Striving to be ... Consistent ... Conservative ... Orthodox ... Evangelical ... Protestant ... Christocentric
2. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who possesses perfect and exhaustive knowledge of the past, present, and future, and who preserves, regulates, governs and directs all things so that nothing in the world happens without either his causation or permission. God is the author of good but not of evil. Yet even evil is governed by God in that God limits it and directs it to an end fitting with his overall plan and purpose.
3. We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, dying on the cross as a substitute and sacrifice for sinners. He arose bodily on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the Father. He will return personally and visibly at the end of the age to fully establish God's Kingdom.
4. We believe that part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict sinners, enable them to believe, regenerate the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.
5. We believe that humanity was created in the image of God but fell from its original sinless state through willful disobedience and Satan's deception, resulting in eternal condemnation and separation from God. In and of themselves and apart from the grace of God human beings can neither think, will, nor do anything good, including believe. But the prevenient grace of God prepares and enables sinners to receive the free gift of salvation offered in Christ and his gospel. Only through the grace of God can sinners believe and so be regenerated by the Holy Spirit unto salvation and spiritual life. It is also the grace of God that enables believers to continue in faith as well as good in thought, will, and deed, so that all good deeds or movements that can be conceived must be ascribed to the grace of God.
6. We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection were provided for the salvation of all people, but are effective only for those who believe. Christ's death and resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation, and only those who believe in Jesus Christ become born of the Holy Spirit and thus become children of God.
7. We believe that God’s saving grace is resistible, that election unto salvation is conditional on faith in Christ, and that persevering in faith is necessary for final salvation.
8. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead; of believers to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; and of unbelievers to judgment and eternal punishment.
Copyright © An Introspective of an Arminian Christian. All rights reserved.
Blogger templates created by Templates Block
Wordpress theme by The Theme Foundry
16 comments:
Another worthless and ignorant comment by the baptised infidel, A. M. Mallett.
Ha ... Tom, long time no read. I had a challenge some time ago for you to offer to teach me Calvinism .. what happened, my good Whitehead believer?
No, Mallett, I'll respond to you on MY terms, and most certainly will NOT dance to your tune.
But if you are TRULY interested in learning the Reformed Faith, which is just another name for Biblical Christianity, there are any number of excellant works out there which can teach it far more effectively than I could ever hope to.
I am sure the number of commentaries that offer greater insight than yourself are as numerable as the sands of the sea.
Nonetheless, Tom, I'm disappointed that you are not up to the task. Are you not able to articulate what you believe?
Love it! I am sympathetic to some of those, but not to Calvinism. ;)
Well, some of my Wesleyan brethren are open to egalitarianism and I can fellowship with some of the open theists but I tend to stay pretty much to the conservative and complemantarian line myself. However with Calvinism, I'd start a home fellowship before I'd sit under Calvinist eldership.
I had to say no to all. :)
What do I believe?? Simply this: God saved me! God saved me unconditionally, and without any additions, subtractions, equivications, and clarifications.
Only those who are called Calvinists can honestly make that statement.
Well, Tom, I know a great many lovers of the LORD who state the same thing, myself included and honestly at that. Perhaps you could unpack your thoughts a bit and explain why you think the Body of Christ didn't exist before the 16th century advent of hyper-Calvinism. I'm a patient man to a point. Lay out the essential doctrines of Calvinism and explain how Calvinism saves.
No, Mallett, neither you nor anyone else who holds to libertarian free will, Arminianism, or the utter myth of so called "prevenient grace" can honestly and unequivicalably say, "God saved me." Your entire theological system rebels against that basic Biblical truth.
And what you deride as the "16th century advent of hyper-Calvinism" is just another name for Biblical Christianity. But at least you now have the honesty to repudiate the Protestant Reformation, since your humanistic, man-centered ideology of Arminianism is little more than Romanism without the ritualism.
Tom,
Unless you can demonstrate an adequate grasp of Reformed doctrine and present it intelligently,your assertions remain rather empty. Why don't you give it a try? Lay out the essential doctrines of Calvinism and explain how Calvinism saves. Is this something you are capable of doing. The Apostle Peter wrote ... “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1Pe 3:15 AV).
With regard to your hyper-Calvinist hatred of most of the Body of Christ, I , like most, can simply rely on what Peter stated after the above passage...
“¶ Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” (1Pe 3:16-17 AV)
I am wondering whether you can distinguish a pearl from a rock. In any event, it is pretty clear you are unable to meet your biblical obligation.
Again, Mallett, I will not cast my pearls before swine, which includes unregenerate baptized infidels such as yourself.
You have been shown the unbiblical nature of your humanistic, man-centered nonsense time after time after time....Yet you persists in your lies and heresies, and display nothing but contempt for Calvinism--which is but another name for Biblical Christianity--and those who hold to it.
Based upon Titus 3:10, I have NO obligation to you whatsoever. If you don't like it, then that is YOUR problem which YOU will have to deal with.
May you personally experience Galatians 1:8-9.
Oh, and I really don't care whether or not you choose to delete this message as well. You, me, and Lord know what I said, and those are the three parties whose opinions count most on this issue.
Tom,
I would not want to censor this post of yours. It is an example and teaching tool for what happens to the "religious" when Christ is replaced with sectarian zealotry.
Have a nice day, Tom.
And I'll stand by each and every word of it in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.
Of course you will, Tom. There isn't a soul alive or dead who will escape appearing before Christ. However, as usual, you got it wrong again. You will not stand. You will bend your knees and you will look into those piercing, flaming eyes. You better be praying the LORD does not tell you He never knew you for it is certain nobody this side of Glory recognizes it.
Save your time and spend it opening your bible rather than replying to this. You are unable to address the original inquiry and I'll not suffer your foolishness any longer today. I have other things to attend to.
Post a Comment