RC Sproul's Unwilling Conversion To Calvinism | Dr. Leighton Flowers | Soteriology 101

Dr. Leighton Flowers, Director of Evangelism and Apologetics for Texas Baptists, reads an excerpt from RC Sproul's commentary on Romans 9 in which Sproul walks through his conversion to Calvinism.

Check out the full video here:

DOWNLOAD OUR APP:

Or @soteriology101 on Twitter

Please SHARE on Facebook and Twitter and help spread the word!

#shorts #calvinism #rcsproul #LeightonFlowers #soteriology101

[mitchielou]

So thankful for Leighton Flowers’ ministry ❤

[macherie]

When I was younger and read scripture I just took it at face value and didn't overthink topics but I must admit it was hard to not get very black and white in my thinking. During bible college to try find more answers, it opened up a can of worms I can't put back in, some answers were found, alot were not, more questions arose. Doctrines have made me want to walk away from my faith more then once because I don't fit in anywhere...but I have to keep coming back to my experiences with God and his gracious work in my life, this I cannot deny. Now I just mainly read the Bible and admit I don't have the answers to some verses and ask God to reveal it to me if I really need to know it.

[a.w.virella]

I came to Calvinism by reading my Bible, and then I found R.C. Sproul

[leviwilliams]

I went from Arminian. To Moleinism. Then to Calvinism. Tough to read the bible and somehow get this (libertarian will out of it). We have a will, but its in Rebellion to the one who created us. God can only save us. God saved me from my will .

[TheMidnightModder]

Just reading the Bible, I believed in free will and man's responsibility to either accept or deny Jesus... and then I became a Calvinist because I spent too much time on YouTube...

[PaganGamer]

it is good that you indeed are doing this as it will have long term value for deep discussions among believers!

[mikesteele]

According to you my “Calvinism” beliefs came about by someone teaching me in some form or another.
In my mid 20’s as a “recovering “ alcoholic I started to read scripture. “Dead in my trespasses and sins, ” “all that the Father has given Me, ” “predestined, ” “election, ” “chosen” and etc, made me ponder the words and meanings of Jesus, Paul and Peter (later the OT references to this.)
As a young man in Christ I couldn’t help share my faith. One person who I was talking with said, “you must be a Calvinist.”
“Whose that” I asked.
That was my first time hearing that name and to think that I learned about this while reading the Bible.😊

[bradleyhite]

I remember as I was growing up being raised in a Christian home, every time my mother would read the Bible to me and my brothers we would discuss the passages together that we had just read. Every time we did that and the text seemed to imply that God chooses certain people to be saved and certain people to not be saved I remember that I would point it out to my mother, which she would quickly explain to me that I was simply wrong because we know that's not how God works. Eventually I must have been convinced to believe in Arminianism because I stayed believing that way until I forced to reevaluate my faith because I started to realize my church teachers might have been wrong (I was Seventh-Day Adventist). As I was studying my way out of the cult of the SDA church I was introduced to the concept of Calvinism by stumbling upon apologia church. Once I realized it was a legitimate viewpoint I realized that I had been forced to believe the Arminian viewpoint all my life and go against the plain reading of the Bible. Personally now I am not 100% sure which view on election is correct but currently I believe Calvinism is the most likely to be correct because it seems to align the most with the plain reading of scripture and has the least holes in the system. I don't take a hard stance one way or the other but definitely Calvinism seems to make the most sense based on what I remember thinking as a child.

So contrary to your point I had to be taught that it's all up to us to choose God to be saved instead of God reaching in to save us because he loves us.

[CP-qnmn]

Ah the arrogance of I chose God and Jesus on my own. I had the good sense and wisdom to consider what Jesus had to offer and to contemplate it on my own and then I let Jesus know that I was going to hire him on as my saviour. Jesus + my free will and wisdom to make good choices gets me into heaven. All Calvanists are really saying is you may be giving yourself too much credit for no man seeks God on their own he is called and wooed by the spirit of God till he comes home. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Ephesians 1:5

[thomasthepromise]

Calvinism can be likened to assembling a piece of furniture without reading the instructions, the result being a collection of left over parts (screws, brackets, etc.) that have to be reasoned away as "mystery parts" so the builder can convince himself all is well.

[joelflores]

Who every thinks they can go to Christ by themselves is arrogant I know how depraved I am and I know that how lost I was I could have never chose Christ, Thankfully he Chose me🙏❤️

[calebkamugisha]

His greatest desire was to conform to the truth. That desire was greater than his desire to believe whatever he liked.

[chimpsfall]

If it largely takes the words of others and not the scripture to lead someone to a doctrine, then you are relying on the wrong sources.

[kellyjenkins]

Great point! I would love to see you expand this point with other Calvinists. I know for certain that John MacArthur had a similar testimony of overvaluing the teachings of “great men”. As a former Calvinist I got so weary of men quoting commentaries and other books constantly and rarely working with the Bible. Thanks for your work. God bless.

[ReubenScott]

It's ok to disagree with Calvinism... But man it seems most people in the comments focus all their energy against Calvinism instead of learning the fruit of the Spirit!

[TheOverlapLifewithTimBarber]

Super thankful to see a Leighton Flowers video that's 60 seconds instead of 60+ minutes. :)

[markalmencion]

Been a "Christian" for most of life but i dont have theology, dont even know what the gospel really is. Recently i was Born Again by Holy Spirit and submitting my all in all to Jesus. Im not aware im not aware of the Calvanism theology but Holy Spirit leads me here. So forget the free will, ill do what my God's will. Been exercising my free will for entire life and look how misserable my life was. Im Calvinist.

[terrifictomm]

When discussing Calvinism, I always remember what a young missionary said to me one day.

I was visiting him and he showed me his college yearbook from Grand Rapids Theological Seminar, which he attended. He showed me a picture of a Professor and said, "That's my theology professor. He's the man who destroyed my love for God."

"How did he do that, " I asked.

"He told me God doesn't love everyone and he used the Bible to prove it."

We had quite a discussion after that.

[DailyLivingintheWord]

In my case, I asked my dad, if I had the total free will to believe, wouldn’t I have the free will to not believe too!! Then how can I be sure of my salvation. The church makes it to be that I had so much power in me to believe. That’s when my dad introduced me to the tulip and how that God chose me before I could believe! A huge sigh of relief came upon me and I said - that makes total sense now.

[BilliousOz]

In Western culture, and especially American culture, it is difficult to escape the influence of Augustinian philosophy. The ideas of original sin and total depravity are so ingrained from earlier generations that anyone "reading the Bible for themselves" will still do so through those lenses.