Theo1689
Well-known member
I've long since given up the hope that my responses here will convert anyone of anything. That's not my purpose here. I'm not saying that God won't use my posts in a way that brings more people to the truth, but it won't happen immediately after reading my posts, when people are more interested in defending their own theology than in being open to the truth.
One of my main purposes for being here is to correct false claims about what Calvinists actually believe. If you wish to reject or disagree with what we ACTUALLY believe, I don't have a problem with that. But when you make FALSE claims about what we believe, and try to convince others that we believe something derogatory, when we do NOT actually believe it, I have a problem with that.
A couple of good examples have come up today.
1) A Mormon keeps claiming that we believe in a "faith without works". He continues to make this false claim because he wants to throw James 2 at us and claim we're not saved. Well, we do NOT believe in a "faith without works". We believe in a faith that DOES work.
But instead of simply accepting that, and saying, "I'm glad you don't believe in a faith without works, that's a bad thing to believe, I'm glad you believe in a faith that does work, because that is what I think is true", they refuse to accept us at our word, and want to CONTINUE to believe that we believe in something false. That's ridiculus.
2) And then an Arminian keeps trying to claim, "You believe in a God who condemns people apart from anything they've ever done." And we go, "No, we don't believe that at all. We believe that people are condemned for the sins that they WILLINGLY commit." But instead of taking us at our word, and being happy that we DON'T believe in something they find so offensive, they decide that we DO believe it despite our denials, and continue to criticize us for things we don't even believe.
I would posit that people who unrepentantly tell such lies about Christians are not true Christians at all. Because true Christians love truth, and bearing false witness is a sin.
One of my main purposes for being here is to correct false claims about what Calvinists actually believe. If you wish to reject or disagree with what we ACTUALLY believe, I don't have a problem with that. But when you make FALSE claims about what we believe, and try to convince others that we believe something derogatory, when we do NOT actually believe it, I have a problem with that.
A couple of good examples have come up today.
1) A Mormon keeps claiming that we believe in a "faith without works". He continues to make this false claim because he wants to throw James 2 at us and claim we're not saved. Well, we do NOT believe in a "faith without works". We believe in a faith that DOES work.
But instead of simply accepting that, and saying, "I'm glad you don't believe in a faith without works, that's a bad thing to believe, I'm glad you believe in a faith that does work, because that is what I think is true", they refuse to accept us at our word, and want to CONTINUE to believe that we believe in something false. That's ridiculus.
2) And then an Arminian keeps trying to claim, "You believe in a God who condemns people apart from anything they've ever done." And we go, "No, we don't believe that at all. We believe that people are condemned for the sins that they WILLINGLY commit." But instead of taking us at our word, and being happy that we DON'T believe in something they find so offensive, they decide that we DO believe it despite our denials, and continue to criticize us for things we don't even believe.
I would posit that people who unrepentantly tell such lies about Christians are not true Christians at all. Because true Christians love truth, and bearing false witness is a sin.