Calvinistic beliefs re salvation by grace

Is Calvinism taught in the Bible? Does man have free-will? Can a Christian apostatize? Discuss all related questions here.

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Calvinistic beliefs re salvation by grace

Post by email » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:23 pm

Good day!

I am hoping that you can help me.

You see, I found this really great website (or so I thought?), and in their statement of faith, they say they believe that salvation is strictly by grace, however, when I reviewed their section on Evangelism, I found that they recommended Ray Comfort (who totally believes that salvation is based on works).

I sent an email explaining my conundrum and they sent me a short, snappy reply saying that they are all Calvinists and that they will not change their recommendation for Ray Comfort. (That's okay - I just wanted to alert them to Ray Comfort's beliefs).

So my question is this - Do Calvinists believe in salvation by grace or works, or a combination of the two?? I would greatly appreciate your reply. I just want to be a Bible believing, God loving, God fearing believer and there are so many doctrines that mislead.

Thank you so much!!!
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Calvinistic beliefs re salvation by grace

Post by m273p15c » Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:31 pm

Thanks for your good questions. I wanted to share a few thoughts. Beside pointing you to our series of articles that outlines the many ways that Calvinism contradicts the Bible:

http://www.insearchoftruth.org/articles ... #calvinism

Since we are opposed to Calvinism, we cannot "represent" Calvinists. However, I have discussed the topic at great length with a large number of Calvinists. You can read some of the discussions here:

forum-13.html

Most Calvinists, at least whose writings I have read or with whom I have discussed the topic, would adamantly oppose the idea of "salvation by works". They believe in "Unconditional Election", which means that our deeds have nothing to do with our salvation. Salvation by "works" is heresy to them.

Depending on what you meant, "salvation by faith" may be acceptable to them, provided that you concur with their definition of faith. They believe that our faith is not really our own. They believe that God gives it to us by His choice. We have nothing to do with the process at all. The concept is frequently called "Irresistible Grace".

In truth, I believe that they really believe in salvation by fiat, decree, or force! Their view of God's sovereignty leaves no room for man to even exercise his will on the matter, much less believe, or even obey - even the smallest of commands. They call it "grace", but it sounds too much like favoritism to me, because in Calvinism, God alone chooses who will be saved, entirely independent of our choices, which is contrary to God's revealed nature (Acts 10:34-35).

Please read our series of brief articles on the matter:

http://www.insearchoftruth.org/articles ... #calvinism

In it, we quote from a few Calvinistic sources to help you understand the major tenets of their belief, which is then contrasted with Scripture. I believe this series will help you better understand their beliefs, but more importantly, I believe it will help you understand God's will for us by using your own Bible - not according to some mere man, tradition, or church.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

May God help us to have a sincere love of truth,

m273p15c
May God help us to love truth sincerely and supremely (II Thessalonians 2:11-12)

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