Salvation

No, they are not. Confusing these two very different things has led to many heresies. Regeneration is God’s supernatural, omnipotent, instantaneous, creative work to give a rebel sinner a new nature that loves Him and wants to serve Him. Conversion is the lifelong educational process of a one of these regenerate persons coming to know God and the truth of the gospel for his comfort and knowledge and for how he should live in the world to please God.

For a short study of regeneration and conversion.
For a comparison of regeneration and conversion.
For the full truth about being born again.

These words are from John 3:16, the most popular verse in the Bible. Most of those that use John 3:16 do not understand it. God only loves His elect that He chose in Jesus Christ before the world began to be His children (Eph 1:3-6; I John 3:1; Eph 5:25), because He cannot and will not love sinners outside Jesus Christ (Ps 5:5; 11:5; Matt 7:23). The word “world” is used with very wide latitude in the Bible; it does not mean every single person ever conceived since Adam. Compare “all the world” in Luke 2:1, where it means only the Roman Empire at that time.

See Also

Glorious truth of God’s love for His elect only: Distinguishing Love of God.

Not a single one of God’s elect can ever lose their salvation. God has guaranteed their final glorification in heaven according to His purpose for them (Rom 8:28-39). Jesus has promised to not lose a single one of them (John 6:39; 10:28-29; 17:2). Jesus will present every single one of them to His Father (Heb 2:13). They can prove their election sure by good works (II Pet 1:5-11).

Some verses in the Bible sound like a person can fall from grace (Gal 5:4), but that only means them falling from the proper doctrine of grace – they themselves are preserved in God to eternal life. Other verses in the Bible sound like presumptuous sins will take away eternal life, but the most severe of those passages – four of them in Hebrews – only refers to judgment on Israel.

See Also

For very detailed and thorough assurance of eternal life.
For the truth about once saved, always saved.
For the true interpretation of the Hebrews passages.

Jesus Christ died to atone for the sins of men to be saved. Because Jesus only died for those the Father gave Him to save – the elect – Calvinists generally say His death was a limited atonement for the elect only. God is not limited, but God did send Jesus Christ to die for the elect only. He limited the extent of Jesus’ death to them only. A better name for this doctrine might be definite atonement or particular redemption, meaning that Jesus’ death actually redeemed the elect.

Think carefully about the limits on Jesus’ death. Most Christians believe Jesus died for all the sins of all men, but men must fulfill certain conditions in order to be saved, so that Jesus’ death did not actually save anyone. They say He died for the sins of those in hell every bit as much as He died for the sins of those that make it to heaven. This severely limits Christ’s death, because it limits it from actually accomplishing anything. The truth in the paragraph above is that His death actually and fully saved every person for whom it was intended. The power and value of His death is not limited, only the extent to which God intended it – His elect chosen to be saved.

For Further Study

For many more glorious details about Limited Atonement:  Limited Atonement.

For more about the distinguishing love of God for His elect: Distinguishing Love of God.

Election is God’s choice of those that He would save (Eph 1:4; II Thess 2:13; II Tim 1:9), and He assigned them to Jesus Christ to be saved (John 6:39; 10:29). Jesus declared that He would not lose a single one of God’s elect – He would save every one of them (John 6:39; 17:2). This is called election in the Bible – God’s choice of rebel sinners that He would save (Rom 8:33; 11:7).

Predestination is God’s certain plan and purpose for all the elect to end up in heaven – their final destination. God’s predestination of the elect to heaven is so certain that Paul could write about their glorification in the past tense (Rom 8:28-30). God has adopted each of the elect to be His child and has promised each one an eternal inheritance – both events predestinated (Eph 1:5,11).

Man chose death and hell over life and heaven in the Garden of Eden. Man has a depraved sin nature that will never choose God (Rom 3:9-18; 8:7-8). If God were to leave the choice up to man, not a single sinner would be saved (Ps 14:1-3). Therefore, God chose to save some rebel sinners against their will. How can anyone call this unfair? If God were fair, all men would go to hell. But since He is gracious – far better than fair – He has saved some against their depraved wills. Instead of complaining that God has not saved all men, why not praise Him for saving any of our rebellious race?

See Also

For much more about whether election is unfair or not: Is Election Fair?

This Bible pronoun means whoever or anyone at all. The much better question is, who will? The Bible teaches that no man will ever choose God on His own (Ps 14:1-3; Rom 3:9-18). If a person chooses to repent, believe on Jesus Christ, and live for Him, it is because God first regenerated that person and gave him spiritual life. So the best question is to ask whom God will do such things for, and the answer is each of His elect. The next best question is to ask how you can know if you are one of His elect, and the answer is to show the fruit of His elect (I Thess 1:2-4; II Pet 1:5-11).

Yes, for the only way to know you are God’s elect is to bear the fruit of a changed life (I Thess 1:2-4; II Pet 1:5-11). Election is God’s choice to save some men from sin, so continuing in sin shows the character of those not elected (John 8:47; I John 3:1-10). On Judgment Day, when election is revealed by the book of life, the evidence is doing God’s will (Matt 7:21-23; 25:31-46). To presume on election or mock it by living any way you wish proves damnation (Rom 3:8). If you grasp God’s electing grace, you will want to live for Him with all your might and passion.

Paul did not like this question, because it implies that God is not fair, so he responded this way: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Rom 9:20-21).

All men are responsible for their sins, and they will pay the price for them in the torments of hell for eternity, unless God elected them to enjoy the free benefits of Jesus Christ’s death for them. Those elect that God has saved from their just death in hell can only know they are God’s elect and assure their hearts and minds by bringing forth much fruit in the way of good works (I Thess 1:2-4; II Pet 1:5-11).

See Also

More detailed considerations about election: What if Election is True?

Election is true, because the Bible plainly teaches God’s choice of who will and will not be saved (Rom 8:28-39; 9:10-24). God knew that His elect would want assurance of His choice for their salvation, so He gave very specific evidence in the Bible (I Thess 1:2-4; II Pet 1:5-11; Matt 7:21). You can know you are saved by believing on Jesus Christ and living for Him (Acts 16:31).

Yes, we believe Arminians can go to heaven, though they have fallen from the proper knowledge of grace and have received another Jesus, gospel, and spirit, for Paul did not doubt or condemn the eternal life of the Galatians or Corinthians though in such confusion or vulnerable to it (Gal 5:1-4; II Cor 11:1-4). We can commend the lives of many Arminians, for we see their good works done in love and faith to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, though their man-exalting and God-reducing soteriology is self-contradictory and near blasphemous.

See Also

Questions to ridicule Arminianism: A Few Questions for Arminians.

Easily, because God is not like you. When you reflect on your sins, you think about forgiveness as you know it – how others have forgiven you, and how you have forgiven others. But God’s thoughts and ways are not like yours or mine. He forgives much faster and more fully than any person you know to a degree that is like how high the heavens are above the earth (Is 55:6-9).

Read the full answer

Yes, without regeneration no man has a nature compatible with God or able to do anything pleasing to God. Without being born again, a man cannot see or enter the kingdom of heaven, or even hear with understanding the teaching of Jesus (John 3:3,5; 8:43,47). Prior to being quickened into life, every man is a willing follower of the world and the devil (Eph 2:1-3). Isaac was born again just like the Gentiles believers in the churches of Galatia (Gal 4:28-29).