A man of God and a pillar of the Christian faith in the 20th and 21st centuries, Pastor MacArthur was a mainstay of the Christian faith for the entirety of his tenure as senior pastor at Grace Community Church, which ran from 1969 to his death today. He notably made headlines in the midst of the plandemic when he opposed the Newsom administration's authoritative demands to shut down the church due to it supposedly not being an essential institution - all of this being said by Newsom while, as we frens well know, the man was eating at the French Laundry. Unmasked.
But while the state of California was showing itself hypocritical, MacArthur and his congregation showed themselves faithful, standing firm in the face of lawlessness in the government - and God rewarded them for it. The ensuing court case ended with an awarded settlement to his church, and the Newsom administration was not permitted to interfere any further with the church's decision to remain open.
Pastor MacArthur remained steadfast, grateful, and firm as a soldier wearing the Armor of God, even as health issues which had plagued him since early 2023 ultimately led to his passing a few hours ago. His unwavering commitment to the truth, his boldness in the face of persecution, illness, and death, and his passion for the Word of God leaves an incomparable legacy among evangelical Christians today. Perhaps you may have disagreements with his doctrinal stances, but it's undeniable that he was a powerful force used by God in the spiritual war against the enemy, and while he will be sorely missed, he is now in glory with his Lord. I thank God for the wonderful preaching and powerful testimony of John Fullerton MacArthur.
Oh dear, this is opening a can of worms I really didn't want to open here 😂
But looking at what the Bible simply says, the first and most overt Scripture on this topic is the entirety of Romans 9-11... a thoroughly contextual verse-by-verse study of that entire passage makes it clear that those who are truly in Christ cannot make the first step to salvation in him. This is supported by Ephesians 2, which says that we were dead in our sins.
And then come two of the most beautiful words in the Bible: "But God."
These two words alone tell us that outside from God, we can't make ourselves alive. We are dead and will remain dead outside of divine intervention. Any choice that we can make whether to be saved or not will result in us rejecting God's call, every time.
Until, God makes us alive in Christ (Eph. 2:4); this is wonderful because He does this while we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8)!
What I've just explained is, yes, what is labeled as Calvinism. If the Scriptures are very straightforward and in agreement with itself, why is this stance considered dangerous by many?
Because some, taking advantage in their hearts of the principle that is "one saved, always saved" would take their liberties too far, taking pride in knowing the doctrine and using it to live a life that's not so far set apart from the world.
Also to consider is the notion that when people walk away from the faith, a hesitation to judge others may lead people to hope that such an apostate is still a Christian, when John the Beloved in his first epistle says, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19, NASB)"
He speaks here of the ultimate rejection of this apostate who was formerly in the church because, in reality, they were still enslaved to sin. If we take free will into account, they chose God and Christ at first and later chose to walk away.
The burning question that enters my mind in this train of thought, then, is this: when a believer is saved, who is supposed to get the glory - God, or the believer?
Ultimately, one who is genuinely saved will want to pursue holiness in their walk. The believer will stumble and will fail at times, but he cannot lose his salvation, otherwise a salvation that can be lost boils down to a God and a sacrifice of Christ that is impotent and only potentially able to save all people but does not actually save them because this salvation would be reliant on the believer's choice.
I stand on the other side of the argument, where God alone is responsible for saving me from my sins. I am unable to boast in myself of my salvation (Eph. 2:8-9) and, having been made a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:16), live a life in thanks to God for His salvation that I am fully unable of myself to achieve, attain, or earn.
The test of whether my salvation is genuine is twofold: whether the Holy Spirit's indwelling is seen in my life, and serving the brethren in the church and making disciples of Christ. This is why Peter says in his second epistle to make our calling and election in Christ sure (2 Peter 1:10). Good works will not and do not save us, but, given the changed heart of the believer, they are a sign of God's salvation working in them.
EDIT: just reading what I've written... wow, I really am a MacArthur guy through and through, frens KEK
I see you, brother. Thank you for taking the time!
Anything for the truth of God's word!