Tony Evans Preaches on Prayer and God's Will
I am always thankful for Tony Evans' preaching. He understands the Word and God's character correctly. He preaches a view of God and Scripture that accurately reflects truth, that affects us and our faith in practical ways, that fills me with hope, and that makes sense!
Unlike Calvinism. Unlike my Calvinist pastor.
I have been so discouraged by the constant hammering of Calvinism at our church - the sick twisting of Scripture, the damaging distortion of God's good character and amazing gifts, the hopelessness that Calvinism is - that I don't listen to our pastor anymore. Because when I did, it would leave me angry for days. (Angry ... but motivated to see what the Bible really says. So that's a good thing.)
And so I listen to Tony Evans' sermons online instead. And it feels like a breath of fresh air. Like I can breathe again. Like I am not so crazy for disagreeing with Calvinism. Because Calvinism is wrong!
(I am sure there are other great preachers to listen to. But I'll stick with Tony for now. Because I know I can trust him. And even though I've been a Christian for over 30 years, he still manages to teach me something I didn't know or think about before. And that's a nice thing. To be delightfully surprised by God's Word still, to discover something new about God and faith, to be encouraged in a fresh way ... even after 30 years of reading the same Bible over and over again.)
And the thing is, he doesn't directly confront Calvinism; he just preaches the Word accurately. He preaches God's truth, as it is written ... and that does contradict Calvinism.
God's Word, when understood and read correctly, does not support Calvinism. And hearing God's Word preached without any Calvinistic twisting is like applying a healing balm to my wounded soul.
This sermon (updated link!) shows what I am talking about: How to Get Your Prayers Answered. It's a long one (but worth it), but you can see what I am talking about in the first 5 or 6 minutes of it.
Calvinism says that God's Will is the cause of everything, that everything happens because God planned it from the beginning of time and because He causes it to happen, for His pleasure and glory. Even people's sins and unbelief. Calvinism does not make room for anything other than the Will and actions of God. People have no ability to choose or to affect what happens.
And so if we are driving and take a wrong turn and drive over a cliff, it's because God willed it and caused it. If we were abused as a child, it's because God willed it and caused it. If we end up in hell, it's because God willed it and caused it. If we have an affair or kill someone, well, it would have to be because God willed it and caused it. (Calvinists don't like to admit that Calvinism teaches God "causes" sin, and so they hide it under other words and ideas, trying to obscure it, to make it sound like it's not saying what it really says. But it all means "causes," and there's no way around it.)
God's Will is the only controlling/operating force in the world. According to Calvinism. And we can do nothing to change it or affect it.
Unlike Calvinism. Unlike my Calvinist pastor.
I have been so discouraged by the constant hammering of Calvinism at our church - the sick twisting of Scripture, the damaging distortion of God's good character and amazing gifts, the hopelessness that Calvinism is - that I don't listen to our pastor anymore. Because when I did, it would leave me angry for days. (Angry ... but motivated to see what the Bible really says. So that's a good thing.)
And so I listen to Tony Evans' sermons online instead. And it feels like a breath of fresh air. Like I can breathe again. Like I am not so crazy for disagreeing with Calvinism. Because Calvinism is wrong!
(I am sure there are other great preachers to listen to. But I'll stick with Tony for now. Because I know I can trust him. And even though I've been a Christian for over 30 years, he still manages to teach me something I didn't know or think about before. And that's a nice thing. To be delightfully surprised by God's Word still, to discover something new about God and faith, to be encouraged in a fresh way ... even after 30 years of reading the same Bible over and over again.)
And the thing is, he doesn't directly confront Calvinism; he just preaches the Word accurately. He preaches God's truth, as it is written ... and that does contradict Calvinism.
God's Word, when understood and read correctly, does not support Calvinism. And hearing God's Word preached without any Calvinistic twisting is like applying a healing balm to my wounded soul.
This sermon (updated link!) shows what I am talking about: How to Get Your Prayers Answered. It's a long one (but worth it), but you can see what I am talking about in the first 5 or 6 minutes of it.
Calvinism says that God's Will is the cause of everything, that everything happens because God planned it from the beginning of time and because He causes it to happen, for His pleasure and glory. Even people's sins and unbelief. Calvinism does not make room for anything other than the Will and actions of God. People have no ability to choose or to affect what happens.
And so if we are driving and take a wrong turn and drive over a cliff, it's because God willed it and caused it. If we were abused as a child, it's because God willed it and caused it. If we end up in hell, it's because God willed it and caused it. If we have an affair or kill someone, well, it would have to be because God willed it and caused it. (Calvinists don't like to admit that Calvinism teaches God "causes" sin, and so they hide it under other words and ideas, trying to obscure it, to make it sound like it's not saying what it really says. But it all means "causes," and there's no way around it.)
God's Will is the only controlling/operating force in the world. According to Calvinism. And we can do nothing to change it or affect it.
But within the first few minutes of the sermon in the link, Dr. Evans contradicts this and presents a more biblically-accurate view of God and God's Will.
He says that God has two different kinds of Wills: an unconditional one and a conditional one.
God's unconditional Will includes the things that He decides to do regardless of us. These are the things He has planned and will carry out without any influence or input from us. But His conditional Will includes the things He's decided to do only in response to us, to our obedience and prayers and what we decide. And so if we don't do our part, God won't do His. (This would explain a verse like James 4:2: "You do not have, because you do not ask God.") God has decided He'll do some things and give some things, but only if we ask for them and if we obey. If we don't, then we won't get them. And so when it comes to God's conditional Will, we have an effect on what does or does not happen, which contradicts Calvinism's view that says we have no choice, no influence, no effect on what happens because God preplans, causes, controls it all.
When we say God allows us to choose, Calvinists accuse us of saying that God is not all-powerful or sovereign. But that's not what we're saying. We're saying that God Himself has chosen to voluntarily limit His right to control/cause everything, in order to allow mankind to have the ability to make real choices. Because that's how He wanted it to be, to let men choose to believe in Him, love Him, obey Him ... or choose not to. It's not that God doesn't have the power and control; it's that He chose to restrain His use of it because He wants people to make real decisions about Him. (We see this all throughout the Bible.) That's the only way our love and devotion and obedience can mean anything. Forced love is not love. Robotic obedience is not satisfying or glorifying.
He says that God has two different kinds of Wills: an unconditional one and a conditional one.
God's unconditional Will includes the things that He decides to do regardless of us. These are the things He has planned and will carry out without any influence or input from us. But His conditional Will includes the things He's decided to do only in response to us, to our obedience and prayers and what we decide. And so if we don't do our part, God won't do His. (This would explain a verse like James 4:2: "You do not have, because you do not ask God.") God has decided He'll do some things and give some things, but only if we ask for them and if we obey. If we don't, then we won't get them. And so when it comes to God's conditional Will, we have an effect on what does or does not happen, which contradicts Calvinism's view that says we have no choice, no influence, no effect on what happens because God preplans, causes, controls it all.
When we say God allows us to choose, Calvinists accuse us of saying that God is not all-powerful or sovereign. But that's not what we're saying. We're saying that God Himself has chosen to voluntarily limit His right to control/cause everything, in order to allow mankind to have the ability to make real choices. Because that's how He wanted it to be, to let men choose to believe in Him, love Him, obey Him ... or choose not to. It's not that God doesn't have the power and control; it's that He chose to restrain His use of it because He wants people to make real decisions about Him. (We see this all throughout the Bible.) That's the only way our love and devotion and obedience can mean anything. Forced love is not love. Robotic obedience is not satisfying or glorifying.
God shows us over and over again in His Word that He has given us a great degree of free-will, an influence over what happens in this life, such as when we read about people's decisions affecting what happens, about God doing things in response to what the people did, about God presenting people with options and letting them choose.
Now compare this to Calvinism's two Wills: a spoken one (like God telling Adam and Eve "do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil") and a secondary unspoken one which contradicts the spoken one (God then causes Adam and Eve to eat the fruit because that's what He preplanned to happen). But this unbiblical kind of "two Wills" creates a contradictory, self-defeating, untrustworthy God who says He wants one thing while preplanning/causing the opposite, such as when He says He wants all people to be saved but He predestines most to hell. It doesn't make sense, and it destroys God's character.
But the proper view of God having an unconditional Will in some circumstances and a conditional Will in others does not make God contradictory. It just means that sometimes God decides things and sometimes He lets us decide things (such as whether we will obey or not, pray or not, sin or not, believe or not, etc.) And this makes sense, and it makes us (not God) responsible for our sins and choices, which makes the consequences just and fair.
Whereas, in Calvinism, God predestines our sins then tells us not to sin then causes our sin then punishes us for sinning. How just and fair is that!?! And what damage it does to God's truth and character!
God has chosen to allow us to have an effect on life, to make decisions, to have an influence over what happens in our life and our eternities, to choose how we will respond to His forgiving love and saving grace. Whether Calvinists admit it or not - we have a huge effect on what happens. And someday we will be held accountable for and face the consequences of our choices.
A correct, balanced view of God, His Word, His love, His grace, His justice, etc., leads to a humbled heart filled with hope and gratitude and a desire to live rightly before the Lord.
Unlike Calvinism ... which just scares the crap out of you, destroys your faith and trust in God, ruins God's character and trustworthiness, makes you feel hopeless and useless and pointless, and ruins the beautiful relationship God wants to have with us! So sad!
But thank you, Dr. Evans, for being a faithful preacher of God's Truth, for accurately teaching about who God is and what He does and what our part is!
I can't imagine that God - who created us because He loves us, who died for us and offers salvation and forgiveness to all men so that all men can find eternal life in Him - is pleased when men accuse Him of being the ultimate cause of all our sins and unbelief. Can you imagine ... dying to pay for all men's sin so that all men have a chance to find eternal life, and then having some smug Calvinist preach that Jesus's blood didn't cover most men's sins because God predestined that they would go to hell and there's nothing they can do about it!?! I don't think heresy gets much more worse or evil than that!
If we sin, it's not because God caused it. It's because we chose to sin. If we end up in hell, it's not because He predestined us to go to hell and never made salvation available to us (as Calvinists would say). It's because we chose to reject God's gifts of forgiveness and salvation and grace. And not all bad things that happen in this world are because God willed it and caused it. (And He never causes sin. He uses it, incorporating it into His plans, but He never predestined it or causes it.) Many times, it's because we made it happen, because we made a wrong choice, because we failed to call on God or obey Him.
If we sin, it's not because God caused it. It's because we chose to sin. If we end up in hell, it's not because He predestined us to go to hell and never made salvation available to us (as Calvinists would say). It's because we chose to reject God's gifts of forgiveness and salvation and grace. And not all bad things that happen in this world are because God willed it and caused it. (And He never causes sin. He uses it, incorporating it into His plans, but He never predestined it or causes it.) Many times, it's because we made it happen, because we made a wrong choice, because we failed to call on God or obey Him.
God has chosen to allow us to have an effect on life, to make decisions, to have an influence over what happens in our life and our eternities, to choose how we will respond to His forgiving love and saving grace. Whether Calvinists admit it or not - we have a huge effect on what happens. And someday we will be held accountable for and face the consequences of our choices.
And we need to take this seriously. It should be sobering to us. It should make us more careful, more prayerful, about how we live. It should humble us before our God.
A correct, balanced view of God, His Word, His love, His grace, His justice, etc., leads to a humbled heart filled with hope and gratitude and a desire to live rightly before the Lord.
Unlike Calvinism ... which just scares the crap out of you, destroys your faith and trust in God, ruins God's character and trustworthiness, makes you feel hopeless and useless and pointless, and ruins the beautiful relationship God wants to have with us! So sad!
But thank you, Dr. Evans, for being a faithful preacher of God's Truth, for accurately teaching about who God is and what He does and what our part is!
I need to keep hearing it. Healing balm for my wounded soul.
