A Different God, Different Cross, and Different Gospel!
These three claims are very serious and are not to be taken lightly. If they are true, in which I have no doubt that they are, then this is an issue that needs to be separated from and swiftly dealt with before, as a cancer, it spreads through the Church. These are the very essentials of our faith. Without them, we have no faith. All I have heard from people about this issue is the fact that we should not divide over it and it should not be made public. So let me ask this: If a different God, different Cross, and different Gospel is nothing to divide over, than please educate me on just what is? Second, Christ openly and publicly called out heresy and rebuked the heretics. Read Matthew 23 for example. The true issue is this: We want to exalt fellowship and unity over the Truth of God. This is also a major issue. There is nothing that should be exalted over His Truth, but sadly, this is the case. You can’t just sweep this under the rug and hope that it goes away.
In order to understand these claims, we first need an explanation of the teachings of the 5 points of Calvinism. It is my experience that most people do not fully understand these teachings, as I myself did not, yet calling myself a 3 point Calvinist. So for the sake of clarification, I will state the teaching. Let me premise this by saying that there are those who say they are 1, 2, 3, and even 4 point Calvinists, but this just cannot be. You cannot just pick and choose what you want to believe about the 5 points of Calvinism just as you cannot pick and choose what to believe out of the Word of God. It is ALL or NOTHING. Most leading Calvinists will openly tell you this. With this teaching, these 5 points are so intertwined together that if one point fails, than it all fails.
THE T.U.L.I.P.
T is Total Depravity also called Total Inability. Although most would agree we are dead in sin, this doctrine goes far beyond this. Why inability? Inability to do what? To understand and comprehend the Law and the Gospel. All sense of spirituality has been annihilated. The sinner has no sense of anything in the spiritual realm.
U is Unconditional Election. This doctrine states that before the foundations of the world God had already decided whom He would pick, for no reason at all, to go to heaven, leaving the rest to burn in HELL, creating them for that very purpose.
L is Limited Atonement. This doctrine states that Christ died for only those whom He picked to go to heaven, not ALL MEN EVERYWHERE as the Bible states.
I is Irresistible Grace. This doctrine states that because men are totally unable to understand the Law and the Gospel, God has to use His Grace to make you Born-Again and then grant you faith and repentance so you can repent and believe.
P is Perseverance of the Saints. Most people think that this is Eternal Security, but there is a world of difference between the two. Because Calvinists believe that God shows His irresistible grace to totally depraved people whom He has unconditionally elected before time, Calvinists have no choice but to believe that it is impossible for a genuinely-saved person to forfeit his salvation. This is what the Calvinistic doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is all about. True saints will persevere in faith, and if they don’t, they were never truly saved in the first place. Their only hope is that they are one of the elect, never fully being assured that they are.
All of these doctrines tie together to form a single belief system. Without one doctrine, it all falls. Let me show you why you cannot pick and choose what to believe in this system of theology.
Because men do not have the ability to receive or reject the Gospel (Total Depravity), God has to make us repent and believe (Irresistible Grace) in order for us to love Him. Because we do not have the ability, He has to pick certain people to bestow His Grace on, for no reason whatsoever (Unconditional Election), allowing everyone else to burn in HELL! Those whom He picked and them only, did He send His Son to die for (Limited Atonement). If Christ died for the non-elect, so they say, then His precious blood was wasted! Because God creates believers He will make sure they persevere until the end (Perseverance of the Saints).
All we have to do is look at the plain teaching of Scripture to realize that this is NOT the God of the Bible.
Bill,
Thanks for sending me this. It’s nice & quiet at this time of the morning & it was perfect to take the time to read this (a couple of times actually) to really absorb what these people believe.
I had heard of Calvinism before but never knew what it was. I appreciate reading this article and know thatI have so much more to learn about his.
Not because they’re right! But to be able to identify it in people I would talk to that believe in this false doctorine.
You’ve always been patient with me on questions of religion and I appreciate that.
Thanks,
Patty
P.S. Is it called TULIP because they believe they are PICKED??? Not kidding…funny…but not kidding.
It would be helpful if you included the scriptural basis for the doctrines of grace. Also why not list the descriptions as taught by Reformed theologians instead of adding your own opinions in with the description.
Rather than do a big cut n paste here is a link to a fairly concise description of TULIP (second half of the page)
http://carm.org/calvinism
I agree with Nic! If you’re going to argue against something, don’t use your own opinions of it until you’ve sited the truth of it. I can see some big misrepresentations of what classical Calvinists believe and what is being said here. I’m not trying to cause a big debate for or against, but I want to know why these doctrines are heretical, and all I have seen so far is opinion, not concrete evidence provided by Scripture.
Tim, Calvinists disagree amongst themselves so finding a “classical” Calvinist is not easy. If you want to know why these doctrines are heretical its easy…the way Calvinists define God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility cannot be harmonized together. John MacArthur has said he can’t harmonize them.
The reason he can’t is because something is wrong.
The Calvinist view is too extreme in its teachings. Sinners are depraved and separated from God by their sin, not “totally depraved” to the point of being “unable” to believe the gospel. But you see, it only takes one sin to separate you from God, which makes them depraved.
Christ died for everyone including the false teachers who denied the LORD WHO BOUGHT THEM (2 Peter 2:1). In Luke 22:19-22 Christ says to all at the table He is offering His body and blood to them…Judas was sitting there…Christ died for all.
People can and do resist God’s drawing (Matthew 22:3, Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34, John 5:40).
There is an interesting book someone gave me recently called “The other side of Calvinism” by Laurence W. Vance. I have never in my life seen so many quotes from Calvinists in this book. He very clearly shows what Calvinists teach and not only that, how they contradict one another and how the doctrine contradicts scripture.