“BOASTFUL BEACH” – CAN HUMAN FREE WILL BE PRESENT IN BIBLICAL SALVATION? – Kerrigan Skelly

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Kerrigan Skelly

One objection Calvinists often pose to non-Calvinists regarding salvation is the involvement of free will in sinners being converted/made right with God. Calvinists would have you believe that the free will of man has absolutely nothing to do with salvation and that if it did, that the man would automatically be prideful or that salvation would automatically be “works salvation,” instead of “salvation by grace.”

In meditating upon this through the years, I have come up with a parable/analogy to show how silly these objections are. Man choosing to be saved does not mean that he is being prideful, nor does it mean that his salvation is now a “works salvation.” In my opinion, these silly objections simply consist in Calvinists engaging in the redefining of Biblical words. They define the terms in light of their theological system, instead of allowing the true definitions of Biblical words to define their theological system.

BOASTFUL BEACH PARABLE/ANALOGY

Two men were at Boastful Beach one day. They loved the beach, because it fulfilled the “lust of their eyes” as they looked at all the bikini clad women. They were enjoying their day basking in the heat of the sun and getting a tan in order to fuel their own “pride of life.” They both knew that in order to get a “hot girl,” they had to have a tan. One of them began to get a little too warm, so he decided to take a swim in the Sea of Sin.

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10 Things A Consistent Calvinist Can NEVER Say – Refuting Calvinism | Kerrigan Skelly

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Kerrigan Skelly

In the last 8 years or so of dealing with Calvinists and Calvinism, I’ve found that many Calvinists are not very consistent with their theology. Of course there are some who are consistent with their theology, but they are few and far between. As I’ve debated with and attempted to reason with Calvinists, I’ve meditated upon things that they would say to me. There are many things that they really shouldn’t say, if they were consistent were their theology. Here’s a list of things that I don’t think a Consistent Calvinist should say:

1) “Jesus died for you” – They believe in the doctrine of “Limited/Definite Atonement” (the “L” of T.U.L.I.P.). This means that they believe that Jesus ONLY died for the “elect” – those that God chose for salvation, before He even began to create the Universe. Calvinists will also say that they don’t know who the elect are. If they don’t know who the elect are and Jesus only died for the elect, then they couldn’t possibly say this to ANYONE.

2) “God loves you” – Calvinists constantly cite Romans 9:13, in the hopes of proving “Unconditional Election” (the “U” of T.U.L.I.P.) – as I said above, this is the idea that God chose very few people for salvation and that He did this before He even began to create the Universe. Of course they twist this verse and commit eisegesis, since they are looking at Romans 9 through their “Calvinist eye glasses”. Yet, if the “U” of T.U.L.I.P. is correct and their interpretation of Romans 9:13 is correct, then there’s no possible way that they could say this to ANYONE.

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What Is “Works Salvation”? | Refuting Calvinists, Antinomians & Judaizers | Kerrigan Skelly

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Kerrigan Skelly

Quite often, I get accused of believing in “works salvation”. This is not to be unexpected, in this age of apostasy. False doctrine and false teachers are abounding all around us. Much of this is happening under the guise of being “true Christianity”. Because of all of this, many people don’t even understand what the writers of the Scripture mean, when they use the term, “works salvation”. Usually, people believe one of the following four definitions, for “works salvation”:

1) “Works salvation” is saying that you have any part in your salvation at all. In other words, if you believe in free will, then you believe in “works salvation”. If you believe that YOU did the repenting and YOU did the trusting in Jesus Christ, then that is “works salvation”. If you believe in “synergism”, then you believe in “works salvation”. This is the position of the Monergist or the Calvinist (at least, most of the ones that I have talked to). They’ll often quote John 6, Romans 9 & Ephesians 1, giving their Calvinistic interpretation of them.

2) “Works salvation” is saying that you must repent of your sins, in order to be saved. All you need to do to be saved, is “believe in Jesus” (they’ll quote Romans 10:14-15 for you). Saying that you must turn from your sins to be saved, is “works salvation”, even though they believe that you must turn from at least one sin (unbelief), in order to be saved. This is the position of antinomian or typically the King James Only Fundamental Independent Baptist (I have absolutely nothing against the KJV Bible).

3) “Works salvation” is saying that you are responsible for “maintaining your salvation” or “staying saved”. In other words, if you say that you can “lose your salvation”, “depart from the faith”, “be cut off”, etc., then you believe in “works salvation”. If you believe that you must live a holy life to be a true Christian, then you believe in “works salvation”. This is the position of anyone who believes in any form of unconditional eternal security, once saved always saved or perseverance of the saints. Some Calvinists may say that you “need to live holy” to be a Christian, but that is just double talk, since they say that we “all sin everyday, in though, word and deed”.

4) “Works salvation” is saying that committing sin can cause you to “lose your salvation”. Only “completely rejecting Jesus” can cause you to “lose your salvation”, but “sin” can’t. This is the position of SOME people who call themselves Arminians (NOT all of them).

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