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| That's Charles and sing sipping blue tea, and swapped caps! |
(11th, and the last cup of tea in the series)
A brother who calls himself a 'true Calvinist' said:
"I must admit I was once a Hyper-Calvinist of the Hardshell type, but through the grace of our Lord was brought back again to believe once more the Bible by correct and scientific exegesis, especially in rightly dividing the Word of truth. While actually answering you by and bye, I would like to show Hardshell Hyper-Calvinism is characterized by the following common presuppositions
11. Calvinists believe that all are commanded to repent, and this is ordinarily carried out by the ordinary ministry of the Word in obedience to the Great Commission; this can often be resisted and will always be resisted by the reprobates. But there is also an inner call and irresistible and interior in the soul of the elect which shall unfailingly take place in due time, and the effecting of the same cannot be done by the preaching of the Word, but by the powerful operation of the Spirit. This inner call is distinguished from, but not separate in, the preaching of the Word. In cases where the ordinary ministry of the Word is not possible, like those elect who, by the pleasure of God, should be regenerated in infancy and the like, the Spirit of God, in His unquestionable sovereignty, is at liberty to regenerate and justify without the ordinary ministry of the Word.
(the 11th, and final point)
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Any real hyper-calvinists out there?
Then come, and let's reason together.
What do you think of the 4th point?
Is that what you believe?
Are you rightly represented?
And Calvinists, please join in to enlighten us.
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Sing
This last pot is filled with many erroneous ideas. I will demonstrate them one by one.
Sing
"Calvinists believe that all are commanded to repent..."
That's a fiction and a fable.
God send the gospel of salvation to His children (THAT IS, regenerated elect), and the gospel ministry is the appointed means to call them to believe the gospel of their salvation.
God declared plainly that He had chosen a people unto eternal salvation and gave them to Christ to secure their eternal redemption.
Christ did exactly that for those whom God the Father had given Him.... and not one more and not one less.
The Spirit of Christ, in God's appointed and accepted time, applies that redemption to each individual elect personally...
Only such are called and commanded to believe the truth of what the Triune God HAS DONE for them i.e. to believe the truth of their salvation by God's free grace.
Why would God demand and command those whom He declared He had not given Jesus to be their Saviour to believe in His Son Jesus Christ as their Saviour? God is not so confused and irrational like the "true Calvinists."
Sing
"... this is ordinarily carried out by the ordinary ministry of the Word in obedience to the Great Commission..."
The Great Commission was for the Apostles only, and Grand Delusion for all others <LOL>
It is common for many to claim that their ministry is based on the Great Commission given to them by Jesus Christ, even though the Scriptures are plain that the ministry of the NT pastors-teachers is based upon the plain commands the apostles had given to the church - 1Tim 3, Tit 1.
The Great Commission was clearly given to the apostles... TOGETHER with the UNIQUE promises mentioned in Mk 16:17-18 "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
THESE SIGNS SHALL follow them (addressed to the apostles) that believe (the commission Christ delivered to them)... making the signs part and parcel with the commission. It was the great commission because it was accompanied by those great promises of signs accompanying them to the end of the old Jewish world.
The great commission to the apostles and the unique promises to them are PART AND PARCEL of that commission. They cannot be separated. Whoever wants to claim that the great commission to the apostle is still in force, then let them show the signs that Christ promised SHALL accompany that commission! What Christ has put together, let not man put asunder.
See exchanges here: https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2010/06/great-commission-or-grand-delusion.html
Things New and Old: Great Commission or Grand Delusion
Sing
In point 10, Rocky A. Simbajon stated: "... Every Gospel call or divine summon is always an inner activity which cannot be resisted."
Now, in point 11, he stated: "Calvinists believe that all are commanded to repent, and this is ordinarily carried out by the ordinary ministry of the Word in obedience to the Great Commission; this can often be resisted..."
Please make up your mind please: Can the gospel call be often resisted, or is every gospel cannot be resisted?
When it is often resisted, by whom is it resisted?
Sing
"But there is also an inner call and irresistible and interior in the soul of the elect which shall unfailingly take place in due time, and the effecting of the same cannot be done by the preaching of the Word but by the powerful operation of the Spirit. This inner call is distinguished from, but not separate in, the preaching of the Word."
The call that the Scriptures speak of is the effectual and efficacious call of an elect OUT OF his native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation... executed by God, wholly and solely by His free and sovereign grace... without any gospel preaching. Every elect is effectually called in exactly the ONE and the SAME way... without the gospel ministry. There is no exception. Christ said so; read John 3:8. Any scheme that needs exception is of man's imagination!
The gospel ministry is ordained as the means to bring God's children (elect who are already effectually called by God) to the truth of their salvation by God's free and sovereign grace. The gospel ministry is not the means by which the Holy Spirit regenerates the elect dead in trespasses and sins.
The powerful operation of the Spirit in regenerating sinners dead in trespasses and sins is INDEPENDENT of the gospel ministry.
The sovereign wind will blow without the farmers' presence on the farm!!! Get the point?
"This inner call is distinguished from, but not separate in, the preaching of the Word."
So, the inner call is NOT SEPARATE in the preaching of the word... this can only mean that without the preaching of the word, there can be no inner call. So the sovereign work of the Spirit in the inner call is DEPENDENT and CONDITIONED upon the presence of the preaching of the word.
Why do the 'true Calvinists' insist on joining together the effectual call of the dead to grace and salvation by God's free and sovereign grace and the gospel call of God's children to believe the gospel of their salvation through the gospel ministry? Why do they insist on intruding into the divine work of regenerating the dead? Why aren't they content with the work of nourishing God's children through the gospel ministry? Why do they want to insist that they have an instrumental role in the regeneration of the dead?
That's pure SYNERGISM... and that's really what present-day popular Calvinism is about, despite all their monergistic claims!
Sing
"This inner call is distinguished from, but not separate from, the preaching of the Word. In cases where the ordinary ministry of the Word is not possible, like those elect who, by the pleasure of God, should be regenerated in infancy and the like, the Spirit of God, in His unquestionable sovereignty, is at liberty to regenerate and justify without the ordinary ministry of the Word."
The Spirit of God, in His unquestionable sovereignty as declared in John 3:8, regenerates every elect the same way.
But "true Calvinists" like Rocky QUESTION that UNQUESTIONABLE sovereignty of the Spirit, and insist that the Spirit's work of regeneration is DEPENDENT and CONDITIONED upon the preaching of the word.... "This inner call is distinguished from, but not separate from, the preaching of the Word."
Plain double talk!
Conclusion:
- "true Calvinists" like Rocky, having departed from the gospel of free grace, SLANDER those who steadfastly hold to the gospel of grace as Hyper-Calvinists. There is no need for labels. It is better to consider each matter in the light of the Scriptures.
"Denunciation is the last resort of the defeated opponents." Arthur Pink's statement to those who slandered him as a Hyper in his days.
Just who are "damnable heretics'??? - "true Calvinists" like Rocky A. Simbajon, or those he denounces as hyper-calvinists?
Charles Page
I sure have enjoyed reading these posts and especially appreciate the accompanying pictures.
Sing
Charles, that's you and me sipping some tea... and we exchanged our caps, did you notice!
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Here are links to the other articles in the series:
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2024/03/a-former-hyper-calvinists-thoughts-on.html
http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/who-are-damnable-heretics-denouncers-or.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-1-considered.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-2-considered_1.html
http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-3-considered.html
http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-4-considered.html
http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-5-considered.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-6-considered.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-7-considered_7403.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-8-considered.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-9-considered_15.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-10-considered_15.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/damnable-heresy-11-considered.html
