Jesus is the Reason for Calvinism

If you are an anti-Calvinists who doesn't believe that Calvinists love Jesus, that might say more about you than it does about Calvinism.

 

We have gone through a pandemic in which over 600,000 Americans have died. We need assurance of salvation now more than ever before.

Other than its support in the Bible, assurance of salvation is why I find Calvinism important. Because of unconditional election and irresistible grace, we can have assurance that God will preserve His saints.

Without the second and fourth points of Calvinism, we cannot have assurance of the fifth. This is why I've done my best to clarify what these doctrines actually mean, as well as their Biblical basis.

When you have the assurance of salvation that Calvinism provides, you can go on to humbly serve the Lord in love and gratitude, no matter what happens in life.

What is Calvinism and is it biblical?

Did the Early Church Believe the Doctrines of Grace?

This is from Martin Luther’s 97 Theses, almost twenty years before John Calvin’s The Institutes of the Christian Religion:

It’s only called “Calvinism” because John Calvin popularized the doctrines of grace, he did not originate them. It’s the same doctrines that Augustine taught against Pelagius and Luther taught against Rome.

 

If you are an Arminian who loves Jesus, that’s awesome. As the slogan of the Reformation goes, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

 

I believe I've made pretty much every Biblical and historical argument for Calvinism on this forum that one can possibly make.

As Jesus would say, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." My only intention has been to counter anti-Calvinist prejudice, that we are heretics rather than lovers of the Bible and Jesus Christ.

 

This passage doesn't make much sense except in light of unconditional election:

John 6
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray him, because they were never granted to Him in the first place.

 

Unconditional Election

Mark 10
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

John 12
37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:
“Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”

 

Irresistible Grace

Luke 14:23
And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

 

Irresistible (enabling) grace doesn’t mean that God’s elect will never rebel, but that God’s grace is powerful enough to overcome the elect’s rebellion, transform their wills and desires, and lead them to ultimate salvation.

Irresistible Grace - is it biblical?

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the parable of the great banquet. The man who makes the great supper is Jesus Christ, and the servant is messengers.

Those invited to the feast but do not come are those who hear the outward call of the Gospel, but because they lack God’s irresistible grace, they aren’t enabled to believe.

Those in the highways and hedges, who are compelled to come in, are God’s elect who receive the inward call of irresistible grace, and thus are enabled to believe.

Luke 14
15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.
20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

 

Irresistible Grace

Luke 19
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

 

Matthew 22:16
So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.

(Unconditional election is entirely contingent on God’s grace, rather than partiality to anything in the individual.)

 

Matthew 22:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!“
(“You” is the religious authorities, while “your children” refers to God’s elect among the nation of Israel, whom Jesus gathers like a hen under His wings.)

 

Zaccheus, make haste, and come down. (Luke 19:5) It is a remarkable instance of favor, that the Lord anticipates Zaccheus, and does not wait for his invitation, but of his own accord asks lodging at his house. We know how hateful, nay, how detestable the name of publican at that time was; and we shall find that this is shortly afterwards mentioned by Luke. It is therefore astonishing kindness in the Son of God to approach a man, from whom the great body of men recoil, and that before he is requested to do so. But we need not wonder, if he bestows this honor on one who was already drawn to him by a secret movement of the Spirit; for it was a more valuable gift to dwell in his heart than to enter his house. But by this expression he made it evident, that he is never sought in vain by those who sincerely desire to know him; for Zaccheus obtained vastly more than he had expected. Besides, the great readiness of Zaccheus to obey, his hastening to come down from the tree, and his joy in receiving Christ, exhibit still more clearly the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit; for, though he did not yet possess a pure faith, yet this submissiveness and obedience must be regarded as the beginning of faith. -
John Calvin

 

John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

 

I am so tired of sectarianism that, if not for the sake of convenience, I would never call myself a Calvinist.

There's a big difference between joining the Calvinist bandwagon and humbly reading the Bible as the final authority and coming to realize that it happens to agree with Calvinism. If you put the Bible first, and not your sectarian interpretation, then you can continue in peace and fellowship with non-Calvinists.

My only intent in communicating the doctrinal foundations of Calvinism to non-Calvinists has been to avoid being mislabeled as a heretic, not to prod others into joining some sort of bandwagon.