Calvinism

I don’t know. I thought I’d make a post on how I came to my theological standpoint. However before I start, I will go back to what I said in earlier posts, these are points that are worth discussing, but should not bring division in the Church. If we can all agree on regeneration and the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, I think that’s enough to bring us together in fellowship. But I have my personal convictions and I wanted to share them a little bit here.

Before, in an earlier post, I said to not call me a Calvinist or Arminian. I said that more to stress fellowship and how we should not be divided over the two sides. I am a Calvinist. And when I say that, I mean that I agree with the 5 points that John Calvin taught. I am not a cessationist like John Calvin was and I’m sure there’s other stuff that he taught that I don’t agree with, but I don’t know because I haven’t read any of his writings. This is just an issue of the 5 points. I don’t take the label of Calvinist to say that I agree with every little thing John Calvin said. In fact, John Wesley, a definite Arminian, is someone who I agree with on a lot of points.

I used to be against Calvinism. I think to the immature Christian, Calvinism seems absolutely ridiculous and doesn’t make sense. However when I opened up and began to study the two views, I came to the conclusion that it was Arminianism that didn’t make sense. Perhaps I didn’t get a clear explanation of it and I’m not saying a mature Christian can’t be an Arminian. However, for me, as I’ve matured my views have shifted.

So anyways, the 5 points of Calvinism use the letters TULIP to spell out the first letters of each point. The 5 points are as follows:

Total Depravity of Man

Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, all men are born into sin. All men are naturally evil. Everything they are and do are evil. They hate God (maybe not with their words, but with actions) and they want nothing to do with Him. Their hearts are evil. They deserve the full force wrath of God.

Why do I believe this? In Romans 3:9-18, Paul states it pretty clearly:

9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

To my natural ears, I don’t want to hear that everyone is evil. In fact, some might think that I sound like some fanatic when I say that. But this is not to come from me. Everything we believe has to line up with the word of God. So when I read this, how can I not agree with that? It’s true. Man is evil. We have turned from God completely. And why would we deserve His grace? We don’t. That’s what makes the love of God so amazing. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Unconditional Election

Because man is naturally evil and wants nothing to do with God, he can not choose for himself to turn to God. God must first enable the sinner to come to Him.

Here’s the one that people attack. Predestination. You may think this one’s crazy. God chooses who He desires to save? Yes. However this does not discount freewill. If I were to say that freewill didn’t exist, then I would be wrong. Freewill exists in scripture. We have freewill. But let me give a visual explanation of what I’m talking about.

I walk to school everyday. However I don’t have to. I could ride the bus, or perhaps get driven by someone. Those are my options. But can I choose to fly? No, of course not. That’s not even an option for me. I don’t have wings. So do I not have freewill because I can’t make the decision to fly to school? No, I do. Flying is not of my nature, therefore I can not make that decision. The same goes with this. Because I am naturally evil since birth and I want nothing to do with God, I’m not going to choose God nor will my evil heart want to. First He must enable me and then I can make the freewill choice to come to Him.

Bible verse?

John 6:44:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Also, you may look at the example of Pharaoh with Moses (Exodus 4:21). God hardened his heart. It didn’t say that Pharaoh chose to not let God’s people go. It said that God hardened His heart so He would not let His people go. Why? So God could be glorified. God’s in control of everything.

Limited Atonement

The atonement of sins through the sacrifice of the Son Jesus Christ saved only the elect of God.

This probably isn’t the greatest term to use for the subject and I will say that this point was not something I had an easy time agreeing with until it was properly explained to me.

This should probably be called sufficient atonement. Limited atonement just doesn’t sound great and it kind of makes it seem like God doesn’t care about the rest of the world. The sacrifice of Christ was sufficient for all of man. If every man were saved, the sacrifice would be sufficient enough for them. However, here’s where I understood the point.

If Christ died for everyone, then that would have to mean that everyone is saved. We know this isn’t true because scripture tells us that few will find the narrow gate and narrow road (Matt 7:13-14) and that men must repent and believe to be saved (Mark 1:15). So really, it’s not such a horrible idea as it originally sounds. Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient for all of man, but it is only done for those that are/have been/will be saved.

Irresistible Grace

The grace that God gives to man for his election can not be refused.

Why would you resist it? When the grace of God comes on you, it’s too beautiful and amazing to resist. When I was saved (or at least became confident of my salvation), I paced around my room saying “I’m saved!” because I just couldn’t believe why God would love me so much to elect me into His kingdom and desire to use me. When you receive it, it puts you in awe. I will say that once you have received a revelation of Jesus Christ, you will not refuse it. It will drive you to your knees in repentance. It’s beautiful.

There was a period of time before I came to Christ where I guess I was enabled. God had revealed Himself to me and then as time went on, He kept on enduring in me and pressing Himself upon my soul until I came to the point of repentance and faith in Him. This is God’s irresistible grace.

Perseverance  of the Saints

Once man has been saved, they don’t lose their salvation. They are eternally secure in their salvation.

This isn’t really a point for Calvinists. There are many Calvinists that do not agree with this and there are many Arminians who do. My view: I do agree with it.

Ephesians 1:13-14:
13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

It’s almost like saying, “Now that I’ve been reborn, I will go back to death and then become the way I used to be.” It just doesn’t make any sense, at least not to me. And how powerful is the work of Christ if I have to keep coming back to it to seek my salvation once again? It almost seems like it’s saying the work of Christ wasn’t good enough to save me and I must be good to be saved if eternal security were not true. According to the Prophet Isaiah, our righteous works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We can not do enough good. If our salvation depended on a scale of good and bad things we’ve done, I guarantee you that the bad would weigh down and break the table it sits on.

So that’s my views in a nutshell. I could go into a little more detail probably if I was asked, but I figured I’d just make a post of this stuff. However, I want to stress that this should not cause divisions and quarrels among believers. Our personal convictions should not be added to the word of God. Let love be on the forefront of our minds. Let the Arminian and the Calvinist fellowship with one another. I guarantee you’re not right about everything and neither am I.