June 12, 2005
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TO: KACY SANDIDGE AND CHRIS COLEMAN
SUBJECT: THREE REASONS ARMINIANS ARE NOT SAVED
CC: Tara “Samalanca”
Is Arminianism the truth? Do some Christians believe that Jesus Christ died for those who end up in hell? Do those who claim to believe it is their “free will” that saved them, believe the true gospel? Yes, according to Kacy Sandidge. Ms. Sandidge writes: “I’ve been to the Outside the Camp website before, and I completely disagree with the notion that Arminians are not our brothers and sisters in Christ.” In fact, Ms. Sandidge goes so far to repudiate the idea that Arminianism is a false gospel — that would be “dangerous teaching”, according to Sandidge. She writes: “Outside the Camp dangerously teaches that Arminians are unregenerate and anyone who believes that Arminians are saved are unregenerate themselves.” Chris Coleman, too, cannot discern between the lie of Arminianism and the true gospel. Coleman writes: “being a Calvinist or an Armenian [sic], … has absolutely no bearing on one’s relationship with Christ.”
In contrast to Ms. Sandidge and Mr Coleman, there are some bloggers who claim to believe that the doctrines of grace are the gospel. For instance, Tara ”Samalanca” writes “I agree completely that arminians worship another God. I agree that Jesus wouldn’t sacrifice his life in vain. For if people go to hell and Jesus died for the world(everyone ever born) the the sins of these people would be paid twice- 1st by Christ and 2ndly by them being punished in hell…but that doesn’t make any sense because…Of coarse Jesus died on the cross for only the elect.”
What did Tara just say? Tara said that Arminians “worship another god”? Wow. Arminians worshipping “another god”? That would be “dangerous teaching” according to Kacy Sandidge. In fact, Tara would be called a “false prophet”, a “ravening wolf” and a “false teacher” by Chris Coleman. For after all, saying that an Arminian worships “another god” is calling an Arminian a pagan. But Coleman says “The Christian community is an inclusive community… It is not a community of people that sit back and call other Christians [eg Arminians] unregenerate heathen.” Tara is outside the Christian community, according to Coleman. Coleman says that Tara is “no better than Landmark Baptists, Oneness Pentecostals, or any other group that adds to the qualifications for salvation.”
Tara, if you have been able to swallow the criticism of Coleman and Sandidge, I have a quick question for you. Do Christians worship ”another god” to the God of the Bible? Do Christians repudiate the truth that Christ “died on the cross for only the elect” (your words)? Tara, I look forward to hearing from you.
For Ms. Sandidge and Mr Coleman, I want to restate the truth. Christians do NOT believe in a false gospel. Arminians are, therefore, not saved. As Tara says, Arminians worship “another god” — an idol. By idol, I mean “a god who cannot save.” But wait a minute, you say, don’t they worship Jesus? No, as a matter of fact, they don’t. They may say they worship Jesus, but the jesus they worship simply cannot save. The Pharisees said they believed in God and even convinced themselves they believed in God, but their faith was really in a god who could not save them; their faith was not in the one true God. This is obvious from the fact that when the one true God come to live among them, they blasphemed him and had him executed. The Pharisees had made an idol out of their idea of God; hence they were just as lost as those who worshiped a carved idol named Moloch. Forming an image in our brains and calling it “Jesus” is no more evidence of salvation than carving a wooden idol and calling it “God.” Either way the individual is in gross idolatry. And the end of those who worship idols is to become like their idols (Psalm 115:8). Arminians have a god who is unable to turn the will of man as he pleases. They may firmly believe that he is able to move mountains, cause thunder and lightning, and ordain the stars in their courses, but he is powerless before the Almighty Human Will, and the blood of the only begotten son is shed for those who are in hell in a powerless atonement. This is not the God of the Bible (Psalm 115:3, Proverbs 1:21). This “god” is neither a just God nor a Savior (Isaiah 45:21). This “god” simply cannot save (Isaiah 45:20). This “god” is a broken staff, piercing the hand of the one leaning on it. This “god” is a lie from hell and is destined to return there. And those who follow him to the end are destined to return there with him.
What was God’s complaint to apostate Israel? “… thou thoughtest that I was altogether [such an one] as thyself …” (Psalm 50:21). Arminians have fashioned a god in their own image. They are no more saved than the Jews who had done exactly the same thing. That is the first reason Arminians are unregenerate.
Reason Number Two: Arminians are not saved because they do not believe the truth. This is related to the previous reason but has more to do with the evidence of a person’s salvation.
Any Calvinist who defends the salvation of Arminians must explain 2 Thessalonians 2:12, which says, “That they all might be damned who believe not the truth …” Some use the excuse that Arminians believe the important, essential doctrines of Scripture. But do they?
Every member of the Godhead is associated with the truth (Psalm 31:5; John 14:6,17). Those who are saved love the truth (Titus 1:1; John 3:21), because it was the instrument of their second birth (James 1:18; Ephesians 1:13). More to the point, they love the truth because God has predestined them to love it (2 Thessalonians 2:13); therefore, the elect sheep know the voice of their Shepherd (John 10:14) and they inevitably follow him. In fact, those who do not hear the voice of the Shepherd are simply not sheep (v. 26)! Why does God predestine his sheep to love his truth and follow him alone? The reason is given in Isaiah 48, verses 9-11:
“For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. … For mine own sake, [even] for mine own sake will I do [it]: for how should [my name] be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.”
God’s glory is the only reason he does anything. It is the reason Jesus came to the earth (John 12:27-28), it is the reason he saved his church (Ephesians 1:12), and it is the reason he will some day return to take his church home (2 Thessalonians 1:10). It is the very reason for the existence of creation (Romans 9:23). Now if God wills to be glorified by his church, what possible reason could he have for allowing them to attribute the source of their faith to their own free wills? This would strip God of his rightful, unshared glory in salvation. He does not leave his people in ignorance any more than he leaves them to wallow in their sin (1 John 3:9). Therefore, the glory of God absolutely demands that we judge Arminians lost.
The teaching that God could not, or would not, irresistibly lead his people to believe and confess the true Gospel is a teaching that presents God as being as weak and powerless as the Arminian god. In fact, that line of thinking is really the result of a very subtle form of works-based sanctification. It tacitly assumes that God does the initial work of changing the heart from stone to flesh but then allows that changed heart to choose its own way. If this were true, it would mean that such “innocent” aids to religion as idols and images would be helpful, even necessary. On the contrary, God does not allow a regenerated person to freely develop his theology any more than he allows a regenerated person to freely persist in sin. Instead, he places his Holy Spirit within that person, and the Spirit sovereignly leads the person into all truth (John 16:13).
Moreover, there are three truths into which the Spirit specifically leads us: Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment (John 16:8-11). Let us examine each truth in more detail.
First, why will he teach us about sin? The answer is given in verse 9: “… Because they believe not on me.” This is obviously the doctrine of Total Depravity. Every regenerate sinner has been taught by God the Holy Spirit that he is a vile, helpless, wretched sinner, totally void of righteousness, and absolutely unable to come to saving faith on his own. Every regenerate sinner has been taught by God the Holy Spirit that unless God himself intervenes to save him, the sinner will be eternally lost (Psalm 130:3; John 6:45). The saved sinner may not use the words “Total Depravity,” but he will always understand his innate inability to please God and will never believe that his own efforts or decisions were what brought him into favor with God. Arminians teach just the opposite when they proclaim that God saves a sinner based on the actions or decisions of the sinner (John 1:12; Romans 9:16) or when they proclaim that God will save a sinner based on foreknowledge of what the sinner will do.
Second, why will he teach us about Righteousness? The answer is given in verse 10: “…because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see Me.” Here, Jesus is teaching that the Holy Spirit will teach every believer that Christ, by his bloody death on the Cross, produced a righteousness that appeases the Father’s righteous anger against everyone whom Christ represented. The Holy Spirit teaches every regenerate sinner about the doctrine of Limited Atonement. The saved sinner may not use the words “Limited Atonement” or “Particular Redemption,” but he will always understand that Jesus has effectually established peace between himself and God and will never believe that anyone for whom Christ died could ever come under the wrath of God again. Arminians teach exactly the opposite when they proclaim that Jesus poured out his precious blood, even for those who will suffer the Father’s wrath eternally in Hell (Jeremiah 6:14; Galatians 1:8-9).
Third, why will he teach us about Judgment? The answer is given in verse 11: “… because the ruler of this world has been judged.” Here, Jesus is teaching that the Holy Spirit will teach every believer that Jesus has undone the works of the Devil and forcibly released the Devil’s captives (Luke 11:21-22; 1 John 3:8; 5:19). They can never return to the lies and snares of Satan (John 10:5). The Holy Spirit teaches every regenerate sinner about the doctrines of Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints. The saved sinner may not use the words “Irresistible Grace” or “Perseverance of the Saints,” but he will always understand that his conversion and perseverance come from the Holy Spirit, and he will never believe that his conversion and perseverance come from his own strength. Arminians teach the very opposite when they proclaim that a child of God may become a child of the devil again (Matthew 13:11-17).
Again, a saved sinner may not necessarily use all the same words that I have used here, but he will never believe the opposite of these doctrines, nor will he ever oppose them when confronted with them (1 Cor 2:12).
Reason Number Three: Arminians are not saved because they hate the truth. This reason also has more to do with the evidence of a person’s salvation.
Look again at 2 Thessalonians 2:12, especially the latter part of the verse. “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The New American Standard Version Arminians certainly have pleasure in unrighteousness. They believe that Jesus poured out his blood to redeem millions of people whom God sends to hell anyway. And Arminians certainly have pleasure in what is false. Arminianism is the fulfillment of the oldest lie in existence: You will become like God. Or, what the natural man really wants to hear: You will become more powerful than God. When Arminians proclaim a god who is powerless before the human will, they proclaim the same old lie that is so tickling to unregenerate ears. And this is exactly the point: the one who hates the truth is the natural, unregenerate man. By nature, men love darkness (John 3:19); by nature, men hate the light (John 3:20); only those who have had their nature changed come to the light (John 3:21). Since Arminians hate the light of truth and love the darkness and lies, we are forced to conclude that they are unregenerated. Natural man (the Arminian) hates the truth of God’s Sovereignty (Psalm 15:3; Romans 9:20).
“But,” it may be argued, “if we are saved because we are orthodox, doesn’t that make salvation a result of works?” This argument is really a subtle twisting of what has been said here. No one is suggesting that we are saved because of our orthodox doctrine. On the contrary, what we are suggesting is that orthodox doctrine is a necessary result of being saved. To claim otherwise would be to deny the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit, even over the thoughts of men. Salvation is not dependent on orthodoxy any more than it is dependent on good works, but both will certainly come to be manifested in every child of God (Romans 8:9).
Again, the writer has often heard it asserted that “one does not have to be orthodox to be saved, because even the demons believe in God.” But let us compare Scripture with Scripture. “But without faith it is impossible to please [him], for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Notice how this verse is constructed: He (who has faith) must believe — and then there are two things to be believed. Notice also that what follows is a pair of facts: God’s existence and his benevolence toward the elect. James 2:19 says that the demons believe in the existence of God, and this is one of the necessary facts according to Hebrews 11:6. But since they don’t believe that he is a merciful God, they tremble at the thought of his divine wrath that must someday fall on them. Are the demons really orthodox? They believe some things about God but not the right things. They believe some of the truth about God but not the whole truth. And without the whole truth they are not really orthodox. So we see that orthodoxy is a necessary result of salvation after all.
Again, it is objected that no mere human being can fully understand God, because we are finite and he is infinite (Isaiah 55:9). This objection is easily met when we remember that the people of God are those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In this way a finite human being is able to truly understand the infinite God, because the infinite Holy Spirit is teaching him.
Lastly, it is often argued that Arminians must be saved because they perform such good works. Few Calvinists would seriously and openly insist that we are saved because of our works; yet when the salvation of Arminians is questioned, the typical response is to point to their good works. They are fervent in prayer, joyous in worship, and zealous for good works. And above all, they are determined soul-winners, always talking about God and busy making converts. But to assert that one is saved because of any of these actions is a flat denial of Salvation by Grace Alone. Justification is a gift; it can never be earned (Romans 4:24, Titus 3:5). But, by the same token, these good works can never be used as proof of one’s salvation. The Pharisees were also fervent in prayer (Luke 18:11-12), joyous in worship (Matthew 6:5), and zealous for good works (Matthew 23:23,27,29; see also Romans 10:2-3). Above all, they were determined soul-winners, crossing land and sea to make one convert. And yet what was the result of their soul “winning”? “… you make them twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). Since the Pharisees were obviously unsaved, it must be that the flesh is very good at reproducing good works without ever being pleasing to God. However, works that are done in the flesh are still an abomination to God, no matter how they appear to men.
The context of 2 Thessalonians 2:12 is even more explicit about this point. “And will all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie …” Notice that those who are saved love the truth and the unsaved do not. Notice also that God causes them to believe a lie, with the intent of righteously sending them away from his presence forever. God hates them, as he hated Esau. Dare we say that those whom God hates are saved?
The very fact that there is any debate over this issue indicates that the majority of professing Calvinist churches are not true churches at all. There is often heard the plea for tolerance, based on the mistaken notion that doctrine is of little importance. On the contrary — purity of the doctrine of the gospel (the doctrine of salvation, or soteriology) is an essential fruit of salvation. Being able to define “soteriology” isn’t necessary; being able to state the five points of Calvinism isn’t necessary; but loving the truth and giving all glory to the only living and true God is necessary. Arminians do exactly the opposite when they try to reserve some of that glory for themselves; it is not a ‘sincere misunderstanding of gospel doctrine’ but a determined rebellion against the only living and true God and a stench in his nostrils.
The fact that Arminians are unsaved also leads us to a few conclusions:
1. We must not fellowship with Arminians. They are members of the whore church, and if we do not come out from among them, we share in their sins (Revelation 18:4). Of course, this will mean that not only are some precious friendships lost, but families will be divided as well. But is this not the very effect the gospel is supposed to have? “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes [shall be] they of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).
2. We must treat them as unsaved. It does no good to let an Arminian go on thinking he has the truth when he doesn’t. We should witness to them the true gospel of grace. God is glorified when we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) but not when we suppress the truth for the sake of group harmony.
3. We must be willing to exercise church discipline on those who turn out to be Arminians or consider Arminians to be their brothers in Christ. Part of the reason the bulk of the professing church has apostatized is that it is generally unwilling to discipline members for doctrinal reasons. Of course, this calls for sound judgment on the part of elders, but allowing heresy to remain in a church for the sake of building up the membership list is inexcusable.
Calvinists need to learn that the power of God does not lie in relationships with Arminians and Arminian ministries. The power of God is in the Gospel and the Gospel alone. But the true power of the Gospel will not be manifested unless it is preached in all its fullness, both as a savor of life unto life and as a savor of death unto death. The Gospel condemns Arminians as enemies of God, enemies of the Cross, and enemies of the Gospel. Turn away from them, lest you share in their condemnation (2 John 11, Rev 18:4).
Comments (11)
Sir,
To elevate a doctrine above the gospel found in 1 Corinthians 15 is stripping the Lord of his true saving power, not spurring man to true saving knowledge. Redemption is based on faith and response, and in our fallen–albeit regenerate, as antimonious as that sounds–states, we often are too inwardly-turned to focus on the means therein. That does not mean we haven’t achieved an end.
Grace,
Cassandra
I don’t agree with the Armenians at all. I’m a Calvinist but not one who fellows the teaching of the Armenians. They are so not right! Thank you for asking me about you site. I think it’s very good. I say keep it going! I have a lot of friends who would be very untested in your site. You are more then welcome to drop by again.
Greace and Peace
Kristin
Mr. Bain,
1. I understand you were recently kicked off the Warfield list. The way things are going, it looks like you want to be kicked off all of the Reformed or Calvinistic blogrings on Xanga as well, which would make this a very short stint for you indeed.
2. Please do not post long, meaningless drivel on my site again. If I want to read such things, I will simply go to Outside the Camp. You don’t seem concerned with writing on any new, original topic, instead simply regurgitating what I have seen before on that website.
3. In December of ’03, I was emailed by roman9@shoreham.net to check out the Outside the Camp website. Presuming it to be the email address of whoever runs that site, I sent the following rejoinder. You may consider this my response to you, as well.
“No, I am not interested in your site. I have seen your site before, and I believe that the gospel does not consist in condemning to damnation all those outside your congregation. While I view Arminianism as a dangerous corruption, I do not view it as necessarily damnable (and therefore I am unregenerate, by your account of things). I also am entirely opposed to Hyper-Calvinism, as an aberration perhaps as dangerous as Arminianism itself.
“To tell you the truth, I was on your site just a few days ago, shaking my head in wonder at your various anathemas against all who do not go as far as you in anathematizing all others. I do not go to your site for spiritual encouragement or edification, but as a warning to me as to how the doctrines of sovereign grace may be corrupted and bastardized by their professed adherents. I pray God that He may give you charity toward your brethren. So be it.”
Mr. Bain, please stay away from me and from my site. I don’t want to hear it–your constant mantra of “false Christians” “speaking peace to Arminians,” etc. etc. Your constant concern for “the gospel” is nothing more than a concern to tear down and destroy true believers in Christ Jesus, who also believe the five articles sustained at Dordt. I don’t need that; nobody does, for that matter. Many consider me to have drawn the lines rather narrowly; but you have drawn them around your own congregation, and have excluded all other Christians before you or since from the pale of salvation. Please do not post on my website; please do not bother me.
Sean P.M. McDonald
Asside from the obvious – “WHY ARE YOU SPAMING PEOPLE”S GUESTBOOKS?!?!” Here are my other questions (which have thus far gone unanswered.)
1) If a response to the gospel is not a condition for salvation, why does the Biblical record command belief? – (i.e. Acts 16:31 ”Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”, or Acts 2.38, or any one of the NT commands for repentance and belief so that “you will be saved”.)
2) If Christ died for the elect, and not the whole world… .why does the scripture say misleading things like ” Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29″ or John 3.16-17; “… Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Or “The One died for All” (2 Cor 5.14-15) Or 1 Tim 4.10 where Paul praises God who “is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” Or Heb 2.9; 1 Joh 1.1-2;4:14; or 1 Tim 2:6 – Christ Jesus “gave himself as a ransom for all men.” – Why does the scripture indicate that Jesus died for all humanity?
3) If Christ died for the elect, and only the elect, - and why does the biblical material indicate that some of those for whom Christ died will perish? (i.e. Rom 14.15; 1 Cor 8.11; or Heb 10.29) Or clearly in 2 Peter 2.1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” – How do you explain this given it clearly has 1) heretics who are headed toward destruction but 2) the Lord purchased them?
Andrew,
Your Xanga posting, as I read it proved to be one with much zeal. And while I am sure there is much that we can find ourselves agreeing upon, I believe that we share much differences as far as what we believe. This response (if it is to be called that) is in reference to the statement about Arminians and Salvation. I believe that if we are to look at this situation rightly, we need to look at one of the tasks that the Holy Spirit plays in the life of a Believer.
If the Holy Spirit leads us unto all truth, as we read in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to John then we have the assurance that the Holy Spirit will take us to the right doctrines. Yet since we live in a day in time where the ministry and personhood of the Holy Spirit is often neglected within the church, it wouldn’t be too generous to say that a number of Christians are receiving less of the Holy Spirit today than the Old Testament saints. If there is a lack of knowledge of just who this Holy Spirit is and what He does in our life then I believe this does hinder our search for the truth.
The Holy Spirit guides us unto all truth. I’m stating the obvious. We only know the truth that we know not because we are smarter or more handsome or more devoted or more special than the next person, but we only know the truth that we know because of the Holy Spirit.
We all hopefully can agree on that. The problem then however is why we all do not come to the same conclusions if we are led by the same Holy Spirit. How can we come to different persuasions on the End Times, or on the Mode of Baptism, or on Predestination? What affects us all that radically affect this journey for the truth that we are progressing on?
Would we be on the same page if we said that it were our sins that hinder us from understanding truth more clearly? Is it not our own sins that we struggle with that grieve the Holy Spirit and thereby cause us to not see the fullness of certain passages?
Do we not have our own personal sins that we struggle with; ugly bullets that often try to tear up our lives by attempting to ruin our relationship first with the Father in Heaven, and secondly with our families and friends? Is that not the struggle we face as saints? Therefore as Christians we struggle with pride, pornography, wanting to be pornography, masturbation, lying, coveting, the desire to be a whore, or a transvestite or being a whore, coveting, being attracted to the members of the same sex, whatever sin it might be to sum it up nicely we can say that it’s the sin of idolatry. For by these sins we have forsaken the fountain of living water and have chosen to be the recipients of the broken cisterns that give our thirsty mouths nothing but the hot and dry sand of the desert. This without a doubt; effects our pursuit of the truth of God, and any of us to be so arrogant to claim that our sins do not effect our pursuits would be failing to recognize the sin in their lives and how it relates to their own personal pursuit of knowing God as their Lover.
I say all of this as a preface to my actual point that I wish to make; that point being that we are unable to say that all Arminians or all Calvinists are truly Christians. This is because the basis of our Salvation is not the result of a certain holding to a particular doctrine. Forgive me if this sounds simple and basic, for I do not wish for this response to in any way insult your intellegence. We are saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. Therefore all who truly have a love for Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are in fact and in deed – Christians. By Christians this would be including Calvinists and Arminians both. To claim otherwise would be to misunderstand where our knowledge of the truth comes from, how our sins affect us in our pursuit of knowing the truth, and that the nature of the truth that we receive is a gift of grace.
A number of the Arminians I’ve met were indeed Christians and they did come to terms with the Doctrines of Grace for what they were. When they came to believe in the Doctrines of Grace as found in the Scriptures they did not there upon that moment become Christians, for they were in fact and in deed already Believers.
You may feel as though you are fighting the right fight, but when you shoot your own brothers and sisters in Christ in the foot, then you’re being used to the benefit of the opposing army.
This is where the Holy Spirit has led me ( I understand the weight of this statement is great and much to bear; especially if I be wrong on this matter, however this is where I believe with all my heart, soul, and mind to have been led by the Spirit. Therefore with all honestly this is my response. )
With that having been said, I’m not sure what is going on in your life…but I’m seeing much bitterness, even hatred for those who do not hold to certain doctrinal persuasions. My hopes are that God might enlarge your heart to love the Arminians, who are your brothers in Christ and to look at them no differently than you do yourself. For the second greatest commandment is for us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
With love for the Trinity,
Mark L. Dickson
Um, yea, I’m with Sean McDonald. As a 17 year old kid, I found it quite scary to have a stranger try and force his opinions on me. you better watch it with your “all Arminians are going to hell.” mentality, you quote scripture a bit, so here is one for you to chew on-judge not lest you also be judged. Why don’t you try preaching the gospel in LOVE instead of condemning people. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating a wishy washy-gospel, but comon! Give it a rest.
Lets leave the sentencing up to God. No one asked you to play God.
For the sake of clarification, I wanted to re-state that I believe the reason why we do not see certain doctrines within the Scripture is simply because (A) There is sin in our life that is hindering our pursuit of that Truth, or (B) The Holy Spirit desires that we not grasp that truth at that particular time, simply because there are things of greater importance at that given time that need to be understood first in order to fully appreciate that which we may wish to grasp at the given time. If we truly want to know more about Revelation however, I do believe that the Holy Spirit will grant that request, but I believe that He would first wish to teach us the basics to Heaven and Hell before He leads us to a certain Eschatological persuasion.
Again this is a clarification of my previous statement.
Thanks for signing my guest book. You asked about the website- it doesn’t draw me in. Soften the colors some. As for content, I didn’t read very far. That’s probably just me- i don’t have enough time to read much of it and I’m not one of those people with alot of interest in analyzing theology. What you left on my guest book was good and concise. All the best!
Hey all. I want to share something with any person who will grace me with the attention to read my thoughts. My deepest concerns are usually expressed without words but by actions as Ann said in the movie Patriot when addressing the church on th war, “How many times have I heard you speak of freedom? All you men are as ardent patriots as I. Will you now when your needed most only stop at words? Is that the sort of men you are? I only ask that you act upon the beliefs you’ve strongly spoken and in which you so strongly believe!” We as Christian’s “are supposed to be not only hearers of the word but doers also”. We are living in a lost and dying world which have no where to turn. “If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, he would have never been crucified.”-(Leonard Ravenhill) We are to “wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of God”. That was what was happening to the church of Sardis in the book of Revelation. It seems “we’re preaching an acceptable Gospel today, making it as painless as we can. and all we do is give people a shot to put them to sleep so they get to hell quicker. We need some hellfire preaching on repentance!”- (Leonard Ravenhill) We as a church are not being what God has called us to be. “The greatest tragedy ever, is a sick church in a dying world. We find no errors in the Bible. All errors are in the pews.”- (Leonard Ravenhill) What scares me most is that “judgment starts at the house of God first”. God says, “Preach to all nations” but we negate the responsability with I know someone else will do it. “We are set forth as watchtowers, if they die they die in their wickedness but if they weren’t warned the blood falls on our hands”. What excuse will you and I have when standing before God? Many will say aren’t you Calvinist? Yes I’m Calvinist, “but how can they hear the Gospel unless a preacher is sent”. “Faith comes by hearing the word of God.” We as Calvinist should start taking up arms together with all beliefs,(as long as they are christians of course) to accomplish the great commision. Just because they don’t believe the truths found in Reformed Theology doesn’t mean Heaven isn’t their home. God bless!
Wow. After reading just some of the hateful and vile things written here I can’t even think straight and form a response. You do realize that you are claiming to have perfect insight into the mind of our Creator, right? You speak as if you are speaking directly for Him. You spew disgusting untruths, cause division and twist Scripture. I almost wish I could be there when you have to answer to the Lord for these things that you have written. I hope that works out for you…
As I read this, I actually found myself hoping it was a hoax site set up by a non-Christian to make Christians look bad…
wow…I just got done writing an extremely LONG comment telling you how wrong you are and how twisted you are…but before I clicked “SUBMIT” I felt that it would be wrong to continue this spirit of division that is so heavy in this silly Armeniest/Calvanist debate…I am neither Armenian nor Calvanist…but during this comment I will regretfully refer myself to an Armenian, because I do believe that we can be plucked from the True Vine if we do not bear fruit…John 15:2 . Anyways…The LORD came to save all…that we may accept his sacrifice and come into a relationship with HIM…that is what the main idea behind Christianity is.. Mark 16:15 says…”Go ye unto all all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature”…its not “go ye unto all the world, spreading division among fellow believers, preaching false doctrine, and damning every living creature” no…instead of centering all your attention on the “wrongs” of other believers…or in your case you dont even think “we” are believers (maybe you should do a little more research before you go damning us to hell…and yes “we” do believe in the trinity Mr. Bain)…how often do we (im talking about you and me here) get caught up in denominations…stuff like that….we need to focus on leading the lost to Christ…Armenians do that…”we” try to lead others to the same Christ that you believe in..the only difference between “us” and you, the hardcore Calvanist, is that we love everyone and we believe that you can walk away from your salvation. Here is an illustration that Im gonna make up as I go…its the best I can do at the moment…
If Im stuck floating out in the middle of the ocean…say in the middle of a hurricane…and the Coast Gaurd comes to save me. Pretend I take the life saver that they throw to me…and they are pulling me into their boat…but halfway there things start getting hard…the water gets too bumpy for me and I decide that this isnt right for me so I let go of the salvation that they freely gave to me and I perish in the ocean. Now they never let go of me…but sadly I let go of them…through my own free will. Now…Did they freely give me all the tools needed to be saved?…YES!! did they give me a way out of death?..YES!!…but did I take it? NO! I tried it out but I let go of it because I realized there was too much involved.
I think that is what most Armenians believe…me not being one or the other…just a follower of Christ…may be wrong. So if an Armenian is reading this and I have portrayed this thought wrongly…tell me, thanx.
Anways Mr. Bain…I just wanna encourage you to stop spreading division. Instead, to love as Christ loved. He never damned the Pharisees because they didnt believe that HE was the Messiah they were searching for…NO…HE loved them and tried to make them see the light. So lets not get distracted by the little things Mr. Bain…lets go win this world to Christ!! WoooHooo!!
In Christ Grip,
~ Aaron <><