The most dominant school of thought in the Church today is Reformed Theology, also known as Calvinism, which primarily adheres to the theological traditions and teachings of John Calvin and other preachers of the Reformation era who broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century, but not all.
In this message, we will take an honest and objective look at the foundational Pillars of Calvinism, the doctrine of salvation, and what critics say in counterpoint to them. I hope you undertake a diligent study to clearly know what and why you adhere to your beliefs and provide sincere and educated answers to those who question the foundational teaching of their Church and underlying philosophy of ministry.
The elemental teaching of Calvinism is that God limited atonement by ordaining every future event before creation and selected only specific individuals for salvation based on nothing good or bad within the person. God then changes the hearts of pre-selected people to love Him because His saving grace is irresistible. It is taught that Jesus died only for the ones who had been pre-selected for salvation. In the fundamental teaching of Calvinism, it is believed that God actively causes people to sin or go to Hell.
The doctrine of salvation is commonly explained utilizing the acrostic TULIP:
T - Total Depravity
U - Unconditional Election
L - Limited Atonement
I - Irresistible Grace
P - Perseverance of the Saints
Many in the church today define themselves as 5-point Calvinists. Moderate Calvinists often embrace three or four of these points, and marginal Calvinists hold to only one (eternal security).
T. Total Depravity / Inability
Adam and Eve sinned, and because of their sin, every human being is dead in their sinfulness and hates God. They are entirely unable to save themselves or accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They cannot do anything that is spiritually righteous because it is impossible for them to choose good over evil. God alone determines who will receive salvation, and it cannot be offered to anyone. (Mark 7:21-23; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-3,15; Romans 3:10-12,23, 5:12,19, 7:18, 8:7 - Also Genesis 6:5, Psalm 143:2; Jonah 2:9; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 17:9)
COUNTERPOINT - The Bible does teach total depravity.
"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV).
That means there is nothing good in human beings to earn or deserve salvation. The Bible does not mention that people are lost because they cannot come to Jesus. It is not a matter of whether or not a person CAN come to Him but whether or not they WILL come to Him.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you REFUSE to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:40 ESV - emphasis mine).
God made every human being a free moral agent to choose to accept or reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus wept over Jerusalem and said,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37 ESV). It was not a matter of whether they COULD but whether they WOULD.
Jesus wept over them because they were rejecting Him. He would have gathered them together as a hen gathers her chicks, but they would not and instead resisted, rejected, and refused to come to Him. That means that those who are not saved could have been saved. Those who rejected Christ could have accepted Him. God offers salvation to those who will have it but does not force it upon anyone who doesn't want it. It was not a matter of whether they COULD but whether they WOULD.
Jesus said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL people to myself" (John 12:32 ESV – emphasis mine). All people are drawn to Jesus because they have light, but not all will choose to trust Him as Savior and Lord. The Bible gives a final invitation to salvation.
"The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who DESIRES take the water of life without price" (Revelation 22:17 ESV – emphasis mine).
The Bible makes it clear that even if a person has not heard the words of God in the Bible, they have light within and have been called through the creation that displays the glory and handiwork of God, as well as through their conscience (John 1:9; Romans 1:19-20; 2:11).
People will spend eternity without Jesus if they intentionally reject Him and not because of their inability to come to Him. The teaching that men, women, and children are unable to come to Jesus and trust Him as Savior is not a Scriptural doctrine, nor is the language.
U. Unconditional Election
Unconditional election is the choosing of some to salvation in Jesus while at the same time leaving the rest in their lost condition by not choosing them. God doesn't want all people to be saved but rather only wishes a variety of people to be saved. Before any human being is born, He decides who goes to Heaven and who will not. God chooses to give some people eternal life without looking for anything good in them as a condition for loving and saving them. There was never a split second that God did not already know, based on His choice, who would be saved. He has chosen a particular group called His Bride and the Church. His choice was not based on looking down the portals of time. This election is based on His sovereign will to elect certain ones. Those who are not chosen to be part of the Elect of God can in no way enter. Jesus didn't die for the sins of the world but only for the sins of the elect. God alone gives the faith necessary for a person to be saved, a gift of God's grace (See John 6:44,65,15:16; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:30,9:15-16; Ephesians 1:4-5,11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9,2:25; 1 Peter 1:2; Revelation 13:8 – See also Psalm 65:4; Proverbs 16:4; John 6:44,65,15:16; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:30,9:15-16; Ephesians 1:4-5,11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9,2:25; 1 Peter 1:2; Revelation 13:8 – See also Psalm 65:4; Proverbs 16:4)
*John Calvin wrote in 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."
COUNTERPOINT - According to the doctrine of Election, when the Gospel is preached, people cannot say that ‘God loves you and wants you to have eternal life; they should say, ‘God may hate you and may have predestined you to eternal damnation, and there's nothing that can be done about it.’
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
The Bible does not teach that God wills some to go to Heaven and others are doomed from the womb to go to Hell. He desires that all people be saved and spend eternity with Him (See 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4; John 3:36).
People go to Heaven because they freely choose to come to Jesus and trust Him as Savior and Lord. A person who goes to Hell does so because they willingly rejected Him and refused to trust Him as Savior and Lord.
Because God is Omnipotent and Omniscient, He chose before a person became Born-Again that they would be holy without blame, justified, glorified, and predestined to spend eternity with Him once they received Jesus as their Lord and Savior (See John 15:16; Ephesians 1:4). The Bible is very plain that God has elect ones, those "whosoever will" have chosen through repentance to put their faith in Jesus may come to Him (John 3:15,16, 4:14, 12:46, Acts 2:21, 10:43, Romans 10:13, Revelation 22:17).
When a person becomes Born-Again, they are then predestinated to be conformed to His image because they are adopted by Him, which was chosen to happen before the foundation of the world (John 3:3; 8:24). This election is plainly declared to be based on the omniscient foreknowledge of God (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4,5; 1 Peter 1:2). He has purposed that they will be to the praise of His glory throughout the ages, and through them, He will show the exceeding riches of His grace (Ephesians 2:7).
L. Limited Atonement
Jesus was the perfect, spotless lamb of God and the only one whose life could pay the penalty for humanity's rebellion against God. Jesus laid down His life for His sheep only, the Elect, whom He planned and ordained to go to Heaven. The death of Jesus on the Cross was sufficient for the salvation of all humanity and secured everything necessary for salvation. Still, it is only effectual for those He chose and predestined before creation. (Matthew 1:21,15:24,20:28, 22:14, 26:28; John 6:37-39, 10:11,26, 17:9,19:30; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 5:25; Hebrews 7:26-27; Romans 8:28-30,33,9:11,13 - See also 1 Samuel 3:13-14)
COUNTERPOINT - The Bible does not discuss anything remotely close to the words "limited atonement."
"'He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2 ESV)
The teaching of "Limited Atonement" contradicts Scripture's expressed statement that Jesus is the Savior of the world (1 Timothy 2:5-6; John 3:17, 4:42; 1 John 4:14)
Jesus bore the sins of all people on the Cross and died for every person in the world (See Isaiah 53:6; 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Romans 8:32; John 3:16-17).
Jesus died for the whole world. He suffered Hell for every person on the planet who has ever lived or will live. The sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross was sufficient for all and is effective only for those who receive Him as Lord. The death of Jesus made it possible for every person to be saved. But only those who believe that Jesus died to pay their sin debt and trust Him completely for salvation will be saved. The atonement is not limited (Romans 5:20-21).
The Bible directly states that Jesus's death was for every human being and is effective for the sinner the moment they believe. The Bible also says that Jesus's death was a propitiation (satisfaction) not only for our sins but for the sins of "the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Jesus tasted death for "every man" (Hebrews 2:9). Jesus gave Himself a ransom for "all" (1 Timothy 2:6).
John the Baptist declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the "world"(John 1:29). The Bible states that "all" have gone astray and Jesus took upon Himself the iniquity of us "all" (Isaiah 53:6).
Since the Gospel is for "whosoever will" and it consists of the good news that Jesus died for sinners, His Atonement is clearly not limited and offered to all people. It is the Holy Spirit who is presently working to convict the world (all people) of their sin that Jesus paid the penalty for, but they do not believe on Him (John 16:8,9). God is not willing for any to perish (2 Peter 3:9), and it is said that He will have all people saved (1 Timothy 2:4).
In the Bible, we find the Father giving the Son to the world, the Son tasting death for every person, and the Holy Spirit convicting the world. The word "whosoever" means all, any, every, the whole. Since we believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Word of God we are forced to believe that when God moves the Scripture writers to say "whosoever," then that is exactly what He means.
That there is a condition to be met in order for one to be saved is proved by the words of Jesus "for if ye believe not that I am he, ye. shall die in your sins" (John 8:24 KJV).
God clearly and abundantly loves all people in this world and sent Jesus to die for them (John 3:16). However, a person must meet a condition to be saved. Jesus said, "For if ye believe not that I am he, ye, shall die in your sins" (John 8:24).
I. Irresistible Grace
Those whom God has chosen to save will be unable to resist His call. Since He has predetermined them to be saved, He effectually calls and regenerates them without any condition to be met on their part.
No human being can know when a person will answer the call of the Holy Spirit, which is why evangelism is essential. The Holy Spirit will, at some point in the life of the Elect, place a special irresistible inward call that will inevitably bring them to salvation. Human beings can't turn this call away because God is not dependent upon their cooperation, and God makes them willing. His grace is invincible and will never fail to save whom He has set out to save. (John 1:12-13, 3:3, 5:21,6:27,11:38-44; Acts 9:6,13:48, 16:14; 2 Corinthians 4:6, 15:10; 1 John 5:1 – See also Psalm 110:3)
COUNTERPOINT—The Bible does not use the word 'irresistible' before the word "grace" and does not say or infer that grace is irresistible. The word "grace" means God's unmerited favor. It is an attitude, not a power. The Bible shows that people will resist and reject God (See Proverbs 1:24,26; 29:1; Acts 7:51; John 1:12).
The Bible teaches that the Grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all people (Titus 2:11). Since God has provided salvation for all people, and yet none come, this is proof enough that they resist God's grace. (See Genesis 6:3; Matthew 23:37; Acts 7:51; Hebrews 10:28-29,39)
When Stephen preached to the Jews, he said, regarding their attitude toward God’s Word, they were stiff-necked and that they were resisting the Holy Spirit who was calling them (Acts 7:51). The writer of Hebrews, when describing those who draw back unto perdition (Hebrews 10:39), said that it was the blood of Christ, which sanctified them. Yet, they had done despite unto the Spirit of Grace (Hebrews 10:28,29). Here, it is plain that the blood of Jesus was available to them for salvation but was refused. That the Spirit of God strives with sinners to bring them to repentance and faith is stated in Genesis 6:3. This verse also states that God will one day give man up when His grace is continually resisted.
God gives many opportunities to be saved, yet many stiffen their neck against the wooing of the Holy Spirit, and when they continue to reject Him, they will reach a point of no return and "be broken beyond healing" (See Proverbs 1:24-26).
God offers salvation to all and constantly calls, yet people resist and refuse. He stretches out His hand, and no one regards it. The Bible makes it plain that some people willingly choose to reject Jesus and resist the calling of the Holy Spirit (See Acts 7:51; John 1:12 ESV).
P. Perseverance of the Saints
The Elect, those chosen by God, can never lose their salvation because He decided who would be saved before they were born. They are kept safe by His omnipotent power. God preserves His people so they can never be lost. (John 6:39,10:27-29, 17:2,11:12; Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:37-39; Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12, 4:18; 1 John 2:19; Jude 1:24-25)
COUNTERPOINT—The Bible teaches the eternal security of the Born-Again Christian. Those who entrust Jesus with their lives have everlasting life and will never perish. However, their eternal security does not depend upon their perseverance because the Bible does not say anything about persevering. It says that the Born-Again Christians have been preserved (kept) (Jude 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
The Bible makes it plain that the Born-Again Christian is kept/preserved. They do not preserve themselves and are secure because they are kept by God and held firmly in His hand (1 Peter 1:4-5; John 10:27-29).
The Born-Again Christian is encouraged to "not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" by allowing "bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander" in their lives. They are commanded "to put away" those things, as well as "malice," and instead "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" because they were "sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30-32 ESV).
Salvation is by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus, who died for all people, and anyone can choose to call "on the name of the Lord" to "be saved" (Romans 10:13 ESV). Because God is omniscient, He foreknows the outcome of any possible choice a person could make. God has ordained and determined some events ahead of time and selected some individuals for His purposes. People are saved by grace and kept by the power of God.
Counterpoint to Additional Calvinistic Teachings
Regeneration
Calvinist teachings of the order of faith and regeneration are contrary to biblical teaching because they hold that a person cannot believe until they have been born of God (John 1:12; Galatians 3:36).
Non-Salvation
Under Calvinism, people are not saved or unsaved. They are either Elect or non-elect, and their elect status is assigned to them before birth. God's Sovereignty is not an eternal attribute that was compromised by the libertarian freedom He gave human beings but His right to have dominion over His creation. Calvinism denies God loves everyone in the truest sense because He already chose before the foundation of the world who would spend eternity suffering in the torment of damnation in Hell or eternity in Heaven with Him. Calvinism does away with free will, which contradicts the merciful goodness and kindness of God.
Double Predestination
“Of the eternal election, by which god has predestinated some to salvation, and others to destruction.” (Calvin)
"All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation" (Calvin)
CONCLUSION
Critics of Calvinism say it is a heretical system of fallen human philosophy because it denies that God was not sovereign over creation until He created it. The early Church taught none of Calvinism's five main points. At least three of the five points (total depravity, unconditional election, and perseverance of the saints) did exist during the first 200 years of Christianity in a heretical movement called Gnosticism.
God's Sovereignty is not an eternal attribute that was compromised by the libertarian freedom He gave human beings but His right to have dominion over His creation. Calvinism denies God loves everyone in the truest sense because He already chose before the foundation of the world who would spend eternity suffering in the torment of damnation in Hell or eternity in Heaven with Him.
Calvinism teaches that people don't make any choices because they are programmed before birth to think and act as they do in every facet of life. God is presented as the author of all sin and pain and created satan to deceive people into sin. Because the Elect are guaranteed entrance into Heaven, God allows/authorizes/permits trials and tribulation, accidents, sickness, heartache, sorrow, pain, anguish, and tragedy to happen to teach/discipline/chastise/etc. Because God predestines people, there is nothing they can do or have done to change any of it. There is no use in praying for friends or family because God allows only the predetermined Elect to be saved and everyone else to be eternally condemned.
No matter what fallen human teaching a person follows, the underlying and all-encompassing fundamental biblical truth is that we can love God most fully when we understand His all-powerful and wise sovereign character and nature, which is love that is supremely and infinitely good, wanting only the best for us, knowing everything about us and loving us anyway, desiring to save everyone. These truths lead us to a healthy, confident, ever-deepening love relationship with Him and experience the constant outpouring of His love into our hearts, exponentially increasing our trusting-faith in Him with each new breath we take.
The decision to trust in Jesus for salvation is not a meritorious work. Asking for forgiveness does not merit being forgiven. The prodigal son did not earn, merit, or in any way deserve the reception of his father on the basis that he humbly returned home. He deserved to be punished, not rewarded. The acceptance of his father was his choice alone, and it was ALL of grace. The father did not have to forgive, restore, and throw a party for his son on the basis that he chose to come home. That was the father’s doing.
Whether you appeal to the mystery regarding the function of human will or the function of the Divine will, we should all appeal to the mystery before drawing conclusions that could in any way impugn the holiness of God by suggesting He had something to do with determining the nature, desire and evil choices of His creatures because He is Love that is revealed in His merciful goodness and kindness.
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ESV)
