Looking at what Calvinist believe about God. They describe God as different than the God I worship. The God I worship Does not force Him Self on man. He convinces men to come to Him. The Calvinist God does not love the world. Instead He loves only a specific few whom He has chosen and intentionally Sends men to hell with out any opportunity to come to Him. Calvinist believe that God loves some and hates the rest. That does not resembled the God I worship.
MB
When the Lord saved me I knew nothing about him. From there I fell into Arminian, Dispensational, Pentecostalism. And believed those views were true. I heard about Calvinism and formed the same ugly views you hold.
But in hearing the doctrine of limited atonement for the first time, as it was being taught against, I knew I came to a fork in the road. I believed Limited Atonement is true, and it eventually led me to abandon all of my beliefs as I replaced them over the course of years.
I went to the place in history where the debates were the most intense, the Reformation. I thought the truth would prevail therein. And so I invested in a Reformed theological library. Finally coming to rest in the English Baptist's camp of the 1689 London Confession. It's been a far more spiritual experience and love for God than I ever knew before.
What you think doesn't matter. What does is
I was saved when I was 14 years of age. I was drawn and called I was convinced of Christ through His gospel. I had many opportunities to come to Him. He convinced me through conviction. I was convinced that I deserved hell, If I rejected Him any more than I already had. He was not sending me to hell I was already on that path because of my sin and rebellion. I was going to hell willingly because I refused to accept Him as Savior.
God's saved me by grace through faith. This happened because I believed like Paul told the Jailer to do.
Act 16:31
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. You have deny this scripture because you do not believe the gospel truth.
Calvinist do not believe man has faith before Salvation and they say regular faith isn't going to save anyone. We have to have saving faith according to Calvinist. There is no difference between believing in something. All faith in Jesus Christ saving faith.
The Bible does not say we have to be regenerated first because being regenerated means being saved.. It means being born again.
I do not believe we worship the same God because of your description of God. The God you all claim is no where close to the only God there is. If God is as you claim. Then He is no different than Satan
MB
Dave, try making sense of Catholics.... you must earn your way thrugood works and keeping up with church doctrine....Baptism, Conformation, Holy Eucharist, Penance yada yada. They make it easy but force church agenda. There was a point I was just resigned to it. But then there is “ You must be born again” in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Haaaa what?!? What does that mean.... we Catholics need to be born again??? Sounded like holy roller drivel!
How am I supposed to do that, be born again, born from above? Do you mean I can’t go into my local RC and go into the confessional box and then say 3 Our Fathers and 2 Hail Marys and I am clean????
And I’m not going to be some some crazy Protestant holy roller wing nut, no I’m resigned to be a Christmas and Easter church goer, do my sign of the cross and call myself a Christian cause I believe, right! Only I was walking around blind without a cane. Until I listened to the George Whitefield sermon, “ The Method of Grace” —- see attached (not in its entirety).
From a Calvinist view, you were saved before you believed and your works confirmed your faith. Had you not believed, you would not have given Christ a second thought.
Calvinists came up with Disprnsationalism. It took a bit to spread ourside of Calvinistic circles. So if it makes you feel better, you did fall a bit into Calvinism before adopting its soteriology. :Wink
The Jesuits created futurism to deceive the Reformed. And the Pentecostal Irvingites came up with the pre trib rapture based on Margaret McDonald's hallucinations while burning up with a fever.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Whether we agree with it or not, Dispensationalism is just much a valid interpretation as any other (if, that is, we are looking for one motif through which to measure God's interactions with mankind...i.e., Dispensationalism or Covenant Theology). Personally, I don't care what a person holds or teaches along these lines as long as sooner or later they end up back in Scripture.