What about Calvinism

Calvinism is a doctrine that was invented by a man named John Calvin who lived in 1509-1564 A.D.  His teaching did not exist for the first 1500 years of Christianity. 

In 1532, Calvin professed a conversion from Catholicism to Christ at age 23. Calvin and William Farel (1489-1565 A.D.) led the reformation in Geneva. They began the Genevan Church but were forced to flee the area for rebelling against the Catholic Church. With his return to Geneva in 1541, Calvin though only a pastor, began a theocratic government with himself as the leader.

Calvin ran a Church-State style of government. The whole city was under his rule as the pastor with the whole town being his "church". Pastors preached, taught, and admonished while elders supervised city morals. Any offences were met with severe, merciless punishment. The city became known for its executions and banishments.

The disciplines and punishments were beyond what the Old Testament nation of Israel had in place. People were jailed or banished for joking, laughing during a sermon, naming their children Catholic names, etc... I ask you does this sound like a man who really got born again?

Calvin was also a bitter persecutor of the Anabaptists. His advice to Edward VI of England was that, "Anabaptists and reactionists should be alike put to death". I ask you does that sound like the advice of a man who has the love of God in his heart?  Does that sound like a man who has the Holy Spirit living in him?

I bring this up for a very important reason. 

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

The Bible tells us that the natural man, the lost man, cannot know the things of God because they are spiritually discerned.  The Bible to the lost man is a closed book.  He is not going to be able to correctly understand the Bible.

A lost man cannot teach you the Bible because a lost man cannot understand the Bible.  And you look at the life of Calvin and you have every reason to doubt that he ever got saved.

I just can’t bring up Calvin and not deal with the doctrine that He invented. A doctrine that has plagued many Baptist churches since then. He came up with a teaching that if adopted will quickly turn a vibrant growing soul winning church into a shrinking dead dying church.  That alone should tell you that it is not from God.  The heart of God is soul winning.

The Calvinism system of theology has five main points. You will hear many Baptists say I am a one point Calvinist or a two point Calvinist. What they mean by that is that they believe in only one or two of the five points of Calvinism. In order to better remember what Calvinism is, many use the acoustic T.U.L.I.P.

T-otal Inability for man to repent or believe (faith is a gift of God not given to all);

By total inability He meant that a lost person in no way shape or form can come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as his Saviour, unless God foreordained him to be saved.

By total inability Mr. Calvin meant that no man has the ability to come to Christ and it is impossible for him to come to Christ unless God overpowers him and gives him that ability.

Now the Bible does teach total depravity. Total depravity means that there is nothing good in man to deserve salvation.

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jer 17:9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

It should be clear from these verses that the Bible does indeed teach the total depravity of man. However total depravity is not total inability. Not understanding that is where the Calvinist makes his first mistake. Nowhere does the Bible teach total inability.

The Bible never even hints that people are lost because they have no ability to come to Christ. Instead the Bible teaches that they don’t come because they will not come.

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Jesus did not say you cannot come. He said you will not come.

Mat 23:37 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!

Rev 22:17 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.

The Bible clearly teaches whosoever will. Jesus said will not. He did not say cannot. If man has no ability to come to Christ, then Jesus is a liar. If Jesus is a liar, then He was a sinner. If Jesus was a sinner then, we are all on our way to hell.

Before we move on to the next point lets look at a favorite verse of Calvinists to teach total inability.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Not only do verses need to be taken in the context of the surrounding verses, but they also need to be taken in context of the entire Bible. Jesus also said

Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. Joh 12:33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Jesus was lifted up, therefore all men are drawn to Him. But men have the free will to come or not to come.

U-nconditional Election (a sinner is saved regardless of his will or actions);

Calvin taught that some are elected to go to Heaven, while others are elected to go to Hell.

John Calvin wrote, “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.”

He taught that you have absolutely nothing to do with it. He taught that all you can do is hope that God has elected you for Heaven and not for Hell.

Now to believe this error means that you also have to believe that when salvation is offered in the Bible, that it is only offered to those who were foreordained to go to Heaven.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

To a Calvinist what Romans 10:13 really means is that the elect shall call upon the name of the Lord. To them the whosoever only applies to the elect.

To try to prove unconditional election Calvinists like to use the only part of a verse trick.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,

They will stop there. The rest of the verse says.

that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

The verse does not teach that we are chosen for heaven. It teaches that we are chosen to be holy and without blame before him in love. This is talking about people who have accepted Christ with a free will. It is God’s will for us to live holy lives.

Another verse they use is.

Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,

And they will stop there. But wait you must read the rest of the verse!  The rest of the verse says.

and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Again this verse does not teach that God chooses who goes to heaven. It teaches that those who have accepted Christ should be soul winners.

Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that God wills for some to go to Heaven and that God wills others to go to Hell.

Instead the Bible teaches.

2Pe 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.

Calvinism is in complete opposition to 2 Peter 3:9

And stop and think about it for just a moment.  If you are unconditionally chosen for heaven then it does not matter what you think or say, you are still going to heaven.  If that is true, then you don't even have to pray and ask Jesus to save you.  You would go to heaven anyway.  If you are unconditionally chosen then you would not even have to believe.  It would not matter because you were unconditionally chosen. That teaching is crazy and totally against the Bible.

Rom 10:9 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.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

L-imited Atonement (Christ died only for the elect - He did not die for those predestined to go to hell);

This point of Calvinism flows from the first points for if God chose who is going to Hell, then there is no point in dying to pay for the sin of those who are chosen to go to Hell.

What would be the point. They would be going to hell no matter what. Calvin taught that Christ died only for the elect. He died for only those that He planned to go to Heaven.

But lets look at what the Bible teaches.

1Jo 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world.

1Ti 2:5 For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Isa 53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The first all tells us all have sin. The second all is talking about the same crowd. Jesus had laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus paid for everyone’s sin. All man has to do is accept the free gift of salvation.

I-rresistable Grace (If God predestines the salvation of a soul, that soul cannot reject His grace);

By irresistible Grace Calvin meant that God simply forces people to be saved. This would be necessary if God chose who is going to Heaven, then He would have to make sure that they did. Calvinism teaches that God forces those that He elected, and only those who Jesus died for to be saved.

This is another teaching that you will not find in the Bible.

Pro 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

If God was irresistible then they could not have refused.

Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers [did], so [do] ye.

God created the man to have fellowship with the man. God loves man and it is His desire that man loves him back.

Luk 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Forced love is not love at all. To be love it must be freely given. Forced love is wrong. In fact we have laws against forced love.

If God forced man to come to Him, then it would not be love at all. It would just be a sham and we could not obey Jesus’ command to love God.

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

P-erseverance of the Saints (The identifying mark of the elect of God is perseverance in the things of God).

Our eternal security of the believer does not depend on our perseverance. We do not persevere we are preserved.

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.

Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand.

Joh 10:30 I and [my] Father are one.

2Ti 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

People can backslide.  I have seen it happen myself and we see it in the Bible.  Just look at Peter.  He backslid and even warmed himself at the enemies fire.  He even went so far as to flat out deny that he even knew Christ.  People can and do backslide.  That in no way means that they are not saved.  They will pay for their backsliding with chastisement in this life and they will have to answer for it at the judgment seat of Christ, but backsliding does not necessarily mean that they are not saved. 

The false teaching of Calvinism has done much to damage the clear, simple way of explaining salvation in Christ. This teaching is still taught through the church that Calvin founded which is the Presbyterian church. And parts or even all of it is taught in some churches that have the name Baptist on the sign.  Calvinism is a man made system of theology that was thought up by a lost man.  Calvinism is a very dangerous heresy.  It is dangerous to the souls of men and we should have nothing to do with it.