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"FIVE POINTS AGAINST THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM"
Pastor Paul Fedena
A WORD FROM THE WRITER
The material in this brief paper on the doctrine of Calvinism is not meant to be exhaustive. Many others have written on the subject in far more detail. These notes were originally compiled to help folks in an Adult Sunday School class, they were not written for theologians.
The writer claims no originality. In fact, much of the material was gleaned from other sources. The primary author quoted is John M. Vance from his book THE OTHER SIDE OF CALVINISM. All quotes- pro and con- are given as accurately as possible without deliberate distortion. All Scripture verses are from God's Word, the King James Bible.
Calvinism, like most other man-made systems of theology, appeals to the intellect, which in turn produces pride. Also like most other such systems, Calvinism has its own vocabulary, which again feeds man's pride and which is totally unbiblical (see the "5 Points of Calvinism").
The writer refuses to be identified with any man-made system of theology or with any man who headed a movement. He prefers the label of "Bible-believer". It is enough.
INTRO.: The man, John Calvin (1509 – 1564), though possibly saved (his followers will become rabid at the word “possibly” – P.F.), was prideful, and even hateful, condemning anyone who refused or opposed his system of theology or his system of government in Switzerland to torture, banishment or even murder by beheading or “slow burning” at the stake.
❓Why Bible believing Baptists would want to identify with this man and yet denounce Catholic priests and popes for the same crimes is a conundrum.
❓It is doubtful that these same followers would accept or allow this behavior in their contemporaries today.
❗Obviously Calvin did not believe or accept the biblical concept of “vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord” or the doctrine of individual soul liberty.
Calvin was a devotee and student of the writings of “Saint” Augustine, a Roman Catholic priest (credited with being the “founder of Roman Catholicism”).
C. Gregg Singer wrote: “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 Vance points out that the Roman Catholic Church itself has a better claim on Augustine than do the Calvinists.
Calvin himself said “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 about out of the writings of Scripture?!)
Paul Fedena says "My formula for Calvinism is: Augustine + Calvin = Calvinism -P.F."
🔸Calvin’s adoption of Augustine’s philosophy and theology led him to establish a community in Zurich, Switzerland where the Church and the State were united and where civil law was enforced by the church.
🔸Calvin’s teaching and basic beliefs were formed while he was still a devout Catholic through reading and studying the writings of Augustine and the Catholic Latin Vulgate Bible, and these influences stayed with him throughout his life.
John Calvin helped spawn the Reformed and Presbyterian churches and embraced infant baptism and the concept that 🚫Israel = Church🚫, which is identified as Covenant Theology. Covenant Theology is the opposite of Dispensational Theology.
Dispensational Theology makes a difference between Israel and the Church and uses a historical, grammatical approach to the understanding and interpretation of God’s Word.
Covenant Theology uses an allegorical approach to Scripture and spiritualizes literal events and concepts in the Bible, e.g. the Millennium or 1000 year reign of Christ on earth is spiritualized by Covenant Theology and thus produces the Amillennial (no literal Millennium) position.
"FIVE POINTS AGAINST THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM"
Con't. INTRO.:
A. "Calvinism" is...
💥a man-made system of theology which destroys soul-winning,
💥makes man an automaton or robot,
makes God the author of sin,
💥devastates missionary zeal and drains churches of their desire for service- not to mention their numbers.
💥Calvinism is a distortion of the teachings of God's Word which caters to man's intellect (Calvinists look in the sunlight of their own intelligence rather than in the light of the Son of God).
💥Calvinism's doctrines doom churches to failure to fulfill the Great Commission and damn Christians to loss of rewards for works at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
💥It effectively neutralizes the child of God's efficiency.
B. The "5 Points of Calvinism" are:
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints
C. According to the Calvinists themselves one must either accept the entire 5 point system or none; they are all tied together.
QUOTES:
Bronson: "In order for one to be consistent he must hold all 5 points of Calvinism.
Palmer: "The 5 points of Calvinism all tie together. He who accepts one of the points will accept the other points."
Gunn: "The 5 points are logically related such that any one of them implies the other four."
Boettner: "Prove any one of them false and the whole system must be abandoned."
Custance: "Granted any one of these 5 points, the rest must follow inevitably; deny any one of them and the whole structure is endangered. One cannot satisfactorily defend some points but not others."
D. John Calvin was the force behind what is called Calvinism. Calvin was a REFORMED Roman Catholic who never intended to reject the Roman Church, and when he finally came out, he didn't come out far enough and dragged the dead carcass of Catholicism with him. He believed in Consubstantiation (in place of the Roman Catholic Transubstantiation), practiced infant baptism, was Amillennial in his eschatology and set up a state-church in Geneva, Switzerland and between 1541 and 1546 he had 58 people executed and exiled 76 others from Geneva who disagreed with him about doctrine. (What are born-again, Bible believing, Baptists doing identifying with this man and system?!)
E. Another historical figure in church history named, James Arminius, plays an important part in the battle over the so-called "doctrines of grace" listed in Calvin's 5 points. This man devised a system of theology which is the supposed "opposite" of Calvin's.
The "5 Points of Arminianism" are given in a document called the Remonstrance which is a summary of Arminius' beliefs:
1. God has decreed to save those who shall believe on Jesus Christ and persevere in faith; leaving the unbelieving in sin to be condemned.
2. Jesus Christ died for all men, providing redemption if one believes on Him.
3. Man is in a state of sin, unable to of himself do anything truly good, but needs to be born again.
4. Man cannot without the grace of God accomplish any good deeds or movements, but this grace can be resisted.
5. Believers have power to persevere, but as to whether they can fall away, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scriptures.
NOTE: Surely the above, while not perfect, is nearer by far to what the Bible teaches than the system of Calvinism (as we shall see when we examine the "5 Points").
F. Rather than identify with either man-made system of theology, it is always best and safe to simply stick with the Scriptures. Instead of being categorized as a Calvinist or an Arminian, I prefer the term Bible believer! Many times those who take this position are labeled with the derogatory title of "Calminian". 😄
QUOTE: Vance: "The Other Side of Calvinism", P. 11 - "...those Baptists who choose to believe the Bible rather than the speculations of Calvinism or Arminianism, have sometimes referred to themselves as 'Biblicists'. Naturally, this is offensive to both Calvinists and Arminians, for it correctly implies the unbiblical nature of both systems."
G. All Calvinists believe that God, by a sovereign, eternal decree, has determined before the foundation of the world who shall be saved and who shall be lost. That there is no such broad "decree" in the Bible will be proven from the Scriptures and that no such doctrine of "predestination of the damned" for hell is obvious to anyone who can read a King James Bible.
TRANS.: As we examine the "5 Points of Calvinism" we will both give God's Word to support our conclusions and condemn Calvinism from the very writings of the Calvinists themselves.
I. THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF CALVINISM'S TOTAL DEPRAVITY:
A. What a Bible believer believes about total depravity and what a Calvinist teaches are two entirely different things.
1. By total depravity we mean that a man lacks original righteousness or holy affection toward God and the corruption of the moral nature, or bias toward evil. Man is totally depraved and totally deprived of all ability to please God. He is thoroughly wicked and sinful by nature in himself and by his position before God.
2. Man evidences his depravity by choice and practice due to his sin nature inherited from Adam at his fall into sin.
B. What the Calvinist means when he speaks of total depravity is something entirely different from the above.
QUOTE: Harvey: "Total depravity is the cause of total inability and total inability is the result of total depravity."
1. God commands again and again for a man to repent, believe and receive the Savior.
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2. The Calvinist places man in the position where he CANNOT do what God commands him to do.
QUOTE: Pink: "As a creature the natural man is responsible to love, obey and serve God; as a sinner he is responsible to repent and believe the Gospel. But...the natural man is UNABLE to love and serve God, and...CANNOT repent and believe."
3. Because man's spirit is "dead in trespasses and sins" the Calvinist concludes he is unable to do anything; he equates spiritual death with physical death.
Eph. 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
4. It is from this perverted concept of spiritual death that the Calvinist attempts to build his doctrine of Total Depravity.
a. But as one man noted: "Spiritually dead people are still biologically alive."
b. Spiritually dead men can walk, have a conversation and fulfill desires.
Eph. 2:2-3 2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
c. A physically dead man can lift up his eyes, feel torment, see, speak, pray and reason. (Death is never non-existence, unless you are a Jehovah's Witness!)
Lk. 16:23-28 23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24) And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26) And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27) Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28) For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
d. Calvinists like to make the new birth a parallel to the first birth, and while the analogy has some merit, it falls apart upon closer examination.
1) In the first birth (conception) a brand new creation was brought into being.
2) In the second birth the being was already there with a complete personality before he was born again.
QUOTE: Pink (a Calvinist) admits: "Regeneration is not the creating of a person which hitherto had no existence, but the renewing and restoring of a person whom sin had unfitted for communion with God..."
3) In the Calvinist system we have the draconian caricature of a barbaric, immoral god who commands people to repent and believe and yet creates them so that they are unable to do so!
QUOTE: Vance: "If the natural man corresponds to an uncreated creature, he most certainly could never be responsible for any deed: he wouldn't even exist!"
4) In the Calvinistic "TULIP" garden I Cor. 2:14 is interpreted to mean the INABILITY of a man to respond to the Gospel, when the verse in its context speaks of THINGS, not Christ!
I Cor. 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
NOTE: In I Cor. 2:9-15 the word "things" occurs at least once in every verse!
QUOTE: IBID: "The Calvinist would have you to believe that because the natural man cannot understand spiritual things, he cannot receive Jesus Christ. A more contemptible perversion of Scripture can scarcely be found.
The theory behind Total Depravity is simply this: for God to get the glory for salvation, man must be UNABLE to ACCEPT or REJECT. But who likes puppet shows? Yet this is what Calvinism reduces salvation to. God wrote the script billions of years ago and is now in the process of pulling the strings to bring about his desired carte blanche.
In spite of the pronouncement of man's inability, the Calvinist un-hesitantly contends that man is fully responsible for what he CANNOT do."
II. THE UNCONDITIONAL HERESY OF CALVINISM'S UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION:
A. The connection between this petal of the Calvinist "TULIP" and the previous one is affirmed by all Calvinists.
QUOTE: Hear the Calvinist Boettner: "IF the doctrine of Total Inability or Original Sin be admitted...it follows that if any are saved God must choose out those who shall be the objects of His grace."
B. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, while a Calvinist, had more sense than to only plant TULIPS in his garden of Bible doctrine.
QUOTE: Spurgeon: "We have some ministers, excellent brethren, who never preach anything else. They have a kind of barrel-organ that only plays 5 tunes, and they are always repeating them. It is either Election, Predestination, Particular Redemption (Unlimited Atonement), Effectual Calling, Final Perseverance, or something of that kind; it is always the same note."
C. The terms of Total Depravity, Election, Predestination, etc. are not the issue here, it is only the Calvinists' perversions of these terms.
Rom. 8:29 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.
Rom. 8:30 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.
Eph. 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
I Pet. 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God...
D. To listen to the Calvinist you would think that the Bible was full of references to Predestination, when in fact the word is only found 4 times from Genesis to Revelation!
E. The Calvinist also refers to the "Decree of God" in connection with this doctrine of Election and it is found NOWHERE in the Bible!
QUOTES: Hear the heresy of Calvinist authors:
🔅"All who will be saved, were chosen to salvation by God the Father, before the foundation of the world and given to Jesus Christ in the Covenant of Grace."
🔅"By the DECREE OF GOD, for the manifestation of His own glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death."
🔅"Election is, therefore, that DECREE OF GOD which He eternally makes, by which...He chooses to Himself a people..."
Chapter and verse? Don't be silly!
F. The Calvinist would have you believe that God's Sovereignty is His only attribute or that it takes precedence over all His other attributes.
1. Biblically the Bible shows that the first and foremost of God's attributes is His holiness.
Isaiah 6:3: And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Psalm 47:8: God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
Psalm 99:9: Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
2. Another outstanding attribute of God is His longsuffering.
Romans 2:4: Or depisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
II Peter 3:9: 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.
3. Only someone with a theological ax to grind would emphasize God's Sovereignty over all His other attributes.
G. The Calvinist further insists that God couldn't have absolute knowledge of future events unless He actually decreed them to happen.
QUOTE: Another Calvinist speaks: 🔅"Foreknowledge of future events then is founded upon GOD'S DECREES, hence if God foreknows everything that is to be, it is because He has determined in Himself from all eternity EVERYTHING which will be." - A.W. PINK
ILLUS.: I know SEPTA runs an 8:15 a.m. train every morning- I don't make it happen!
QUOTE: Vance, an anti-Calvinist speaks too: "What kind of power does it take to know something because you decreed it to take place? The proof that the Bible is inspired and God is exactly what HE claims to be is the fact that God knows what men will do in the future WITHOUT divine foreordination of anything...God knows what man will do WITH his free will. To take away man's free will and God's absolute omniscience under the guise of the sovereignty of God is a deliberate rejection of the Word of God and a pernicious attack on the nature of God Himself."
Isaiah 42:9: Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
H. While we heartily agree with the concepts of God's bidding, control, direction, overruling and permission, they are NOT the same as God's predestination, election, reprobation, foreordination and decree!
I. The Calvinist's view of sovereignty is a tragic misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches; God is not a Dictator and men are not robots and His creation is not a wind-up toy.
QUOTES: But listen to more Calvinist tripe: 🔅"You shall not tread a step which is not mapped on the grand chart of God's foreordination."
🔅"He predestinated all things, from the falling of a sparrow to the salvation of a soul. He has determined ALL THINGS; from the beginning to end for His glory and the eventual good of all that trust and obey Him."
🔅"Even man's smallest actions are controlled by, directed by and overruled by God."
🔆"Even the fall of Adam and through him the fall of the race, was not by chance or accident, but was so ORDAINED in the secret counsels of God."
🔅"Not only did His (God's) omniscient eye see Adam eating the forbidden fruit, but He DECREED beforehand that he SHOULD do so."
❓"It is even biblical to say that God has foreordained sin."!
❓"The sinful acts of men are included in God's predestination." (!)
ILLUS.: What monstrous blasphemy! ❗In the TULIP garden of Calvinists if you swat a mosquito it has been decreed and foreordained of God. ❗But even more horrific are the filthy deeds of homosexuals, pornographers, rapists, murderers, etc. which are all foreordained and decreed if we are to believe the TULIP growers.
Romans 9:14: What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Psalm 5:4: For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
Job 36:23: Who hath enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?
Job 34:10: Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
1. To determine what God has or has not decreed we need only go to a King James Bible, not a Calvinist theology book.
2. The decrees of God are given in Scripture and include...
❣rain (Job 28:26),
❣the heavens (Psalm 148:6),
❣the sea (Proverb 8:29; Job 38:10),
❣the sand (Jeremiah 5:22),
❣a consumption (Isaiah 10:22),
❣Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:24) and
❣Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:7).
J. The Calvinist would even have you believe that God decreed and foreordained the death of His own Son.
1. God's omniscience and foreknowledge made Him aware of the need of a Savior for fallen man, but that does not argue that He decreed either the fall or the Cross.
2. Calvinists ignore the fact that election and predestination are based on the foreknowledge of God.
I Peter 1:2: 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.
3. Calvinists (A.W. Pink, et al.) make the word foreknowledge mean "foreordination".
QUOTE: Vance: "If God foreknew the crucifixion of His Son only because He had decreed it, with no foreknowledge at all involved then you have the ghastly, draconian thought that God decreed the death of His Son and then created man so he could fall so Christ would have the stage set for His crucifixion... If the Jews addressed in the Book of Acts were simply carrying out God's decree then they wouldn't be declared responsible...they would be declared OBEDIENT."
Luke 22:22: And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!
NOTE: Although Christ had to be crucified, no one man was foreordained to do it. Jesus said of Judas: 'Good were if for that man if he had never been born.' If Judas had not been born someone else would have done it. Paul says the same thing of Pilate and Herod: 'Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.' So Pilate and Herod were not sovereignly ordained before the foundation of the world to crucify the Savior.
III. THE LIMITED SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT FOR CALVINISM'S LIMITED ATONEMENT:
NOTE: We now come to the very heart and middle doctrine of the 5 TULIP petals. Aside from the damnable doctrine of reprobation (i.e., that God has elected some to go to hell), Limited Atonement is the most objectionable part of TULIPISM.
A. The Doctrine of Limited Atonement teaches that Christ died only for the "elect".
QUOTE: "The doctrine of 'limited atonement' which we maintain is the doctrine which limits the atonement to those who are heirs of eternal life, the elect."
B. If the Doctrine of Reprobation is true, that certain men are elected to hell, then it doesn't matter if Christ died for them or not.
ILLUS.: Let's hear from the TULIP growers again:
🌹"It will be seen at once that this doctrine necessarily follows from the doctrine of election...These two doctrines must stand or fall together. We cannot logically accept one and reject the other."
🌹"We cannot afford to give up this point. We cannot afford even to be weak or confused on this point. Give up this point, and we have lost the battle on the sovereignty of God in salvation."
a. If Christ died a thousand deaths for the "non-elect" they would still go to hell!
b. It is totally impossible to reconcile this heinous doctrine with evangelism, prayer for the lost and responsibility.
ILLUS.: The favorite passage of Scripture used by TULIP sniffers is found in Romans 9, re: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated..." But in comparing Scripture with Scripture we find a key which unlocks the puzzle. The Old Testament passage being quoted by Paul in Romans is Genesis 25:22,23.
Genesis 25:22-23: 22) And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. 23) And the LORD said unto her, TWO NATIONS are in thy womb, and TWO MANNER OF PEOPLE shall be separated from thy bowels: and the "salvation" but in the ONE PEOPLE shall be stronger than the OTHER PEOPLE; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Thus it becomes obvious that the Romans 9 passage has nothing to do with Unconditional Election of individuals to salvation and reprobation, but a national election of people. ~Even Calvin admitted that it is the posterity of Jacob and Esau in view.
c. Another favorite passage of the TULIP cultivators is John 15:16.
John 15:16: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
d. It is obvious that fruit bearing, not salvation is in view.
e. The words "chosen" and "ordained" have no bearing on a person's salvation in this passage.
Matthew 22:14: For many are called, but few are chosen.
NOTE: Every time a Calvinist quotes this and other passages he adds "salvation", but in the text the ones chosen are chosen because they accepted the invitation. And the supposed election comes after the assumed calling to salvation just like it does in II Peter 1:10.
Matthew 22:9: Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
II Peter 1:10: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
f. The choosing or election has nothing to do with salvation but with our position in Christ!
Ephesians 1:3-4: 3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4) 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:
Ephesians 2:6: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
g. Once you get "in Christ" you get in on the choosing; the Calvinists assume the verse is dealing with getting "in Christ".
QUOTE: "The prime point is that the election of the church is a corporate rather than an individual thing. It is not that individuals are in the church because they are elect, it is rather that they are elect because they are in the church..."
C. But let's get to God's Word regarding this supposed "Limited Atonement"
Colossians 1:14: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
I Timothy 2:6: Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Ephesians 1:7: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
John 1:29: The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
I John 2:2: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
I John 4:10: Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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.
Colossians 1:20-21: 20) And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things earth, or things in heaven. 21) And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
II Cor. 5:18-19: 18) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
1. Calvinists confound the provision of a Savior with the application of salvation.
2. If Christ did not die for certain men they cannot be condemned for unbelief; he cannot reject what does not exist for him.
QUES.: Does it become the wisdom and goodness of God to elect a man to hell before his birth, give him Total Inability to respond to the command to repent, then damn him to hell forever for not believing on Jesus Christ, who never died for him in the first place? God forbid!
Romans 5:6: For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
I Peter 3:18: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Luke 19:10: For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
NOTE: The Word of God is not bound by the speculations of scholars nor the imaginations of theologians! The problem with the Calvinists is that they have apparently 👃sniffed too many 🌷TULIPS!
IV. THE IRRESPONSIBLE THEOLOGY OF CALVINISM'S IRRESISTIBLE GRACE:
NOTE: 🖤"Irresistible Grace" simply means that men have no part at all in their salvation, that they are "irresistibly drawn" to Christ by God's "sovereign grace".
🖤The idea that man has no free will is related to the erroneous premise that all his actions were foreordained from eternity.
🖤Martin Luther in his book "The Bondage of the Will" which he referred to as his best, claimed that free will was a 'downright lie' and that only God has free will. Palmer insists that neither the Christian nor God has any free will. Clark states that "There are no verses in the Bible that assert free will." (There are if you can read!)
Leviticus 22:23: Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
Sacrifice
Judges 5:2: Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. Service
II Corinthians 9:7: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Giving
John 15:7: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,and it shall be done unto you.
Prayer
I Corinthians 9:17: For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
Preaching
NOTE: Some Calvinists, when faced with this Biblical evidence, retreat and admit that man has some freedom of choice, but not regarding salvation.
John 1:12-13: 12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(The new birth is not man's will, but the receiving of Christ is.)
A. There are terms and conditions regarding salvation. (Man must believe and receive.)
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.
Jeremiah 29:13: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
NOTE: "If a man can't respond then God is simply mocking him when He commands him to repent." -Vance
Mark 1:15: And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Acts 17:30: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
B. Not being overcome with Irresistible Grace is never the reason for men not being saved.
John 5:40: And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
1. The Calvinist says (B. Warfield) that "whosoever God wills may come".
2. But God says "whosoever will may come".
Acts 7:51: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
John 5:40: And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
ILLUS.: Let's listen to more TULIP tripe as the Calvinists speak: "A man is not saved because he believes in Christ; he believes in Christ because he is saved."
John 8:24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
NOTE: The problem is with man's sin, not God's willingness to apply Irresistible Grace only to the "elect".
Is. 59:1-2: 1) Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2) But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
NOTE: Some TULIP cultivators realize the implication of their doctrines:
"If election guarantees the salvation of all that are predestinated to be saved, why should we be bothered with evangelism, personal or missionary? What possible difference can it make whether we speak to men or not?" (!)
"No man elected to salvation could possibly die or be killed unsaved."
"Not one of the elect can perish, but they must all necessarily be saved."
"Should sovereign grace preachers use the invitation system? I believe not. As I see it, grace preachers calling on sinners to walk an aisle to accept Christ are contradicting their theology with Arminian practice."
Yet Pink relates that "the elect are usually to be found where the ministers of Christ labor much." !!!!!!!
Rom. 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
I Cor. 1:21: For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
CONCL.:
John Wesley speaking of this blasphemous TULIP petal says:
💥"A doctrine full of blasphemy, representing our Lord as a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, a man void of common sincerity, as mocking His helpless creatures by offering what He never intends to give, by saying one thing and meaning another.
💥It destroys all the attributes of God, His justice, mercy and truth, yea, it represents the most Holy God as worse than the devil, as both more false, more cruel and more unjust."
V. THE POVERTY OF BIBLE SCHOLARSHIP AS SEEN IN CALVINISM'S PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS:
NOTE: The last fading petal in TULIP theology is often confused with the doctrine of eternal security, but there is no connection whatsoever. A believer's security does not depend upon his perseverance!
A. Perseverance in Holiness:
1. This TULIP petal teaches that REAL Christians, those irresistibly drawn and unconditionally elected and included in Christ's limited atonement, will "persevere in holiness" till the end of their lives or will return to the faith before they die.
QUOTES:
Paul Fedena "Falling away from the Faith, doesn't mean that one loses his salvation it means that one never had any salvation from the beginning."
A.W. Pink: "There is a deadly and damnable heresy being widely propagated today to the effect that, if a sinner truly accepts Christ as his personal Savior, no matter how he lives afterwards, he cannot perish. That is a Satanic lie...SOMETHING MORE THAN BELIEVING in Christ is necessary to ensure the soul's reaching heaven."
2. The Calvinist lists several sins, which according to him, will send a person to hell.
a. Not loving his neighbor.
b. Racism.
c. An unforgiving spirit.
NOTE: Shades of Arminianism!!! Is a Calvinist really a closet Arminian?!?!
3. One Calminian lists 7 principles to determine perseverance:
a. Earnestly believing on Jesus Christ.
b. Keeping His commandments.
c. Walking after Christ's example.
d. Not loving the world.
e. Habitually practicing righteousness.
f. Love for the brethren.
g. Consciousness of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
NOTE: After listing the above Shanks adds: 🔹"Objectively, the elect will persevere and they who persevere are elect. Subjectively, the individual is elect ONLY AS HE PERSEVERES."
🔹The Calvinistic heresy has recently surfaced among modern Fundamentalists and Evangelicals under the synonym of Lordship Salvation.
A.W. Pink "The Gospel calls upon us to obey, to surrender ourselves fully to the Lordship of Christ, to take His yoke upon us, to walk even as He walked." To walk as He walked?! "Who did no sin..." Sinless Perfection!!! But the Bible says: "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
4. There is a difference between a believer and a disciple!
5. The Bible teaches that a person can be a carnal Christian. I Cor. 3:1
6. The Perseverance Petal dies, for no one WILL or CAN ever persevere in the absolute holiness which God requires.
7. There is a vast difference between the Perseverance of the Saints and the Preservation of God!
I Thes. 5:23: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II Tim. 4:18: And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Jude 1: Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
8. Our preservation depends on the faithfulness of Christ, not upon our perseverance.
I John 3:2: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
It might be helpful for us to hear what some of the widely-accepted Bible teachers have to say on this subject:
Dr. Harry A. Ironside: "Scripture plainly teaches election based upon God's foreknowledge. It is just as plain in its declarations of man's free will. All men are invited to accept the salvation that God has provided in Jesus Christ. 'Whosoever will' means just what it says." (What's the Answer? p. 54).
Dr. James M. Gray, past President of Moody Bible Institute: "Take the lines indicated by the division into Calvinists and Arminians, for example. The apparently opposite positions for which these schools of religious thought stand are both found in the Bible, viz, God's sovereignty and man's free agency; but it would seem as though no one finite mind could hold both equally at the same time. How necessary, however, that both be duly emphasized!" (Bible Problems Explained, p. 45).
Dr. William L. Pettingill: "The relation between God's sovereignty and elective purpose on the one hand and free grace and human responsibility on the other has perplexed the commentators throughout the ages. The best course is to believe all that God says and wait for Him to make it plain. God insists upon His sovereignty and also upon man's responsibility. Believe both and preach both, leaving the task of 'harmonizing' with Him." (Bible Questions Answered, p. 209).
C. H. Spurgeon: "Brethren, be willing to see both sides of the shield of truth. Rise above the babyhood which cannot believe two doctrines until it sees the connecting link. Have you not two eyes, man? Must you needs put one of them out in order to see clearly?" (Faith and Regeneration).
Dr. R. A. Torrey: "The Bible is the revelation of an infinite mind that presents all sides of the truth... We are not to try to explain away the clear teaching of the Word of God as to the sovereignty of God on the one hand, nor the clear teaching of the Word of God as to the freedom of the human will on the other hand." (The Importance and Value of Proper Bible Study).
Dr. Arthur T. Pierson: "Election taught in the Word, must be consistent both with the sovereign will of God and the freedom of man; and if we cannot reconcile these two, it is because the subject is so infinitely lifted up above us. Man is free. There are in your heart and mine seven thunders that utter their voices, such as 'I am,' 'I think,' 'I reason,' 'I love,' 'I judge,' 'I choose,' 'I act.' And all these voices unite in affirming 'I am responsible.' Moreover, God Himself directly appeals to choice: He says, 'Why will ye die?' (Ezekiel 18:31). As Revelation closes we read, 'Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely' (Rev. 22:17). Thus the last great invitation in God's Book is an appeal to the will. But—most startling of all—is Christ's lament over Jerusalem: "How often WOULD I have gathered thy children...even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and YE WOULD NOT' (Matthew 23:37). The yearning of God and the stubborn refusal of man are here put in clear antagonism. Luke 15 contains one parable in three parts. The first represents the Shepherd seeking the lost sheep. Thus far one might judge that all man has to do is passively to wait for God to come after him. But in the latter part of the parable we have the complementary truth, and from this part, if alone, it might be inferred that the sinner has everything to do, and God nothing. But putting the two together, we get the whole truth. While Jesus never spoke of 'election' or 'predestination' He gives us the parable of the sheepfold, of which He is the Door, and of the flock, of which He is the Shepherd; and because one of these does not put the whole truth before us, He gives us the two half-truths, joined in one double parable (John 10)" (The Believer's Life: Its Past, Present, and Future Tenses, pp. 24-26,30).
...Election and Free Will by Perry Rockwood.
Dr. Harry A. Ironside: "Scripture plainly teaches election based upon God's foreknowledge. It is just as plain in its declarations of man's free will. All men are invited to accept the salvation that God has provided in Jesus Christ. 'Whosoever will' means just what it says." (What's the Answer? p. 54).
Dr. James M. Gray, past President of Moody Bible Institute: "Take the lines indicated by the division into Calvinists and Arminians, for example. The apparently opposite positions for which these schools of religious thought stand are both found in the Bible, viz, God's sovereignty and man's free agency; but it would seem as though no one finite mind could hold both equally at the same time. How necessary, however, that both be duly emphasized!" (Bible Problems Explained, p. 45).
Dr. William L. Pettingill: "The relation between God's sovereignty and elective purpose on the one hand and free grace and human responsibility on the other has perplexed the commentators throughout the ages. The best course is to believe all that God says and wait for Him to make it plain. God insists upon His sovereignty and also upon man's responsibility. Believe both and preach both, leaving the task of 'harmonizing' with Him." (Bible Questions Answered, p. 209).
C. H. Spurgeon: "Brethren, be willing to see both sides of the shield of truth. Rise above the babyhood which cannot believe two doctrines until it sees the connecting link. Have you not two eyes, man? Must you needs put one of them out in order to see clearly?" (Faith and Regeneration).
Dr. R. A. Torrey: "The Bible is the revelation of an infinite mind that presents all sides of the truth... We are not to try to explain away the clear teaching of the Word of God as to the sovereignty of God on the one hand, nor the clear teaching of the Word of God as to the freedom of the human will on the other hand." (The Importance and Value of Proper Bible Study).
Dr. Arthur T. Pierson: "Election taught in the Word, must be consistent both with the sovereign will of God and the freedom of man; and if we cannot reconcile these two, it is because the subject is so infinitely lifted up above us. Man is free. There are in your heart and mine seven thunders that utter their voices, such as 'I am,' 'I think,' 'I reason,' 'I love,' 'I judge,' 'I choose,' 'I act.' And all these voices unite in affirming 'I am responsible.' Moreover, God Himself directly appeals to choice: He says, 'Why will ye die?' (Ezekiel 18:31). As Revelation closes we read, 'Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely' (Rev. 22:17). Thus the last great invitation in God's Book is an appeal to the will. But—most startling of all—is Christ's lament over Jerusalem: "How often WOULD I have gathered thy children...even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and YE WOULD NOT' (Matthew 23:37). The yearning of God and the stubborn refusal of man are here put in clear antagonism. Luke 15 contains one parable in three parts. The first represents the Shepherd seeking the lost sheep. Thus far one might judge that all man has to do is passively to wait for God to come after him. But in the latter part of the parable we have the complementary truth, and from this part, if alone, it might be inferred that the sinner has everything to do, and God nothing. But putting the two together, we get the whole truth. While Jesus never spoke of 'election' or 'predestination' He gives us the parable of the sheepfold, of which He is the Door, and of the flock, of which He is the Shepherd; and because one of these does not put the whole truth before us, He gives us the two half-truths, joined in one double parable (John 10)" (The Believer's Life: Its Past, Present, and Future Tenses, pp. 24-26,30).
...Election and Free Will by Perry Rockwood.
