Calvinism in Scripture

I was reading the heading on Boone's blog and I noticed something in the scripture which I had not noticed before. I have been running into alot of scripture lately that reminds me of the truths of Calvinism. Being a "calvinist", I am not surprised; but at the same time, it seemd like a good idea to jot down a few of these somewhere where I might be able to locate them easily in the future. If any of the 5 people who read this blog are arminian, then I hope you know I don't mean this as any kind of attack, and I hope you consider these verses in the development of your opinion.

Ephesians 1:4-6 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Romans 3:10-11 (NIV) As it is written: "There is none righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Romans 9:15 (NIV) For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 (NIV) But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

While I could go on and on, I think this should be sufficient. I do not argue that there are one or two places in scripture that make a valid case for the free will of arminianism; my personal opinion is comprised of 3 factors.

1) The overwhelming evidence of Scripture lies on the side of calvinism.

... no real necessity to go further, nevertheless:

2) In researching the subjectmatter it was interesting to realize that very few people accurately define "free will", "calvinism", and "arminianism"; and that should they work to define those 3 terms, the issue might resolve itself rather quickly. Accurate definitions of these 3 terms are critical to an accurate Biblical theology.

3) In the end, it is unavoidable that, Arminianism gives man glory for "choosing" God; and nullifies to a great extent, Christ's work on the cross. If arminianism is correct, then Christ accomplished nothing on the cross. He opened the door to salvation, but saved nobody. Rather, with Calvinism, all glory for salvation rests with God and Christ's work on the cross.

The last one would be hard for me to read if I was an arminian. I read an excellent article by JI Packer on this whole subject. It is in the forward to "the Death of Death in the Death of Christ" by John Owen. I highly recommed the book, the article, and "Chosen by God" by RC Sproul. They are all extremely helpful.

by His grace...