Wednesday, May 10, 2006

"Repent, and believe the Gospel"
"I am not ashamed of the Gospel"
"Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel"

I have heard a lot of bantering on the Web these days about whether or not someone must be a Calvinist to be saved. I find the entire enterprise of discussing the matter laughable. The Bible tells us that it is by the hearing of faith (the hearing of the Gospel call to sinners) that the sinner is saved. The Spirit works His effectual and powerful work in the soul of the sinner to testify to the Gospel and to impart saving faith.
How can it be, if the above is true, that belief in another method of salvation is proper to the soul of a regenerate person? In other words, if I have been saved by grace through faith upon the hearing of the true Gospel, how is it that I could profess another? Those who profess another way of salvation, such as man's free-willed choice of God or some concatenated mess of the sinner's co-operation with God, are simply professing heresy and damnable untruth.
If I were to be hired by a major manufacturer of some product, and were to be paid handsomely for the purpose of using my skills to promote that product, would it not seem strange, after my training and considering the benefits which I derive from my employer, to go about disowning his product and instead extolling the virtues of another? I dare say that my job would be in jeopardy all because I put my company's product in an altogether bad light. There is simply no way that a person who has been presented with the Biblical gospel, of which 'Reformed' or 'Calvinist' are simply convenient man-made appellations, could be convinced that they were, or people must be, saved by the God of the Arminian or some other heretic. Enough already; the Word of God is true, and every man is indeed a liar.

Sola Fide
Sola Gratia
Solo Christo
Soli Deo Gloria
Sola Scriptura