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)