Calvinism Series: Intro (3)

Introduction (Part 3)

The doctrinal differences that divide equally sincere and devout believers on both sides of the Calvinist controversy are substantial and serious. This series I'm doing on Calvinism should not be interpreted as a personal attack on anyone. It is only that, having delved in Calvinism myself, I've seen how the doctrines pose a distortion of Scripture (as a whole). As John MacArthur states:

"Is it inherently unkind or condemnatory to say someone else's view is errant? Not if one has biblical authority for saying so. In fact, to remain silent and allow error to go unexposed and uncorrected is an abdication of the elder's role (Titus 1:9). The apostle Paul publicly called Peter a hypocrite for compromising biblical principles (Galatians 2:11-15). To disagree with or critique someone's published views does not constitute a personal attack. If the Church cannot tolerate polemic dialogue between opposing views--especially if Christian leaders cannot be held accountable for whether their teaching is biblical--then error will have free reign."

If I am right in my assessment of Calvinism relative to the Reformed doctrines of redemption and reprobation, it is my scriptural and spiritual obligation to defend the truth of Scripture. Calvinism is a challenge to all Christians everywhere who believe God has a saving love for and saving interest in all of mankind:
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 6:40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
1 Timothy 2:4 "[God] who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

In Reformed Theology, God's redemptive love is not only minimized but also outright denied to untold millions of desperately lost souls. Within the Reformed doctrine of limited atonement, the very cross of Christ is theologically robbed of all value for countless millions of people who desperately need the forgiveness and cleansing that can only come from the Savior's precious blood:
1 Peter 1:18-19 "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

Even those Calvinists who believe God loves all people have redefined that love, in their thinking and theology, to exclude any kind of saving grace for some of the people they say God loves. We can take John 3:16 and 6:40 at face value or we can allow Calvinism to devalue, in our thinking and theology, the wonderful truth contained and conveyed in this and many other precious, important, and powerful passages of Scripture. One cannot do both.

So much of the energy expended by Calvinists, energy that could and should be spent winning the lost to the Savior, is spent trying to win non-Calvinist Christians into the Reformed faith. National organizations and nationally-syndicated radio programs have been established to aggressively challenge the views of any Christian or Christian church that does not agree with the distinctive doctrines of Calvinism, no matter what their commitment to the essentials of the historic and orthodox Christian faith is. Some Calvinists see themselves as Calvinists fighting for the hearts and minds of the greater Evangelical Christian community. The saved trying to save the saved instead of the lost? They desire to liberate non-Calvinist Christians from a Reformed-free faith. They actually view and treat many of the most dearly held convictions of non-Calvinist Evangelicals as symptomatic of a spiritual and theological disease, of which Reformed Theology is supposedly the cure.

Why doe Calvinists want non-Calvinists to become Calvinists? One reason is that Calvinism is by nature evangelistically sterile. Thus, for Calvinist churches to grow, they need to bring non-Calvinists into the Reformed faith. Calvinism as a system of theology is not all that encouraging to evangelism and Calvinists are typically not all that interested in winning the lost to Christ.

Many leading advocates for the Calvinist cause are convinced that only Calvinists believe in and embrace the doctrines of grace. It cannot be reasonably denied that Calvinists hold to a distinctive definition of grace. Whether or not they are right in the way they define grace is an altogether different matter. Loraine Boettner boasts:

"The doctrine that men are saved only through the unmerited love and grace of God finds its full and honest expression only in the doctrines of Calvinism."

Does this mean that non-Reformed Christians embrace only a partial and dishonest doctrine of salvation? Such claims call for a critical examination and evaluation of Calvinism in light of Scripture. If you're a Calvinist, can you objectively listen to the scripturally based arguments and evidence against Reformed theology? If you can, I believe it likely that you will discover that Calvinism is in serious conflict with the truth of God's Word on a number of important matters related to the great and gracious saving work of God.