Calvinism and the Bible
Calvinism and the Bible
by Mark Cahill
I have been getting a lot of inquiries about where I stand on the topic of Calvinism. So let me address a little bit of that here.
First, let’s take a look at some of the historic points of Calvinism, but as we do, don’t forget this quote below:
“The five points which identify Calvin’s teaching (commonly called “TULIP”) are like dominoes; they stand or fall together. If a person claims to be a One-Point (Total Depravity) Calvinist, if he believes the doctrine taught as Calvin taught it, then the person must accept the other four points.”
(http://www.biblebelievers.net/Calvinism/kjcalvn1.htm)
Similarly, if you can prove any of the points of Calvinism wrong, than the whole belief system comes tumbling down like a house of cards. So let’s take a look at some Calvinistic teachings and what the Bible has to say about them.
When one talks about the ‘total depravity of man’, typically what that person means is that man is so dead in his sins that there is no way that he can believe what Jesus Christ has done for him without God first enabling him to do so. Some people refer to this concept as ‘total inability’.
Man is separated from God by his sins, but that in no way means that he cannot repent and believe.
“Throughout the whole Bible, God is presenting principles of truth before sinful, fallen men and imploring them to choose life in Christ rather than death, which is the result of rejecting truth.” (Reformed Theology Explained And Exposed by Brenda Nickel, p. 73)
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Why would God ask us to reason with Him, if we were so dead in our sins that we couldn’t reason with Him?
Psalm 14: 1-3 “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Remember the Bible says it is the fool that has said in his heart that there is no God. It is a choice to come to that conclusion. It wasn’t that he couldn’t come to the conclusion that there is a God, but he chose to make that decision; and because of that, there is no good thing in him.
Men are required to make a choice for God in this lifetime. That is why we are here. Period.
Isaiah 55:3 “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”
Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
God’s words are very clear. Are you listening?
How can God judge people that had no ability to repent and believe in Him? The very thought is preposterous. 1 John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” God is a loving being. You cannot separate love from who God is.
John 3:16 “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.” The loving God of the Bible does not want people to perish but have everlasting life! That is why He created them with the ability, and not inability, to choose.
“It was certainly loving of God to predestine the salvation of His people, those the Bible calls the ‘elect or chosen ones.’ It is the non-elect that are the problem. If some people are not elected unto salvation then it would seem that God is not all that loving toward them. For them it seems that it would have been more loving of God not to have allowed them to be born. That may indeed be the case.”
(http://anti-calvinism.blogspot.com/2008/05/quotes.html, citing; R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God, 32.)
Even Mr. Sproul knew something isn’t right here. His false view of election then makes him wonder why a loving God would create people that He purposefully damned to hell. It doesn’t make any logical sense. His conscience is getting to him.
John 3:19, 20 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
Men loved the darkness and not the light. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t repent and go towards the light. But they loved the darkness. It had their affections, and God did not.
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Who was Jesus talking to here? He was talking to everyone in front of him. Not just the elect, but everybody that was there. Why? Because everyone has the ability to repent: the only question is will they do it or not?
Acts 17:30-32 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.”
God calls every man to repentance. It is their choice if they will do it. And look what it says at the end of verse 32: ‘We will hear thee again on this matter.’ This is just one more verse that makes it easy to disprove the idea of total depravity, because these folks wanted to hear more about the things of God. I thought man had no desire for those things? The truth of the matter is that I meet people all the time who have questions about God and eternity. Why? God has placed that curiosity in us and the creation around us speaks of this wonderful Creator!!
“A man is like a pillar of salt, he’s like Lot’s wife.” “He’s like a log, he’s like a stone, he’s like a lifeless statue which has neither eyes, nor ears, nor mouth, neither senses or heart unless he is enlightened, converted and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.”
(John Macarthur, quoted by Brenda Nickel, Basic Reformed Theology Explained and Exposed, p. 80)
That is quite obviously not Biblically correct. People can choose.
Calvinism teaches that one must be regenerated first before he or she can believe. The only problem is that you will never find that in the Bible. The Bible teaches that you are regenerated when you believe and not before you believe.
“The Reformed view of predestination teaches that before a person can choose Christ his heart must be changed. He must be born again…one does not first believe, then become reborn.”
(http://www3.calvarychapel.com/library/bryson-eorge/books/fpocwafw.htm, Citing; R. C.Sproul, Chosen by God, 72.)
“A cardinal point of Reformed theology is the maxim: “Regeneration precedes faith.”
(http://www3.calvarychapel.com/library/bryson-george/books/fpocwafw.htm, Citing; R. C.Sproul, Chosen by God, 72.)
Even though these statements come from one of the great thinkers of our time, he is off base in his theology. Why? He can’t back up what he is saying with Scripture.
“Sometimes it would be easier not to be a Calvinist. An intellectual price tag comes with any conceptual scheme, but the one that comes with Calvinism seems beyond the resources of human intelligence to pay. Calvinists hold views that appear at very least counter-intuitive. This is especially so with respect to Calvinists 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 moral responsibility for sin. Worst of all, 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, according to Calvinists, not morally responsible for any of it.
We are. If this is Calvinism’s God, Calvinism seems not only intellectually bankrupt but also religiously bankrupt. Who could worship this God? Moreover, if atheists understand this portrait of God as paradigmatic of traditional Christianity, no wonder they are repulsed by Christianity. Although committed atheists will not likely abandon their atheism for any concept of God, at least the Arminian portrayal of God seems more attractive than the Calvinist portrayal.”
(http://www3.calvarychapel.com/library/bryson-george/books/fpocwafw.htm, citing John Feinberg, Edited by Thomas R. Schreiner and Bruce A. Ware, The Grace of God, The Bondage of the Will, Vol.2, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, Chapter 20, by John S. Fienberg, page 459.)
“The devil, and the whole train of the ungodly, are in all directions, held in by the hand of God as with a bridle, so that they can neither conceive any mischief, nor plan what they have conceived, nor how muchsoever they may have planned, move a single finger to perpetrate, unless in so far as he permits, nay unless in so far as he commands, that they are not only bound by his fetters but are even forced to do him service”
(John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 17, Paragraph 11)
So according to Calvinist teachers and even John Calvin himself, we have no free will. God has orchestrated everything. There is no free will or choices on our part.
Calvinism teaches that God has unconditionally elected certain people to go to heaven. It has nothing to do with that person. Nothing they believe comes into play. God has decided in eternity past to regenerate certain people who are dead in their sins and therefore want nothing to do with Him, and make them born again. But in order to hold that position, you also have to hold that God has unconditionally rejected certain people to go to hell and there is nothing they can do about it. The interesting thing is though that there is something God can do about it! But He chose not to. Does that sound like the loving God that we read about in the Bible?
“Predestination seems to cast a shadow on the very heart of human freedom. If God has decided our destinies from all eternity, (unconditionally) that strongly suggests that our free choices are but charades, empty exercises in predetermined placating. It is as though God wrote the script for us in concrete and we are merely carrying out His scenario.”
(http://www3.calvarychapel.com/library/bryson-george/books/fpocwafw.htm, Citing; R.C.Sproul, Chosen by God, 51.)
So Mr. Sproul is saying that we really don’t have free will. It is a charade. God is the puppet master behind everything, orchestrating everything to its minutest detail. There’s only one problem with that: How can God hold me accountable for things I didn’t do, but that He orchestrated to happen in my life?
“Many professing a desire to defend the Deity from an individual charge admit the doctrine of election, but deny that any one is reprobated. This they do ignorantly and childishly, since there could be no election without its opposite, reprobation.”
(John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 23, Paragraph 1)
I am meeting Calvinists who tell me that God elects certain people to go to heaven, but it is man’s choice to go to hell. Well John Calvin calls you childish and ignorant if you hold that position. You can’t have one without the other.
“…individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to glorify him by their destruction.”
(John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 23, Paragraph 6)
What a statement that is from John Calvin! Did he never read Ezekiel 33:11 which says, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” God does not want wicked people to die and go to hell. That is why He provided a way out for all people through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Acts 10:34-43 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
If election is real, God is a respecter of persons. But the Bible shows that He clearly is not. Never forget that whosoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins. Praise the Lord!!
The Bible teaches that election is conditional on one’s belief. When you believe, you are elect.
1 Peter 1:1, 2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
Election does not mean that God elected some and rejected others. The word election, according to 1 Peter, simply means that God, since He is omniscient, knew who would believe in Him and it is those people He calls the elect. It is really that simple. We mustn’t change the definition of a word!
Calvinists traditionally believe that Jesus died only for the sins of the elect and not for the sins of the whole world. This is what they call ‘limited atonement’. When you meet four point Calvinists, they almost always drop the “L” in TULIP. Why? Because the Bible clearly teaches against it. But remember that Calvinism is a house of cards or like dominos. If one of them falls, they all fall. Most major Calvinistic teachers will say this. I have heard Paul Washer make that same statement: ‘If one falls, they all fall.’
1 John 2:2 states, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
John 1:29 says, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
As one guy said about this verse, ‘make sure you go in at the first ‘all’ and come out at the second ‘all’ and you will be just fine!’ Jesus died on the cross for your sins. Now the question is what will you do about it?
“But counselors, as Christians, are obligated to present the claims of Christ. They must present the good news that Christ Jesus died on the cross in the place of His own, that He bore the guilt and suffered the penalty for their sins. He died that all whom the Father had given to Him might come unto Him and have life everlasting. As a reformed Christian, the writer believes that counselors must not tell any unsaved counselee that Christ died for him, for they cannot say that. No man knows except Christ Himself who are His elect for whom He died.”
(Jay Adams, Competent to Counsel, p. 70, http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/danger02.htm)
Can you imagine having to preach, “Ladies & gentlemen we are here to tell you that Jesus only died for some of you!” That is totally absurd! But that is what you would have to preach as a true Calvinist, because to them, Jesus did not die for all people. His blood was only shed for the elect.
“Christ’s redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was a substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, thereby guaranteeing their salvation.”
(http://www3.calvarychapel.com/library/bryson-george/books/fpocwafw.htm, Citing; David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas, The Five Points of Calvinism, 7.)
“It was just because God so loved the world of elect sinners that He sent His only begotten Son that the world [i.e., the elect by Calvinist definition] might be saved through Him (John 3:16-17). In this passage, “world” does not mean every single person, reprobate as well as elect, but the whole world in the sense of people [elected] from every tribe and nation…”
(What Love Is This, Dave Hunt, Third Edition, Published by The Berean Call, Copyright © 2006, ISBN-13: 978-1-928660-12-5, ISBN-10: 1-928660-12-6, Page 300., Citing; Edwin H. Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, enlarged edition, 20th printing, 1999, 44-45.)
1 Timothy 2:4 “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
In The DVD by Dave Hunt called ‘What Love Is This?’, he made a very interesting observation. In order for Calvinism to be true, they would have to change the meaning of words in certain verses to fit their theology.
For example:
‘World’ must be changed to ‘Elect’ 20 times
‘Whoever’ must be changed to ‘Elect’ 16 times
‘Whosoever’ must be changed to ‘Elect’ 16 times
‘All’ must be changed to ‘Elect’ 16 times
‘Everyman’ must be changed to ‘Elect’ 6 times
That is over seventy times that they must change the meaning of certain words in Scripture to fit their doctrine. None of us have the right to destroy Scripture this way. Changing the meaning of words to fit your doctrine is something false prophets do and something that the Bible warns us about specifically.
Changing Scripture is something the devil would be the author of and not God.
Romans 10:9-13 “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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
John 11:25, 26 “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?”
Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
Whosoever means whosoever. It is really that simple. Let the Bible determine what you believe and don’t let what you believe determine what you think the Bible says. “Christ died for all men, but His death benefits the non-elect only in a temporal sense. Because they aren’t instantly destroyed. He did not really pay the penalty for their sins.”
(http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/4whom14.htm, Citing, Dr. John MacArthur, see Tape GC 56-19, “Saving Grace” – Part 2, Titus 2:11, distributed by GRACE TO YOU, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412)
With this one statement, Mr. Macarthur goes completely against Scripture. So are you filtering your ideas and the Bible through Reformed Theology, or do you trust the Word of God to do all of the filtering for you in deciding what is right and what is wrong?
In the Reformed/Calvinistic teaching, when God’s irresistible grace comes upon you, there is nothing you can do about it. So before anyone can believe, God must first choose to send His irresistible grace upon that person, so they can believe. So again, you have no choice in the matter.
But in the great story of Stephen in Acts 7, people do have the ability to resist God. Verse 51 says, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” Yes, you can resist the Holy Ghost. People do it all the time. The question is when will you surrender to the Holy Ghost?
Galatians 3:1 “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?”
Who has bewitched you to follow this false doctrine? One of the amazing things I have found when I talk to both Calvinists and people who have left Calvinism is that they never tell me they found Calvinistic teachings reading their Bibles. They always tell me they found them reading someone’s book or listening to someone’s teaching tapes! Who has bewitched you?
Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” The manmade philosophy of Calvinism is just that: manmade. You do not find it by studying the Scriptures.
“And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else.”
(The Autobiography of Charles H. Spurgeon, Curts & Jennings, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, 1898, Vol. I, p.172, http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/spurgeon.htm)
This is one of the saddest statements I have ever heard. Calvinism is not the gospel or the good news.
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 tells us what that good news is!!
Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
If men had no chance at all to repent and believe, because God in eternity past unconditionally rejected them to go to hell, then they would have an excuse before God. But as you can see in Romans 1, because of God’s marvelous creation, men will have no excuse on Judgment Day as to why they did not find out whom the God was that made this grand universe.
And also why would this all-loving God (1 John 4:7; John 3:16) hold back that grace from so many people? What kind of love is that?
2 Timothy 4:2-4 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Matthew 7:14,15 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
There are fables being taught and false prophets everywhere in our world. Are you sure you haven’t been captured by one of them?
Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
One of the challenges that I give to people all the time is to read their Bibles front to back. Actually, it is a good thing to do every year. It is impossible to read your Bible front to back and not realize that every one of us has to make decisions. We have to make choices, and we are responsible for those choices. We have the ability and responsibility to choose God or not to choose God.
I got an unsolicited call one day from Tony Miano with Living Waters. He was trying to convince me of Calvinism. Let’s just say it did not work! During a moment of candor, he said, “Mark, what you believe and what I believe are mutually exclusive.” What an amazing statement. What I believe and what he believes both can’t be true at the same point. He is very correct. Now what we believe can both be wrong, but they can’t both be true. If God has already preselected who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, then I have no choice in this matter.
But now truthfully, it is time for you to choose. Choose which side that you are on. Don’t sit on the fence any longer. It’s time to make a stand. If you believe Calvinism is unbiblical, stand strongly against it. The character of God is at stake here. I have made my choice.
Galatians 1:6-9 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Why is it that we have no problem saying a Mormon fits in this category, because they believe in a different God and a different Jesus? We have no problem putting a Jehovah’s Witness in this category, because they believe in a different God and a different Jesus. So why is it so difficult to put the teachings of John Calvin in this category when he talks about a God who unconditionally rejects people to hell and of a Jesus that did not die for the sins of the whole world?
I just got this statement from a Pastor: “These REFORMED THEOLOGY people are preaching another Jesus and another gospel and are under the ‘accursed’ terminology as God wrote in Galatians 1:8-9 that I quoted today in my morning message. I believe God’s Word is totally against any part of ‘reformed theology.’ As such, we must be careful to avoid CLOSE fellowship with them lest we are swayed by their false philosophy. One thing is sure. They MAJOR in this one thing and won’t quit talking about it.”
If you believe in the god and jesus of Calvinism, you are either in Galatians 1 territory, or you are heading straight toward it.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Make sure you test yourself to prove that you are of the faith. This is a very serious issue about the character of God, the gospel, and who God is or isn’t. It is not a secondary issue, but a primary one. Some people keep telling me that this is a side issue and not a main issue. Anytime you are talking about the character of God, it is a main issue. Period.
“Augustine is so wholly with me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fullness and satisfaction to myself out of his writings.”
(What Love is This, Dave Hunt, Loyal Publishing, Inc. Sister, OR, 2002, pg.46, citing; John Calvin, A Treatise on the Eternal Predestination of God.)
“The main features of Calvin’s theology are found [in] the writings of St. Augustine to such an extent that many theologians regard Calvinism as a more fully developed form of Augustinianism.”
(Laurence M. Vance, The Other Side of Calvinism (Pensacola, FL: Vance Publication, re. ed., 1999) p.38., citing; Gregg Singer, JOHN CALVIN: His Roots and Fruits, Atlanta; A Press, 1989, pg. vii.)
Augustine is considered one of the fathers of the Roman Catholic Church. Since so many of Calvin’s ideas were truly from Augustine, are you followers of Calvin okay with that? I, as a former Catholic, am not. I left those false teachings behind when I got saved.
“…salvation is freely offered to some while others are barred from access to it.”
(John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 21, Paragraph 5)
Can you even imagine the God of the Bible barring access to people from finding Him? He died for the sins of the world and whosoever will come.
John Calvin was a false teacher. The question is: Is he still a false teacher? That would depend upon whether you believe his teachings or not.
One thing that cannot happen in the coming days as we head towards the end is for us to sacrifice truth on the altar of unity. Everyone keeps saying we must all come together and why can’t we all get along.
Remember folks, the only thing you can unify over is truth. The days of sacrificing truth on the altar of unity need to be left behind for born again believers.
Play the concept of election all the way through. You are a parent, and you have four children. God has elected one of them to go to heaven and rejected three of them to go to hell. So, every night, when you hug and kiss them goodnight and tuck them in, think about that. Think in your head each night, “I wonder which of these three God is sending to hell for eternity.” How does that sound to you, Mom and Dad?
Oh, and by the way, there is nothing you can do about it. So when you train up a child in the way they should go, and you teach them the things of God when they sit down, rise up, walk by the way, and lie down, that has no effect on how your kids will turn out. They have already been elected or rejected by God.
We have a saying down South: That dog won’t hunt. It means don’t even try it. When you look at election this way, it doesn’t pass the smell test, the logic test, the dog won’t hunt test, or the Biblical test. Period!
When you take even a cursory look at Calvinism (and there are so, so many more verses that can be used to disprove all of these teachings), it has been weighed in the balance. And it has truly been weighed and found wanting.
Until the nets are full,
Mark Cahill