Wednesday, July 13, 2011

True Calvinism is the Gospel


True Calvinism is the Lordship of Christ and sovereignty of God over all things, not just salvation, 5-points, otherwise known as "TULIP". Now, please don't get me wrong, Calvinism is about salvation, but it is so much more! Its not just salvation of individuals but the salvation of the entire world. What does that mean? I love the way Doug Wilson says this: The gospel has two-prongs:

1. We can be reconciled because Jesus Christ, the Son of God has come, was crucified, dead and buried under Pontius Pilate, risen on the third day and ascended to the right hand of His Father. That means....

2. Christ is Lord - if He is not Lord/King over all the nations, He is not Lord over any nation and therefore not Lord over any individual and therefore we are still in our sins. But thankfully, this is not true! Christ is Lord! He has conquered sin and death and has dealt the crushing blow of victory over the devil.

That is the gospel and if you don't have both prongs, you've got a truncated "gospel." That two-pronged explanation is Calvinism pure and simple. A diamond is a simple thing with many facets. The Christian Faith is like that: simple, yet complex. Jesus told the disciples on the road to Emmaus that all the things written back there in the OT were written about Him! Everything is pointing to Jesus, including the promises made to Abraham. Calvinism is nothing more than the biblical teaching of the Gospel as it appears it its many glorious facets.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Quote From A.W. Pink on the Sovereignty of God

“The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.His government is exercised over inanimate matter, over the brute beasts, over the children of men, over angels good and devil, and over Satan himself. No revolving of a world, no shining of a star, no storm, no movement of a creature, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of the Devil — nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation for faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory.” - A.W. Pink