09/23/17 I STILL DON'T IDENTIFY AS A CALVINIST

09/23/17 I STILL DON'T IDENTIFY AS A CALVINIST

My alma mater seems to be caught up in the current plague of "identity crises" that is sweeping America.

John Wesley Bible College (an unashamed Wesleyan/Arminian Bible college) changed its name to Laurel University (I know, pretty strange), but then quickly changed its name again, to John Wesley University (I know, pretty weird).

Now it is merging with a Calvinistic school but at the present time it is known as John Wesley University. (I know, WAY TOO WEIRD). Like I said, the identity crises has really hit this school. I will not be surprised when they change the name to Wesley Calvin University, or Calvin Wesley University, or John Squared University.

Well, I am not having an identity crises, either personally (though there are many who think my identity is a crises), or theologically/doctrinally. My view of Scripture is still unashamedly Wesleyan Arminian.

No matter what changes by my alma mater, I still believe the Bible rather than man made theology or doctrine.

I still do not believe the false teaching that the sovereignty of God precludes the free will of man, since God Himself actually designed free will and made it part of the human condition.

I still do not believe the false teaching that God cannot, or that God does not enable each fallen person to freely choose to do evil or to do good, to either receive or reject the light that He gives them concerning salvation. Otherwise there is no personal guilt and therefore there is no Biblically just judgment of sinners. We freely decide to sin, but more importantly, we freely decide to accept or reject God's call.

I still do not believe the false teaching that God saves a person without that person first believing, repenting, confessing and following Jesus. There are conditions that God requires for a person to be saved and there are changes that follow those conditions. There are two sides to salvation, the Divine and the human. God is the Author and Initiator and the Implementer of salvation. Man can never do the Divine part and man cannot dictates the conditions of salvation. However, God enables man to respond to Divine requirements, and God will not do for us that which He requires from us. We must believe, we must repent, we must confess and we must follow. To refuse to obey is to reject salvation and God does not force salvation on anyone.

I still do not believe the false teaching that Christ did not die for the sins of the whole world, that God did not love the whole world, that God wants anyone to perish. I do not believe that God chose, before the foundation of the world, who He would save and chose to leave the others in their sins with no chance of salvation. AND I CERTAINLY do not believe any such heresy that God chose to damn some people and leave them without any hope, FOR HIS OWN GLORY. God does work all things together for good to those who love Him and God does have a plan that will be fulfilled, but God did not choose some people to be left in sin with no provision of salvation.

I still do not believe the false teaching that God saves people who want to live in sin and who refuse to believe, repent, confess and follow Jesus. I do not believe that God forces salvation on anyone, anymore than I believe that God, by fiat, withholds salvation from anyone.

I still do not believe the false teaching that once a person has been saved that they are eternally secure, regardless of what they do or believe.

I refute all of these unBiblical and damnable heresies. They do not glorify God and they do not further the cause of Christ and they offer false hope and they bring division and they lead away from godliness. I have friends that believe these false doctrines, but that does not change the error of Calvinism and Reformed Theology.

I love my friends who are in error concerning these issues but I do not think for a moment that there is truth on both sides of these issues. While we may say that no one has a monopoly on the truth or a perfect understanding of all truth, we can say that these teachings of Calvinism and Reformed Theology are definitely wrong.

My alma mater may be going through an identity crises, but I ain't going with them.