Calvinism: Another Gospel?

Calvinism has radically changed the traditional Biblical gospel to a gospel bearing a man’s name and a questionable man at that.  I’ll cover Calvin’s short comings in another article but for now I want to focus on what the differences are between the traditional Biblical gospel and that which Calvinism offers up.

I will briefly show what each gospel is about so that those who are new to Confronting Calvinism can get a foundation for the reason as to why one might want to confront Calvinism.

The Traditional Biblical Gospel

The traditional Biblical gospel is what the Bible truly teaches.  What is the Traditional Biblical Gospel?  It is that gospel which is so richly expressed throughout the New Testament.  It is not hidden in shadows or alluded to here or there.  It contains fully taught themes that are seen over and over again.  It is stark, clear and compelling.  No matter what it is called---it is the authentic gospel that comes vibrantly through reading the New Testament.                                        

The traditional gospel is that God sent his son to the world to save the world and whosoever believes in him will be saved:

John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

First we see that God sent his son to save the world.  Secondly, we see that people must believe to receive the rescue that God sent in his son.  These two great themes are both expressed over and over in scripture.  Here are some additional clearly stated passages that supports what John 3:16-18 proclaims in regards to Jesus coming to save all men:

3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between Godand mankind, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:3-5

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:13-15

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

There are many more of these passages in scripture.  The truth is that Christ died for all and saved all. So let’s return again to the second great theme of God’s plan for redemption and that is that men must believe in Jesus to be saved.  This is clearly stated in John 3:16-18 and it is stated over and over in New Testament scripture.  I can only share a few due to space.  Here is one of the clearest passages regarding the importance of believing:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 9:10-11

12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Acts 16:30-31                                                                                      

 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”  John 6:40

 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Acts 16:30

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16

What a great Biblical witness we have in the above scriptures and there are so many more!  The true Traditional Biblical gospel is that God sent Jesus to die for all and that whoever believes in him will be saved.  This is a simple snapshot of the true classic Biblical gospel.

However Calvinism challenges both of these major themes of scripture.  These truths are so prominent in scripture it is a wonder how anyone could think of challenging them or adding additional criteria to what salvation is and how it is received.

The Calvinist Gospel                                                                                                

First, the Calvinist states that God did not come to offer salvation to all in spite of dozens of passages that clearly say that it is exactly what happened.

Secondly, the Calvinist states that man cannot believe on his own despite all the dozens of scriptures that clearly state that man must believe.  What is crazy is that the Calvinist only has conceptual arguments and not one clear passage of scripture that proves that man has lost the ability to believe. Ask a Calvinist to turn to one passage that specifically says that God did not come for all men and he cannot do it.  Request a Calvinist to turn to just one passage that clearly states that God believes for man and you will find that he cannot do it.

Calvinists often cherry-pick a verse out of context to try to prove one of their concepts but these are either loosely related, inconclusive or not related at all to the subject at hand.  Still Calvinists do often challenge the traditional Biblical gospel and choose to do so without even one clear Bible passage.

So what is the Calvinist’s gospel?  They use an acronym called the TULIP to describe it:        

“T” stands for Total Depravity.  The idea here is that man is so depraved that he does not have the ability to believe.  The problem is that the Calvinist does not even one clear passage that states this idea.  What they do is weave a bunch of other doctrines they have with a few cherry-picked verses to come up with their foggy conclusion.  But where is that one clear passage of scripture that says “T” clearly and decisively?  They don’t have one.

“U” stands for Unconditional Election.  This idea is that God elected only some to be saved and it is accomplished without any condition.  Again, there is not one clear passage that states this. Not one!  Calvinists use a handful of passages to support the doctrine but none are clear and in each case the central theme of the passage is not about Unconditional Election for salvation. 

“L” is for Limited Atonement.  This disturbing doctrine is a kind of summary doctrine for Calvinists.  It states that Christ only died for the elect and not for all men.  Once again, there is not one clear statement in all of scripture that says anything like “Christ dies only for the elect.”  This doctrine like the others is based on sheer conjecture.

“I” is for Irresistible Grace.  This states that if one is elected by God to be saved, there is nothing that person can do to resist that grace and those that are not the elect don’t have any access to this grace.  Once again, the erroneous exegesis that the doctrines above have are continued for Irresistible Grace.  There is not one passage that clearly states this idea.  Grace is what it is and certainly not one scripture uses this phrase or even states it.  It is sheer theological fantasy.

“P” is for Perseverance of the Saints.  This is not really about how someone believes but has to do with how those once saved cannot fall away.  I am not going to address this here as this really is an issue dealing with those whom are already saved but I do not believe this Calvinist doctrine either.

What you can see in this article is that there is a clear traditional New Testament gospel that leads to salvation and it is clearly backed by copious amounts of scripture while the tenets of the Calvinism gospel are not justified by even one clearly stated proof passage.                   

The above is only a brief overview and I will have much more to write on all the above as time goes on.  I have only scratched the surface as it applies to TULIP.  It is important to know what Calvinism is so one can understand it and even help others that might be confused.

That which is clearly stated in scripture and often mentioned is a true theme of scripture.  That which cannot be clearly stated but is justified only by weaving a verse here and there pulled out of context with other doctrines cannot be accepted as a Biblical theme. This is the problem with Calvinism’s gospel.  I will have much more on this in future articles.                                                

Believe then in the true traditional Biblical doctrine found securely in scripture and recognize Calvinism for what it just might be: another gospel.                                        

Darrell Brantingham

(Check out my pithy tweets @confrontcalvin)

I Love The Gospel!

There is nothing greater than the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the central theme of all scripture and he is the central theme of the gospel.  Jesus is the embodiment of the love, mercy, kindness and justice of God.  The Father drew us to his Son by sending Jesus to take our place and to give his life to us.  He came out of love for the Father and out of love for every person in creation.

Even in Christ’s coming he brought mankind exactly what was needed in himself.  He brought light.  He brought life.  He brought grace.  He brought truth.  He brought what man was missing even before he gave himself to be taken up on the cross.  He brought the remedy for all man lost in the garden.  Jesus preached the gospel.  Jesus brought the gospel.  Jesus was the gospel. John speaks:

         In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in
        The darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

        Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
        For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
        John 1:16-17

Gospel means “good news” and that is exactly who Jesus was.  He was the good news when born in Bethlehem.  He was the good news when he grew up in the knowledge of God.  He was good news when he ministered to the lost.  He was good news when he healed all who were sick.  He was good news when he discipled his disciples.  He was good news when he was lifted up on the cross for man’s sins.  He was good news when he rose from the dead.  He was good news when he appeared to his disciples after his resurrection.  He was good news when he ascended.  He was good news when he sat down at the right hand of his father having completed his work of redemption.

There is no other gospel outside of Jesus and his completed work.  Men may add things to what the gospel is and they may take away from it but the gospel does not change.  Men may fabricate ideas and beliefs into what they think is the gospel but the gospel is not amended.  Men may follow doctrines that are accepted by millions but the gospel remains unaltered.

There have been many false gospels but one only true gospel and that is the gospel where Jesus in his fullness brought the good news with him and the good news of his completed and glorious work of redemption. 

I love the gospel!  I love the good news in Jesus.  I will contend for the true gospel.  I will confront any other gospel that comes to take the place of the true gospel.  We must beware that we do not believe any other gospel.

         But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the
         one we preached to you let them be under God’s curse! Galatians 1:8

Jesus delivered the gospel to us but how do we receive it?  The scripture is quite clear that we receive the gospel only by faith:

       For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
       Everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the
       Righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE
       RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:16-17

 (Please check out my tweets on my Twitter account at @confrontcalvin.)

The Purpose of This Blog

Most blogs are created with some kind of purpose in mind and this is certainly the case when it comes to this blog.  As one might be able tell by the title of the blog, I intend to challenge the set of doctrines commonly called Calvinism.  The question therefore is how I even got here.  What provoked me to write a blog on this subject?

The truth is that in the majority of my forty plus years of being a Christian I had very little knowledge of Calvinism.  This is likely due to where I fellowshipped during most of my years.  My fellowship background was mostly in the Charismatic movement and included several years in the Vineyard Christian Fellowship association of churches where I pastored a church for over seven years.

During this time I don't ever remember Calvinism being preached from the pulpit and for that matter I never heard anyone specifically use the term Arminian when preaching either.  Over the years someone would mention to me something about whether I was a Calvinist or an Arminian.  I was often taken off-guard by such conversations and remember one conversation in particular where the person who initiated the conversation gave me his brief definition of the two viewpoints.  He said “Calvinism believes in the sovereignty of God---that God is in control while Arminians believe that man is in control”.  Now I had always believed that God was in control of his creation and was sovereign so I muttered my agreement about being a Calvinist because I believed that God was fully sovereign.

But the truth was that I really had no idea what Calvinism or Arminianism was.  When the issue arose I would simply declare that I was a Calvinist since I believed in God’s sovereignty.  As I reflect back I also remember being given a book here and there that today I would certainly consider to be Calvinist but at the time I never put it all together.  My interests laid in other areas over these many years.  I was interested in being who God called me to be as a teacher and pastor of people.  I fully believed that God was sovereign but I also always fully believed that God wanted every person to be saved and that he loved everyone.

About five years ago my understanding of Calvinism all changed.  The pastor of the church I attended invited me to breakfast one morning and proceeded to tell me that he was going to bring a sermon the next Sunday on a passage from scripture that showed that God chose some people for some salvation and others to be rejected and lost forever.  Then a couple of men that I knew began referring to a book that implied the same message that the pastor had taught that Sunday.  In both cases I had a major check in my spirit and I knew that what they were saying was not true because I knew that God was not like that and his plan was one of salvation for all who believed.  I fully believed God loved all men and wanted all men to be saved.  This prompted me for the first time in my life to understand that I was not a Calvinist and that I was truly opposed to this message that many now call Calvinism and some call “Reformed”.

Interestingly, I began to notice that from time to time in my home fellowship times where someone would mention something about being chosen by God.  Then around the room others would say something like “I am so glad God chose me.  I don’t know why he chose me but he did”.  I realized that I had heard these kind of comments before and I also realized how uncomfortable these kinds of statements made me feel.  These kinds of comments if carried out to a logical progression support the notion that God did indeed choose some for salvation and others to be punished in hell forever.

This prompted me to intensely study the doctrine.  As mentioned previously, had anyone asked me in the past I would have identified myself as a Calvinist but at this point I was not so sure about what I was.  I suspected that Calvin was linked to this doctrine that I was hearing about but I was not sure so I determined to study the theology from scratch through scripture. 

I committed to do what I had done in the past when hearing about other doctrines and that was to research and study what Calvinism was about.   I wanted to determine if this idea of being “chosen” was really what the Bible taught.  I took a quick look at a few websites just to get a basic understanding of Calvinism but mostly what I committed to do was to evaluate the premises of the doctrines of Calvinism on the basis of scripture.  To me, scripture had always been my sole arbitrator on what should be accepted as good doctrine and what should be rejected.

So I resolved to study with great intent and what I found astounded me!  Not only did I confirm that I was not a Calvinist---I also discovered that Calvinism stated many points that I considered to be unscriptural, false and even dangerous.  Immediately I was moved in my spirit by God to confront Calvinism.  I have spent the last few years studying Calvinism and most of my research has been devoted to evaluating Calvinism on the basis of scripture and scripture only.  This I did to ensure that my study would not be tainted by opinion but firmly determined by scripture.  During these years I stayed away from the normal resources available online or in books that dealt with Calvinism, pro or con.  I wanted to know for myself through scripture what Calvinism really was and why my spirit was so checked whenever I heard it discussed.

It was after a short time of this kind of study that I decided to write a five to ten page document that I could give to people to show why Calvinism was a bad doctrine and was to be avoided.  I intended to write the document over a few days and get it out to people who seemed interested in this theology.

However during this time my research took me deeper into the study of Calvinism and I continued to be astounded as to where the doctrines of Calvinism had come from and where they lead.  Calvinism was just not an “I’m chosen” party.  It implied much more about God including doctrines that inferred that God actually hates those he has not chosen and that God created evil and even was the initiator for men to sin and carry out vile and wicked acts. 

The document I was writing kept getting longer and I just could not seem to finish it.  I wanted people to know the truth about Calvinism.  This writing went to ten pages and then eighteen pages.  Over a bit more time it was twenty-eight pages and then finally over fifty pages and even today it grows.  As time goes by I keep seeing more and more on the subject of Calvinism. 

Over time I came to know Calvinism as a doctrine that was clearly unscriptural and dangerous.   I would lay awake at night and the Holy Spirit would show me additional errors that are in Calvinist theology.  More and more scriptures came to mind that clearly made Calvinism a folly and a disgrace to good theology.

Once my foundation was formed through scripture I did look at many websites regarding Calvinism and those that opposed it.  I read the arguments by Calvinist supporters on websites and in books and I became more and more convinced that what Calvinism is very poor theology. 

I noticed a systematic approach by supporters of Calvinism where scriptures used to support the doctrines of Calvinism were frequently taken out of context.  More than that I could not find Bible passages that specifically proclaim what Calvinists believe.  

I was convinced that Calvinism had nothing to do with the classic Christianity that I had always believed in and it was my study in scripture which was my solid foundation in supporting my findings.  My conclusion was that Calvinism did not reflect the God of the Bible that I had known for many years and actually misrepresents God's amazing character and attributes.

I want to make it clear here that I do reject Calvinism but I do not reject Calvinists because they too are people that God loves because he does love everyone.  I believe that Calvinists are saved like everyone else can be.  If they confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that Jesus rose from the dead then they are saved.  This is the real mark of whether one is a believer or not as specified in Romans 10.  Being saved does not mean that a person has a perfect understanding of the Bible and what it teaches.  Spending eternity with God is not a matter of passing some sort of a litmus test on what is scriptural and what not is scriptural. 

Salvation is simply receiving the free gift of salvation and believing that Jesus is Lord and Savior.  Look at the man who died on the cross next to Christ who asked Jesus to remember him in his kingdom.  Jesus received him into the kingdom and the man had no understanding of theology.  He simply knew Jesus was dying for his sin and he confessed it with his mouth and was saved.

Also I want to make it clear that I have no angst in my heart against Calvinists.  To this day I have good friends are Calvinists.  Yes, sometimes fellowship is a bit awkward with these folks but as long as we keep our conversation on Christ and his completed work we do just fine.  Calvinists are not bad people.  They are just confused by a doctrine that the enemy has perpetrated to cloud what true salvation is and to indict God as not being the loving and good God that he is.  It is a doctrine that the enemy successfully uses to divide God’s people.

I apologize now for those times when my writing in this blog or on my Twitter account seem too snarky or sarcastic for I know that they will from time to time.

I know that there will be those that attack me for my blog and Twitter posts and will condemn my intentions.  It is a price that one pays when one contends for the truth.  The Apostle Paul paid a severe price and I am willing to pay the price.

This blog allows me to fulfill my call to contend for the gospel and to preach the true and good gospel of the New Testament.  It will warn and perhaps prevent some to reject the faulty doctrines of Calvin.  My desire for this blog is that it would be a resource for those who want the truth about Calvinism and who may not have the hours to research it like I did.  I will also include links to other helpful sites.

As you read my articles I pray that you would be blessed by the good and true gospel that proves what a great and marvelous God we have.  I pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened to know Jesus and his completed work including the glorious purposes of God that he has chosen specifically for those who believe in him.

(Please check out my tweets on my Twitter account at @confrontcalvin.)