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The Trouble With Calvin – Pt. 1 [Total Depravity]
Tim Staples' Blog ^ | May 1, 2014 | Tim Staples

Posted on 05/03/2014 7:07:17 AM PDT by GonzoII

The Trouble With Calvin – Pt. 1


Over my next five blog posts, I am going to critique the famous “five points” of Calvinist theology: 1. Total Depravity 2. Unconditional Election 3. Limited Atonement 4. Irresistibility of Grace 5. Perseverance of the Saints (“Once Saved, Always Saved”).

Pt. 1 – Total Depravity

In John Calvin’s magnum opus, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin presents a view of man that is very much like Luther’s, but contrary to what we find in the pages of Sacred Scripture. Calvin used texts like Gen.6:5,

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,

and Romans 3:10ff,

None is righteous, no not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one…

in order to prove that man is totally and utterly depraved through the fall of Adam and Eve. Calvin’s conclusion from these texts and others was to say, “The will is so utterly vitiated and corrupted in every part as to produce nothing but evil” (Institutes, Bk. II, Chapter II, Para. 26).

What Say We?

The context of the texts Calvin used actually demonstrate the opposite of his claim. For example, if we read forward just four verses in Genesis 6, we find this:

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a righteous (“just”) man, blameless in his generation (Gen. 6:8-9).

While we Catholics agree that God’s grace or “favor” was absolutely essential for Noah to be truly “just” before God; nevertheless, Noah was truly just, according to the text.

As far as the quote from Romans is concerned, the greater context of the entire epistle must be understood. One of the central themes of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans is the fact that it is through “the goodness of God” that we are led to repent (cf. Romans 2:4), to be justified (Romans 5:1-2), and persevere in the faith (cf. Romans 11:22). It is solely because of God’s grace that we can truly become just:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

Further,

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death…in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4).

Notice the emphasis on the fact that man is truly made just so much so that he can fulfill “the just requirement of the law.” It doesn’t get any more just, or righteous, than that!

Thus, Romans 3:10ff simply does not teach total depravity in a Calvinist sense. It cannot when the context is understood.

Moreover, if we examine the very verses where St. Paul paints his picture of the wicked who have “turned aside” and “done wrong,” we find he actually quotes Psalm 14:3. The next two verses of this Psalm explain who these “evil ones” are.

Have they no knowledge, all the evil-doers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.

The Psalmist clearly refers to both evil-doers and “the righteous.”

The impetus of these and other texts from Romans tell us that Christ came to make us just, not that there are absolutely none who are just. We must stress again that it is because of the justice of Christ communicated to the faithful that their actions, and indeed, they themselves, are truly made just. But they indeed are truly made just.

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right (Gr.—ho poion tein dikaiousunein—the one doing justice) is righteous (Gr.—dikaios estin—is just), as he is righteous (Gr.—kathos ekeinos dikaios estin—as he is just) (I John 3:7).

There is no way the Scripture could be any clearer that the faithful are truly made just in their being and in their actions through the grace of Christ.

The Problem Magnified

More grave problems begin to arise when we begin to follow the path Calvin lays for us with his first principle. Even when considering the unregenerate Calvin is wrong about total depravity because Scripture tells us even those who are outside of the law can,

… do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts” (Romans 2:14-15).

Though Catholics agree with Calvinists that grace is necessary even for these who are ignorant of the law in order for them to be just before God—in other words this text is not saying these pagans can be justified apart from grace—the text does infer that nature is not totally depraved because man can clearly act justly on a natural level, or by nature.

But an even more grave error comes to the fore when we consider his notion of the depravity of the just. “Depravity of the just?” Yes. That was not a typo. According to John Calvin, even those who have been justified by Christ “cannot perform one work which, if judged on its own merits, is not deserving of condemnation” (Institutes, Bk. III, Ch. 9, Para. 9). How far from “he that acts justly is just” (I John 3:7) or the plain words of the Psalmist who uses similar words as found in Gen. 15:6 with regard to Abraham being justified by faith: “[Abraham] believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness,” in Psalm 106:30-31: “Then Phineas stood up and interposed, and the plague was stayed. And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness from generation to generation.”

Phineas was clearly justified by his works and not just by faith. In other words, Phineas’ works are truly “just as he is just” to use the words of I John 3:7.

There are a multitude of biblical texts that come to mind at this point, but what about the words of our Lord in Matthew 12:37, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Or, “by works a man is justified and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). Or,

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:13-14).

These texts do not even come close to saying all of these works were “worthy of condemnation.” They say just the opposite!

We should be clear here: All “good works” man performs that contribute to his salvation are first and foremost God’s gifts, which, along with his cooperation, truly make him just and worthy to “walk with [Christ] in white; for [he is] worthy” (Rev. 3:4), by God’s grace and mercy. But we cannot escape the biblical fact that these works truly are just and they are truly the fruit of the just man himself.

The Problems Continue

Once Calvin deduces “total depravity” via poor exegesis of a relatively few texts of Scripture, all sorts of unbiblical notions follow. For example, Calvin also concludes from this that human nature is so totally depraved that free will is an impossibility. It’s a farce:

The grace offered by the Lord is not merely one which every individual has full liberty of choosing to receive or reject, but a grace which produces in the heart both choice and will (Institutes, Bk. II, Ch. 3, Para. 13).

According to Calvin, man’s total depravity means necessarily that he does not have the capacity to cooperate with God’s grace.

In fact, I argue that Calvin’s notion of grace and nature is a carbon copy of the theology of Sunni Islam. And I am far from alone in my conclusion. The famous Calvinist and anti-Catholic, Loraine Boettner, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, provides:

Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer, who in a very real sense can be referred to as “apostle to the Mohammedan World,” calls attention to the strange parallel between the Reformation in Europe under Calvin and that in Arabia under Mohammed. Says he: “Islam is indeed in many respects the Calvinism of the Orient. It, too, was a call to acknowledge the sovereignty of God’s will… It is this vital theistic principle that explains the victory of Islam over the weak divided and idolatrous Christendom of the Orient” (Boettner, The Doctrine of Predestination, p. 318-319).

Strange bedfellows? Perhaps not. Islam and Calvinism agree based not only upon a distorted notion of the sovereignty of God, but also because of a distorted notion of man’s depravity. The two are very similar.

Understanding the Strange

When John Calvin says man is utterly dependent upon God for every single just thought in his mind (see Institutes, Bk. II, Ch. II, Para. 27), Catholics will happily agree. And they would be correct. We do agree. However, appearances can be deceiving because there is more meaning beneath those words that Catholics cannot agree with.

With Calvin, there is no sense of grace aiding and empowering our wills as St. Augustine taught and the Catholic Church teaches. For Calvin, being “dependent upon God” means our free cooperation or free wills have no part to play. God does not merely empower our wills; he operates them.

In the end, this may well be the most disturbing idea stemming from Calvin’s notion of total depravity. Man is essentially a puppet of God’s, which led to Calvin attributing both the good and the evil actions of man to God.

And mind you, Calvin rejects and ridicules the Catholic notion of God merely permitting evil and working all things together for good. In his words:

Hence a distinction has been invented between doing and permitting, because to many it seemed altogether inexplicable how Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that he directs their malice to whatever end he pleases… (Institutes, Bk. I, Ch. XVIII, Para. 1).

Evildoers do not commit acts of depravity in spite of the command of God, but because of the command of God, according to Calvin (Ibid. Para. 4)! In fact, Calvin uses Is. 45:7 and Amos 3:6 to teach that there is no evil that occurs that is not “impelled” by God’s positive command (Ibid. Para. 2).

God is the author of all those things which, according to these objectors, happen only by his inactive permission. He testifies that he creates light and darkness, forms good and evil (Is. [45:7]); that no evil happens which he hath not done (Amos [3:6]) (Ibid. Para. 3).

As Catholics we understand—as St. Paul teaches—“since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct” (Romans 1:28). This means God may well remove grace that is rejected. He may also hold back grace as well, but this is, as St. Augustine said, God’s “just judgment.” But, according to Calvin’s unbiblical teaching, God does not give grace in the first place and then “impels” men to act sinfully. As quoted above, according to Calvin, God causes evil. And we are not talking about physical evil here; we are talking about moral evil. That is categorically absurd! God cannot “do” or “impel” moral evil because He is infinitely and absolutely good!

God cannot lie (Heb. 6:8, Number 23:19), “he cannot deny Himself” (II Timothy 2:13)—or act contrary to His nature. If God’s nature is one of love and pure being, it is absurd to say that he can “do” evil, which is by nature a lack of some perfection that ought to be present in a given nature. In fact, James 1:13 tells us that God not only cannot cause this kind of evil, but he cannot even tempt anyone with evil. That is contrary to his nature.

The Bottom Line

When Is. 45:7 and Amos 3:6 say God “creates evil” and “does evil,” this must be seen only in a sense in which it does not contradict God’s nature and what is clearly revealed to us about God in Scripture. God can directly cause physical evil, such as the ten plagues he released against Egypt in Exodus. But this was an act of justice, which in and of itself was morally upright and justified. We can also say that God permits evil in view of the fact that he chose to create us with freedom. But even there, God only permits evil in view of his promise to bring good out of that evil as is most profoundly demonstrated through the greatest evil in the history of the world—the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through this greatest evil God brings about the greatest good—the redemption of the world. God did not kill Christ, nor did he “impel” anyone to kill Christ. But by virtue of his omnipotence, he brings good out of the evil acts committed.



TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: calvin; johncalvin; salvation; scripture; sectarianturmoil; timstaples; totaldepravity; totaldepravity62210; tulip
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To: GonzoII
Part 2.

Further,

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death…in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:2-4).

Notice the emphasis on the fact that man is truly made just so much so that he can fulfill “the just requirement of the law.” It doesn’t get any more just, or righteous, than that!

Thus, Romans 3:10ff simply does not teach total depravity in a Calvinist sense. It cannot when the context is understood.

Quite revealing what Staples OMITTED from his quote of Romans 8:1-4. Here is that passage:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The righteous requirement of the law CHRIST fulfilled and fully met by His perfect and sinless life and by His sacrifice on the cross FOR US. Jesus didn't die for us so that we could turn around and fulfill the requirements of the law and be made just - HE justified us through faith and NOT by our works. It's too bad Staples doesn't see the context clearly because his view is fogged up by the Roman Catholic accursed gospel of salvation by faith AND our works.

Calvin WAS correct and Scripture backs him up over and over on this point. We cannot ever be as righteous as we need to be in order to merit salvation. Even one sin makes us guilty of the whole law and all the good deeds cannot pay for the tiniest sin. Only by the shedding of blood is there remission/forgiveness of sins and atonement. If righteousness comes by the law, Christ is dead in vain.

21 posted on 05/03/2014 10:21:10 PM PDT by boatbums (quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus)
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To: GonzoII

Calvin’s “Total Depravity” means that every human, without exception, must experience physical death; and that, though possessing the knowledge of good and evil, cannot initiate communication with The God at any level.


22 posted on 05/04/2014 4:19:15 AM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: .45 Long Colt
<>Accordingly, in the day of His power, I believed. (Psalm 110:3)

You CHOSE to believe?

23 posted on 05/04/2014 4:55:13 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: imardmd1
Calvin’s “Total Depravity” means that every human, without exception, must experience physical death; and that, though possessing the knowledge of good and evil, cannot initiate communication with The God at any level.

Except Mary; who NEVER died and is now Jesus' executive secretary.

24 posted on 05/04/2014 4:56:25 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: GonzoII

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.


25 posted on 05/04/2014 5:08:13 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.)
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To: GonzoII

A very wise elder once told me “When speaking of things of God, use His words”.


26 posted on 05/04/2014 5:09:24 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.)
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To: Elsie

Of course I chose, but notice the order. I did so in the day of His power. I did so in the day He made me willing. I knew only basic Bible stories and doctrine, so at the time I thought I had made a decision on my own. It would be many years before I understood what really happened and just how gracious He had been to me.

Now I know the Bible teaches I would never have chosen Him had He not first chosen and drawn me. That’s how it is for every single person who will ever be saved. And all the Father chose in eternity past will one day choose Christ, but they do so not on their own power, but His. Natural men cannot and will not choose Him. If He draws a man, that man will come to Christ. He makes you willing. He overcomes your natural will by giving you ears to ear and eyes to see. He teaches those He is drawing. Once a sinner can really see his spiritual poverty, his ruin in Adam, he will run to Christ.

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. (John 6:44-45)

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

Again, we are born again not by an act of our own will, but His.

“Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13)


27 posted on 05/04/2014 6:00:25 AM PDT by .45 Long Colt
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To: .45 Long Colt

So we have LIMITED free will in this world?


28 posted on 05/04/2014 11:09:16 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie; .45 Long Colt
You CHOSE to believe?

When God gives to a man a heart to see, hear and believe, a heart of flesh, in other words, replacing the dead heart of stone, the man responds by faith. In other words, he indeed chooses Christ, but only after Christ first chose Him.

Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

29 posted on 05/04/2014 11:56:04 AM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: GonzoII

John Calvin: “The will is so utterly vitiated and corrupted in every part as to produce nothing but evil” (Institutes, Bk. II, Chapter II, Para. 26)." 2Ch 31:20 Thus Hezeki'ah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. Php 4:13 I can do all things in him who strengthens me

While I question some things Calvin held to, the above does not contradict Total Depravity, as what Christ did and a believers does is due to God's quickening grace, not because he has inherent goodness of his own.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (Romans 3:10-11)

Thus man must be given grace to come to Christ and by Him be made righteous.

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32)

...This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)

In conversion, man does what he otherwise could not and would not do.

1. It is God who chooses the elect, they do not choose Him.

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:19)

We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened , that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. (Acts 16:14)

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalms 40:2)

2. It is God who grants repentance and gives faith to souls who were dead in sins and trespasses:

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1)

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5)

When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (Acts 11:18)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)

3. The believer is justified by faith thru grace, though this is the kind of faith that is expressed in baptism.

To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 10:43-45)

And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should the word of the gospel, and . And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith . (Acts 15:7-9)

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)

Note here that while Cornelius did many objectively good things by God's grace before he was saved, he was not saved by them, but needed the believe on the Lord Jesus to be saved, by their hearts being purified by faith .

Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. (Acts 11:14)

And because it is by faith alone ( (sola fide, yet not a faith that is alone in what it effects) and not the degree of merit one has, that appropriates justification, thus all believers are made "accepted in the Beloved" at conversion, and made to sit in heavenly places were Christ is, (Eph. 1:6; 2:6) being translated into the kingdom of God, (Col. 1:13) and baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ, (1Cor. 12:13) the one entirely true church and bride of Christ. (Eph. 5:25) And thus all who die in faith will go to be with the Lord. (Lk. 23:42,43; Acts 7:59; Rv. 20:6; 2Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23,24; 1Ths. 4:17)

The damning difference btwn Scriptural justification and that of Rome is that in the former faith is counted for righteousness, justifying the UnGodly, "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." (Romans 4:3; Gn. 15:6) Which was before he offered up Issac, (Gn. 22) which act justified him as one having true faith, for faith without works is dead. But it is not the effects of faith that justifies, but faith appropriates justification on Christ's expense and righteousness.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:28)

"The Law" is used here because if any system of salvation by merit could be salvific it would be the Law, "or if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." (Galatians 3:21) and thus it encompasses all systems of works-righteousness as being salvific, ,and thus Titus 3:5, being written to a Gentile, broadly disallows all "works of righteousness" as salvific.

Yet again, as James shows, one can be said to be justified by works since works are faith in action, yet is the faith behind works that actually instrumentally appropriates justification, on Christ's expense and credit.

In contrast, justification under Rome begins with a soul being formally justified via the act of sprinkling, even if the soul is morally incognizant and incapable of fulfilling the stated requirements for baptism, that of whole hearted repentant faith. (Acts 2:38; 8:36-37)

As the Catholic Encyclopedia>Sanctifying Grace states,

Although the sinner is justified by the justice of Christ, inasmuch as the Redeemer has merited for him the grace of justification (causa meritoria), nevertheless he is formally justified and made holy by his own personal justice and holiness (causa formalis),

And except in the rare case of perfect contrition (contritio caritate perfecta), "then the sanctifying grace can only be imparted by the actual reception of the sacrament" of baptism.

Thus having begun with a soul actually becoming good enough to be accepted by God, so this process of salvation typically ends with a soul atoning for sins and becoming good enough to enter Heaven thru the fire of "purgatory" commencing at dead, which is not Scriptural.

Rome rails against salvation by faith (sola fide) alone by charging that it merely covers up sin but does not make the sinner actually righteous, as well as rendering all believers equally as righteous as the Mary of Catholicism. However, under sola fide while it is faith alone that actually appropriates justification, this only occurs in the conversion of regeneration, in which the souls is forgivnes and washed of all his sins, as Peter said, "purifying the hearts by faith." Thus the souls is washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

And rather than ignoring distinctions of virtue btwn believers, sola fide upholds this, as while one has his essential acceptance with God by true faith, so that both the "good thief" and pious Cornelius are "accepted in the Beloved" and "made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and have "boldness to enter the holiness" by the sinless shed blood of Christ, (Heb. 10:19) yet there are differences btwn believers "which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness" (Rm.5:17) in how much this imputed righteousness and washing of regeneration has its practical outworking.

Thus the exhortations to continue in the faith, and against drawing back into perdition, (Gal. 5:1-4; Heb. 3:19,12,14; 10:38,39) and which faith God rewards in grace, via recognition of what it effects. (1Cor. 3:8ff)

Works, "things which accompany salvation" attest to true faith, thus believers are judged by their works, yet no one enters Heaven due to the merit of works done, unlike under Rome. Thus while in Scripture, besides Paul stating "whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord," and looked forward "to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord," (2 Corinthians 5:7,8)" all the Thessalonians were told that they would immediately go to be forever with the Lord if He returned in their lifetime, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Trying to argue these all had atoned for all the sins and became holy enough for Heaven as those in purgatory as held as having to do, is absurd. Instead, while Christ will reward each person according to their labor, it is not because they attained a certain level of works and holiness that they gain eternal life with God by, but because they are justified by faith on Christ's expense and righteousness, a faith that is manifest as true by their works. That is the best i see it, which is giving God the glory, not man.

30 posted on 05/04/2014 12:13:23 PM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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To: Elsie
Except Mary; who NEVER died and is now Jesus' executive secretary.

Of course, this objection was noted, but it is a contradiction of The Holy Scriptures.

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment: . . ." (Heb 9:27 DRB)

και καθ οσον αποκειται τοις ανθρωποις απαξ αποθανειν μετα δε τουτο κρισις . . . (Heb 9:27 TR)

Without exception.

men = anthropoi = humans

His Mother, Mary, physically died, and her works will be judged at the Bema Seat of Jesus, The Anointed One and Lord of all, contrary to the expectations of some, who have speculated otherwise. As will the works of the head of His family, Joseph, Mary's husband.

31 posted on 05/04/2014 2:48:59 PM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Who is the ye and you?

Back up to John chapter 13 and continue reading and you'll find that it is the disciples, who were sitting at the Passover table.

HE did, indeed, CHOOSE them.

32 posted on 05/04/2014 3:08:08 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: imardmd1

How can anyone read the text and STILL fail to see this?


33 posted on 05/04/2014 3:09:25 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
Back up to John chapter 13 and continue reading and you'll find that it is the disciples, who were sitting at the Passover table.

Note how he also says "ye have NOT chosen me," showing that their following of Him is predicated on His choice alone to ordain them to everlasting life and fruitfulness. This is a theme throughout the entire Gospel of John, and is consistently applied to all believers, so one cannot say that this only applies to the Apostles alone.

John 6:65 "no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

Joh 6:37 "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me" In instance after instance, God is the active agent in salvation who does the "choosing," and man, who responds, without fail does so and comes to Christ. While the infidels are told that the reason for their faithlessness is because they were not chosen by the Father, are "of this world," and not for any other cause.

Joh 6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) Joh 6:65 And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

34 posted on 05/04/2014 3:23:34 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: metmom
>>So much for *There’s no Protestant bashing on FR*.<<

snicker

35 posted on 05/04/2014 3:35:08 PM PDT by CynicalBear (For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ)
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To: Elsie
. . . and STILL fail to see this?

I guess I must just be awfully dense, because I am not grasping the sense of your question. Exactly what does "this" refer to, if you please?

36 posted on 05/04/2014 8:10:57 PM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
But the Father desires that NONE* should perish; which indicates to me, at least, that HE has 'chosen' ALL of us to receive Salvation.

Thus, choosing to believe is something we do of Free Will; knocking absolute predesitination into the ashpile.

*2 Peter 3:9

37 posted on 05/05/2014 3:15:16 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: CynicalBear

Gambling?

Shocked I say!


38 posted on 05/05/2014 3:15:46 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: imardmd1
This = "His Mother, Mary, physically died, and her works will be judged at the Bema Seat of Jesus...
39 posted on 05/05/2014 3:17:05 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
But the Father desires that NONE* should perish; which indicates to me, at least, that HE has 'chosen' ALL of us to receive Salvation. Thus, choosing to believe is something we do of Free Will; knocking absolute predesitination into the ashpile. *2 Peter 3:9

You would be sincerely wrong, since, if "all" are 'chosen' to receive salvation, then all would be saved, since "all that the Father giveth me shall come to me," and, "whoever comes to me I shall not cast out." You also didn't reply to the the other verse wherein Christ explains the reason for the unbelief of the Jews, which declares quite plainly that it was not given to them to believe at all, and that is why He told them "no man can come to me unless it is given to Him by my Father."

One final point, if you had free will, so it follows then that you can freely choose at any time, under any circumstance, one way or the other, as your will is in not any way under the bondage of your own sinful desires. But this contradicts the scripture (among many others) which declares "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" 1 Co 12:3. If your will must depend on the Holy Ghost revealing Himself to your first, then, your will is in bondage, and, at most, you can say that you only have the "freedom" to choose until the power is given to you from above. In which the question then is, "Can I refuse then?" And that answer is, again, no, for whomever Christ frees, they are free indeed, and what God hath begun in you, He sees through to completion (Php 1:6, John 8:36).

It is indeed man's duty and God's great desire that all men every repent and be saved, in the same way it is His desire that all men repent and sin no more; however, the problem is that in man's "free will," he has no desire to fulfill his duties, and only freely chooses to sin. And that is why God is the active agent in salvation, as otherwise none would be saved, as all of us are "gone astray" and "do not seek" or "understand" God (Romans 3).

But as for why God does not save one person or another, or why He does not save all, the answer is "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and compassion on whom I will have compassion" (Romans 9). When God saves anyone, it is in mercy that He does so, and when He judges anyone, it is in perfect justice that He destroys them.

40 posted on 05/05/2014 6:58:02 AM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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