I have not seen Cameron pushing TULIP. Liars claim he does, though.
Consider these Scriptural truths if you dare. Man up.
"Free will" in the Bible? ~ Freedom is something believers are called to (Galatians 5 verse 13). We need Jesus to “set us free” (Galatians 5 verse 1). If Jesus has not freed us from the bondage of sin, then we are still slaves to sin (Romans 6 verses 6-7). Freedom is found in the presence of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3 verse 17). Only Jesus can give us true freedom (John 8 verse 36). Only through His lovingkindness can we truly make choices unfettered by a nature that is inherently hostile toward God.
MFW in the Bible:
56. M –
Gen. 2:17 begins the biblical revelation of God’s moral nature and requirement and is followed up by
Gen. 6:5-6 revealing that God is grieved by sin, which truth Paul noted in
Eph. 4:30. A main point of the Sermon on the Mount (
Matt. 5-7) per Jesus in
Matt. 5:20 is that souls should be righteous, and main point of the Sermon on Salvation (
Rom. 1-11) per Paul in
Rom. 3:21-22 is that righteousness is attained through faith in Jesus as Lord (cf.
Acts 16:30-31).
57. F –
Deut. 30:19 is one of the clearest statements of the condition of volition in Scripture, and Jesus lamented the sinful misuse of this divine gift in
Matt. 23:37. Jesus commanded the correct application of volition in
Matt. 7:7 (cf.
Heb. 11:6). Paul indicates that God enables sinners to seek salvation in
Rom. 2:4, where he says that God’s kindness toward sinners leads them toward repentance. In
1Tim. 2:3-4 Paul taught that God wants all souls to be saved, but he lamented that many resisted God’s will in
Acts 28:26-27, like Jesus did in
Matt. 13:14-15.
58. W – The short version of Paul’s Sermon on Salvation in Romans is found in
Eph. 2:8-10, which states that God’s grace is received through faith, not works, implying that the condition of cooperating (called partnership in
Phil. 1:4-5, cf.
2:12-13) with God both by professing Christ at conversion (from first/first day) and by producing the fruit of the Spirit during sanctification (to last/the day of Christ Jesus) is NOT meritorious or a reason to think salvation is earned (
Rom. 1:17). However, choosing to disbelieve God or resist His kindness does manifest spiritual separation from His blessings and warrant eventual experiencing of divine wrath per
Rom. 2:4-6 (cf.
Matt. 23:37).
The concerns of those who accept TULIP—to affirm the sovereignty of God and the inability of souls to earn salvation—are valid, but the solutions are problematic, because they deny or ignore Scripture teaching the love of God for all sinners and the moral accountability of sinners for rejecting the love of God, thereby effectively perverting the Gospel (
Gal. 5:6) and impugning God’s justness/righteousness (
Psa. 33:5,
Isa. 9:7).
The apparent reasons for these errors are threefold: 1. Ignorance of Scripture that contradicts their dogma, such as those teaching the possibility of apostasy, 2. Viewing faith as a meritorious work rather than as the non-meritorious condition of cooperating with God’s grace, and 3. Unconcern about portraying God as unjust by showing favoritism toward the elect. Once these errors are cured by including Scripture supporting MFW, doctrinal harmony is enhanced.
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