Soteriology Calvinism, Limited Atonement, Sovereignty 7:11 pm
Many Christians who are struggling with Calvinism find 2 Peter 3:9 to be a difficult passage to understand.
2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (ESV)
Does this mean that if God had His way then no one would go to Hell but everyone would repent? Well, no, not exactly. First of all, to interpret this verse that way (more…)
Soteriology Gospel 12:27 am
Most people futilely try to get the heaven two different ways. Some choose the irreligious way and others the religious way.
The irreligious are essentially hedonist and can be liberal. They are not necessarily mean people; in fact, I know many very kind and wonderful irreligious, agnostics, and atheists. But the irreligious are full of hypocrisy: they claim freedom but are slaves to their sin. Sin has corrupted their body and their relationships. They get tired of it but can’t get free from it (John 8:34).
The other false way that people try to take to get to heaven is the religious way. The religious are moralist, filled with legalism and rules. Even though the religious are also very kind and wonderful, they too are very hypocritical; for they have tried to impress God with their obedience. They try to (more…)
Soteriology 7:01 pm
The doctrine of justification by faith alone was debated during the Reformation on the deeper level of monergistic regeneration. This technical term must be explained.
Monergism is derived from a combination of a prefix and a root. The prefix mono is used frequently in English to indicate that which is single or alone. The root comes from the verb “to work.” The erg of monergy comes into our language to indicate a unit of work or energy. When we put the prefix and root together, we get monergy or monergism. Monergism is something that operates by itself or works alone as the sole active party. (more…)
Soteriology Calvinism, Limited Atonement 7:57 pm
If the word World must be defined as universal in John 3:16, then consider the problems in John 3:26, 32.
In verse 26, ALL does not mean everybody.
In verse 32, NO ONE does not mean the absence of everybody.
No, world in verse 16 is defined in verse 17 as believers. Yes, it is true that God does love all of His creatures, but that is not what verse 16 is talking about. It is a commentary on the Bronze Serpent (see the context), thus it is talking about atonement (GOD GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON). In fact, John the Apostle is pointing out in his gosple that God’s salvific love is not just for Jews only like Nicodemus but for Gentiles as well.
So what is the context? (more…)
