Calvinism? A Warning!

 

 At the risk of upsetting or angering some of my Calvinist friends, I felt compelled to issue a warning about some of the Calvinist beliefs. I wouldn't have even looked into it except two pastors I highly respect brought up the topic independently of each other. So, please take this in the tone I intend, which is a gentle warning for anyone caught up in this belief. 

For those who don't know, Calvinism in a nutshell says that Salvation is only offered to people whom God chooses. If you are one of God's elect or chosen, then you will eventually receive Jesus's sacrifice on the cross and get saved. If you are not, you can never be saved. This is called unconditional election. In other words, there's nothing you can do on your own to be saved. It is all by the will and action of God. 

There are other tenets of Calvinism such as

• Total Depravity - Mankind is totally depraved and unable to save himself.   (Agreed!)
  
• Limited Atonement - Jesus's blood only covers the elect
  
• Irresistible Grace - God's grace is irresistible to the elect. In other words, they will eventually accept it. They cannot resist it
  
• Preservation of the Saints - another phrase for Once Saved Always Saved

 

They use Scripture to back up their beliefs and if you took just those Scriptures and didn't know the entire Bible, then you'd probably believe them too. 

 

First let me present the problem this kind of belief presents and then I'll use Scripture and What we know about God to refute it

 

If Only the Elect can be saved, and if that salvation occurs through no action of their own, but is purely by the will of God, then why evangelize? Why spread the Gospel at all? Why not just let God do His thing and just go about our day?  Why even pray for the lost? What good would it do? If a person is one of the elect, they will get saved, if not, your prayers fall on deaf ears. A Calvinist might say that we should spread the Gospel anyway so that those who are elected to be saved can hear it. Okay. But if they are saved anyway, won't God reach them somehow no matter what we do? Why did Jesus tell us to spread the Gospel and make Disciples?

 

Another issue I have is that of limited atonement or as Calvinist like to say Definite atonement. It seems to me that whatever you call it, you are taking away the power in the blood of Jesus to save. If Jesus's death on the cross CAN only save a few elect, then isn't that limiting its power?  Doesn't the Scripture say that Jesus's sacrifice was for all the world? (John 3:16)  If that's true, then by saying it can only save certain people and not others, you are limiting its power, which is blasphemous. Also saying people are saved by Election AND the Cross also requires something to be added to Jesus's sacrifice, which again, is blasphemous and not the Gospel message.

 

The last issue I have is with the belief that you can't lose your salvation. Since Calvinists believe only the elect are saved and not by anything they do, then of course they can't lose that salvation. That would throw off the entire election thing. If ALL the elect must get saved (whether they want to our not!) then no way could they lose that salvation. Do you see how this belief of election lends itself perfectly to being once saved always saved?  In fact the entire "election" belief offers a license to sin for anyone in the elect!  You can do whatever you want, sin as much as you want because you can't NOT be saved.  What a deadly, deadly belief.  

 

Calvinist Scriptures

 

Below I list a few of the Scriptures Calvinists use to prove their beliefs, in particular their beliefs of Unconditional Election and Limited Atonement. 

 

 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, Ephesians 1:4-5

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48

 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44

Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Romans 9:18-23 

 

Whoa. If I didn't know the Bible so well, I'd really be falling for this Limited Atonement theology.  From these Scriptures it really does appear that God only chooses certain people for salvation while others He simply creates for destruction. 

 

The First problem with this is that I'd have to ignore a plethora of other Scriptures. Scriptures such as the following:

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16  Do a search on Whosoever in the New Testament. Whosoever means ANYONE

Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. 2 Corinthians 13:5  Why should we be told to examine ourselves if we don't have a choice in being saved or keeping our salvation?

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? John 11:25-26

Seems you have a choice here, to believe or not. And there's that nasty word Whosoever again

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Titus 2:11

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9   Big word IF. We have a choice. Also it doesn't limit this to a certain group of people.

 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. John 12:46  Whosoever again!

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. John 1:6-7

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: Acts 17:27  God draws us to Jesus, absolutely, but we have to do the seeking too!

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12  Now why would we have to work out our salvation if it isn't even our choice? 

Throughout Scripture we see that Jesus came to save ALL men, not a certain group with the right DNA, not those He elected. He came to offer man a free GIFT of salvation. He desires that Everyone gets saved and none perish. Salvation is a gift and we have the free will to choose it or not, AND to hang onto it or not. God gave mankind freewill, right? The Calvinists take away that freewill for the elect. I could list a hundred more Scriptures, but this is getting too long.

 

The Second thing that is wrong with the belief of Limited Election is that we have a very narrow view of who God is. God is OUTSIDE of time.  He knows the beginning from the end. Think of it like this. I'm an author. When I start a book, I know the beginning of the story, what's going to happen in the middle, and the ending. I also know each character in the book and what's going to happen to them. I know what choices they will make and whether they will end up winning or losing, being the hero or the villain. Even though I already know a particular character will make the wrong choices and become the villain, I still have to put him in the book so he can choose. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to call him a villain if he never even entered the story. 

 

Now, that may be a simplistic example, but God knows before He even creates anyone, which ones will choose Him and which ones will not. Yet, if He didn't go ahead and create the ones who don't end up choosing Him and put them into the story to at least have a chance, how is that fair or just?  God is a just God. He won't send anyone to hell without first giving them a chance to receive Him. Even though He already knows what they will do. But why just NOT create them at all? But as we see in Romans 9 above, how would anyone know the riches of His glory, mercy and grace on those of us who do choose Him? Whenever mankind tries to understand God, we can end up in error. He is so much bigger than we can ever imagine. 

Warning: You can see how these beliefs can lead people to 

• Not evangelize
• Not pray for the lost
• Become arrogant to be included in the "elect"
• Have a license to sin
• Diminish the power and reach of the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross 

The last item worries me the most because, to me, it's borderline blasphemous, but that is up to the Lord.   If you consider yourself a Calvinist or you ascribe to some of these beliefs, please please be careful. I encourage you to study the Word of God and get alone with Jesus and ask Him for truth. 

Here are some famous Calvinists from the past

John Calvin

Jonathan Edwards

Charles Surgeon

 

And in Modern times

R.C. Sproul

John Piper

John MacArthur