CALVINISM

I decided to add my take on Calvinism to this blog, since the doctrine has attracted considerable interest in religious circles the last few years. Last year the president of Louisiana College (Baptist) fired three religion professors for allegedly professing and promoting Calvinism on campus. Nationally, the Southern Baptist Convention formed a committee to explore the emergence (or re-emergence) of the doctrine. That committee reported both Calvinists and Non-Calvinists should be able to co-exist within the framework of the convention.

My experience has been that most Calvinist defenders I have read, rely on historical evidence of earlier prominent Baptists who have espoused that doctrine. The other side usually counters with denial, which I see as a futile attempt to re-write history. Certainly, there were many Calvinists among Southern Baptists, but Baptists emerged from the Reformation movement with Luther's famous dictum “Only Scripture.” For me, Scripture always speaks louder than history. (Although we owe the history of interpretation acknowledgment in our due diligence.)

What then is the doctrine? John Calvin originated these teachings in Reformation days, building on Luther and Augustine. Neo-Calvinism is famous for its acronym, “TULIP,” often with an additional S before or after in reference to Sovereignty.

SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD is the basic teaching encompassing all the rest. God is creator and therefore holds in His hands all creation to do with as He chooses. The Infinite is so much greater than finite, we have no judgment as to whether He is right or wrong. He can and does do as He chooses with no need for explanation. Indeed, in comparison to His Mind, we cannot understand much if anything should He choose to explain as He does in the Bible.

I know no one on either side that denies God's sovereignty. He can and does do as HE will. An OT theology prof I had once liked to refer to God as creating and loving in freedom. Still, God in his sovereignty created a world that runs by dependable natural laws. Christ “emptied himself” to become incarnate. The Sovereign Lord appears to have set boundaries He seldom crosses, perhaps so we can find him as dependable. The great figures of the Bible do, in fact, argue with God. Moses even won such a verbal brawl after the golden calf incident. God wanted to wipe the bunch out and make Moses the new Abraham. At one of the highest points in the OT, Moses forgave the crowd that was always giving him trouble and demanded God do likewise!

TOTAL DEPRAVITY – Humanity is totally depraved, having nothing that God wants or needs. He is born a sinner, doomed to Hell unless God chooses to intervene. Adam and Eve's sin genetically changed the human race, and everyone inherits that original sin. (The Catholic Church baptizes infants as a gracious act to remove the stain of original sin.)

Romans 3:23 does indeed say that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” a great deal of theological debate has gone down over whether the verse refers to original sin, an environment conducive to sin, or a human's inevitable choice to sin.” a Calvinist might point to the last part of the verse, claiming our inability to match the glory of God. I would point to the active verb “have sinned,” which indicates to me a conscious act of will and choice.

And Genesis claims that God created humans and pronounced them “very good,” the only act that was more than just “good.” Even before Adam sinned, though he was in the image of God, he could never attain to the full glory of God. Note the Bible tells the story as though that first couple had a real choice, and God held them responsible for that choice. If God did indeed create some to “fuel the fires of hell,” as some have put it, that certainly is not the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In a famous book to Bible students, The Image of God in Man, the author GB Caird sets forth the history of ideas and teachings about the image and its nature. His conclusion is that the image includes at least the ability to be addressed by God and to address God. That image is not removed by our sin. Even the “lost” remain in the image of God. Thus can the Holy Spirit speak in a sinner's heart, calling him to salvation.

UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION – God chooses those who will be saved without regard to what they have done, or any personal characteristics. All are sinners (see T above) and deserve eternal punishment. Salvation is His gracious act. He chooses some, but does not choose others. (Some, not all, Calvinists bite the bullet and go on to “double predestination,” saying God also chooses some to go to Hell.) They defend this view by pointing out He did not have to save anyone. But therein lies the choosing. It is as if He left us a gift at our front door. That gift is ours, but it has no value until we open the door and possess it.

Yet the Bible constantly confronts us with a choice. The respected German theologian Karl Barth famously said that Book faces us with an eternal choice to say yes or no on every page. Jesus repeatedly called people to choose. John 3 several times points out bluntly that Jesus did not come to judge the world, but so that world could be saved.

LIMITED ATONEMENT - Jesus died only for the elect. He did not die for sinners in general, but only for those whom God has tapped out for salvation. Paul did, in fact, say Christ died for the church, or ecclesia, congregation. But that does not mean he may also have died for others as well. Indeed, John 3 emphasizes that God loves the entire world and sent His Son for that world. John does not say God loved the elect and sent His Son to them.

Calvinists seem to be restricting salvation to a select few. (BTW I've never known a Calvinist who thought he had been left out and was lost!) The book of Acts fights the opposite battle. Peter's dream began the break-out from Judaism, and Paul's whole ministry was finding anyone, anywhere who would believe. Jesus Himself reached out to everyone, even those mainline Judaism excluded. His disciples were a varied, mostly blue collar bunch. The story of the Good Samaritan blasts at the barriers we build. Women traveled with Jesus's entourage and supported Him financially.

IRRESISTABLE GRACE – If God has fore-ordained you to be saved, you can never finally resist succumbing to His call. All of those He has chosen, elected, will finally be saved. But this is not reflected in the gospels. Jesus called the rich young ruler to be his 13^th disciple, but the man turned away – as have many since. He was unable to do many miracles in His hometown because of their unbelief.

If saving grace is irresistible, the gospel has little meaning. There would be no point in evangelism nor missions since God has already planned it all out. Indeed the man called “the father of modern missions,” William Carey, had to fight Calvinists who told him if God wanted to save the heathen, he could do it without our help.

Incidentally, many Calvinists consider the “Plan of Salvation” and the “Sinner's Prayer” to be blasphemy. Since God has already made the choice, they think, how dare we try to influence another. If some one does profess faith who is not among the elect, it is hollow and void.

PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS – This is the subject of this whole blog and my 1974 book, but I don't come from a Calvinist starting point. Perseverance, however, is logical for Calvinists, because if God had been determined to save them, of course he will continue to keep them.

We are saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, because we were helpless to save ourselves. When Christ died and rose again, God offered salvation to all who would accept it on the basis of Jesus's saving work.

My second pastorate was in Rayville, LA. There my wife joined a group of “secret pals,” who would draw names and give each other presents at various times during the year. A favorite way to do this was to leave a gift at Yancey's Drugs (now gone). The pharmacy would call to tell us my wife had a present waiting for her. Note: she had the gift, but did not have the gift. The present was hers, but she had to go pick it up. She had to accept it. Christ offers us forgiveness and salvation, but we must voluntarily receive it. He will not force it upon us.

Jonathan Edwards was a brilliant theologian and philosopher who greatly influenced American thought. He had a very famous sermon that left those who heard in mortal fear and panic. He called it “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Every once in a while a church member would discover it and circulate it to my dismay. Their delight, I suspect, comes from today's tolerant society never believing in the concept of sin. My dismay comes from Edwards' portrayal of a different God than the one I read about in the New Testament. He was a strong Calvinist, and total depravity is the chief concept in his mind. He pictures God dangling people delightedly over the pit of Hell because He despises them. He portrays an angry, vengeful God as the title indicates. But this is NOT the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He loved the world as did His Son and gave Himself for it. There is no hatred of humanity. Yes, God is fully capable of wrath, but that wrath is the flip side of God's love. We ignite wrath when we spurn His love.

FINALLY, a great deal of the controversy is unnecessary in practice. Calvinists teach that God has chosen - for reasons known only to Himself – to save or call out the elect by the foolishness of preaching. Non-Calvinists also believe God uses preaching to bring people under conviction and to respond to His call to salvation. In math, two things equal to a third thing equal each other. (6+6)=12=(3x4) for example. Therefore, both sides end up preaching Christ crucified, risen, and alive forevermore. Since even if God had chosen the elect, no one knows who they are until they step forward. Therefore if we are obedient to God, we will act exactly the same. (Except proclaim the Lord as first of all a god of wrath.)

A NOTE ON FREE WILL – Obviously I believe we have free will in respect of accepting or rejecting the various calls of God. But there are external and personal limitations to our free will in other respects:

We cannot fly up to Pennsylvania and visit with Ben Franklin. Our free will does not apply to the time of our earthly existence. To a great degree, the place of our birth limits our choices as does the “choice” of our parents. As we grow older and society develops, we can change our location, but it might take considerable effort. You could move to Hawaii, you know. Why haven't you? Of course, I do have friends who now live in Alaska and all over the country. But note that where they live restricts their choices.

That brings us to the second aspect of free will, the personal aspect. We limit ourselves by the choices we make. I have lived in Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, and California. At one point I chose to live in Louisiana, believing as I moved from church to church that God was leading me. If I live in Louisiana, I have to deal with extreme heat and tornado threats. While in Kentucky, I had to dress warmly five or six months out of the year. In California's central valley, I found still another way of life – even earthquakes. The choice of where to live dictates, or strongly influences many others.

We value our free will. Still each choice we makes rules out other possibilities. If I choose to live in Ruston, I cannot visit the Alamo or the Grand Canyon daily. I am free, however, to decide which church to attend and which restaurant to visit.

Regarding predestination and free will: Predestination preserves God's free will! The doctrine warns us that we can never take 5 steps and put God in a position where He MUST save us or do anything else. Salvation is a relationship, and both sides must enter it freely. I like to compare it to marriage. God chooses anyone who will in turn commit to Him. Trusting Christ is like standing at the altar to commit yourself to you spouse whatever may come.

Finally, look at the most famous Scripture from Romans 8:26. For whom God knew beforehand, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. He combines predestination with foreknowledge. Time is important to God, He created it. The Bible has more history in its pages than any other religious book. But God lives outside of time. He is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Knowing what we will do, He confirms it ahead of time. That's why predestination is not presented as a problem for Paul – or anywhere else. Paul considers it a glorious sign of victory and encouragement.

One additional point: The verse does NOT say, God foreknew and predestined some to be saved. Rather Paul states God's plan that the saved will grow in grace more and more like Jesus.

That's my take. What's yours?