The Gospel According To ...
The Gospel according to the Bible: "Because Jesus died
for the sins of all men, the offer of salvation is for everyone. Everyone
has the opportunity to go to heaven. God calls all people to seek Him, to
believe in Him, to repent of their sins, and to accept His offer of
salvation. And it is indeed possible for everyone to do this. But
He lets us decide whether we want to do this or not. Whether we will accept His offer of salvation
or reject it. Whether we will repent of
our sins or embrace them. Whether we
will bow down to Him as our God, as Lord and Savior, or try to live as our own ‘god.’ And those who repent of their sins, who choose
Jesus as their Lord and Savior, accepting His sacrificial payment for their
sins, will be saved. But those who choose to reject God and His offer of
salvation have chosen to pay the price for their sins themselves, which is
eternal death. Hell. An eternity without God. The offer of
salvation is available to all, but it's up to us to choose to accept it or
reject it. And God will give us what we wanted in the end. A life
with Him or without Him. It's up to us."
"For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
"But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"[God]
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4)
"For
the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Titus 2:11)
"For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever
does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the
name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:17-18)
"Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
And
now …
The Gospel according to Calvinism: "You're either
predestined for heaven or for hell. You have no choice in the matter
because Calvi-god made it for you long ago, you couldn’t do anything about it
anyway because Calvi-god controls every thought and action of yours, and you
won't know for sure if you're chosen for heaven or not until your dead because Calvi-god
sometimes tricks people into thinking they’re saved when they’re really not, just
so he can have more ‘reason’ to punish them in hell. But don’t worry, if you were predestined to
hell, Calvi-god gets glory out of it, and that’s all that matters. So it’s all good! Good luck! May you be one of the very few winners of the
‘salvation lottery’!"
"For
Calvi-god so loved the world all of the elect that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes those whom he causes to believe in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. And everyone else is out of
luck."
(A Calvinist John 3:16)
"But
Calvi-god demonstrates his own love for us - the elect - in this: While we were
still sinners, Calvi-christ died for us. And ONLY for us, the elected
people. He didn't die for the non-elect. And he never really loved
the non-elect to begin with anyway. In fact, he created them so that he
could hate them and send them to hell for his glory. But he does still
graciously show them a certain level of 'love,' by feeding them and giving them
rain and sunshine while they are alive on earth, before he condemns them to
hell for all of eternity for being the sinful unbelievers he caused them to
be."
(A Calvinist Romans 5:8)
"[Calvi-god]
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. But
sometimes he causes the opposite of what he wants for mysterious reasons. And so he created most men to go to hell,
with no chance to be saved, even though he 'wants' all men to be saved.
It makes him sad to predestine men for hell, but he still does it anyway
because he gets some sort of glory out of it somehow." (A Calvinist 1
Timothy 2:4)
"For
the grace of Calvi-god that brings salvation has appeared to all men. But
only the elect can/will see it and respond to it because Calvi-god makes them
do it. But the non-elect can/will NEVER see it or respond to it because Calvi-god
predestined them for hell and purposely blinds them to fulfill his predestined
plans."
(A Calvinist Titus 2:11)
"For
Calvi-god did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world
elect, but to save the world elect through him. (But he did send Calvi-Jesus
into the world to condemn the non-elect. Because he gets glory for
putting people in hell.) Whoever believes in him (which, of course, will
only be the elect, because Calvi-god causes them - and ONLY THEM - to believe
in him) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe (the non-elect) stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of Calvi-god's one
and only Son, even though he had no choice about it and could do nothing to
change the fact that he was predestined and forced to be an unbeliever." (A Calvinist John
3:17-18)
"Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But, of course, only
the elect can and will call on him.
Everyone else is predestined for hell." (A Calvinist Romans
10:13)
Which
Gospel is clearer and more forthright? Which God is more just and loving
and trustworthy?
Which God are you following and which Gospel are you preaching?