I was asked today by a very dear friend of mine if since I believe differently, have different views, if I still believe in evangelism. I replied, "most assuredly! Since coming to the point of understanding and believing in the doctrines of grace, I've been astronomically more involved in evangelism. I have a better understanding of why I evangelize, and by relying soley on the Lord and His power and His will, I find there to be nothing more enjoyable and fulfilling than to share His word with a lost world. Since becoming "Calvinist" (said in tone of distaste), I find myself, Praise be to God, more willing, more ready and more graceful and understanding with evangelism."
It kills me how people accuse us reformed christians of one, not believing or practicing evangelism, two, not believing in eternal security and basing our walks on a works salvation because we believe in the perseverance of the saints.
I BY NO MEANS am perfect in any area!!! You, my brothers and sisters in Christ have seen my many faults, failures, acts of immaturity. I write this to try to explain and enlighten y'all on where I stand. As my friend and I discussed tonight, we really are not that different at all in our beliefs, we agree in almost everything. And for the record, show me someone who agrees with me 100% on EVERY issue and I'll congratulate you and slap you on the back! lol Sadly, because I believe in the doctrines of grace, brothers and sisters in Christ are no longer as close to me as they once were, some ways my fault some ways theirs. Thankfully though we will always have a common bond in Christ Jesus, praise be to God!
Anyways, that's my interduction to a link I found today. Phil Johnson (Spurgeon blogger) wrote a very good article on Hyper Calvinism. Sadly many people think this way of us instantly upon hearing that we're "calvinists". Please, Please, Please read the article, for that is the main thing I posted for, not my piddly words.
www.spurgeon.org
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Awesome link! And spot on! I really appreciate you sharing that Pilot. I completely agree about the hyper-Calvinist trend. we are not hyper-Calvinists and I personally find the trend most disturbing. Calvinism, that is true Calvinism, is actually simply the study of Scripture from cover to cover and accepting it for what God's Word says. We don't follow Calvin, we strictly follow the Word of God. Calvin simply helps us define as he himself did this exact thing of following strictly God's Word!
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I found it interesting how the article said that any attempt at a Reformed resurgence for many years has been eventually destroyed by hyper-Calvinism. Paul Washer's church, Grace Life Church of the Shoals, has a "True Church Conference" every year and this year the title is "The Quagmire of Hyper-Calvinism." It seems that this extreme and unbalanced view of God's sovereignty is experiencing a resurgence along with the truly Reformed resurgence; I've heard more than one source say that they have experienced this phenomenon, although I haven't experienced it myself. We need to be praying that the enemy doesn't use this heresy to discredit the revival of Reformed Theology happening today!
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