“See to it
that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which
depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than
on Christ” (Col. 2:8).
Over the past
several months we have considered the topic of Calvinism and Arminianism. If
you will recall: Calvinism and Arminianism are two systems of theology that
attempt to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s
responsibility in the matter of salvation. This month we will conclude our
critique of Calvinism for as we saw last month, there are certain implications
of Calvinism that are very dangerous, including the possibility of falsely
leading people away from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ (see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2019/05/theology-201-6-dangers-of-calvinism.html).
There are five
things that Calvinism dangerously undermines. First, Calvinism undermines
God’s sovereignty. This might surprise those who hold to Calvinism as they
view “God’s sovereign power over all His creation and over every one of his
creatures is one of the grandest themes through the Bible” according to
Calvinist John Piper. And I completely agree with that statement. Nothing can
stop God’s purposes (Job 42:2). However, where God’s sovereignty is compromised
is in the belief “that if God does not ordain the actions of individuals in
every aspect, then He is not sovereign” (Kevin Jackson, Libertarian Free
Will). Thus, Calvinism teaches that
mankind is totally depraved, even from making a freewill choice to accept
Christ. Calvinists cannot comprehend how God could be sovereign in all things
and yet allow mankind to have the freewill to choose to do something that is
contrary to God’s divine decree.
Yet consider what
Gareth Reese pointed out: “No matter how it is worded, making membership in
God’s family ‘conditional on man’s response’ seems to detract from God’s
sovereignty and lordship over all things, for it surely does seem to make more
depend on man’s ability to choose, than on what God does; in fact, a wrong
choice by man can almost be seen as frustrating God’s will. Perhaps, if it’s
remembered that even in Adam’s case (and that before he ever sinned), being
what God intended him to be was made conditional, then it will not be so hard
to see that God’s majesty and sovereignty is not diminished when He grants to
men the freedom to act. Instead, it should enhance our appreciation of, and
dependence on, a God who can overrule even willful men’s attempts to frustrate
His will and plan” (Romans, p. 570).
Thus, God’s
sovereignty is greater than what Calvinists teach. He is able to orchestrate
that His divine decree will take place in spite of mankind’s actions which seem
to be contrary. For example, consider the story of Joseph in the Old Testament.
Joseph’s brothers hated him and intended to harm him, yet God was able to
orchestrate the brothers’ destructive actions in such a way that it brought
about the exact opposite, the saving of many lives (Gen.50:20).
Second, Calvinism
undermines God’s holiness. Calvinist, John
Piper stated that God’s plan included sin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkK7Bgp3ylA). Calvinist, R.C. Sproul said, “God wills all things that
come to pass. It is within His power to stop whatever might come to pass…God
desired for man to fall into sin. I am not accusing God of sinning; I’m
suggesting that God created sin” (R.C. Sproul, Almighty Over All,
p. 54). This makes God out to be the author of the very thing that He commands
throughout His Word against, sin. That, my friends, is blasphemous!
The Bible makes
it very clear that God is not the author of sin! “When tempted, no one should
say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does He tempt anyone” (James 1:13; see also Deut. 32:4; Job 34:10; Hab. 1:13; 1
John 1:5). Proverbs 8:13 teaches that God hates sin. Scripture says “Without
holiness no one will see God” (Heb. 12:14). And God commands us to be holy as
He is holy (Lev. 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16). Yet Calvinism blasphemes God’s holiness
by asserting directly or indirectly that He is the very author of sin!
So where did sin
come from then? An early church leader named Pelagius said, “Our most excellent
Creator wished us to be able to do either (good or evil) but actually to do
only one, that is, good, which He also commanded, giving us the capacity to do
evil only so that we might do His will by exercising our own. That being so,
this very capacity to do evil is also good-good, I say, because it makes the
good part better by making it voluntary and independent, not bound by necessity
but free to decide for itself” (The Letters of Pelagius and his Followers).
Jesse Morrell said, “Every opportunity to do wrong is an opportunity to do
right” (https://www.youtube.com/watchv=z1JhUPIGf6c). Thus, sin was a result of
mankind’s freewill choice to disobey the all holy and righteous God.
Third, Calvinism
undermines God’s grace. It undermines God’s grace through the
teaching of original sin, which is a part of their doctrine of Total Depravity.
Those who hold to original sin teach that all people became sinners on account
of our original parents (Adam and Eve) sinning in the Garden of Eden.
However, the
Bible plainly states that a person cannot be held accountable for someone
else’s sins, specifically in context, for the sins of their parents or their
children (Ezek. 18:4, 20; see also Deut. 24:16; 2 Chron. 25:4; Ecc. 11:9; Matt.
16:27; Rom. 2:6; 14:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 2:23; 20:12). On the other hand, the
Bible does teach original grace. Every person is given the same opportunity to
choose God or choose to give in to the sinful desires before us. Sadly, every
person who has ever been born (with the exception of Jesus) has chosen to give
into that temptation once they had the ability of knowing right from wrong. At
that time we died spiritually (for more information see
http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2016/07/man-image-of-god-7-do-all-babies-go-to.html).
Fourth, Calvinism
undermines God’s love. This is a natural conclusion of their doctrine
of limited atonement. Limited atonement teaches that Jesus only died for the
elect (those who will be saved). While the Bible affirms in several places that
Jesus did in fact die for the sins of the entire world (John 1:29; 3:16; 4:42;
10:9; 12:32; 1 Tim. 2:4, 6; 4:10; Heb. 2:9; 10:29; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:2;
4:14), by teaching that Jesus only died for the elect is to say in affect that
God does not love all people in a way that means anything at the end of the
day.
Some Calvinists
are willing to admit where their theology naturally leads: God does not love
everyone. A Calvinistic pastor, John Gill said, “The love of God in giving
Jesus as a sacrifice was not a general kindness to all creation. But it is a
special & discriminating love of favor which He bears to His own people as
distinct from others.” Really, what Gill is saying, is that God does not love
everyone.
Many Calvinist
tend to object to the statements about God not loving everyone, for they will
say that just as people display different types of love, so too does God.
Therefore, to the Calvinist, they will argue that God loves believers and
non-believers alike through giving all life and daily provisions. Yet on
account of the clarity of the NT Greek language, the objection to various kinds
of love does not find Biblical support.
Thus, Calvinism’s
doctrine of limited atonement undermines and limits God’s love, but the Bible
does not. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly… But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6, 8).
Lastly, Calvinism
undermines God’s Word. This is the case simply because one would not
arrive at the 5 doctrines of Calvinism from the Bible alone. We discussed this
last month. There are several very basic words in the Bible that Calvinists
will teach mean something other than their simple definitions. For example when
John 3:16 states that God loves the world, Calvinists teach that world only
refers to the elect, and not to the entire world. Likewise, when the Bible says
that someone has “fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4), Calvinists teach that
this does not mean that they lost their salvation even though that is what is
being clearly talked about. The only way for a person to come to that conclusion
is for them to have a source other than the Bible as their ultimate ruling
authority. That is undermining God’s Word.
The bottom line
is the Calvinism undermines some very serious doctrines of the Bible. Thus, may
we not be held captive by the empty philosophies of men who undermine God’s
sovereignty, holiness, grace, love, and Word.
In His service,
Matt
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