This is the last post for the Calvinism Series, I will be starting the 5 Solas, possibly next week, Im debating on whether to take a week off from thematic Posting! Anyways here's the last posting, check out this DVD called "Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism" it is a great 2 DVD set it gets very in-depth on Calvinism. Invest in it, CLICK HERE it will take you to the Amazon.com link for it!
Explaining the "Perseverance of the Saints"?
"The perseverance of the saints" is perhaps better construed as the "preservation of the saints".
The idea is that those that the Lord graciously saves by granting faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) he will graciously keep by keeping them in the faith.
Biblical support:
1) Those who are the Lord's sheep cannot be plucked out of Jesus' or his Father's hands. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30)
The emphasis is not on the saints ability to persevere, but on the Lord's faithfulness and ability to hold onto us. Thus, to object that the person in the Lord's hand is able to snatch themselves out would, according to verse 29 suggest that somehow they at least are in some sense greater than the Lord. Futhermore, the first promise, that they shall never perish, has no qualifications about people snatching them out of His hand at all. It is entirely unconditional. His sheep will never perish, period.
More biblical reflection might come from John 3:36 (present possesion of eternal life) Romans 8:30 (as many as are justified are glorified - so much so that the glorified is past tense!), Ephesians 31:13-14 (the present seal of the Holy spirit guaratees future inheritance).
2) This is never to be used to suggest that all who profess faith faith are eternally secure. The parable of the sower holds true. There are many who profess faith who never posses saving faith. They never have been saved. Thus it is only those who persevere to the end who have ever received saving faith.
Note the tenses of Hebrews 3:14: "We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first."
If we don't persevere, we will show that we never shared in Christ - we were never saved.
We must recongnise that the Lord keeps us by use of means. It is not that a profession of faith saves us. Persevering faith saves us, for saving faith always perseveres. If the Lord gives us saving faith, he will use means (such as Scripture, the church, the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit) to keep us repenting and trusting in Jesus.
Or as Jude puts it, he keeps us from falling out of His love by calling us to keep ourselves in God's love, and enabling us by his Spirit to obey that command, and through the comunity of the church that will always be calling us back to repentance. "Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 1:21-25)
The Baptist, John Bunyan puts it well:
The Father's grace provideth and layeth up in Christ, for those that he hath chosen, a sufficiency of all spiritual blessings, to be communicated to them at their need, for their preservation in the faith, and faithful perseverance through this life; "not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:3,4). Further reading from Baptists (There have always been baptists who have held to the perseverance of the saints).
Mark Dever is an Alliance Council member and senior minister of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC.
I asked my friend Mitch (TruthWar) a couple weeks back to pick one of the 5 points of Calvinism and to write something on it so that I can post it. The following is his bit, you can visit his Blog here! Don't forget to Listen to Last weekends Sermon and to listen to "Who can pluck us" by Flame on my Media Player track 1 & 2!
Can a believer lose their salvation? Stick around if you aren’t sure because this theology has major ramifications. What is perseverance of the saints(POTS)? It is a hotly debated issue, and very much confusion surrounds it. In my opinion, the confusion arises due to a lack of understanding of covenant. If you understand Gods character and how he deals with his covenant partners, you will believe in perseverance of the saints. If your understanding of covenant is off, many areas of your theology will suffer.
Lets get a good definition on the table before we go any further.
The perseverance of the saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again. Wayne Grudem from Systematic Theology (pg. 788)
The most important part of this theology is the assertion that “all those who are truly born again” will be kept by God’s power. Many people are confused because people who claim to be Christians end up becoming homosexuals, raging atheists or sexually deviant crack dealers. Most people think that these “Christians” have just backslidden, and are truly saved. Does the Bible teach that it is possible for Christians to live in habitual sin? First we need to understand what a true Christian looks like, then it will make sense when we see professing Christians fall away.
True Christians are people who recognize their own sinful state before God. Most professing Christians do not believe they are wretched sinners who deserve God’s just wrath, but rather good people who have made mistakes. They do not come to God in repentance for sinning against him and spitting in his face, but instead greedily seeking his good gifts. Many people come to Jesus because they have a “god shaped whole in their heart” and are seeking fulfillment. This is not a biblical phrase, but instead is a man centered phrase taken from a Bible verse which was violently ripped from its proper context. Jesus does not wait outside the door of a sinners heart waiting to come in. Jesus kicks the door in with a size 12 steel toed combat boot and intrudes into the sinners heart without permission and then rips the heart of stone out, and replaces it with a heart of flesh. When sinners are given a new heart, they now desire to please Jesus and that means they hate sin and love God. They will desire to read their Bibles, go to church, pray, live in holiness and worship Jesus with their lives. It is impossible to be justified (made right with God) and not be in the process of sanctification (being made more holy).
When we speak of “once saved, always saved,” we are not taking into account the full scope of salvation. We have been saved (justification), was are being saved (sanctified), and we will one day be saved (glorified). You cannot claim to have been “saved” (justified) unless you are being sanctified. Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. Michael Horton from Putting the Amazing Back into Grace (pg. 171)
Some people have a false view of POTS because they try and separate sanctification and justification. They teach that it is OK to be “carnal” and still be a Christian. People who reject POTS do so many times because they think that its adherents are arguing for antinomianism (no law). There were people in history who said that Christians could live in complete sin, because we were dead to the law. Antinomianism is heresy, and no true Christian believes its acceptable to live in habitual sin. It is important to make the distinction that true Christians must live a holy life, not to be saved but as evidence of true saving faith. Stated plainly, if you do not persevere in the faith, it is evidence that you were never truly saved.
The main 2 reasons I believe POTS is because God is powerful and that He always keeps his covenants. God always keeps his covenants, he is unable to break them because of his nature. There are many verses that speak about God sealing his believers with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
2 Corinthians 1:22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthains 5:5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
These 4 verses all have a similar meaning. When a person is born again, God places the Holy Spirit within them to dwell. Upon the Spirit of God entering a person, they are sealed for the day of redemption. It is also said in 2 Cor 1:22 that the spirit is a seal on us as a “guarantee” or an “earnest”. The Greek word used for guarantee is ἀρραβῶνα arrabon, which means earnest-money, caution-money deposited in case of purchasers, generally a pledge.
With this defenition, it claims that God placed a down payment or a deposit on HIS possession. This means that we cannot be lost eternally because we have been given the spirit as a downpayment. God has made an eternal covenant with his people, and it cannot be broken.
John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Jesus is a perfect savior who says that he will not lose any that the Father has given him. God chooses his people in election, Jesus comes to die for his people and the Spirit comes to give them life. The triunity of God is shown clearly in the doctrine of soteriology.
John 17: 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
These verses are very clear. The Father gives people to the Son, the Son then dies for them and guards them so that they wont be lost. The reason Christians cannot lose their salvation is because Jesus is the one guarding our faith.
Here is a list of verses that teach of God’s everlasting covenant with his people.
Perseverance of the saints 1. Its definition The basic gist of this doctrine is the simple fact of once saved always saved. It is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture, if not the grandest. this says that it is possible to be sure of your salvation and that once you are saved you cannot backslide, and when destined for the kingdom you will never go to hell. The term "perseverance of the saints" emphasize that believes ("saint, as Paul calls them in his letters) will persevere in their faith. The problem with this term though is that it emphasizes the Christians work in the matter, as if we could do something to earn our salvation.
If we use the term "perseverance of Christ" we now have Him more in focus but though God does persevere, this particular terminology does not emphasize the fact that God helps US persevere. In Edwin H. Palmers book the ,"The 5 points of Calvinism" He states that 'the correct term then would be preservation of the saints'. This term emphasizes the fact that the saints are preserved (obviously by God), and absolves any hint of human works in the matter". Also in R.C. Sproul states in his book chosen by God "this term (perseverance of the saints) is not wrong but can be misleading". 2. In Scriptural Basis All five of the points (Of Calvinism) stand or fall together. The doctrine of Preservation of the saints naturally follows from the Biblical fact of Unconditional Election. Election basically means that God chose some to be saved. He has ordained with certainty they will go to the Kingdom of Heaven. If, as the Arminians say, it is possible fore someone whom God has elected to slip away from the faith after he began to believe, then their is no ELECTION! In Romans 8:29, Paul says "that those whom He foreknew, that is 'foreloved', He also foreordained to Heaven, and those He foreordained He also called, Justified, and glorified. Here Paul clearly states that those who Christ elected(foreordained) He also predestined to Heaven. Now if someone can backslide, then Gods election has no meaning, but more to the point I'm trying to make, if, as Paul says, God foreordains some to Heaven, and He has all power to do so, then logically, He preserves them.
Have a great day, and catch witht he prior posts! Make sure you listen to last weeks SERMON (#2 on the Media Player on the right) and the song WHO CAN PLUCK US by Flame (# 1)!
I posted the Sermon from this past weekend, again its on Marriage, and its number 2 on my Media Player on the right! Make sure you listen to it, its FIRE! The Church is Grace and Truth! Make sure you check the Song "Who can Pluck us" by Flame, number 1 on the Media Player, its keeping with the theme of the week "Perseverance of the Saints".
Hey watch this video before anything, it will definitely bring tears to your eyes!
It follows from what was just said that the people of God WILL persevere to the end and not be lost. The foreknown are predestined, the predestined are called, the called are justified, and the justified are glorified. No one is lost from this group. To belong to this people is to be eternally secure.
But we mean more than this by the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. We mean that the saints will and must persevere in the obedience which comes from faith. Election is unconditional, but glorification is not. There are many warnings in Scripture that those who do not hold fast to Christ can be lost in the end.
The following seven theses summarize our understanding of this crucial doctrine.
Our faith must endure to the end if we are to be saved.
This means that the ministry of the word is God's instrument in the preservation of faith as well as the begetting of faith. We do not breathe easy after a person has prayed to receive Christ, as though we can be assured from our perspective that they are now beyond the reach of the evil one. There is a fight of faith to be fought. We must endure to the end in faith if we are to be saved.
l Corinthians 15:1,2, "Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain."
Colossians 1:21-23, "And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel..."
2 Timothy 2:ll,l2, "The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him..."
Mark 13:13, "But he who endures to the end will be saved."
Obedience, evidencing inner renewal from God, is necessary for final salvation.
This is not to say that God demands perfection. It is clear from Philippians 3:l2,l3 and l John 1:8-10 and Matthew 6:l2 that the New Testament does not hold out the demand that we be sinlessly perfect in order to be saved. But the New Testament does demand that we be morally changed and walk in newness of life.
Hebrews 12:14, "Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."
Romans 8:l3, "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
Galatians 5:l9-2l, "Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not enter the kingdom of God." (See also Ephesians 5:5 and l Corinthians 6:l0.)
l John 2:3-6, "And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, 'I know him' but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." (See also 1 John 3:4-10, 14; 4:20.)
This is why we believe in eternal security--namely, the eternal security of the elect. the implication is that God will so work that those whom he has chosen for eternal salvation will be enabled by him to persevere in faith to the end and fulfill, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the requirements for obedience.
Romans 8:28-30, "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his propose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified." What is evident from this passage is that those who are effectually called into the hope of salvation will indeed persevere to the end and be glorified.
John 10:26-30, "You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (See also Ephesians 1:4-5.)
There is a falling away of some believers, but if it persists, it shows that their faith was not genuine and they were not born of God.
l John 2:l9, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be made plain that they all are not of us." Similarly, the parable of the four soils as interpreted in Luke 8:9-l4 pictures people who "hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in a time of temptation fall away."
The fact that such a thing is possible is precisely why the ministry of the Word in every local church must contain many admonitions to the church members to persevere in faith and not be entangled in those things which could possibly strangle them and result in their condemnation.
God justifies us on the first genuine act of saving faith, but in doing so he has a view to all subsequent acts of faith contained, as it were, like a seed in that first act.
What we are trying to do here is own up to the teaching of Romans 5:l, for example, that teaches that we are already justified before God. God does not wait to the end of our lives in order to declare us righteous. In fact, we would not be able to have the assurance and freedom in order to live out the radical demands of Christ unless we could be confident that because of our faith we already stand righteous before him.
Nevertheless, we must also own up to the fact that our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith. The way these two truths fit together is that we are justified through our first act of faith because God sees in it (like he can see the tree in an acorn) the embryo of a life of faith. This is why those who do not lead a life of faith with its inevitable fruit of obedience simply bear witness to the fact that their first act of faith was not genuine.
The textual support for this is that Romans 4:3 cites Genesis 15:6 as the point where Abraham was justified by God. This is a reference to an act of faith early in Abraham's career. Romans 4:l9-22, however, refers to an experience of Abraham many years later (when he was 100 years old, see Genesis 21:5, l2) and says that because of the faith of this experience Abraham was reckoned righteous. In other words, it seems that the faith which justified Abraham is not merely his first act of faith but the faith which gave rise to acts of obedience later in his life. (The same thing could be shown from James 2:21-24 in its reference to a still later act in Abraham's life, namely, the offering of his son, Isaac, in Genesis 22.) The way we put together these crucial threads of biblical truth is by saying that we are indeed justified through our first act of faith but not without reference to all the subsequent acts of faith which give rise to the obedience that God demands. Faith alone is the instrument (not ground or basis) of our justification because God makes it his sole means of uniting us to Christ in whom we “become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
God works to cause his elect to persevere.
We are not left to ourselves and our assurance is very largely rooted in the sovereign love of God to perform that which he has called us to do. l Peter 1:5, "By God's power we are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." Jude 24,25, "Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."
l Thessalonians 5:23-24, "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."
Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
l Corinthians 1:8-9, "Jesus Christ will sustain you to the end; guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Therefore we should be zealous to make our calling and election sure.
2 Peter 1:10, "Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Ya gotta listen to this past Lord's Day Sermon, it is Bread for Days! I thank God for Pastor Bob Gianserra, keep doing what you doing Bruh! Don't comprimise, keep preaching the TRUTH, keep feeding us, and MOST IMPORTANTLY we are praying for YOU! The sermon is on Marriage will be posted in the upcoming days.(That is if it was recorded, LOL!!!) Jess listen to this! Put your seatbelt on! Coming in a day or two! Visit the New Blog Links in my recommended links!
And in keeping with this weeks theme, Perseverance of the Saints, I have added this rap song by Flame its called "Who can Pluck us" listen to it, its number 1 on my media player, its an awesome song, even if you're not into Christian Rap you gonna dig this song! I made it available for FREE download for this week only! So just click the arrow next to the tag in the media player, it will open in another page, go to file, then save page as, and save (these instructions are for firefox, dont know if it will work for IE) - ENJOY!>>>
Answer: Perseverance of the Saints is the name that is used to summarize what the Bible teaches about the eternal security of the believer. It answers the question: Once a person is saved, can they lose their salvation? Perseverance of the saints is the P in the acronym TULIP, which is commonly used to enumerate what are known as the five points of Calvinism. Because the name perseverance of the saints can cause people to have the wrong idea about what is meant, some people prefer to use terms like: “Preservation of the Saints,” “Eternal Security,” or “Held by God.” Each of these terms reveals some aspect of what the Bible teaches about the security of the believer. However like any biblical doctrine what is important is not the name assigned to the doctrine but how accurately it summarizes what the Bible teaches about that subject. No matter which name you use to refer to this important doctrine a thorough study of the Bible will reveal that when it is properly understood it is an accurate description of what the Bible teaches.
The simplest explanation of this doctrine is the saying: “Once saved, always saved.” The Bible teaches that those who are born-again will continue trusting in Christ forever. God, by His own power through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, keeps or preserves the believer forever. This wonderful truth is seen in Ephesians 1:13-14 where we see that believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession, to the praise of His glory.” When we are born again, we receive the promised indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that is God’s guarantee that He who began a good work in us will complete it (Philippians 1:6). In order for us to lose our salvation after receiving the promised Holy Spirit, God would have to break His promise or renege on His “guarantee,” which He cannot do. Therefore the believer is eternally secure because God is eternally faithful.
The understanding of this doctrine really comes from understanding the unique and special love that God has for His children. Romans 8:28-39 tells us that 1) no one can bring a charge against God’s elect; 2) nothing can separate the elect from the love of Christ; 3) God makes everything work together for the good of the elect; and 4) all whom God saves will be glorified. God loves His children (the elect) so much that nothing can separate them from Him. Of course this same truth is seen in many other passages of Scripture as well. In John 10:27-30 Jesus says: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Again in John 6:37-47 we see Jesus stating that everyone that the Father gives to the Son will come to Him and He will raise all of them up at the last day.
Another evidence from Scripture of eternal security of a believer is found in verses like John 5:24 where Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” Notice that eternal life is not something we get in the future but is something that we have once we believe. By its very nature eternal life must last forever or it could not be eternal. This passage says that if we believe the Gospel we have eternal life and will not come into judgment, therefore it can be said we are eternally secure.
There is really very little scriptural basis that can be used to argue against the eternal security of the believer. While there are a few verses that, if not considered in their context, might give the impression that one could “fall from grace” or lose their salvation, when these verses are carefully considered in context it is clear that is not the case. Many people know someone who at one time expressed faith in Christ and who might have appeared to be a genuine Christian who later departed from the faith and now wants to have nothing to do with Christ or His church. These people might even deny the very existence of God. For those that do not want to accept what the Bible says about the security of the believer these types of people are proof that the doctrine of eternal security cannot be right. However, the Bible indicates otherwise and it teaches that people such as those who profess Christ as Savior at one time only to later walk away and deny Christ, were never truly saved in the first place. For example 1 John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out from us, in order that it might be made manifest that they all are not truly of us." The Bible is also clear that not everyone who professes to be a Christian truly is. Jesus Himself says that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-22). Rather than proving we can lose our salvation, those people who profess Christ and fall away simply reinforces the importance of testing our salvation to make sure we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5) and making our calling and election sure by continually examining our lives to make sure we are growing in godliness (2 Peter 1:10).
One of the misconceptions about the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is that it will lead to “carnal Christians” who believe that since they are eternally secure they can live whatever licentious lifestyle they wish and still be saved. But that is a misunderstanding of the doctrine and what the Bible teaches. A person who believes they can live any way they want because they have professed Christ is not demonstrating true saving faith (1 John 2:3-4). Our eternal security rests on the biblical teaching that those whom God justifies, He will also glorify (Romans 8:29-30). Those who are saved will indeed be conformed to the image of Christ through the process of sanctification (1 Corinthians 6:11). When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit breaks the bondage of sin and gives the believer a new heart and a desire to seek holiness. Therefore a true Christian will desire to be obedient to God and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit when they sin. They will never “live any way they want” because such behavior is impossible for someone who has been given a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Clearly the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints does accurately represent what the Bible teaches on this important subject. If someone is truly saved, they have been made alive by the Holy Spirit and have a new heart with new desires. There is no way that one that has been “born again” can later be unborn. Because of His unique love for His children, God will keep all of His children safe from harm and Jesus has promised that He would lose none of His sheep. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints recognizes that true Christians will always persevere and are eternally secure because God keeps them that way. It is based on the fact that Jesus, the “author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2), is able to completely save those that the Father has given Him (Hebrews 7:25) and to keep them saved through all eternity.
I was talking to my wife and she suggested I do a series on Doctrine, and after praying and consideration, I am definitely gonna take her up on it. I will be starting the series next week, in this manner, every week I'm going be looking at essential and crucial Doctrinal and Theological subjects, and I will also ask involve friends that may be better studied and so forth. I will feature articles and studies. I will recommend and suggest sound readings, books, and commentators concerning the topic at hand. I already have the first 2 studies:
Five points of Calvin (T.U.L.I.P.) -Total Depravity -Unconditional Election -Limited Atonement -Irresistible Grace -Perserverance of the Saints
Five Solas -Sola Scriptura (by Scripture Alone) -Sola Fide (by Faith Alone) -Sola Gratia (by Grace Alone) -Solus Christus (by Christ Alone) -Sola Dei Gloria (Glory to God Alone)
I will handle a portion of each doctrine, and I may be a couple of days on a section, or maybe 1 day. If for whatever reason something isnt clear, please comment and I will try my best to clarify, or look into the matter further.
I want to thank my wife for this great idea, of course I won't abandon my usual postings of "crazy and heretical findings" but I will be more focused on informative teaching and truths!
I hope you enjoy, and become challenged by what you will hear, read and learn. That really is its intention, that our Lord will use such a thing as this to minister, teach and reveal.
I will try to start the first posting by Monday, it will be on Total Depravity, one of my favorite truths!
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