Questions for calvinists?

Question

I am currently writing a paper on Calvinism and am finding I'm pretty ignorant on the subject. Right now I'm stuck on Predestination. Do Calvinists feel like events are predetermined or just that the salvation of individuals is predetermined?

Last question, I understand Calvinists do not believe a righteous person (or someone who has accepted Christ) is capable of sinning. I could be wrong. But, did Jesus have the ability to sin?

Answer 1

Of course Jesus had the ability to sin. That's why Satan tempted him in the desert. Jesus was perfect in that he never succumbed to sin.

Answer 2

1. they believe that God has "foreknowledge" not predestining people to heaven or hell. he knows who will and won't accept him, he is God and can see from beginning to end, and not limited by time.

2. they believe that once you are saved you are always saved, however still sin, yet when Jesus died for sins he died for all sin.. past, present and future. if you are truly saved you don't wallow in sin, you would be miserable. a child of God cannot continue to "knowingly" sin. if you can continue in sin, maybe you were never really saved to begin with. sinning will break fellowship with God, not Sonship.

3. Jesus was without sin.. he couldn't sin since he is a part of the God head. period.

Answer 3

In order to discuss predestination, the Calvinist starts out with the premise that man has inherited original sin through the fall of Adam. All events being predetermined in advance where God would be the author of sin, would be called hyper-Calvinism, or double predestination which is not scriptural. Anyway, as a fallen creature, "dead in our sins" means totally dead (I've never seen a partially dead person), without the ability to look to God for salvation. Since "free will" would only involve, by definition, rejection of God, whether He knows what's going to happen or not becomes a non-issue. Everyone throughout history stands condemned before the holiness of God, and deserves His wrath, which is perfectly justified given our guilt.

An entire human race that is "totally depraved" in this manner cannot save itself, nor can any individual atone for his or her sins. This must be done through a Savior. It's important to realize that not everybody will be saved, and since we start off as spiritually dead, God Himself must be the one to do the saving, not out of any merits we have, but out of His grace. So that means God chooses His own, and we can extrapolate our destiny to pre-destiny, or the doctrine of predestination. God does not choose the entire world. He chooses some, and the rest are left in their sins. So yes, the salvation of individuals is predetermined. Sometimes Calvinists are branded as "robots" that God forces into a choice for Him, but this goes back to an a priori assumption that we are only "partially dead" and the Calvinist does not see it that way.

Your next premise about those who have accepted Christ being incapable of sin needs some correction. First, the Calvinist sees any "acceptance" as a misguided reaction to what the Holy Spirit has already done for us, as works-oriented religion where God is subjected to human will. Not so! Salvation in its entirety is the work of God, who does not wring His hands in hopes of our acceptance. Nor does God merely take initial action to cajole us into faith in Him. As for our being incapable of sin once we are saved, Question #56 in the Heidelberg catechism, "what do you believe concerning 'the forgiveness of sins'?", is answered with, "I believe that God, because of Christ's atonement, will never hold against me any of my sins nor my sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, in his grace God grants me the righteousness of Christ to free me forever from judgment." I think the key word in this is "struggle" which means we do sin, but sin itself is of no concern to the unsaved, and therein lies the difference.

As for whether Jesus had the ability to sin, would he have been tempted if he was incapable?

This theology by the way is not a new invention. It was successfully argued at the Synod of Dort nearly 400 years ago. Semi-Pelagianism and Arminianism have risen in popularity in recent times, but if you look closely you'll see Calvinism to be the more God-centered of these. You can find doctrinal statements as well as other apologetics at www.reformed.org. Good luck with your paper.

Answer 4

MORE INFO PLZ ON YOUR FIRST QUESTION BUT AS FOR YOUR SECOND YES HE HAD THE ABILITY OUT HE DIDNT HE LEAD A PERFECT SIN FREE LIFE HE WAS TEMPTED BUT NEVER DID!!!!!

Answer 5

i have no idea wehat either one of them are! sorry