Here are 7 Reasons from Context & Grammar Showing Acts 13:48 Gives an Example of Personal Response to the Gospel… not Divine Election of Individuals before Creation Context 1. The context contrasts the Jews who judged themselves “unworthy of everlasting life” (vs 46) with the Gentiles who “arranged themselves (got in line) for everlasting life” (vs 48). 2. The context of verse 48 has five verbal actions (heard, were glad, glorified, arranged, believed), and one would normally expect all those verbal actions to be accomplished by the same subject – the Gentiles who were there that day. 3. T ..read more

by Isaac Barrett The goal of this review is to demonstrate that Piper’s interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-9 is incorrect. First this review will summarize the possible interpretations of what the gift is in verse 8. Then, each section of this analysis will restate and identifies problems with Piper’s arguments. Timestamps have been included to encourage readers to listen to Piper’s video for themselves. First, the text of Eph 2: 8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boa ..read more

by Isaac Barrett This review will analyze John Piper’s four main arguments in his exegesis of Ephesians 2:8-9. Two of these arguments, he makes from outside the text in question. One argument is from Ephesians and the others are from Philippians and 1 Corinthians. This first article in the series will focus on those external arguments. Piper believes that this passage, and others, directly teach that faith is effectually given or is a gift from God. Effectual faith, according to Piper, is given by God, and an individual cannot resist this gift.  Faith happens when God changes the wil ..read more

You can find the original post over at Sin and Glory. In the Reformed camp there is a big problem with conflation. If you’re not familiar, conflation happens when two separate things are brought together to appear as if they are one. Dictionary.com defines it thus: “the merging of two or more sets of information, texts, ideas, etc. into one.” Understanding this problem can clear up a lot of misconceptions. Conflation was a problem long before the Reformation officially began in 1517. It actually goes back to Constantine and his conversion to Christianity. Constantine was a Roman Emperor who r ..read more

Someone I know (let’s call him Joe) recently owned up to an embarrassing incident during his time at Bible college. Another student there (let’s call him Trevor) was a confirmed Calvinist, who believed that everything in life had been predestined by God – from eternal salvation to the colour of the socks he’d put on that morning. In fact, such was his love of John Calvin that he even kept a plaster-of-Paris bust of the Reformer in his bedroom. Joe frequently got into disputes with Trevor. Joe believed that God gives us freedom to choose or reject him and that Calvin was wrong about predestinat ..read more

To preface, in the second movie of the Hobbit Trilogy, “The Desolation of Smaug,” the wizard Gandalf instructs his company of dwarves to pass through the Enchanted Forest, but with on key instruction: “You must stay on the path. Do not leave it. If you do, you’ll never find it again. No matter what may come, stay on the path.” Often when approaching controversial Bible verses, there is a similar peril. If you get off the correct path of the true meaning of a given verse by making erroneous underlying assumptions, you’ll end up with erroneous conclusions that makes the text impossible to under ..read more

by Yoki Maurx “The doctrine of election is biblical and true” can be said by any Bible believing Christian. There have been numerous debates about the doctrine of election and reprobation for hundreds of years. Without defining terms, two people may have completely different understandings of the doctrine of election. Election, simply defined, means “to choose”. When such a common word is used, we must look at the surrounding context to determine the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the choice. According to The Lexham Bible Dictionary, the  Greek terms associated wit ..read more

Original post by Ronnie W. Rogers I agree with the Calvinist claim that the gospel is simple and clear, but I contend that Calvinism, by its very nature, complicates and obscures the simple and clear gospel.[1] Yes, someone can be saved when anyone says something like, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” but the difference between what a Calvinist and Extensivist (non-Calvinist) mean when uttering those words is quite different.[2] Just the cache of extra-biblical concepts needed to characterize Calvinism as a biblical position is telling. Their view requires concepts such as two wil ..read more

You can read the original post by Dr. Adam Lloyd Johnson over at Convincing Proof Here are my initial ‘off the cuff’ thoughts concerning the debate between William Lane Craig and James White over the issue of Molinism and Calvinism that took place in December 2021. You can watch the debate here: William Lane Craig vs James White – Calvinism vs Molinism on the Problem of Evil Contents Who won the debate? Can you find Calvinism in the Bible? Yes and No Were Molinism and Calvinism invented in the AD 1500s? Was Molina trying to undermine the Reformation? According to Molinism, are there peop ..read more

I know this may come as a shock to some of our readers but…God chooses some stuff. Or, at least, this is what one Presbyterian minister thinks should be a surprise to us. Of course, this is not a surprise. Provisionism happily accepts that God chooses all kinds of things, of course He does, He’s a free moral agent, the Sovereign One with Divine Rule over the Universe, and can do what He pleases. The question is: Which choices has He made? “Destined” Means God Chose Some Stuff Re: the definitions of predestination and foreknowledge Ron Hetzel, a PCA Elder and MA in Biblical Studies says this ..read more