There are some heresies that are so terrible they can cause christians to go astray. Probably the most terrible is the one called Calvinism.
I won't go into where it comes from, but it is old! The idea behind it is that people don't get to choose whether they will accept Christ as their Savior; it is God who chooses which people can be saved and which must be damned to hell.
There are five main points in Calvinism, four of which are false teachings. The five points of Calvinism are usually represented by the letters T.U.L.I.P.
The first point that Calvanists make is the total depravity of mankind. This sounds right until you get down to what exactly they mean. It doesn't mean that man is morally corrupt and needs a Savior. What they mean is that mankind is incapable of making the choice to be saved by the blood of Christ.
If this was true, then why would Christ say in Mark 1:15- And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. The fact of the matter is that everyone can choose to repent and believe.
Nowhere in Scripture does it say that man has a total inability to choose salvation. It would have been pointless for the devil to tempt Eve if it was foreordained that Adam would be forced by God to eat the fruit. It would have been irrelevant for Joshua to tell the children of Israel to choose whom they would serve. It would be futile for a christian to give the gospel to others because they will either be saved or damned by God's declaration.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20- For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. This is a statement of fact.
It is true that all men are natural-born sinners (Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Psa. 51:5), but it is also true that God COMMANDS all men to repent and receive Christ (Acts 17:30-31; I John 3:23; Luke 13:3). Man is indeed depraved, but he isn't so depraved that he has no free will of his own (II Pet. 3:9; Jn. 1:12; 3:16; Jos. 24:15; Exo. 35:5, 21, 22, 29).
The truth is that all have the ability to get saved because Christ died for everyone! Every person not only makes the choice for their personal salvation, but also makes a daily choice after salvation over whom they will serve- they can choose to follow God's direction or seek their own gratification.
Romans 6:16- Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.
Calvinists like to use Romans 9:16 and 18 (So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.) as proof that mankind has the inability to make a choice in the matter. However, they fail to look at the context. Paul is pointing out the fact that Israel has rejected their Messiah that came from the chosen lineage- God chose what tribe of Israel, and family within that tribe, the Messiah would come from. He concludes the chapter showing that the Gentiles accepted the Messiah the Jews rejected, and now the Jews would bear their iniquity for not accepting the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:17- But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
The reason men don't respond to the gospel is not because they have inability to do so; it's because they make that choice.
John 5:40- And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Isaiah 45:22- Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
I John 3:23- And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
He commanded that we believe; we get to choose whether to obey it or not.
The next point the Calvanist makes is unconditional election. This is the heresy that God chooses who will be saved and who will be damned to hell. This is the essence of Calvinism; it's their main belief. They believe that God has determined before the foundation of the world who shall be saved and who shall be lost.
Ephesians 2:10- For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Jude 1:4- For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Calvanists take the verses above and use them as proof that people are chosen because of the word "ordained".
What they fail to understand is that the judgment was what was ordained. God said that whoever accepts Christ would have their sin forgiven and would be given a home in heaven with Him, on the other hand those who reject and deny the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary will end up under the condemnation of God because of their choice.
If we believed that God is the author of every action every man takes then we are blaming God for the genocide that happened under Hitler, Stalin, and others. Who would fault God for that wickedness? God says multiple times in the Bible to love your neighbor, so why would he orchestrate mass murder?
This heresy is derived from perverting verses like Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 8:29. The Calvinists believe that God predestinated everyone way back before Genesis 1:1, totally ignoring their free will to choose for themselves. That is, He supposedly decided who would go to Heaven and who would go to Hell long before anyone was even born. If you'll read Romans 8:29 and I Peter 1:1-2 you'll see that God's election is based on FOREKNOWLEDGE. He didn't elect to save or damn anyone against their free will.
Calvinists take any and every verse that mentions God's direction as proof for divine foreordination. But that takes the accountability of man away- he was forced to commit these atrocities by God Himself!
Jeremiah 19:5- They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
God said to Jeremiah that He never thought of child sacrifices. He never wanted that to happen, but it was!
What God foreordained was the consequences of sin. He foreordained that Christ would die to pay the penalty for sin. He foreordained what blessings and curses would fall on those who choose to commit sin. But, God did not foreordain the sins that each individual would daily choose to perpetrate.
If the Jews in the gospels were simply carrying out God's decree then they wouldn't be declared responsible for the consequences of their actions- they would be declared obedient to the will of God! They chose to crucify Christ.
Luke 22:22- And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!
1 Corinthians 2:8- Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Christ was foreordained to die. But the Bible says that if they had known He was the Lord of Glory, the Son of God, they would have made a different choice in the matter.
The question is, "How can a person be a free and responsible agent if his actions have been foreordained from eternity?"
So, Total Depravity demands that God must elect through Unconditional Election who will be saved, and the blood He shed on Calvary is only for those who He has chosen to be saved. They call this limited atonement- God only died for certain people that He chose.
This belief, that only a limited number of people can be washed from their sins in the precious blood of Christ because only "the elect" will be saved anyway, ignores all the verses that say died for all humanity. The idea is that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it (Eph. 5:25); so the blood of Christ was only shed for the church. This is foolishness. I Timothy 2:6 says that Christ gave Himself a ransom for ALL, not just the elect. ALL have sinned (Rom. 3:23); so He died for ALL, and He saves "as many as" receive Him (John 1:12).
Calvinists have a problem with specific verses because of the words they use, like whosoever, any, and all.
John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Acts 10:43- To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
John 10:9- I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Romans 3:22- Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
John 12:32- And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
They like to say that we don't know the meaning of these words. Really?
1 John 2:2- And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
That one is pretty clear. He died for the sins of the entire human race!
According to Calvinists, those who are elected by God for salvation are saved by irresistible grace. Again, they are taking away the liability of the person to make their own choices. Irresistible grace means that our will cannot resist God when He declares us to be saved.
Basically, irresistible grace is what saves a man, believing on Christ is just a result of this overpowering grace being forced upon you.
They will quote Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:19 as proof- But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
The idea that a person who is saved will automatically do God's will because it is forced upon him is ridiculous. Paul is saying that he will try to come for a visit, if the Lord makes a way for him to. It's the same as you saying that you'll go out with your friends if you don't have to work- your boss doesn't force you to work, you choose to show up.
Paul, in the same book of 1 Corinthians, goes on to rebuke these Christians for suing each other in a court of law.
I Corinthians 6:1,5,6,8- Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.
Paul doesn't say they aren't saved. But, he does say they are doing wrong in the eyes of God. What? Why would God compel them to do wrong against another Christian? The truth is that He wouldn't!
Calvinists would have you believe that men are dead in sin to the extent that they are unable to believe on Jesus Christ of their own free will, yet God has elected some to salvation, atoned for their sin, and will them to be saved regardless of their desire, and then they must quietly wait for God to overpower their will and regenerate them so they can believe the gospel.
This teaching says that God the Holy Spirit overpowers the sinner and grants him the new birth without his conscious submission or positive response. As we've already seen, man DOES have a free will and no one is saved without CHOOSING to believe on Christ as Lord and Saviour. There is no such thing as irresistible grace. God has given us all the ability to resist anyone or anything we choose (Acts 7:51; II Tim. 3:8; Jas. 4:7). There are times when the convicting power of the Holy Spirit is so strong and real that a sinner sees no choice but to give in to God and receive Christ as Saviour, but the sinner always has a choice. No one is saved against their will, and no one is saved without first choosing to receive Christ.
I Corinthians 14:32- And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
The truth is that each of us not only get a say in the matter of our eternal destination, but we also have a choice in the every day actions that we perform. If no one has a choice, then why would we need to preach to them? Why would we send missionaries to tell them when God can force them into salvation?
Romans 10:14- How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
II Thessalonians 3:1- Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.
We are commanded to preach the gospel to the lost whether they will hear it or not. Why? Because the gospel is offered to all! God is not a man void of compassion who asks us to present the gospel that He never intends to allow them to accept.
The final point of Calvinism is the perseverance of the saints (this is also sometimes called Lordship Salvation). Some people think this is just talking about eternal security, or the fact that a Christian in the church age cannot lose their salvation.
Once a sinner receives Christ, he is predestinated to be conformed to Christ's image (Rom. 8:29). That is, as Christians, we are eternally secure and cannot lose the salvation which God has freely given us, but this is due to GOD'S PRESERVATION, not our perseverance.
They are stating that once God has forced his salvation on a person that He will continue forcing His will on that person until the end of their life so that they cannot lose their salvation. The converted sinner is made to persevere in the faith by the grace of God, and hence they cannot lose their salvation because it's God's sovereign power that keeps the person in a state of grace and holiness to the end.
Here is the problem, only a Christian in the church age has eternal security. Again, dispensations are a very important thing! God deals with people different ways throughout history.
In the church age, when you accept Christ as your Savior you get sealed with the Holy Spirit.
In the old testament, the spirit of God would come on a man while he was doing the work of God and then it would leave him. Sometimes it would leave and never come back!
In the Tribulation, a person can lose their salvation.
Hebrews 10:26- For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Did you catch the wording? If we sin wilfully! That's a choice made by you!
Paul talks about a man named Demas. In Colossians, he sends Demas' greetings to the Christians he is writing to. In Philemon, he mentions Demas as a fellowlaborer. However, in the book of 2 Timothy, he states that Demas loved the world and went to live in Thessalonica instead of continuing with Paul in his ministry.
Not once does Paul say that Demas was never saved! Just that he made the choice to live for himself.
Matthew 26:41- Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Christ told the disciples to watch and pray because there was a possibility that they could be tempted. How does temptation fit into you having no choice in obeying God's will?I Thessalonians 5:22- Abstain from all appearance of evil.
This has nothing to do with salvation. It has everything to do with your daily walk as a Christian and the choices you make.
The issue is not whether Jesus Christ is the Lord, for he is whether you accept him as the Lord or not! The issue is whether a sinner must make Christ the Lord of his life at the time he believes on Jesus Christ for salvation.
You see, a person can ask Christ to save their soul, and then live their life as if they had never gotten saved- we call these carnal christians.
I Corinthians 3:1- And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
Why are these Christians carnal babes? Because they have a free will and can choose to be selfish and worldly.
If a man's salvation depends on his perseverance then his depravity wouldn't be total, but partial. If a man's salvation depends on his perseverance then he could never be elected unconditionally because the salvation would be conditional. If a man's salvation depended on his perseverance, then the atonement of God is a failure. If a man's salvation depends on any work that he has to do then the grace applied is not irresistible!
The truth is that you do have a choice. Christ died for your sins, and you can of your own free will ask Him to apply the payment He made on Calvary to your sin debt.
Hebrews 9:27- And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Revelation 20:11-12- And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
You will one day be judged according to your works. You will be judged for every thought, action, and motive that you chose to carry out while you were alive on this earth. You will not be able to say that you had no choice in the matter, because you did, and those choices are what will determine whether you end up in heaven or hell.
NOTE: This is by no means an exhaustive study on this subject. If you are looking for material on Calvinism, please check out the book The Other Side Of Calvinism by Laurence M. Vance.
