Dare I go here. Why not? Nobody reads my blog anyway.
I just needed to get this one of my chest. Whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian- I don’t truly care. The way I see you though is based on the amount of chatter you give to your argument- whichever side you’re on. Let’s face it- it’s one of those questions we’ll have to ask in heaven. The topic has been debated for centuries so why would we have the answer now. The more dogmatic you are about your particular persuasion the less credibility you have in my sight. I wonder how your heavenly father views it.
I personally lean much more towards the Arminian side of the debate but again who cares. All this topic can do is divide the Body of Christ. I believe we can all agree it will not unite us. Is it a matter of doctrine that will affect our eternal salvation- I think most would agree that it is not. So other than our personal ego’s why do we feel the need to debate it.
I wake up many mornings and want to be a Calvinist. It would make things so much easier to believe that God predestined certain people to be saved and certain to be condemned- which logically would have to follow. I want to make sense of this world, outside of “take heart I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Calvinism helps me make sense of the world. It helps me when family members who did not believe pass on. It helps me with the problem of pain and despair in this world. It helps me when I think of other religions and the masses on the wide path leading to destruction. I do believe certain things are predestined in our lives and that others are carried out by our free will.
I cannot personally put God in a box though. Of course the argument is always limited atonement so I won’t even talk about it. I think more in lines with C.S. Lewis. God is beyond time and space and our minds cannot grasp him for we think it terms of time and space. For me to say that God’s plan is this or that is a bit arrogant for me personally. Outside of his will being that none should perish (2 Pet 3:9), I’ll just have to leave that one alone. I do know this: trying to persuade others to take your side of this debate is not unifying the Body of Christ. It screams pharisee. It screams legalism. Whichever view you have.
Let the Calvinist be Calvinist and let the Arminian be Arminian and let’s get on with the great commission.
