History of Calvinism
Biblical Basis for the Five Points of Calvinism
- Total Depravity
- Unconditional Election
- Limited Atonement
- Irresistable Grace
- Perseverance of the Saints
- Synopsis
Logical Discussion of Calvinism & Arminianism
Questions & Objections
GOD'S ATTRIBUTES
To understand exactly what I believe, first one must understand precisely what I believe about the Lord. God has many attributes, but the three which summarize his entire being are as follows:
- Omnipotence
- Omniscience
- Omnipresence
The backing for these three attributes of God are written into the Bible time and time again; therefore, I will only show a couple of verses to support each attribute.
Omnipotence
Psalm 147:4-5
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
Job 42:2
I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Luke 1:37
For nothing is impossible with God.
Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Omniscience
Matthew 6:4,6,8
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you ... But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you ... Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Psalm 139:1-6
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
Omnipresence
Psalm 139:7-8
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Jeremiah 23:23-24
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.
As one can see, the above verses often speak of more than just one of God’s three attributes. This intermingling of the attributes shows the totality of God’s power, knowledge, and presence.
HISTORY OF CALVINISM
Now that I have explained God and His attributes, a little more in depth study of the plan of salvation is in order. To put it simply, I believe in predestination. Predestination is God’s work in ordaining salvation for people without their prior knowledge. The basis for my belief in predestination is most succinctly stated within the Biblical backing of the five points of Calvinism. The five points of Calvinism were until 1610 the unquestioned view of the Bible taken by the church.
In 1610, the followers of James Arminius came up with the five points of Arminianism. These five points stated as follows directly oppose my beliefs in the five points of Calvinism. The five points of Arminianism are as follows:
- Each sinner possesses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it.
- God's choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world was based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call.
- Christ's redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone.
- The call to salvation made specifically by the Holy Spirit can be resisted.
- Once saved, man can fall from grace and lose his salvation.
In 1618, a national Synod (a council or assembly of churches or church officials) met in Dort for the purpose of examining the views of Arminius in the light of Scripture. There were 84 member and 18 secular commissioners. Included were 27 delegates from Germany, the Palatinate, Switzerland and England. There were 154 sessions held during the seven months that the Synod met to consider these matters, the last of which was on May 9, 1619. These meetings resulted in a total denunciation of the views of Arminianism.
Out of these meetings came the five points of Calvinism (named after John Calvin). These five points are the most succinct way of stating what I believe. I will give the five points and then proceed to provide Biblical backing for each. As above in describing God’s attributes, I am not going to bring in every passage in the Scripture that backs these points, but I will try to capture the Scriptures which most vividly express the proof for each point. The five points and their definitions are as follows:
- Total Depravity
- Unconditional Election
- Limited Atonement
- Irresistible Grace
- Perseverance Of The Saints
BIBLICAL BASIS FOR THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM
Total Depravity - Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature; therefore, he will not - indeed cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit’s assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration (Spiritual rebirth) by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God’s gift of salvation - it is God’s gift to the sinner, not the sinner’s gift to God.
Romans 3:9-12
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Romans 8:6-8
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Job 14:4
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
John 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Jeremiah 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
1 Corinthians 4:7
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Unconditional Election - God’s choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause of God’s choice. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus God’s choice of the sinner, not the sinner’s choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.
2 Timothy 1:9
who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time
Romans 9:11-13,16
Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls - she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated ... It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
Matthew 11:27
All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Ephesians 1:4-5
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will
2 Thes. 2:13-14
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Limited Atonement - Christ’s redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was a substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, thereby guaranteeing their salvation.
Matthew 22:14
For many are invited, but few are chosen.
Ephesians 1:4-5
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will
Romans 8:28-30
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Titus 2:13-14
while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Colossians 1:21-22
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation
John 6:35-40
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 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 him up at the last day.”
John 17:6-10
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.”
Irresistible Grace - In addition to the outward general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably brings them to salvation. The external call (which is made to all without distinction) can be, and often is, rejected; whereas, the internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be rejected; it always results in conversion. By means of this special call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited in His work of applying salvation by man’s will, nor is He dependent upon man’s cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ. God’s grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended.
Romans 9:18-21
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
1 Corinthians 12:3
Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:4-7
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
John 3:27
To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.”
1 Corinthians 4:7
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Ephesians 2:4-5
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
John 1:12-13
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Perseverance Of The Saints - All who were chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus persevere to the end.
John 10:27-30
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Jude 1:24-25
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Synopsis Of The Five Points Of Calvinism - Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the Gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.
LOGICAL DISCUSSION OF CALVINISM & ARMINIANISM
The five points of Calvinism and the five points of Arminianism can both stand up to logical reasoning because they are both diametrically opposed to each other on each and every point. Logically, only Calvinism and Arminianism are capable of supporting themselves. Any mixing of the five points between these two beliefs opens inconsistencies in one’s views. Arminianism is based entirely on man. Calvinism is based entirely on God.
Biblically, only the five points of Calvinism can stand. Arminianism can only stand logically if you remove the attributes of God (omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence). First, the concept of being able to reject God’s call goes against Biblical principles. If man was able to reject God, then for that instant of time on that particular subject, man becomes more powerful than God. This concept removes God’s omnipotence. Second, to put it simply, if salvation depended upon man, no one would have assurance of his salvation. Man has neither the knowledge nor the power to guarantee his own salvation. Our assurance of salvation (once saved always saved) can only be there if that assurance comes from the Lord. Third, let’s talk about man’s total depravity. If man is not totally depraved, why exactly did Jesus die on the Cross? If there was any amount of good in man, Jesus would not have had to become the perfect and total substitution on the Cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection did not then nor does it now require any action upon man’s part. God’s master plan is perfect in every regard. The only way God’s master plan could fail is if man with his limited knowledge had anything to do with it. God is omniscient - man is not. Fourth, man’s salvation depends upon nothing but the Lord (unconditional election). Everything from doing good works to being a member of a specific group or denomination is in some way man earning his own way to heaven. Once again, if man is the deciding factor in whether or not he goes to heaven, man becomes more powerful than God on that particular subject. Let’s jump in a little deeper here. If God is waiting for us to choose Him, He is essentially waiting for our answer to the message of the Gospel. God already knows our answer not because he looked down some mystical tunnel and saw how we would decide but because he is omniscient. If God saw our answer by looking down a tunnel and then worked it into his master plan, God would have had to of learned our answer. God does not learn anything - he is already omniscient. Finally, does everyone go to heaven? If your answer happens to be yes, why does the Scripture reference hell more than it does heaven? Christ’s death on the Cross was complete in its purpose. His death secured the salvation of those He came to save (the elect). God has full knowledge of who the elect are through His omniscience, and He has the power to bring the elect to Himself at their individually appointed times because He is omnipotent.
QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS
If God is in control of everything, doesn’t that mean that we are no more than puppets on strings?
O.K. I can live with this particular analogy. Let me see if I can get you to look at this question from a different perspective. Who is better off - a man who has free will and limited knowledge trying to outguess the next event on the horizon or the puppet who has as its puppetmaster God who is omniscient. Personally, I would much rather see life as God’s master plan which God is guiding me through than a series of random events which God doesn’t have control over. With God in control, I do not have the stress of having to worry about things like what will tomorrow hold, can I provide for myself (& others), and where will I be in the future. God has already taken care of all things. If I thought that I was in control of things, I’d be a basketcase. To simplify things, God is in control as seen by His attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.
The Five Points of Calvinism destroy my belief in free-will.
Good. Free-will is not a friend, but an enemy; for the will of man, being corrupt, leads to his condemnation; man’s true friend is the free-grace of God, which comes to his rescue, delivering him from the relentless tyranny of his own nature, from which he would otherwise be powerless to escape. With the downfall of free-will, all grounds for human pride and boasting are gone. With everything being a gift from God, man cannot rightly say “I accomplished this or look what I did.” The concept of having the Almighty God be in total and absolute control of my life does not bother me personally. I would challenge anyone who believes that he is in control of his own life to ask himself the question, “Do I believe in free-will because it is Biblically sound or because I am unwilling to give up the power and status that free-will appears to provide?”
If the salvation of individuals depends on God’s decree of election, why do we have missionaries?
If for no other reason, the preaching of the Gospel is justified, at the most basic level, by the express command of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Great Commission as stated in Matthew 28:16-20. God is a God that works through means and the appointed means by which man comes to faith is the preaching of the Gospel. While all things are known to God, I or anyone for that matter does not know whom God has chosen. I may be the means through which God brings the Gospel to one of His elect.
Why do we need to pray?
The simplest answer is to say that God commands us to pray in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and Luke 18:1. One modern view of prayer is to believe that we pray to acquire what we want or need. To this concept, I say nonsense. Prayer is taking an attitude of dependency upon God, spreading our need before him, and asking for those things which are in accordance with His will. God has a master plan for each and every one of us - He does not modify that plan with each new whim that we come to Him with in prayer (this concept would deny His omniscience). Prayer is an act of worship - an acknowledgment of God’s goodness, power, and grace, and a submission to His will. Prayer involves coming into the presence of God and realizing our total unworthiness. Our attitude in prayer should be one of “Not my will, but yours be done” as evidenced in Luke 22:42.
If God only saves certain people, isn’t God being unfair since the others never have an opportunity to believe?
If God is to be charged with dealing unjustly with men, it will have to be shown that men in some way deserve what God has chosen to bestow upon some and deny to others - the eternal salvation of their souls. In the total depravity section in the earlier part of this paper, all men were proven to be sinners and therefore all men justly deserve to go to hell. Take a moment to ponder the concept that all men justly deserve to go to hell. Puts things in a little different perspective now doesn’t it. God’s mercy is great and His wisdom is eternal. Why did God choose me to be one of the elect? I don’t know, but I am grateful for the mercy that He has chosen to show me. Let me now remind you of Romans 9:18 which states, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens who he wants to harden.”
Does our salvation depend on things like baptism & partaking of the Lord’s Supper?
Absolutely not. If our salvation was dependent on items such as these, we would once again be working our way to heaven. Let’s look at Ephesians 2:8-9. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” Items such as baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and good works are evidence of our walk with Christ, but they are in no way required for our entrance into heaven.
