Josiah Concept Ministries

This image is very amusing to me. Regular readers should know that I follow James White, a Reformed Christian apologist and director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, on a regular basis. He had a scheduled debate with Ergun Caner, President of Liberty Theological Seminary, regarding the validity of Calvinism (specifically, weather Limited Atonement is Biblical). It was cancelled at the last minute, and neither side seems to be able to agree on who cancelled the debate and why.

That isn’t what I’m here to discuss.

What I am here to say is that I am finally feeling the irresistable leading of the Lord to discern the truth behind the passage that was the subject of this now defunct debate: Romans 9. The portion that fueled this debate reads thus:

What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (Rom 9:22-24)

The Calvinists say this teaches predestination. The opposition, according to White, largely ignores this text, or uses a “divide and conquer” scheme for all of Romans 9. Both methods remove, ignore, or otherwise downplay God’s sovereignty in regard to salvation.

I have described myself as 4-point Calvinist, since I don’t believe that the Bible teaches a limited atonement. I do not hold to predestination, either. Nor do I believe that we are following a script God wrote before the foundation of the world; that even as I type these words, I am only echoing what He desired that I type at this moment many millenia ago.

But, if Calvinism is what God intended the Bible to teach and the way the world works, then I want to know that, too. I may not like it, but I desire what any Christian should: that God be glorified in all things. If this is how He is best glorified, then that is how it will be.

Over the next week or two, I will study Romans 9 in detail, and I will blog on my discoveries. Weather this leads to an acceptance of Calvinism or a rejection of it, that is my decision alone and I pray that God will be glorified by it.

Comments, suggestions, or links to study aids from both sides are encouraged. I am trying to approach this study as neutrally as possible. Admittedly, however, I am hoping that I will discover enough evidence to overturn predestination. The clear evidence from Scripture, however, is what will ultimately turn me from one side to the other, or keep me firmly rooted in the non-Calvinist camp.

I’m kind of excited about this, as I have been putting it off for a while. I will get started tomorrow; as I am very tired tonight.