Is predestiny about who we are or free will choices? Calvinist beliefs.

Predestiny and free will are two choices given to us by Christian denominations. By people, really. Those who influence what denominations believe about what God said. But are they choices given to us by God? You know, the One who gave the words to the people who actually wrote the books in the Bible? What if God’s words, not men’s words, say that predestiny is about the free will choices we make? We begin with Calvinist core beliefs.

Is predestiny about who we are or free will choices? Calvinist beliefs. is article #4 in the series: Predestiny versus Free Will. Click this button to view the titles for the entire series

Then, a few days ago, something else came to me. One of the issues I have with the predestiny in Calvinism has to do with things Jesus said that don’t appear to line up with predestiny. But then, what do we do with the verses Calvinists use to justify their position on predestiny?

As we go through Calvinism, we’ll see if my impressions of its theology really are along the lines of the adjacent image. We see a road between two hills. One is dead. Let’s call it Hell. The other is alive. Let’s call it Heaven.

There are road signs, but they don’t say anything. They don’t need to. Because according to Calvinism, we seem to have no choice about which hill we’re going to.

There’s nothing we can do about it. Salvation, the path to the green hill, isn’t even available to people unless God chose to make it available.

There’s nothing we can do to avoid the green hill either, even if, for whatever reason, we wanted the dead hill.

Our goal is to see if that truly lines up with what God Himself told us, in His book. The Bible.

If you’re a regular here, then you know I don’t like to pull out a verse and make a conclusion. We have to look at the context of any given verse. And we also have to look at the overall context of the Bible. What does the New Covenant say? How does the Old Covenant support that context? Where does culture come in? What did words mean at the time, from both a cultural and language usage point of view?

What am I doing here? Questioning God?

Yes, God is God. As we say, God is sovereign. He can do what He wants. And if He wants to do that that sentence says, who are we to deny that?

At the same time, just as the Old Testament writers did, why can’t I ask about it? Like Job, I probably won’t get an answer. God can question me back and I know I have nothing that will change anything.

And yet, there are questions. I think, hope, believe, these questions are about the people who put forth this theology and support it, not with God Himself. After all, the conclusions of both Arminian and Calvin came from the same Scripture.

This one’s best read on the full blown WP site, with all the formatting and everything to make it more readable. If you’ve wondered about whether Calvinist predestiny or Arminian free will, I hope it’s worth you while to click over and check it out.

This is #4 in the series, but it’s not necessary to start at #1.

Subsequent parts will show up as they’re written. We’ll look at key verses for Calvinist beliefs. Then we’ll do the same two segments for the free will beliefs of Arminianism. Finally, it’ll end up with a look at the possibilities of losing salvation.

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