Good Friday

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."-- 2 Corinthians 5:21

"...and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." -- Hebrews 9:22-b

Take some time today to remember the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. On that day so many years ago, Jesus offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice to pay for sin once and for all. He took the punishment of our crimes upon Himself in the ultimate display of love and humility.

If you haven’t read the complete story of the crucifixion recently, today’s a perfect day to revisit it. Here are the four Gospel accounts of the story:

• Matthew 26:14-27:66
• Mark 14:12-15:47
• Luke 22-23
• John 18-19

What I believe: What is Unconditional Election?

 

You may have noticed that I'm taking forever to make these "What I believe" posts, and that when they do come out, they're super huge.  I have found a solution to both problems!  Frankly, I'm embarrassed that I didn't come up with this before.

Okay, so you know how I divide each post into five parts?  Well, I'll be dividing each of those individual points into individual posts.  This will not only make posts more frequent and easier to swallow, but it will also make it easier for me to do justice to each point.

So right now we're on the topic of Unconditional Election, the second of the five points of Calvinism outlined in the acronym 'TULIP.'  We'll be looking at:

1. What Unconditional Election means (and doesn't mean)
2. Where the idea of Unconditional Election comes from
3. How Unconditional Election applies to us
4. Common arguments against Unconditional Election (refuted!)

Today we'll be introducing the topic with the first point:

What is Unconditional Election?  What does it mean?

What I Believe: Total Depravity

So this is the first post in the new series "What I Believe," where we will be going over some of the key doctrines of Calvinism and Creationism.  We're starting off by diving into Calvinism, and today's post is on Total Depravity: the letter "T" in the acronym "TULIP," and the first of the five points of Calvinism.

First of all, I would like to point out that I am not an expert.  I don't claim to have any special theological knowledge, and I certainly don't have any credentials.  I'm just a normal guy who's done some research and read some stuff.  Also, this is not an exhaustive study.  There's a ton more information surrounding the subject than what I give in this post.  All that to say: I can't do justice to the subject.  Look into this yourself, do some of your own research, and be a Berean.  Don't just take my word for it on the subject.

With that said, let's get on with the post.  So here's what we're going to do.  We're going to look into:

1. What Total Depravity means
2. Where the idea of Total Depravity comes from
3. How Total Depravity applies to us.
4. Common arguments against Total Depravity (refuted!)

Let's get started!