Soteriology 101 w/ Dr. Leighton Flowers

Today we dialogue about Christian Charity in this debate over soteriology by interacting with John Piper's comments about influential Arminians.  In the discourse we cover:   ·        The Philosophical aspects involved in this discussion. ·        Being people of “The Book” ·        Are non-Calvinists as exegetical in their approach? ·        Who are some scholarly non-Calvinistic scholars?   This...

In the closing of this debate Dr. White makes several erroneous remarks in defense of Calvinism that I would like to address: 1.  He mocks preachers who ask, "What will you do with Jesus?" Instead of asking, "What will Jesus do with you?" Yet, in Matthew 27:21 Pilot did ask the crowd what they wanted him to do with Jesus. Is this not still an applicable question for each person to ponder?  This qu...

"Can I lose my salvation?" is one of the most googled phrases regarding the topic of soteriology. Many people are concerned with this question. Some reference to the doctrine called the "Perseverance of the Saints," and others the more common phrases such as, "Once Saved Always Saved," or "Eternal Security of the Believer." All of the discussions typically center around the foundational concern of...

Recently several people have asked what specific points lead me away from Calvinism. I believe there are many who are trying to help   a loved one to give up their Calvinism.  I hate to tell them, but it is doubtful a podcast will accomplish that. It is very difficult to leave a system of thought after you've fully adopted it. Nevertheless, I tell my story and reveal the top five points that helpe...

Should a church openly advertise that they teach Reformed Theology? Should a preacher be honest about being Calvinistic in the interview process? How should we respond to Calvinists who make us angry? What are people saying about this podcast? This and more is discussed on today episode.  Join our discussion as www. Soteriology101.com  

False assumptions of Calvinism: 1. Man is not only born sinful, but they are born totally hardened (by sovereign decree) and thus unable to even respond to God's own appeal to be reconciled from the fall. 2. The responsibility of man to humble ourselves and repent of our inabilities and sinfulness in faith merits salvation and thus is boast worthy if we do it apart from God's irresistible grace. 3...

“If it’s never our fault, we can’t take responsibility for it. If we can’t take responsibility for it, we’ll always be its victim.” Richard Bach “Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the nonpharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.” John W. Gardner One big problem a lot of people have is that they slip into thinking of themsel...

We quote and address CS Lewis, John Calvin, Charles Hodge, W.G.T Shedd, R. L. Dabney (Reformed Princeton Theologians), Phil Johnson (Grace to You) and JD Hall (Pulpit and Pen). Quotes below... The first half of the podcast deals with Limited Atonement: Particular versus Provisional  One can support he provisional view without denying Calvinism. Not really the most important point of the Calvinisti...

Much of this podcast is me attempting to rephrase our point of contention.  JD continually moves the discussion to be about a non-regenerate man's need to become regenerate, when my contention was about the ability of an already regenerate to resist temptation. If a Christian sins is it because God has in any way failed or neglected to give His child what was needed to resist that temptation?  Or...

In today episode we: Continue the Phil Johnson debate over Twitter by reminding everyone that non-Calvinists, such as myself, may not believe God determines everything, but that doesn't mean we believe God determines nothing.  Calvinists, like Phil Johnson and James White point to examples of God's deterministic activity in the world as if its the smoking gun proving their deterministic premise. ...

In this episode Stewie and Phil Johnson gang up on me and hurt my feelings. They are insisting my claim that God's sovereignty is more about his desire to reveal a world NOT under his complete control than it is about Him attempting to maintain deterministic control over every thing that happens is just plain 'stupid' and 'jejune.' What ever that means. It once again goes back to the Determinist's...

"God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His...

Paul writes:  "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." Remembering that the question Paul is answering in Romans 9 is: “Has God’s word failed in regard to God’s electio...

The Non-Calvinistic View of Romans 9: It begins, as before, with Paul agonizing over the failure of Israel to come to faith in Christ (vv. 1-5). He has to confront the Jewish objection that, if his gospel were correct, it would mean that God’s promises to the Jews had failed. His response is that God’s promises have not failed, but others are inheriting the promises, because not all of Israel is I...

Jacob I loved and Esau I hated: The term “hate” is sometimes an expression of choosing one over another, and does not literally mean “hatred.” For instance, Jesus told Peter, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). No commentator worth his salt would sugges...

Many are Called, but Few are Chosen. Our calling is unconditional, but is our election?  In the illustration of the Wedding banquet (Matt. 22) the choice of those who enter is clearly conditioned upon their wearing the correct garments. We will unpack that parable today. We will also look at 1 Thess. 1:4 and 2 Thess. 2:13, which are used by Calvinists to prove their view of individual election to...

After Stewie makes fun of the Professor for a host of reasons, the discussion picks up where it left off on John Piper's introduction to Calvinism as he speaks of its practicality in ministry. How teniable is the belief that all our choices are actually determined by God?  Does it really help us? In a culture that blames God and runs to sin rather than blaming sin and running to God, does the Calv...

We discuss John Piper's sermon: TULIP, Part 1 of 9: 
Introduction
A Seminar for The Bethlehem Institute
March 7, 2008 | by John Piper | Topic: The Doctrines of Grace / Calvinism John Piper introduces his 9 part series on the topic of Calvinism with this quote from AW Tozer. "It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the 20th century is so decadent as to...

Do non-Calvinists believe we save ourselves?   Can we respond to the gospel without the aid of the Holy Spirit? Can a non-Calvinist ever correctly represent Calvinism? What about men like John the Baptist or Paul, who seemed to be predestined to be followers of Christ?  Doesn't that prove God predestines all believers? Does proving that God predetermined the crucifixion of Christ prove that God pr...

Picking up where we left off last time in our discussion covering the debate with Dr. James White via Twitter... Which view of Sovereignty is really greater?  The Calvinistic view or the non-Calvinistic view? Which is more impressive to you? The man you has to play both sides of the chess board to ensure victory or the man who can soundly defeat every opponent? AW Tozer said, " God sovereignly dec...

Earlier in the week I engaged with Dr. James White, host of the Dividing Line and notable Calvinistic scholar, on Twitter regarding the doctrine of Predestionation and election.  Oh, and Stewie is back by popular demand. Below are some of the messages from the twitter discussion from my side of the discussion and this podcast dives in a little deeper on the subject.  Enjoy! "From Augustine of Hipp...