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NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Subject: THE CROSS |
Bible Note: Greetings gracefull! As you have probably ascertained, I am a Calvinist (aka Reformed) in my theology. I want to thank my friend Tim for his brief and for the most part accurate synopsis of the differences between the two. The grand issue between the two sides is the issue of "free will". Now, respectfully, I must tell you that by reading your post I have gathered that you are already biased against Reformed theology. Have you studied this issue before, using the Bible, or have you been influenced by other people's opinions? I ask that because it seems like you already have some faulty preconceptions about what Calvinist's (that's me) believe. Please allow me to elaborate: You said: "Calvinist believe only certain ones are called and the rest were born without any hope of salvation. Choice is a nonissue." I will try to explain in as simple terms as I can what we really believe the Bible teaches. Please remember that we don't believe anything that we can't prove exegetically from the Bible. So please listen with an open heart and mind to what our interpretation of the Bible says even if you disagree with it. Okay. Looking at the above quote that you gave, I want you to stop for a few seconds and think about what you've said. "without any hope of salvation". Is this a truly Biblical statement? What I mean is-and this is vitally important--does God OWE them salvation (Rom. 6:23)??? Your words make man out to be an innocent victim of an unjust God! Don't you realize that all men, you and I included, are at enmity with God prior to being saved (Rom. 8:7; Eph. 2:15-16) nor can we desire to be saved in our sinful (natural) condition (1 Cor. 2:14, Rom. 9:16; John 1:13; John 3:5-8). Don't you understand that NO ONE deserves to be saved?? I hope you will honestly consider those facts in light of your statement. The humble heart does not say "well if God didn't predestinate every man to salvation then He's not fair", but it DOES say "Lord!! Why did you save me, a wretched sinner??" Let us not forget for a moment that had God not regenerated our hearts so that we could believe (Titus 3:5) we, too, would still be in our sins and remain His enemy. And we wouldn't want it any other way because of our sin nature (Romans 1). The ONLY people who desire to know God and choose Him are those whom He has called according to His divine will and purpose. In short, Calvinists DO believe we have a choice to make, however, where we differ from Arminians is on how that choice comes to fruition. In Christ, Jibbs |