In Defense Of Calvinism

I agree with Charles Spurgeon who said that Calvinism is just a nickname for Biblical Christianity.  Calvinism is also known as Reformed theology.  It has it's roots in the Protestant Reformation, which was basically a recovery of Biblical Christianity.  Reformed theology is really the classic Protestant position.  Unfortunately many modern evangelicals reject it, leaning toward Arminianism.  Words like predestination, chosen, and the elect cause many to freak out. 

The typical description of Calvinism goes something like this.  God drags some people kicking and screaming to salvation against their will, while rejecting others who want to be saved.  God is unfair and man has no free will, makes no actual choices, and is just a mere puppet.  Evangelism is destroyed as well.  And this was all made up by a terrible monster named John Calvin.  There is just one problem with this description, it is not Calvinism. 

In the Reformed view no one is forced to be saved against his will and no one who truly believes is rejected.  Calvinism teaches that people are dead in their sins and cannot respond to God.  This is sometimes called the bondage of the will.  People who are dead in their sins have no desire or inclination for God.  Jonathan Edwards pointed out that people choose what they most desire.  When people are dead in their sins they will never choose God because they have no desire for him.  Their will is in bondage to sin.  They make real choices but the choices are never for God.  Dead men can't make themselves alive so they must be made alive by God.  When they are made alive by God or born again, they will respond to God.  When we go from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive, Jesus becomes irresistible to us. 

The Reformed view is also seen as unfair.  It just does not seem fair that some are chosen and predestined for salvation while others are not.  Behind this objection is the belief that we really deserve to go to heaven.  God actually owes it to us.  But this is not the case at all.  All people have sinned against God and deserve to face his wrath in hell for eternity.  If everyone got what they deserved, it would mean that everyone would go to hell.  God has the right to decree that some will receive salvation and others will not because he is God.  Salvation is totally by God's grace.  

Evangelism is not destroyed by Calvinism either.  Evangelism is the means God uses to bring his people to himself.  The elect are unknown so the gospel is proclaimed to all.  Only those chosen by God will respond with faith in Christ.  In the Reformed view God actually saves his people, he doesn't just make it possible.  In the Reformed view salvation is of the Lord, not dependent on man.  Some well known evangelists who were also Calvinists include:  Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield (prominent figures in the Great Awakening), Charles Spurgeon (the Prince of Preachers), and William Carey (considered the father of modern missions). 

Calvinism was also not made up by John Calvin and he was not a monster either.  R.C. Sproul points out that Martin Luther wrote more about predestination than John Calvin did.  One should read Luther's "The Bondage of the Will".  It was also the theology of the church father, Augustine.  And most importantly Reformed theology is taught throughout the Bible.  I do not know how anyone can read passages such as Romans 9 and Ephesians 1&2 and not adopt the Reformed view. 

The Arminian view has many problems itself.  In trying to save the freedom of man it actually limits the freedom of God.  It ends up denying his sovereignty.  If God is not sovereign he is not God.  Arminianism makes salvation dependent on man instead of God.  That adds works to salvation and it is no longer by grace.  God ends up sharing the glory with man in this view.  In the Arminian view Jesus doesn't actually save people he just makes it possible for them to be saved.  It ultimately depends on their decision.  The Arminian view also teaches that Jesus paid for the sins of all people.  This would mean universal salvation because no one would still have to pay the penalty for their sins if Jesus had already paid for them.  Another problem for Arminianism is that it has God trying to save all people but not succeeding.  The Bible clearly teaches that God does not fail, his will is never thwarted. 

Calvinism is rejected by many because it takes the control away from us.  It teaches that God is in control he is sovereign.  In the Reformed view it is to God alone be the glory.  Man does not get to share the glory.  This is not what we want to believe it goes against our natural human reason.  It has been said that all Christians are Calvinists when they pray and this is true.  Reformed theology is indeed Biblical Christianity. 

As John Calvin said, "Since no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all.  There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief."