Letter to a ‘close-minded’ Calvinist [An open letter to some ‘Hyper-Calvinists’ who kept insisting that I could have never been saved while I was in an Arminian Church. ] Please understand, I am not insisting that ALL Arminians are saved, all I am saying is that IF a man is truly saved (regenerated) he WILL NOT remain an ‘Arminian’ for long. Those who vehemently oppose and deny the truths of Sovereign Grace even after being exposed to it, were never truly saved! There are a few ‘Calvinists’ who are convinced that unless one believes the ‘Five points of Calvinism’, why, he just can’t be saved. The reason for their confusion in this is because they have not learnt to differentiate between REGENERATION and CONVERSION. To the question, can God save a man in an Arminian Church? The answer is - It is God who saves, and He does so by regenerating and converting His elect wherever He chooses by the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF HIS WORD! And that Word is NOT the ‘Five point of Calvinism’ or ‘Arminianism’ but the SIMPLE TRUTH that Jesus Christ died for sinners, was buried and rose again! If a man has been taught of the Father (as all God’s Elect are [Jn 6:45]) this truth will mean something to him and he will believe it in his heart confess it with his mouth and be saved! Period! Those who deny this greatly err not knowing the Scriptures neither the power of God! Sheep may sit under false teaching for some time, but before long they will go out searching for the Shepherd’s voice, for they know not the voice of strangers! Anyone who claims to be the Lord’s sheep and lives and dies an Arminian even after being exposed to the truths of Sovereign Grace never was one!] Here is the letter - So you Calvinist Zealots are saying that God cannot save anyone in an Arminian tent or under Arminian preaching. But are you aware that some of the mighty defenders of Calvinism started out as Arminians. Augustus Toplady author of the immortal Hymn ‘Rock of Ages’ was saved in 1755. But it was not until 1758 he became a convinced Calvinist. Abraham Booth author of ‘The Reign of Grace’ was saved in 1755, but it wasn’t until 1768 that God opened his eyes to the truths of Sovereign Grace. There are many more we could quote. “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day”. [Prov 4:18]. God’s Holy Spirit guides all the elect into all truth IN HIS TIME. But those who insist that an understanding and belief in the ‘Five points of Calvinism’ is a REQUIREMENT for one to be initially saved greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God! If it is any help at all, I would have you folks know that from the very instant I was snatched out of the burning, I knew I had not chosen Christ but He had chosen me! Especially being a Satanist I had no desire whatsoever for Jesus, but hated the very Name! In fact I spent very little time among the Arminians and when the truth of Sovereign Grace came to me I had no difficulty accepting it. All you people keep saying is that God cannot save you with an Arminian Gospel. My real contention was WHAT is the ‘Gospel’ that God uses to save his elect. You have labored much to say that God cannot save His elect while still in the Arminian church but He only saves them OUT of that church. You probably mean that when the Arminian preaches in his gospel invitation –“you can CHOOSE to let Christ in or that Christ died for the whole world” it is most dishonoring to God even ‘Satanic’! And surely a message addressed in such a manner can never be used of God to save anybody. But are there not Scriptures in the Bible that speak in such a manner. Consider these – CHOOSE YOU this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood [Josh 24:15] Ho, EVERY ONE that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye…[Isa 55:1] But AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, etc [Jn 1:12] If ANYONE thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (Jn. 7:37) God so loved the WORLD that whosoever believeth on Him etc [Jn 3:16] Now God commands ALL MEN everywhere to repent. [Act 17:30] And WHOSOEVER WILL, let him take the water of life freely [Rev 22:17] [There are many more, but this should suffice] “Oh but the Arminians preach that Christ died for EVERY ONE even the WHOLE WORLD. God could NEVER use such a gospel to save anyone” Have you forgotten that except for few exceptions, the MAJORITY of the verses on the Atonement in Scripture seem to say that He died for the WHOLE WORLD? – Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the WORLD. [Jn 1:29] For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the WORLD. [Jn 6:33] The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the WORLD [Jn 6:51] And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of THE WHOLE WORLD. [1Jn 2:2] And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of THE WORLD [1Jn 4:14] “And as many as were ordained to eternal life BELIEVED”. [Act 13:48] Believed WHAT? That they were TOTALLY DEPRAVED? Or that they were Unconditionally Elected’ by God? Or that Christ died ONLY FOR THEM and not for the whole World?! Or were they aware that they were being drawn by an ‘Irresistible Grace’? You ‘Sovereign Grace’ zealots seem to think so! In fact you make belief in these truths a NECESSITY for someone to be saved. Sad! Truth is, very few of God’s Elect understand and believe these truths at regeneration. But if they are truly regenerated then sooner or later God will teach them the truth of the ‘TULIP’! They will exclaim with Jonah, “Salvation is of the LORD”! That is what it means to, “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. [2Pt 3:18]. I have not quoted the above to DEFEND either ‘Free will’ or an ‘Unlimited Atonement’, but only to show that if God was a CLOSE MINDED ‘CALVINIST’ He would have never allowed such Words in His Book! The MAJORITY of believers except those who were favoured enough to be saved in a ‘Reformed Church’ initially believe that they ‘believed’ of their own ‘free will’ and that Christ died for the whole world. It’s like a toddler who believes that a ‘stork’ brought him to his parents and is ignorant about the gynecological facts about his birth. But the time comes when he will grasp the truth about his birth. Many a great ‘Reformer’ was still a part of the ‘Great Whore’ when God opened his eyes and brought him out of it. God didn’t first get them out and lead them down the block to a ‘Reformed Church’ to get them saved! It takes grace and faith from ABOVE and a little bit of ‘Study’ and a right ‘dividing of the Word’ before one can perceive, believe and accept the doctrines of Sovereign Grace. But it is definitely not a REQUIREMENT for salvation. “Oh but those Arminian preachers are false prophets and surely God could NEVER use THEM to preach His Word. Generally speaking, Yes, you are right. But God is not LIMITED. One of the greatest prophesies concerning Israel and the Messiah was prophesied by a false prophet, even Balaam– “there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth etc” [Num24:17] And Judas though a ‘son of perdition’ accompanied the disciples and preached and healed just as they did, so much so when Christ said, “one of you shall betray Me” nobody even had the faintest clue that it was Judas. And Demas was a coworker with Paul [Col 4:14] long before he went out ‘having loved this present world’ [1Tim 4;10]. Let us not LIMIT the ‘Holy One of Israel’ just because His operations do not agree with ‘OUR Theology’. If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. ‘Our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.[Psa 115:3]. When it suits His purpose Jehovah uses EVERYTHING starting from the Devil who deceived our Parents to the worm which smote Jonah’s gourd! But to return. The ‘Gospel’ as the Apostles proclaimed is simply that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again, without laboring to explain that man had no ‘freewill’ or that Christ atoned only for the elect etc. NOWHERE did Christ or the Apostles address the lost with any ‘Reformed truths’ and neither are we admonished to do so. But once the man is saved the Spirit by and by leads him into ‘all Truth’ and out of the Arminian assemblies because that is His office! Like one of old said – “When you reach the Gates of Heaven you shall find written above, the words – “Whosoever will may come” and you go through those gates and turn back and see written on the back – “Chosen from the foundation of the world!” So I rest my case. I believe that God CAN AND DOES save his elect with the basic Gospel which the Apostles preached. If you differ, you are free to do so, but you surely won’t be able to defend it from the King James Bible. I shall not further comment on this trying to refute any brother/sister who feels that God has to first bring all His elect out of false churches before He can save them. Dearly Beloved, if any of the above sounds harsh or unloving it was not intended to be so. To ‘speak the truth in love’ is something I am still learning. God bless you. Love Mike Jeshurun! [Please not - this is not a debate and all negative comments will be deleted]
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 06:20:36 +0000
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