Union with Christ
A primer on prevenient grace
Submitted by drwayman on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 7:19amOne of John Wesley’s finest contributions to theology was his understanding of prevenient grace. Broadly speaking, this is the grace that “goes before”—that grace which precedes human action and reflects God’s heart to pursue his creation. It testifies to God’s being the initiator of every relationship with him. While prevenient grace is an orthodox teaching held by the historic church, it becomes distinctly Wesleyan in its reach and scope. For John Wesley, prevenient grace is available to all, such that there is no “natural man” left in a purely fallen state without a measure of God’s restorative grace. Furthermore, prevenient grace is salvific in direction. This means the Spirit of God works not just to restore certain faculties of humanity or to limit human sin, but ultimately directs people to the work of Christ. This is one of the marks that sets Wesley apart from Augustine and John Calvin.
John Piper and Pietism
John Piper and Pietism
Posted on April 1, 2012 by Roger E. Olson, PhD
Recently John Piper declared himself a pietistic Reformed person.
See: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/marchweb-only/john-piper-racism...
As someone who likes to think of myself as a Pietist and even (others will have to judge to what extent this is true) an expert on Pietism, I have been asked by several people what I think of that claim.
First, it’s essential to make a distinction between Pietism as a movement and pietism as an ethos. The ethos can exist where the movement no longer does or never did.
Provisional Atonement: Dealing With John Owen's Arminian Dilemma
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 7:58amI lifted this from Jeff Paton's website. He gives an answer based on his commitment to the "sacrificial" view of the atonement, which allows him to bypass the force of Owen's argument.
As I have stated before, I am not (at this time) dogmatic about views of atonement. I do, however, favor the penal satisfaction view which seems to be the view that Owen is describing as incompatible with Arminian soteriology. I reject any view that does not incorporate some form of substitution. Since I more or less hold to the view that Owen thinks incompatible with Arminianism, I thought it might be fun to take on his little "dilemma" (Owen's argument is in blue).
"To which I may add this dilemma to our Universalists -"
Ephesians 1 Chosen "In Him"
Introduction
The central theme of the passage is that our blessings and salvation are in Christ Jesus. This is clear because the phrase “in Christ” (or equivalent expression) takes place a dozen times in verse 1-14. Redemption is an important aspect of salvation, but there are many other aspects of salvation. Christ is not just the basis of redemption but of salvation in its entirety, including God’s eternal plan.
The Father established Christ as the head of salvation and Savior of those in Him. Christ is central from creation to glory. Those that are united to Christ, are united by grace through faith (2:8) and are considered now as they will be in glory (2:6). God’s plan from eternity to save those that are in Christ is certain and unchanging, therefore those that are in Him are already considered as they will be in eternity.
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Cleveland Fans and Corporate Election
Submitted by Kevin Jackson on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 10:36am(This post was originally submitted Monday, the sixth)
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Eph 1:4 - bold mine)
There is much rejoicing in Cleveland today. Cav fans provide us with a great example of corporate election.1
Cleveland fans love the Cavs. As a result of loving the Cavs, they also love players who are on that team. Players come and go. The fans' fondness of a particular player is typically based on whether or not that player is a member of the Cavs.
Cleveland fans were FORMERLY quite enthusiastic about LeBron James. However, when Lebron left the team for Miami, the fans were not quite as pleased with him as they once had been (to put it nicely). Their enthusiasm for LeBron was conditional on his association with the Cavs.
Paul Washer’s – “Doctrine” of Election: An Arminian Critique
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:51pmI have been frequently referred to Paul Washer’s video discussion, “Doctrine” of Election. I found the video transcript and decided it would be beneficial to interact with this apparently influential accounting of Calvinist election. The sections of the transcript are marked by indentation with my comments in between. A copy of the transcript can be found at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21411721/Paul-Washer-Video-Transcript
Our Common Enemy
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Mon, 03/21/2011 - 10:52amI mentioned recently that Arminians and Calvinists are not enemies (even though there are people in both camps who at times disagree -- or at least behave as though they disagree -- with this statement). Calvinist John Owen (1616-1624), for example, calls the Arminian system a "proud Luciferian endeavour."1 Likewise, Arminian Malcolm L. Lavender (at least I think he is Arminian), who confesses that Calvinism is another gospel (cf. Gal. 1:6-9), writes, "It will be noted that Calvinism is the most dangerous system in Protestantism, and an upgrade of their parent types -- Paganism, Gnosticism, and Roman Catholicism."2 The battle between Calvinists and Arminians has, historically, been (and continues at times to be) a blight on the unity of Christ's body.
Robert Hamilton: Can You Do Anything to Gain God's Acceptance?
Hamilton addresses works salvation, faith, and repentance. Click on pdf to view article.
Provisional Atonement Part 3: The Integrity and Justice of God in the Gospel Offer
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 5:44amIn this post we will defend the premise that only a universal provisional atonement view can maintain the integrity of God in the gospel offer and the universal command to repent. The Bible is clear that God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). But what is the basis for this repentance? Repentance means for us to change our minds and hearts from one direction to another. With regard to spiritual repentance it is a total spiritual reorientation. It is coupled with faith in Scripture because it is essentially the same motion of turning away from sin towards God viewed from two different perspectives. Repentance focuses on the turning from and faith focuses on the turning to, or the end goal of repentance, faith in Christ (Heb. 6:1; Acts 3:19, 26). So when the Bible says that God commands all men everywhere to repent, it is speaking of spiritual repentance which issues in faith towards God in Christ.
Provisional Atonement Part 2: Provision is Consistent With Foreknowledge
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 7:08amAs we noted in our last post [Part 1] Arminians see the atonement of Jesus Christ as being provisional in nature. Not only is the atonement provisional but it is more specifically provisional in Christ Jesus. Only those who come to partake of Christ partake also of the atonement available through union with Him. Since we come to be in union with Christ by faith we also come to benefit from the atoning benefits of His blood through faith (Rom. 3:25). The atonement is one of those gracious spiritual blessings that we come to share in when we are united to Christ by faith and is probably foundational to all of the other spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3, 7).
