97 Mark,

By the way let me be clear that i do not think that non-calvinists are not Christians. I myself was not always convinced of reformed theology but i would never have said i wasn’t saved. Nor do i think that others are not saved.
I simply believe that as i have grown in my walk we God he has been gracious to open my eyes to new hard truths of the bible even when they seem unfair.

I will however always protest when i think the gospel is at stake, and i believe it is at stake when we deny that faith is a gift of God for all believers.

I am going to answer the above comment first because my answer should help Mark and others to know the background of where I am coming from.

Mark, although you said that you believe that non-Calvinists can be Christians, in actuality you deny that by the above remarks. You see, the gospel is not a secondary issue of faith. It is an essential of the faith. If you create an addition to that gospel by saying that one must believe that saving faith is not our own faith in God’s Word but a gift that God gives only to the elect, then you are dividing the body of Christ by making anyone who does not agree with you as ones who do not believe the gospel. And if we do not believe the true gospel, which apparently only Calvinists can believe, then we how can we be true Christians? It is inconsistent to that one can be a true Christian and yet not believe the gospel.

This division is a sin that Calvinists bring against their brothers and sisters in Christ. By defining the gospel as something other than what is clearly stated as the gospel, Calvinists set their Christian brothers and sisters outside of the Christian camp and in need of conversion to Calvinism in order to believe the gospel and be saved.

In the past I was a part of a church that was split because of the issue of Calvinism. The church I belonged to was not a Calvinist church but the new pastor who came into the church was on his way to being a full blown Calvinist and when he decided that only Calvinism was the truth, he pressured the church to accept his doctrine. Those who balked at his teaching that God justly sends unborn babies go to hell to pay for their “sins” by suffering for all of eternity, those ones were singled out as dangerous to the church for not going along with “the truth” that is embodied in Calvinism.

It wasn’t long before mature Christians were threatened with letters to kick them out of the church for not accepting Calvinism. There was no longer love for the brethren in their differences. It was his way or the highway. Since God was taught as arbitrary in His decision on who would be created to go to Heaven and who would created to go to hell, this pastor had no hesitation to act like an arbitrary “god” in removing brothers and sisters in Christ merely for quoting Scripture in the Bible studies with verses that did not agree with his Calvinistic viewpoint. After all, if they didn’t accept Calvinism were they really one of the elect? That is the reasoning that this doctrine ends with when pushed to its logical conclusion and it was acted out in my old church. Without any appearance of conscience the pastor broke all the rules of the constitution in order to try to remove from fellowship mature Christians, some of whom had been there when the church building was first built in the 1970’s. The additional truth that he had accepted as necessary for the “gospel” divided brothers and sisters in Christ.

God hates this division. Those attenders whom the pastor convinced that they were now Calvinists because they believed that God pulled at their heart and brought them to the place of faith were confused. They didn’t even understand the basics of Calvinism nor the volumes of work written to explain the entire system of Calvinism, but they were taught that the believers who would not be converted were the enemy and unless he removed them from the fellowship, God’s “truth” could not progress.

I have seen the destruction of Calvinists first hand who destroy their brothers for the sake of their love of a doctrine. I refuse to say that Calvinists are not brothers in Christ or that Calvinists do not believe in the gospel, but I also refuse to allow them to divide the body of Christ and destroy those for whom Christ died. Some of the church members were so traumatized by the lack of love by the pastor and the tearing apart of the church for the sake of a “doctrine”, that a handful of people ended up in the hospital with various types of stress related diseases and symptoms that took months to resolve.

So, Mark, while I welcome you here and I will allow areas of Calvinism to be debated when they deal with the issues of women in ministry (i.e. Adam and sin nature), I will not tolerate the charge that the gospel that I believe is not the Biblical gospel. The gospel that I and other non-Calvinists believe is not different than what you believe because there is only one gospel. If you want to add Calvinist distinctives to the gospel, then you have stepped out on a limb – a very precarious limb.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 (NASB)
1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

It is the death of Jesus, his burial and resurrection that is the heart of the gospel. We can debate the issue of whether faith is a gift of God or a response of man, but it is not listed in the gospel as an essential belief. If you divide over this and accuse your brothers and sisters of not believing the gospel because we do not believe that saving faith is a gift of God given to only a select few unregenerate people, then you are going to have to answer to God one day for what you have done. Jesus Christ takes a dim view of those who divide the church over the non-essentials.

Titus 3:9–10 (NASB)
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.
10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,

A factious man is literally a “heretic” one who causes divisions in the body.

hairetikos: denoting loyalty to a separatist group heretical, factious, causing divisions
Vol. 4: Analytical lexicon of the Greek New Testament.

And Romans 16:17 warns us to keep an eye on those who bring divisions into the body of Christ:

Romans 16:17 (NASB)
17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.

The term “dissensions” means division.

dichostasia: strictly standing apart; hence disunity, dissension, division within a community
Vol. 4: Analytical lexicon of the Greek New Testament. (pg 118).

So once again to repeat, I will allow any challenge of my position regarding the issues of women in ministry including issues of Calvinism on the issue of sin, but I will not allow division by calling Christian brothers and sisters in Christ as non-believers in the gospel because they are not Calvinists. I am doing what Scripture advises me to do to keep any eye on those who are divisive and who bring harm to the body. Argue passionately, sure. But don’t attack your brothers and sisters in Christ and demand that they become Calvinists or else they don’t believe the gospel.

I am trying to be as gracious as I can while drawing a line in the sand and I hope I have made myself clear. Thoughts?