In my young life as a Christian, I've come to recognize that the great schism in Christianity is between Calvinism and Arminianism. Monergism vs. Synergism. OSAS vs. Conditional Salvation.
If I'm being honest, I must admit that both sides have scriptural support for their views.
Why did God allow this to happen? He could have written the scriptures in such a way that would have fully supported one position over the other; God did not. How come?
No flaming.
God bless!
I think trying to construct a theology with an acronym like TULIP about God's thoughts, His plans, His design of man and salvation is like putting God in a box. I think it is flawed. I think Arminism is also flawed. Monergism is true, OSAS true but still can't agree totally with Calvin. I think it is high minded to attempt to construct something with such strict parameters. God calls all men to himself, but some resist and reject. Now He knows which ones will come, His sheep. Still, so that the reprobate can't have an excuse that God made them that way, He calls them too, just to be fair. Romans 1 says that man is without excuse given the visible and invisible attributes of God that have been seen and experienced. It is true that God enables man to come to Him. He draws him and through a series of events and people, He orchestrates the whole process. That is what I realized, that He planned it, every little moment that led me closer to Him until He removed my veil of blindness OR He lifted it little by little gradually shedding more light.
Totally Depraved was not quite the write word to use. We are dead in our sins and unable to cure our dilemma. We are therefore Carnal minded. But totally depraved? I guess if you looked at all the humans who died in the Flood, you could say that. But Adam and Eve weren't totally depraved, Abel, Enoch, Noah, etc. Still, can we say man is totally depraved now? Well then we can't say men are without excuse, because that would be an excuse, if they didn't see and experience God in some way. In the USA, this country has been flooded with Biblical principles, Jesus, whether people believe it or not. Jesus has changed the world for the better because we live by these truths. When they reject God and the Bible, they just attribute those truths to something else, like they just evolved, man figured them out.
Unconditional Election? God chose us first, then we were convinced and followed. But He predestined us according to His foreknowledge. Do we know exactly what that knowledge of the individual was? NO! So how can put that into a construct? This time domain is an obstacle for us to wrap our minds around these concepts. God operates outside or our time domain. Go figure how that works.
Limited Atonement? Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for all, but obviously He knew all would not be saved. But the word "limited" kind of takes away from the All Mighty. Sufficient atonement doesn't work in His acronym, Calvin needed to make a nice little neat word. He must of shuffled many words and letters and then settled.
Irresistible Grace? I wonder, people resist. Calvin goes into different kinds of grace, common grace, saving grace ... Grace is grace, it's resistible. I see people who become Christian get excited but then fall away. So in a sense they receive God, then later change their minds and resist? I knew a guy who committed suicide. That is the opposite of faith. What was he thinking? I didn't resist it. My Pastor said he felt like when the calling came, he was dragged down the aisle to the alter. It was God's divine appointment. It is powerful. I wonder if men resist all their lives and then just give in at the last moment like my parents. Good folks, but resistant. So then they were His sheep, but it took them a lifetime of fussing and resisting God. It took them the approach of death to get their attention.
Perseverance of the Saints? I agree with that. OSAS.
Anyways, I would certainly not say I was an Arminian. I guess I am a little of both.
