Naturally, an important thing for me to tell you, in order for you to understand more about Calvinists, is what we believe. Although we do have the "5 points of Calvinism" there are actually just 2 things that really sum it all up. If you really believe these two things, you almost inevitably will believe the "5 points". These two things are 1.) The Sovereignty of God and 2.) Salvation is by Grace.
First of all, I want to define the phrase "The Sovereignty of God". To say that God is sovereign, is to say that God "works all things according to the counsel of His will." (Ephsians 1:11) That's the gist of it. To say that God is sovereign, is to say that he is The Governor of the entire universe and that He is actually governing it. It is to say that He is The King of kings. It's to say He is the Supreme Being in control of all things. Actually, to say that God is sovereign, is to say that GOD IS GOD. A God, by definition, is one who is Supreme and Sovereign. Therefore, to strip God of His sovereignty, would be to strip Him of His Godhood.
There are many verses which support the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. We will start with what King David, the man after the Lord's own heart, said, "Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all." (I Chronicles 29:10-12) Now, dear reader, look with me at what the psalmist said in Psalm 115:3, "But our God is in heaven; HE DOES WHATEVER HE PLEASES." And then, again, the psalmist speaks of God's sovereignty, when he says, "For the kingdom is the Lord's and HE RULES OVER THE NATIONS.", in Psalm 22:28. Jesus Himself revealed in Matthew 10:29 that God is in control of even the smallest events, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And NOT ONE of them falls to the ground APART FROM YOUR FATHER'S WILL." Then in Job, the book where it shows us that Satan had to ask permission of God before he could do anything at all to Job, it says, "But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And WHATEVER HIS SOUL DESIRES, THAT HE DOES". God is even in control of sinful events. He does not cause the sin, but He sovereignly chooses whether to allow it or to prevent it, and He controls the extent of it and the course it takes. He controls it and uses it for His own purposes. An example is Jesus' choice of disciples. Christ deliberately chose a disciple who was a greedy man so that the betrayal and crucifixion of the Son of God would take place. Who can say that the crucifixion was not destined to occur? It is the very purpose for which Christ came. It was the plan of the Father. Yet, it could not have taken place without the sinful works of sinful men. God was controlling it all. Now, let's look at what God says in Isaiah 46:9-10. He says, "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel SHALL STAND, and I will do ALL MY PLEASURE,' calling a bird out of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed, I have spoken it; I WILL also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I WILL also do it." King Solomon, the man who was so wise that people came from far away countries to seek his counsel, said, under the inspiration of God that, "A man's steps areof the Lord how then can a man understand his own way?" (Proverbs 20:24) The reason your life often turns out differently than you intended is because the Sovereign God directs your steps. And finally, we see in the book of Daniel that, "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to HIS WILL in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35) This most certainly sounds like a God Who does His pleasure, doesn't it? It certainly sounds like a God which NO ONE can get in the way of, or frustrate His purposes, doesn't it? These verses, which are the inspired Word of God, clearly paint a picture of One Who never says, "What?!? That's not what I wanted to happen!....Well, I guess I'll just have to fix it..." And of One Who never just sits idly, not knowing what is going on, and not having control. This is a picture of One Who is ALWAYS in control of EVERYTHING. This is a picture of One Who has a plan, and will carry His plan out. So, you can rest assured that when the Bible says something is His Will, it WILL COME TO PASS. When something is His Promise, it WILL COME TO PASS, when something is His Desire, it WILL COME TO PASS and when something is in His divine Plan, it WILL COME TO PASS. Because this is, after all, the great Jehovah we are talking about. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who truly "works ALL THINGS according to the counsel of HIS will". (Ephesians 1:11)
As I had pointed out earlier, the next thing I want us to consider is that salvation is of grace. First of all, one must understand what that means. Now, if something is of GRACE, then it is undeserved. It is obtained as a gift. It is as redundant to say "Would you like a free gift" as it is contradictory to say, "Would you like to buy this gift." If you bought it, it is no longer a GIFT, but your DUE. If you did some work to earn it, then it is no longer a GIFT, but is either partially or totally deserved, depending on how much work you did. And, it is the same way with grace. Just as Paul said in Romans 11:6, "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." So according to Scripture, something CANNOT be of grace and works at the same time. That is contradictory. This is what Paul is saying. So, when one speaks of Salvation being of Grace, they mean that the Salvation that a man possesses is entirely and completely a GIFT and by no means what he DESERVES or what is DUE to him; otherwise, it would no longer be of grace. Salvation is a precious gift, and, precisely because it is a gift, God is under no OBLIGATION to bestow it. As with all gifts, the giver gives to whomever He wills, and under no compulsion or necessity. There are many, many, verses which support the idea that salvation is of grace. Let's look at some. We will begin with Ephesians 2:8. It says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." And then, lets look and see what Paul said to young Timothy. "(God) has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." (2nd Timothy 1:9) Then we have one from the book of Romans "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24) Now let's see what Peter said in Jerusalem "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.", in Acts 15:11. Titus 3:7 says, "that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Galatians 1:15 and 16 says, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood" Ephesians 1:7 says, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" Galatians 2:21 says, "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." And then finally, we see where Paul says in the clearest of words that we have been saved by GRACE in Ephesians 2:5, "even when we were dead in trespasses (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)". Grace was extremely important to the apostles. If you look through the Bible, nearly every letter they wrote started out with something like this: "Grace to you, and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ." Grace was important to them, not just in greetings, but also in terms of salvation, as we see in Acts 20:24, "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD." They called the gospel the "gospel of the grace of God". That's what the gospel was to them. The good news of the grace of God. And that's what it should be to us. As we look at these verses, we can certainly see that salvation IS all of grace....not of works...It IS a gift from God. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8)
If you've heard of Calvinism before, you have, most likely, also heard of "TULIP" along with it. As we've seen earlier, in 1610 the "Five Point of Calvinism" were born. 'TULIP" simply spells the first letter of each point. There are 5 points--there are five letters in tulip. TULIP stands for:
T Total Depravity (a.k.a. Total Inability)
U Unconditional Election
L Limited Atonement (a.k.a. Particular Redemption)
I Irresistible Grace (a.k.a. Effectual Calling)
P Perseverance Of The Saints
It is important to not separate the 5 points too much, but instead, to tie them all together. They are like a chain, and if you sever one, the entire chain will be broken. If you only meditate on one, or only read scripture which deals with one, you will neglect the others, and soon, the entire chain will be broken. To just look at one individual point, and never tie it in with the rest, is like looking at a painting one color at a time, but never stepping back to see what picture each color participates in making. So, as I attempt to explain each individual point, keep in mind that even though they ARE individual, they are each also one small piece of a greater, more glorious truth. Namely, God saves sinners.
When you understand the sovereignty of God and that salvation is of grace, the understanding of the 5 points will eventually follow, if you are ever made aware of them. I'm sure you'll see this more clearly as we go along.
The definition of the word "depravity" is the state of being depraved. To be depraved is to be "corrupted. Wicked, especially morally." So, the phrase "Total Depravity" means Total Corruption. Or Total Wickedness. Now, when the Calvinist speaks of Total Depravity, he most certainly does not mean that every man on the face of the earth is Totally and Completely as corrupt, wicked, and sinful as it is possible for him to be. That should be obvious enough, for not everyone is a mass murderer, or even a bank robber. No, that is not it, but rather, that every single individual's whole person is corrupted by sin. In other words, every person's mind, soul, body, desires, etc. have been corrupted by the power of sin. All of his faculties have been touched by sin.
To illustrate this, I want you to consider the case of Lazarus. We all know the story. Lazarus, Jesus' dear friend, had died in Bethany. When Jesus finally came to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. After praying, Jesus said, "Lazarus, come forth!" and Lazarus came out of the tomb bound hand and foot, and his face was covered with grave clothes. Jesus had resurrected Lazarus. (John 11:1-44)
Now, let's think a minute about how Lazarus was BEFORE Christ resurrected him. Lazarus was DEAD. There was no life in him whatsoever. He was useful for nothing at all physically. He was bound hand and foot....he couldn't go anywhere at all. He had grave clothes over his face....he couldn't see anything. He was dead, so he most certainly had no feelings. His mind couldn't function, so he couldn't understand anything. His ears could no longer hear....he had no desires.... his heart was dead....Everything. Lazarus was DEAD. And the only way he could ever see again, hear again, feel again, think again, have desires again, move again, etc., was if Jesus Christ performed a miracle. Only a miracle could save him from the clutches of death.
Now, this is the way man is SPIRITUALLY. Lazarus was dead PHYSICALLY, but he paints a perfect picture of one who is dead SPIRITUALLY. Man is spiritually dead. He brought this upon himself in the garden of Eden. God said to Adam that, "In the day you eat it (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) you shall surely die." God was speaking of a SPIRITUAL death (obviously, for we know that Adam didn't die PHYSICALLY that same day). But Adam did eat of the fruit, and so he and all his descendants died spiritually. Ephesians 2:1 speaks of this spiritual death. Speaking to Christians, the Apostle Paul says, "And you He made alive who were deadin trespasses and sins..." Now, let's think about what it means to be spiritually dead. Think of Lazarus. His heart was dead. It's the same with man spiritually, and that is the reason God promises to give a new heart to His people when He converts them. God says in Ezekiel 36:26 that, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Again, Lazarus' eyes couldn't see....It's the same with man spiritually. John 3:5 says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God." Lazarus' hands wouldn't work....he couldn't do anything. It's the same with man spiritually. Man cannot do anything that is spiritually good. Romans 3:12 says, "...There is none who DOES good, no, not one." Lazarus's feet didn't work. He couldn't GO anywhere. Again, it is the same with the natural man, spiritually. Jesus said in John 6:65 that, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can COME to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." Lazarus's mind didn't work. He couldn't THINK and UNDERSTAND anything. Man cannot understand spiritual concepts. The gospel doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. Romans 3:11 says, "There is none who UNDERSTANDS" And 1st Corinthians 2:14 says, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." (And man is dead spiritually) Finally, Lazarus' will was destroyed. Not only was it impossible for him to go anywhere, being dead, he didn't even have the desire or willingness to do so. In the same way, man in his natural state is not only unable to find God, he is UNWILLING to even SEEK him. Romans 3:11 says, "there is none who seeks after God." Notice the word "none". Man is so totally dead toward God that there is not now, nor has there ever been, a single person who had the will or desire to seek after the true God. Spiritually dead man's will has been rendered ineffective. He never has the will to seek God or come to Christ. Of course, after God sovereignly changes a person's heart and gives him the new birth, he becomes willing to seek after God, but not before. If God doesn't give life, the dead sinner remains unresponsive to the gospel.
So, we can obviously see that man is DEAD in sin, just as Lazarus was DEAD physically, and therefore he must be given the miracle of spiritual life. Ephesians 2:5-6 says, "Even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Before God gives us life, we can't see things of God (John 3:5), we can't do good works (Romans 3:12), we can't come to Christ for salvation (John 6:65), we can't understand the things of God (Romans 3:11), our hearts are hearts of stone (Ezekiel 36:26), and our desires are so dead that we will not seek or call after God. (Romans 3:11) Man is dead in sin, and the ONLY way for him to 'come alive' and call on Jesus Christ for salvation is if, just like with Lazarus, there is a miracle. The only way is if God calls him out of his death and into life. This is called regeneration or the new birth. A spiritually dead sinner's wicked heart must be changed through a spiritual rebirth before he will become willing to come to Jesus for salvation. The man cannot give himself this new life. Can a dead man help himself? Can a blind man see how to come to Christ? Can a man without understanding understand the gospel to believe it? Can a man with no willingness to seek after God seek God? No. Man cannot help himself. His only hope is in God. The only hope is that God works a miracle.
The second letter in the acrostic "tulip" is U. It stands for unconditional election. But what does it mean? Well, to begin with, the word "election" refers to a choice that God made. Before the beginning of time, long before the world was created, God knew that He would create a universe and that He would create mankind. God also knew that the first man, Adam, would sin and rebel against Him. The result of man's chosen rebellion would be that both Adam and His descendants would become corrupted and wicked. All mankind would become rebels against God. Now, God in His perfect justice could have decided to condemn everyone. (In fact, that is exactly what He did with the fallen Angels. God condemned all fallen Angels and provided no possibility of salvation for any of them.) However, out of sheer mercy and grace, God did something truly awesome. Before time began, God had intellectual knowledge regarding who all would exist. All of mankind stood before the Divine Mind. Now, out of that wicked and rebellious mass of Hell-deserving sinners, God made a selection; He made a choice. He chose certain ones and He predestined them to become the recipients of salvation and eternal life. He elected certain ones and He passed by others. (We should not complain about Him passing by some, because, since all are sinners, He could have justly passed by them all) That is what election is. Election means that before the beginning of time God elected certain sinners for salvation. The Apostle Paul spoke of election in the book of Ephesians. (Ephesians 1:4-5) We read, "...He CHOSE us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having PREDESTINED us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will..."
Election and predestination are BIBLICAL terms. There are many scriptures that teach the concept of election. In Matthew 22:14 Jesus says, "...many are called but few are chosen." Luke 18:7 says, "and shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him..." Romans 8:30 says, "moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called, whom He called, these He also justified..." Colossians 3:12 says, "therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness..." Titus 1:1 says, "Paul a bondservant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect..." 1 Peter 2:8-9 says, "...They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Finally, Mark 13:20 says, "and unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days." Yes, election is a Biblical doctrine.
Now we come to the word "unconditional." Calvinism teaches an unconditional election. The word unconditional is meant to describe the BASIS of election. . Now, most people will freely admit that God elected a people before the foundation of the world, but there is less of a willingness to acknowledge what the Bible teaches regarding the basis for why they were chosen. Most people just assume that if one individual is chosen whereas another is not, it must be because one has met a certain condition that the other failed to meet. It is assumed that one was chosen because he did something good or commendable, and that the other was not chosen because he failed to do that good or commendable thing. Surely, it is thought, we are elected because we have succeeded in meeting some condition. Now that may seem reasonable to the carnal mind, but it is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that we were elected before the beginning of time, long before we ever did anything either good or bad. We were chosen before we were able to meet any conditions. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says, "...God from the beginning chose you for salvation..." Ephesians 1:4 says, "...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world...". The scriptures emphasize the fact that we were chosen before we were born so that we will realize that we were elected as an act of pure grace and not because we did something to deserve it. This is pointed out in the case of Jacob and Esau. Romans 9:10-15 says, "... and not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, 'the older shall serve the younger'. As it is written, 'Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated'. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion'. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." Here in the plainest of language we read that God chose Jacob and passed by Esau before they were even born, and it was not conditioned on anything they ever did. He loved Jacob and hated Esau and it had nothing whatsoever to do with a condition Jacob met which Esau failed to meet. Jacob and Esau were both sinners and so God could have justly hated them both! But instead He unconditionally chose Jacob and had mercy upon him. He says..."I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy." God is sovereign and He has mercy on whomever He chooses. It does not have anything to do with our works or even with the choices of our wills. Verse 16 in Romans 9 says, "It is not of him who wills...but of God that shows mercy." Now the idea of unconditional election ties in perfectly with the concept of total depravity, the first point of Calvinism. Since man is spiritually dead and unable to do anything spiritually good it must be the case that he is elected unconditionally rather than on the basis of his actions. Man is saved by sheer grace and not by works. He is saved because God chose him and not because he chose God. Jesus said, "You did not choose Me but I chose you..." (John 15:16) We imagine that we did the choosing when it came to salvation. But we are mistaken when we think this way. We would never have chosen God, because our hearts were sinful and hard like a stone. We were dead in sin and unresponsive. There are none that seeks after God. We love Him because He first loved us. He unconditionally chose us before the foundation of the world, and because of that, the Holy Spirit changed our wicked hearts through the miracle of the new birth. Then, as a result of that new birth we came to Jesus and believed on Him for salvation. He regenerated us, He gave us spiritual life and we believed. Just as Lazarus was first given life and then He was able to come to Christ, we were given life and then we came to Jesus in Faith. Faith is the result of having been chosen. In Acts 13:48 the apostle Paul was preaching to a group of Gentiles and it says, "And when the Gentiles heard this (the gospel) they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." Here we see that believing is the result of having been elected and appointed to eternal life. Many people think that we were chosen because God foresaw that we would believe. But that is not what the scriptures teach. We were not chosen because we believe but just the opposite. We believe because we were appointed. The verse says, "as many as had been appointed to eternal live believed." That, my friend, is unconditional election!
To finish the article, Go to the discussion on Limited Atonement
If you have any questions about Calvinism, then email me here at RachelRuth@juno.com. =^D
What About The History of Calvinism?
Go to Geocities' Main Homepage!