I really hesitate to bring this subject up, mainly because I know this is a sore point for many people, but I do believe it's important as young ladies to be able to clearly and concisely declare what the Scripture says and why.
I believe that Calvin's 5 doctrines are misleading and unscriptural. Before I go any farther I'd like to make it clear that I am not an Armenian or a Calvinist...I'm a Christian. Please keep an open mind and heart as I attempt to show from the Scriptures my conviction.
To start out please see below for the 5 points of Calvinism:
Total Depravity (man was born completely in sin and unable to accept salvation on his own )
Unconditional Election (God chooses the elect just because He can)
Limited Atonement (Jesus died only for the elect)
Irresistible Grace (if you are elected you are unable to resist the message of salvation and thereby become a Christian)
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)
The underlying issue I have with all of these points is that it throws man's free will out the window. Allow me to define free will: "power of independent action and choice".
Now when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden He told them,
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16c-17
He did not put an electric fence all around the tree, leaving man with no choice but to accept God's command, no, He left it out in the open. He didn't want man to obey because he had to, He wanted us to obey because we wanted to. All throughout Scripture we see the same choice.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live."
Deuteronomy 30:19
All the prophets of old repeatedly called for repentance from the people of Israel or warned that destruction would surely fall on the land. They frequently refused to listen and even killed the prophets of God. Instead of choosing God's way they chose their own way and reaped the rewards thereof.
"Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts."
Zechariah 1:3
Does this apply to salvation as well? All I've mentioned so far is Old Testament verses. But I believe the Scripture is "given by inspiration of God..." and that He confirms His promises all throughout His Word. Please see the following:
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
Matthew 16:24
"But you were not willing to come to Me that you may have life."
John 5:40
"Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." "
John 6:29
"He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
John 6:38
"...he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 8:12
"...for is you do not believe I am He you will die in your sins."
John 8-24b
"...who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
1 Timothy 2:6
There are hundreds more but I think you get the point. There are two reoccurring action words in these Scriptures...follow and believe. There is an action side to our salvation.
Now, in regards to the "Perseverance of the Saints", I do believe some are chosen such as the disciples, Paul, and others but I also believe they could have "jumped ship" at any time. A president is chosen for his position by the people but he's free to step down at any time. We were chosen to be in the families that we're in but we can leave at any time and deny our connection. The Lord does the same. He does not keep us in a clenched fist but in a protective palm. See below verses for why:
"Abide in Me, and I in you..."
John 15:4a
Why would we have to abide if we're already securely in God's Hand? He will not force us to stay with Him, He wants us to stay with Him because we love Him!
"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them."
2 Peter 2:20-21
In these verses Peter warns against those who "fall away"...meaning they were once in. Instead of resisting temptation they allowed the devil or their flesh to overcome their love and commitment to Jesus Christ.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
1 Peter 5:8-9
We have to be watchful in our Christian walk as the devil would like nothing more than to destroy us. Why? Because we are the light of the world, the city on the hill, we are his ultimate demise.
So, what about Calvin? What about him. Search the Scriptures. Ask the Lord to teach you and He will because He promises, "if you seek you will find, if you search with all your heart". If I was in prison for my faith with another brother or sister who was a Calvinist it wouldn't matter. What does matter is "Who do you say that I am?" [Matthew 16:15]
Learning to delight in Jesus,
Hannah
I believe that Calvin's 5 doctrines are misleading and unscriptural. Before I go any farther I'd like to make it clear that I am not an Armenian or a Calvinist...I'm a Christian. Please keep an open mind and heart as I attempt to show from the Scriptures my conviction.
To start out please see below for the 5 points of Calvinism:
Total Depravity (man was born completely in sin and unable to accept salvation on his own )
Unconditional Election (God chooses the elect just because He can)
Limited Atonement (Jesus died only for the elect)
Irresistible Grace (if you are elected you are unable to resist the message of salvation and thereby become a Christian)
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)
The underlying issue I have with all of these points is that it throws man's free will out the window. Allow me to define free will: "power of independent action and choice".
Now when God placed Adam and Eve in the garden He told them,
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16c-17
He did not put an electric fence all around the tree, leaving man with no choice but to accept God's command, no, He left it out in the open. He didn't want man to obey because he had to, He wanted us to obey because we wanted to. All throughout Scripture we see the same choice.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live."
Deuteronomy 30:19
All the prophets of old repeatedly called for repentance from the people of Israel or warned that destruction would surely fall on the land. They frequently refused to listen and even killed the prophets of God. Instead of choosing God's way they chose their own way and reaped the rewards thereof.
"Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts."
Zechariah 1:3
Does this apply to salvation as well? All I've mentioned so far is Old Testament verses. But I believe the Scripture is "given by inspiration of God..." and that He confirms His promises all throughout His Word. Please see the following:
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
Matthew 16:24
"But you were not willing to come to Me that you may have life."
John 5:40
"Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." "
John 6:29
"He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
John 6:38
"...he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 8:12
"...for is you do not believe I am He you will die in your sins."
John 8-24b
"...who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
1 Timothy 2:6
There are hundreds more but I think you get the point. There are two reoccurring action words in these Scriptures...follow and believe. There is an action side to our salvation.
Now, in regards to the "Perseverance of the Saints", I do believe some are chosen such as the disciples, Paul, and others but I also believe they could have "jumped ship" at any time. A president is chosen for his position by the people but he's free to step down at any time. We were chosen to be in the families that we're in but we can leave at any time and deny our connection. The Lord does the same. He does not keep us in a clenched fist but in a protective palm. See below verses for why:
"Abide in Me, and I in you..."
John 15:4a
Why would we have to abide if we're already securely in God's Hand? He will not force us to stay with Him, He wants us to stay with Him because we love Him!
"For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them."
2 Peter 2:20-21
In these verses Peter warns against those who "fall away"...meaning they were once in. Instead of resisting temptation they allowed the devil or their flesh to overcome their love and commitment to Jesus Christ.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
1 Peter 5:8-9
We have to be watchful in our Christian walk as the devil would like nothing more than to destroy us. Why? Because we are the light of the world, the city on the hill, we are his ultimate demise.
So, what about Calvin? What about him. Search the Scriptures. Ask the Lord to teach you and He will because He promises, "if you seek you will find, if you search with all your heart". If I was in prison for my faith with another brother or sister who was a Calvinist it wouldn't matter. What does matter is "Who do you say that I am?" [Matthew 16:15]
Learning to delight in Jesus,
Hannah
WONDERFUL post, Hannah! My family strongly believes Calvinism is false, also.
ReplyDeleteI did notice that you said you don't believe Calvin was a bad man. I really desire to believe that also. However, my family has done a LOT of research on him (mainly my Mum has and she shared it with us), and many sources said that he was actually trying to kill followers of Martin Luther and also the Jews. And he successfully had many killed, too. So.....I'm am not entirely sure he wasn't a bad man, unfortunately. Of course you must research for yourself instead of just believe me.
Of course, I'm going to be careful not to judge Calvinists too harshly, as I do know of some who are true Christians. However, Calvin was not necessarily a good man, sadly enough.
I mentioned that Calvin tried (according to many documents) to kill followers of Martin Luther and Jews too. I want to make it clear that, even if those people weren't followers of Jesus Christ, Calvin may have tried to kill them, because of their race or religion. This isn't a matter of whether or not Christians were killed. It's a matter of whether or not PEOPLE were killed.
ANYWAY, did NOT mean to write that much!!!! Sorry!
I really enjoyed reading this post, though, and hope to see many more posts from you in the future.
His princess,
Jaime
Hey Jaime,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and for the alert. I will definitely research more about Calvin's personal life in the near future. I did not say he was a good man just for that reason (I had suspicions but I hadn't researched if for myself). Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Hope to see you soon!
Learning to delight in Jesus,
Hannah
Hello Hannah!
ReplyDeleteYour blog post provided lots of food for thought. After much study of scripture over the years, our family believes that Calvinism (or reformed theology) is more scriptural than Arminianism and free will theology. I think that we both agree that salvation is the most important thing that Christians understand, but we believe the study of theology/doctrine is important because ideas have consequences. So I wanted to respectfully share a few questions/concerns regarding your post.
As a note of clarification, Calvinists DO believe that Adam and Eve had free will. They believe that humankind lost its free will at the fall of man in the garden of Eden, and that we now have a fallen will. (Rom. 3:10-12). The question then becomes: can we choose God without God choosing us first (in regards to salvation?) What do you think of verses such as Exodus 10:20; Proverbs 21:1; John 6:44, 64-65; 10:27-29; 15:16; Ephesians 1:4-5, 2 Tim 1:9, and many others? How can God be sovereign and all-knowing, if our destiny and our salvation are in our control, not in His? Doesn’t the idea of free will take away God’s power and sovereignty over creation? I would recommend the following article because it articulates Calvinism and gives scriptural back-up for the 5 points: http://www.waysidechurch.org/misc/calvinsm.htm
A question for Jamie: I would be curious to know where your Mom read that information on Calvin. To the best of my research, he was tied to the death of a man named Michael Servetus. Servetus was a humanist who was burned at the stake by the Reformed church as a whole for denying the Trinity—an act of heresy which at the time was viewed as a capital crime in a Christian state. (See http://www.salvationbygrace.org/uc/sub/qaprint.aspx?qa=113&local=11a)
I know this was long, and I apologize for that! If you’d like to email me via our blog, please feel free to do so, as I’d like to know your thoughts on the articles and verses.
Your sister in Christ,
Bianca
Hi Bianca,
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you...have you ever sinned? If you have, then did you choose to sin or did God desire you to sin? If He is indeed sovereign then the answer seems obvious that He led you to sin and indeed wants you to, and approves of it, since you have no freewill and could not have chosen to not sin. If you then you say that you don't sin then the Scriptures say that the truth is not in you [1 John 1:8]. This is a classic catch 22. Just like saying you were once saved always saved and if you go back to your sin, like a dog returning to its vomit, then you were never saved.
The point of all this, Bianca, is best summed up by what Christ said, "Who do you say that I am?" not "What did Calvin say about who I [Jesus] said that I am?" Did Jesus ever quote Calvin? No. So why are we having this discussion about Calvin when we should be focusing on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, exclusively.
I would love to hear back from you!
Sister's in Christ,
Hannah
Hello again, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your response to my comment, though you didn’t exactly answer my questions. I hope that you still looked up the verses and read the articles.
To answer your question regarding sin, I’ll ask you a question: how many sins does it take to be a sinner? If you answered one, than you’re wrong: it doesn’t take any! Psalm 51:5 says, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” From the moment my heart began to beat, I was already a sinner in God’s eyes. So the question of whether or not God caused, wanted, or allowed me to sin becomes a non-issue because Adam and Eve made the choice for all of mankind.
As far as the dog returning to his vomit (I’m not completely sure what you meant by this analogy, so correct me if I’m wrong), I believe one very clear example that explains how one can appear to be “saved” but isn’t in his heart can be found in Luke 8. It may appear that someone is growing in his relationship with the Lord, but he has no roots. It’s like building a house without a foundation. There was never anything solid or rooted (true salvation.) This can be thought of as “counterfeit Christianity.” Such a person is described in 1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us”.
The question of whether or not Jesus quoted Calvin really doesn’t solve doctrinal conflicts. I do know that Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” Jeremiah 24:7 says: “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” Notice that God must first give His people a heart to know Him. Without that, we have no desire to know God. 2 Tim 2:24-25 shows us that even our repentance is a gift from God! “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” And I absolutely agree with you; it’s not about Calvin, it’s about Jesus. The only reason we are discussing Calvin is because he was the subject of your post. I really don’t even like calling this system of beliefs “Calvinism” because it’s not about Calvin the man, but rather about what Scripture says, and how we understand it.
I would be interested to hear your feedback on the verses that I have mentioned and how you interpret them!
~Bianca
Hi Bianca,
ReplyDeleteMy family is getting ready to leave for the beach this weekend so I won't be able to answer you in detail for probably another 2-3 weeks. Please be patient with me!
Sister's in Christ,
Hannah
Dear Bianca,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your patience as I compiled this response.
I reread all that you had written and noticed you had 4 distinct sections. Therefore I am going to attempt to answer your questions/comments by sections.
Section 1: Freewill
Section 2: Who is a sinner?
Section 3: Who is saved?
Section 4: Calvin and Scripture.
Starting with #1: Freewill; you say we now have a fallen will and then quoted Romans 3:10-12 which says, “…There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. “ How does this defend the loss of free will? I understand it to mean that we “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” not that our free will was taken away. After God kicked out Adam and Eve from the Garden they still wanted to come back. How do I know this? Because God had to put an angel with a flaming sword to guard the entrance so they couldn’t get back in. In this case, God exercised His sovereignty and opposed man’s free will.
Section #2: Who is a sinner? Thank you for reminding me of that verse in Psalms 51. If we both agree that we are sinners from birth (along with the rest of the world), then would you not also agree that when Jesus says, “…I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance,” [Matthew 9:13b] that He would be referring to the whole world, not just the elect? How do you explain these verse: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” , 1 Timothy 2:4, “who desires all men to be saved…” , 2 Peter 3:9, “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”?
Section #3: Who is saved? I agree that there are those who are practicing “counterfeit Christianity”; walking the walk, talking the talk, but not truly having any relationship with Jesus Christ. But I also believe it’s Scriptural to say that some were “in” but then left “their first love” [Rev. 2:4]. If we’re always in from the beginning of time then why would we have to take heed (Duet. 4:23), walk circumspectly (Eph. 5:15), and examine ourselves (2 Cor. 13:5)?
Section #4: Calvin and Scripture. You quoted John 6:44 and I 100% agree with what Jesus said. What’s different is you’re assuming that when it says “draws” that they came. A man can woo you and attempt to win your hand but ultimately you make the decision to say “yes” and become his. I believe Jesus does the same thing. This also applies to the other verse you quoted, Jeremiah 24:7. Someone can give you a present but you have to accept it. How many times did God cry out for Israel to return to Him because they had given their hearts to another (see Jeremiah 22:8-9, Ezekiel 16, Ezekiel 18:31)? Instead of accepting gratefully the heart the Lord was giving them, they threw it away and despised the gift. If humans do not violate each others free will, then what makes you think God would?
Thank you for hearing me out!
It is truly a pleasure to be sisters in Christ!
Learning to delight in Jesus,
Hannah