Do you agree that solid understanding of the Five Points of Calvinism is essential to Christian faith? Why?
Yes, because these Five Points are still at the heart of biblical theology. This is the standard of biblical theology. We should know the Five Points deeply and really discover God’s grace and truth in this doctrine not in a twisted or distorted position, but in a biblical position. Where we stand on these things deeply affects many of our important views such as our view of God, man and salvation, regeneration, assurance of salvation and our worship to God and our missions. All these views are based on the effect of our understanding of these Five Points.
We should be very interested in knowing the Five Points and giving a positive biblical position of each of the Five Points. But we should not define them as a rigid, fatalistic system of theology, devoid of life and joy. Our views should be on the basis of the Bible finally. The Five Points is just a kind of tools to help us understand and teach the Bible.