“Where There's A Will, There's A Way”

Sunday, March 17, 2013

"This pretemporal choice [election] was not based on the fact that God knew which persons would believe of their own free will, for there is no person which fits that description." – quoted text from Monergism.com's statement of faith as pertaining to "election".  So what I understand them to be saying is that God created mindless robots that are inherently evil and cannot choose goodness and righteousness born of free will.  How then do we glorify God if we do not have the capacity for a free will choice?  How are we to be lights unto the world if there is no possibility of us changing anything anyway?  This God they describe is not the God I know.  I believe that He wants people to choose Him from free will, and this, in turn, brings Him glory because of our capacity to CHOOSE to follow Him.

Please explain the Arminianism vs. Calvinism (election vs. free will) point of contention.  Are we simply mindless robots, or do we in fact have free will to choose God?  This question really hits home for me considering my own walk and how I came to be a believer.

Sincerely,
Not On Autopilot

Dear Not On Autopilot,

Jacobus Arminius (the creator of Arminianism) and John Calvin (the creator of Calvinism) are both men, and what they think about eternity, free will, God’s character, and salvation doesn’t matter unless it agrees with the teachings of the Bible.  In the case of freewill, Jacobus Arminius was correct, and John Calvin was dead wrong.

The Bible states time after time that you have choices in life and that those choices make a difference.  Jhn 3:16 says that Christ died for the sins of all mankind, and those who choose to believe in Christ will receive forgiveness.  Joshua told the Israelites to choose which god they would follow (Josh 24:15).  God has consistently told mankind that we can choose life or death (Deu 30:15).  Jesus calls us to come to Him and receive freedom from our burdens (Matt 11:28).  We must choose to follow the narrow road to salvation (Matt 7:13) and flee from wickedness (Jas 4:7).  We can choose to obey God and receive salvation, and we can choose to turn from God and lose our salvation (Heb 3:12-14).  God is constant in His love and willingness to help all mankind (Heb 13:8)… it is our choice whether or not we heed His call.

If you would like more information on the fallacies of John Calvin’s teachings, we recommend reading “Calvin And Sobs”.

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