Calvinism Series: Intro (4)

Introduction Part 4

All devout believers have a formally agreed upon standard by which to judge and evaluate all doctrines which they claim to be biblical. It is NOT Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion," "The Canons of Dort," The Westminster Confession of Faith," or "The Heidelberg Catechism" that should be the determining facor as to what we believe. It is not Augustine, Calvin, or Edwards that we are to rely upon for our understanding of the truth. Every Christian not only has the right, but the RESPONSIBILITY to personally search the Scriptures to discern what they mean by whaty they say:

2 Timothy 2:15-17
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,
2 Peter 1:19-20
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
Acts 17:11
These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

As Christians, we can and should learn from our spiritual elders, but we are not bound to what they teach unless it passes the objective test of scriptural truth! Calvinists David Steele and Curtis Thomas state:

"The question of supreme importance is not how the system under consideration came to be formulated into five points, or why it was named Calvinism, but rather is it supported by Scripture? The final court of appeal for determining the validity of any theological system is the inspired, authoritative Word of God. If Calvinism can be verified by clear and explicit declaration of Scripture, then it must be received by Christians; if not, it must be rejected."

I couldn't agree more. Loraine Boettner states;

"In all matters of controversy between Christians, the Scriptures are accepted as the highest court of appeal."

Charles Hodge:

"It is the duty of every theologian to subordinate his theories to the Bible, and teach not what seems to him to be true or reasonable, but simply what the Bible teaches."

According to the former two quotes, I would wholeheartedly agree with Calvinists as to how to evaluate a theological system or any of the distinctive of that system. This principle can be stated: All Christians are obligated to believe and embrace all views that agree with the teaching of Scripture. Conversely, if the distinctives of a theological system are found to be in conflict with the teaching of God's holy and infallible Word, that system or the errant distinctives of that system ought to be rejected.

With all my heart, I embrace the grace of God and the fundamental and foundational truth that salvation is by grace and grace alone.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Unbelievers are absolutely and utterly dependent upon the grace of God to SAVE them. Believers are absolutely and utterly dependent upon the grace of God to SUSTAIN them.

Reformed Theology misrepresents God's saving grace in order that it may appear to correspond and conform to the equally disturbing "Reformed views" of sovereignty and predestination. For example, for those in a hopeless "caste" of humanity (I call it a "caste" because in societal "classes", there is the potential that one can change their class...however, in a caste, one is completely bound by that caste, unable to change from one caste to another) that Calvinists call the reprobate, Reformed Theology denies even the existence of a grace intended to save them. The Calvinist will rightly say that it is not the fault of the GRACE of God that many people cannot be saved. Calvinists wrongly say or suggest that it is the GOD of grace Himself that is ultimately responsible for the plight of the reprobate. Blaming God for the damnation of those who end up in hell is either explicit or implicit in all forms of authentic Calvinism.

For most Christians, even without a fully developed and systematically stated alternative to Calvinism, a simple and unbiased comparison of what Calvinism teaches with what Scriptures says is sufficient to raise all kinds of theological red flags. Take any important passage directly addressing the doctrine of salvation. Read it carefully, keeping in mind the immediate and greater contextual considerations. Then on a piece of paper, write down what you think the meaning of that passage is (outside the lens of whatever system of theology you adhere to). Then look at what Calvin and other Reformed teachers have to say about the same passage. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to see what they see unless and until they show it to you. Even then, they may have to be very persuasive and do some theological twisting of the Scriptures to get you to agree with them.

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.

Calvinism series: Intro (2)

For the sake of simplicity, I will henceforth title the "why i'm not a calvinist anymore" series the "calvinism series" and will number the parts with the (#).

Introduction (Part 2)

Despite formal denials from some Calvinists and documents such as The Westminster Confession of Faith, John Calvin and the system of theology he championed does, "...assert that God is, in himself, the cause and author of sin..." (taken from a partial quote by John Milton). According to Calvin, it is all happening according to the perfect plan and purpose of God. Everything is as it should be. All Evangelicals would agree that God is ultimately going to have His Way. Of that, there should be no doubt. But, can we trace moral evil back to God in the same we can good things? As far as Calvin was concerned, even the first sin and its terrible consequences were orchestrated by God.

Calvin:
"God not only foresaw the fall of the first man, and in him the ruin of his posterity; but also at his own pleasure arranged it...some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of those ends, we say that he has been predestined to life or death."

The key to understanding Calvin is not only in the words "predestined to" but in the words "created for."

Calvin:
"God...arranges all things by his sovereign counsel, in such a way that individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death..."

Only if you understand and agree with these statements of John Calvin can it be correctly said that you are a true Calvinist, because all 5 points of Calvinist doctrine inevitably stem from this idea (unconditional election). You do not have to agree with everything that Calvin said or taught to be a Calvinist, but in order to be a true Calvinist, you do have to understand and agree with the central tenets and doctrinal distinctives of the Reformed faith.

Calvinist scholar John Feinberg:
"Sometimes it would be easier not to be a Calvinist...Calvinists hold views that appear at the very least counterintuitive. This is especially so with respect to Calvinist accounts of God's sovereign control in relation to human freedom and moral responsibility for evil. If Calvinists are right about divine sovereignty, there seems to be little room for human freedom. If freedom goes, so does human responsibility for sin. If Calvinists are right, it appears that God decides that there will be sin and evil in our world, maybe even brings it about that there is such evil, and yet, He is not morally responsible for any of it. We are. If this is Calvinism's God, Calvinism seems not only intellectually but also religiously bankrupt. Who would worship this God?"

Despite what Feinburg concedes, he still believes that Calvinism is the "portrayal of God" found in Scripture. How this can be, if what he says about Calvinism is true, is difficult for me to fathom.

Feinburg:
"Unfortunately, some Calvinists, because of their understanding of God's sovereignty, have denied that humans are free. YEt some of those Calvinists maintain that we are morally responsible for our sin, while God, who decreed our sin, is not morally accountable. When asked how this can be true, they respond that it is a paradox..."

Are these conflicts in Calvinism really only a "paradox" or are they hopeless contradictions? Is Calvinism compatible with Scripture? While it is not possible for a theological system to be self-contradictory AND true, it is possible for it to be internally consistent and NOT true or not true to Scripture. As will be proven in later parts of this series, Calvinism is both contradictory AND unscriptural.

I use the terms Calvinism and the Reformed faith interchangeably because, for all practical purposes, they are one and the same label.

Paul Enns:
"To speak of Calvinism is to speak of the Reformed faith. The term Reformed is today basically synonymous with Calvinism and distinguishes the Calvinist churches..."

The promotion of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination is promotion of the Calvinist doctrines of salvation and damnation. To say that many Calvinists are extremely zealous in their committment to win non-Calvinists over to the Reformed version of the Christian faith is definitely an understatement (as to why Calvinists ARE zealous in this regard will be discussed more fully in the next part of this series). Believing they are doing all non-Calvinists a favor by winning them over to Calvinism, many Calvinists have become proselytizers for the Reformed faith.

There is a widespread view among Calvinists that all non-Calvinist Evangelicals are Arminian in their theological convictions. I admit that I'm neither a Calvinist NOR an Armenian, thus I should not be labeled as being such...but I will touch on this issue a little later.

Calvinism amounts to Theistic Fatalism. A Theistic Fatalist believes that a personal God unconditionally determines where individuals go when they die, that is, whether they go to heaven or hell.

Wayne Grudem:
"By fatalism is meant a system in which human choices and human decisions really do not make any difference. In fatalism, no matter what we do, things are going to turn out as they have been previously ordained. Therefore, it is futile to try and influence the outcome of events or the outcome of our lives by putting forth any effort or making any significant choices, because these will not make any difference anyway."

The truth is, some Calvinists do not want non-Calvinists to know the full implications of Calvinism until after they have become committed Calvinists.

Lorraine Boettner explains one of the reasons behind the reluctance of some Calvinists to initially lay it all out on the table early on:
"In preaching to...those who are just beginning the Christian life...At that early stage little need be said about the deeper truths which relate to God's part. As in the study of Mathematics we do not begin with algebra and calculus but with the simple problems of arithmetic..."

The "deeper truths" to which Boettner refers to here are the distinctive doctrines of Calvinism. Some Calvinists are not only less than totally up-front, but they are not even being altogether honest with the non-Calvinists they are targeting. In the promotion of doctrines, what is held back or not expressed can be very misleading. Many Calvinists, when promoting Reformed Theology to a potential convert to Calvinism, typically limit the discussion to those features that SEEM positive to the uninitiated. However, it is what they DO NOT tell you that you really need to know in order to make a truly informed decision.

Calvinism undermines the scriptural doctrine of salvation:
1 Timothy 2:3-4 "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2 Peter 3:8-9 "But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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."
Isaiah 45:22 "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other."
and ect...

Again, I will get into more scriptural detail in later parts.

Reformed Theology represents a serious threat to at least some of the people for whom that salvation was provided by Christ's death on the cross:
1 John 2:2 "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
1 Timothy 2:5-6 "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time"
Hebrews 2:9 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."

The salvation that is provided is also the salvation that is offered to them in a truly scriptural proclamation of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."