Scott1
Puritanboard Commissioner
with the altar call and asking for decisions to be made.
Decisions made by who?
A "bad rap" to who? Unbelievers?In our Sunday School class this morning we were talking about what gives the SBC a bad rap
Neither does Scripture.I cannot agree to fatalism.
I was the same way, initially, probably viewing this as something like a continuum of a 60/40 division of Scripture,I see many scriptural passages that proclaim God's sovereignty and many that proclaim man's responsibilty to come to Jesus.
It seemed the majority of Scripture seems to lean toward the sovereignty of God (in salvation), but 40% seem to lean toward man's responsibility. So, it was more reasonable to lean "Calvinist."
Understand the unbiblical and illogical presuppositions implicit even in this... it sets the Word of God against each other (but Scripture is clear as one whole message and intended to be so by its author), AND
it defines "sovereign" as if it were relative, 60% sovereign. Not logical- like being 60% pregnant.
Then, as I studied the immediate context of the 40% Scriptures, it resolved some more of the "leaning man" Scriptures toward "leaning God" in two ways:
1) their immediate context
2) the context of the whole of Scripture
The systematic theology of the Westminster Confession (the London Baptist Confession is very similar in this regard) is very helpful in this regard.
But while 85% was still clearly "Calvinist" (sovereignty of God), it still left about 15% of Scriptures unclear or seeming to lean the other way.
E.g. John 3:16
Then a light bulb went on. First, how can God be "sovereign" if his creature can change his own nature (by regeneration) and choose and abide in Him?
Second,
"The world" was to the believer of the first century, representative of the (gentile) "world" often outside of Israel. Jesus died for (all sorts) of people in the (whole) world, Jew and Gentile.
John 3:3-15 before this talks about how being "born again" is impossible with men. Man cannot re-enter the womb, as Nicodemus reasoned. Like the wind, which cannot be controlled, it goes wherever it pleases v. 8.
So it is with salvation.
Man cannot control it, it does not even make sense to him, it is impossible to man.
Now, John chapter 3 is one of the best passages to explain "the doctrines of grace" (Calvinism) because, by God's grace, I understand it in context.
Dr RC Sproul, "What is Reformed Theology" has an on-line teaching series that may help (12 lessons):
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/what_is_reformed_theology/
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