opposite of true self-love, because you cannot truly love or accept yourself if you lie to yourself about who you are.

This proper self-love is humility, because we don't seek to hide from the fact that we are small weak frail creatures absolutely dependent on God, we love ourselves as such, and through self-interest, we seek what is best for us in God, and become reliant on Him. When we are reliant on God, we are fully and completely satisfied and joyful, and praise and gratefulness springs forth from our lips, and we find naturally that what we most love to do, other than simply enjoying God, is to glorify Him and boast about how amazingly wonderful He is to everyone we meet! That is true and biblical love: loving self will enchance how you love others, and loving yourself and others will enhance how you love the Lord. You do not divide your love, but multiply it: the more you love one, the more you love all!

God Bless!

By the way, I know that this is all pretty controversial stuff, so I would love to hear feedback from you all! :)

**All scripture is quoted according to the NKJV translation, unless otherwise indicated