Calvinism vs. Arminianism | Lon Solomon

[Music] well hello everybody welcome to live with lon i'm long and we're so happy to be with you this morning or whenever you're listening you know we're going through the gospels and we're studying them the way they ought to be studied the way the bible ought to be studied and that is taking it at face value believing what it says is what it means and so you know our motto is the bible uh the whole bible and nothing but the bible and hopefully every time you listen to lon solomon speak or anything onlinesolomonministries.com you will hear the bible the whole bible nothing but the bible praise the lord so we're going to get into that in just a second let me remind you about our holy land trip coming up in april it looks like a vaccine is going to be available uh by the end of the year give or take so april should be a perfect time uh check it out on our website dot lonsolomanministries.com okay let's pray and away we go lord we lord jesus we pray that you would indeed develop a vaccine to stop this virus and uh lord i ask for your mercy in that regard that you would give wisdom to those working on this and that you would give success to these trials that are going on and god allow us i pray uh as the human race uh to get back to life is normal show us that mercy i know we don't deserve that mercy and we confess that we know we don't but lord we beseech you to show us that mercy anyway in the meantime give our family safety and protection from this virus and lord now we turn to the word of god and we pray that you would use it today to challenge our thinking and challenge our hearts and speak to us about uh going on fortify our spirits for going on and standing for christ until we meet the lord himself in the air so we commit our time in the word of god to you in jesus name we pray amen all right well we are studying the gospels as you know and we're primarily right now in the synoptic gospels matthew mark and luke we're going to do john as well but we're we're in the synoptic gospels for a while first and last week we talked about uh following jesus and the level of radical commitment that is necessary to be a true follower of jesus if you miss that live with lon i urge you to go back and listen to it uh from the weekend of august 9th but today jesus continues on talking uh to the disciples uh and today he talks to them about um is some of the cities where he has done most of his miracles and yet people have not believed and he he makes an amazing comment that really brings up the whole subject of predestination versus free will election versus free will and calvinism versus armenianism you say ah what is that well i'm gonna explain it to you don't worry and i want you to put your thinking caps on today because we're gonna take up a subject that has confounded uh christian scholars and lay people uh for thousands of years and uh you say so we're gonna answer it we're gonna solve it no we're not because it's unsolvable but we are going to talk about it and make sure that you're well educated and that you know all the issues for yourself so are you ready are you ready all right here we go we're going to begin today in matthew chapter 11. so as of always we're using the new king james version of the bible and we're going to be in matthew chapter 11 beginning at verse 20. so here we go then he jesus began to upgrade the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent woe to you corazon whoa to you bethsaida that side of these were two small villages uh near capernaum on the north side of the sea of galilee in fact peter and andrew were from bethsaida for if look at this for if the mighty works the miracles which were done in you had been done in tyre and sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes now tyron sidon are two phoenician cities modern-day lebanon on the coast of modern day lebanon who were the phoenicians were merely canaanites who had been displaced from the land of canaan when joshua led the people of israel in and they had been pushed north into the land of what is today lebanon these phoenicians as they became known or canaanites were uh incredibly ungodly people uh they sacrificed children they had they were they had immoral temple practices they were they were just profane and degraded people they even started a colony on the north shore of africa called carthage many of you have heard of carthage because the romans fought uh three wars against the carthaginians hannibal with his elephants was a carthaginian but these were nothing more than phoenicians that had moved to that colony there and and again they practiced the most hideous sacrifices and ungodly immoral temple practices temple prostitution all kinds of things like that so uh jesus says that these unrighteous cities these profane people that lived in this city if i had done the miracles there that i've done in you corazon and bethsaida they would have repented in sackcloth and in ashes signs of this what you put on when you repent and you're you're you're grieved by your sin the sackcloth like burlap and you cover yourself with ashes look what else he goes on to say jesus continues and says and you capernaum where his home where his headquarters was you capernaum who are exalted to heaven in your own mind you will be brought down to hades for if the mighty works which were done in you now think of the miracles that were done in capernaum uh the man let down we've already seen a bunch of them they let that man down through the roof on a stretcher uh who was and jesus said your sins are forgiven and healing he healed peter's mother-in-law from her fever he healed the centurion's servant he healed jairus's daughter and raised her from the dead and on and on and on we could go this is what he's talking about he's already done all those miracles if if those miracles had which were done in you had been done in sodom it would have remained until this day but i say to you it will be more tolerable in the day of for sodom in the day of judgment than for you and up in verse 22 he said it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon in the day of judgment than for you so here jesus once again says if i'd have done the miracles in sodom and gomorrah that were destroyed as you know from brim with brimstone from heaven uh if i'd have done those miracles in them they would have repented uh those evil people of sodom and gomorrah but uh but you capernaum have seen these miracles and you haven't repented now the interesting point here that i want you to see is jesus seems to say here that he if he that he knew what it would have taken for the people of tyre and sidon and sodom and gomorrah to have repented but he chose not to do those things in those cities so they didn't repent and so they're going to face the judgment of god in hell because they didn't repent he he he knew what it would take but he chose not to do it for them you understand what i'm saying now that's an interesting comment on the part of jesus uh and it certainly seems here like he is saying i chose that they were not going to repent because i chose not to do of those miracles uh in them wow and you say well then i guess calvinism is right it's only the elect that have a chance to get uh saved and come to christ yeah well no wait a minute wait a minute look at verse 27 all things have been delivered to me by my father and no one knows the son but the father nor does anyone know the father but the son and he to whom the son chooses wills to reveal it okay he didn't choose to reveal it to the people of sodom and gomorrah and he didn't choose to reveal it to the people of tyre and sidon but look at that look at verse 28 come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest come to me everyone some translations say who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest so right on the verge of saying that he chose not to give that opportunity to the people of sodom gomorrah taran sidon he says come to me everyone everyone come to me uh uh but it it but if the elect are the only ones that can come and only jesus only reveals it to who he he wishes to how can he say everyone come this is interesting all right now this brings us to the subject of calvinism and arminianism or something in between uh let me go through very quickly of the uh tenets of each of these and then we're gonna look at the scripture okay let's do calvinism first calvinism can be remembered in its tenants by the mnemonic device tulip t-u-l-i-p t total depravity which means that man cannot turn to god without the holy spirit enabling him because he's totally depraved you stands for unconditional election meaning that god elects the people that are going to go to heaven and he elects who's not going to go to heaven l stands for limited atonement meaning jesus only died on the cross for these elect people i stands for irresistible grace meaning god gives irresistible grace of conviction of sin to the elect so that they must come to christ and he does not give that grace to the unelect the non-elect so they can't come to christ and finally p the perseverance of the saints meaning if you're part of the elect you will come to christ and you will persevere till the end and go to heaven so this was um a little mnemonic that was put together these five principles after the death of john calvin to summarize his teachings now in response to this a gentleman whose last name was arminius came up with an uh a differing theory in armenianism man has free will yes he he has depravity but he has the free will where he can turn to god on his own if he wants to uh and in armenianism uh there is uh unrestricted unlimited atonement jesus died on the cross for everybody and everybody it's open to them to come to christ and in uh armenianism there are no elect uh that god just capriciously elects no no everybody is equally able to come now arminius also believed that you could lose your salvation uh and uh and which calvinism does not believe and that uh you had uh you had to stay faithful uh or you could lose your salvation so this is basically calvinism and armenianism and it basically revolves around the idea of election calvinism god god chooses the elect he chooses them according to whatever he wants there's no formula he chooses them then he gives them irresistible grace so they must come to christ and gives them the ability to persevere arminius says no man has free will now i don't care how much grace you give him or how much conviction of sin you give him by the holy spirit he can still make a decision in his free will to turn god down and walk away from salvation there's no such thing as the elect everybody is free and open to come to christ and your salvation can be lost if you don't stay true to christ all right so that's basically it now let's go to the scripture and see what scriptural basis there is for each of these theories so here we go i'm going to start john 6 44. no one jesus says can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and i will raise him up at the last day so unless god draws you then you can't come to christ and he only draws the elect according to calvinism but how about john 12 32 and i if i am lifted up from the earth i will draw all peoples to myself well this looks like arminianism where jesus says yeah you've got to be drawn to come to me but i'm going to draw once i'm put on the cross i'm going to draw all people to me okay john chapter 12. look at this but although jesus had done so many signs miracles before them they did not believe him that the word of isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spoke lord who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed watch look verse 39 therefore they could not believe because isaiah said he god has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart lest they should see with their eyes lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that i should heal them whoa look at this they could not believe because god says he blinded their eyes and he hardened their hearts no that sure looks like only the elect can come and god hardens the rest but wait a minute wait a minute first timothy 2 look what it says it says for this is good and acceptable in the sight of god our savior who desires look at this all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth god wants everybody to come to christ according to that verse so uh what's this deal about hardening uh the jews so they couldn't come all right let's go on here are some free will verses that show that salvation is open to everyone ready let me show them to you isaiah 55 verse 1 ho everyone who thirsts look at that come to the waters and you will have no money come and buy and eat yes come buy wine and milk without money and without price why do you spend your money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy listen carefully to me and eat what is good let your soul delight itself in abundance incline your ear and come to me here and your soul shall live and i will make an everlasting covenant with you now who is this open to well verse 1 says everyone here's another everyone verse for free will for god so loved the world john 3 16 that he gave his only begotten son that you know the next word whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life uh salvation is open to whoever wants to come to christ in revelation 22 look at this and the spirit and the bride say come and let him who hears say come and let him who thirst come whoever desires let him take the water of life freely you say well okay lawn that settles it man has free will and it's open to everybody okay well let me show you some verses that seem to indicate that only the elect uh come watch ephesians chapter 1 blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ just as he look chose us in him in christ before the foundation of the world god chose who was coming to christ and who didn't that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by jesus christ to god himself according to the good pleasure of his will god chose us ephesians 1 says god predestined us ephesians 1 said before the beginning of the world before we were ever born before there was even a world to live in and he didn't look according to the good pleasure of his will he just decided who he was going to choose and and who he wasn't and look at acts 13 and now when the gentiles heard the gospel from paul they were glad and glorified the word of the lord now look at this and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed well who appointed them to eternal life not paul not barnabas who appointed them to eternal life well god did i i is the implication and whoever he appointed to eternal life believed we said what happened to the people he didn't appoint well they didn't believe well well the holy smokes then god basically chose them not to come to christ uh you see the problem my friends and i could go on but i think it's clear that there are verses on both sides of this thing right so what's the right answer here well uh let me read you what the apostle paul says in romans chapter nine listen to what he says he says for what shall we say then verse 14 is there unrighteousness with god god forbid certainly not for god said to moses i will have mercy on whomever i will have mercy and i will have compassion on whomever i will have compassion so then it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs and tries but it is of god who shows for the scripture says to pharaoh even for this same purpose i have raised you up that i might show my power in you and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth therefore god has mercy on whom he wills and whom he wills he hardened the bible says several times in the old testament god hardened pharaoh's heart so he would not obey god so god could do plague after plague after plague and the red sea on him as it says here in verse 17 to enable god's name to be heard throughout all the earth and you might say to me verse 19 well why does god still find fault who can resist his will do you understand the question the question is if god hardens who he wants and god shows mercy on who he wants then who can resist his will and if we can't resist his will then how can he find fault with any of us if he if he chose you not to come to christ then how can he judge you for that you understand the question well look what paul says paul says verse 20 but indeed o man who are you to reply against god will the thing formed say to him who formed it why have you made me like this does not the potter have the power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor what if god wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction like pharaoh and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy like the israelites which he had prepared for forehand for glory even us whom he is called not of the jews only but also of the gentiles holy smoke you say long what does all that mean exactly well friend i'm not sure i understand a whole 100 percent uh what paul is saying but part of what he's saying for sure is that this is above your pay grade if you're reading this god does what he wants and he he forms his vessels and some are for dishonor some are for honor and who are you to question what god does and to try to figure out whether god's being fair that's why he said at the beginning is there unrighteousness with god no of course not god is not unrighteous and god is not unfair and you say well then how in the world does this work uh friend this has been the question for 2000 years among uh christian scholars and nobody solved it yet and nobody's going to so let me say in conclusion this is one of those things in the bible one of those great issues that has to simply be left in dynamic tension meaning if we go too far one way with election we will get to heresy and if we go too far the other way with man's free will we will get to heresy the early church had heresies on both sides we have to say man has free will yet man is chosen and women that god chooses them and predestines them before the foundation of the world how does that work together i don't know one of the greatest things a preacher can learn to say is i don't know if the bible is clear i'll teach it to you because the bible's clear if the bible is not clear in answering a question then i need to be intellectually honest enough as a preacher to say i don't know how these two fit together i don't know they do somehow but i don't know how it's like the trinity how does the trinity work with god having three persons uh that are all distinct but he's one being i don't know that's what the bible teaches but i have to leave it sitting there in dynamic tension because i don't understand how it works uh what about jesus being fully god and fully man at the same time now i don't know how that works how could that be i don't know but if you take the man part of jesus too far you'll end up in heresy if you take the god part of jesus too far on the other side you'll end up in heresy we have to live with the dynamic tension he is both god and man and how that works together perfectly i don't know and there are a number of these truths in the bible where we just have to say i don't know exactly the bible teaches both ends but i don't know how they how they fit together and we have to be okay with that now that brings us to the end of our study uh but we have a most important question to ask are you ready come on now here we go ready one two three so what yes yes yes yes how sweet it is yes it is you say all right long this is interesting so what's what's the what's the practical uh outworking of this for my life well friends let me just say that there is one way i have found to possibly correlate these two uh truths about free will and election it comes from first peter chapter one it's in verse one and two peter an apostle of jesus christ to the pilgrims in pontius gallatin galatia cappadocia asia and bithynia these were all in asia minor modern-day turkey look verse two elect there's our word but elect according to the foreknowledge of god the father now what does that mean well it could mean that before the foundations of the world god already knew who was going to believe and who wasn't going to believe in his foreknowledge of of the future remember god is is is is present yesterday today and in the future equally as god and so he can see what's going to happen in the future and maybe this means that god didn't make them believe god didn't give them irresistible grace an unconditional election but he elected them on the basis of the fact he knew they were going to believe and therefore he didn't make them believe but he knew lon solomon was going to believe and therefore he declared lon solomon elect based on that for knowledge you say so that's the solution no i don't know i mean maybe maybe but i'm not 100 sure that's exactly what what the verse is teaching because it doesn't go on to amplify i'm just saying it's a possible solution anyway i don't know how these things fit together but i do know this i know that whether you're elected or you're uh whether there's election whether there's free will no matter what i still know that the great commission is the great commission listen to it matthew 28 19 go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit teaching them to observe all things whatever i have commanded you and behold i'm with you always even to the end of the age mark's gospel says go into all the world and preach the gospel mark chapter 16. go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person now whether there's election whether there's free will i don't care what it is that verse is the same so you know what i don't really worry about whether only the elect can get saved i don't really worry about whether man has total free will or it's conditioned by unconditional lack i don't worry about that folks and you shouldn't either just go out there and share the gospel if calvinism's right then the elect will get saved if armenianism is right then all kinds of willing people will get saved and if the truth is something in the middle people will get saved just go out there and share the gospel and don't worry about calvinism and armenianism and when people ask me are you a five-point calvinist i say no if people ask me are you an armenian i say no i tell people i'm i'm neither uh that i'm somewhere in the middle i think uh but it doesn't even matter where i am uh because god the the gods running this thing in a way that i can't fully understand i just want to get out there and share the gospel and i don't get hung up on calvinism and arminianism and i don't let it paralyze me so that i don't share the gospel until i've figured it out because if you wait till you figure it out you will never share the gospel because you will never figure it out now in closing you know i always say a preacher is no good if he doesn't tell you so what and how so how do you get into gospel conversations with people in our modern world well let me give you one easy suggestion and that is look out for magic words uh you say what are you talking about well have you ever said to somebody uh how you doing and they say i'm blessed that's a magic word uh uh sometimes i say to people they say well we'll see you next month and i go lord willing that's a magic word god willing uh or and the creep don't rise uh or or how about sometimes uh if people um uh you know you're finishing a conversation with them and you're getting ready to hang up the phone or whatever or and you say god bless you and they say god bless you that you know these are magic words normal people that aren't believers just don't say these things and they're often uh set on purpose by people to give a clue that they're a follower of christ and uh so we can pick up on these words and i i remember recently i called a plumber i'm a hot water heater is fixed finally thank the lord but uh i called him to uh get some advice on my plumbing situation and he i said how you doing i'm on the phone with him and he said i'm blessed and i said really and he said how you doing and i said i'm blessed too and i said are you a follower of jesus and he said yes i am absolutely and before the conversation was over he had agreed to provide all the plumbing supplies both material and labor for jill's house free of charge indefinitely uh because he was so excited about the ministry of jill's house to children with intellectual disabilities uh and it all started with his magic word that i picked up on bless it and you'll hear people say that so pick up on it they won't object they if they say i'm blessed or they say god willing or they say god bless you back to you they will not object if you at least ask them about where they stand in their relationship to christ and in our world today people often say those words on purpose inviting people to take the next step and either ask them or inquire what do you mean you're blessed okay i'm blessed let me tell you what i mean um and you're with me and so that's an easy way to get into a gospel conversation and i meet people all the time who say that and so i bet you do too so follow up on it and start a gospel conversation and don't worry whether they're elect you're not gonna know and don't worry about whether they have free will or they don't you're not going to know just tell them about jesus and the gospel and if they're good soil we're going to talk about that parable soon if they're good soil the seed will bear fruit you just be the sower and you just go out there and sow it and i didn't i don't read in in matthew 13 that the sower was worried about calvinism versus arminianism he was just so in seed everywhere he went friends that's us let's pray dear heavenly father i pray uh that you would remind us that there are some truths in the bible that we will never ever figure out exactly how they work and that's okay if you'd wanted us to know you'd have told us so lord help us not get so hung up on these things and there are a number of them that it paralyzes us from obeying you and living christ-like lives and sharing the gospel lord jesus thank you no matter how armenianism and calvinism work together as you are not unrighteous you are not unfair and if we really care when we get to heaven you'll explain it to us lord jesus make us bold in sharing the faith because there are people out there who either are elect or who have free will or who are something in between who will come to christ if we'll just sow the seed lord help us to do this even this week i pray in jesus name and everybody said amen okay hey god bless you thanks so much for being with us here on live with lon we'll look forward to seeing you and talking to you next week from the bible the whole bible and nothing but the bible [Music] you

Channel: Lon Solomon Ministries

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Length: 36min 39sec (2199 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 16 2020