MY RESPONSE TO A CALVINIST
By Ezekiel Kimosop
INTRODUCTION
This article was written in response to a rejoinder to my previous article by a Calvinist who posted the following comment on my Facebook page:
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READER'S COMMENT
Total Depravity - As a result of Adam’s fall, the entire human race is affected; all humanity is dead in trespasses and sins. Man is unable to save himself (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10-18).
Unconditional Election - Because man is dead in sin, he is unable to initiate a response to God; therefore, in eternity past God elected certain people to salvation. Election and predestination are unconditional; they are not based on man’s response (Romans 8:29-30;9:11; Ephesians 1:4-6, 11-12) because man is unable to respond, nor does he want to.
Limited Atonement - Because God determined that certain ones should be saved as a result of God’s unconditional election, He determined that Christ should die for the elect alone. All whom God has elected and for whom Christ died will be saved (Matthew 1:21; John 10:11; 17:9; Acts 20:28; Romans 8:32; Ephesians 5:25).
Irresistible Grace - Those whom God elected He draws to Himself through irresistible grace. God makes man willing to come to Him. When God calls, man responds (John 6:37, 44; 10:16).
Perseverance of the Saints - The precise ones God has elected and drawn to Himself through the Holy Spirit will persevere in faith. None whom God has elected will be lost; they are eternally secure (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-14)
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MY RESPONSE
Here's my response to the readers comment:
TOTAL DEPRAVITY
Salvation is not and has never been about man saving himself. Your assertion is therefore unnecessary and misleading. The issue is about whether or not the sinner can hear the gospel and respond to it willingly, consciously. You left out that part. You rebuttal, if intended, therefore fails. I stand by my view that the Total Depravity doctrine, in so far as it denies the sinner's ability to respond to God's grace, is unbiblical.
UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
There's no evidence from Scripture to support the Unconditional Election doctrine. According to Scripture, salvation comes through God's grace and is conditional to the sinner's response (John 3:16). God cannot forcibly save anyone. See my website article.
You have simply cited proof texts without outlining how they support your doctrine. Your mention of Gen 6:5 ignores Gen 6:8. Noah found favor with God despite the wickedness in his generation! He was obedient to God and therefore pleased God. The concept of Unconditional Election as outlined by Calvinism is false and misleading.
Jeremiah 17:9 should be read together with Jeremiah 17:10. You have not demonstrated how this Scripture supports the Unconditional Election doctrine.
I can state with confidence that this doctrine is not supported by any passage of Scripture.
LIMITED ATONEMENT
I have addressed this fallacious doctrine in my website article whose link was shared on my Facebook teaching page.
Now to respond to your citations:
Matthew 1:21 does not refer to the "Elect". Jesus is referring the Jewish people in that context. None of the rest of the Scriptures cited affirm the Limited Atonement doctrine.
Here's why...
The sheep mentioned in John 10:11 are not the "Elect" contemplated by Calvinism. Jesus was speaking about those among the Jews who had obeyed His voice as opposed to the Pharisees who resisted His message and opposed His works.
The context of the statement in John 10:11 stretches back to the healing incident in John 9 that stirred up the discourse.
John 17:9 doesn't refer to the Calvinistic "Elect" but to all who will come to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel. This is equally true of the flock (Acts 20:28); those who are the called (Romans 8:28-32) and the Church (Ephesians 5:25).
IRRESISTABLE GRACE
There's no single reference to the doctrine of Irresistable Grace in Scripture! The Bible only contemplates the conviction of the sinner when the gospel is proclaimed in truth (cf. Hebrews 4:12).
John 6:37 refers to those who will come to Christ by faith. This Scripture does not support the double predestination theory advanced by Calvinism.
John 6:44 - God draws men to Himself through the preaching of the gospel and by no other means. This is true of John 10:16 as concerns the other [futuristic] sheep which are not of the immediate fold [Jewish believers] that Jesus had drawn to Himself at this point in time.
The concept of Irresistable grace is an alien and abstract philosophical construct exclusive to Calvinism. It is a false teaching; a plain heresy intended to justify the purported election of a special group of sinners ahead of Calvary to the exclusion of others.
PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
Yes God preserves those He calls or draws to Himself through the preaching of the gospel and who individually respond to the gospel. However, so long as the "elected saints" contemplated in this doctrine refers to the philosophically abstract group taught by Calvinism, this doctrine is decidedly false and misleading.
CONCLUSION
The Calvinistic/Reformed systematic premised on the TULIP is heretical. It is neither Christian or Biblical in substance.
God has not preserved a group of sinners for eternal life to the exclusion of others!
All sinners in all ages can hear the gospel when proclaimed and accept or reject it. Adam heard the voice of God in the Garden of Eden even after he fell! In his guilt, he hid from the presence of God but God graciously sought him.
The gospel is sufficient to reveal to the sinner his fallen condition and to convict him of his guilt and his need for a savior.
Calvinism denies this truth because it stands in the way of their false doctrines.
In conclusion, my view is that TULIP Calvinism is a false systematic that reads philosophical suppositions into Scripture. Its authority lies outside Scripture. It cannot be embraced by a Bible believing and discerning Christian without first denying the fundamental truths taught in the word of God.
© Ezekiel Kimosop 2020
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