A friend of mine asked me to look at this article about the John 3:16 conference held a few months back. This is my email back to him. Again I would like to point out I'm on the fence of Calvinism, but am determined to let scripture speak for itself.
I have taken a few comments from the article (BOLD) and commented on them.
1. "I want to help our people understand the issue," Jerry Vines said in a phone interview prior to the conference. "I don't expect to change a whole lot of minds; my primary interest is to bring balance to the issue."
The first thing that stands out to me here, is were they really bringing balance to the issue by having no pro-calvinist views there? I mean come on. It’s easy to speak against it with no one being able to speak from the opposing side.
2. “Vines said that the Greek word for "whosoever," which occurs more than a thousand times in the New Testament, carries the idea of "anyone, anywhere, anytime. Whosoever believes in Him is John's normal way of describing saving faith."
2. “Vines said that the Greek word for "whosoever," which occurs more than a thousand times in the New Testament, carries the idea of "anyone, anywhere, anytime. Whosoever believes in Him is John's normal way of describing saving faith."
Listen to James White address this comment from Mr. Vines below here.
3. "Does that mean we are born guilty before God?" Patterson asked. "I do not think that can be demonstrated from Scripture.”
Oh so we are born innocent and then become sinners later in life. Prove that in scripture. I will let scripture speak for itself: Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
4. “Any teaching that God doesn't love everyone, that God has no intent or desire to save everybody or that He didn't die for the sins of all humanity is contrary to Scripture and should be rejected, he stated.”
How does he reconcile Psalm 5:5 “The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes, You hate all who do iniquity.”
5. "It doesn't seem to me that [the effectual call] helps in this particular situation, because the Jews after all were God's chosen people, they were under the covenant. If you have a covenant theology, then these people would seem to be among the elect ... it is precisely these divinely elected people who are resisting God."
I would have liked to ask about Romans 9:6-8 “Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,”[d] though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.”
6. “Lemke also addressed the question as to whether a man is saved because he believes in Christ, or whether he believes in Christ because he's saved. He said that irresistible grace reverses the biblical order of salvation, so that regeneration precedes conversion.”
This is not a problem because of 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." The natural man cannot even understand the things of God without God removing his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh.
7. “Charles Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, closed the conference with a call for the church to fulfill its mission of evangelizing the world, noting that people are longing for the assurance that God is a God of love.”
I’m very disappointed here. The Church’s mission is what Christ mission was. To call all men to repent towards God. God is love has to be kept in the whole context of the nature of God. Men are called to repent not because of God’s love, but rather because His judgment is near. This is what Christ preached, all the early apostles preached and the early Church fathers preached.
It would have been nice to hear Mr. Stanley say something like this. We need to warn, like the apostle Paul did to flee from the wrath to come. To explain to all men everywhere there is an appointed time for God’s judgment. Repent and believe. Repent and believe. God did make a way, in Christ. Repent towards God and believe in Christ. Only then will you even begin to understand the overwhelming love God has for his children.
Maybe the form of evangelizing promoted by Charles Stanley is one reason we have multitudes of false converts warming our pews. God is love, pray this prayer and get saved. People have no idea how holy God is and how our sin (breaking God’s law) offends Him greatly.
3. "Does that mean we are born guilty before God?" Patterson asked. "I do not think that can be demonstrated from Scripture.”
Oh so we are born innocent and then become sinners later in life. Prove that in scripture. I will let scripture speak for itself: Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
4. “Any teaching that God doesn't love everyone, that God has no intent or desire to save everybody or that He didn't die for the sins of all humanity is contrary to Scripture and should be rejected, he stated.”
How does he reconcile Psalm 5:5 “The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes, You hate all who do iniquity.”
5. "It doesn't seem to me that [the effectual call] helps in this particular situation, because the Jews after all were God's chosen people, they were under the covenant. If you have a covenant theology, then these people would seem to be among the elect ... it is precisely these divinely elected people who are resisting God."
I would have liked to ask about Romans 9:6-8 “Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,”[d] though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.”
6. “Lemke also addressed the question as to whether a man is saved because he believes in Christ, or whether he believes in Christ because he's saved. He said that irresistible grace reverses the biblical order of salvation, so that regeneration precedes conversion.”
This is not a problem because of 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." The natural man cannot even understand the things of God without God removing his heart of stone and giving him a heart of flesh.
7. “Charles Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, closed the conference with a call for the church to fulfill its mission of evangelizing the world, noting that people are longing for the assurance that God is a God of love.”
I’m very disappointed here. The Church’s mission is what Christ mission was. To call all men to repent towards God. God is love has to be kept in the whole context of the nature of God. Men are called to repent not because of God’s love, but rather because His judgment is near. This is what Christ preached, all the early apostles preached and the early Church fathers preached.
It would have been nice to hear Mr. Stanley say something like this. We need to warn, like the apostle Paul did to flee from the wrath to come. To explain to all men everywhere there is an appointed time for God’s judgment. Repent and believe. Repent and believe. God did make a way, in Christ. Repent towards God and believe in Christ. Only then will you even begin to understand the overwhelming love God has for his children.
Maybe the form of evangelizing promoted by Charles Stanley is one reason we have multitudes of false converts warming our pews. God is love, pray this prayer and get saved. People have no idea how holy God is and how our sin (breaking God’s law) offends Him greatly.
No comments:
Post a Comment