Mike Winger's "Why I think Calvinism is Unbiblical"

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
3,394
1,006
113
Scripture constantly warns of apostasy but it seems not to bother you that the majority of what is preached today is a false gospel which can not save anyone.

I have never been bound by anyone's systematic theology but recognise that the simple truth of Scripture gives all of the glory to God and puts man where he belongs in the dust at wits end. If you pander to the heresy of Arminianism which is so prevalent today then I love you enough to warn you that you are perverting the Gospel and those who do so are doubly accursed (Gal 1:8-9) and guilty of the blood of all men (Acts 20:26-27). To prove me wrong, please state what you actually believe the Gospel is.
How would you define the gospel as given in the scripture?
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
3,394
1,006
113
the overall context of this chapter and all of Scripture is about sovereign election in which God is the Potter and can do whatever He likes with His clay. Deal with it!

View attachment 264132
I agree that God's sovereign election in chapter nine of Romans concerns
the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations.

Not God's sovereign election of any individual, Paul is not talking about
why that person is elect and someone else is non elect. Paul is talking about
why Israel failed to attain to righteousness.

Romans 9:30-32
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained
righteousness, but the righteousness that is by faith; however, Israel, pursuing a law
of righteousness, did not arrive at that law
. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith,
but as though they could by works.

See, Paul is discussing to different sets of people, Israel and the Gentiles.

I recommend you start reading Romans chapter nine, ten and eleven.

Pay careful attention to the context, which is why Israel failed!

Otherwise, you distort the scripture and divide the Christian world!
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
3,394
1,006
113
First of all, God shows us not until the sun, moon, stars, waves of the sea STOP doing what they do that Israel's Offspring will cease to exist.

Thus says Adonai,
who gives the sun as a light by day
and the fixed order of the moon
and the stars as a light by night,
who stirs up the sea so its waves roar,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:
“Only if this fixed order departs from before Me”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“then also might Israel’s offspring cease
from being a nation
before Me—for all time.”


(Jeremiah 31:34-35)

We know this has NOT happened yet.



Secondly, Scientifically speaking, science and genetic testing available today proves that the vast majority of Jews today can be traced genetically back to the Levant area 2,000 years ago.

Genetics expert, Dr. Karl Skorecki, has been involved in several research projects concerning the genetics of Jewish people. In an interview[7], he confirmed that DNA markers for self-identifying Jews show a high degree of relatedness to each other and great affinity to each other, wherever they might be from which indicates a common ancestry, and that the closest non Jewish populations genetically are Levantine populations.

In short, Ashkenazi Jews are highly related to Sephardic Jews, and all of them are closely related to the Jewish populations in the Middle East that have been established since Abraham.


The Promise of God:
  • He promised to keep Israel as a nation as long as the sun, moon and stars are in place. (Jeremiah 31:34-35)
  • He promised to bring them back to the land, never to be uprooted again. (Amos 9:15)
  • And he promised that they would one day recognize his Son, Yeshua, as the Messiah. (Zechariah 12:10)



My suggestion to you is to remove this Entity that has Blinded you towards the People that God has established His Covenant with and will fulfill His Promises He made to.

The Replacement Theology originates straight from the pits of Hell!
I would assume that the prophecies you quoted from Zechariah, Jeremiah, and Amos.
Would be fulfilled, if and only if, Israel remained faithful to their covenant.

If Israel broke their side of their covenant then all bets are off.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
23,801
8,618
113
did God lie for Adam ended up living to the ripe old age of 930?
Gen 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Some believe that Adam was.....70 years old when he ate the fruit of the tree of death.
 

Jimbone

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2014
3,049
1,003
113
45
Well if this doesn't show that things never change I don't know what will. This quote seems like it was pulled strait from and number of threads in the Bible Discussion section. They were having the exact same conversations/debates/accusations/answers we still post daily here. Fascinating.
 

Jimbone

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2014
3,049
1,003
113
45
maxamir apparently characterizes not being Calvinist as "Those who consistently have faith in their faith rather than a God given faith in the person and wok of Christ"
but it seems a better characterization would be "those who place their faith in the person and work of Christ". this is how Calvinism couches limited atonement. The claim is that no one can have faith unless God wills it. Yet scripture says that God is not willing that anyone should perish, so it would follow that if anyone does perish, it is not God's will. In my view, unbelief is disobeying God's commandment to believe in Christ which is believing in the God as Father because that is Who Jesus revealed as God to the world. So, in my view, "unless the Father draws you," means that we come to the Father (not just "God") through the Son, by the Spirit, hence Salvation, by Grace through Faith. That is, the means to God is through God, by God, and we've only to believe and trust that as true.
I think this is such a backwards way of thinking about it. You say "The claim is that no one can have faith unless God wills it."
Okay fair enough, but that also puts every bit of the glory EXACTLY where it belongs, with God.

For some reason you can see this problem glaringly, yet seem completely blind to the faults in what you're saying. You are literally claiming glory for your faith/decision/choice that does not belong to you.(and I feel sure this is not at all how you think of it)

The thing is that I never looked at it how you describe and think that "the Calvinist" believe "God chose me and He chooses who goes to hell as well. I'm elected and God just arbitrarily chooses up or down for people", lucky me right? I do not believe that and never have, yet I'm sure that is what you would label me and how you'd sum up my beliefs, for me. However you are right, I do give God ALL the glory for saving me, I have to if you've ever heard how He saved me, I have no other choice but to say God did 100% of every bit of it. From granting me repentance to me waking up a completely new man overnight, and all these things after I was falsely converted years earlier making the very "choice" people sell so hard. I testify this too often I think, that's why I'm not writing it all out again now, but His word is VERY, VERY CLEAR that salvation is a work of God and men cannot save themselves. It says He save and keeps us. It also says we need to choose this day who we will serve, and that we must strive to do what is pleasing to Him, so I do not at all deny we have a will of our own, I just know that without His power we are completely dead in our sins. So I truly believe the way Gods sovereignty works with peoples will to bring about His plan is the biggest mystery that we may never be able to grasp on either side of the grave, but what I do know is that putting too high a value on our "choice" lead straight to other falsehoods like being able to lose salvation, and having to adhere to certain rules to keep salvation. These ideas and beliefs discount and minimize Gods real power to save us and puts that burden on our shoulders. Trust me, we can't carry it far. So do you see how I can look at the exact same thing from a little different perspective and it seems much more like we are closer in belief than we sometimes think? I understand you don't see your views the way I describe them, and I actually understand how and why you see these matters the way you do, but I don't like needlessly and pointlessly debating back and forth about topics that the other person falsely represents you on. This cuts both ways too.

This also answers another question I just read in this conversation about "did God lie when he told Adam he would die the DAY he ate." The answer to this is that he did die that very day. He did spiritually, completely dead and disconnected from the Holy Creator. Every offspring he had was born the same way, spiritually dead, with no possible way to "fix" the problem. This is why the virgin birth is such a necessary and important thing, Jesus was not born with a disconnected and dead spirit, He was born of the Spirit, not Adam. That is why and how He could be the ONLY sacrifice possible ever in history. So God did not lie in the garden, the very day Adam ate he did die just like God told him.
 

FollowerofShiloh

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2024
4,321
715
113
I would assume that the prophecies you quoted from Zechariah, Jeremiah, and Amos.
Would be fulfilled, if and only if, Israel remained faithful to their covenant.

If Israel broke their side of their covenant then all bets are off.
Israel was BLINDED so Gentiles could be added to the fold. We see that from Isaiah and Jesus and Paul. So I would rethink your idealism.
 

FollowerofShiloh

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2024
4,321
715
113
We have TWO Laws that are both true.

The First Law:
1. Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul shows that ALL humans created from Adam and Eve are:
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God's offspring

And because we are God's Offspring that God:
26
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth
27 that they should seek God


So the First Law is God made it so ALL humans, God's Offspring, that has the ability to SEEK HIM.


The Second Law:
2.
David and the Apostle Paul explain that unfortunately man does not SEEK God even though he has that ability. So God seeks man.


The Prophet Joel also shows us WHO GOD will SEEK:
1. And it shall come to pass that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh before the great and terrible day of HaShem come

So we can see ALL people until Jesus Returns (Second Coming) is being sought by God.

We know this is about the Second Coming because Joel describes the Tribulation Period when Jesus Returns:

3. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

4. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of HaShem come.

^
It matches the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:

29Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory



So we can say for an absolute fact that God is pouring out His Spirit on ALL FLESH, not just a select few.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
23,801
8,618
113
I would assume that the prophecies you quoted from Zechariah, Jeremiah, and Amos.
Would be fulfilled, if and only if, Israel remained faithful to their covenant.

If Israel broke their side of their covenant then all bets are off.
What? No no no no.

Israel will be saved/restored/redeemed/recommissioned by the NEW COVENANT, to which all millenial OT restoration passages pertain.
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
5,219
2,618
113
London
christianchat.com
I sincerely hope your "Bah" comment was not related to the truth of Scripture and instead was at the revelation of what John Wesley wrote to his brother as quoted below for you to contemplate.

Tomkins quotes at length “a most extraordinary letter [from John Wesley] to Charles in 1766” in which “he bares his soul in the most bleak and moving way:”

In one of my last [letters] I was saying that I do not feel the wrath of God abiding on me; nor can I believe it does. And yet (this is the mystery), I do not love God. I never did. Therefore I never believed, in the Christian sense of the word. Therefore I am only an honest heathen … And yet, to be so employed of God! And so hedged in that I can neither get forward nor backward! Surely there was never such an instance before, from the beginning of the world! If I ever have had that faith, it would not be so strange. But I never had any other evidence of the eternal or invisible world than I have now; and that is none at all, unless such as faintly shines from reason’s glimmering ray. I have no direct witness (I do not say, that I am a child of God, but) of anything invisible or eternal.​
And yet I dare not preach otherwise than I do, either concerning faith, or love, or justification, or perfection. And yet I find rather an increase than a decrease of zeal for the whole work of God and every part of it. I am borne along, I know not how, that I can’t stand still. I want all the world to come to what I do not know (p. 168; italics mine).​
George Whitefield who many of us think was the prime mover of the great awakening and the greater evangelist was much closer to what was going on and much closer to the Wesleys

... he does not share your withered judgement.
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
3,394
1,006
113
What? No no no no.

Israel will be saved/restored/redeemed/recommissioned by the NEW COVENANT, to which all millenial OT restoration passages pertain.
Which Israel, old covenant Israel or the Gentile nation that is called Israel today?

The old covenant, the Mosaic covenant was terminated by the new covenant.

I do not understand your interpretation.
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
3,394
1,006
113
Israel was BLINDED so Gentiles could be added to the fold. We see that from Isaiah and Jesus and Paul. So I would rethink your idealism.
Are you referring to old covenant Israel or modern Israel?

Was Paul claiming that God would redeem old covenant Israel?
 

FollowerofShiloh

Well-known member
Jan 24, 2024
4,321
715
113
Are you referring to old covenant Israel or modern Israel?

Was Paul claiming that God would redeem old covenant Israel?
Thus says Adonai,
who gives the sun as a light by day
and the fixed order of the moon
and the stars as a light by night,
who stirs up the sea so its waves roar,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:
“Only if this fixed order departs from before Me”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“then also might Israel’s offspring cease
from being a nation
before Me—for all time.”


(Jeremiah 31:34-35)


Notice that God uses the specific wording “Only if this fixed order departs from before Me”

The fixed order is talking about the sun, moon, stars stop doing what God created them to do. And we know nothing as the such has happened. So todays people are a direct bloodline remnant of this prophesy in Jeremiah concerning the Jews of that day.

We also know from other Books discussing the end time events that 144,000 of these biological Jews existing today, the remnant, will be a major force for God pouring out His Spirit in the Tribulation like Joel prophesies about.

1. And it shall come to pass that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh before the great and terrible day of HaShem come

We know this is about the time before the Second Coming because Joel is describing the Tribulation Period when Jesus Returns:

3. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

4. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of HaShem come.

^
It matches the words of Jesus in Matthew 24
:

29Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man


Today, we already know about Messianic Jews, Jews who believe Jesus is their Messiah and Savior.

So it's clear these Jews are part of both covenants but will merge into the second covenant before the return of Jesus.
 

studier

Well-known member
Apr 18, 2024
1,203
233
63
since you have not yet defined the status of man after the Fall it would be presumptuous to speak of whether faith was a gift or not for if man is indeed spiritually dead then everything he receives from God unto salvation has to be a gift of grace. This is the argument of the whole of Scripture which I feel for some reason you are not yet willing to submit to.

If God is He who grants repentance, what makes you think He doesn't grant faith?

Act_11:18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."
Scripture constantly warns of apostasy but it seems not to bother you that the majority of what is preached today is a false gospel which can not save anyone.

I have never been bound by anyone's systematic theology but recognise that the simple truth of Scripture gives all of the glory to God and puts man where he belongs in the dust at wits end. If you pander to the heresy of Arminianism which is so prevalent today then I love you enough to warn you that you are perverting the Gospel and those who do so are doubly accursed (Gal 1:8-9) and guilty of the blood of all men (Acts 20:26-27). To prove me wrong, please state what you actually believe the Gospel is.
If you can not agree that Scripture interprets Scripture then I have to wonder what type of seminary you went to if you are not willing to look at all the verses in Scripture that speak about and give clarity to any verse that may be in contention?

Sorry to be slow. I'm just consolidating your 3 posts I see outstanding.

I'm going to leave you to yourself and others. You have a way with logical fallacies, but they're pointless.

Pick a Scripture from the systematic theology you're clearly pushing, and I'll watch for you to put forth your clear interpretation and see what I think of it. Other than that, further offering to discuss Scripture in some detail with someone who thinks posting lists of purported proof-text verse references others came up with is letting Scripture interpret Scripture is not of further interest.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
23,801
8,618
113
the Gentile nation that is called Israel today?
It is impossible for Israelites to become gentiles.
And yes, the promises made to Abraham are fully satisfied in the nation Israel ONLY in the New Covenant.
Should be obvious.

And yes, Israel will always be God's nation of priests after the Second Coming. They will be recommissioned to service.
The OT is loaded to the brim with these prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
 

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
6,339
2,465
113
as I've already stated, the true Jew is not one who is circumcised of the flesh but of the heart regardless of their nationality (Rom 2:28-29) and in the New Covenant there is no longer any distinction nut all are one (Gal 3:28-29).

This is my frustration with Reformed theology, more correct eschatology, but less correct, well maybe even totally incorrect soteriology.

At this point in time refuting dispensationalism is a high priority. So I support your effort in that area.
Thank you!
 

maxamir

Active member
Mar 8, 2024
696
86
28
First of all, God shows us not until the sun, moon, stars, waves of the sea STOP doing what they do that Israel's Offspring will cease to exist.

Thus says Adonai,
who gives the sun as a light by day
and the fixed order of the moon
and the stars as a light by night,
who stirs up the sea so its waves roar,
Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name:
“Only if this fixed order departs from before Me”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“then also might Israel’s offspring cease
from being a nation
before Me—for all time.”


(Jeremiah 31:34-35)

We know this has NOT happened yet.



Secondly, Scientifically speaking, science and genetic testing available today proves that the vast majority of Jews today can be traced genetically back to the Levant area 2,000 years ago.

Genetics expert, Dr. Karl Skorecki, has been involved in several research projects concerning the genetics of Jewish people. In an interview[7], he confirmed that DNA markers for self-identifying Jews show a high degree of relatedness to each other and great affinity to each other, wherever they might be from which indicates a common ancestry, and that the closest non Jewish populations genetically are Levantine populations.

In short, Ashkenazi Jews are highly related to Sephardic Jews, and all of them are closely related to the Jewish populations in the Middle East that have been established since Abraham.


The Promise of God:
  • He promised to keep Israel as a nation as long as the sun, moon and stars are in place. (Jeremiah 31:34-35)
  • He promised to bring them back to the land, never to be uprooted again. (Amos 9:15)
  • And he promised that they would one day recognize his Son, Yeshua, as the Messiah. (Zechariah 12:10)



My suggestion to you is to remove this Entity that has Blinded you towards the People that God has established His Covenant with and will fulfill His Promises He made to.

The Replacement Theology originates straight from the pits of Hell!
My suggestion to you is to take off your OT goggles and look through the lens of fulfilment of the New Testamament in which all of the shadows and types of the Old were pointing to.

God's children are not of the flesh as you presume but of the Spirit. Not all Israel is Israel. Only those who are born again in Christ are the true seed of Abraham. I have already given you all these Scriptural references but you continue to ignore them. The only true Jew today is he who is in Christ.

Please do not call yourself a Christian if you believe you need to remain under the veil in Moses and refuse to listen to Him who prophesied of Christ.

Act_3:22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN. HIM YOU SHALL HEAR IN ALL THINGS, WHATEVER HE SAYS TO YOU.

Those who deny the New Covenant Christ has made and choose to live in the shadows of the Old which has passed away and is now obsolete, prove themselves to be judicially blinded by God.

2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
2Co 3:15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
2Co 3:16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
 

maxamir

Active member
Mar 8, 2024
696
86
28
The pure doctrines of Sovereign Grace cuts God loose [not that He was ever bound] from all limitations and boundaries which the mind of human scholarship and understanding would put upon it.

You talk about idols, you've got a few.

I muse at the term Hyper grace, God's grace is spoken in the scripture in terms of it's super abounding and overflowing nature.

God is not limited by anything, He does what He wants when He wants and in whichever way He chooses. He works according to His own nature. God is Love.

It is our bowels which are straightened.

You say Wesley was controlled by his feelings, actually that letter you quoted shows that Wesley went on with the job of winning souls despite his feelings.

You folk are in bondage to the mind of the flesh. You raise the workings out of men and hold them in an esteem I would only give to God's word.
why is it that you can not answer the simple question given to you???

Does God love those He justly casts into Hell?

God indeed is love and He loves justice so much He killed HIs own Son at the hands of evil men in order to save His people from their sin. God's grace is indeed awesome because it is sovereign, free and particular to those who He has decreed to give it to but people like you pervert God's grace by confusing God's good providence to all as being a type of grace that is common to all and in doing so you make the sacrifice of Christ a common thing and insult the Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29) and in turn pervert the Gospel!