Why I Abandoned Calvinism 

Brother, I just want to encourage you and tell you that those last 15 years were not a waste! God will bless you in your learning and discernment. Keep up the hard work, because it WILL pay off!

Thank you Seth for this video. I was saved at 16 in a pentecostal church and raised among my Church family for years after. After I got married I moved to a small town and was told that the local Baptist church was a good church and so we tried it out. I had never heard of Calvimism before attending this church. My heart has always been for outreach and service to God. While I was able to serve in the church I hit brick walls everytime I suggested an idea for outreach. I soon learned that the pastor was a Calvinist. I had to look this up because the parishioners explained it very simplitically and honestly I felt as if I agreed. However soon the sermons all became the same. There was no outreach, the same worship set was cycled through because those songs were the only "Biblically" sound songs. I found myself feeling like every Sunday was the same, I was hopeless, and started to feel like I never knew God. I found myself questioning God's character, really felt like I was being derailed. I finally left the church and found a church that preaches the word. But I searched endlessly for content that would help me not feel like I was the "only one" expirenceing this. Thank you again and sorry for the long comment. 🙏 ❤️🙏

Over the years I have tried my best to understand the doctrine of calvanism and I get stopped at the front door every time. I cannot wrap my head around me calling myself an elect and chosen by God in the context of calvanism, over the guy next to me who may not be an elect and chosen for Hell. It breaks my heart, doesn't sit with my view of the Biblical God, and honestly reeks of pride. Just my experience.

I just found this and just found your channel. Thank you very much for your testimony and your words of edification. It's always good to know of former Calvinists.

I have a Ph.D in theology, and I appreciate this so much. I find Calvinism to be such a limiting view of Christianity and God. I also find that most Calvinist struggle to comprehend anything outside of the small theological box they have put God in.

Thanks You helped me understand why I’m not a Calvinist…..

The problem with Calvinists is, they don’t believe in freewill! If we are saved or damned no matter what we do, why even try? 😂

Thanks for sharing this video! Praying that God would raise up more men like Ravenhill and Tozer!

What really helped me coming out of Calvinism was to listen to preachers who focus on Jesus, who we are in Him and who Christ is in us. Dr. Andrew Farley comes to mind. He truly understands God’s grace and I’ve been blessed by his teaching.

Thank you for sharing your story. There is nothing like the testimony of a former Calvinist to show that this is not just an intellectual debate, but a dangerous doctrine that will creep in to your mind and affect every aspect of your walk with God, the intention of your prayers, your attitude towards your own brothers and sisters, and the souls of unbelievers. This is very hard to understand for someone who has never been a Calvinist. Thank you for sharing.

You hit the nail on the head! Thank you for sharing your heart in this.y story is almost identical to yours with one major shift. I never embraced Calvinism when it was presented to me. I had the exact objections you had but what prevented me from even considering the mindset was that people labeled themselves with Calvin or Arminianism. I had no idea what either was. I only wanted to know the Bible. I have listened to some Calvinists and like some of their points, but I think they go too far, especially in the election and predetermination realm. If God chose people to save, then they make Jesus a liar when he said "whosoever believes" and they make God a liar when we said "I do not delight in the death of the wicked" I also made one very important point: Any person who puts any man's name in front of "ism" or "ist" is putting a man in a place he does not deserve. God alone is Holy. Christ alone is worthy of worship. I am a Christian and will accept no other title.

Another great series on the " Dangers of Calvinism " by Pastor Brandon Holthaus

Excellent video! Thank you for sharing your story. Sincerely, Another Ex-Calvinist

The devil gives you free will to put you in bondage. GOD puts you in bondage to set you free. I started to gravitate towards Calvinism bc I realized that my salvation was never anything I achieved or can achieve. My will and freedom was a lie. GOD was in control from start to finish. I understand GODs love is over bearing, and his Grace cannot be ignored. One can fight this, and argue it's not true or heresy, and think this is all about me, and how I found GOD, or how my obedience pleases GOD, but in the end you will be humbled. You will realize how wretched, and low you are, and see without GODs Grace you wont last one second in his presence. Iam a Calvinist, bc it's the only doctrine that has shown me the wickedness of my soul, and the depravity of my flesh and yet a divine mercy and bliss of joy and hope is poured over me. Something I dont deserve or worthy of, no not at all. I deserve nothing but GODs wrath, eternal damnation. Yet I have this Grace and Righteousness that I cant explain. Free will brings pride, GODs sovereignty humbles you

Just listened. Good stuff! Glad to hear you've seen the errors with Calvinism and were more committed to Christ. God is good!

I'm not a Calvinist, never have been. Maybe I'm being a little too simplistic, but I don't know that I would want to serve the God of Calvinism. Think about it, according to Calvin, down through the centuries of time, God has created billions of souls and condemned them to an eternal hell, and they have no recourse. That does not seem very loving to me. In fact, that seems to be the height of cruelty.

Ah, the problems that arise from following after man instead of Christ. I'm not an Armenian nor a Calvinist. I don't believe you are one or the other because you're not one or the other. I am a Christian. I follow Christ. Its even in the name!

Wow this was really thorough, great video man! I can sympathize with much of what you said. Luckily God helped me get out of Calvinism after a couple of years and not 15. Again, great job, you highlighted so many issues in such a short video.

Losing your zeal for the lost is an issue with your own heart. I don't have to believe that I as a mere man and a sinner at that can convince anyone at anytime to repent and believe. You glory God by defending truth regardless of whether that person accepts or rejects.

Interesting video. I'm piqued by your longing to see yourself as an instrumental agent in soul-winning, and curious as to why the specter of being just a pawn (in evangelism) is deconstructive to you. I'm wondering: *why not just do evangelism on pure obedience and leave the results to God?* It might seem odd to phrase it this way, but follow me on this: * Isaiah was told ahead of time that his audience would not repent. Yet he was still commanded to go and preach (Cf Is 6 with Is 9). Why?? * Moses knew the Wilderness Generation would not repent, yet he still preached to them as instructed by God (Lev 26, pay attention to 40-45, where their demise [because of disobedience] is prophesied. The same is repeated in Deut 4:29-31 and again in Deut 28 [read the whole chapter, esp v 63], and again in Deut 30:1-3. The prayers mentioned here, btw, are the prayers of Daniel 9 and Ezra 9 and Neh 9, praying for national confession, and a call to repentance. * Joshua knew the Wilderness Generation would not repent despite his preaching. Here's the amazing thing - the very verse often used to affirm "free will" ("Choose this day whom you will serve") is immediately followed by Joshua telling them "No, You will not be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins!" (Re-read Joshua 24:14-28). Joshua trusted Moses' prophecy of them over their sworn affirmation to the contrary. Yet he still preached to them and called them to repentance. *Jesus preached to swarms of people knowing full well they would not repent. Then look at what happened next: Matt 11:20-25. He rebuked entire regions of people - not just Pharisees - for refusing to repent and said they had a fate coming that would be worse than S&G. That last one took the cake for me. Jesus knew full well from the beginning everyone who would not believe (Jn 6:64) ..yet He preached to them anyway. Why?!? That did not move the needle one iota for their repentance. Quite to the contrary, His preaching (and their rejection) increased the temperature of their hellfire. And He - being omniscient - fully knew that's what His preaching would do. Yet He preached anyway. Bottom line: Preaching... 1. is NOT only about seeing people repent 2. is NOT about "me" and "my involvement" to see souls saved. It is about obedience. Only God controls the results. 3. IS about God seeing to it that His word does not return void, and that ALL His plans come to pass: both the salvation of the elect and the condemnation of the reprobate I know of no non-Calvinistic system that can answer the question of why Jesus willingly preached to those whom He knew would not repent and therefore suffer a worse judgment. I'm all ears if you know of a way to deal with this passage in Matt 11. Thanks. PS: - I've had a question mark in the margins of Matt 11 for years because it made no sense. The "Jesus" I grew up with would never do that. Yet He did. - A "plain reading of Scripture" never happens. Seriously. I've lived in 2 radically different cultures [3rd world and 1st world], and have traveled in/through 40+ countries across 4 continents. If anything, I've learned that a "plain reading of Scripture" will lead different people in radically different directions because the majority of people don't know the cultural presuppostions they bring to the Scriptures. I've seen it 1001 times. Simply put, telling someone to look for "the plain reading of Scripture" without showing them how to jettison their cultural biases is bad advice.

Thanks for sharing, just saw you with L.Flowers too. Looking forwards to more vids. Calvinist witnesses to man in apt. hallway who prays to be saved. The new convert says lets hurry and go share the Gospel with my family. The Calvinist, being an honest person, quickly agrees and says "Yes, we should go find out if God loves your wife and kids too!"🤔🤔

Thank you for sharing your testimony. The more and more ex-Calvinists “come out” of the bondage of this false doctrine, the more they give others the courage to leave too. I’m praying God blesses you and your family, and that you know the joy of walking fully with Him again. God bless you.

Than you for sharing your experience. I pray that many calvinist watch this video.

I am a non-Calvinist because I believe the Bible. After attending a very strong Calvinistic church for many years our entire family left that church and excellent fellowship of believers. I thank God for His guidance.

"I feel...." is no basis for a theology!

I too left Reformed theology for Biblical theology thanks to the Bible Project, NT Wright, and Mike Winger; however, reformed theology really deepened my faith for a time. I would not have the relationship with Christ I have today without it and know a lot of great Christians who are reformed. But like you said, you have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to make it work when you read the Bible.

The next time a Calvinist says “what you believe is heretical” just respond with “what difference does it make if I’m one of the elect I’m going to heaven anyway if I’m not one of the elect being non-heretical won’t help” Calvinism has many inherent flaws.

I was so glad that there is a word for my loss of joy, feelings of immense sadness, insecurity regarding my salvation, and feeling as though God was waiting for me to mess up so he could punish me. Calvinism! So grateful for my mother who noticed and unbeknownst to me, asked others for prayers on my behalf ❤ I Thank God

Calvinism ruins faith. It’s pure fatalism, and it is a theology that says some people were only created for death and eternal hell fire, for his glory. It’s a terrible theology.

I heard nothing in this video of substance. Give a few more years and you be off in another direction. You made many falsehoods. Where you ever hated while under God's wrath? Where you by nature a child of wrath?

I’ve never grown more than through reformed theology which is simply the gospel and core biblical protestant teaching

I unknowingly married a very good looking hard core calvinist, he deliberately didn't tell me about his belief system. He literally said to my face in front of our counselor, who also is a calvinist, that he was hoping that through osmosis I'd come to accept it as the gospel. I feel so traumatized by this action. Since then I've studied Calvinism in depth. It truly is, as CS Lewis said, a doctrine of devils!!! How on earth can a hard core consistent Calvinist be set free of this doctrine of devils?

Well done, my friend. I never cared for Calvinism so it never affected me when I listened to people like John McArthur. I've always felt a little sorry for him and his teaching. There doesn't seem to be much joy. I have read the scriptures every day for fifty one years with only the help of the Holy Spirit. It's impossible to go astray when you ask God's guidance and believe what is written without the guidance of 'others.' The word of God has never been complicated to me. I asked God to give me a love for His word and He did. I asked Him to give me a love for people and He did that too. For God so loved the world. Blessings

Why do people's stories leaving Calvinism remind me so much of people's stories of leaving Mormonism? They just keep holding on to it, no matter how much they see the truth, and then, boom, that shelf they put all their doubts on just falls on them. I came out of a 13 year backslide to a "Baptist" church that had been infiltrated by MacArthur drones. This was about the time of Strange Fire, and the sheer and utter arrogance I saw there really helped me look deeper into Calvinism. I had been to Pentecostal churches in the past, and the fruit of the strange fire camp was pretty much just dumping on Pentecostal/Charismatic believers. I didn't even know Charismatics were I thing, I just thought it was all Pentecostalism. Having fellowshiped with Pentecostals, I knew they weren't demonic. I noticed other things at this church, like having absolutely no outreaches, and plenty of excuses as to why. The young, future pastors were SOOO puffed up and arrogant about their theological intelligence, as were the pastors and elders. I could see the fruit was intellectual arrogance. They are so smart, yet, have no outreaches, no love for lost souls, and no talk about love, but at least they were smarter than everyone. I mean, I guess I just wasn't intelligent enough to treat God as if He were some intellectual concept to gain more intellectual knowledge of. I was like, "Bro, why are you attacking and demonizing the Pentecostals who are at least outreaching, and living their faith? If you intellectually know how to do it better, then go show them up." To paraphrase that old Moody quote: I like the Pentecostal's way of doing it better than the Calvinist's way of not doing it. Theology is important, but it's not the most important thing, because there are African Christians who put us all to shame with their faith, love, and endurance who don't even have the whole Bible translated into their own language yet. They'll all be seated closer to the throne than any of us, and they just believed, and practiced what little parts of the Word of God they knew. Like Leonard Ravenhill used to say, "Someday someone is going to pick up this book, believe what it says, and put us all to shame."

I stumbled into Calvinism when I was in late High School. I didn't question it because it was taught to me by a PhD, so who was I to question him right? Shortly thereafter I backslid in my faith pretty hard as I left for the military and away from my support. Eventually Jesus revealed himself to me again and reminded me that He loves me and that He has a plan for my life. I am grateful that Jesus was so patient with me through all of that and kept me from big trouble that I was surrounding myself with.

God Bless You for waking up from the Evil of Calvinism !!!!!!! Use your zeal for the Lost !!!!!!! its God given

Calvinism wrecked my world, I am not the same person I was, I don't witness and have the love for the lost like I use to, I constantly agonize over if I am of the elect, I can't pray because I don't know if I am one God loves and I can't read the bible without anxiety, fear and condemnation. I am so glad I heard your testimony and your exhortation to get back to the word and let the Holy Spirit teach me.

Everyone limits the atonement or else they're a universalist. The disagreement is whether God or man limits it.

I suggest mike wingers videos on Calvinism if y’all want a great biblical objections to Calvinism!

The Calvinist framework left me feeling hopeless. It's because of videos like yours that I am rethinking the elect viewpoint, and I feel myself coming back to life and wanting to share my story of redemption with the lost. Thank you for sharing your story. Praise our God.

Cults are very hard to leave. Many blessings to you.

Leighton Flowers is awesome. His material helped me wrestle with calvinism for about 2 years, while also going through a personal crisis. Consistent calvinism poisoned my relationship with God and I am now unable to listen to my pastor without having to filter TULIP out of everything he says.

Well said. The diabolical doctrine of predestination to hell irrespective of human choice is diametrically opposed to the nature of our loving God. That's a major reason Calvinism is completely unscriptual. 😀

Calvinism is Biblical Christianity. All the Reformers ,past n present, affirm that. Either they are wrong or you are. I'am pretty certain you are. Might want to read the bible again

Concerning “Limited Atonement”, How do you reconcile Jesus Christ Himself stating in John 10:26 (NASB) “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.” Jesus Christ had a perfect opportunity to continue sharing and expounding the gospel further to these particular Jews who stated to Him, in John 10:24 (NASB) "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” … ???

charles spurgeon is full blown 5 point calvinist also.. If you don't believe me look up his sermon a defense of calvinism . I was a hyper calvinist myself and the Lord lead me out.

I've noticed a very general trend - 'baby Christians' are never Calvinists. Then, as they become more educated, they get swayed by the cultural coolness of Calvinism and influential teachers, and become Calvinist. Then, as they get even more educated and deeper in their faith, they move away from Calvinism again.

calvanism is a philosophy that tries to figure out all of the workings of God. The problem arises that God does not play the games that men play. In the end of Calvanism God is Sovereign and becomes the cause of people sinning. Any system of theology that makes God into the cause of sin borderlines on blasphemy. I have been pressured to succumb to reformed theology for many years and have never been able to reconcile scripture in that venue. when a person resists such teachings he is labeled a false convert or is accused of following works salvation (Roman's doctrines). it was a sad day when the small church we attended got involved in this philosophy. There are hard passages to deal with on both sides of the issue. What is sad is when people shut out plain readings of the scripture because it doesn't fit their systematic beliefs. When you put on reformed glasses they actually blind you to logical thinking. You put everything at the feet of God thinking you are humble when in fact you are blaming God for all the crimes of mankind. Justice does not fair well with Calvanism. Yes it is true we all deserve hell yet that does not mean that God only picks a handful of people to save. If one thinks justly he would say that we all have been given the opportunity to be saved because Christ died for all men. all cannot mean all, whosoever does not mean whosoever ..... Stop thinking logically you heritic, you false convert, you romanist, how dare you attack God's justice! Yet who is the one saying something that totally seems unjust. Even blind heathen people can tell something is out of whack with this mindset.

I’m so blessed and encouraged by this man’s courage and humility in posting this. I pray that the Lord would use it to wake many up and set them on fire for Jesus once again. Oh that He would breathe fresh fire onto hearts and fan into flames the sparks that once burned. May many become so zealous and passionate about reaching the lost for Christ, so hungry to truly KNOW God and not just know a lot about Him, and to walk in sincere love, humility & compassion, without compromising truth or holiness, that they become as cities set upon a hill, radiantly shining out the Light of Christ in this darkness. May the Lord raise up godly men and women in this hour, with hearts wholly devoted and lives completely abandoned to Him, to do the work of His Kingdom and stand steadfastly until the Master returns. I hope this video encourages people to truly seek the Face of God through fervent prayer and in open, unbiased studying of His Word “with faith as a child,” and not merely settle to being chained to a man-made system. Only Christ in us, by the Power of the Holy Spirit of the Most High God, can enable us both to rightly understand and to faithfully live according to the Word of God. Theology and doctrine are important, but should never replace a deeply intimate, personal, and robust relationship with God Himself. I admonish my children frequently that I don’t want them to merely know the Bible, but that they should set their hearts to know the God of the Bible. The more time we spend with Him, the more like Him He makes us through the convicting, refining, and sanctifying work of His Holy Spirit. And since the Bible says that we as Jesus’ disciples will be known by our love for one another, I pray that the Love of Christ would dwell in us richly, and that we would find unity as Believers in order to walk worthy of the call to which we’ve been called, and be a faithful witness of Christlikeness to a lost & watching world. God Bless.

I unknowingly stumbled into a bunch of Calvinists, and I am praying for them. Someone in another video said this: if some are predestined for hell, that would mean that the devil wants some people more than God does. That is such a distorted view of God.

Mad respect for you, Seth. I know that takes much courage. Praying for you as you walk down this new path in your Christian journey.

There are so many aspects of Calvinist teaching that run up on the rocks. If God is sovereign over absolutely everything, and nothing is done outside of His will, that means not a single one of our actions or choices we make is our own. He preordained everything...including all the sin we commit. The Fall, the murder of Abel, all of the ceuelty of man, the friggin Holocaust...they were all preordained by God. So God, according to Calvinist teaching, is quite literally the author of evil. And what does that say about God and His justice? If he preordains all the sins we commit, then how can he possibly be just in punishing us for committing them? The whole system of Calvinism makes absolutely no sense. It pains me that so many Christians are signing up for it these days.

I was speaking to a younger brother in the Lord who believes in the calvinistic doctrines and tries to back it up with Romans and other scriptures and I just left feeling shaken and doubting my faith. I asked him then who was the Lord speaking of when he said he was not willing that any perish ? The elect ? Believers ? Why would he not be willing they perish if they are already saved ? Makes no sense to me. There is also the scripture that Jesus tasted death for every man. The Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked would turn from his evil ways and live.

Reformed thinking does not go against evangelism at all. We are clearly called to share the gospel and share it boldly. Reformed thinking merely focuses on the Sovereignty of God vs the will of man. Our focus is on Grace, faith in Christ alone, and the need for sanctification. My heart burns for the lost. Sorry you’ve had these struggles

I too had a zeal for the lost and wanted to evangelize to the lost up until I began to be taught by calvist. I couldn't understand what they meant by limiting attonment and it settled wrong with me. In the end I cared too much for the lost to believe in Calvinism.

You needed to be in control, and you think it makes GOD a monster, because what you've done is reduced GOD to a mere human creature, forgetting that everything in heaven and earth are to the GLORY of His mighty and all powerful being and Sovereignty. You think man has no free will on top of that. You're wrong on that point as well. All men have total free will, and the ones that won't listen, are the ones that hate God and love their own sin. Arminians think that because Calvinists know they are saved, that they go ahead and sin with impunity......that's false as well, because we know we won't be perfected until we go through the veil, and we believe that promise. The good works we do, are prepared for us in advance, and when we do the one's laid out, are to God's Glory not ours. For sure we miss doing some before we leave earth, and it's not salvific. WHO_SO_EVER is the key word in John 3:16, because if everybody did what it says nobody would be in hell. It doesn't make God love the whole world any less, either. One of the biggest mistakes Arminians make is limiting Christ's work of the cross. If Christ died for everybody in the world hell wouldn't exist. Being Calvinist gives me absolute surety that I'm heaven bound and my human will is to please my Saviour Jesus Christ, because He loved me first. Listen close....I don't HAVE to persevere, I WANT to persevere. I did opposite of you....I went out of Pentecostal and into Calvinism, many years ago. One other thing Arminians do is say that Calvinists have the doctrines of hell, where as a Calvinist doesn't say that about Arminians. The fact is we don't destroy Arminianism, because we would be destroying ourselves by doing such a thing. That's not reciprocal with Arminians. I'll must confess now, I didn't listen to your video, mainly because I've listened to many Arminian people and they seldom if ever say anything new, Mr. Flowers as well. Soooo if there is something I haven't addressed please let me know so I can defend it. Thank you, God Bless.

Bro I appreciate this so much. One of my longtime friends slowly converted and it was painful.

Even Calvinists can’t fully comprehend Calvinism, but we accept it because the bible taught so. Arminianism is unbiblical as a whole and its doctrines make you lose your faith because it all depends on human, not God. The primary meaning of bible is God-centered, not man-centered. Calvinists accept the predestination because the bible said so, Arminius don’t accept the predestination because it’s so difficult to get. Well, it’s normal if you don’t utterly get what God’s words say because He’s infinite, you’re not. We’ve supposed to believe in anything God teaches althought it’s hard to understand, right?

Funilly i went the opposite. I dispised calvinism (due lack of actually knowing what it says, or the bible for that matter), but i can no longer deny it. Well, im not settled on the limited atonement part, but the others all seem biblical to me.

ty for your testimony 😇🙏. may i ask you a personal question ? did you feel like calvinism may have bred pride in you? like the old ancient hebrews seed special mindset kinda thing ? i feel thats the biggest issue with most calvinists, they love the idea of being chosen imo imo when someone attacks calvinism its like they feel youre attacking their grace birth right or sum i stg

I'm not a Calvinist, but there have been some very evangelistic preachers who were also Calvinists. Three who seem to really stand out are George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Spurgeon. How would you view them?

I appreciate your eloquence and apparent sincerity. However, I whole heartedly disagree that Calvinism extinguishes one's fire, zeal or vision for evangelism. I haven't lost the vision nor passion since becoming a Calvinist. I will say, on the same token, that many of my Calvinist family don't really know the depths of practicing spiritual disciplines such as fasting and others. See, I experientially come from the Charismatic background- trained in the Pentecostal ways: deliverance, spiritual gifts, healing, the super natural.. Therefore, Calvinism has brought the balance and doctrinal correction that I needed. By that, I don't mean that I deny my previous experience nor am a cessationist ;) What is your soteriological system now? God bless. Soli Deo Gloria I welcome a conversation...let me know:) live or private.

9:10, this is exactly what I am dealing with now. I played with Calvinism for many years, never fully dedicated myself to it, but the deeper I went the more the fire began to fade. Too intellectual and not enough spirit! It’s not a “strange fire” as MacArthur would have it, it’s a wild fire that Holy Spirit puts in us. Woe to us if we quench that Holy fire in us!!!!

Thanks, and some interesting thoughts (that I have heard in various contexts) but not reflective of the authentic reformed way of thinking: you simply were not in a true reformed communion. Please, go to Ligonier Ministries, founded by RC Sproul (the Martin Luther of the 20th century and beyond) and immerse yourself in the teachings of superior Biblical exegeniters of scripture that doin fact represent the Doctrines of Grace. They do not have all the answers to what seem to be at times unfathomable propositions within scripture, but at least they do not attempt to to draw conclusions that are inconsistent with what we know about God, His Sovereignty, and man's inability to fully understand God's Holiness and His revelation to us. However, there are some answers that are clear, and scripture is adequate for "sufficient" understanding, but the Arminian branch of the church desires "reasonableness" and a synergistic integration of faith and reason that makes sense to the human mind. I have found some answers within the dynamic of dialectical thinking but I have many, many questions that may never be answered. But if God does reveal such answers it will be exclusively by His word. As Paul says in his doxology toward the end of Romans 11... "who are we to understand God's MERCY?". On the other hand, I have come to fully understand, as Paul states in Romans 1 through 3, why God has and will continue to exercise His WRATH. Blessings and Thanks Again...

I’m reformed myself as that’s what I believe to be the most basic and biblical interpretation of Scriptures, and has actually given me great zeal for the lost. But I also feel like it puts things in perspective of knowing I can’t save anyone, and it my deepest joy to simply obey the Lord, especially in being a godly wife and mom first and prioritizing evangelizing to my family, but doing so with patience because I see how patient the Lord was with me. All that being said, I do appreciate videos like yours that challenge my Calvinist viewpoints and force me to consider Scriptures that seem to contradict the TULIP. And I’m sorry to hear how Calvinism derailed your passion for the lost and street preaching. God bless. All gory be to Christ.

What about the verses that mention predestination?

Excellent video!! Shared it on Facebook and praying more see it who are in the quicksand that is Calvinism.

Grateful that despite pressures I'm not a calvinist, but early on as an evangelical, I found myself like you said being forced to skip over so many scriptures that didn't fit into my understanding of theology. So glad to not be there anymore, if a scripture upsets my view of the Bible, I let it do so

Bravo for your video. I am also an ex-Calvinist. I studied theology in reformed seminaries but like you, one day everything began to fall piece by piece. Although I can explain in detail why Calvinism is wrong, I want to highlight four things. Firstly, Calvinism is based on false presuppositions, like unlimited atonement means Jesus fails when people don't accept him. That's not true, when someone rejects the gospel it is his fault, not Christ's. Secondly, Calvinism survives through an echo chamber system. Rarely do Calvinists encourage other fellow Calvinists to engage with people from other denominations. And thirdly, sadly I have to say that although I know many good Calvinists, many others are very dodgy people; myself included when I was one of them. I guess one cannot be better than his master, and if your master is a deterministic God, those who follow such a being cannot be very lovely.

I went through Calvinism for a while. Calvinism and free will both exist together. People think it has to be 100% one way or another and its not. Matt 22 the wedding parable is a great example of it.....I feel for this guy because he means well, but as long as he is caught up in zionism and doesn't understand who Israel really is, he will continue to be in error. The bottom of the rabbit hole will always and forever be Jesus is Messiah and the dual seedline.....Matt 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

I have been coming out of Calvinism for the past 8-10 months. I am the type to really dig and deep dive into something and be relentless until I arrive at my answer, whether I like it or not. I came from a legalistic southern baptist church growing up, so I hated the church. As a senior in high school through the next 3 years, I searched for the truth, no matter where it led, because I value truth over all else. This led me back to God, or should I say, He led me back to Him. (99 sheep anyone?) I was part of a Bible study group in the basement of a friends' house when God shook my heart and mind so hard I could do nothing but confess He is LORD! I was saved that day and had such a fire for others like you said with you and your wife. Fast forward a few years later and I move away and met my wife and went to church where she has gone since she was young, since about 11 years old or so. The pastor was very conservative and preached conservatively, but focused on the Gospel. Good times, i thought, not getting bogged down in one particular reading but focusing on the Gospel. Well, year after year, the preaching gets more and more calvinistic and eventually, the pastor and 3 elders (small church of maybe 70 at the time including the 20 kids) affirmed the doctrines of grace aka 5 point calvinism. I figured no big deal, it has got to be Biblical since we are so focused on the Gospel, right? Well, that was the first 5 years there. The next 4 years (up through last year) I was on track to becoming an elder and was about to spend my last year as a deacon and move up to elder at the end of this month (October 2022) pending the approval of current elders and the vote of the church. 4 weeks ago, I got brought into the pastors office with 1 other elder and cornered about my posts "hinting at free will to choose God on facebook. (I post Biblical exegesis not according to any doctrine, but what the Bible says, to which i was praised, so long as it aligned with their doctrines, but I will not be bound but by the Truth, as stated before). SO, I have about an hour long discussion with why I am on the track that I am, and every time I attempted to give an answer, I get interrupted by the pastor and talked over, telling me I am wrong and "in dangerous waters". I retort with a saying He always told us when preparing teachings "If you stray away from what the church has held en masse prior to your teaching, chances are, you are wrong." Well, I brought up Augustine and how he did the exact same thing "you" told us not to do. He responded with "that is different, He (augustine) was Spiritually inspired to reclaim the doctrines of the Gospel since the early church quickly fell away immediately after the apostles." Yeah....let that sink in for a moment.... I brought up a multitude of references for "all may come and be saved" etc, and every time, he dismisses them as "it's just a coloquial all, as in all the people at the game were cheering. not all really are, but only certain ones." I respond with how "that is misreading the plain reading of the text and denying what it says in favor of some doctrine no where seen in Scripture. You are eisegeting in favor of your own view and not exegeting what the passage says." It didn't go very far before the other elder stepped in and got us calmed down, and said we should talk another time, all the elders at once so I can give a full testimony about where I am at, and give a full declaration of the doctrine on which I stand/the interpretation and hermeneutic I use. SO, That's where I am at now. Could I have been nicer? yes, and I asked God to forgive my hot headedness, but I do not apologize for my zeal for the Lord and His Word. I now am finishing up my exegesis on Romans 9, john 4-12, Ephesians 1-3 and all connecting passages and thoughts. I also have a churchwide meeting about leaving our current fellowship in favor of a more pure calvinist one, and adopting the 1689 creed as our church confession. I have talked in private with other members (nearly 70% at this point) and none of them adhere to the calvinist doctrine, and would rather they not adopt this catechism, but not a single one is willing to go against the pastor, as he drowns out everyones voice with his own and refuses to hear us by his talking over us and rabbit trailing down obscure doctrinal paths barely connected to the topic. So, the people in the church are burnt out, unwilling to stand against unbiblical doctrines since the church still preaches the Gospel, and are just along for the ride. Sorry for venting, I just wanted to give my position where I am at, ask for prayer going forward and that God would guide me to the right responses and positions and actions. As well as any decisions being made going forward with this church. My wife doesn't like the idea of leaving, but is willing after seeing how the leadership is responding to me and others. aka the pastors response. I hope to talk with each elder privately before our big meeting to give my apologia and be understood, whether or not they agree with me, I just want to be heard and understood, and hopefully they see I am committed to the Word, and not any particular doctrine, although I can clearly teach what is Biblical. But yes, I find more peace, more zeal for the lost, and feel closer to God than ever before as while I was in calvinism/reformed camp, I felt separated from God's love for the longest time and just kept thinking, it is a season of trials.

Biblical Theology > Systematic Theology

I believe God already knows who will be in Heaven and who won’t. Believing God is all knowing and already knows the end from the beginning and because the world labels you a so called “Calvinist”, doesn’t take away from the fact that’s it’s Gods word. Every time whether Christians or the world can’t accept that God is all knowing and already knows those who will be in Heaven and those who won’t, BECAUSE! he has already decided is choosing not to believe in the word, it’s there and just because you can’t accept it, doesn’t mean it’s not true.

I'm so glad and thankful to God you escaped Calvinism. God bless...

I came to Christ as a calvinist ,. It gave me a good grounding in Christianity. Then our Pastor wanted more for us and we were set free. The we need to look for opportunities to bring Christ up in conversations, not easy,.

Wow appreciate that pure honesty. Great pointers and encouragement. Thanks!

People who abandoned Calvinism did it because of lack of knowledge and understanding.They abandoned it though they didn't go through it.I,m very sure that you will embrace calvinism once you fully understand as what calvinist really comprehend.You should not jump into conclusion that calvinism is wrong without going through it.

Thanks, brother for honest sharing. I grew up going to churches, and never was exposed to that system until my 30's, and just could never swallow it. In my heart I knew that we did not worship a God like that, but it took much longer to start understanding it in greater depth. I'm also grateful for learning a lot from Steve Gegg. Peace to you and I know you will persevere.

Seth, glad you got out of the destructiveness of Calvinism.

I am a Calvinist. I told my dog to take my car to the store and get me a gallon of milk. He was unable to follow my commands so I beat him without mercy. (sarcasm of course.)

Thank you for this testimony.

Great to hear that you have escaped the snare.

Wow it was opposite for me. The arminians hated my evangelistic zeal. I'm not a calvinist till a arminian tells me I am one. Just quoting scripture and not calvin or anyone else. I would like to be called a Christian rather then calvinist when discussing scripture. I enjoy witnessing to people. I love to hear their world view and where they come from. I mostly deal with homeless. For some reason the predestination scripture is associated with calvinism. I have a lot of calvanist who do street evangelism or non calvinist. I believe you got into a extreme calvanist church. If a church i attended told me I had to get a permit to preach open air I would leave.

"The only consistent Calvinist is a hyper Calvinist" Exactly! I've said the same thing for years!

Luke chapter 8. You are the rocky soil. You lost your zeal because you hit an obstacle. If you had any true zeal in the first place you'd have push through it. So you left for a more palatable version of God.

One thing us theological nerds need to keep in mind when wrestling with these issues it is our finite mind trying to understand an infinite God. I try not to "Hitch my wagon"or adhere to tightly to theological dogma whether it's Calvinism or armenianism or any kind of theological ism you can think of. I try to keep my Christian walk as simple as possible while still wrestling with these deeper things. And no I'm not a Calvinist

what an encouragement! praise God!

I'm really happy for you. I have a friend who became a calvinist. She has tried many times to talk me into her belief. I will not let her talk to me about it. She has sent me links to videos of calvanist preachers. I will not watch them. I am stroung in my faith and am not worried about hearing what she has to say, I just don't want to waste my time.

There is one faith, one baptism. Many of the divisions that we see are the result of the Enlightenment and its author Lucifer. The dialectical worldview that is based on polytheism has crept into the church. Calvinists have many great points and have a good understanding of many areas. Truth comes from revelation, not argument; as this world wants us to believe. To everyone who sets his mind on things of the Spirit, God will reveal what needs to be revealed. But to those who are set on desires of the flesh, their end is deception and destruction. We need to understand that Liberalism is polytheism. Each man has become a god, deciding what is good and what is evil. Be careful.

Stay strong in your growth, faith & knowledge of the Scriptures. Be strong & do not give up. 💪✝️

Less than a minute into this message it was confirmed that you must be exposed to Calvinism! Reading the Bible to find this doctrine is impossible. You have to have someone lead you through its points.

Since I became a Calvinist I’ve actually grown in my walk and sanctification, I have a bigger zeal to preach the word of God and save that which is lost , remember God gave us a ministry of reconciliation. I actually don’t force Calvinism on anybody and still attend my Pentecostal church that I grew up in. I’m not a hyper Calvinist so you’ll probably say I’m inconsistent but I’m also the type of person that would tell you all doctrine is man made and has some gaps in it. I just believe that Calvinism is the most sound doctrine that is out there and it helps my walk with Christ.

You abandoned more than the Doctrine. God does what He wants and I thank God He does. How you can believe that Out Creator God doesn't have the right to what He wants with HIS creation is beyond me.

I’ve learned so much from Steve Gregg. He was instrumental in my journey away from Calvinism.

Calvinism.... one of their favorite phrases is "from the foundation of the world". In my videos I take 140+ of their favorite verses and study the context of each verse. Their version of sovereignty can easily be exposed simply by context.

Thanks so much for your courage to walk away from the most arrogant and deceived cult that kept me in bondage for 23 years. Calvinist have turned their doctrine into god and their intellect into a type of holy spirit and have become disciples of both. God's true Grace brought me back into my freedom in Christ and returned to me the joy and the zeal of my salvation.

John 6:39 [39] And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

This video MUST be PREDESTINATED

John 6:44 [44] No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Thank you for sharing your story. I left Calvinism over a year ago after a two year deep dive into theology and still find myself so encouraged by others who have walked the same path.