Status of SBC Today?

I haven't seen anyone here trying to destroy him. I have seen no one here call for him to be kicked out of the SBC or removed from his church.



Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

Please be honest and let's not split semantic hairs. He said that Calvinists were worse than terrorists, because at least you could negotiate with a terrorist. Is that a statement honoring the spirit of unity within the Body of Christ? Does that statement heed the warning of Galatians 5:15?

Arminianism is not a Baptist Distinctive. The statement that if one believes what Particular Baptists have ALWAYS believed that one should become a Presbyterian because there is no place for Calvinist sotierology in the Baptist Church (which was the message taken from his statement in context of defending the immediate preceding attack on Calvinism that was offered as a sermon) was inappropriate and divisive.

As a Calvinist, I shed no tears for the loss of either Calvinist-hater. Good riddance. As a Christian, I am appalled that a man would be fired while in another country in the middle of the night or that a man should repent and be offered no mercy. That offends the Christian in me.

I may be naive, but I genuinely believe:

• In essentials unity
• In non-essentials liberty
• In all things charity

 

And my response would be no different if Dr. John MacArthur, Paul Washer, Dr. Voddie Baucham, Dr. Steven Lawson, or any other Calvinist had posted it.

 

The facts do not matter.....RM....has issued a fatwa....it is settled...

 

Neither I nor he are arminians. These sermons are in response to the push from neo cals. It didn't just come up out of thin air.

1. Calvinists who hide the fact they are from search committees to get no cals churches and turn them.
2. The destruction the previous has cause while the neo cals go into non cal churches and tries to change their form of governance to elder led or ruled. (not a baptist distinctive.)
3. The condemnation by guys like David Platt for what cals call "decisional evangelism" (the sinners prayer) from their positions of authority.
4. They bullying and hostile nature towards anyone not a cal from the neo cals.

So let's not divorce that sermon from its context and act like neo cals were just sitting in the corner minding their own business.

 

The lack of proper instruction in most church's causes biblical Calvinists to seem to be a threat . RM feels the threat so he attempts to discredit the Calvinist's. ..to no avail.

 

Neo Arminian then. Clearly you reject the Calvinist view that God soverignly draws some (and not others) who will surely be saved. I see little 'middle ground' between that and: God calls all but only some will choose to come (Traditionally called 'Arminianism').

If you tell me you hold some other view, I will take you at your word.

I must be an idiot, because these terms make no sense to me.
What is a "no cals church"?

A church that is looking for a pastor who specifically ...

• rejects Romans 3:10 and the Fall of Man through Adam
• rejects John 6:44 and the draw of God
• rejects Ephesians 1:13-14 and the seal of the Holy Spirit

Calvinism is strictly sotierological in nature. It relates to the HOW of God's Salvation through Christ. Church governance is a completely irrelevent issue. Your term "neo cals" is at best misleading and at worst a deliberate attempt to attack sotierology through other unrelated issues. This causes traditional Calvinists like myself no small amount of confusion.

 

I am not an arminian anything

 

In discussion with non-Calvinists, I find few people actually know what Calvinists believe. I spend most of my time explaining that Calvinism does not teach that one can be saved and continue to live a sinful lifestyle and still go to heaven (O.S.A.S. caricature) or correcting the view that God takes pleasure in creating people to be destroyed (T.U.L.I.P. caricature).

Personally, I have no problem presenting the supporting scripture for both Wesleyan Arminianism and Calvinism and letting people decide for themselves. If you can support your view from a reasonable reading of scripture and have taken the time to work it out for yourself, then that's acceptable to me. My decision to follow Jesus was a lot closer to Paul on the road to Damascus than the Disciples of John deciding to follow Jesus as he walked past ... so a sovereign God fits my personal experience better than a personal choice.

 

Stealth Calvinist?

 

Its not an either or thing, there are many options

 

What you have written here is what happens to most calvinist as they try to interact or if they go into churches that are undefined or open.
They go in the people like what they hear i.
the problem is they're not hearing it from the pulpit so in small groups or Bible studies two people enjoy here in the teaching that the calvinist offers and then they get all fired up and next thing you know you have people insinuating they are trying to steal the sheep or they are coming in to infiltrate when the fact is you just fellowshipping around the word of God and the truth of God itself is coming to the surface and the people here. Many times accurately for the first time embrace it and want more of it.

 

Sure there are ...

• Deist
• Universalist
• Hyper-Calvinist

... I was just attempting to stay within the bumpers of Orthodoxy with Calvinist and Arminian.

 

Who's orthodoxy?

 

Really nice hat.

 

Since THIS is a Baptist site, we could default to the historic Baptist code words of "General" and "Particular" and reference them to the 'draw' of John 6:44.

General Baptists: God issues a 'general draw' for all people and some choose faith (Free Will)
Particular Baptists: God 'draws particular' people who are given faith (Calvinists)

For abbreviations, Generalists (or GBs) and Particularists (or PBs).

[Just spitballing an idea. I like Calvinist and Reformed for Calvinists. It is Non-Calvinists who need to describe what they are.]

 

Orthodoxy: adhering to the accepted or traditional historic Christian faith.

For me, that which is in agreement with the early ecumenical creeds:

• Nicene Creed
• Apostles' Creed
• Athanasian Creed.