The story of Jonah in the Old Testament is a story of misdirection. All of a sudden in chapter 3 readers realize the question they’ve been naturally asking doesn’t get at the heart of the message the story is telling. The question we naturally ask is, “Are the unbelievers going to believe the message Jonah preaches about repentance and faith in God?” But then the question shockingly shows itself to be different than that and it’s aimed at…believers.
Obviously, reading the Bible and praying, being in a small group, and being filled with the Spirit are good things. We just love to make them new works that we do that put us ahead of everyone else. On and on we could go with the ways we think we are on the forefront of Christianity, ahead of most Christians and churches due to our practices and our works.
Romans 8 and Ephesians 1 do not chalk God’s choosing, predestining work up to merely having knowledge about redemption in the future. They speak about God’s choosing, predestining work as Him actually doing something that is moving forward His redemption.
In conclusion, the Arminian objections to Calvinism actually turn back on Arminianism with greater force. Arminians, if God is so loving as you say, why isn’t God willing to singlehandedly save a single person? Because of the idea of genuine love based on freedom of choice? Alright, why does God seem to love the idea of “free” choice more than individual’s life? At least Calvinists think He loves people too much to let them go to hell forever due to their own evil stupidity.
Second, I’d like to answer this dilemma by pointing out that Arminians too have this problem of answering why God does not save everyone and they are currently living with it. In fact, I think this is a much bigger problem for them. According to Arminianism, God is not willing to singlehandedly save a single person, though He absolutely could save everyone. At least in Calvinism He is willing to singlehandedly save many, many people. To Arminians I ask, why isn’t God willing to singlehandedly save a single person, including you?
It may come as a surprise to you too that the following quotes represent what Arminians believe about how someone comes to faith in Christ. Dr. Olson explains that, “Arminians do not believe that salvation is ultimately in their own hands. It is all of grace.” (Olson, 140). Interestingly, “…for Arminius the saved person cannot boast because even faith is a gift of God.” (Olson, 140). “Even repentance is a gift of God” (Olson, 150).
Arminians and Calvinists disagree about the state of people walking around today. Before I highlight the disagreement, it may surprise you to learn that Arminians and Calvinists both believe in “total depravity”. By total depravity, we mean that people are born sinful in every aspect of their being, though they are not as bad as they could be.
Why should we care about the Bible? Because God has promised to show up in His Word. The point of talking about the Bible is because we want to talk about and know the God of the Bible. If you want to get hit by a train, go to the train tracks. If you want to know God and experience God, then go to the Bible. Put yourself in front of the train of the Bible.
The legend of springtime long ago is true but how distant this all seems to us. After all, it lasts only two chapters in the Bible, then winter sets. We now wonder, will springtime be restored again? Will badness and sin and death break to the power of a new spring? Will there be a new heavens and earth one day? Here is the answer: Only if God gets to work once again. We authored a winter of sin we can’t break. We can’t author salvation. Only if God gets to work once again will salvation and springtime come.
Here is how this plagues Christians. We are plagued sometimes by one question: Am I really saved? How do I have assurance of my salvation? Am I blessed by God or cursed? Does “Blessed is the one…Blessed is the man…” describe me? Can I have confidence before the Lord? Can I have joy and gladness? Or should I fear and tremble before God? When left unanswered we feel like David, like our bones are wasting away, we feel deep inward groaning all day long. We sense divine heaviness. We lose energy, we feel weak. It’s hard to pray. God isn’t our hiding place. Often this question comes from within. We think, “I have sinned so bad, I wonder if I’m saved at all?” Often this question comes from others: “How could you sin like that? Are you sure you’re not a false convert?”
