This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. - Mat 15:18

    I find myself once again sitting here on a Saturday night, distressed by what I see as a sad portrayal of "sovereign grace" faith online.  It's the never ending debate of arminianism vs. calvinism,  "right" doctrine vs. "false" doctrine,  intolerants vs. tolerants, and non-compromisers vs. those deemed as compromisers.   Looking at my friend list I see I've been defriended again, probably as word of my slow and sad descent into freewillism has once again been discussed amongst the "sovereign grace" camp.  I know this happens, as I've been the victim of slander, discussion behind my back, even amongst people and pastors I have highly respected.  All of this enabled by that perilous site called "facebook."  Fake book is more like it.  

    It's amazing to see the words, "sovereign grace" so piously used by men and women who display NO LOVE toward others.  Their fake displays of doctrinal rightness fool many, but I see right through them for who they are - self-righteous pharisees.  It's self-righteousness cloaked in "defending the faith." These are people who constantly argue, form theological alignments, gather followers, are continually hyper-critical of others, and looking for fault in everything other people say.  There is no love displayed - only "rightness."  The whole display is alarming to me, and I pray, "oh Lord, please keep this away from my congregation!  Please keep this nasty business out of my church!"

    Their "sovereign grace" doctrine has led them to finding more bones than meat.  And they display an angry and self-important spirit, rather than the spirit of love and peace.  This only tells me that they don't know our Lord.  This only tells me that their theology is wrong.  This only tells me that they have no understanding of the grace they espouse!  They mistake their rightness for grace.  This is why they argue with the arminian continually.  The arminian is clearly wrong and they are clearly right, they reason.  And sadly, they reason their rightness as a condition for salvation just as much as the avowed arminian conditions their rightness for salvation.  It's true that the child of God will be brought into theological "rightness", and will know the things of God.  But they don't look to their rightness as the reason for their justification before God!  This "rightness" is only a necessary consequence, and not a condition of being saved.

    Most of all I'm saddened.  Having been brought out of freewillism into the truth, and looking to the Lord in faith, and experiencing the finding of favor in His Son so many years ago, I went looking for a camp that "got the gospel right."  I thought I had found it online.  And for many years I was deceived.  For the most part, it seems to me that these so called "high calvinists" / "sovereign grace" camp adherents are just warmed over arminians masquerading as believers.  How sad, because I've known many arminians grasping in the dark, dead as they may be in sin, who seem to have a better grasp of grace than some of these folks.

    And these arguments, a result of their pride, keeps them away from the true church.  Most of these people are not a part of any assembly.  They won't go to church with "people like that."  I've seen them complain online many times that they are "sheep without a home."  Yet, there is a sovereign grace church in their hometown, not far from them.  But it's got "people like that."  So they sit at home and post on fakebook instead.  Another even packs up and moves across the country to join a church, only to be robbed of all joy because it too had "people like that."  These pompous religionists keep themselves separated from the people of God because God's churches are filled with "people like that."   Well I will tell you now, I'd rather be in a church with "people like that" than these sovereign grace gospel defenders.  I'd rather go to church with SINNERS who KNOW they don't have everything right.  I'd rather be with sinners who know that salvation is ONLY in Christ, and not in their "gospel defense."  Obviously our churches aren't perfect, but they are filled with God's people who come together to worship together, support each other, to love one another, and to bury one another.   They are filled with people who have all kinds of problems.  But one thing I don't see is a bunch of people arguing about who is saved or who isn't saved.  I don't see people fighting over who is a compromiser and who isn't.  Oh, God forbid that it ever be!