Calvinism teaches the concept of predestination, asserting that God elects some individuals for salvation and others for eternal damnation, a doctrine known as "Double Predestination," with the idea that human choices are ultimately driven by God. Many Calvinists find comfort in their perceived status as the "elect," believing their salvation is secure and beyond human influence, while critics question the morality and logic of predetermining eternal suffering for others.
Calvinism asserts that God meticulously controls every aspect of existence, determining the eternal fate of individuals without consideration of human choice, whereas Arminianism emphasizes human free will in salvation, portraying it as a synergistic act between God and humans. The debate explores whether it is possible to reconcile these views biblically, acknowledging God's ultimate victory through Jesus while questioning if a loving God could allow eternal suffering or if humanity can be unconditionally elected for salvation.
Calvinism Part Three
Okay, we left off talking about Calvinism and stopped on the subject of what the Calvinists call, The Sovereignty of God.
The Sovereignty of God
- If you want to understand Calvinism, it is vital to first come to terms with what they call His Sovereignty – or the teaching that His will is always done to the exclusion of anything men and women do or say or think or believe.
- In the doctrine of predestination, Five Point Calvinism affirms God’s Sovereignty and states that it is His perfect will (unaffected or moved by any deeds of humankind) which decides that He will save some and that the rest will burn eternally in insufferable pain and agony.
- The fact that God predestines some to eternal life and others to eternal deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. is known in theological circles as “Double Predestination.”
- With double predestination souring the palate of many thinking Five Point Calvinists today, there tends to be a “massaging of this stance” which has allowed another less heinous view to come into play, which says something to the effect that all of Man’s choices are God-driven. But to this, it is still maintained that the depraved choose not to accept these directives from on high and therefore prove (or demonstrate) why they merit hell. That’s getting a little better. Nevertheless…
Unconditional Election
- In his explanation of Unconditional Election, RC Sproul, a modern five-point Calvinist scholar, said the following: "Our final destination, heaven or hell, is decided by God, not only before we get here, but before we are even born. It teaches that our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Another way of saying it is this: From all eternity, before we ever live, God decided to save some members of the human race and to let the rest of the human race perish. God made a choice—he chose some individuals to be saved unto everlasting blessedness in heaven and others he chose to pass over, to allow them to follow the consequences of their sins into eternal torment in hell." (R. C. Sproul, Chosen by God: Know God’s Perfect Plan for His Glory and His Children (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1986), 22, 26.
The Ethical Dilemma
- In response to this teaching, it is obvious that the people who love and adopt it are never the ones who are on the eternal burning end of the doctrine but always on the elect side – of course!
- Now, in light of the command to love, I cannot for the life of me understand anyone who is comfortable with the notion that while they have “been chosen as part of the elect,” trillions of other people are going to suffer eternally, burning alive in the flames of the second death, for no other reason than God wants and wills it! Does that make any sense to you?
- What seems to truly comfort those who maintain the Five Point mindset is the fact that since God has elected them, their ability to muck up His election is virtually impossible – which ends up giving them this sort of smug ability to completely rest in Him.
- From a biblical point of view, we might understand part of the Calvinist attitude as believers do trust in God’s ability to see them through to the end. But what comes attached to it in the eyes of the Calvinist is frankly unconscionable.
- See, there is no free
Theological Concepts in Calvinism and Arminianism
In Five Point Calvinism, God not only manages everything and has managed everything from the beginning, He also micro-manages every last detail in the scope of the great all. Being Sovereign, He is a master of puppets, pulling all the strings and forcing His will upon a human race of choice-less drones relative to Salvation. To the Calvinist, His management is by and through a cut and dry, black and white decisions that, again, winds up placing most human beings in the lake of fire. Why our Good God, if He is Sovereign and loving and good, does not choose to redeem us all goes unanswered by the Calvinist devotee – with the occasional claim that God is seen as more glorious for being just by putting most in a burning hell forever – not less. The result of all this (so far) is that all of us, (before we ever drew a single breath) are either saved or damned – there is no in-between and there is nothing anyone can do about it – ever! It's all in His hands.
Arminianism's View on Free Will
Now, Arminian’s downplay the Sovereignty of God (to some extent) and make “free will” a major factor in the salvation of Man – and therefore, man’s decision to choose well is triumphant to the will of God to redeem all. Theologians call the Arminianist view of salvation “synergistic” – meaning it is a work of God working with the free will of Man to bring about salvation. Calvinism would therefore be seen as monergistic, meaning all decisions are from a single direction – from God to Man, and that man has no say or play in the results.
Exploring Biblical Reason
In the face of Calvin’s Five Points and Arminianist Free Will, is there a common ground of biblical reason to be had? Is it possible, using only the Bible, to prove that while God sovereign, and that Jesus is the only way, and that God does elect some to life and others to death while allowing the free will of humans to exist but with all ultimately being redeemed? Is it possible for a loving God to allow for a hell of darkness and pain, for a lake of fire of endless suffering to exist? Is it possible for wholly depraved humankind to be unconditionally elected (by Holy) God to life? Yes, it is – to all of it. And it all only happens in and through His Son and His total victory over all things.
Which we will talk more about . . . next week.
OUT.
