Bio

Dr. Mike Halsey is the chancellor of Grace Biblical Seminary, a Bible teacher at the Hangar Bible Fellowship, the author of Truthspeak and his new book, The Gospel of Grace and Truth: A Theology of Grace from the Gospel of John," both available on Amazon.com. A copy of his book, Microbes in the Bloodstream of the Church, is also available as an E-book on Amazon.com. If you would like to a receive a copy of his weekly Bible studies and other articles of biblical teaching and application, you can do so by writing to Dr. Halsey at michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net and requesting, "The Hangar Bible Fellowship Journal."

Comments may be addressed to michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net.

If you would like to contribute to his ministry according to the principle of II Corinthians 9:7, you may do so by making your check out to Hangar Bible Fellowship and mailing it to 65 Teal Ct., Locust Grove, GA 30248. All donations are tax deductible.

Come visit the Hangar some Sunday at 10 AM at the above address. You'll be glad you did.

Other recommended grace-oriented websites are:

notbyworks.org
literaltruth.org
gracebiblicalseminary.org
duluthbible.org
clarityministries.org

Also:

Biblical Ministries, Inc.
C/O Dr. Richard Grubbs
P. O. Box 64582
Lubbock, TX 79464-4582

Friday, August 20, 2021

WHY I'M NOT A CALVINIST PART IX

 Now...he [God] arranges all things by his sovereign counsel, in such a way that individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to glorify him by their destruction. So wrote John Calvin. 

As we finish our look at Calvinism, let's put the microscope on what the system doesn't tell the unbeliever and let's use John 3:16 as the Calvinist believes it to be. 

In so doing, we're seeking to answer the question, "How would the honest Calvinist quote the most famous verse in the Bible?"

Let's start with the way John wrote the verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

 But according to Pastor Dru Freeman's excellent analysis of Calvinism in his treatise "Lordship Salvation," here's what's secretly happening in the mind of the Calvinist as he witnesses to the unbeliever using John 3:16. What's in his mind and remains unsaid is in parentheses:

"For God so (conditionally) loved the world (but really only some of those in it, whom He chose in eternity past), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (the Holy Spirit makes alive because they were selected) believes (but if you are not chosen you can’t really believe) in Him, will not perish (because you were already chosen to be saved from eternity past) but have eternal life (which you will only know with certainty if you persevere to the end)." 


Is the above Calvinist understanding of John 3:16 good news? No it's not; as one author writes, using an athletic metaphor, "Instead of the gospel being good news for the world, it becomes good news for the few people God picked for His team and becomes absolutely horrible news for everyone else in history." 

Historian Will Durant wrote: "We shall always find it hard to love the man, John Calvin who darkened the human soul with the most absurd and blasphemous conception of God in all the long and honored history of nonsense.”

Conclusion: Calvinism is indeed the TERRIBLE TULIP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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