the-word-of-god2

© 2015 by Clement Li. All Rights Reserved.

“For[a] I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add[b] to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away[c] his part from the Book[d] of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book”.(Revelations 22:18-19).

This sounds like a very serious punishment doesn’t it? But that’s what it says in the bible and this is exactly what Calvinists are doing. Let look at an example of how Calvinist are doing this.

Most if not all who considers themselves Christians probably know John 3:16 by heart:

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life(John 3:16).

This is pretty straight forward. In this passage “world” means all of humankind, human or humanity. “Whoever” means whatever person or anyone that believes. There is absolutely no hint or reference to someone being elected before time or predestined to salvation in this verse. Yet somehow Calvinist can interpret the words “world” or “whoever” as “elected”.  If you believe the words “World” and “whosoever” means “elected” then that’s not just a problem with your theology, that’s also a problem with your vocabulary. You can pick up any dictionary in the world and none of them will tell you those words means a group of people that are elected.

Calvinists believes in the idea of unconditional election which teaches how God hand-picks certain people to be saved and condemns others to eternal suffering and he does this with pleasure (John Calvin, Institutes, 3:21:7). So in order to get around passages like John 3:16 they must change the words in the passage to something like this:

 “Because God has loved certain ones and not all, because He has sovereignly and immutably determined that these particular ones will be saved, He sent His Son to die for them, to save them, and not all the world-Edwin H. Palmer”[1]

This is adding and changing things to the bible which the book of revelation states clearly that If anyone adds to these things, God will add[b] to him the plagues that are written in this book. Yet this is exactly what Calvinist are doing, abusing the word of God like Edwin H. Palmer who was pastor with a T.hd (Doctor of Theology). This is not just a problem with Calvinists but many Christians who would rather believe the theology of people with Master degrees or PhDs instead of listening to Jesus.

John Piper defines Unconditional Elections as “God’s choosing whom to save. It is unconditional in that there is no condition man must meet before God chooses to save him. Man is dead in trespasses and sins. So there is no condition he can meet before God chooses to save him from his deadness”. [2]

What a ridiculous statement. What kind of condition does someone need to be in to receive a FREE gift? John 3:16 is pretty clear that all you have to do is believe.

John Piper continues to write “we were dead to truth, righteousness, peace, happiness, and every other good thing, no more able to respond to God than a cadaver”. [3]

Basically what Piper is saying is that we are dead corpses, and a dead corpse can’t do anything. Unless of course God picks out certain corpses and bring them back to life. But wait, what about all those people in the bible that actively sought out the lord?

Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. (Exodus 33:7)

Therefore he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. (2 Chronicles 14:7)

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. (Psalms 77:2)

And Here we even have a example of people turning away from the Lord:

“Those who have turned back from following the Lord , And have not sought the Lord , nor inquired of Him.”

I often wonder if Calvinists actually read these verses. If you really believe John Piper who claims “We are no more able to respond God than a cadaver” how do you explain all these people who actively sought the lord? If you really believe God elected these people to seek him then please show me where in the bible it states that?

In his book “The Gospel according to the Apostles” MacArthur writes “The unsaved are dead, incapable of any spiritual activity. Until God quickens us, we have no capacity to respond to Him in Faith[4]

Well this is an odd statement. In fact it’s completely contradictory to many examples where Jesus himself has commended people for their own faith:

Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” (Matthew 9:29)

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! (1 Corinthians 15:17)

And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” (Mark 5:34)

that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you[a] in Christ Jesus. (Philemon 6)

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5)

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark 2:5)

Wouldn’t all these expression be odd if no one can have faith unless God gives it to them like what MacArthur says? Are these not examples of people performing spiritual activities?  Looking at Philemon 6, are we suppose to believe that God wants us to share our faith to someone that he already predestined to be condemned? That’s like someone drowning in a well and throwing him a rope that’s dangling out of reach and telling him to grab it. It’s a mockery to God’s word. However it’s not surprising that Calvinist would believe such a ridiculous theology since they also believe God takes pleasure in condemning people to hell. And why would Jesus use words like “their faith” and “your faith” if we can’t have faith at all except for the faith that God puts in you? Wouldn’t that technically be God’s faith and not your own?

Lastly as I pointed out in the title of this article. Are Calvinist serving two masters? This comes from the bible passage Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”. Calvinists will probably answer instantly by saying they are not, but think about it. You may not be serving John Calvin his morning coffee or bringing his ink to write with, but you are spreading his theology which is not biblical hence therefore you are serving him. Calvinist need to ask themselves who they want to serve. John Calvin? John Piper? John MacArthur or Jesus Christ? Like Matthew 6:24 says, you can only choose one.

[1]  Palmer, five points, 50.

[2]  John Piper- Tulip,19

[3]   John Piper- Tulip,19

[4]  John F. MacArthur, Jr., Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles), 64–67

6 thoughts on “Unconditional Election: Are Calvinists Abusing the Word of God and Serving Two Masters?”

  1. Hi Clement,

    I came across your blog and found it interesting since it all about anti-Calvinism (not meant to sound bad). I would identify myself as a Calvinist in the sense that I hold to the 5 points. Just want to get some clarification and perhaps request a post from you in the future:

    1. Since your posts are addressing what you believe to be Calvinism… To the listening ear it does sound harsh, demeaning, etc. I want to ask your clarification on whether you believe Calvinists are Christians. To phrase it in a question, If I repented of my sins and am trusting Christ for my salvation and believe that the Bible teaches the 5 points of Calvinism, am I considered a brother in Christ?

    2. Throughout this post on Unconditional Election, you addressed John 3:16. However, one of the passages that Calvinists find support for this doctrine is in John 6. Would you be able to post your your thoughts on John 6 in a future post?

    Also, it seems like you’re going down TULIP, so for the rest of the points, I think it would be beneficial to address the Bible passages that Calvinists would use to support their point. I’m sure John Calvin, Piper, and MacArthur must have used some sort of Scripture to support their points.

    Looking forward to see your future posts and hoping for some clarification.

    Andy

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    1. I just realized I was thinking Irresistible Grace when I was thinking John 6. So perhaps you can address that in your future post on it.

      A passage that a Calvinist sees as supporting Unconditional Election would be Romans 9. I realize you have written about it in your first article. May I suggest that you start from the beginning of the chapter (or even Romans 8), so readers like myself can understand your thought process.

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      1. Hi Andy,

        good to hear from you and thank you for reading and commenting.

        1. Yes, I realize some of the things I say are harsh , however I base what I say according to scripture and sometimes scripture is harsh. It’s good to know that you’ve repented your sins and trust in the lord. However I think if someone is a Christian their theology should be exactly the same as Jesus Christ. After all, isn’t that where the term originated from? Someone that follows Jesus Christ. A Calvinist is someone that follows the teachings of John Calvin (Calvinism) and the problem with Calvinism is that its theology is completely contradictory to what is written in the bible. For Example in John Calvin’s book “The Institute of Christian Religion” he writes:

        We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction

        So here we have Calvin saying that God takes pleasure dooming people into destruction. However the bible says differently. Read to the following passage:

        For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth

        . (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

        The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,[a] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

        (2 Peter 3:9).

        When you read these two verses from the bible which clearly states that God wants all men to be saved and not willing that any should perish, then you compare it to what John Calvin says that God takes pleasure in condemning people to destruction. You have to ask yourself, do I want to be a Calvinist (Someone who believes in John Calvin) and believe that God takes pleasure in dooming people to destruction or do I want to be a Christian (Someone who believes in Jesus) and believe that God doesn’t desire anyone to perish let alone enjoy it. Since Calvin and Christ are in contradiction here, how can you believe in both?

        Now that’s just one example, another example is that Calvinism makes God the author of sin. In Calvin’s Institute he also writes:

        The first man fell because the Lord deemed it meet that he should: why he deemed it meet, we know not. It is certain, however, that it was just,

        Here John Calvin makes God the author of sin. In fact he admits he doesn’t even know why. Probably because he couldn’t find any scripture to back up his claim. There is no passage in bible whatsoever that tells us or even hints that God is the author of sin. In fact it tells us that man is the author of sin:

        “everything He made was “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

        “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

        see here again Calvin contradicts the bible, so again one has to choose who you want to believe. There are many other examples of how Calvinism contradicts the bible, so like I said before one has to really decide in the end who you want to believe.

        As for Romans 8, you have to be more specific since it’s a long chapter.

        2. MacArthur and Piper does use scripture to try and back up their claim, however they twist the passages and change the meaning. I listed some of the examples in my first post:

        https://faithisourresponsibility.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/argument-against-calvinism-and-the-misconception-of-predestination/.

        However I can give you other examples that’s not listed in my previous post. In the “MacArthur Study Bible” he comments on Ephesians 1:11 which reads

        In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will

        In his commentary, he says that “works” mean that everything was worked out before we existed. However the passages is not talking in the past tense, it’s describing how God is continuously working in us. In the original Greek language they use the word “ἐνεργοῦντος” which means “I work” or “I am at work” or “I am Operative”. So it’s an active thing. So either MacArthur has no idea what he’s talking about or he’s careless.

        Calvinist also uses a passage in the book Acts 13:48 and says this teaches unconditional elected and people are predestined to eternal life. Apparently they think appointed and predestined means the same thing. Which is not.

        Edwin Palmer (another famous Calvinist) writes

        The Bible teaches again and again that God does not love all people with the same love…‘loved by God’ is not applied to the world but only to the saints” (Romans 1:7)

        .

        This pretty stupid, just because God says he love his saints it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love others. That’s like saying “God loves me, so he must not love anyone else”. Unfortunately MacArthur in his study bible agrees with Palmer.

        so as you can see, in a sense. yes they use scripture, but they twist it here and there to fit their own Calvinist theology.

        As for Irresistible Grace, I’m currently working on an article about that right now along with “Limited Atonement”. However I can tell you right now, in the original language of the bible (Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament) the word “irresistible” never appears. Actually the word doesn’t even appear in most English bibles with the exception of the NIV, which isn’t a very good translation to begin with. The word “Grace” appears 170 time in the bible in 159 verses, and in none of those verses does it say anything about it being irresistible. So one has to wonder where the concept of Irresistible Grace actually came from.

        A suggestion that I will give when it comes to your faith; never trust what other says, always verify yourself.

        thank you for commenting, Let me know if you have further questions.

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  2. Thanks for your reply, Clement.

    Unfortunately I can’t reply your reply, so I’m going to leave a new comment. I understand that in writings one can be more direct and, as a result, come out harsher than if one is dialoguing face to face with a person, so I’m not concerned about that in your blog posts.

    (1) Concerning my first question, I don’t think my question was clear enough. Perhaps my definition of terms are different than yours. When I defined Calvinism, I only defined it in the most general sense: that I believe the Bible teaches TULIP. I don’t believe any reasonable Calvinist would follow everything John Calvin does or teaches. On that point, I believe you’re already building a straw-man.

    One good example is paedo vs. credo baptism. I am a Calvinist, I am a credobaptist. Whereas, Calvin is a paedobaptist. On that, I diverge with Calvin, yet I still call myself a Calvinist. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if I were to use your definition of Calvinism, I would not be a Calvinist. But I still hold to TULIP.

    **Please answer this question**
    Back to the first question, let me re-word it:
    In your opinion, am I a brother in Christ if I believe the Bible teaches TULIP?

    I only ask this because I got the impression from your posts that Calvinists are not Christians. I know you defined Calvinism as one who *follows* John Calvin and a Christian as one who follows Jesus Christ. But as I said, I believe that is a straw-man.

    (2) My second question, I ask for a more thorough walk through Romans 9 (and Romans 8 if possible for better context) to see how you understand this chunk of passage. What is it if it’s not about God’s sovereign choice?

    Simply stating that Calvin, Piper, and MacArthur are twisting Scripture would not work well for me. (By the way, MacArthur and Piper are credobaptists, are they Calvinists?) That’s why I am suggesting for your future posts to engage the texts that Calvinists use to support TULIP (e.g. John 10 and 17 for limited atonement, John 6 for irresistible grace, John 10 for perseverance of the saints).

    There are more I could say but I don’t want to be blogging on your blog (haha…). To summarize, (1) I would like to ask again for clarification: In your opinion, those who believe that the Bible teaches TULIP, are they your brothers and sisters in Christ? (2) And a request to respond to Calvinists’ scripture twisting in future posts. Some passages are already provided above.

    In addition, I am interested to meet you in person and talk about this topic with you. If you are interested, I would love to make it happen.

    God bless.

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    1. Hi Andy,

      1. You’re right, a lot people who claims to be Calvinist don’t agree with everything John Calvin says, because they know many things he said is contradictory to the bible. My Question for Calvinist is why would you believe ANYTHING John Calvin said? Yes, He did say things that were correct and biblical, like how Jesus was crucified on the cross and that God created everyone. However are you really going to believe and trust someone just because they said a few things right and ignore all their other contradicting theologies? Even a dead clock is correct twice a day but you wouldn’t trust a dead clock would you? The Catholics teaches Jesus died on the cross and that God is the saviour of mankind, even Muslims believe that Jesus was crucified on the cross, and Abraham was the father of many nation, it’s actually written in the Quran. Knowing that Catholics and Muslims got some of the things written in the bible right, are you going to ignore all their other contradictions of the bible and start believing in “Some” of the things they teach and call yourself a Catholic Muslim Christians? If not, why would you believe in some or anything that Calvin said and call yourself a Calvinist Christian?

      I pointed out what kind of person John Calvin was in an earlier article:

      https://faithisourresponsibility.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/are-calvinists-following-the-beliefs-of-a-serial-killer-mass-murderer-and-a-terrorist-2/

      If you know what kind of vile and evil person John Calvin is why would you believe anything he says ? Like the bible says

      A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit

      (Matthew 7:18)

      As for your question “do I consider you a brother in Christ if I believe the Bible teaches TULIP”. Here is my answer. If you repented your sins to the God of the Bible and accepted Jesus of the bible as your saviour, then of course I consider you as a brother in Christ. However if you believe in the Calvinist’s God then I can’t call you a brother in Christ no more can I can a Muslim or Catholic a brother in Christ since they believe in a different God as Calvinist do. So in the end it’s a matter of which God you believe in, do you believe in the Calvinist’s God who takes pleasure in sending people to hell and sent his son to die only for a selected amount of people, or do you believe in God that was described in the bible that is merciful, generous and desires all men to be saved?

      2. I don’t really see anywhere in John 10 that teaches unconditional Election. Unless you are referring to verse 3 where it says “and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out”. These sheeps are the ones who already accepted Christ, as explained in verse 9. or Verse 27-28 where it says

      My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me. They shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand

      . Again these are the sheep that has already accepted Christ on their own will. Yes, if we choose to follow and believe in Christ we will never perish. And no one will every snatch us out of his hand but this is not teaching perseverance of the saints. Often times believers (saints) becomes disobedient to God and when you become disobedient and you stop believing in Jesus, then you lose your salvation. This is made clear in Romans 11, especially in verse 20-21. If you are disobedient and one day you lose faith in God and your branch will be cut off. This doesn’t mean someone snatched you out of Jesus’s hand, it would be your own choice to stop believing.

      I’m not sure where you see limited atonement in John 17 either. Is it because Jesus said in verse 9-10

      I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom you have given Me, for they are yours

      ? “them” means the people who accepted Christ, and Jesus happens to be praying for the people who accepted Christ at that time. I when you pray for a certain person or group of person that doesn’t mean you don’t care about the rest of the world does it? Jesus also prays for the believers from verse 20-26 as well, but again this doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about the rest of the world. The “elected” are the ones that accepted Jesus on their own will, not people who were elected for salvation before they were born.

      Can you be more specific bout John 6? I can’t seem to find any hint about it being about Irresistible Grace. In fact I find it to teach about the opposite. Especially from verse 41-71.

      I really hope you don’t take offense to this, because I’m not trying to be mean or insult your intelligence, but when you ask me to explain something from the bible would you be able to give me more specific verses? I mean I can tell a someone that the bible teaches us about God but it’s not very helpful if I don’t give them specific verses.

      If you want to meet me sometime, email me at c.cain.li@gmail.com. I would love to buy you coffee sometime, I haven’t seen you in awhile and would love to catch up with you, I hope you and your family are doing well.

      God Bless

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      1. It’s ok, I’m not offended by your comment. The reason I give chapters instead of verses is because I want to see the chapter explained from beginning to end for the purpose of context. I’m not asking you to explain it all in your replies, I’m just giving you some text to work with in your future posts. I’ll give the chapter and reference the verses to be a bit more specific next time.

        There are a lot of stuff I to respond to, but I’ll just respond to the ones that I think are related to my original comment. The numbers do not correspond to the numbers from the previous comments.

        1. I guess by the definition above, I am not a Christian in your eyes because I believe God effectively died for the sin of His people.

        2. I believe the criteria for truth should not ultimately be on how one acts (although, how one acts does affect the reputation of the truth presented), rather it should be the objective standard of God’s word. I also believe there are some (if not all) misrepresentations and false statements about John Calvin in that blog you posted. Here are some points:
        – Calvin wasn’t a Geneva citizen, therefore he has no political authority.
        – His influence is only as a minister. One can argue that’s where all the Genevan law you listed came from, but I would need hard facts and context to conclude that all those laws were Calvin’s understanding of the law.
        – Servetus ministered to by Calvin before his execution in hopes of him recanting his heresy and obtaining a lighter punishment.

        3. I referenced Romans 9 for Unconditional Election, not John 10.

        4. Irresistible Grace, John 6:37-40,44,65.

        5. Just want to clarify one thing with you that I haven’t touched on. Calvinists believe that “faith is our responsibility”. Although God is sovereign and has declared the end from the beginning, we do believe that man is responsible for the actions. Man is simply doing what He *wants* to do as a slave of sin. That is, to sin. While I read your posts, I had a feeling that you think Calvinists believe God is moving people to do things against their will. That’s not what a Calvinist would believe. The term is Compatibilism if you want to look into it.

        6. Last rhetorical question:
        John 10 says, “They shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” So Jesus is saying that no one can snatch them out of His hand… But we can walk out of His hand?

        I don’t believe I’ve met you before lol… but I do know we have some mutual friends. We can still meet up and meet each other for the first time though!

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