Calvinism,
mainly consisting of the 5 points of Calvinism (TULIP), has been the highlight
of my learning journey in STEP (as well as SYIP) as God has revealed himself to
me the most through these lessons. I will be sharing on how Calvinism has
impacted/shaped/changed the way I think of certain things such as worship,
evangelism as well as assurance of salvation.
How Total Depravity has shaped the way I think about Worship
“ But
because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were
dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)
The
fall of one man left humanity dead in their transgressions. Our ability not to
sin has been taken away from us and therefore basically the ability to respond
to God as well. However, God being full of grace and love for His creation,
saved us from what we deserved – death. When the Holy Spirit comes to us, we
are then made alive. This is where worship comes in. I realized the importance
of worship to us believers as it is the response we should give God now that we
are alive and able to respond to God.
“ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and
sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. “ (Romans
12:1)
This
verse is a reminder on how our whole body belongs to God since we are made
alive through Jesus and thus we should worship Him in living out a Christ-like
life while proclaiming His name.
Moreover,
the importance of leading worship in church is to remind people of their
depravity and that the reason for worship is because of what God has done and
not what we need or have to do. Therefore, centering their minds’ attention and
hearts’ affection on the Lord.
How Limited Atonement has impacted the way I think about Evangelism
“I pray for
them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they
are yours.” (John 17:9)
I
thought about this topic before STEP as I knew about predestination but I think
maybe I couldn’t fully grasp the whole idea of it that I did thought about how
this idea of “limited” would be a stumbing block for me when it comes to
evangelism. ‘If God has already determined who will be saved, is there really a
need to preach the gospel?’ i had this thought as im not one who is fluent in
apologetics or very biblically knowledgeable and it did cross my mind that God
could just use someone else to make His will done.
However, through STEP I have
managed to understand the idea of limited atonement. First and foremost, this
doctrine is actually about how Jesus actually didn’t die for the world, but for
the elected only and hence limited to these people only. Not that Jesus’ blood
is limited to only some.
“Look, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b)
I
learnt that we should do evangelism whatever opportunity we have and to the
best of our ability because we will never know who the elect are. Only God
knows. Therefore it is our responsibility to share the gospel to everyone
having the mindset that this person could be part of the elect and therefore I
could become a useful tool for the kingdom of God.
In fact, the primary mission
of all believers should be to evangelise because we are disciples of God and
Jesus has told us to go and make disciples of all nations.
What
I took away from Rev Peter Chan’s lecture is that “God want the people more
than we do”.
This really comforts me as although I may not be the perfect
evangelist but I know that my God is perfect and He will help and guide me
because one way or another, these people will come to God and all I need to do
is commit everything to God.
How Irresistible Grace shaped the way I think about Assurance of
Salvation
“he saved
us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his
mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5)
How
am I so sure im saved? Will I one day maybe fall out of faith? These are some
questions I used to think about on the long bus rides home.
Calvinism
suggest that salvation cannot be lost. Once God elects, he will not allow them
to fall out of grace. The Holy Spirit will work in them so powerfully in them
that they cannot resist but surrender. This suggests that anyone who claim they
had faith and then fallen from faith was not truly saved in the first place. I
realized that this was more of an encouragement to me, that if I place all hope
on Him, nothing can snatch me out of His hands. My heavenly father‘s grip on me
is much greater than anything in this world.
“All those
the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive
away.” (John 6:37)
As
such, my understanding of irresistible grace has allowed me to gain more hope
in salvation given to me by Jesus as it is teaching me to be resilient in my
walk with God.
All
in all, these 5 points of Calvinism has really humbled me as it reminds me of
how awesome, all-knowing, sovereign and graceful God is. Although I may have
gotten a better understanding of each point and how it applies in my life, I
still struggle to totally grasp the idea of it but I guess its just like how we
can never totally understand God’s entirety because it is just beyond the
understanding of my tiny brain J
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