I was wrong… I thought this would be about calvinism, but instead it’s about Isaiah 32:1a,3 (NLT). Actually, it may be related to calvinism… The verse is, “Look, a righteous king is coming!… Then, everyone who can see will be looking for God, and those who can hear will listen to his voice.” This is another one of those verses that seems to be both for and against predestination. Look carefully at the wording: For predestination – “everyone who can see.” For free will – “will be looking.”
I think this is another passage from God’s Word that shows both views are correct. We cannot see God unless we have been elected, but we must still search for him. I guess I will finish out this post as my view on Calvinism, and more specifically, the ULI of the TULIP.
Regarding U, It’s not hard to find passages that show that some people have been chosen by God and some have their hearts hardened by God. However, it’s also easy to find verses that show we must believe in Jesus or trust in the Lord.
Regarding the L, it is easy to find passages that show Grace has been extended to all. That anyone would preach otherwise is foolish.
My biggest disagreement is with the I. I know too many people and actually, too many churches who have the philosophy that if God calls someone they will definitely be saved and there is no need to go out and spread the Good News. This is theology from Satan. To say to people, “Hey, if God has elected people, there’s no way on earth that they will go to Hell,” is both anti-Biblical and yet the obvious mental conclusion a person must come to after thinking that philosophy through.
So about the remaining two points, I’ll clarify my agreement – P: When you believe in Jesus, you become a new creation and the Lord sends his counselor, the Holy Spirit to dwell in you – not in part of you, but to completely fill you. You cannot un-create yourself and no one, not even your sinful nature, can snatch you out of God’s hand. T: Total Depravity – we all have a sinful nature and the only way to not break the Law (note capital L) is for there to be no Law. This may be slightly different than what some Calvinist teach, that being the T signifies that we have no capacity for good and will automatically sink as low as we can go.
Yes, I have Bible references supporting every statement. Have question or comment? Let me know by clicking the “comments” link below.
I searched and searched, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find time. So finally, I broke down and made time. It will only take you a minute… go read Psalm 19.
It’s all [NOT] good: It’s worse to murder than to lie, right? Wrong. Romans 1:18-32 clearly says that murder, homosexuality, lieing/deceit, gossip, envy/jealously and God-hating are all on the same level, and all who do these things deserve death.
I’ve never murdered, and I’m not homosexual, but I’ve done other things on that list. Since these things are so repulsive to God, how can I get on good terms with Him? Is it possible? Yes! There is a way to get straight with God. Follow that link for a very short explanation of what the Bible says.
My CAT just RUINED Proverbs 30! She licked it to death. Now the page is rinkly. Argh.
“Throw out the mocker, and fighting, quarrels, and insults will disappear” Proverbs 22:10.
Several of today’s proverbs struck a chord with me; here are a few more that elicited comments/thoughts:
“Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender” vs 7. Yes, slavery does exist today, it just has a different name, “Revolving Credit.”
“A youngster’s heart is filled with follishness, but discipline will drive it away” vs 15, and related: “Teach your children to choose the right pasth, and when they are older, they will remain upon it” vs 6.
Who is Eliakim son of Hilkiah? According to Isaiah 22:19-21, it sounds like this is a person who would be the immediate successor to Shebna, who had displeased God. However verses 22-25 seem to cross reference Revelation 3:7-13 which describes the missionary church, Philidelphia, where Jesus says he will open doors and no one will be able to shut them. Is Eliakim Jesus or is Jesus in the line of Hilkiah? Why would the wording of Revelation 3:7 match the wording of Isaiah 22:22 except for us to draw a connection between the two.
Confession vs. Repentence – To many, the terms are used interchangably, but there is actually a remarkable difference between the meanings of these two words. Confession is admitting you’ve done something wrong, repentence is turning away from wrong doing (aka U-Turn).
A person will often confess their sins to God when they repent, but confession without repentence is not that big of a deal. For example, an irritating phrase that has been around for a while, “Oh, my fault.” Basically, “Oops, I did something that hurt you; it was my fault, but I’m not sorry and I may do it again.” We are supposed to confess our sins to each other so that we can be accountable and receive support. The goal here is to stop sinning and start doing what is right. God is more interested in our walk than our intentions. If we merely confess our sins and do not make a change in our life, it’s like saying to God, “oh, my fault!”
“The LORD Will Provide” Yes, we could argue about the context of this verse and calling on the promise of the Lord when we are in times of trouble, but even if this context is not quite right, it is not hard to make a case that trusting God will always yield the greatest return.
Lord, it sometimes seems like everything goes wrong. There is no way I can do all that is laid upon me right now, how can I go on? Or better yet, how can I go on except by trusting that today you will provide assistance with these burdens? I feel like the load is too heavy, please help now before I fall. Thank you.
“For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened – those who have … shared in the Holy Spirit … and who then turn away from God.” Hebrews 6:4-6
I love the beginning of Hebrews; I’ve read and re-read Hebrews 1-5 but each time I come to chapter 6 and stop. This passage seems so contradictory to what I’ve learned. If a person has “shared in the Holy Spirit” and repented (the passage says “restore to repentance”) doesn’t that mean that they were saved? Or are these people who merely played the game of repentance and acted holy but never truly surrendered their life to God? Of course, this could lead to the debate of God’s elect, and can we surrender ourselves, but I don’t think this is what is being discussed here. The word “enlightened” seems to be an operative word. It occurs in the KJV, NIV, NLT and NASB (I didn’t check others) so I trust the translation. Also, KJV refers to these as “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” meaning people who have the spirit of God in them, and as people who have “tasted of the heavenly gift.” What is being discussed here? Who are people who have “fallen away” and now cannot be restored to repentance? Is the analogy of a field being burned indicative that these people will go to Hell or merely that they are now useless to the Kingdom of God?
Knowledge is Power? Not Necessarily! – Modern mind control tactics employed by the mass media have been effective and making many half-truths ubiquitous, among them the catchy and sincere sounding phrase, “Knowledge is Power.” However, this statement is not true as knowledge is completely different from power and I can give an example of two things that are more powerful than knowledge.
First, wisdom is more powerful than knowledge. Wisdom comes from God and is attained through a combination of knowledge and experience. No amount of intellectual pursuit will make you more wise unless you also put your knowledge to use.
More powerful than wisdom is truth. Imagine all of the accumulated knowledge contained in an encyclopedia – if 10% of its information was in error, it would still contain a vast amount of knowledge but it’s value would be useless. Who would you ask first, the person who has an answer to every question but is sometimes wrong, or the person who does not always answer, but is always right when they do?
This is not to say that knowledge is worthless; ignorance is far worse. But the mindless absorption of knowledge without critical review and careful investigation will not give you true power. We laugh at the statement, “It’s on TV so it must be true,” but the fact is, we blindly accept TV, radio, newspaper, textbooks and teachers (including preachers) with little concern about their accuracy.