Responding To John Piper And Calvinism - Who Are God's Sheep?

This is a series of 3 short videos that I made a few years ago that I have put together into one longer video responding to John Piper's and Calvinism's assertions about who God's sheep are from passages like John chapter 10.

GREAT LIGHT STUDIOS FILMS:

FEAR NOT ONLY BELIEVE

METAMORPHOSIS | From Violent Drug Dealer To Jesus Follower

SEEK FIRST (Freedom From Anxiety And Fear)

#calvinism #calvinismdebate #christianity #JohnPiper #DesiringGod #Soteriology #predestination #apologiastudios #apologetics

[GreatLightStudios]

Find more of my videos on Calvinism here: Answering Calvinism (Non-Calvinist Teaching Resources)

[primeobjective]

Debated a Calvinists face to face recently, after telling him I didn't want to discuss it.

He asked me why I didn't believe it. I simply told him, "The God of truth, doesn't command the vast majority of mankind to believe a lie."

Describing to him the implications of their 5-points.

If the vast majority are reprobate from the womb, commanding them to believe in a gospel that was never for them to begin with, and to turn to a Savior that didn't die for them, means there's no gospel for them to repent to.

He didn't bother to understand the argument and tried to shift it to "humanism" and "emotion."

[obrien]

Spot on! Very good job explaining, and showing how easy it is to understand when you don’t read determinism into everything. Keep up the good work brother!

[UniteAgainstEvil]

I found you a few months ago after leaving SCJ... then last week I was watching an old soteriology101 video and saw you on there but I couldn't place your face... now I remember! thank you for speaking out of the heresy of calvinism ❤

[seanvann]

Absolutely fantastic break down.

Thank you for the time it took you to prepare this teaching and putting it here for us to benefit from.

God bless you and your ministry 🙏

[steverogers]

This was a very good break-down! Excellent

[mrhickswife]

Excellent video! Will be sharing! Thank you!

[michaelmotley]

Jesus said no one can come to me unless drawn by the father. The same Greek word for drawn is also being used for dragged in the Bible. He doesn't explain how we are brought to belief. If it wasn't God, we would have something to boast about. Regeneration comes before faith. Faith is given by God repentance. A dead person cannot save themselves.

[myinternetname]

This is an great exegesis of scripture. Others may have made it, but I’ve never heard it before. I agree that Calvinism misrepresents scripture and portrays God as unjust and the author of evil when it has him condemn people who are unable to believe, because He makes them unable to believe. In addition, Calvinism teaches divine determinism, making God the author of evil. Excellent job defending God’s character!

[blazingphoenixxi]

Such a well laid out explanation.
I have a friend who went to a Calvinism heavy college and he is having such trouble believing because since he struggles he thinks God set it so even though he follows Him he will never be saved or have faith because God is the only one who gives us faith and chooses us to be saved.
Pray for my friend

[gracemercywrath]

Great video. I have a couple videos on my channel addressing these issues. You commented that maybe the apostle had faith. I think John 1:45 show that the disciples did have faith and we're waiting on the seed “Christ” to arrive. Also do you have a screen/ filter over your mic? There seem to be some times that your S’s would clip and you can hear your mouse in the background. But overall great video and keep up the fight for the true character of the living God!

[logan]

I’m struggling to see how any of this has to do with predetermination. Hasn’t God predetermined who would have faith to begin with, including Old Testament saints? It seems to me that being a child of God, having faith, and being born again all happen at the same time, due to the Holy Spirit dwelling in the human being, which goes where the Father desires. It doesn’t seem to happen post faith, but rather faith is caused by the Holy Spirit. Converting a child of wrath to a child of God. All you said was that the sheep could not have always been sheep, but we’re once children of wrath, therefore predetermination of the elect is not possible. What does this have to do with predetermination at all?

[mattleak]

Excellent video and I appreciate your kind tone towards those holding to calvinism.

[shakazulu]

The calvionist avoids all of these verses and will answer that God is outside of time and that all of this does not apply to them in real time. In God's mind they were still elect and these verses are simply explaining this in non-temporal order.

[MyRoBeRtBaKeR]

We're all sheep, the difference is who can hear the Sheppard and be brought home and who will remain lost.

[jesuscross]

Thank you so much for this video. It so confirmed what the Lord has shown me. I believe that God's plan of salvation has been the same from the beginning. In the Garden God told us about the One to come, born of the seed of the woman, who would crush the head of the serpent, and bruise His heel in the process. Those who trusted in and looked forward to the One to come became God's sheep. Cain trusted in his own works while Abel trusted in the sacrifice by faith. The only difference was that by faith, they looked forward to the One true sacrifice, and by faith, we look back to the One true sacrifice. The Bible tells us that Many and Joseph were blameless according to the law. The only way this is possible is if by faith they had received a foreign righteousness. This was done in the OT by trusting in the priests sacrifice. That was how they demonstrated their faith. The scribes and Pharisees were trusting in their works of the law. That's why Jesus said they were not His sheep. His sheep were those who looked forward to and loved His coming. When He appeared, they knew Him. God bless you brother. I subscribed.

[familydiaz]

Thank you Brother. I agree. God would not put before us the option to choose life or death if we never had a choice. God created us all, and I believe that if we do not obey the little that we do know...even that is eventually taken away from us.

[gojohnnygo]

Is it biblical to love and even respect someone as a father: after now it have been revealed to you that the person teaches heresies?
Many pastors started out teaching the righteousness of God but fall away after awhile, indulging themselves unto another gospel which actually profited and exalted them.

[zacdredge]

First of all I can't seem to find the link to the original blog post from John Piper that you mentioned would be in the description. SO I can't say I'm necessarily agreeing %100 with that piece as I don't have access to the aforementioned source material.

I'm not going to try to address every verse referenced in a comment here but I will say that Romans 9:25-26 is a prophecy from Hosea, it's answering Pauls rhetoric in v24 in terms of how the call Paul is describing goes to those who are not Israel, ie God's people. As I'm sure you're aware Paul makes a distinction between the Israel he was born into as a Benjamite and the true or spiritual Israel that is descriptive of the New Covenant. The idea that the Hosea reference here is talking of a pre-conversion state seems to completely ignore the context in which the phrase is used.
Similarly I don't think you addressed John 10:16 which seems to be referring to the sheep of the 'other fold'(ie gentiles) as already belonging to Jesus and of whom He says 'they *will* listen to my voice.' So whatever you might say about the earlier verses this statement clearly indicates a confidence Christ has that in the future, those gentiles whom belong to him as sheep will hear his voice just as any Jew who knows his voice.

I think the real problem I have with the approach I'm hearing is simply that the sheep reference is a metaphor so stretching it beyond the way it used by Christ will inevitably lead to confusion. Rather I think it's important to look at how the metaphor is applied in the passage, understand that clearly then use our understanding of the principles there in our comparison to other texts.
Metaphor by its nature doesn't address all technicalities of doctrine but rather communicates a certain message. In this case it seems to me Jesus is saying only those who already belong to him, as sheep to their shepherd, will hear his voice. They may be lost(as the 1 out of 99 in the parable was) or in sin leading up to this but there's something about the relationship between the good shepherd and those he presides over that means they will recognise his voice. How one becomes a sheep is a bizarre question; sheep are born as sheep, they don't become that way by some act of will or special program.

If Abraham was a sheep was he not one when living with Terah as a pagan? When God called him out of that place he responded to the voice of the shepherd, not because he became a sheep at that moment but because he was a sheep all along. Or do you suppose the Father has a different tone of voice? Was Abram able to recognise the call of God based on his own virtue or because God chose him for such a role? Could Nahor have stepped in and altered God's plan?

It's very easy to try to mix metaphors, saying 'well the sheep aren't dead are they?' but this does nothing to change what is said by Christ in this passage. The dead in sins passage of Eph 2 isn't talking about us as sheep at all; again my objection comes back to misusing metaphors and taking them out of their place in a given dialogue or teaching. A sheep can be unbelieving, lost, hopeless, helpless, disobedient and then one day hears the Good Shepherd and responds to that voice. A goat will never do so, as much as that may be as bitter herbs to the palate of the Provisionist, Arminian or whatever view you believe in.

[KISStheSON...]

John 10 is pretty simple to understand.
The Father and the Son have the same voice.
The nation of Israel gave its ear to the voice of a stranger, therefore they did not believe Jesus because they were not His sheep...they were the sheep of a stranger.
However, the remnant of Israel that did not give their ear to a stranger taught their children of the Father, therefore when Jesus spoke, they followed Him because His voice is that of the Father.

So, to reiterate:
Jesus is speaking to the sons and daughters of the fathers of Israel that turned their backs on God.
These sons and daughters never heard God's voice because their fathers led them astray with the voice of a stranger.
God's perfect timing to send forth His Word is impeccable...He knew that the generations of Israel were so far from the truth that they would not recognize the truth if it were standing in their faces...He knew they would accuse Jesus of blasphemy and cry crucify because they did not know the voice of the one, true God.
Brilliant!

John 5
37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. YE HAVE NEITHER HEARD HIS VOICE AT ANY TIME, nor seen his shape.

38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

41 I receive not honour from men.

42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.


These people SWALLOWED lies fed to them by their fathers, therefore they did not have the love of God IN them, they had the love of TRADITIONS in them.
They were not God's sheep, therefore they would not follow Jesus.
Simple 💌