Category Apostasy & False Teaching

What Does it Mean for God to be Sovereign?

Christians disagree on the implications of God’s sovereignty, because they differ on their understanding of the meaning of the word.

According to dictionary.com[1], the word sovereign means:

1. a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.
2. a person who has supreme power or authority.
3. a group or body of persons or a state having sovereign authority.
4. a gold coin of the United Kingdom, equal to one pound sterling: went out of circulation after 1914.

and sovereignty, the adjective, refers to:

5. belonging to or characteristic of a sovereign or sovereign authority; royal.
6. having supreme rank, power, or authority.
7. supreme; preeminent; indisputable: a sovereign right.
8. greatest in degree; utmost or extreme.
9. being above all others in character, importan...

Orthodoxy.

 What is orthodoxy, but a decision made by some group of men concerning what is to be considered acceptable doctrine.

 Every religious sub-group has a different collection of what is considered to be “orthodox”, and everything else is considered to be heretical.

 Christians are not bound to orthodoxy; we are bound to Christ, and to believe His Holy Scripture, regardless of what anyone else says is true, correct, or ‘acceptable’. In every Christian denomination or sub-group, and every Christian cult, there are tenets that are Biblically consistent and those that contradict God’s Word...

The tenets of Calvinism present Satan’s original argument to Eve, accusing God of saying what was not true in order to prevent His human creation from their best good, and ensure that they would do wrong so that God would have occasion to demonstrate His power and authority over them. Satan’s first question to Eve contained a factual error that lured her into her attempt to correct the record of God’s words. Satan worded the question in such a manner as to imply a fault on God’s part, impugning God’s character by the implication, which Eve naively corrected in her response:

“Has God said that you may not eat of the trees of the garden?”

“Yes, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden...

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
8 τη γαρ χαριτι εστε σεσωσμενοι δια της   πιστεως και τουτο ουκ εξ υμων θεου το δωρον
             n;DAT;Sg,F   vpPerfPasNomPlm  GenSgF nGenSgF      NomSgn                                     nNomSgn

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
9 ουκ εξ εργων ινα μη τις καυχησηται
               nGenPln

Calvinism claims that saving faith is “gifted faith” – that God causes each person whom He elected and foreknew to receive faith from God in order to be saved...

Looking at Matthew 11:25-30, notice a few things:

“Come unto me all who labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus was speaking to the crowd; His invitation is to ‘all’.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me…” something they must choose to do for themselves.

My Strong’s concordance notes re: 1014 are interesting: “will; to will, to be willing, to be disposed, minded, intend.” But when you look at the other ‘will’ 2309 thelo / theleo etc., it says “to determine; as an active option from subjective impulse” and calls attention to 1014, stating 1014 ‘properly denotes passive acquiescence in objective considerations”. In other words, the 1014 “will” found in 11:27 has the sense of allowing something to come about...

T – Total Depravity of Man

U – Unconditional Election

L – Lmited Atonement

I – Irresistable Grace

P – Perseverence of the Saints

Total Depravity of Man:

Calvinism states that when Adam sinned against God, human nature changed. Mankind became inherently wicked by inheriting from Adam a “sinful nature” which is supposedly acquired as a consequence of his disobedience. All humans born after Adam would inherit his innate wickedness, being born with a nature completely at enmity with God; in-born rejection of God, a disinclination to consider or hear God, and an inability to respond positively to God. Wicked humanity would, if God did not intervene, naturally and wilfully oppose God in every way, with neither the desire nor the ability to choose to do otherwise...

Man’s nature did not change when Adam sinned. The same nature in Adam that inclined him to disobey God inclines each of us to do likewise. The same nature that allowed Eve to question what God had said continues among millions today who question God’s Word. As soon as anyone entertains the possibility that God might have been wrong, he has demoted God in his own mind from Sovereign Deity. [1] If God is neither sovereign nor divine, the requirement to submit to Him does not exist. He has neither absolute authority nor the power to exercise ultimate authority; men are free to judge for themselves and follow their own thinking.

Adam and Eve were clearly shown to be able to doubt God’s word, God’s right and ability to judgement and pronouncement, and even to doubt God’s motives in sett...

The Bible does not teach that man’s nature has changed since the fall, despite the concept of man’s sin nature becoming widely accepted due to its propagation through certain theological systems. Some modern English versions of the Bible, including the NIV, have erroneously used the English phrase “sin nature” or “sinful nature” for the Greek word sarx , which is correctly translated ‘flesh’, imposing a sense that does not exist in the text itself.

Man’s nature had always included the capacity to sin, yet at creation God declared his creation to be ‘very good’.[1] Adam’s original sin therefore was not a result of his nature except to the extent of his ability to commit it...

God could have built one people from Isaac making of both sons one holy nation. But it was His purpose to make a distinction between the two men. Esau sold his birthright. Jacob sought a birthright he did not possess.

Why did God choose Jacob? The Bible does not say, it only states that He chose him to make a people of him. Jacob desired a blessing to which he was not naturally entitled. The Bible does not say that God placed that desire in Jacob’s heart, nor caused him to seek the face of God. In fact, Jacob’s desire was motivated by sin, and empowered by sin – deception and supplanting of the natural heir.

Esau, on the other hand, was unfaithful and ungrateful, despising his birthright for the immediate satisfaction of his natural desires...