I came upon a list of questions from the book entitled “Nuts for Arminians to Crack” written by J.B. Hardy Snr.
1. Are all men both saint and sinner free agents? If so, is not the sinner as free as the saint?
2. If a sinner cannot come to Christ of his own free will, is he a free agent?
3. If all sinners possess will and power to come to Christ, why did Christ say (John 6:44), “No man can come unto Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him?”
4. Has any man the power to refuse to come to Christ when the Father draws him?
5. Are those characters free agents that shall do wickedly and none of them shall understand? (Dan. 12:10)
6. Were those free agents that Peter said (2 Peter 2:12), were made to be taken and destroyed, and should utterly perish?
7. Were those free agents who were before of old ordained to this condemnation? (Jude 4.)
8. Are those free agents that Jesus says (John 5:25), shall hear, and they that hear shall live?
9. Are those free agents of whom God says (Heb. 8:10-11), “I will be to them a God and they shall be to Me a people; and they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying know the Lord?”
10. Could not a free agent believe, notwithstanding Jesus said, (Acts 13:41), “I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you?”
11. Would not the doctrine of free agency make man the cause of his own salvation?
12. Can man be a free agent and God be a sovereign?
13. Is any one free that is a servant?
14. Are not all men the servants of sin until they are made free by the Son?
(John 8:34-36.)
15. Is the sinner free to wig, free to choose, free to love, free to become a Christian, or, free to let it all alone?
16. If we are saved by our free will, is it not a fact that the only difference between the saved and the lost is that the saved made a better use of their will?
17. Has one the power over his will to incline it to good or to evil?
Read the rest of the list here.
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Ooooo My! This is jaw dropping! 284 glorious questions. Am speechless, John! Thanks so much..making several copies.
Imagine the scene:
Judgement Day
Lord: Depart from me for I never knew you!
Sinner: I know, I know, I wasn’t chosen. Excuse me, can you please explain why I wasn’t chosen? My father was. My brother was, but my mother and I weren’t. Why?? Oh it was for your glory. If I was already judged before time began, then why am I being judged again?? If I had nothing to do with it, then why and I being held accountable?!?! HMMMM!
I’m sorry folks, but this isn’t what the 1st four books of the New Testament says. Listen to what Jesus says, not Calvin. It’s a shame that Calvin’s name is mentioned more, by some, than Jesus.
Alan, this has nothing to do with Calvin, and everything to do with Christ and His Word.
You suggest from your little scenario that, if the doctrine of election is true, that some will stand before the Throne of Judgement, having believed upon Christ for salvation, and yet being turned away because they had not been chosen. As if someone who had been trying to get into an exclusive club, yet disappointedly finding their name is not on the v.i.p. guestlist. If this were the case, then we would certainly have a case to gripe against the unfairness of God.
The truth is however that we are all at enmity with God and dead in our sins from the moment we are born, because of the effect of original sin upon our lives. Not one of us seek after God of our own accord, and if we hear the Gospel of Christ and believe unto salvation, it is precisely because God has first chosen us.
As I said, take Calvin out of the equation completely, and listen solely to the words of Jesus. If you do so in context you will draw the same conclusion, that our salvation hinges upon the will of God to save us, not our own decision to be saved by Him.
“12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:12-13 (NKJV)
“44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”
John 6:44-45 (NKJV)
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Eph 1:3-6 (NKJV)
We are duty bound as Christians to preach the Gospel message to every creature, and all who believe will be saved. However the outcome of that preaching is totally in the hand of God, and not those who preach or those who listen to the message being preached.
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Eph 2:8-9 (NKJV)
Calvin gets too much credit or blame depending on how you look at it for alot of this stuff. I think if more people would look to the scriptures and let the Holy Spirit teach them they’ll find out that many of the issues attributed to him were there already 100′s of years before John Calvin was even a glint in his parents eyes……