Was John Calvin saved?

i do not speak for Calvinists, but I think I agree that anyone can be saved.
There's a difference between anyone and everyone.

If God can have mercy on a wicked wretch such as myself, then he can have mercy on anyone.

The elect can be anyone, but not everyone can be of the elect.

 

John Calvin was saved if he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. If not, if he relied on God's election for salvation, who knows?

 

Trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, and believing in God's election, are not mutually exclusive. If they were, the bible would contain a contradiction, for writing to some people at Ephesus whom he describes as "saints" and "faithful in Christ Jesus", Paul says in Ephesians 1.3-4:

3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

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I have yet to come across anyone (on this board or anywhere else) claiming that they do not need to trust Christ, because they trust in election to save them.

 

Thank you for this post, Brother David Lamb.

 

Excellent point. The whole premise of the thread is out of line. No human knows the salvation state of another. One might think so by reading some posts on this board, but the fact is, no one knows but John Calvin and God.

Anyone I have come across on this board who claims to know the salvation of others is a sign to me to ignore any more posts they write, as they are also probably in error of Scripture.

 

I appreciate your saying "who knows", brother. I know someone on this board who will outright say "he is not saved".

Although, I think it will be most stupid of John Calvin, given the intelligence of the man, to finally conclude that his election is the hinging factor of his salvation, and not Christ.

But I would like you, if you will, to expound some more on what you mean with the term ."accepted Christ"

 

Not only was John Calvin Saved. It is reported and substantiated that he was a great proponent for sending missionaries out to spread the Gospel.

http://www.founders.org/FJ33/article2_fr.html

 

It's actually been discussed on the other Calvin thread and there is no convincing profession been posted there.

Of course, the profundity of it is that salvation is "from faith to faith." But if Calvin was never saved, then we would have to say that what we have from him is "knowledge to knowledge."

skypair

 

Unless they happen to be Popes, right? :laugh:

Simple. Don't follow them, bro.

skypair

 

I saw that, rip. Hunt even uses it. I see the intellectual side in that testimony. I don't see Jesus. Thanks, though.

skypair

 

Actually, I wasn't saying that. I suppose this gets back to a nagging question for me. How do the elect know that they're one of the elect? This is especially a question for me when people heavily rely on "Grace only" and faith given by God and deemphasize or even reject the need for repentence and decipleship.

 

Try Romans 8:14-16, for one.
I am sure other brethren of the Doctrine of Grace persuasion can add more verses.

I do not know about others here, but I do not de-emphasize repentance.
However, repentance is proof of sonship, not the way to sonship.
God saved His elect children in Christ BEFORE repentance, otherwise it would be conditional salvation, and therefore no longer grace.
If God spares the sinner from the penalty of sin based on that sinner's repentance, then that sinner was never lost in the first place, but had always been a son.

After quickening the saved elect child, the Father then works His will on that child to do and to will of His good pleasure, of which repentance from idols and turning to the living God is one.

But I think this post best belongs to another thread.

I apologize for the digression.

 

Don't know if he was saved. I wouldn't doubt that he was. He sure was a giant in his understanding of the Scriptures.

 

How do you explain the following verse?

Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

That chapter is talking about the people at Ephesus, not a selected group that were chosen to be saved.

John 3:16-18 (KJV)
16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Mark 16:15-16 (KJV)
15: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Matthew 10:22 (KJV)
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

 

That's likely because us Baptists have a very good thing called "believer's baptism." In being baptized, one testifies that they have believed on Christ as Savior, died/repented from self, and been reborn. The baptism even testifies to the order of the events -- death and resurrection.

So, no, regardless of how they say they got there, they did come to a believing, saving knowledge of Christ unless they didn't know what baptism was for as well.

skypair

 

Well said!!!

 

So you're saying that every verse in the Bible that was spoken to a group of people in that time has no relevance to us in the 21st century? I don't accept that interpretation of scripture. How many verses were spoken to the United States of America? That's an easy question. None.

 

First let me apologise for not replying sooner. I usually get an e-mail notifying me that someone has replied to a thread I have replied to, but for some reason, I did not get any notice of your reply.

I am glad you were not saying that Calvin (or anyone else) relied on election rather than Christ to save them. I must have misunderstood your post. Sorry.

Because my reply was unavoidably delayed, pinoybaptist has already addressed the question you ask about how a person comes to know that they are among the elect, so I won't duplicate.

 

John Calvin recorded his conversion experience (however sparsely) in the preface to his commentary on the Psalms. Here it is:

So God converted Calvin out of "Popery" by subduing his mind and bringing it to a point of teachableness.