Not So Famous…

I have not found a more beautiful thing than the Doctrine of Election.  Spoken like a true Calvinist, I know, but since salvation is all tied up in this doctrine, I don’t have a problem with me saying this.

I came to Calvinism from being disappointed with Arminianism’s ability to answer some questions I was confused about.

1. Can we lose our salvation? - Most Christian churches (correctly) teach that you cannot lose your salvation.  However, if one chooses their salvation, couldn’t they then choose to be not saved?  There was a great theologian in Canada, and I’m blanking on his name.  He was called the Billy Graham of Canada.  He decided he needed a seminary education and (lamentably) chose Princeton as his seminary.  When he came out of there, this great champion of the faith is now one of its greatest adversaries.  Sort of a reverse Paul. What happens to this man?  He prayed the sinner’s prayer…he preached the Gospel of Grace.  And now he claims he does not believe in God…or if God does exist, he hates Him. Will this man go to heaven? If he chose to be saved, he now can choose to be unsaved.  And yet the clear teaching of Scripture shows us that our salvation depends not on man, either to effect the salvation or to keep it.  Salvation from beginning to end is of God, including the beginning thereof.

2. If we chose Him, how then can we be chosen from the foundations of the world? - If we choose God, but then find out that we were chosen from the foundation of the world, how can those two conditions exist simultaneously.  Many Christians will simply say “it’s a mystery”.  I am not satisfied with that.  When it comes to our salvation, I don’t believe there is mystery here.  Calvinism says that the two CAN coexist.  God chooses us and enables us through the giving of the Holy Spirit to accept and trust in Him. After His work, we can then accept Christ. If you say the following:

Salvation is like a doorway into heaven. On one side is written, “Come all ye who would enter”, and on the other side “Chosen from the foundation of the world.”

It sounds like you have been deceived.  Like on one side of the door, it says, “You thought you chose me…”, but on the other side you read, “…But I actually chose you.” Also, if you’ve ever heard the following from Hank Hanegraaf:

“It’s like two parallel lines that appear to meet at the end.”

I would submit that you need to study your Euclidean Geometry textbook. Furthermore, that supports my side rather then the side of the Arminians.  It looks like the lines meet, but when you get to the point at which you thought the lines met, you find out that you were deceived by your perception.  Calvinism is the only doctrine of soteriology that explains the duality of these conditions.

3. Is salvation based on works? - This is the point that usually makes Arminians very mad at me. Follow me on this, and don’t just return to your catechism, “salvation is by faith alone, and not of works, lest any man boast.”  In this case the catechism is right, but let it inform the rest of your doctrine.

Ok, so you begin as an unrepentant sinner.  At this point, if you were to die, you’d go straight to hell; do not pass go, do not collect $200. There MUST be a point after which you are no longer unsaved.  Some point at which SOMETHING happened, and POOF, you are saved. Something that separates you from the average sinner on the street. If you say that you chose to accept Jesus, then you are doing something that earns your salvation.  If you weren’t saved, you chose Him, and then you ARE saved, what separates the unsaved from the saved.  A choice they made, Armenians say.  That, to me, is a work.  You have done something that merits your salvation.  How is this possible??

Now, Calvinism would say that yes, you chose God, but not before He chose you.  HE effected the work in your heart that allowed you to choose Him.  The “I” in TULIP is Irresistable Grace.  It is Him who worketh effectually in your heart, and you cannot resist Him. You cannot earn your salvation. 

What’s more, you are dead in your transgressions.  A dead person can do nothing to effect his state of existence.  Being dead means that the Lord of Life must work to ressurect you. The Bible says the carnal (unsaved) mind is enmity with God.  It cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit.  It cannot understand the things of God…so it cannot know what to do to gain salvation!

4. Arguments against positions. - This is a complicated point, so I saved it for last.  The arguments I hear against Calvinism are primarily from people’s perspective.  What I mean by that is that the root arguments I hear are of this nature, “I don’t see how God can be a loving God and condemn people to hell without giving them a choice.”  That is not a scriptural argument.  It is an argument from philosophy, and as such means nothing!  What does Scripture say about the situation at hand?

Usually, you hear the verses where the Bible puts out a call to all men to repent of their sins and trust in the Lord. Calvinists call this the General Call of Scripture.  However, we also see a great deal of verses in Scripture about those whom the Lord has foreknown He has predestined.  How do we square this?  The Analogy of Faith rule of Scripture Interpretation from Charles Hodge says that scripture interprets other scripture.  This makes perfect sense when we remember that scripture is infallible.  Armenians would rather say “this is a mystery” than to agree with the clear teaching of scripture.  And when I point out the predestination verses, they disagree with Calvinism because they don’t understand how a loving God can send people to hell without giving them a choice.

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This started out as me reflecting on a quote from J.I. Packer in his article “Is God Unfair?” in this month’s Modern Reformation.  I believe I have gone somewhat far afield in my meanderings, but the original quote was discussing whether God indeed loves everyone the same.  The answer is “not really”.  What JI Packer said was, “If it is God’s will that none should perish, why is it that so many do?” Think about it.  If God wishes that none should perish, and God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and sovereign in all things, why is it that so many are going to hell?  Is the Lord incapable of effecting His will?  Is he stymied by limited, sinful man?  Not likely.  The Lord does not love everyone the same…God is Love…He does Love, but why is it that He does not save everyone if everyone is loved the same?

Have a problem with what I’ve stated?  Comment on it.  :)

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