In throwing "Do Unto Others?" together, I had a particular despondent soul in mind and browsing through a couple of sites earlier, I came across the following comment by the same fellow.
Arminians assure us that the Arminian God is more loving than the Calvinist God. But does the Arminian God do whatever it takes, at any cost, by any means necessary, to act in the best interests of sinners?
I cannot state for certain that I have never heard an Arminian or like- minded Christian state such a thing. I suppose there are some that would. I might suggest the caricature Calvinists paint of the LORD emphasizes a mistaken application of sovereignty at the expense of God's goodness and character. Fortunately for the Calvinist, however, the "Arminian God" we love and worship is the very same God that Calvinists also worship. Some people have a lot of trouble grasping that truth. Now, as for the second point of inquiry, that of whether or not God will go to any length to act in the best interests of sinners, clearly the answer is no. The LORD allows men of both Calvinist and Arminian persuasion to engage in sin and rebellion. The LORD will cast many sinners into eternal damnation and of course that is not in a sinner's best interest. The LORD is not going to transgress His own Holy character in order to put a wayward Calvinist on the right path. There are a LOT of things God is not going to do in order to serve our best interests. The LORD certainly did not stop the poor soul from making such an ill-thought inquiry.
5 comments:
"Arminians assure us that the Arminian God is more loving than the Calvinist God. But does the Arminian God do whatever it takes, at any cost, by any means necessary, to act in the best interests of sinners?"
My answer: Yes and He has proven this by sending His only begotten Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10 NKJV).
To me, those passages reveal a God who will go to extremes to reveal His love and His grace toward us fallen sinners (Romans 5:8-9).
And I would add that Jesus did this great sacrifice for ALL sinners (1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 3:22-25).
Roy,
Is the LORD going to pluck the sinner out of hell? By that can it be stated that the requirement of faith in Christ is not necessary if the LORD will do whatever is necessary, by any means to act in the best interests of sinners? I do not think eternal damnation is in the best interest of the sinner even though our Calvinist friends might mistakenly suggest it is.
Certainly the LORD has expended an immeasurable cost in the sacrifice at Calvary yet even that has a self imposed limit to it's efficaciousness, the requirement of faith.
Mr. Gormley,
I did not moderate your comment. You removed it on your own although given it was not at all on topic I would have probably removed it.
Post a Comment