There are five points
to the Calvinistic Doctrine. Most people
today who say that they believe in
Calvinism don't know exactly what
Calvinism is and they use the term too
loosely. The Calvinistic doctrine rests
on these five points:
-
Total Inability,
-
Unconditional
Election,
-
Limited
Atonement,
-
Irresistible
Grace, and
-
Perseverance of
the Saints.
Many people may
believe in some, but not all, of the
points and are not full Calvinists. We
will examine each point of the
Calvinistic doctrine specifically and
see what the Bible has to say about each
one.
1.
Total Inability
Just what does John
Calvin Mean when he talks about total
inability. Any true Calvinist will tell
you that it is just another term for
predestination, as in, God predestinated
all men to either heaven or hell and
there is nothing you can do about it.
The sinner is unable to trust Jesus
Christ as his Savior unless God gives
him that power. An easy way to say that
is God chooses whether or not you can
get saved.
God gave us all the
ability to get saved, but it is our
choice as to whether or not we get
saved. God did not predestine us to hell
but rather to heaven, we just refuse to
go.
God said in Romans
10:13, "For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. " That clearly states that
we choose to accept Christ, He gave us
the gift of salvation and we must accept
it (Revelation 22:17).
1John 2:2 "And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world."
Calvinists will use
John 6:44 to try to prove total
inability: "No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me
draw him…". if they keep reading,
in John 12:32 Christ said "And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me.". Jesus drew
all men unto Him so we are able to
receive Christ, it is our Choice, not
His.
2.
Unconditional
Election
John Calvin, Institutes,
Book III, chapter 23: "…Not all
men are created with similar destiny but
eternal life is foreordained for some,
and eternal damnation for others. Every
man, therefore, being created for one or
the other of these ends, we say, he is
predestined either to life or to
death."
According to John
Calvin, God chooses where every person
will spend eternity. That completely
contradicts the Bible. Jesus Christ gave
so many invitations in the Bible that it
seems absurd that anyone could believe
this.
This doctrine forces
the idea that there is no reason to
Soul-win. Why should we go soul-winning
if everybody is already foreordained to
their eternal life or death. If the
person is foreordained to go to heaven
then he will get saved and there is no
reason to worry about his soul and if
the person is foreordained to go to hell
then what is the reason to go
soul-winning since he can't get saved?
Predestination is in
the Bible, but not in the Way it is
taught here. God in his foreknowledge
knew who it was that was going to get
saved, and He predestinated their
justification and glorification, but He
did not predestine people to be born
just to go to Hell. The Bible does not
teach this doctrine anywhere.
Just one verse in the
Bible can easily prove this point wrong:
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.
Limited Atonement
This point is
explained that Jesus died only for the
elect. He died for those that He had
foreordained to go to Heaven and He did
not die for those He foreordained to go
to Hell. This Doctrine, again,
contradicts many scriptures that are
quite easy to understand. [see predestination]
II Corinthians
Clearly states, "And that he died
for all, that they which live should
not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him which died for them, and rose
again."
Well that says that
Jesus died for ALL MEN.
Again: John 3:17-
"For God Sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved."
I John 2:2- "And
he is the propitiation for our sins: and
not for ours only, but also for the sins
of the whole world."
The "whole
world" sounds like God meant
everybody, not just the saved. The Bible
clearly states in many different verses
that Jesus Christ died for the whole
world, not just the "elect."
But you may ask,
"If Jesus died for the whole world,
then wouldn't the whole world be
saved?" When Jesus Died on the
cross, it was sufficient for all men,
but only those who accept him will it
become efficient for.
God did not limit His
atonement. "But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound."
(Romans 5:12).
If you want God's
unlimited atonement, you can find out here.
4.
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace,
according to John Calvin, is When God
forces people to get saved. According to
Calvin, Jesus died only for an elected
group of people. This group of people,
known as the elect, are the only people
that Jesus died for. God then forces
them to receive His Son, which is called
irresistible grace.
This is outright stupid.
God said Himself that salvation is a
choice that you must make. This
irresistible Grace thing is nowhere to
be found in the Bible and is something
that John Calvin made up.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
The Bible clearly states
that Salvation is a Choice.
5.
Perseverance of the Saints
The Bible states that
when you become a believer you have
eternal (or everlasting) life. Our
Salvation can not be taken. This is not
because of our own works (perseverance)
but because God preserves us.
John 10:28-30 "And I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father, which gave
them me, is greater than all; and no man
is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand. I and my Father are one."
This verse does not say anything
about the believer staying in God's
hand, but it says a lot about god
keeping the believer in His hand.
Psalm 36:6, "Thy righteousness
is like the great mountains; thy
judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou
preservest man and beast.
God preserves man, man does not
preserve himself.
What
I Believe
I believe that God Created all men
equal, that Jesus Christ Died for all
men Equal, and that Everyone has an
equal chance to come to know Him as his
Savior.
Patrick Stephan
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