Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Soul Sacrifice: Calvinism vs Christ (part 4)

When Paul wrote of being "chosen" and "elect" he was not sowing Calvinistic seeds; he was emphasizing the point that God's grace is the Almighty's gift ... to remind us that we are not saved by our own efforts, nor by our own righteousness or because we were predestined to enjoy our place in a heirarchy of salvation ... but that God's will and plan is eternal: we are redeemed through Christ's choice to die on the cross in our place.

Calvinism can never supercede Christ's love and sacrifice: nothing can.

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Christ's suffering and death on the cross was a choice: his choice ... one he made from love and for the forgiveness of our sins ... and his resurrection proved that God's promise of forgiveness for anyone who believes in him is true.

Calvinism has nothing to do with redemption, and grace has nothing to do with self-gratifying theologies of who is "elect" and who is "chosen."  All have sinned, all have fallen short and we are only saved ... not by predestination ... but by grace.

Calvinism chooses to stand apart from God's love, mercy, grace and forgiveness ... and aggrandizes itself by secreting away the relationship with the Almighty that Christ made possible, beneath a man-made veil in a dark temple of vanity and self-importance.