Random Thoughts
Based on the Bible
Defending the faith is hard. There's a lot of pitfalls involved. But I think once you understand some of what's going on, it can help greatly when discussing God with other people.
I was listening to an argument the other day where they were discussing Calvinism and at one point a debater looked at the other guy and said, "Yes or no, do you have the ability to decide your fate or not?" How do you answer something like that? My gut tells me "yes" because it would be wrong to have fate decided for you, wouldn't it? My experience tells me "yes" because I'm making choices right now, aren't I? But the theologian in me wants to scream "no"!
Let's take a step back for a second and think about what's going on here. Is this a true statement: what we know about God we know because of the Bible? Why, yes! That is a very powerful thing, because it means I could tell someone "here's what God is" and they get to run off, look at their Bible and say, "you know, you're right" or "you're wrong".
Because our understanding of God and His history comes from the Bible, it means anyone can look at the original source (so to say). Knowledge isn't handed down. You can know as much as the other guy. In fact, you can know more if you take the time to read more. And God isn't going to change from one continent to the next, from one location to the next. He is the same everywhere because it's the same Book everywhere.
So with the Bible, and with humans, you run into this thing called "simplifying" or creating words for ideas found throughout the Bible. This is evident with the concept of the Trinity: God as three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When you hear pastors talking about the Trinity, and you hear people trying to describe the Trinity as water (three stages: solid, liquid, or gas) or an egg (three parts: shell, yolk, and white) and then you take your Bible and look for the actual word Trinity and you don't find it, you might panic and wonder what's going on here? Here's how I like to think it went down: someone read John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". Okay, so we have A with B and A is B? So are they the same? Then you read further in Matthew 26:39 where Christ is praying to God. And then that person might think if they worship Jesus, would God get jealous? And you can see how the concept of the Trinity comes about. How do we in conversation with other humans discuss all those things quickly to each other? Let's use a word like the Trinity that can encapsulate it all!
Back to Calvinism: when we argue Free Will vs. Predestination, remember to think: what is it we actually know (from the Bible)? For example, we know God has prepared vessels for destruction (Romans 9:20-21). Yet if it is decided for everyone, why are we told to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)? In my heart I am convinced it has been decided before we were born, who would believe in Christ or not. Am I going to go to a non-believer and tell them this and expect them to understand? Why do I also fully believe it is very important for us to share Christ with others? Because I know that we don't personally know who's going to heaven or hell. And yet I can also say I know I am going to heaven. I have assurance. And how can I have that assurance? Because the Bible tells me! (1 John 5:13) Incidentally, assurance of salvation and being predestined (Romans 8:29) are shared with the believers as a comfort! It is one of God's great gifts, especially for those who are depressed or downtrodden. Should we then go talk to someone about Christ and they get argumentative with us and we think in the back of our head, "well, I guess they weren't predestined"? Never!