A Plea of Sincerity and a Bondage of Despair My parents, brother, sisters and I were all active members of the Assemblies of God denomination for 12 years, and we were all, throughout the several churches we attended between moves, *Militantly* Arminian; even though none of us knew what an Arminian was, and all remain in that bondage even now. Every one of my friends, my father (an elder), and the official church line taught that man was saved by accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, *and* continuing to follow Him all of the days of your life in expected, sinless perfection...or else you would lose said salvation. This view led me to despair as I grew and realized the full implications of Arminian theology (some would say full blown Pelagianism, but today there are very few minor differences between the two) that was promoted by our denomination, and the many denominations we had direct ties to. I knew from the AOG’s understanding of Hebrews 6 and 10, and the now infamous James distortion as well as the numerous great distortions of scripture strangely accepted by those who were of my ilk , that I had to cease from sin or else I would never see heaven and would perish in the lake of fire. I did take all of this to heart during my 12 year captivity in false religion; and it was, and continues to be for those in that captivity, an outright denial of the Gospel. After 12 long years of sleepless nights, moving on through my teenage years and into my 20s I became well versed in, what is commonly known as, Arminianism (still not knowing who Jacobus Arminius was.) I was very close to suicide at many points since I did indeed take to heart the many admonitions of scripture concerning tormentous hell and the supposed requirements one has to meet as a Christian, as I had been taught, and as I had only blinded eyes to see what I was reading as being the truth of scripture. Furthermore, all of my close friends were among the Holies in the denomination and were convicted and affected in the same manner. We, who actually understood the ramifications of this ‘theology’, were all of us under deep, Satanic bondage. I read Ephesians one day when the Lord opened my eyes to see the Gospel, quite miraculously (to me) and out of nowhere. I saw a context that I had never seen up to that point, finally realizing that I was an enemy of God, and scripture was *unraveled* before my eyes and I repented and was converted on the spot (seated in my car.) Also, I could not wait to tell my friends the *real* good news. Four friends believed and were subsequently converted. However, I was summond to a meeting with all of the teachers and government of our Church as a result of my pronouncement of these glad tidings to face the music. I was accused of being a Calvinist heretic (I did not know who John Calvin was until many years post-conversion), a person who made God sound like an Adolf Hitler, and a *huge* problem for the church, seeing as I had already led 4 families astray with my heretical doctrines, and there was potential for more of these divisive actions. They excommunicated me from the AOG, and I was shunned from all of the denominations we had dealings with. But I rejoiced, knowing full well the One who I had run to for refuge and eventually met individuals who actually believed the same thing! I had believed I was the only one in the universe, but as you can see I have posted a photo of a book I own by a man who details a very similar experience. There is much, much more that could be said fill in the gaps, but I believe this suffices for here and now. But I will say that if a person claims that most of Arminian or Pelagian denominations (over *at Least* 85% of the denominations in the US alone) somehow do not deny the Gospel...their view is either based in: Ignorance (not really understanding what these will worshipers really believe), dishonesty, unbelief (not knowing the difference between the *true* and *false* gospel, yet not being a matter of some furtherance in education on the finer points of Calvinism), or an outright, deliberate obfuscation of the *one true Gospel* of Jesus Christ. Ignorance would be the best case scenario, but I have met, personally, the 4 mentioned types face to face until this very day and will continue to fight this fight of faith. I will also, by God’s grace, continue to fight against the evil doctrines of those who teach that we all somehow believe the same thing, and that it is really just a matter of semantics or perhaps an issue of under-education. This is what many of us call “Tolerant Calvinism,” and this tolerance is the most dangerous movement in most so-called ‘reformed’ churches today. These Tolerant Calvinists would each fall under the same categories as listed above: The Tolerant Calvinist view is either based in: ignorance (not really understanding what these will worshipers really believe), dishonesty, complete unbelief (not knowing the difference between the *true* and *false* gospel) or an outright and deliberate obfuscation of the *one true Gospel* of Jesus Christ. Ignorance would be the best case scenario in my humble opinion (although, in my experience, the most rare scenario.) If you want to know what real, live, full-blown, militant Arminian/Pelagian believes; just converse with one on the street, in Facebook, or in one of their many, many churches. You will find, as most have who have actually taken the time to *fully* engage a religious unbeliever (such as I was), that they really believe almost exactly what we all believed and were taught then as Arminians/Pelagians, and what I now WHOLLY ABDJURE, being a real living Christian who has been given eyes to see Gods great grace displayed in the beautiful image of His Son. The Lord has seen fit, in His sovereignty, to take the inverted cross form my old oath and has turned it upright again! I still do like to be called a Calvinist, but I do believe now what I believed when I was first converted and will be faithfully ordered and preserved by Christ to believe until my earthly pilgrimage is finished. And I pray that all who may read this will rethink what it is they actually believe is Truth, and Error; and if they indeed know the difference. Perhaps God will give you grace to repent of worshipping the idol of relative truth and the father of tolerance and *False Religion.* Jude 1:3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Soli Deo Gloria! ~David Hobson
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 19:43:15 +0000
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