Dan Chapa

I'm going to make two contentions in this post.  First, there's a necessary connection between true faith and salvation.1  This is Paul's point.  Second, there is a necessary connection between true faith and works.  This is James' point.  The council of Trent denies both of these claims by saying people can have true faith through which they are put into a state of grace and lose their state of grace through mortal sin, while remaining true believers.  This is because Trent denied "sola fide" - charity must be added to faith.     The Necessary Connection between True Faith and Salvation Christ promised that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  In John 6:35, Christ says “he that believes on me shall never thirst at any time.” Christ uses what Dan Wallace calls an Empathic negation”, which denies not only the occurrence but the possibility of any uncertainty about the occurrence.2   But Trent s...

Arminians typically emphasize the foreknowledge aspect of 1 Peter 1:2, but there is another aspect that's even more supportive of conditional election. Infra-lapsarian Calvinists typically view election as among the unsanctified but the passage teaches us that we are chosen through (or 'by' or 'in') sanctification of the Spirit. Here's the passage: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit , to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied. The phrase 'through sanctification of the Spirit' modifies 'elect'. Sanctification is the means, not the goal of election (i.e. we are not chosen to become sanctified, rather we are chosen through sanctification). The Holy Spirit produces obedient faith in us and through His work we become the elect.

The bible often speaks of God trying or testing us. For example, Exodus 16:4 says: 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.(All Scriptural Quotes from New King James Version) Such passages are strong evidence that God has given us the ability to choose between alternatives since the"or not" seems to be up to us. But such passages seem to imply something more than the ability to choose otherwise, they imply that at least in some circumstances we are able to choose good or evil. 

This one is Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” This is a verse that many people do not know is in the Bible. Its sentiment shocks them. They think that God could not have created evil. But this is precisely what the Bible says, and it has a direct bearing on the doctrine of predestination. Some people who do not wish to extend God’s power over evil things, and particularly over moral evils, try to say that the word evil here means such natural evils as earthquakes and storms. The Scofield Bible notes that the Hebrew word here, ra, is never translated sin. This is true. The editors of the Bible must have looked at every instance of ra in the Old Testament and must have seen that it is never translated sin in the King James Version. But what the note does not say is that it is often translated wickedness, as in Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth.” In fact, ra is tran...

I was recently reading John Goodwin's thoughts on Mathew 27:3-5. 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." 5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. Judas was seized with remorse, when he saw Christ was condemned. Goodwin points out that Judas probably thought Christ would free Himself after Judas betrayed Him. Judas wouldn't have been surprised by Christ's condemnation, if he though that was going to be the case. Maybe he thought Christ was i nnocent , and would be proven so, or maybe he thought Christ would use His power to free Himself. In any case, this is a powerful reminder not to sin, thinking there will be a way out down the ...

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. What a wonderful passage. God through Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. Hard to explain if you don't think Christ died for everyone. But many Calvinists say that the world only means the elect. They are quick to point out if there sins aren't counted against them, and if they are reconciled to God, then they are saved. So the world must mean only the elect. Hum...

Having just read I Thessalonians, here are a few of my comments. The primary topics of the book are: persecution, Christ’s return, sexual purity and love. The occasion for the book was Paul’s hearing that the Thessalonians church was persevering through great persecution. Paul had only spent a month in Thessalonica and was chased away all to quickly. He had wanted to teach them more and feared that the Gospel hadn’t had sufficient time to sink into the community. But when he heard they were doing well and undergoing persecution triumphantly he wrote them to praise them, continue his teaching and explain his desire to see them. A few key passages that stuck out for me were: 1Th 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Here we have faith, hope and love, which reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is char...