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Just wondering how a Calvinist decides whether to listen to the voice of God or to the voice of Satan? As believers, we know that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil. So for a Calvinist...in any situation imaginable...if the believer follows the voice of God, it is God's will, or if the believer follows the voice of Satan that would also be God's will. I'm not being facetious, I'm seriously trying to work through how this would be handled. Aren't believers to test the spirits to see if they are from God? Am I just confused by what Calvinism teaches?
I feel the same way whenever I have an irrepressible urge to sacrifice an Arminian at my monthly Black Sabbath service. But because it poses an irreconcilable dilemma for my twisted Calvinist theology, Arminians keep turning up missing in my neighborhood. Well, at least parts of Arminians turn up missing. The police are baffled.
Am I just confused by what Calvinism teaches?
ReplyDeleteWhy not go read a Calvinist book or ask a knowledgeable Calvinist? It's not like the question/problem is something Calvinists aren't aware of or address infrequently. First off, nowhere do Calvinists claim one should ever follow the voice of Satan. In fact, Calvinism teaches, like all other forms of Christianity that one should only obey and follow God and never Satan.
Secondly, Calvinists make a distinction between God's revealed will or preceptive/prescriptive will and God's will of decree. While it may be God's will of decree that some people follow the voice of Satan, it has never been God's preceptive will that people do so. God's preceptive will has always been to obey Him (i.e. God). God's preceptive will is what should be followed. One usually can't know what God's will of decree is until it comes to pass. And even if one knew it, one isn't expected to "obey" it unless it also conforms to God's preceptive will. That's why Hazael was nevertheless guilty for the things he eventually did (2 Kings 8:11-15). Similar thing with Peter and his denial of Christ. God's These two distinctions in God's will are BASIC tenets of Calvinistic theology, so every serious Calvinist will know these distinctions and could have answered her dilemma.