Arminian Grace
A funny parody of one of the most well-known Christian hymns, which I came across at Challies.com.Arminian "grace!" How strange the sound,
Salvation hinged on me.
I once was lost then turned around,
Was blind then chose to see.
What "grace" is it that calls for choice,
Made from some good within?
That part that wills to heed God's voice,
Proved stronger than my sin.
Thru many ardent gospel pleas,
I sat with heart of stone.
But then some hidden good in me,
Propelled me toward my home.
When we've been there ten thousand years,
Because of what we've done,
We've no less days to sing our praise,
Than when we first begun.
posted by calvinistguy at 12:30 PM
13 Comments:
The funniest song I come across.
John Newton called Calvinism “The doctrine of Amazing grace”
Praise the Lord for opening our spiritual eyes to see His grace is so amazing and so divine!
Lol!!! Hilarious! Brilliant! Haha... I think my arminian friends will be crying for blood if I ever sent them this song...LOL!!
That is hilarious! Do you mind if I put this post link on my blog?
I have a little spot called "'Cites' that are Calvinistically Comical"
No problem. I believe this parody has been posted by many others some time back. Just copy it, link to it or do anything you want with it.
Thanks!
Soli Deo Gloria on the Lord's Day!
This song is not fair to what arminian believe
It seems to suggest that arminian is believe in salvation by good works.
But the truth is that we believed that our salvation is by grace not of any good works.
The crux of the issue here is that Calvinists understand the definition of grace and the relation between grace and faith differently from Arminians. To be more specific, we understand grace to be the sovereign grace of God. When Calvinists affirm that salvation is by grace alone, we maintain that even the faith we possess is a gift of God and not of our own. It is God who implanted the faith in us. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it is written, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
I would not accuse of Arminians of practicing salvation by good works, the same way I will not accuse the Roman Catholics of doing so either. Pelegianism is salvation by good works, which denies the doctrine of Original Sin. The more accurate description of Arminianism and Roman Catholicism is Semi-Pelagianism, which erroneously teaches that all men possess the moral ability to cooperate with the grace of God to attain salvation. While both systems in a sense affirm the doctrine of Original Sin, Arminianism teaches that all men are able to exercise their own faith (libertarian free will that is uninfluenced by God) to cooperate with God’s grace and Roman Catholicism teaches salvation by cooperating with God’s grace through the sacraments.
In other words, both theological systems assume that all men are spiritually sick, rather than spiritually dead. Both systems teach that all men are fallen, but not absolutely and totally fallen to the point of spiritual death i.e. total depravity. Both systems teach salvation by grace plus works (where faith becomes a good work). Both systems place the final burden of salvation on men, rather than on the sovereign grace of God alone. So theologically speaking, Arminianism does teach salvation is partly by works i.e. one's faith.
Very funny, I hadn't seen this before.
I wish to clarify one point: Arminius and Wesley did affirm the doctrine of total depravity (I would give them credit for that), but unfortunately, they have diluted total depravity with the concept of prevenient grace, which cannot be exegetically supported from the Scriptures.
In the end, Wesleyan Arminianism subscribes to the same erroneous belief as Semi-Pelagianism – that the will of natural men is unaffected by the Fall prior to salvation. While Semi-Pelagianism sees the will as not totally destroyed by the Fall, Wesleyan Arminianism sees the will as being restored from the effects of the Fall via "prevenient grace" prior to salvation.
Thank you for your clear explanation. Calvinism seem to be a more consistent than the system of Arminius. Sadly, some churches labeled “Calvinism” as the doctrine of the devil.
Is it possible for a person to be neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian ?
So do you believe that Arminians are saved or lost?
James
Forgot to leave my contact info...
James
I believe that in order to answer this question, we must make a distinction between the system of Arminianism and the people who profess to be Arminians. Arminianism, the system, is neither the gospel nor does it contains biblical gospel truths. A gospel that states Man is not absolutely fallen, that leads to the logical conclusion that Man, not God, is the author of his salvation, that believes Man can resist God’s eternal decrees, and that God lacks the ability to persevere His elect to the end, is not the Gospel.
Are professing Arminians then saved? I would not make a blanket statement that all Arminians are unsaved. For I do believe most professing Arminians are confused about their theology of election. They may stubbornly cling to the notion of Man’s free choice, but would pray like Calvinists where they would ask God to open the hearts of their unsaved loved ones so that they might repent and believe.
In answer to John Sung, I do not believe it is possible to be neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian. The critical question that determines which camp you would fall under is this: Ultimately, what do you believe is the hinge on which the door of salvation turns? Is it Man’s choice or God’s election? If you choose the former, which is Man’s choice, then you are an Arminian. You may be an inconsistent Arminian, but nevertheless still an Arminian.
A Calvinist believes that God is the author and finisher of his salvation. A Calvinist recognizes all men do not deserve to be saved. He knows God is not obligated to save anyone at all. He acknowledges all men are blind to the wonderful things of God and lacks the moral capacity to repent and believe. A Calvinist believes salvation ultimately lies in the power of God that is able to change the hearts of undeserving men.
Post a Comment
<< Home