Since the start of my undergraduate education, I’ve been
exposed to a lot of different Christian beliefs. This has created interest in,
and has sometimes forced me to, examine these beliefs to see if there is any
credibility. One of the major ones I’m familiar with now is Calvinism.
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John Piper is a prominent Calvinist preacher beloved by many non-Calvinists. |
I’ve learned the core beliefs of Calvinism
through study and debate with friends. I’m not saying that there aren’t
passages that seem to support their beliefs or that I have all the answers off
the top of my head. But the biggest argument against Calvinism is the reality
of who God is as explained in the Bible. This is not an in-depth analysis of
TULIP; perhaps that can come later. Rather, I want to look at a few key
attributes of God that conflict in a major way with the Calvinist definition of
“predestination”. These make it just about impossible for me to ever think God
chooses ahead of time who will go to Heaven and Hell:
“For there is no respect of persons with God.” –Romans 2:11
“Wherefore now let the fear of the
Lord be upon you; take heed and do
it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord
our God, nor respect of persons, nor
taking of gifts.” –II Chronicles 19:7
“Yea, surely God will not do
wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment…Shall even he that hateth
right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just? Is it fit to say to
a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly? How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor
regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his
hands.” –Job 34:12, 17-19
“And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth
according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in
fear…” –I Peter 1:17
“Then Peter opened his mouth, and
said, Of a truth I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons…” –Acts 10:34
The Greek word translated
“respecter of persons” in the King James Version of Acts 10:34 (“God is no
respecter of persons”) is prosopolemptes,
a word that refers to a judge who looks at a man’s face instead of at the facts
of the case, and makes a decision based on whether or not he likes the man
(Lenski, 1961, p. 418).
Thus Calvinism meets its first contradictory truth in the
Bible. The belief is that God makes His grace irresistible to some so that they
must become Christians, but others He refuses. This would show an obvious
respect of persons with the Righteous Judge. He who does not respect persons
will not predetermine different eternal fates for people. To arbitrarily choose
Hell for one person and Heaven for someone else most certainly does not hold
true to what His Word says about Him.
Colley also opens up a number of verses that show the free
will of man:
“And if it seem evil unto you to
serve the LORD, choose you this day whom
ye will serve…” –Joshua 24:15
“For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose
the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her
kings…” –Isaiah 7:16
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would
not!” –Matthew 23:37

“The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the
father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him.” –Ezekiel 18:20
Every person is responsible for his own actions. Furthermore,
every person has the opportunity, of his own free will, to choose to accept or
reject God’s mercy.
I have been told that I diminish God’s sovereignty by
believing so strongly in free will. On the contrary, it makes the better case.
If God chose ahead of time, there would be no need for prediction. But when God
does not choose for people, but still knows who will choose of their own free
will, His sovereignty is put on display. God is entirely possible of knowing
who will be saved without actually forcing them into Heaven.
Under the reasoning of Calvinism, God created Adam and Eve
AND caused them to sin. It wasn’t enough just to know; He had to do it. James
1:13 tells us that God does not even tempt us with sin, much less force us to.
God created Adam and Eve, yes, knowing that they would sin. But He did not
cause them to sin. In the same way, God created me knowing that I would be
saved. But He did not choose salvation for me.
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John MacArthur is another prominent Calvinist preacher. |
Furthermore, the Bible’s promise is clear on the
availability of salvation:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” –John 3:14-16
“That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” –Romans 10:9-13
“And the Spirit and the bride say,
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And
whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely.” –Revelation 22:17
“And it shall come to pass
afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions…And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered…” –Joel 3:28, 32
Peter applied Joel’s message on the day of Pentecost, the
springboard of those events to come:
“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.” –Acts 2:21
Let’s examine the Greek word translated “whosoever”:
Pas
– all, the whole, every kind of
The word pas has
the denotation of parts of a totality. The context of John 3, as we all know,
is of the whole world. Hence, anyone (“all”) on the Earth who believes on Jesus
“will have everlasting life.” This is a fatal blow to a belief that claims God
is partial to some but not all. Calvinist Bibles must come with a lot of
asterisks.
As I mentioned, Calvinism is a perverting of God’s nature. Possibly
the hardest thing a Calvinist must grapple with is a special attribute of God:
“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.” –I Peter 3:9
In the midst of discussing God’s coming judgment, Peter was
inspired by God to pen these words. God’s justice demands that He punish the
wicked (Nahum 1:2-3), but His love for the chief of His creation is mighty. He
is merciful well beyond what we deserve (Psalm 103:8). He desires to know us.
Every one of us. God wants “whosoever” to repent and begin a relationship with
Him. He does not desire for anyone to go to Hell.
Under this attribute of God, if He were to predestine us He
would predestine us all to Heaven. But the Bible is clear that there are people
who face eternal punishment by God. If you are not a Calvinist, the explanation
is very simple. God wants us to repent and turn from our destruction. But He is
just and will punish the sinner. Although He wants us to be saved, He will not
force us, but rather gives us the free will to choose to come to Him – just as
He did with Adam and Eve in the beginning.
We have equality in that we are all born sinners and are all
in need of God’s mercy. Calvinism destroys that equality under the belief that
God has predestined some people to go to Heaven, and has chosen others to go to
Hell. This also makes the Great Commission pointless. Any arguments I have
heard about God still allowing us in His plan are rather unconvincing, since
these same individuals believe that the “elect” have already been chosen. If
our fates are sealed regardless of what we do, evangelism is pointless. In
fact, any service to God is pointless. But since Calvinism is an unbiblical
belief, there is no reason to explain away massive parts of the Bible that
speak to God’s merciful nature, our free will, and the command to tell the
world about the life they can have through God.
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