The Truth Is To Be Found In God's Inerrant And Infallible Word

God is not a man,

that He should lie.

Nor a son of man,

that He should repent.

Has He said, and will

He not do?

Or has He spoken,

and will He not

make it good?

Numbers 23:19

O ye who have undistempered intellects,

Observe the doctrine that conceals itself

Beneath the veil of mysterius verses.

Dante's The Inferno; Canto IX

"Ah! so hereafter may your seed repose," 

I him entreated, "solve for me that knot,"

Which has entangled my conceptions here.

It seems that you can see, if I hear rightly,

Beforehand whatsoe'er brings with it,

And in the present have another modes."

"We see, like those who have imperfect sight,

The things." he said, "that distant are from us;

So much still shines on us the Sovereign Ruler.

Dante's The Inferno; Canto X

     Dante's The Inferno applies first to those in hell, yet the words he uses applies to us, for the doctrines seem to conceal themselves in mysterius verses. Our conceptions become entangled and other modes of religious thought become the things we can see bringing close to us from the distant reaches and giving what is touted as light to our imperfect minds; yet when our eyes darkened by the light of false teaching (That may seem like a contradiction, but here is an illustration, look at a bright light and then close your eyes, and you will see a brightness even though your eyes are closed and obscured from the true light) are manifested to us, it is then by the power of our Sovereign God, it is He that gives us light and not those who shine false teachings upon an unsuspecting flock. God will not lie and the truth will be found in His Word, the Bible. 

     The only way for us to find the truth is to examine those teachings that are in contradiction and to examine those contradictions by God's word. We must know what suppositions are held by each major theologian, Jacobus Arminius, and John Calvin for most Churches hold to one doctrine of salvation or the other. We will look at Jacobus Arminius first.

Section #2: My Sentiments On the Preceding Scheme Of Predestination; (Italics mine). In this section Arminius outlines the four principle heads that to him are of the greatest importance in this doctrine. They are the following:

 "I. That God has absolutely and precisely decreed to save certain particular men by his mercy or grace, but to condemn others by his justice: and to do all this without having any regard in such decree to righteousness or sin, obedience or disobedience, which could possibly exist on the part of one class of men or of the other.

"II. That, for the execution of the preceding decree, God determined to create Adam, and all men in him, in an upright state of original righteousness; besides which he also ordained them to commit sin, that they might thus become guilty of eternal condemnation and be deprived of original righteousness.

"III. That those persons whom God has thus positively willed to save, he has decreed not only to salvation but also to the means which pertain to it; (that is, to conduct and bring them to faith in Christ Jesus, and to perseverance in that faith ;) and that He also in reality leads them to these results by a grace and power that are irresistible, so that it is not possible for them to do otherwise than believe, persevere in faith, and be saved.

            "IV. That to those whom, by his absolute will, God has fore-ordained to perdition, he has also decreed to deny that grace which is necessary and sufficient for salvation, and does not in reality confer it upon them; so that they are neither placed in a possible condition nor in any capacity of believing or of being saved." 

     Listed are those parts of the Doctrine of Predestination and Election that Arminius objects and following is his reasons for such objections. 

Section #3: “I Reject This Predestination For The Following Reasons:”

1. “Because it is not the foundation of Christianity, of Salvation, or of its certainty.” (Italics mine).

       1. It is not the foundation of Christianity: (1.) For this Predestination is not that decree of God by which Christ is appointed by God to be the saviour, the Head, and the Foundation of those who will be made heirs of salvation. Yet that decree is the only foundation of Christianity. (2.) For the doctrine of this Predestination is not that doctrine by which, through faith, we as lively stones are built up into Christ, the only corner stone, and are inserted into him as the members of the body are joined to their head.

    2. It is not the foundation of Salvation: 

            (1.) For this Predestination is not that decree of the good pleasure of God in Christ Jesus on which alone our salvation rests and depends. (2.) The doctrine of this Predestination is not the foundation of Salvation: for it is not "the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth :" because through it "the righteousness of God" is not "revealed from faith to faith."  

3. Nor is it the foundation of the certainty of salvation:

For that is dependent upon this decree, "they who believe, shall be saved :" I believe, therefore, I shall be saved. But the doctrine of this Predestination embraces within itself neither the first nor the second member of the syllogism.This is likewise confessed by some persons in these words: "we do not wish to state that the knowledge of this [Predestination] is the foundation of Christianity or of salvation, or that it is necessary to salvation in the same manner as the doctrine of the Gospel," &c. 

     In every effort to be fair and present each view I have listed Arminius's views in his section #3 and in tomorrow's blog I will give my answer to each of those parts that he objects. This manner I have chosen may not be exciting, and even a bit boring, but it is necessary so that each view can be compared and Scripture then applied so that the light of truth will be manifested. God has made it clear and plain, we are to study His word, and to be informed so we will not become engulfed by false teaching. He may seem to be hidden, but let us turn to Him as Dante writes:

"Thereon he hid himself; and I towards

The ancient poet turned my steps, reflecting

upon that saying, which seemed hostile to me.

He moved along; and afterward, thus going,

He said to me, "Why are thou so bewildered?"

And I in his inquiry satisfied him.

Dante's'; The Inferno, Canto X

 But if you do not

     believe his writings,

how will you believe

     My words?

                      John 5:47

Do All In Love And Stand Fast

Richard L. Crumb