Question:
Dear Greg,
Some
of your answers make me wonder if you are a Calvinist.
Is it possible that God wants everyone to be saved by his grace, but then
doesn’t allow some to believe? Or
is it that he does require some response on our part since he doesn’t want
robots? After all, he tells us to
repent, not that he will do it for us. Let
me know what you think and thanks for your time.
Robyn
Answer: Dear Robyn,
No
true Calvinian would claim me—certainly not a five point Calvinist.
You are the first person in some time who has suggested such a thing!
Some of my good friends who favor Calvinist theology do not claim me as
one of their own (they do accept me as a Christian, of course, and I them).
That
God will have mercy upon who he will have mercy is biblical.
God does what he wants to do with whom and when he wants to is biblical.
Of course we must respond—we may accept or reject.
Because all things are of grace, that no one can boast, does not mean
that we do not have a choice. God
may graciously move us, deal with us, reach out to us, prompt us, lead us, etc.,
but we may still reject. He does not
insist that we accept. The Bible is
clear that we may choose to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, which simply is the
willful determination that we will not accept God’s forgiveness or his
grace—that is a choice. Calvinism
would not agree with such a view. They
may be right and I may be wrong, but this one thing I know—we are saved by
grace, apart from any works of our own. That’s
the gospel and thank God for it.
In
Christ,