John MacArthur says you can have Peace & Doubt at same time

John MacArthur of Grace Community Church and other Doubting Calvinists are reviewed.

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[jobber00]

Andrew, just so we have some clarity on something others are throwing out there, would you please answer this question: Do you believe that Christ should be offered freely to non-believers? Or to put it another way, should we call on non-believers to accept Christ as he is offered in the gospel? Should we pronounce Christ's offering of himself and his benefits to all men and women?

[AndrewcBain]

How did the apostles spread abroad and report the gospel? The apostles *announced* it. They witnessed, proclaimed and preached the gospel, as this was the commission given to them from Christ. "Going into all the world, PREACH the gospel to all the creation." (Mark 16:15). "And you are WITNESSES of these things." (Luke 24:48). "Whatever you spoke in the ear in the secret rooms will be PROCLAIMED on the housetops." (Luke 12:3).

[AndrewcBain]

Then let it be known to you, men, brothers, that through this One remission of sin is ANNOUNCED to you. (Acts 13:38) Were the apostles commanded to negotiate with their hearers, by "offering" an "opportunity" to "accept" the "terms" of the gospel? No, they were not to make merchandize of the souls of men. The apostles were not commanded to "offer" the gospel, as if the hearer should have to comply with conditions, in order to be saved.

[AndrewcBain]

The gospel was simply proclaimed by the apostles, without conditions attached.

What did the apostles say? "We, on the other hand, preach Christ crucified." (1 Corinthians 1:23) "And we preach the gospel to you."(Acts 13:32) "I make known to you the gospel preached by me." (Galatians 1:11) It was preaching, declaring and making known that led people directly to the saving truth.

[AndrewcBain]

You never find the apostles saying, "We offer to you the gospel ... we make an offer of Christ to you ... will you accept the offer of grace?" This free-offer "gospel" is another gospel, for it was not preached by the apostles. It is a false gospel of conditional salvation that leads men away from the saving truth, by making people think that they must do something under the notion of accepting terms, and complying with offers.

[beefamato]

He's much like an Arminian, who believes that one must have a perfect understanding that Christ had died FOR HIM if he is really to believe and be saved.

James White, a Calvinist, has a great blurbs responding to hyper-Calvinism at

aomin . org / index . php ? itemid = 242 &catid = 4

and also at

aomin . org / HyperCalv . html (delete spaces in urls)

I hope all who visit Andrew's site will peruse aomin . org for solid theology even if they don't watch watch Andrew's contextless exposés.

[AndrewcBain]

However, since they do doubt their salvation, it shows that they suspect there is something to be done ON TOP of Christ's work for salvation. And since they can never be certain that they've done enough ON TOP of Christ's work, they are left doubting their salvation.

[nodoubt257]

I think if you can spend the time to search for something negative to say about John MacArthur then you need to question your own salvation.

[AliceinChaynz]

john macarthur teaches that if a believer sins he will not experience the assurance and will doubt his salvation, and will need to examine himself as to whether he is in the faith. if the bible meant for us to never question our salvation, it would not call upon us to examine ourselves. because we may think we are saved when we are actually decieved doesn't negate once saved- always saved. if you are truly saved then that is forever but you must be sure your conversion is real.

[RyanASinclair]

Amen brother!!!

[bitterchew]

I believe in Eternal Security. Narration sounds like Stephen Hawking

[VUTRUDOIN]

andrewcbain-your twisting and darkened understanding of the scriptures is just another evidence that you are a false convert! you must repent or you will perish!

[heathac]

And as far as the psalms being only the experiences of Christ, I again believe that you are over-simplifying the issue. Could it not be that they are the experiences of both the psalmists and Christ? If they are only Christ's experience, does this mean that we should remove "a psalm of David" from the opening verse of the many psalms which include it?

[heathac]

This is another point where you are drastically over-simplifying the issue, speaking of 'I.' Certainly imputed righteousness is a part of the gospel, but it is not the gospel in itself. It must be taken side by side with atonement and propitiation. Without these there could be no imputed righteousness. And to go further, we might argue, as Piper, that we could say Jesus Christ, or God, Himself is the gospel, for it is he who does all of the work necessary for salvation.

[heathac]

I think this is your worst point, although you are wrong on all points. Do you realize that you would be considered outside of the pale of Christian orthodoxy in all of these categories by the majority of major Christian denominations and thinkers throughout the history of the church? There is no way you can biblically support that faith is simply intellectual ascent to propositions. If this were true than anyone who prayed 'the sinners prayer' would be saved. You over-simplify every issue.

[doolos]

This Guy just misquotes and distorts what people say. He is the master of hearing what he wants. He is a deceiver and a liar. I tried to talk to him and he cannot even follow an argument. He twists and contorts the Word of God. Through eisegesis he shows his points. Hes a 1 verse cherry picker...