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Jumpstarter 9 of 10

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Question 9

The lesson claims Calvinism “minimizes sin and minimizes grace,” because if God ordained the fall and depravity, then salvation becomes “God… fixing the problem he caused,” making “thank you” at the cross unintelligible—what does your gratitude at the cross currently rest on, and how would your understanding of sin’s heinousness change if you truly “could have chosen the good” but chose evil?

Another way to ask: What is your gratitude at the cross based on right now? How would your view of how awful sin is change if you really could have chosen the good but chose evil instead?

Direct Answer Finny argues gratitude at the cross becomes meaningful when you see salvation as undeserved rescue from sin you are truly responsible for, not God repairing a condition He deterministically caused. He says sin becomes more “heinous” when you could have chosen good but chose evil, and grace becomes more amazing because God is not merely “fixing the problem he caused.”

Support from Transcript:

Finny claims Calvinism minimizes sin because if God ordains all events, we’re doing what we were created/ordained to do, not “actively” choosing evil.
He states: what makes sin horrible is “you could have chosen to do the good, but instead you chose the bad.”
He says Calvinism minimizes grace because then “God is simply making up for His own sin… fixing the problem he caused.”
Quoted summary: if God is “ultimate cause of our sinfulness and depravity… saving us is not an act of grace. God is merely fixing the problem he caused.”
Finny adds: if you can’t stand at the cross and know why you’re saying “thank you,” “there’s a big problem… Sin is no longer sin and grace is no longer grace.”
He asserts “free will theism” (as he describes it) better magnifies sin and grace rather than belittling them.

Discussion Follow-ups What do you instinctively thank God for at the cross—His character, His mercy, His justice satisfied, His love—and how does that connect to your view of human choice?

Jumpstarter 9 of 10