The Magisterial Protestant

  Calvinism is a set of theological beliefs held by the reformed tradition of the Protestant reformation. Its teaching on predestination is quite popular and have been labeled the 5 points of Calvinism as they can be summarized with 5 statements. 1. Man can not on their own come to saving faith, 2. God elects some people to eternal life, 3. Jesus Christ did not die for the sins of the whole world but only for the elect, 4. When God chooses to save someone that person can not resist God's grace  , 5. A true Christian can not loose their salvation. These points can basically be summarized as God picks and dies for only those who will ultimately be saved (the elect) and the only true Christians are the elect. Augustinian predestination  Saint Augustine of Hippo was by far the most influential Church father in all of Christianity and he's battle with the heretic Pelagius led him to develop a robust monergistic system of predestination. Monergism is the position that God saves...

  Was coming to Christianity something you did on your own or did God predestine you before you were born to be a Christian who will persevere to the end in faith? I will argue in this entry that when we look at the scriptural data, I believe the latter is true. Now I know many will have vehement disagreements with me on this, which is fine however I do ask you to hear the opposing side first so you at least know where we have gone wrong. I welcome feedback in the comments. To break this down 2 questions need to be asked when dealing with this larger question. 1st, can human beings come to genuine saving faith of their own free will. 2nd Does God pick those that will come to the faith and be saved. The biblical term for those who come to final salvation is the "elect". I ask you to approach these passages from the Word of God with an open mind and seeking truth in the only place we are certain truth lies. Can man come to faith of his own will? Lets hop right into passages tha...