I must respectfully disagree, my FRiend. How we understand God will certainly affect our relationship with Him, but can never affect our salvation. Our salvation is of God.
The point I was making was simply this: Plenty of people who don't believe in election are of the elect. Reformed theology revolves around the mechanics of our salvation - the exact means by which God saves us. Now, don't get me wrong, that's very important as it solves any number of thorny issues and certainly makes our relationship with the Almighty much easier -- but it's not required to believe in Calvinism to be of the elect. In fact, none of us believe in *anything* other than ourselves when God chooses us.
The thief on the cross was likely not a five-point Calvinist like you and I are. However, he's my brother in Christ all the same. That's what I meant when I call it a family disagreement.
Ask it this way: if you wanted someone to pray with you about some issue, and your only choices were a Buddhist, a Muslim, an atheist, and a Pentecostal, who would you pick? I'm certainly going with the Pentecostal. Even if we disagree about the specifics of our theology, they're still our brothers in Christ.
Dutch - sorry, I should’ve pinged you to my #20 as well.
Wonderful post.
I'd go with your choice, pray with him and for him, and then hand him a copy of the Institutes.
Where there's life, there's hope. 8~)
Speaking rhetorically, would you say that someone who does not believe in the trinity is saved? How about someone who does not believe that our Lord Jesus actually died for their sins? Do you see the problem? Our understanding of God and our Lord Jesus most certainly affect our salvation. A person must have a correct understanding of their position with God, the position of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit, in order for them to understand their sinful position. This is why a correct understanding of the Trinity is so important. This is what a "coming to a saving knowledge" is all about in the scriptures (please note that Paul does not call it a "saving experience").
By the same token, assuming one has a "saving knowledge" with our Lord; we still (all of us) hold erroneous views to varying degrees. Like the Pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress, we are to seek after these truths and discard the rest.
Does true Christianity require believing in the five points? Speaking as one who for 33 years never heard of Calvinism as a Christian, I would answer "No". I'm one of these people who knew the moment I was saved but had never heard of Calvinism.
That being said, I can publicly attest that for 33 years the scriptures, taken in total, were impossible to understand. John and Romans were a complete mystery as well as trying to reconcile God of the OT with our Lord Jesus in the NT. Many times I simply would use the standard, "Well, I guess it will be explained when I get to heaven." It was only once I stumbled onto Calvin's writings, confirmed by Augustine, that it all became clear. My choice was to either accept the obvious and ONLY explanation, or reject it. To me Calvin's comprehensive teachings was the obvious conclusion and in most cases (not all) is the correct interpretation of scripture.
I understand some very good (and better than me) Christians may sincerely reject Calvin's teachings. A person can either accept what is the obvious conclusion, that God chooses those whom He will to be saved; or they will remain in spiritual darkness waiting for the day that someone will explain to them that God chooses those whom He will. This doesn't affect their salvation and, in many cases, they bear a heck of a lot more fruit than I.
So what good is having a "right" understanding"? How this affects anything I don't know. However, those who are going to teach the word (which all of us do to varying degrees) are warned that we will be held in a higher degree of judgment. It doesn't affect our salvation but I believe that God takes our teaching very seriously and He expects us to come to the right knowledge of Him.
But...then again as Augustine would have said...as a Calvinist I believe that God must grant us the ability to come to this knowledge. :O)