The Christ of Arminianism

A Puritan's Mind ^ | unknown | Rev. Steven Houck

[nobdysfool]

The Christ of Arminianism

The Bible warns us that in the last days in which we live there will be many false Christs-those who claim to be Christ but who are imposters. Jesus said, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matt. 24:4-5). We who profess to be Christians must take heed. We must be very careful that we are not deceived. Our calling is to trust, love, and follow the true Christ and Him only. We may have nothing to do with the false Christs who are so numerous in our day.

We know about the Christ of the cults and other religions. He is a good man, a prophet, the first creation of God, a great spirit, a divine idea, or even a god himself. But he is not true and eternal God. He receives his existence from another who is greater than he. He is not the Christ of the Bible. We are not deceived by this Christ. He is a false Christ.

We know about the Christ of Roman Catholicism. They profess that He is true God. He suffered and died for the forgiveness of sin. He arose again, ascended into heaven, and is coming again. But he is not a complete Savior. The Christ of the Roman Catholics can not save sinners without their own good works and the intercession of priests. He is not the Christ of the Bible. We are not deceived by this Christ. He is a false Christ.

There is, however, another false Christ who is much more dangerous than the Christ of the cults and the Christ of Roman Catholicism. He has deceived people for many years and he continues to deceive millions. This Christ is so dangerous that, if it were not impossible, he would deceive the very elect (Matt. 24:24). He is the Christ of Arminianism.

This false Christ is extremely dangerous because in many ways he appears to be the True Christ. They say that he is true God, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. They say that he died on the cross to save sinners. They even say that he saves by his grace alone, without the work of man. This Christ will have nothing to do with the Christ of the cults and the Christ of Roman Catholicism.

But watch out! Be warned! The Christ of Arminianism is not the Christ of the Bible. Do not be fooled!

1. The Christ of Arminianism - loves every individual person in the world and sincerely desires their salvation.

The Christ of the Bible - earnestly loves and desires the salvation of only those whom God has unconditionally chosen to salvation. (Ps. 5:5, Ps. 7:11, Ps. 11:5, Matt. 11:27, John 17:9-10, Acts 2:47, Acts 13:48, Rom. 9:10-13, Rom. 9:21-24, Eph. 1:3-4)

2. The Christ of Arminianism - offers salvation to every sinner and does all in his power to bring them to salvation. His offer and work are often frustrated, for many refuse to come.

The Christ of the Bible - effectually calls to Himself only the elect and sovereignly brings them to salvation. Not one of them will be lost. (Isa. 55:11, John 5:21, John 6:37-40, John 10:25-30, John 17:2, Phil. 2:13)

3. The Christ of Arminianism - can not regenerate and save a sinner who does not first choose Christ with his own "free will." All men have a "free will" by which they can either accept or reject Christ. That "free will" may not be violated by Christ.

The Christ of the Bible - sovereignly regenerates the elect sinner apart from his choice, for without regeneration the spiritually dead sinner can not choose Christ. Faith is not man's contribution to salvation but the gift of Christ which He sovereignly imparts in regeneration. (John 3:3, John 6:44 & 65, John 15:16, Acts 11:18, Rom. 9:16, Eph. 2:1,Eph. 2:8-10, Phil. 1:29, Hebr. 12:2)

4. The Christ of Arminianism - died on the cross for every individual person and thereby made it possible for every person to be saved. His death, apart from the choice of man, was not able to actually save anyone for many for whom he died are lost.

The Christ of the Bible - died for only God's elect people and thereby actually obtained salvation for all those for whom He died. His death was a substitutionary satisfaction which actually took away the guilt of His chosen people. (Luke 19:10, John 10:14-15 & 26, Acts 20:28, Rom. 5:10, Eph. 5:25, Hebr. 9:12, I Peter 3:18)

5. The Christ of Arminianism - loses many whom he has "saved" because they do not continue in faith. Even if he does give them "eternal security," as some say, that security is not based upon his will or work but the choice which the sinner made when he accepted Christ.

The Christ of the Bible - preserves His chosen people so that they can not lose their salvation but persevere in the faith to the very end. He preserves them by the sovereign electing will of God, the power of His death, and the mighty working of His Spirit. (John 5:24, John 10:26-29, Rom. 8:29-30, Rom. 8:35-39, I Peter 1:2-5, Jude 24-25)

As you can see, although the Christ of Arminianism and the Christ of the Bible may at first seem to be the same, they are very different. One is a false Christ. The other is the true Christ. One is weak and helpless. He bows before the sovereign "free will" of man. The other is the reigning Lord Who wills what He pleases and sovereignly accomplishes all that He wills.

If you believe and serve the Christ of Arminianism, you must recognize the fact that you do not serve the Christ of the Bible. You have been deceived! Study the Scriptures and learn of the True Christ. Pray for grace to repent and trust Christ as your sovereign

[webber]

Your religion is BLASPHEMOUS. That's the definition of blasphemous.

[nobdysfool]

Notice how you seem to change words to support your "Blasphemous Religion"? Just like ALL Heresy's. They just never seem to get the right words in there. I wonder why? Maybe it's because it will destroy their argument for what they perceive to be "their" truth.

Maybe you'd better pay a little more attention to who is talking to whom. As for your attitude toward me, ratchet it down about 50 notches. What are you so worked up about? Do you think God is going to give you brownie points for yelling at the "heretic"? I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Read your bible (this time without the sunglasses in the dark).

Calling names will get you a one-way ticket out of here. I'm not kidding.

[webber]

Why don't you explain John 3:16-17?

PLease, don't be shy, I can read your reply tomorrow and reply.

[nobdysfool]

Well, it will be tomorrow before I reply because I must get to bed....5:30 comes way too early. If you don't see it, remind me.

[CARepubGal]

What does webber mean by blasphemous? From what perspective is webber coming? I would hit abuse but honestly don't get the answers he? gave.

[nobdysfool]

What does webber mean by blasphemous? From what perspective is webber coming? I would hit abuse but honestly don't get the answers he? gave.

Your guess is as good as mine....I'll deal with it tomorrow....hitting the sack for now....

[RnMomof7]

Are you advocating simple foreknowledge? Yep.
I would submit that God's knowledge of His elect is much more intimate.
I agree, simple but also personal. BigMack

Mack how is foreknowledge different than predestination in practice?

[sola gracia]

If God "chose" who will be saved and will "not be saved" "Sovereignly, then why did Jesus tell his disciples to "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to EVERY CREATURE, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost"?

What you're saying is that Jesus told His disciples to do something that would absolutely worthless, waste of time, and even blasphemous since it is God who will choose who is saved, According to "The Gospel According to nobdysfool".

The God who predestines the end, also predestines the means to which the end will be attained. He chooses who will be saved and He also chooses how they are to be saved - through the preaching of the Gospel. Quite simple really.

[Cvengr]

I've noticed over the past couple of months what appears to be a full court press by Satanists to represent Satanism as imaginary, paganism and neo-paganism as natural, and Christianity as extreme idiotic zealots.

I suspect there may be some very active Satanists who have dedicated themselves to promoting Calvinism, have studied it, found linkages between Calvinist doctrines, and have honed the ability to link between doctrines whenever refuted by Scripture, then if the argument relaxes to doctrine they will quote Scripture and twist context to speak back in terms of misguided doctrine.

The theology being presented supports the soulish man and I wouldn't be surprised if many soulish people begin to look to Calvinism as a panacea for a relationship with God, because they attempt to satisfy their conscience (soul) by placing faith in Calvinism first, then identifying Calvinism with God and reading Scripture, believe they have self justified their position from God. All the while numbing themselves in scar tissue of the soul.

Limited vs unlimited atonement is a good example. The Calvinist of today, confuses unbelievers going to hell as justification for a limited atonement. They fail to realize He has already been judged for ALL sins. The cross was all judgement. Forgiveness occurs upon acceptance of Him through faith. If one sins again, the believer is still indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but no longer filled and acts in a reprobate fashion. For many of today's Calvinists, this nicely explains their lack of any love for their fellow man.

It also explains why they never exhibit any desire to communicate good news in a Christ like fashion to unbelievers. They could care less if they insult unbelievers, because they sincerely don't believe their message will ever lead the listener to consider Christ, because only God will lead the unbeliever to faith. Accordingly in their hatred of their fellow man, they blindly render insult after insult to him, unwittingly serving a false god, dissuading some future believers from receiving Christ.

Not all who study Calvin act in that fashion, but it seems to be a present day doctrine being used by the Adversary to attack the faith.

[Cvengr]

webber isn't worked up and nbdyf again has been to first to call names and then accuse others of his vice.

Your soul is scarred with these same weaknesses as from many posts before.

Rejoice Christian.

[Corin Stormhands]

Ah yes, the Calvinist schoolyard bullies once again feel the need to proclaim "My Christ is better than your Christ."

Sad that they actually think this is the "gospel."

[drstevej]

***Limited vs unlimited atonement is a good example. The Calvinist of today, confuses unbelievers going to hell as justification for a limited atonement. They fail to realize He has already been judged for ALL sins. The cross was all judgement. Forgiveness occurs upon acceptance of Him through faith. If one sins again, the believer is still indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but no longer filled and acts in a reprobate fashion. For many of today's Calvinists, this nicely explains their lack of any love for their fellow man.***

Having read this several times, it makes no sense. The rest of the post wasn't much better.

[RochesterFan]

Thank you for your reply. Gotta go to work soon so I'll have to be brief. I suggest you consult an interlinear (Greek/English) on John 3:16-17. The phrase is literally 'all the believing ones shall not perish.' It says nothing about who will and will not believe, simply that every believing one will be saved. Both Calvinists and Arminians agree that there will be no believers in hell and no unbelievers in heaven. You asked about my understanding of the word 'world' ('kosmos')in v. 17. A study of the semantic domain of the term 'kosmos' by John is fascinating. He certainly uses the full range of meanings throughout his writings. I believe that the term here is in the same sense as Rev 5:9, that there will be believers from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation. It clearly cannot mean 'all people, without exception' because we know from other Scriptures that some are lost. John, himself writes in 1 John 2:15-16

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (NAS95)

If you would like to hear a full exposition of this, check out the real audio file by James White here. Gotta run...

[Wrigley]

I suspect there may be some very active Satanists who have dedicated themselves to promoting Calvinism,

C'mon C, you can do better than that. Take the next step, libel all Calvinists with that statement. You know you want to.

[Gamecock]

I stand on scripture, I gave you the text. It's all there. Read it.

[RochesterFan]

I knew I shouldn't post when rushed... I meant that those who don't believe are lost... Again, the text simply means that all who believe wiil be saved. Calvinists afirm this.

[Corin Stormhands]

Take the next step, libel all Calvinists with that statement.

Yeah, careful Cvenger, you wouldn't want to "libel" the Calvinists by implying they worship a false Christ.

[Frumanchu]

Your religion is BLASPHEMOUS. That's the definition of blasphemous.

Can't get around that logic. I'm stumped. You?

[Frumanchu]

I'm sorry...I must have missed that. What name did nobdysfool call webber again? I was too busy reading the word 'blasphemous' coming from webber.

Unless you can show me what name he called webber, I'll call your post for what is...an attempt to discredit nobdysfool's character with false accusations. In short, an ad hominem attack.

[Frumanchu]

No. Just like your poor, unfounded interpretation of the words to suit your "Blasphemous religion".

Bold accusations. Care to back any of that up? I'll gladly provide an explanation of 2 Peter 3:9 in context for you.