Calvinism is Gospel !

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Paul was not a Roman Catholic Calvinist.

1 Corinthians 9:
19 For though I be free from all men (not just some elect group), yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew (not just some elect group of Jews), that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. (not just some elect group of Gentiles)
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
 
Again, the evidence is so overwhelming that there is no need to explain anything to truthseekers.
However, I intend to keep participating on this dead thread in order to help souls not be misled.
May I suggest you cite one Scripture in support of TULIP and we will begin there here?
Okay then so dont expect me to exegete them if you dont first.
 
Wrong ... nowhere does the Bible assert that nobody can not believe unless they are first born of God and that is certainly not found in those verse.

Regeneration never precedes belief in scripture.

But we know it is futile to correct people who use eisegesis over and over again.
THE VERDICT: The Complete Grammatical Ruin of the Free-Will Timeline

The Desperate Denial: My opponent screams "Wrong" and throws out the word "eisegesis" like a magical spell, hoping it will make the actual text on the page disappear. They confidently claim: "nowhere does the Bible assert that nobody can believe unless they are first born of God and that is certainly not found in those verses." [1]

This is a spectacular display of grammatical blindness. My opponent is not arguing with me; they are arguing with the explicit tense of the verbs chosen by the Holy Ghost. Let us place their bold, textless denial under an unyielding grammatical microscope.



1. The Undeniable Grammatical Proof of 1 John 5:1

My opponent claims that regeneration preceding faith is "not found" in this verse. Let us look at the exact Greek text of 1 John 5:1: [1]

Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων... ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ γεγέννηται.
"Everyone who believes... has been born of God."
  • The Verbs:
    1. "Believes" (pisteuōn) is a Present Active Participle. It describes an action happening right now in the present time.
    2. "Has been born" (gegennētai) is a Perfect Passive Indicative verb. [1, 2, 3]
  • The Law of Greek Grammar: In the Greek language, the Perfect Tense explicitly denotes an action that was completed in the past, with the ongoing results of that action continuing into the present.
  • The Unavoidable Order: John’s sentence structure states that if you are currently doing the present action (believing), it is because you have already undergone the past action (being born of God). The past birth is the cause; the present belief is the ongoing effect. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • To claim that faith precedes the New Birth in this verse is a flat-out grammatical impossibility. It is equivalent to saying a child's breathing precedes its delivery from the womb. The birth must happen first for the breathing to occur.

2. The Absolute Source Clause of John 1:12-13

My opponent claims that regeneration never precedes belief in Scripture. Let us read John 1:12-13 exactly as it is written:

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
  • The Source of the Believers: John identifies a specific group: "those who believe in His name." He then explicitly tells us the foundational origin of these believers: they "were born... of God." [1]
  • The Elimination of Human Will: John explicitly rules out the human will as the catalyst for this birth: "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man." [1, 2, 3]
  • The Logic: The birth (were born—an Aorist Passive verb denoting a completed past event) is the absolute source of the believing. If they had to believe in order to be born, then the birth would be by the "will of man" choosing to believe. But John explicitly denies this. They believe because they were born of God. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

3. The Absurdity of the "Dead Believer"

My opponent wants us to believe that a sinner can exercise saving faith before they are born again. Think about what their timeline legally and spiritually requires:
  • According to Ephesians 2:1, before a person is born again, they are "dead in trespasses and sins."
  • According to Romans 8:7-8, the carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot be subject to the law of God, nor can it please God.
  • Therefore, my opponent’s theology forces them to claim that a spiritually dead corpse, which is an active enemy of God and incapable of pleasing Him, can independently perform the greatest spiritual act in the universe (saving faith) while still remaining totally dead in the flesh! [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
As John Gill masterfully argued against the free-will heretics of his day:

"Faith is a spiritual action; and a man must have spiritual life before he can perform a spiritual action... Men do not live by faith before they are quickened; but they are quickened that they may live by faith."



THE FINAL CHARGE

My opponent throws around the word "eisegesis" because they have no grammatical defense.
  • I have given you the Perfect Tense of 1 John 5:1.
  • I have given you the Aorist Passive Source of John 1:13.
  • I have given you the Absolute Inability of John 3:3 and Romans 8:7.
My opponent has given us nothing but an angry denial and an empty assertion. The Greek text stands like an iron wall against their free-will timeline. You do not believe to get born again; you believe because the Sovereign Holy Ghost has already shattered your dead heart and given you the New Birth.

Yield to the grammar of the Holy Ghost, opponent, or admit that you prefer human philosophy over the text of Scripture. Soli Deo Gloria.


 
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Yes, And I have been all this with you already. And if not you, another rival, so please rehearse what I have already stated.

I find certain expressions being used as 'uncomfortable'. How or why, does a presumed believer in Christ call another presumed believer in Christ, a 'rival'? I would not shy away from this attachment as being anything other than the undue influence of one
Prof. David Engelsma, the inspiration and constant companion throught this thread of the op.

We find this professor referring to people who question his theories as 'rivals' or 'opponents' in posts by the op in which he has extensively copy/pasted as replies to those, including myself, who cannot find a letter of calvinism in any translation of the Bible.

This is a spectacular shift from his one line questions or observations of earlier posts such as

'Sorry, those in the flesh cannot please God, dont matter who it is Rom 8:8'

'I think you are under the deception of satan friend.'

'Are you going to explain or not ? Quit dodging and evading'

and various other detailed perversions of scriptures presented. Thankfully Prof. Engelsma has provided the op with a far greater
observance and expression of Calvinism/Reformed, for which the op must be very greatful.

Sadly, in a post to follow this one, Prof. Engelsma has provided a unique observance of the lineage of Jesus which I have not been able to identify with Calvinism but it's always good to see a more rounded understanding of the personality of an individual rather than simply summing up character by even major error, such as Calvinism.

Stay tuned ;)
 
Wrong ... nowhere does the Bible assert that nobody can not believe unless they are first born of God and that is certainly not found in those verse.

Regeneration never precedes belief in scripture.

But we know it is futile to correct people who use eisegesis over and over again.


It is very true!

2 Timothy 4:3​
For the time will come when people will not put up with/tolerate sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.


No sense trying to nullify what we are told.
It remains truth!
It is going to happen.


.......
 
Calvinism is the Gospel for its doctrines of Grace set the foundation for Salvation by Grace, This makes it imperative to start with total inability of man in the matters of God and Salvation, because man is dead in sin from the start. Jesus said to His disciples this Matt 19:23-26

23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

25 ;When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Hence being saved, with men its impossible ! Salvation is only possible with God, only He can save, and that by Grace !

Grace finds the sinner dead in trespasses and sins Eph 2:5

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)

There are no conditions a dead person can act, he is at the mercy of God ! Hence with God all things are possible. 51
 
It's correct that we are called to God to be His people. He will call whom He pleases...
We are then to out our faith in Jesus to abide with Him and be saved. Faith is not works and doesn't remove from His sacrifice in any way. We are to put our faith in Him (Mark 16:16) and not fall away (Hebrews 6:4-6).

If we are God's people, we are to remain so. Works then will stem from this lige with Jesus if we love Him and believe in Him.
There is a General (or External) Call, this is the universal offer of the Gospel. The Bible commands the message of salvation to be preached to all people, indiscriminately. In this sense, a general invitation is extended, but many reject it or remain indifferent.

But the Effectual (or Internal) Call is an inward work of the Holy Spirit. Humanity is spiritually "dead" in sin, no one can choose God on their own. Therefore, God must sovereignly and effectively "call" individuals. This call opens the heart, changes the will, and always results in repentance, faith, and salvation.


While the Gospel is universally proclaimed to everyone, only the chosen (the "elect") are given the internal, effectual call that truly makes them God's people.

Faith is a gift from God, it's not an inherent choice that a spiritually dead person can make on their own. However, once God regenerates the heart, the individual freely chooses to believe. God's gift and man's choice work together rather than cancelling each other out.

Abiding in Christ is a work of Gods grace, not human effort. The ability to remain in Christ and produce spiritual fruit originates entirely from the Holy Spirit, the merit of Christ's sacrifice, and God's sovereign preservation.

Your suggestion that "If we are Gods people, we are to remain so", is not found in the Bible, it may be your view but it's unbiblical.
 
I agree, David acknowledged the Chosen of God Ps 106:5

That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

Gill wrote of this verse:
Many Christians believe that they contribute something to their salvation, but the Bible doesn't support this view.
The Bible affirms that all things come from God. Verses like James 1:17 and 1 Corinthians 4:7 state that every good gift and our very abilities originate from Him. Deuteronomy 8:18 notes that God gives the ability to produce wealth.

God owns everything. Humans are merely stewards of God’s possessions, a concept anchored in passages like Psalm 24:1 ("The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it").

Because God sovereignly determines and provides all things, no one can boast in their possessions, talents, or even their faith, as everything is a gift of grace.

Since God preserves and provides all things, the proper human response should be profound, continuous thankfulness, humility, and generous stewardship of what has been entrusted to us.
 
I ask rhetorical questions to get you thinking. Think, Eve wasn't born; she was created. She was a sinner. Before her conversation with Satan, she was already thinking about the tree and its fruit. Satan didn't command Eve to eat of the tree. She already wanted to eat of the tree.

The story that Satan rules over us is a fictional narrative that blames the wrong person for our sin. The pretend narrative that you believe allows you to soften your role in your sin. The devil made you do it. When the Lord confronted Adam about eating from the tree, he blamed his wife. We all need someone to blame, or else we will have to confess that we are sinners.
Nobody is suggesting that we blame Satan for our sin, we're more than capable of sinning without any help from the Devil.
Satan knew He couldn't deceive Adam, so He went after the weaker vessel. He beguiled her and caused her to sin. There's nothing to suggest that she would have eaten of that tree if the Serpent didn't use His craftiness and cunning to convince her.
She then seduced Adam into joying her by lying to him, just as the Serpent lied to her.

Because they disobeyed God and obeyed Satan, they became subject to His rule and dominion over them. Satan gained legal authority over them and the rest of mankind by default. Adam is our Federal Head, so we're all born as slaves to sin and Satan.
 
There is a General (or External) Call, this is the universal offer of the Gospel. The Bible commands the message of salvation to be preached to all people, indiscriminately. In this sense, a general invitation is extended, but many reject it or remain indifferent.

But the Effectual (or Internal) Call is an inward work of the Holy Spirit. Humanity is spiritually "dead" in sin, no one can choose God on their own. Therefore, God must sovereignly and effectively "call" individuals. This call opens the heart, changes the will, and always results in repentance, faith, and salvation.


While the Gospel is universally proclaimed to everyone, only the chosen (the "elect") are given the internal, effectual call that truly makes them God's people.

Faith is a gift from God, it's not an inherent choice that a spiritually dead person can make on their own. However, once God regenerates the heart, the individual freely chooses to believe. God's gift and man's choice work together rather than cancelling each other out.

Abiding in Christ is a work of Gods grace, not human effort. The ability to remain in Christ and produce spiritual fruit originates entirely from the Holy Spirit, the merit of Christ's sacrifice, and God's sovereign preservation.

Your suggestion that "If we are Gods people, we are to remain so", is not found in the Bible, it may be your view but it's unbiblical.

No, the tulip view of effectual call/irresistible grace makes God responsible for showing favoritism/not calling all,
contradicting/blaspheming divine omnilove and justness (Matt. 5:44&48, 1Tim. 2:3-4, John 3:16, Rom. 2:5-16).
 
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Many Christians believe that they contribute something to their salvation, but the Bible doesn't support this view.
The Bible affirms that all things come from God. Verses like James 1:17 and 1 Corinthians 4:7 state that every good gift and our very abilities originate from Him. Deuteronomy 8:18 notes that God gives the ability to produce wealth.

God owns everything. Humans are merely stewards of God’s possessions, a concept anchored in passages like Psalm 24:1 ("The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it").


Because God sovereignly determines and provides all things, no one can boast in their possessions, talents, or even their faith, as everything is a gift of grace.

Since God preserves and provides all things, the proper human response should be profound, continuous thankfulness, humility, and generous stewardship of what has been entrusted to us.

The NT does not attribute evil to God, nor does it teach that most sinners cannot repent, seek and find God's best gift/salvation,
which would be an excuse for not doing so (Rom. 1:20).
 
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Nobody is suggesting that we blame Satan for our sin, we're more than capable of sinning without any help from the Devil.
Satan knew He couldn't deceive Adam, so He went after the weaker vessel. He beguiled her and caused her to sin. There's nothing to suggest that she would have eaten of that tree if the Serpent didn't use His craftiness and cunning to convince her.
She then seduced Adam into joying her by lying to him, just as the Serpent lied to her.

Because they disobeyed God and obeyed Satan, they became subject to His rule and dominion over them. Satan gained legal authority over them and the rest of mankind by default. Adam is our Federal Head, so we're all born as slaves to sin and Satan.

Tulipists may not blame Satan for sin, but they blame God for not enabling sinners to repent.
 
No, the tulip view of effectual call/irresistible grace makes God responsible for showing favoritism/not calling all,
contradicting/blaspheming divine omnilove and justness (Matt. 5:44&48, 1Tim. 2:3-4, John 3:16, Rom. 2:5-16).
"When your conditional theology is completely stripped of textual, lexical, and grammatical arguments, you resort to emotional, text-free philosophy. You accuse the doctrines of sovereign grace of 'blaspheming' God's character, but your own free-will system turns the Almighty into a helpless, frustrated failure and openly denies the explicit text of Scripture.

Let’s look at the severe legal and logical errors in your emotional tantrum:

1. You Confuse Sovereign Mercy with 'Favoritism'

You claim that an Effectual, discriminating Call represents unfair 'favoritism' and violates God's justice. You are exposing a total ignorance of basic courtroom law.

Favoritism, or 'respect of persons' (prosōpolēmpsia), occurs when a judge takes a bribe or favors one criminal over another based on external wealth, status, or race. It applies strictly to the execution of justice, not the distribution of mercy. [1]

Before the bar of God's absolute holiness, the entire human race is a mass of guilty, condemned, treasonous rebels who deserve nothing but the lake of fire (Romans 3:19). If a governor chooses to pardon a specific group of death-row inmates, he is not showing 'unfair favoritism' to those who are pardoned, nor is he being 'unjust' to those who are executed. The ones who are executed receive pure justice (the exact wages they earned), and the ones who are released receive pure mercy. [1, 2]

God is never unjust to a single soul. The reprobate receive the precise penal justice their sins deserve, and the Elect receive the sovereign mercy that Christ effectively purchased for them at Calvary. The Holy Spirit explicitly anticipated and crushed your emotional complaint in Romans 9:14-15:

“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” [1, 2]

2. Your Universal 'Omnilove' Theory Makes God a Powerless Bystander

You throw out John 3:16 and 1 Timothy 2:4 to argue that God desperately wishes to save every single individual human being without exception. [1]

Think through the blasphemous implications of your own system: If God absolutely desires to save every individual, and yet billions of people finish in the lake of fire for eternity, then your god is an absolute failure. It means human free will is more powerful than God’s love. It means the creature’s stubbornness has completely defeated the desire of the Creator. Your 'omnilove' is a helpless emotion that stands outside a prison cell weeping, unable to turn the key.

In High Calvinism, God’s saving love is not a powerless wish; it is an omnipotent, unchangeable, and completely successful covenant power. God does not merely 'offer' salvation; He effectively saves everyone He loves. He doesn't stand by and watch His loved ones rot in the graveyard of sin; He sovereignly speaks life into them and drags them out of the grave (Ephesians 2:4-5). God's love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). 100% of the people God loves are infallibly guaranteed to be glorified in heaven. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Furthermore, you cite Matthew 5:44-48 to prove universal saving love, completely missing the category. Jesus states that God makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. That is providential common benevolencegiving food and sunshine to rebels in time. It is not saving grace. Giving a wicked man rain does not mean Christ shed His blood to save him from the penalty of hell. [1, 2, 3, 4]

3. Romans 2:5-16 Utterly Condemns Your Free-Will Timeline

Your citation of Romans 2 to disprove sovereign election is perhaps your greatest blunder yet. Paul states in Romans 2 that God will render to every man according to his deeds, and that those who are contentious and do not obey the truth will face indignation and wrath. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Let's follow Paul’s legal brief to its explicit conclusion just one chapter later in Romans 3:10-11: “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”

If God judges humanity strictly based on their own natural free-will performance as outlined in Romans 2, 100% of the human race matches the description of the wicked and goes directly to hell. Romans 2 is a legal trap designed to prove universal guilt and total inability, not human capability! The only reason any elect soul escapes that wrath is because Christ bore the penalty for them, and the Father executes an Effectual Call to sovereignly give them a new nature. [1]

You can scream 'favoritism' all you want, but you cannot scream your way past the text. I stand on the words of Scripture which reveal that our God is in the heavens, and He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased (Psalm 115:3). Your system worships a frustrated deity who is at the mercy of His creatures; my system bows before the absolute, unbending King of Kings '+ nothing.'"
 
THE VERDICT: The Complete Grammatical Ruin of the Free-Will Timeline

The Desperate Denial: My opponent screams "Wrong" and throws out the word "eisegesis" like a magical spell, hoping it will make the actual text on the page disappear. They confidently claim: "nowhere does the Bible assert that nobody can believe unless they are first born of God and that is certainly not found in those verses." [1]

This is a spectacular display of grammatical blindness. My opponent is not arguing with me; they are arguing with the explicit tense of the verbs chosen by the Holy Ghost. Let us place their bold, textless denial under an unyielding grammatical microscope.



1. The Undeniable Grammatical Proof of 1 John 5:1

My opponent claims that regeneration preceding faith is "not found" in this verse. Let us look at the exact Greek text of 1 John 5:1: [1]


  • The Verbs:
    1. "Believes" (pisteuōn) is a Present Active Participle. It describes an action happening right now in the present time.
    2. "Has been born" (gegennētai) is a Perfect Passive Indicative verb. [1, 2, 3]
  • The Law of Greek Grammar: In the Greek language, the Perfect Tense explicitly denotes an action that was completed in the past, with the ongoing results of that action continuing into the present.
  • The Unavoidable Order: John’s sentence structure states that if you are currently doing the present action (believing), it is because you have already undergone the past action (being born of God). The past birth is the cause; the present belief is the ongoing effect. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • To claim that faith precedes the New Birth in this verse is a flat-out grammatical impossibility. It is equivalent to saying a child's breathing precedes its delivery from the womb. The birth must happen first for the breathing to occur.

2. The Absolute Source Clause of John 1:12-13

My opponent claims that regeneration never precedes belief in Scripture. Let us read John 1:12-13 exactly as it is written:


  • The Source of the Believers: John identifies a specific group: "those who believe in His name." He then explicitly tells us the foundational origin of these believers: they "were born... of God." [1]
  • The Elimination of Human Will: John explicitly rules out the human will as the catalyst for this birth: "not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man." [1, 2, 3]
  • The Logic: The birth (were born—an Aorist Passive verb denoting a completed past event) is the absolute source of the believing. If they had to believe in order to be born, then the birth would be by the "will of man" choosing to believe. But John explicitly denies this. They believe because they were born of God. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

3. The Absurdity of the "Dead Believer"

My opponent wants us to believe that a sinner can exercise saving faith before they are born again. Think about what their timeline legally and spiritually requires:
  • According to Ephesians 2:1, before a person is born again, they are "dead in trespasses and sins."
  • According to Romans 8:7-8, the carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot be subject to the law of God, nor can it please God.
  • Therefore, my opponent’s theology forces them to claim that a spiritually dead corpse, which is an active enemy of God and incapable of pleasing Him, can independently perform the greatest spiritual act in the universe (saving faith) while still remaining totally dead in the flesh! [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
As John Gill masterfully argued against the free-will heretics of his day:





THE FINAL CHARGE

My opponent throws around the word "eisegesis" because they have no grammatical defense.
  • I have given you the Perfect Tense of 1 John 5:1.
  • I have given you the Aorist Passive Source of John 1:13.
  • I have given you the Absolute Inability of John 3:3 and Romans 8:7.
My opponent has given us nothing but an angry denial and an empty assertion. The Greek text stands like an iron wall against their free-will timeline. You do not believe to get born again; you believe because the Sovereign Holy Ghost has already shattered your dead heart and given you the New Birth.

Yield to the grammar of the Holy Ghost, opponent, or admit that you prefer human philosophy over the text of Scripture. Soli Deo Gloria.




I am impressed with the lengths that people will go to, to defend a wrong doctrine, how tragic this is also now in the Philippines.

John is writing to believers, these believers are being influenced by Gnosticism.

When one looks at the context of John's letters, his expression "born of God" and what that expression means to how John speaks
it becomes clear he is not at all placing regeneration before initial belief.

So all the grammar in the world is not going to change the fact that John is NOT speaking about the first act of belief.
This is always the same epic fail of this system.

What is clear that 1 John 5:1 is not referring at all to the initial faith which grants a person eternal life, but rather to the ongoing faith which is necessary for sanctification and godliness.
 
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