My Opinion: Countering the First Four Points

My opinion differs with Calvinism, moderate Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism on these four points. Also, these four points reject the first four of the Calvinist's five points of TULIP. I believe that:

1. Man does have a choice concerning his salvation
2. Man is regenerated after he places faith in Jesus Christ
3. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world
4. Man can resist the Holy Spirit and commit the unforgivable sin by rejecting the
   convicting work of the Holy Spirit 

If you read that and think, "So, what is the big deal? Doesn't every orthodox Christian believe this?" Well, then you need to read these statements by leading Calvinistic author Edwin H. Palmer. I disagree with these statements made by Palmer which are also supported by other Calvinistic authorities:

1. "Divine election means that God chooses some to go to heaven. Others are passed by and they will go to hell (p. 31)...If men are totally depraved and if some are still saved, then it is obvious that the reason some are saved and some are lost rests entirely with God (p.33)...The Christian has no free will either. He may technically have the external option to choose or reject Christ, but basically he does not. Christ will not let him reject him." (Edwin H. Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 43) 
2. "Only when the Holy Spirit regenerates man and makes him alive spiritually can man have faith in Christ and be saved.(p. 33)...Once he is born again, he can for the first time turn to Jesus, expressing sorrow for his sins and asking Jesus to save him." (Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 23)
3. "It was just because the Father had given some people to Jesus that Jesus came to earth to die for them. Jesus had a definite, precise goal in mind...His purpose was not to die indefinitely for everybody in the world (p. 54)...Because Judas would not believe on Christ, he is in hell under the curse of the law. Christ did not die for him....an evangelist cannot say to his audience, 'Christ died for you,'...If the Bible says that Christ died for the elect, then an evangelist may not play God by stating that he knows that everyone in his audience is elect and, therefore, that Christ died for them. He does not know and should not state it." (Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 64)
4. "God loves certain ones, sends Jesus to die for them, and then sends his Holy Spirit to cause them to accept the sacrifice that Christ has made for them (p. 68)...God sends his Holy Spirit to work in the lives of people so that they will definitely and certainly be changed from evil to good people. It means that the Holy Spirit will certainly - without any and's, if's , and but's - cause everyone whom God has chosen from eternity and for whom Christ died to believe on Jesus (p. 69)...God regenerates the man, changes his nature, and radically alters his character so that man now is truly sorry for his sin and loves God...So believe. God commands you to. But if you do, thank God for causing you to do so. (Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 79)

I disagree with these last four points made up of Palmer's Calvinistic statements.

Galyn Wiemers
Generation Word
http://www.generationword.com