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.)
