fralo4truth
Puritan Board Freshman
Hi friends,
I would like to get your responses on something. Some very extreme hyper-calvinists I have to deal with equate Calvinism with Arminianism. They basically assert that if anything whatsoever is done by the sinner (even believing, repenting, confessing) that this is a "work" and and must not be necessary for salvation. Here are some quotes recently sent to me. I'm interested in how you all would respond to some of these charges, and the best way to refute them.
• The “work” of the Calvinist is “believing” the gospel message
• The Calvinist system is: Grace plus Works for Salvation and Grace plus Works to Persevere to the end
• They could use the phrase “saved by grace” but the rules must be kept (with God’s help) in order to obtain and keep eternal salvation. It is a mixture of grace
and works!
• Calvinism is based on commandment keeping (works) but it is coated with grace. By keeping a commandment i.e. believing in Jesus Christ, (even with God’s
gracious help) we obtain or gain eternal life
• Jesus said that believing on Him is a work in John 6: 28, 29. But faith is a work and works and grace are mutually exclusive! Romans 11:6
As you can tell, to these extremists, salvation by grace means that the sinner remains completely motionless in salvation. If he even "looks to Christ", "inclines his ear", etc,...why this is a work, they say!!!! They completely eliminate the human responsibility side of the equation in salvation altogether!
The premise they follow in their eisegesis is basically this:
If they see a verb in scripture, they automatically conclude it to be a work, and therefore not necessary for salvation.
I would like to get your responses on something. Some very extreme hyper-calvinists I have to deal with equate Calvinism with Arminianism. They basically assert that if anything whatsoever is done by the sinner (even believing, repenting, confessing) that this is a "work" and and must not be necessary for salvation. Here are some quotes recently sent to me. I'm interested in how you all would respond to some of these charges, and the best way to refute them.
• The “work” of the Calvinist is “believing” the gospel message
• The Calvinist system is: Grace plus Works for Salvation and Grace plus Works to Persevere to the end
• They could use the phrase “saved by grace” but the rules must be kept (with God’s help) in order to obtain and keep eternal salvation. It is a mixture of grace
and works!
• Calvinism is based on commandment keeping (works) but it is coated with grace. By keeping a commandment i.e. believing in Jesus Christ, (even with God’s
gracious help) we obtain or gain eternal life
• Jesus said that believing on Him is a work in John 6: 28, 29. But faith is a work and works and grace are mutually exclusive! Romans 11:6
As you can tell, to these extremists, salvation by grace means that the sinner remains completely motionless in salvation. If he even "looks to Christ", "inclines his ear", etc,...why this is a work, they say!!!! They completely eliminate the human responsibility side of the equation in salvation altogether!
The premise they follow in their eisegesis is basically this:
If they see a verb in scripture, they automatically conclude it to be a work, and therefore not necessary for salvation.