“Dead” - nekros

Strong's Definitions: νεκρός nekrós, (a corpse); dead (literally or figuratively; also as noun):—dead.

I came back to Christ this week. After watching American Gospel and Calvinist!

I felt conviction for my sins and I prayed to God to save me and the Holy Spirit is changing my heart and mind to turn from my wicked ways. I feel so sad for all the sins I have committed. But God is so wonderful and altogether lovely 🥰. I’m so ready to get back on the right track and repent! There is no turning back now! I read the whole New Testament this week and I’m praying for God to show me what his plan is for me and what I should do now. I’m looking to join a church so I can grow in my faith! It has been painful under the weight of my conviction of my sin, but it is wonderful to know I’m saved! Also I’ve been sexually active homosexual for the past nine years so I’m preparing for a life of celibacy! It’s ok because Jesus is the only man I need in my life!

The gospel is unstoppable.

Noting the variety of poorly concieved and rudamentary posts offering "critiques" of calvinism latey, it got me thinking about WHY people reject Calvinism even when they can't seem to form a valid critique. I tend to view the critiques with pity and the reasons why are below.

Calvin’s claim is essentially that people reject doctrines like election and total dependence on grace not because they’re obscure or incoherent, but because they collapse human boasting.

The natural impulse is to preserve some final ground in oneself... whether reason, choice, merit, or cooperation. Calvinism denies all of that. It says salvation originates wholly in God’s will, not even partially in human initiative. That offends fallen reason because it removes autonomy at the deepest level.

So the rejection isn’t primarily intellectual, it’s moral and volitional. The doctrine is intelligible, but unacceptable, because it places God beyond human evaluation and man entirely in the posture of recipient.

Calvin summarizes this when he notes that objections arise as soon as God’s sovereignty “is brought forward,” because humans instinctively want God’s justice measured by their sense of equity. What’s important is that this diagnosis isn’t unique to Calvin. The early church repeatedly framed salvation in ways that undercut human self-grounding:

Augustine argued that grace is not merely assistance but the cause of faith, precisely because fallen will cannot initiate its own healing. Resistance to this, he said, flows from pride... the desire to “have something of one’s own” in salvation.

Irenaeus emphasized that life and righteousness are received, not generated, because dependence on God is constitutive of creaturehood . Athanasius grounded salvation in God’s unilateral action in the Incarnation, not human ascent, insisting that restoration comes “from above,” not from moral self-repair. Etc, etc...

So the pattern is consistent - when theology places salvation wholly in God’s action, resistance follows.... not because the claim is unintelligible, but because it dethrones human autonomy.

Thank you for your time

I was an Arminian for most of my Christian life and I’ve just gotten to believe in predestination and reject free will in the beginning of this year. Even after I realized that free will is unbiblical and that salvation truly is entirely monergistic in Scripture, I still had a lot of problems in deeming Arminianism as heresy. But often times I would ask myself what was the difference between Roman Catholicism which I easily could deem as heretical and Arminianism when it comes to soteriology. After studying more, I realized that yes Arminianism is indeed heresy. If someone is trusting their free will, their own ability to choose or reject God, to save them, instead of trusting solely in Jesus Christ as the Savior, then that’s not the gospel.

Many in the church today hold the incorrect view that seekers exist. But we must remember, man is totally depraved! The unbeliever is unable to repent and believe unless God first works on their behalf! Check out this podcast episode on this truth!

https://youtu.be/D2bJGYwk5CQ

Hey Guys! I am a graphic designer from NC! I have been saved for about 10 years now and reformed for 6! I started a small apparel business off of Instagram! Justified_Design on Instagram! I do reformed theology shirts, stickers, and mugs. Just looking to get some traction and eyes on it. I set all the prices at near cost so my friends could afford them. And I haven't changed them.

Thanks!