The Calvinism Debate - Way of Life Literature

the unsaved sinner could do exactly that, and that bybelieving he would be born again.e order of salvation is also made clear in Ephesians 2:8-9-- “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not ofyourselves: it is the gi of God: Not of works, lest any manshould boast.” Here we find that faith is the means wherebywe are saved; it is the “hand that reaches out to accept God’sGi.”It is obvious from the previous verses that faith precedesand results in salvation.At the same time, it is important to observe that from God’sperspective the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief ofthe truth occur simultaneously. ough we are saved throughfaith, that faith is exercised in the context of the Spirit of Godenlightening and drawing and convicting and finallyregenerating and sanctifying. It would therefore be humanlyimpossible to separate the “belief of the truth” from the“sanctification of the Spirit.”Verses Used to Support the Calvinist Doctrine ofUnconditional Election and SovereignReprobationAccording to this doctrine, God unconditionally and“sovereignly” elects who will be saved and who will not besaved and this election has nothing to do with anything thesinner does, including exercising faith in the gospel. Considerthe words of the Westminster Confession: “By the decree ofGod, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angelsare predestined unto everlasting life and others foreordainedto everlasting death. ese angels and men, thuspredestinated and foreordained, are particularly andunchangeably designed; and their number is so certain anddefinite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. ...e rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to theunsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth91