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In the 15th century, the Protestant Reformation swept through Europe. In Germany, there was Martin Luther.
In Zurich, Huldrych Zwingli was a major influence. In Scotland,
John Knox was a major player. And in Geneva,
there was John Calvin.
Calvin lived from 1509 to 1564. He was much more of a systematic theologian
than Luther and quickly emerged as one of the leaders of the Reformation.
Although he wrote many books and commentaries, he is best known for his
Institutes of the Christian Religion, which grew from a small handbook in
1536 to a large volume of 79 chapters in 1559.
The Catholics had preached a salvation by "merit." The selling of
indulgences had enraged Martin Luther: "as the coin in the coffer rings,
so the soul from Purgatory springs."
The Reformers fought one extreme by going to the other extreme. Luther taught
a system of "faith only" and called James "an epistle full of
straw."
John Calvin drew from the great theologian, Augustine, who had lived at the
end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th century.
In a sense, he adapted Augustine to the Protestant Reformation and helped to
chart a distinctive theology that has largely influenced the Protestant
movement ever since.
I. What is
Calvinism?
A. It's a basic view of God's relationship to mankind and the salvation
process which has two main foundations:
1. Calvin's view of the sovereignty of God - that God is in total control of
the universe and of everything that happens.
a. Calvin believed that there is no such thing as chance, and that "all
events whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God"
(Institutes, I:16:2).
b. All of history unfolds precisely as God has decreed from the beginning.
c. He argued that "men do nothing save at the secret instigation of God,
and do not discuss and deliberate on anything but what he has previously
decreed with himself, and brings to pass by his secret direction…"
(Institutes, I:18:1).
d. A modern Calvinist, R.C. Sproul: "If there
is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of
God's sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God
will ever be fulfilled…"
e. Calvinists believe in a God who micromanages every detail, precisely
because He has foreordained it to occur.
f. Hardline Calvinists believe there are no real
tragedies in life; that if a 3-year-old child contracts an incurable and
painful bone cancer, it is because God specifically ordained this to occur.
If a young lady is raped and dismembered, God must have predestined it.
2. The second pillar on which Calvinism rests is total inherited depravity.
a. Augustine had combined the practice of infant baptism with the idea of
original sin, and he even suggested that infants who died without baptism
would go to hell.
b. Calvin took the concept of inherited total depravity and made it a
lynchpin of Protestant thought.
c. Every human being since Adam and Eve is born into this world with a
depraved nature as a result of original sin. Since each human being is
totally depraved, he is unable to do anything that would have any bearing whatsoever
on his salvation.
d. Calvinist Confessions of Faith say things like,
"Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness
and communion with God, and we in them, whereby death came upon all; all
becoming dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of
soul and body… We are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all
good, and wholly inclined to all evil."
3. You combine the two doctrines, and what is left? The free will of mankind
to choose has no place in Calvinism. Luther, in fact, wrote TheBondage of the Will, in which he asserts that we do
not have free moral agency
a. Human beings are morally and spiritually crippled from birth.
b. God controls every detail of every event.
B. The "Five Major Points of Calvinism" were formulated after
Calvin's death, at the Council of Dort in
1618, in response to an anti-Calvinist view called Arminianism.
1. Total Inherited Depravity
2. Unconditional Election - also called "predestination" and
"foreordination."
3. Limited Atonement - the benefits of Christ's death are offered only to the
"elect."
4. Irresistible Grace - the Holy Spirit is sent directly to the heart of one
of the elect to provide "enabling grace," and awaken in him the
opportunity to respond to the gospel. It's sometimes called a "direct
operation of the Holy Spirit."
5. Perseverance of the Saints - since God takes all the initiative, if you
receive the gift, you will never lose it. This is often called, "the
impossibility of apostasy" or "once saved, always saved."
C. Can you see how the whole system stands or falls on one or two major
points?
1. Calvinism's view of God's sovereignty and total inherited depravity define
everything.
2. Human beings, who have no ultimate say in their own destiny, are either
eternally doomed or blessed.
3. In a nutshell: If you don't have it, you'll never get it; if you have it,
you're going to get it, whether you want it or not; once you get it, you'll
never lose it; and if you truly lose it, you never had it.
4. I believe that the "god" of Calvinism is a control freak and a
monster.
5. How can he truly love his creatures? How can he truly enter give-and-take
relations with human beings made in his image?
6. Calvinists often dodge the issue by hiding behind the "inscrutable
ways" of God, past finding out. Nonsense! If Calvinism is true, then God
is monstrous tyrant who damns the majority of the human race without an even
playing field.
II.
Biblical Objections
A. T-U-L-I-P
1. Total Inherited Depravity - Ez. 18:4,20; James 1:14-15
2. Unconditional Election - Jn. 3:16; Rom. 2:11
3. Limited Atonement - Jn. 3:16; II Pet. 3:9; I
Tim. 2:3-4
4. Irresistible Grace - Acts 7:51; Rom. 1:16; 10:17
5. Perseverance of the Saints - Heb. 3:12; II Pet. 2:20-22
B. A classic "proof text" - Jn. 6:44
1. Does not rule out free choice - 37-40
2. The drawing power is not an irresistible force - 44-45
a. The passage does not say that everyone who is drawn will come; it says
that everyone who comes is drawn. There is a difference.
b. Must "hear" and "learn" to "come" - which
says something about the drawing power God uses to get us to come
c. Not just anyone can come - only those who are humble enough and hungry
enough to hear the Message.
d. The drawing power is in the Message. The Greatest Story Ever Told.
3. The right to a relationship with Jesus is granted - 65
a. God does the granting, just as Ahasuerus granted
Esther the right to approach the throne…
b. He grants this right to those who believe - 64
c. The point: from start to finish, eternal life is the Father's gift and
does not lie in the control of man.
d. If you try to come to Jesus on your own terms, you will be rejected.
e. Only those who are drawn by the gospel can come, and you must
"hear" and "learn" in order to "come."
4. Is there anything in this passage that teaches Total Inherited Depravity
or Irresistible Grace by a "god" who controls our every move?
The God of the Bible is a God of love. He gives you a
choice. He respects your freedom of choice. He is no respecter of persons.
If you choose to serve Him on His terms, He will save you. If you choose,
after everything He's done to draw you into His love, to reject Him, then He
will respect your choice.
Draw (Jn. 6:44)
A Calvinist
friend "drew" his line in the sand on the meaning of the word
"draw" in John 6:44. He insisted that this term demands a direct
operation of the Spirit and divine "force" on a sinner's heart. The
relevant word is from helkuo (elkuw),
sometimes represented as helko (elkw).
According to
Bauer's lexicon (p. 251), it has both a transitive and intransitive meaning,
and the basic idea is "drag" or "draw." In a literal,
transitive sense, it is used of dragging someone out of the temple, dragging
someone into court, or dragging stones out of the deep. It means "pull
or tug someone back and forth, mistreat someone." Intransitively, it can
refer to the "flow" of a river. However, it is also used in a
transitive, figurative sense "of the pull on man's inner life… draw,
attract John 6:44." (emph. mine, MW)
Vine (I:336) suggests helko (elkw) means "to draw" and "differs from suro, as drawing does from violent dragging. It is used
of drawing a net, John 21:5,11… Trench remarks, 'At
vv. 6 and 11, helko (or helkuo)
is used; for there is a drawing of the net to a certain point is intended; by
the disciples to themselves in the ship, by Peter to himself upon the shore.
But at ver. 8 helko gives
place to suro; for nothing is there intended by the
dragging of the net, which had been fastened to the ship, after it through
the water.'
"This less violent significance, usually present in helko,
but always absent from suro, is seen in the
metaphorical use of helko, to signify the drawing
by inward power, by Divine impulse, John 6:44; 12:32. So in the Septuagint,
e.g., Song of Songs 1:4 and Jeremiah 31:3, 'with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee.' It is used of a more vigorous
action, in John 18:10, of drawing a sword; in Acts 16:19; 21:30, of forcibly
drawing men to or from a place; so in James 2:6…." (emph.
mine, MW)
Questions
to consider:
Is an
"irresistible force" demanded by the meaning of the term, or can
God "draw" us with the persuasion of a powerful gospel (cf. Rom.
1:16)?
If God's power is limitless, is He hypothetically capable of devising a
gospel that can penetrate and transform a sinner's heart? If not, why should
the effects of sin be more powerful than the capabilities of God?
Jesus said, "I will draw all men to Myself" (Jn.
12:32). Must we limit the "all"? If the drawing of "all
men" is an irresistible force, then why are not all saved, since God's
stated desire is to save everyone (cf. I Tim. 2:3-4; II Pet. 3:9)?
If the context of Jn. 6:44 is allowed to weigh in,
does the passage actually say that everyone who is drawn will come?
The next verse, which is connected in thought to v. 44, uses the operative
terms, "taught," "hear," and "learn." Wouldn't
that say something about the nature of the drawing power that God utilizes?
No doubt, the right to come to Jesus is "granted" (v. 65). Eternal
life is the Father's gift and does not lie in our own schemes. If someone
tries to come to Jesus on his own terms, he will be rejected. Only those who
are drawn can come - i.e., one must be "taught," must
"hear," and must "learn" in order to "come." Is
there anything in John 6:44 and context that says the drawing power is
"irresistible" and "unconditional"?
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