Soteriology ?

All content tagged with this topic across every database — articles, Mike Winger ideas, and verse entries on one screen.

...more

Calvinism — Research Notes (Cheryl Schatz)

Collection of 5 research notes on Calvinism, covering God's mercy to all (Romans 11:30-32), the purpose of divine mercy and compassion, Esau's election as about Messianic lineage not individual salvation (Malachi 1:2-3), and Calvin's concept of Evanescent Grace.

The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything

Fred Sanders — Kindle highlights from 'The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything'. 1 highlights.

The Giving Part 2: Judas the Betrayer, a Balanced View of the Sovereignty of God

[Music] the giving is a balanced view of the sovereignty of God God's sovereignty is vitally important for us to know God yet it's God's sovereignty taught as a system of theological thought which can lead to a person reading into the biblical text an outside concept that is foreign to the writers i...

Judas the Betrayer and the death of Jesus

We have just released part 2 of our video project on the Sovereignty of God. And we have released this part of the project for free! Why? Because I felt that the message was so important that I didn’t want any hindrance I wanted to get as wide a viewing as possible.

Is Free Will “Another” Gospel?

What is the problem? It is common for Calvinists to argue that humanity can’t have free will because free will would necessitate a salvation based on works. Although the Bible does not make this claim, people have been subject to unfair accusations of heresy by overly zealous Calvinists.

Was God’s Wrath Satisfied in Christ or Paid in Hell?

Was God’s wrath satisfied in Christ? If so then how can sinners suffer God’s wrath in hell? This question is one that is often asked by Calvinists to those who do not hold to the teaching of Calvinism.

The Giving A balanced view of the Sovereignty of God

We are preparing to film the last portion of The Giving DVD project. The full title is The Giving A Balanced view of The Sovereignty of God . The subject of the DVD is John 6 with the hard sayings of Jesus that seem to teach that Jesus did not die for everyone.

What did the death of Jesus do for the world?

The death of Jesus for the world is a delicate question for Calvinists according to John Piper. Piper answers a question from one of his listeners in a post called “ In What Sense Did Jesus Die for the Non-Elect? ” In the audio transcript of an interview Piper says:

Was the death of Jesus evil? Calvinism and ordained evil

This question is often asked of those of us who do not believe that God initiates evil. If God predestined the death of Jesus, does this mean that God commanded or ordained the evil acts of men? A Calvinist website describes God’s ordaining of evil this way:

Was Our Faith Purchased on the Cross as a Gift?

John Piper’s article “ For Whom did Jesus Taste Death? ” focuses on Piper’s premise that disallows Jesus from being a ransom sacrifice for all people. There are many parts of Piper’s article that I would like to address, but I will deal with them one at a time in individual posts.

No man left behind: Jesus died for all

Did Jesus’ death leave no man left behind that was not covered by His death on the cross? For many Christians who identify as Calvinists, the gospel includes the conclusion that Jesus died only for a select group of people who were predetermined by God before the world was created.

How does God harden a man’s heart?

How does God harden a man’s heart? We know that God can and does harden hearts because the Bible tells us this, but how and why does God choose to do this? And if all people are created with pre-hardened hearts as some suggest, then why is it necessary for God to harden a man’s heart? Let’s consider...

What comes before the Giving? James White and John 6:37

What comes before the giving in John 6:37? Nothing according to Dr. James White on his October 23, 2017 podcast of the Dividing Line Program (segment starts at 1 hr 2 min 30 second mark).

Are you better than those who say no?

Those who believe in Calvinism are quick to accuse those who do not believe the same way. The accusation comes in the form of two questions.

Jesus draws all men to Himself? John 12:32

In John 12:32 Jesus draws all men to Himself. Is this true or must we reinterpret Jesus to remove His promise?

Purposeless evil?

Calvinists often talk about “purposeless evil.” In fact, Dr. James White, a Calvinist apologist from Alpha and Omega Ministries , has stated that if God did not ordain all things including the evil actions of men, then evil has no purpose. Dr.

The flesh profits nothing John 6:63

What does Jesus mean when He says “the flesh profits nothing”? There are several different meanings for “flesh” so to understand what Jesus means, let’s first understand the rest of His saying so we can gain the intended contrast He has in mind.

The connection in John 6:64-65

In my post on John 6:64-65 , I showed how the reason Jesus gives for why no one can come to Him unless it has been granted him from the Father, is connected back to verse 64 and unbelief.

The context surrounding John 6

In explaining the meaning of John 6, we need to pay close attention to the context surrounding John 6 as well as the relevant context from the entire book of John. Here are some verses that are HIGHLY relevant and some questions for you to ponder.

What can the spiritually dead do?

John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Did Jesus guard the communion table?

In our discussion of Jesus, Judas, and the first communion, a Calvinist pointed me to an article by a Calvinist author. The article was said to refute the idea that Judas was commanded to partake of the first Lord’s Supper.

Did Judas receive communion?

My post on Judas Was Judas Predestined to be Lost? has been challenged. This post is an answer to that challenge.

For whom did Jesus die? 13 Biblical witnesses on Christ’s death

For whom did Jesus die? here are two questions of great importance for both Calvinists and non-Calvinists alike. After the two questions and answers, I would like to give a challenge to Calvinists.

John 6:37 and Dr. James White and – A response to the challenge

I posted a YouTube video with my response to the challenges of Dr. James White. On July 24, 2014 Dr. White critiqued my article on John 6:37 posted here http://www.mmoutreach.org/tg/come-john6-37/ .

Calvinism: Who chooses? The Shepherd or the sheep?

This post is in response to Dr. James White from his August 5, 2014 podcast where he gave several challenges about the answers I posted on my blog post “Why are people not coming to Jesus?” Dr.

For this reason – John 6:64-65

For this reason – John 6:64-65. I am jumping ahead in my verse by verse exegesis to John 6:64-65 because these are the verses that give the answer to Jesus’ words in John 6:37, 44-45. I will start with verse 65 first.

Why are people not coming to Jesus?

Dr. James White has stated on his Dividing Line program that he wants to see how I line up the John 6 passage to show why people are not coming to Jesus. This post will summarize my view from my previous verse by verse exposition and tie in reasons for unbelief from the book of John.

No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him John 6:43-45

Jesus spoke incredibly powerful words in John chapter 6 that many people are afraid to dig into because of their concern that John 6 might contradict their theology. In fact, Calvinists are quick to challenge non-Calvinists to explain what these verses mean outside of the Calvinist interpretation.

Unbelieving grumblers John 6:41-42

John 6:41-42 (NASB)  41 Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

The Will of the Father John 6:38-40

In our verse by verse discussion of John 6, we come to verse 38, a verse that highlights the will of the Father.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me

John 6:37 (NASB) “ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me…

The Bread Given for the life of the World

In my last post , I showed how the crowd went from asking Jesus about what they were obligated to do to gain the bread that endures to eternal life, to the next step of asking to see the work that Jesus would do. The purpose of the work is to bring the crowd to faith in Jesus.

God’s conditions: From doing to seeing in John 6:30-33

In my last post , I talked about how Jesus showed the unbelieving crowd, who followed Him in John 6, that the “work” which result is meant to bring the crowd to belief , is God’s work. When Jesus shared that it is God’s work, not the work of the crowd, the crowd demanded a work from Jesus.

God’s Work that you believe John 6:28, 29

In my last post , I discussed the phrase in John 6, which Calvinists ignore from their own proof text passage. In this post, we will deal with John 6:28, 29.

The Son of Man WILL give you – John 6:27

The verse that is the most ignored by Calvinists in their own proof text is John 6:27, and within the verse, in particular, a specific phrase.

Does Matthew conflict with Luke about Judas?

In my post about Judas and the last supper, Colin Maxwell, a Calvinist responded to my post, although not responding on this blog, but on his twitter account @weeCalvin.

All who are drawn come to Jesus? John 6:44

In my last post , I showed that Scripture must not be taken out of context by making the word “draw” mean “drag” in John 6:44.

Does God’s drawing mean that He drags people to Himself?

If we are to believe Calvinism, we would have to conclude that God is a “dragger.” Calvinists are quick to point out that in John 6:44 the term “draw” actually means “drag” and this is what God does to His elect who, in their unregenerate state, are both unwilling and unable to respond to Him in fai...

Did God hang babies out to dry with the rest of sinning humanity?

My last post on Judas brought up a discussion of Jesus’ words about Judas and what it would have been like for him had he not been born.

Was Judas predestined to be lost?

Is Judas a problem for your theology? He can be a problem if some of your beliefs come from tradition and not from the Scriptures. In this article, I would like to discuss the full Scriptural view of Judas and ask you to test your own understanding against what the Scripture reveals.

Was John the Baptist predestined to be saved?

In the teaching of Calvinism, there is an election to salvation for some men while the rest of mankind are created without a hope of eternal life. In this understanding God has pre-determined from eternity past that all but the elect would remain in their sin and be lost forever.