eternal salvation

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Why We Must Contend Earnestly For The Faith

 Pastor Bob DeWaay

Also see here  Continue reading →

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The Dangers of Arminianism: Part 2 of 2

All free will, works religion, Arminianism in every form, under any denominational name is false religion. It may call itself Christian. But it is not Christian at all. Such religion is utter paganism! It is a total denial of God’s free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ (Gal. 5:2, 4). Any mixture of works with grace is a total denial of grace (Rom. 11:6). To assert that salvation is by the will of man is to deny that “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jon. 2:9; Rom. 9:16). – Don Fortner

I do not serve the god of the Arminians at all; I have nothing to do with him, and I do not bow down before the Baal they have set up; he is not my God, nor shall he ever be; I fear him not, nor tremble at his presence…The God that saith today and denieth tomorrow, that justifieth today and condemns the next…is no relation to my God in the least degree. He may be a relation of Ashtaroth or Baal, but Jehovah never was or can be his name.” – C.H. Spurgeon

 

The Dangers of Arminianism (Part 2 of 2)

by Jim Van Winkle
re-posted by Grant Swart

 

II. ARMINIANISM IS SUBJECTIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL RATHER THAN OBJECTIVE AND DOCTRINAL

A. ARMINIANISM IS ANTI-INTELLECTUAL
B. ARMINIANISM IS PRAGMATIC
C. ARMINIANISM IS PERFECTIONISTIC
D. ARMINIANISM APPEALS TO THE WORLDLY CHURCH
E. ARMINIANISM EMPHASIZES MAN’S ACTIVITY
F. ARMINIANISM DESTROYS FIRST-LOVE CHRISTIANITY

CONCLUSION

II. ARMINIANISM IS SUBJECTIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL RATHER THAN OBJECTIVE AND DOCTRINAL

Pietism, a reaction against Reformation orthodoxy, represented a turn inward, from God to self. Instead of focusing on God and his saving work in Christ, it shifted the focus to me and my personal relationship with Jesus. While no cardinal evangelical truth was rejected the objective focus on Christ’s justification of the sinner was subverted by the subjective focus on the experience Continue reading →

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The Dangers of Arminianism: Part 1 of 2

All free will, works religion, Arminianism in every form, under any denominational name is false religion. It may call itself Christian. But it is not Christian at all. Such religion is utter paganism! It is a total denial of God’s free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ (Gal. 5:2, 4). Any mixture of works with grace is a total denial of grace (Rom. 11:6). To assert that salvation is by the will of man is to deny that “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jon. 2:9; Rom. 9:16). – Don Fortner

I do not serve the god of the Arminians at all; I have nothing to do with him, and I do not bow down before the Baal they have set up; he is not my God, nor shall he ever be; I fear him not, nor tremble at his presence…The God that saith today and denieth tomorrow, that justifieth today and condemns the next…is no relation to my God in the least degree. He may be a relation of Ashtaroth or Baal, but Jehovah never was or can be his name.” – C.H. Spurgeon

 

The Dangers of Arminianism (Part 1 of 2)

by Jim Van Winkle
re-posted by Grant Swart


OUTLINE

I. ARMINIANISM FOSTERS THEOLOGICAL CONFUSION

A. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION
B. A FALSE TEACHING ON GOD’S DECREE
C. A FALSE TEACHING ON FOREKNOWLEDGE
D. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION
E. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF CALLING
F. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF REGENERATION
G. A FALSE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ATONEMENT
H. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION
I. A FALSE TEACHING ON GOD’S PROVIDENCE
J. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF SOVEREIGNTY
K. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF ASSURANCE
L. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF OMNISCIENCE
M. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF IMPUTATION
N. A FALSE DOCTRINE OF DEPRAVITY

INTRODUCTION

Having been reared in American Evangelicalism for the better part of our lives most of us have come to hold very benign views of Arminianism. To us Calvinism versus Arminianism debates have always been rather peripheral arguments not founded upon anything substantial, doctrinally (although it was at the heart of the Protestant Reformation). Many of us in fact were taught that we were a little Continue reading →

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“Truth Is of Necessity Intolerant of Falsehood” — Charles Spurgeon

“Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” – 2 Corinthians 10:5

“Faith is a supernatural work wherever it is found and if we think that we can beget faith in ourselves or others by the use of the fleshy weapons of philosophy, we shall certainly be foiled! The Scriptures pressed home by the Holy Spirit are God’s power unto salvation—not men’s cogitations and imaginations! There is the Revealed Gospel—reject it at your own peril! There is Jehovah’s Revelation of Himself to men—receive it or be damned! This is the ground to go upon if we would speak as the oracles of God. God grant that proud thinkers may come upon this ground and become Believers.

Here we are boldly met by some who say, ‘We do not need this doctrine which you call the ‘knowledge of God.’ We already know of something better. We tell you that your Gospel, about which you make such a fuss, is outworn and done with.’ Treat it so, Sirs, and perish, if you will, but as for us, we will mourn day and night over your unbelief. You will surely destroy your souls in rejecting the Divine Testimony, but in so doing you will prove that Word to be true which says that the Gospel is a savor of death unto death as well as of life unto life. . .

. . .Christ’s gospel has not come into the world to be co-equal with other faiths and share a divided kingdom with differing creeds. False gods may stand face to face to each other in one Pantheon, and be at peace, for they are all false together, but when Christ comes, Dagon must go down, not even the stump of him must stand. Truth is of necessity intolerant of falsehood, love wars with hate, and justice battles with wrong.”

– Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
taken from: Forts Demolished and Prisoners Taken, Sermon No. 1473, May 11,

 

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Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?

Predestination a loving doctrine (Romans 9)

Romans 9:9-24 is one of the most intriguing and thought provoking passages in the Bible. Yet, it is often not given the serious consideration that it needs when dealing with the issue of God’s sovereignty and our salvation. This short but powerful section asks some pointed questions often raised in the argument against predestination. . . and then answers them. In addition, there is a simple theological test that you can take. The test is not by my devising; rather, it is imbedded in the passage and is authored by God.

Let’s begin. (Note: all scripture quotations are from the NASB.)

“For this is a word of promise: ‘At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.’ 10And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls,12it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ 13Just as it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'” (NASB) Continue reading →

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“Jesus Will Never Cast Away His Believing People” — J.C. Ryle

 

Let all the world know that the Lord Jesus will not cast away His believing people because of shortcomings and infirmities. The husband does not put way his wife because he finds failings in her. The mother does not forsake her infant because it is weak, feeble, and ignorant. And the Lord Christ does not cast off poor sinners who have committed their souls into His hands because He sees in them blemishes and imperfections. Oh, no! it is His glory to pass over the faults of His people, and heal their backslidings,—to make much of their weak graces, and to pardon their many faults. Verily, the 11th of Hebrews is a wonderful chapter. It is marvelous to observe how the Holy Ghost speaks of the worthies whose names are recorded in that chapter. The faith of the Lord’s people is there brought forward, and had in remembrance. But the faults of many a one, which might easily have been brought up also, are left alone, and not mentioned at all. Continue reading →

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Repentance : Legal vs True

by James C. Heard

Repentance is an old-fashioned word, not much used by the modernists and liberals of our day. True repentance and true belief are inseparable. True repentance and true faith are the products of a quick­ened heart – a work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual life must precede spiritual acts.

Legal repentance is that regret and reluctance that arises in a person after having done something that they should not have done. This repentance arises from a fear of punishment denounced against sin, but it is not accompanied with the hatred of sin and self. This person may be sorry for that which has been com­mitted, but will not be grieved that they have offended a HOLY GOD. Legal repentance fears Hell and dreads punishment, for criminals are always sorry that they face punishment (however, sorrow itself is not true repentance).

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Hyper-Calvinism: the perennial misnomer

GRANT SWART

In response to those who often refer to a group of people mistakenly labeled “hyper”-Calvinists, I felt it imperative to outline a few important distinctions between true Calvinist doctrine and what is referred to as “hyper”-Calvinism. If the 17 points I have listed below are those which supposedly distinguish and constitute “hyper”-Calvinism, then by that very implication, those points cannot also be what Calvinists believe. If those are the points which allegedly separate “hyper”-Calvinists from Calvinists, then those points cannot be ascribed to both sides, for then they would not be distinguishing points.

Nowhere in Calvin’s theology did he teach any of the 17 points which I list toward the end of this article, yet these points are perennially ascribed to those who agree with the doctrines of Grace. I might remind the reader here that TULIP was not Calvin’s invention, but was an acronym for the pronouncements of the Synod of Dort (1618) tasked with defending biblical doctrine, not Calvinism per se, against obvious destructive heresies of the time. Even so, it is clear that, when the doctrines as laid out in the five points of Calvinism or TULIP are understood, none of the distinguishing 17 points as I have listed below can be ascribed to TULIP. It is quite clear therefore that the term “hyper”-Calvinism is a misnomer and has no foundation in or relation to true Calvinism.

“Hyper”-Calvinism is a term which has been brandished as a whimsical weapon by those who Continue reading →

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What the Bible Says about The DOCTRINES OF GRACE

Taken by Avalon - Vernelle Imaging

Romans 9:20-24

(20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”  (21)  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  (22)  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,  (23)  in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory–  (24)  even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Nathan Pitchford

“Ever since the Serpent first tempted Eve in the garden by casting doubt on God’s word and his character as he had revealed himself to her, mankind has always been engaged in the idolatrous pursuit of fashioning a god after his own imagination…There is no cure for this, but to cast off all our prior ideas of who we think God should be, or what we think he should mean when he speaks of his love, his grace, his justice, and his salvation, and to go to His Word for all our answers.” (from the Introduction)

DOCTRINES OF GRACE – CATEGORIZED SCRIPTURE LIST

God has recently given us the opportunity to discuss some theological issues with other Christians who believe differently than we do on a number of points, most notably the doctrines of grace. In such a circumstance, given the overwhelming supply of scriptural evidence that comes to bear on the topic, it seemed to me that the best approach would be a simple categorized scripture list: the fact that the entire paper would be scriptures, with the exception of a few brief explanatory notes, would underscore the truth that this is God’s own word and teaching; and the fact that it would be categorized would facilitate the ready comparison of scripture with scripture so as to lead one to a full-orbed understanding of the biblical teaching. Although I found a few good scripture lists of that nature available online, none of them was laid out in quite the progression that I was looking for, and so I developed my own. I’m posting it

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The Modern Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

John MacArthur – Grace to You

October 23, 2011

Selected Scriptures

Well now that I don’t have to preach on anything but what I want to preach on since I finished the New Testament, I find myself all over the place trying to decide what to preach on in sequence…a new kind of experience for me and I’m working on some kind of sequence that makes sense over the future. But I am sort of at the liberty point of my life where whatever is on my heart is where I can go, and this is a wonderful opportunity for me. And there is a subject that has concerned me for a long time and I have wanted to address this subject but it hasn’t been a part of preaching through the gospels in the way that it can be now and that is the subject of the Holy Spirit…the Holy Spirit.

After all the emphasis of so many years, 25 years of preaching through the four gospels, and much emphasis, of course, on the person of Christ as it should be, much emphasis on the character of God, and the nature of God as manifest in Christ and is seen elsewhere in Scripture, it is time now to give honor to the third member of the Trinity, namely the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most forgotten, the most misrepresented, the most dishonored, the most grieved, the most abused and I might even say the most blasphemed of the members of the Trinity. That’s a sad thing.

When our Lord cleansed the temple in John 2, He said that He was, in a sense, fulfilling the attitude of David from Psalm 69, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up, the reproaches that fall on you are fallen on Me.” And what our Lord was saying was when God is dishonored, I feel the pain. “You have taken My Father’s house, which is to be a house of prayer, and turned it into a den of robbers. You’ve corrupted My Father’s house. You’ve blasphemed My Father’s name. You’ve dishonored My Father.”

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Altar Calls: Why you should refuse to “walk the aisle” (Part 1 of 3)

Grant Swart

In all likelihood, Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) can be attributed with being the “father” of the altar call. Years before our Lord effectually called me to repentance and salvation, I was once also duped into responding to an altar call which promised elaborate, but false, assurances of salvation. Wonderfully though, the Lord placed severe doubts in my mind at the time, regarding the possible validity of the ritual. What I regarded, back then as being my reliance on simple common sense, led me to distrust the embarrassing proceedings of the altar call I had responded to.

Needless to say, not much changed in my life as a result, in the days, weeks and months subsequent to that day. Great was and is the Grace of our Lord and true Saviour. I also now know that it was not only common sense which led me to doubt the honesty and biblical integrity of the altar call. I never responded to a single one again, praise be to the Lord. Continue reading →

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Why All Other Reponses to Apostasy Are Wrong

By Dr Paul M Elliott

Part five of a series. Read part four.

Christ commended the church at Ephesus for its stand against apostasy, but warned them about the danger of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

We have come now to the third of the five keys to a Biblically loving response to apostasy: You need to understand why other responses to apostasy in the church are wrong responses. Once again, this has to do with the Biblical definition of Christian love. What many people call Christian love is really a counterfeit. It is not agape love at all.

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The Arminian Christ vs. The Christ of the Bible

Grant Swart

There have been many articles written on this subject, one which never ceases to provide for spirited debate and much controversial commentary. Unnecessarily so, if the Word of God was accepted by all professing Christians as the complete and only authority on the subject. But alas, that is not to be and is an unrealistic scenario.

Apart from the fact that I find it quite incredible that any true Christian believer will deny the Doctrines of Grace as being Biblical, similarly I fail to understand why any person would wish to deny that they are elect of God.

Here is a bit of childish logic, I just had to: For what good reason would one want to be seen as non-elect, unless they truly are? Furthermore, if they realized that they were not elect, and they wished to be, would that not make them elect, anyway? Is a longing for God not of God? Continue reading →

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What is conviction of sin?

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled

“An Old-Fashioned Conversation,” delivered March 16, 1873.

The Lord shuts us up to hopelessness and helplessness in order that he may come, as a God of grace, and display his abounding mercy. All our hope lies in him, and all other hopes are delusions. The great work in conversion is not to make people better, so that they may come to God on a good footing, it is to strip them completely and lay them low, so that God may come to them when they are on a bad footing, or rather on no footing at all, but down in the dust at his feet. The Son of man is come to seek and to cave that which is lost, but it wants* God himself to convince men that they are lost; and the Spirit’s work of soul-humbling is just this – to get man to feel so diseased that he will accept the physician; to get him to feel so poor that he will accept the charity of heaven; to get him to know that he is so stripped, that he will no longer be proud of his fig leaves, but will be willing to take the robe of righteousness which Christ has wrought out.

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