This content provides an in-depth explanation of Calvinism, a theological framework within Protestantism, aiming to clarify its core tenets, historical context, and influence, particularly in contrast to common misconceptions like fatalistic determinism.
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What is Calvinism? Is it just unbiblical
fatalistic determinism? Or is it
actually backed by scripture centered on
the glory and the sovereignty of God?
These are very fair questions. I get
asked a lot what Calvinism is and what
the Bible says in relation to Calvinism.
So, let us break it down on today's
episode of Relatable. It's brought to
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15. [music]
>> Hey guys, welcome to relatable. Happy
Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a
wonderful week so far. All right, today
we are going to do something that is
truly evergreen. We are going to talk
about Calvinism. Now I back in 2019 did
a whole series of evergreen content for
my first maternity leave. I did, I
think, like nine weeks worth of episodes
that had to do with politics, that had
to do with theology and interviews. And
I did an episode on predestination. We
talked about different points of
Calvinism, but I received a text from a
friend the other day asking, "What is
Calvinism? Can you break this down for
me?" She found the old episode that I
did and she said it was helpful. But I
thought that it would be a good time to
kind of refresh this. I get questions
about this a lot. I think there are a
lot of misunderstanding uh misunderstandings
misunderstandings
about what Calvinism actually is and why
it matters. And so to clarify a lot of
the questions that you guys seem to
have, I wanted to get into it. Um the
reason why Calvinism is considered
controversial is because it is seen by
many as a form of determinism. So God is
just determining what happens and we
don't have any free will. Some people
would say Calvinism posits and we're
just puppets without really any
responsibility but somehow also can
incur punishment. Um there are plenty of
critiques of Calvinism. some that I
think are totally valid and interesting
and then some that are just
misconstructions of what the form of
theology is. So, let's start. Let's give
some context about not only what this
is, but why it actually matters. It's
almost turned into a buzzword in
theological debates and you guys know
how much I like to define my terms. And
I truly believe no matter what you
believe, this will be a helpful um a a
helpful primer on what Calvinists
actually believe. So Calvinism is a form
of theology. And let's get down to brass
tax. Theology means the study of God.
Theos, God, logic or logos, word,
rational, reason, study. Uh the primary
means of knowing God is through his
word. Uh which for us has been written
down in something called the Bible and
it has been carefully translated so that
what we call the biblical cannon. These
66 books that we now hold in our hands
matches the earliest manuscripts that we
have found. And these 66 books were
chosen through a long process, but have
been verified and validated and
substantiated not only by the references
by the apostles and the New Testament
writers, but also by Jesus himself. And
we could get into we should do a whole
episode uh about how these 66 books were
chosen and how we know that they are
reliable. But for now, we will just say
this that the Bible is our primary means
of knowing God. There are other ways of
knowing God. We know him through prayer.
We know him through the wisdom given to
us by the Holy Spirit. We have that
relationship with God through Christ.
But we can understand his character and
his will best through scripture which is
authoritative. It is infallible. So it
cannot fail. It is also inherent. So
that means without error. In the 16th
century there was something called a
reformation and it was called the
Protestant Reformation. It was ignited
by a man uh named Martin Luther. He was
a German monk. He nailed something
called the 95 thesis reportedly on the
door of the Vittenberg church. And these
are 95 issues that he had with Catholic
leadership at the time. Catholic
practices that were going on at the
time. He did not intend to start a
revolution. He was actually not trying
to protest against the papacy. He held
his entire life to some doctrines that
are considered to be Roman Catholic. So
he wasn't trying to start a revolution
by saying that, hey, it's wrong to tell
people that their loved ones can be
sprung out of purgatory by giving money
to the church via something called indulgences.
indulgences.
But start a revolution. He did. The
Catholic leadership not only
excommunicated Martin Luther, but they
sought his life. But incredibly, God
used a variety of means to protect
Martin Luther, who uh became convinced
that the single most important thing he
could do was translate the Bible from
the original Greek and Hebrew into
German. And the way that this coincided
also with the invention of the printing
press is just incredible and speaks to
God's providence and his desire for
people to know him through his word. And
Martin Luther did this so that people
could read for themselves how to get to
heaven. So they could see that it is by
grace through faith as Ephesians 2:8
tells us that a person is saved, not
through money, not through church
attendance, not through good works.
Martin Luther was not a perfect man by
any means, but God used him as he uses
all imperfect people to light the fire
of the Reformation fueled by the light
of scripture and the hope of the gospel.
He insisted that scripture supports the
main thing that makes Christianity
different from every other religion.
Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, even Judaism
all tell you how to get to God. Here is
your list of requirements. here's the
money that you have to pay. Do these
things, say these things, and you'll be
good. You'll be right with God. But
Christianity fundamentally brings
something new by saying, "No, no, no.
You can't get to God." So, he has to
come down to you. You can't make
yourself clean. You can't pick yourself
up. It is only God's grace that can make
you alive and faith in that saving grace
that can save you. So what's called the
five solas or the five alones of the
reformation were uh and are by grace
alone through faith alone in Christ
alone according to scripture alone for
God's glory alone solar gratia solid solos
solos
solos scriptura solido gloria that's the
Latin for the five solas and this is the
gospel and this gospel which by the way
was not new at the time of Martin Luther
or the reformation. This was the very
gospel that was preached by Jesus and
the apostles and all the writers of the
New Testament. The knowledge of this
gospel, the access to this gospel
through God's written word for the
common person spread like wildfire
throughout Europe. And ultimately, it
laid the foundation for the United
States. This belief in the freedom of
conscience, the responsibility of the
individual to gain wisdom and knowledge
of Christ through his word was
foundational to Western civilization in
America itself. The founders were
Protestant. Those rebelling against King
George were largely Presbyterian. The
pilgrims were not only Protestant, but
they were Puritans. That's like the
Protestant of Protestant. And even more
specifically, they were Calvinists. So
the reason it is so important for anyone
to understand Calvinism, whether you are
one of my beloved Catholic listeners or
whether you are a Protestant, whether
you are an agnostic, is because it has
had a huge influence on the American
conscience, how we define right and
wrong, how we define legal and illegal,
not exclusively but definitely
predominantly. Calvinism
um maybe in light of because of or maybe
despite its influence depending on how
you look at it has been extremely
demonized by all types of people both in
and outside of Protestantism. I think
some nonprotestants think that all
Protestants are Calvinist. That is so
not true. It is actually probably a very
small sliver of Protestantism today. Um
but that's why I think it's important to
understand what it actually is. Because
even though very few people uh relative
to the general population would call
themselves Calvinist, the belief system,
the world view that it has kind of
created or helped shape is extremely uh
influential today. And um even after
this episode, you may or may not believe
that that demonization is justified. I
can't wait to see your comments for us
to discuss this. Uh but let us try our
best to really understand what it
teaches. Um Calvinism is a theological
framework that is born out of the
reformed Protestant tradition. So all
that I just explained with its own set
of specifications that we will get into
today. I'll get into some of those
specifications and some of those details
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A lot of people when they think of
Calvinism, they only think of predestination.
predestination.
And that is definitely, I would argue, a
defining feature. It is something that
makes the Calvinist view of salvation
very distinct. But Calvinists themselves
would say that uh Calvinism reads the
Bible with a keen focus on and
magnification of God's sovereignty and
God's glory. So what does sovereignty
means? It means that God is in control
basically uh that he reigns over all of
it. That he uh does not have limited
power. There's no part of the spiritual
or physical realm that his power cannot
reach. And this emphasis on God's glory
means that God does what he wants to do
and how he wants to do it. He allows
what he wants to allow. He causes what
he wants to cause. All for his glory,
whether we understand it, whether we
like it or not. And Calvinists would
argue this includes salvation and
damnation. And that is where the
controversy for many begins. I actually
remember in sixth grade I was so
incensed by this idea of predestination.
I was basically like the people in
Romans nine being like, how is it how
would it be just? How would it be good
and merciful and kind? All of these
things we know about God for him to
create people that he knows are going to
be sent to hell and he doesn't choose to
save them. And so you might already be
thinking those things. And if you are,
then 12-year-old Ally completely relates
to those questions and they're really
good questions. We'll get into some of
them today. Before we get into the rest
of the theology of what Calvinism
actually is, let's back up a little bit
and talk about what it's named after. It
is named after a man called John Calvin.
And this is according to Ligonier
Ministries. And there's John Calvin
right there with his pointy beard. Very
important. It seems like this is like a
mainstay of Calvinism today. Uh, you can
tell that a man is Calvinist by how much
of a beard he has. Remember Chad Wright?
Chad Wright, hardcore Calvinist. We love
Chad Wright. He has a similar beard to
John Kelvin. This does seem to be just
an indicator of someone's Calvinism. But
he crossed over with Martin Luther. He
lived from 1509 to 1564.
There were other reformed theologians at
this time. And remember, reformed refers
to the Protestant Reformation. These
people had a lot of problems with what
the Catholic Church was doing at the
time. Some of the things that they were
teaching at the time. And so they were
inspired by what Martin Luther was
doing. Didn't agree with everything that
Martin Luther said. But many people like
John Calvin um he held to the five solas
or the five alones of the reformation
and he built upon that. And John Calvin
again according to Ligonier I didn't
finish that thought. That's a ministry
started by RC Sproul who died I believe
in 2017 was a reformed Calvinist
theologian. Um but he wrote John Calvin
wrote the Institutes of the Christian
Religion. I wrote it first in Latin and
then it was translated into his native
French language in the mid 1500s. And
this was and still is a very important
breakdown of what John Calvin believes
the Bible teaches about the Christian
religion, particularly when it comes to
salvation. Calvinism stresses the
sovereignty of God and his creative
power and providential care. The
absolute authority of the Bible is the
source and norm for all of life and the
reality of both human sinfulness and
human responsibility. A hallmark of
Calvinism is continuing the role
according to Ligonier of God's law. The
Ten Commandments remain the rule of the
Christian life. After conversion, they
would say uh Calvinists would believe
that this is part of the moral law. And
not only Calvinists believe this. This
is really just kind of like a Protestant
teaching that we don't abide by the
ceremonial law. We don't abide by the
cleansing laws because Jesus has become
our cleansing. He's become our
sacrifice. But he didn't do away with
the moral law. He doubled down on the
moral law. We see him emphasize the ten
commandments in the New Testament, not
do away with it. And then there are the
five points of Calvinism. you'll talk
about uh or you'll hear about people
saying I'm a five-point Calvinist or I'm
a four-point Calvinist and that is
summarized by an acronym called TULIP.
And maybe you've heard of this before.
Tulip stands for total depravity,
unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, and the
perseverance of the saints. These were
set forth by the Sinai of Dort in 1618
to 1619.
And that is really what summarizes all
of the principles, the core beliefs of
Calvinism. So let's get into what tulip
actually is. So as I said, uh T stands
for total depravity. Total depravity
means that we are not just sick in need
of some medicine. We don't have the
ability to save ourselves. There's
nothing good inside of us that makes us
naturally want to seek God. But any
inkling that we have that there's
something higher or something better or
that we need to be saved has nothing to
do with our natural selves and has to do
with the grace of God through the Holy
Spirit. So Calvinism teaches that sin
has corrupted every single part of human
nature, mind, heart, will, emotions. It
doesn't mean that we are as bad as we
could be at all times, but we certainly
have the capacity for that. That every
single part of that of our nature has
the capacity to be as sinful as
possible. And ultimately, it is about
our state without Christ. That we are
completely spiritually dead and unable
to seek God or do anything truly good on
our own. So, Calvinism gets this from
Ephesians 2 1-3, which you have heard me
cite many times on the show. And you
were dead in the trespasses and sins in
which you once walked, following the
course of this world, following the
prince of the power of the air. And I
could go on and on. That's one of my
favorite passages. If you are dead in
your sin, do you have the ability to
wake yourself up? Does medicine help you?
you?
Does um someone reaching for you and
lifting you up help you? No. If you are
dead, you are completely helpless. You
actually have to be resuscitated. You
have to be made alive. You can't help
yourself or clean yourself off or do
anything about the stench of your
decaying body at all because you are
dead. And so, Ephesians 2 says that we
are completely dead in our sin. And this
is part of where Calvinists get this
idea of total depravity that we have
nothing inside of ourselves that reaches
towards salvation. That that is all a
gift from God. They also get that um a
few verses later in Ephesians 28 through
10. That this is not your own doing. It
is a gift of God. And then the U is
unconditional election. unconditional
election Calvinist say is based only on
God's free choice. Calvinism says that
God chose before the world began which
specific sinners he would save and he
based that choice only on his own will
in love, not on anything he saw that
they would do. Uh Ephesians 1:4-5 would
be a verse that's cited here. Even as he
chose us in him before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before him. In love, he
predestined us for adoption to himself
as sons through Jesus Christ according
to the purpose of his will. Also, Romans
9 is cited often. Romans 9:11 through13.
Though they were not yet born, he's
talking about Jacob and Esau, and had
done nothing either good or bad, in
order that God's purpose of election
might continue, not because of works,
but because of him who calls, she was
told, their mother, the older will serve
the younger. As it is written, Jacob I
loved, but Esau I hated. So obviously,
as Paul is writing to the church in
Rome, they are having some of the same
feelings of injustice. Hey, like how is
it possible that God chooses people who
are going to be saved and who are not
going to be saved? And Paul basically
says like can the clay say to the
potter, why did you make me this way?
And he answers that God made vessels of
wrath and vessels of mercy. And then he
gives this explanation of Jacob and
Esau. All right. In just a second, we
will get to limited atonement. This is
the L in tulip. limited atonement which
says that Christ accomplished salvation
for the elect on the cross not the whole
world. We'll get into that in just a
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Okay, so this is maybe one of the most
controversial aspects of Calvinism. I
would say limited atonement says that
Christ accomplished salvation only for
the elect. So only for those that God
chose before the foundation of the
world, not the entire world. Whereas the
other perspective, which we'll get into
Arminianism in just a little bit, is
that Christ died for everyone and it's
our responsibility to choose to have
that blood that was poured out for us on
the cross cover us. So, Calvinism
teaches that when Jesus died on the
cross, he actually secured complete
salvation for the exact people that God
had chosen. So, limited atonement, the
elect, and his death was perfectly
effective for them. Um Hebrews 10:14,
for by a single offering he has
perfected for all time those who are
being sanctified. So context here,
Calvinists would say is that Christ one
sacrifi uh Christ one sacrifice does not
just offer perfection. It is perfected
for all of time the same people who are
being sanctified. The group that is
perfected is identical to the group for
whom he offered himself. And then you
have John 10:14-15.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own,
Jesus says, and my own know me. Just as
the father knows me, and I know the
father and I lay down my life for the
sheep. The I and tulip is irresistible
grace. This means God's call to the
elect always succeeds. Calvinism says
that when God decides to save one of his
chosen people, the Holy Spirit
powerfully and sweetly opens their blind
eyes and changes their heart so that
they will willingly and gladly come to
Christ. So it is not possible, Calvinism
would say, for someone to be captured by
the grace of God and then wrestle
themselves free. That his grace when it
meets someone, when it captures someone
is completely irresistible. Now, someone
may have a spiritual experience,
Calvinism would say. Someone may um look
like they're walking the walk. Someone
might be interested in the Bible.
Someone may even preach the Bible very
well, um and understand all of these
doctrines and understand Calvinism, uh
but still not actually be saved by the
grace of God. But Calvinism posits when
you have been captivated by the grace of
God, you do not have the power to resist
it because of God's total sovereignty.
Now again, the other side would say,
"No, God's grace is there and it's
trying to convict someone, but someone
still does have the power to resist it."
John 6:37, "All that the Father gives me
will come to me, and whoever comes to
me, I will never cast out." So
Calvinists would use this to say that
not only can you not resist God's grace
in initial salvation, but you also can't
escape his salvation. That there's
nothing you contributed to your
salvation. So there's nothing that you
can do to get rid of your salvation
either. And that leads to the last one,
P, perseverance of the saints. Um this
promises that true believers who have
been captivated by God's grace by no
merit of their own, no contribution of
their own will be kept by God forever.
So this is the belief that you cannot
lose your salvation. There are many
Protestants who do not hold to this
belief, who do believe you can lose your
salvation. But Calvinism teaches that
everyone that God has truly saved will
be kept safe by God's power all the way
to the end. That they might stumble.
They might lose their way. Sometimes it
might look like the pilgrim's progress.
There will be temptation. There will be
sin. But nothing that they do can escape
his will. Now they would also say that
someone who is truly following Christ
that because the Holy Spirit lives in
them, there will be fruit. There will be
a hatred of sin. there will be a
repentance of sin. That doesn't mean
there will be perfection every day in
their moral life, but that they will be
sanctified. Um, Calvinists do not
generally believe that someone just
prays a prayer and walks down the aisle
and says, you know, yes, I'm a sinner
and I need to be saved and that they can
go on living like nothing really
happened and that person is truly a
Christian. It's not that Calvinists
would say you have to contribute your
righteousness to be saved, but they
would say you have to look at the fruit
of someone's life in order to be able to
tell that that person has truly been
saved by the Holy Spirit and is being
sanctified by Christ. Philippians 1:6,
they would say, proves this. And I am
sure of this. God through Paul writes
that he who began a good work in you
will bring it to completion at the day
of Jesus Christ. Another modern name for
tulip for these five points is the
doctrines of grace. You may have heard
that before from people like RC Sproul
or people like John MacArthur or John
Piper. All of these people are um
considered to be reformed teachers
today. So what is the influence of
Calvinism? Well, if we go a little bit
more deeply into who Calvin was, that
kind of gives us an indication. So if we
go back to 1533, because of Calvin's
contact with people who opposed the
Roman Catholic Church, Calvin had to
flee um Paris because this was a very uh
Catholic city of course and he was not
safe there. U many also believe that
this was the year he experienced a
sudden and unexpected conversion
specifically to the reformed faith. In
1536, Calvin officially broke with Roman
Catholic Church and planned to settle in
Strasburg. Um, but then he ended up in
Geneva. That's where he stayed. He was a
lecturer and a preacher in Geneva. He
became very popular there. He preached
what is called still today expository
sermons um uh without notes often 10
times every two weeks and delivered
three theology lectures weekly. wrote
extensive biblical commentaries. He also
trained uh trained pastors. Calvin's
Geneva uh became known as the the
university there became known as the
most perfect school of Christ that ever
was on earth since the days of the
apostles. According to another reformer,
a Scottish reformer by the name of John
Knox. Historian Mark Null says, "If
Luther sounded the trumpet for reform,
Calvin orchestrated the score by which
the Reformation became a part of Western
civilization." I think that's a really
good way to put why understanding
Calvinism for any person is important.
This is what RC Sproul said. John Calvin
stands alone in church history as the
master of systematizing biblical truth
with doctrine. He was driven by a desire
to interpret all the details of biblical
revelation. Rarely, if ever,
Have we found a systematic theologian?
So looking at the entire system of
Christianity through scripture. Uh
systematic theology by Wayne Grudum is
an awesome resource. There are a lot of
systematic theologians and some are
super trustworthy and thorough. Um able
to quote lengthy passages of the Bible
with one breath followed by considerable
recitation by memory of the writings of
St. Augustine. Calvin mixed his mastery
of linguistics with his heart set on
fire by the word of God. Um, there are a
lot of quotes that I could read that are
in my notes about Calvinism, but what I
think is important, I wasn't even
planning to talk about this, but this is
just an aside. What's important to know
is that this is actually the predominant
worldview that built America and not the
modern evangelical evangelicalism
evangelicalism
that we see today. And so a lot of
people will say I've I've seen this from
some of my Catholic friends that it is
like Protestantism is dispensationalism
is the reason why they would say America
puts Israel first and they would say has
some like wrong idea of Israel but
Calvinism is not dispensationalist
there. Now there are some Calvinists who
would call themselves dispensationalists
probably like John MacArthur. Now, some
people would quibble about whether or
not John MacArthur was truly reformed
and if he believed in the doctrines of
grace because he was dispensationalist.
I know I'm throwing around a lot of just
like Christianes. That may not matter to
you and might be kind of confusing. Um,
but dispensationalism is pretty new. Go
back and listen to my Israel episode, to
my past in times episodes to understand
what dispensationalism
is. But uh this is actually more of the
influential world view that has kind of
shaped the Protestant and American
conscience for a very long for a very
long time. If you go back again to the
history of Calvinism and the influence
that it had on theologians, on
seminaries throughout Europe, and then
you look at the English Puritans who
were deeply Calvinistic, um they carried
this reformed faith about justification
by faith alone, namely, and even the
doctrines of grace in tulip into North
America. And then by 1776
roughly 2thirds of American colonists
belong to Calvinistleaning
churches. This is according to Joel
Beaky who is awesome an awesome scholar
and preacher on all of this. Um
Calvinism differed from Lutheranism. So
Martin Luther on the Lord's supper. So
Lutheran tend to believe in the true
presence of the eukarist. um the role of
God's law guide for believers versus
mainly convicting sinners and the scope
of predestination. And this is an
argument that I hear a lot from my
Catholic friends that the fruit of
Protestantism, just look at this. It's
division. You have all these people who
are reading the Bible and they're
interpreting things differently. Isn't
that a case to be made for the Roman
Catholic Church and the authority of the
magisterium and the authority of the
Pope? Because look at all of this
division. And look how I understand what
you're saying. Certainly I don't revel
in arguments and division, especially
disagreement on really important things.
But we would argue disagreement in
pursuit of the truth is worth it. Like
you could if we're just to use an
analogy here, like we could also say
like isn't it sad that we had this
bloody revolution of America versus
England? Like wouldn't it have just been
better if we just stayed unified? At
least we would have all, you know,
shared our nationality and shared our
common culture of being Englishmen. Even
if we were under the tyranny of King
George, again, this is an analogy here.
We would say, "No, it was worth the
division." Like, it was worth the
tearing apart. It was worth the
Declaration of Independence. It was
worth the bloody revolution, but because
what we got was better. And because yes,
now there are states that have different
constitutions. Yes, with all of this
freedom of religion and speech, there's
all kinds of conflicts. But we believe
that the freedom of speech and freedom
of religion, if it gives people the
opportunity to seek what is good and
true without possibly the misguided
authority of the state, then that's a
good thing. Again, that is an analogy.
You don't have to agree with it. Of
course, as a Catholic, I don't expect
you to. But I'm trying to get you to
understand the Protestant perspective of
why we are okay with denominations. Do
we all wish that we agreed? Absolutely.
But I'm so glad that we have been given
access to and the authority of
understanding scripture in the best way
that we possibly can. Yes, under the
authority of our pastors with the help
of theologians and through the guidance
of the Holy Spirit as imperfectly as we
possibly can. But that is what we are
trying to accomplish. And so when we
look at some American Calvinists, we can
see someone like Jonathan Edwards who
preached the um seinal sermon uh sinners
in the hands of an angry God. I have
that little booklet at home. So
different than the kind of sermons we
hear so often today that God doesn't
want you to have it hard, that he wants
you to feel good about yourself. you
know, the God of self, the God of
self-esteem sermons that we hear that is
if you feel good about yourself and you
love yourself, um then everything will
be fine. And that is what God is most
concerned about is just cheering you
along to fulfill your desires. Well,
that is certainly not the God of
scripture, but it's definitely not the
Calvinist God. It's not the Puritan God.
And actually, in the little book on the
Christian life by John Calvin, he has an
incredible I wish I had it in front of
me. He has an incredible passage about
the dangers of self-love. Because in
fact, anytime you see this phrase lovers
of self in scripture is an indication of
the evil of the end times, not something
that is beneficial. It's actually
something that we are trying to get rid
of as we fill ourselves instead with the
love of Christ that helps us see rightly
our own worth and the worth of other
people. The great awakening uh began in
Massachusetts in America um in 1734
uh to 1735. Jonathan Edwards really
spearheaded that and he was affected by
the doctrines of Calvinism. We are still
living kind of in the shadow of these
great awakenings. You also had someone
like George uh Whitfield. He was an
Anglican evangelist. He arrived in
America. He preached these open air
sermons on things like total depravity,
the tea and tulip. And then if you go
back to the UK, you have someone like
Charles Spurgeon. He was also a
Calvinistic preacher, still massively
influential today. Uh influential today.
His massive influence demolished this
myth that Calvinists can't be passionate
evangelists. His church baptized
thousands, supported dozens of
missionaries, proved that strong
doctrine and fervent evangelism goes
together. And that probably speaks to a
question that I think a lot of people
have about if you are Calvinist and
believe in this predestination,
why would you pray and why would you
evangelize? You've got Martin Lloyd
Jones, you've got Ji Packer, you've got
RC Sproul, you've got John MacArthur,
you've got John Piper, and then of
course you've got Vodie Bacham, our dear
brother that we just lost. You have
people like James White and Paul Washer
and uh Jeff Durban who all consider
themselves reformed and I believe
consider themselves somewhere on the
spectrum of Calvinism. So still
extremely uh prominent in um in America
today in shaping what we think about the
Bible and what we think about salvation.
Um but let's get into specifically
predestination. this very controversial
point and then we will get into what the
Bible says and also what other belief
systems within Christianity and within
Protestantism uh Protestantism actually
believe. I have a lot of very good
friends, theologians that I respect that
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Okay, let's talk about predestination.
Everyone's favorite topic. Everyone's
favorite debate subject. Okay. So, predestination
predestination
is the idea that God predestined
before time began. Not just before we
live, but before time began. Because God
is not limited by time. He is eternal.
He did not start when the world started.
He has always existed. And he
predestined before our time began who
was going to be saved and who was going
to not be saved, who was going to spend
eternity in hell. And like this is tough
for me. Like this is really tough for me
because and so like I will just tell you
because I I understand the the reaction
to that. The reaction that I had when I
was 12. I I fully understand and still
sympathize with that because
what father or mother would create a
child knowing that their soul will be
spent in torment forever and ever? And
how is it possible to say that that
person deserves that wrath and deserves
that punishment if they did not have any
contribution to being created? And if we
read that God is loving, if we read that
God is good, if we read that God is
kind, and we know he is purposely
creating babies, embryos, knitting them together,
together,
and bringing them to life only to send
them to hell eternally. Like that is
really difficult. And so that is why
people have a very hard time with this
belief that God truly chose whom was
going to be damned and whom was going to
be saved before time began. So I just
want to like validate your questions
about that that I'm not dismissive of
those things because I think that's a
really good question and something that
we should be wrestling with. So here's
how Calvinists would explain it though.
The doctrine of predestination is the
teaching that before the creation of the
world, God decided the eternal destiny
of all rational creatures, so human
beings and all angels. God's choice to
save certain sinners by grace is called
election. And his choice to leave
certain sinners to the damnation they
deserve is reprobation.
Predestination is part of God's decree.
his eternal purpose in which he has
decided all that will take place
ordaining everything for the
manifestation of his glory. So this is
for crossway Joel Beaki and Paul
Smallley wrote this. Many Christians uh
including reformed theologian Jonathan
Edward officially found the doctrine of
predestination uh disturbing but later
came to see its beauty and comfort. Um,
some reject this predestination argument
because they think it's just human
speculation. And of course, they also
believe that it's disturbing or it's
unjust and God cannot be unjust. There
are many passages that talk about God's
elect. We already talked about Romans 9.
We talked about Ephesians 1 4-6. But
there's also Romans 8:32 through34.
Calvinists would say, "He who did not
spare his own son, but gave him up for
us all. How will he not also with him
graciously give us all things? Who will
bring any charge against God's elect? It
is God who justifies. Who is to
condemn?" And then there is also Romans 11:28.
11:28.
As regards to the gospel, they are
enemies for your sake, unbelievers. But
as regards to election, they are beloved
for the sake of their forefathers. For
the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
irrevocable.
1 Timothy 5:21. And the presence of God
in Christ and of Christ Jesus and of the
elect angels, I charge you to keep these
rules without prejudging. Therefore, I
endure everything for the sake of the
elect. 2 Timothy 2:10 says that they
also may obtain the salvation that is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Titus
1:1, Paul, a servant of God and an
apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of
the faith of God's elect and their
knowledge of the truth which accords
with godliness. Second Peter 1:10,
therefore, brothers, be all the more
diligent to confirm your calling and
election. For if you practice these
qualities, you will never fail. And we
could kind of go on and on there. Acts
13:48. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they began rejoicing and glorifying the
word of the Lord. And as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed. Um
this is at the end of Romans 8 29. For
those whom he forneew, he also
predestined to be conformed to the image
of his son in order that he might be the
firstborn among many brothers. And those
whom he predestined, he also called. And
those whom he called, he also justified.
And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
glorified.
Another part of Romans chapter 9 says
this. What shall we say then? Is there
injustice on God's part? By no means.
For he says to Moses, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will have
compassion on whom I have compassion. So
then, it depends not on human will or
exertion, but on God who has mercy. For
the scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this
very purpose I have raised you up, that
I might show my power in you, and that
my name might be proclaimed in all the
earth. So then, he has mercy on whomever
he wills, and he hardens whomever he
wills, because God hardened Pharaoh's
heart." So there are a lot of objections
to this. There is the belief that okay
if God predestined people to go to hell
then he can't be just he can't be
merciful. He can't be kind. Um he can't
be loving and uh therefore it must not
be true. We must have some kind of
contribution to our salvation.
Calvinists would say look God can do
what he wants to do and we evangelize
because God has called us to evangelize.
We pray because God has called us to
pray. Um, we
glorify God and we call God good and
kind because that's what he tells us
that he is. And it's not pointless to
pray. It's not pointless to evangelize
because they would say God has sovereignly
sovereignly
predestined these to be the means by
which he accomplishes his purpose. We
know throughout scripture that like God
didn't need his people to walk around
the walls of Jericho seven times for him
to destroy the walls of Jericho. But he
predestined that as a means by which he
would accomplish his purpose. He didn't
have to use Moses to write down the Ten
Commandments. But he did. He didn't have
to uh you know go through the plagues
and open up the Red Sea to set his
people free. But he did. God uses
particular processes and particular
means to accomplish his purpose. And we
could say, well, that seems pointless if
he can do what he wants to do. But
Calvinists would say it's not up to us
to say how God should accomplish his
will. We are simply to obey. Um Wayne
Grudum in his book systematic theology,
he talks about this doctrine of
concurrence, which says that two things
can be concurrently true. that God is
totally in charge. He is completely
sovereign. That nothing escapes his
will. That even what Satan does is
allowed by God in his power. And also
that humans have a real responsibility.
That we are actually held accountable
for our actions. That we actually bear
the weight of our sin. These two things
are concurrently true. And how they are
concurrently true can be a mystery. But
Calvinists wouldn't say that we have to
completely understand the mystery of
concurrence. How God's sovereign
character and man's responsibility can
be logically and theologically
reconciled. We can try to do that. But
at the end of the day, we do what Paul
does in Romans 9 and we simply break out
and praise and the glory and the
fornowledge and the wisdom of God. And a
lot of people say,"Well, doesn't this
lead to worry about,"Well, how do you
know you're chosen? How do you know
you're really saved?" Look, if you are a
Christian, if you have been captured by
the Holy Spirit and because of him or
walking in Christ, then you have been
chosen. You have been saved. We simply
have to trust and obey. Calvinists would
go to Psalm 115:3. Our God is in the
heavens. He does all that he pleases.
Isaiah 46:9-10, for I am God, there is
no other. I am God, there is none like
me. 2 Corinthians 4:6, for God who said,
"Let light shine out of the darkness,"
has shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. So it
is God who actually gives us the
knowledge. He gives us the grace that is
required to be saved. It is nothing that
we do on our own.
So Calvinists have much scripture that
they offer in defense of their belief of
tulip. But what does the other side say?
As I said, people that I really respect
oppose Calvinism. So we'll get into that
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That's patremobile.com/allcode. [music]
All right, here is my very good and wise
friend, apologist and evangelist Frank
Turk stating his opposition to
Calvinism. Stop four. See, the the
ultimate problem with Calvinism, hard
five-point Calvinism in my view, is it
makes the world a sham because we really
don't have a free choice, but God is
telling us that we ought to choose him
when we [music] can't choose him because
he hasn't chosen us at all. And
secondly, it makes God the author of
evil. In fact, let me give you a [music]
in a debate that took place 40 years ago
at Dallas Theological Seminary. It was
between Norman Gistler, my mentor, and a
guy by the name of [music] John
Gersonner. And at one point Gistler
turned to Gersonner and he says he said
does man have free will and Gersonner
[music] said yes man has free will to do
what he desires but God gives him the
desire of his heart. So Gistler said who
gave Adam the desire to sin and Gersner
said mystery
and Gistler said contradiction.
Um, I love Frank Turk and I think that
we could have a really interesting
discussion about this because I would I
would have questions. So, here's how I
here's how I see it. Um, we know that
God is completely in control, right?
That there is nothing that his power
cannot do. That there is no realm in
which he is inept. That his power is not
limited in any way. He's all powerful. I
think all Christians would agree on that
he is all knowing he is omnipresent
and if these things are true that we
read about God throughout scripture that
he is completely powerful that he knows
everything he can do anything and that
he's everywhere
at once then I have a hard time seeing
how that doesn't also apply to someone's
salvation. Now you could say here's what
I hear a lot that he knows who is going
to be saved but he doesn't choose but
for someone who is all powerful is that
not the same thing. Here's an analogy.
Say you have a babysitter. This is kind
of a disturbing analogy but you've got a
babysitter who is watching a 2-year-old.
Now the babysitter is sitting there
watching the 2-year-old fall into the
pool. She sits there. She doesn't do
anything. The 2-year-old drowns. Now,
did the babysitter push the child into
the pool? Did the babysitter insist that
the child goes out into the pool? No,
she didn't do any of those things. But
she sat there, her hands free, seeing
this child, knowing that they're about
to fall into the pool, and she does
nothing. Now, is that person is that
babysitter responsible?
Yes, she is. She had the power to stop
it and she did not. Now, you could argue
that she didn't choose that,
but because she had the power to stop it
and didn't, she kind of did, right? The
only way that she would be let off the
hook there is if her hands were
literally tied behind her back or there
was a good reason why she did not see
this happening. But we know with God
that his hands are not tied behind his
back, that he does know everything. He
does see everything and he is all
powerful. So I don't see how we can
reconcile God's all powerful nature with
this idea that there are some people
that he just can't save even though he
really wants to. Because the opposing
view, the Armenian view is that God
died to save everyone and that he wants
to save everyone but not everyone is
going to choose that. So within that
view, there are some things that God
wants to happen, something that's
important in salvation, but for some
reason, God's power cannot overcome that
person's will. Whereas the Calvinist
would say, "No, no, no. God is all
powerful. His grace is so powerful that
that person, whatever their will is,
whatever their rebellion is, cannot
overcome God's grace." Now, Armenians
would say this is named after someone
named Jacob Arminius who also lived in
the 16th century. Um, now he originally
believed in Calvinism, but then later
rejected that. They shared some beliefs,
but they're different. 1 Timothy 2:3-4,
this is good and it is pleasing in the
sight of God our savior who desires all
people to be saved. So, that's where
they would go and to come to the
knowledge of the truth. Second Peter
3:9, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill
his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that
any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance."
So that's where they would go. They
would say, "Look, God desires all people
to be saved, but not everyone is going
to choose this." And because not
everyone is going to choose it, then
that must mean that God is just not able
to accomplish everything um that he
wants. Now, I think you could probably
reconcile those two views by saying,
"Yes, God loves all people, but we also
read that God hates sinners. God wants
all people to be saved." And maybe some
could argue, yes, in a greater sense, he
desires all people to be saved, but that
doesn't necessarily negate that he chose
some people to be saved and chose some
people to be vessels of wrath and to be
damned. Now, I think from the Armenian
perspective, you could say God is still
all powerful. He is still all sovereign,
but he has allowed things to happen that
he does not ultimately want to happen.
He allows rape to happen. He allows evil
to happen. He allows war and oppression
and corruption to happen. He doesn't
want these things. He doesn't cause
these things. He doesn't author these
things, but he allows these things to
happen for his greater glory. Like I
think both Arminians and Calvinists
would agree on that. Calvinists,
however, would say, "Yeah, that includes
um him choosing some people to go to
hell." Arminians might say, "No, he's
allowing some people to go to hell, but
he doesn't want that." and that they
might say, I'm kind of making this
argument for them. Um, I don't know if
they are or not, that he predestined the
means by which they can be saved. And he
has sovereignly chosen to give people
free will to have faith in Christ and
accept his gift of salvation. and he
wants people to exercise that free will
to choose salvation knowing that some won't.
won't.
Um, when you talk about it like that,
the views really aren't that different.
Some could argue that it is a semantic
argument. I do think it's more than
that. Um, I do think that the questions
about Calvinism and this determinism and
this fatalism are valid and
understandable. At the same time, you
really can't escape Romans 9. You can't
escape the language about predestination
and election and God's sovereignty. If
God knows something and he can do
something, then he is choosing
um to at least allow the outcome.
And here's kind of how I think of all of
it. That God is true and he is right and
he exists independent of what I think
about him. So if God exists and God says
he's kind and God says he's merciful and
God says he's sovereign and God says
that we are predestined and God says
that there is an elect and God says that
he hates evil and that he hates
evildoers and God says that he desires
all people to be saved and he says in
John 3:16 that God so loved the world
that all who believe in him will not
perish but have everlasting If God says
all of these things, then somehow all of
these things are true. All of these
things are true. Regardless of my
ability to understand them, regardless
of my ability to create the logical
human connections between all of these
things, if all of these things are true,
independent of me, then I simply have to
accept them and do the next right thing
in faith. If God tells me to evangelize,
I evangelize. If God tells me to pray, I
pray. If God tells me that he is seeking
and saving the lost and that I am a part
of that, then I seek to be a part of
that however I can. Regardless of
whether you believe that God actively
chose people to go to hell or to heaven,
all of these things are true and the
commands for the Christian are the same.
I think that they are worthy debates to
have. The beautiful thing I think about
Protestantism is that we can bring
scripture. We can bring the authority of
the Bible and we can do our best to do
the iron sharpens iron thing and better
understand who God is through the word
that he has revealed to us. But at the
end of the day, I simply have to submit
to the fact that all of these things are
true. And even though sometimes they
seem contradictory, that doesn't change my calling or my purpose as a Christian.
my calling or my purpose as a Christian. We are all called in Jesus's last
We are all called in Jesus's last earthly dictate to us to go therefore
earthly dictate to us to go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are all told that salvation, this is
all told that salvation, this is indisputable, is a free gift of grace.
indisputable, is a free gift of grace. that we are justified by grace alone
that we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for
through faith alone in Christ alone for God's glory alone. I think all
God's glory alone. I think all Protestants agree on that the mechanism
Protestants agree on that the mechanism whether it's God knowing but then
whether it's God knowing but then deciding to use this mechanism of free
deciding to use this mechanism of free will to allow people to choose salvation
will to allow people to choose salvation or whether it is God saying no no no
or whether it is God saying no no no that free will thing when it comes to
that free will thing when it comes to salvation like that's that's that's not
salvation like that's that's that's not something I'm completely sovereign over
something I'm completely sovereign over the salvation and I have specifically
the salvation and I have specifically one by one predestined the people who
one by one predestined the people who are going to heaven um
are going to heaven um whichever ever one of those things, if
whichever ever one of those things, if it's one of those two things that is
it's one of those two things that is being debated is true, the calling for
being debated is true, the calling for the Christian does not change. Um, I I
the Christian does not change. Um, I I do want to say something about the fruit
do want to say something about the fruit of Calvinism that I've kind of seen over
of Calvinism that I've kind of seen over the past several years in just a second
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Okay. So, growing up in a very traditional evangelical setting that I
traditional evangelical setting that I am so incredibly thankful for, raised
am so incredibly thankful for, raised Southern Baptist, still go to a Southern
Southern Baptist, still go to a Southern Baptist church today, um I did not know
Baptist church today, um I did not know what the Reformation was. I was not
what the Reformation was. I was not taught about Martin Luther. I was not
taught about Martin Luther. I was not taught about John Calvin. If anything,
taught about John Calvin. If anything, if I heard anything about Calvinism, it
if I heard anything about Calvinism, it was probably negative. I think a lot of
was probably negative. I think a lot of evangelicals
evangelicals um mostly are Arminian today and largely
um mostly are Arminian today and largely dispensationalist have a little bit of a
dispensationalist have a little bit of a different view of free will and God's
different view of free will and God's sovereignty. Um I really didn't know
sovereignty. Um I really didn't know what reformed theology was until maybe I
what reformed theology was until maybe I was a junior in high school. And I don't
was a junior in high school. And I don't think I would have called myself
think I would have called myself reformed, but I started learning about
reformed, but I started learning about people like CS Lewis, which we could
people like CS Lewis, which we could debate uh his doctrines and what he
debate uh his doctrines and what he actually believed. Um John Piper, all of
actually believed. Um John Piper, all of these people in what was called, I
these people in what was called, I didn't realize, this young, restless,
didn't realize, this young, restless, and reformed movement. This resurgence
and reformed movement. This resurgence of expository preaching just exploded in
of expository preaching just exploded in all of these Protestant church plants
all of these Protestant church plants across the country. Acts 29 used to be
across the country. Acts 29 used to be like a a big part of that. Um, and
like a a big part of that. Um, and expository preaching is preaching verse
expository preaching is preaching verse by verse. And so, you know, we're going
by verse. And so, you know, we're going through the book of Romans. It might
through the book of Romans. It might take us 12 years, but we're going to go
take us 12 years, but we're going to go verse by verse. In fact, if you listen
verse by verse. In fact, if you listen to John MacArthur, who has been an
to John MacArthur, who has been an expository preacher for or was he
expository preacher for or was he recently died, but for a very long time,
recently died, but for a very long time, um he if you listen to his sermon on
um he if you listen to his sermon on like Romans 1:1, the entire hourlong
like Romans 1:1, the entire hourlong sermon was about Paul, like the first
sermon was about Paul, like the first Paul, like that was the entire sermon
Paul, like that was the entire sermon talking about who Paul was, why that
talking about who Paul was, why that authorship is important, and what his
authorship is important, and what his testimony was. And so that's expository
testimony was. And so that's expository preaching. And that I think about people
preaching. And that I think about people like uh Matt Chandler and others who
like uh Matt Chandler and others who were a big part of this kind of young
were a big part of this kind of young restless reformed this without I don't
restless reformed this without I don't know me even knowing it they were kind
know me even knowing it they were kind of um popularizing expository preaching
of um popularizing expository preaching and reformed theology. So I started
and reformed theology. So I started learning more about that. Then someone
learning more about that. Then someone gave me my ESP study Bible when I was a
gave me my ESP study Bible when I was a sophomore in college and that really
sophomore in college and that really revolutionized how I read the Bible, my
revolutionized how I read the Bible, my understanding of the end times, my
understanding of the end times, my understanding of God's sovereignty.
understanding of God's sovereignty. Again, I probably did not know the five
Again, I probably did not know the five soulas at the time or tulip. Uh but ESV,
soulas at the time or tulip. Uh but ESV, that version and the study Bible is very
that version and the study Bible is very reformed in its interpretation and
reformed in its interpretation and commentary on scripture that really
commentary on scripture that really shaped what I thought. It wasn't until
shaped what I thought. It wasn't until after college that I really learned like
after college that I really learned like what the reformation is, why we should
what the reformation is, why we should be celebrating it, what John Calvin is.
be celebrating it, what John Calvin is. And so when I started studying tulip and
And so when I started studying tulip and Calvinism and all of these things, it
Calvinism and all of these things, it was uh very enlightening for me to
was uh very enlightening for me to understand the history of Protestantism,
understand the history of Protestantism, the history of the great awakenings, the
the history of the great awakenings, the history of the interpretation of
history of the interpretation of scripture, the Puritan movement,
scripture, the Puritan movement, Jonathan Edwards, the history of
Jonathan Edwards, the history of evangelism, and how different that was
evangelism, and how different that was from a lot of modern evangelicalism.
from a lot of modern evangelicalism. Now, when it comes to the fruit of
Now, when it comes to the fruit of Calvinism, there's a lot of good fruit
Calvinism, there's a lot of good fruit and reformed theology. a love of
and reformed theology. a love of scripture, a desire to see Christ
scripture, a desire to see Christ glorified, an understanding of the
glorified, an understanding of the theology of suffering and self-denial
theology of suffering and self-denial that really comes from like the Puritan
that really comes from like the Puritan history. I think there's so much good in
history. I think there's so much good in that. But also, I am so thankful for
that. But also, I am so thankful for modern evangelicalism, which really
modern evangelicalism, which really isn't Calvinistic in nature, is much
isn't Calvinistic in nature, is much more arminian.
more arminian. Um, even if I would rather have an
Um, even if I would rather have an expository sermon than here are three
expository sermon than here are three points and the altar call, I think much
points and the altar call, I think much of the fruit of evangelicalism to try to
of the fruit of evangelicalism to try to Christianize um, America as much as
Christianize um, America as much as possible to build these Christian
possible to build these Christian schools to have a large influence as the
schools to have a large influence as the church in our local communities has been
church in our local communities has been really beautiful. Like if you look at
really beautiful. Like if you look at Charlie Kirk's life and look at his
Charlie Kirk's life and look at his legacy and look at who eulogized him and
legacy and look at who eulogized him and the gospel that was preached at his um
the gospel that was preached at his um uh at his memorial in Phoenix, like you
uh at his memorial in Phoenix, like you see that the fruit of evangelicalism
see that the fruit of evangelicalism really is such a strong desire for
really is such a strong desire for people just to know Christ and for
people just to know Christ and for people to know the gospel. Now, I
people to know the gospel. Now, I believe that uh many many Calvinists
believe that uh many many Calvinists that I know and respect a lot have that
that I know and respect a lot have that exact same desire and they know their
exact same desire and they know their stuff uh so well and you guys probably
stuff uh so well and you guys probably know that I am a Calvinist as well if
know that I am a Calvinist as well if you've been following me for any amount
you've been following me for any amount of time. However, I do think a weakness
of time. However, I do think a weakness in Calvinism that I've seen, especially
in Calvinism that I've seen, especially over the past few years, is just a
over the past few years, is just a hardness of heart and a callousness
hardness of heart and a callousness towards the unbeliever. I'm not saying
towards the unbeliever. I'm not saying everyone and I'm not speaking in um I'm
everyone and I'm not speaking in um I'm not trying to speak in like generally
not trying to speak in like generally sweeping terms, but this is a weakness
sweeping terms, but this is a weakness of Calvinism is a pride in our theology,
of Calvinism is a pride in our theology, a pride in understanding every jot and
a pride in understanding every jot and tit of doctrine and never allowing that
tit of doctrine and never allowing that doctrine to give us the humility and
doctrine to give us the humility and just the desire for the glory of Christ
just the desire for the glory of Christ and for other people to come to know him
and for other people to come to know him that it should be giving us. In fact,
that it should be giving us. In fact, some of the people that are like the
some of the people that are like the angriest that I know, that seem to be
angriest that I know, that seem to be the most prideful in their own
the most prideful in their own righteousness that I know are
righteousness that I know are Calvinists, which is ironic because the
Calvinists, which is ironic because the first tenant of Calvinism is total
first tenant of Calvinism is total depravity and the reliance on Christ
depravity and the reliance on Christ like for all holiness. I mean, there's
like for all holiness. I mean, there's even a name for cage stage Calvinist,
even a name for cage stage Calvinist, which I totally understand. When someone
which I totally understand. When someone realizes, oh my gosh, you can read the
realizes, oh my gosh, you can read the Bible this way and see all these
Bible this way and see all these doctrines this way. It's very exciting.
doctrines this way. It's very exciting. You become so obsessed with your
You become so obsessed with your doctrine. And I saw um a clip the other
doctrine. And I saw um a clip the other day of uh Paul Trip, whom I'm sure I
day of uh Paul Trip, whom I'm sure I don't agree with on everything, say like
don't agree with on everything, say like he said, you know, Satan is happy to
he said, you know, Satan is happy to give you your theology. Like he's happy
give you your theology. Like he's happy to give you your obsession with the
to give you your obsession with the labyrinthian nature of the doctrines of
labyrinthian nature of the doctrines of grace or reformed theology as long as he
grace or reformed theology as long as he could have your heart. And he was
could have your heart. And he was talking about two men that he had
talking about two men that he had counseledled who understood the depths
counseledled who understood the depths of theology, like understood the Bible,
of theology, like understood the Bible, but they were some of the angriest and
but they were some of the angriest and most prideful people he knew. And I
most prideful people he knew. And I think that there is a danger there
think that there is a danger there because of the I think beautiful like
because of the I think beautiful like complexity of scripture to get so caught
complexity of scripture to get so caught up in that and to get so prideful in our
up in that and to get so prideful in our understanding of that especially in the
understanding of that especially in the Calvinist world that we really forget
Calvinist world that we really forget that Christianity really is about love.
that Christianity really is about love. speaking the truth in love through the
speaking the truth in love through the gospel, being used by God to save souls
gospel, being used by God to save souls to to loving the lost um and helping the
to to loving the lost um and helping the poor and the vulnerable. That's not some
poor and the vulnerable. That's not some social justice talk coming from me. I
social justice talk coming from me. I just sometimes think that's lost in the
just sometimes think that's lost in the obsession that we Calvinists have when
obsession that we Calvinists have when it comes to theology and some of the
it comes to theology and some of the ugly ugly fruit that I have seen from
ugly ugly fruit that I have seen from people who call themselves Calvinists
people who call themselves Calvinists over the past few years has really been
over the past few years has really been just it's left a horrible taste in my
just it's left a horrible taste in my mouth. But at the end of the day, here's
mouth. But at the end of the day, here's what I want to say for anyone. No matter
what I want to say for anyone. No matter what you believe, Catholic, Protestant,
what you believe, Catholic, Protestant, Calvinist, or not,
Calvinist, or not, it's about what's true. What is true?
it's about what's true. What is true? Independent of what people who say that
Independent of what people who say that they believe a certain way, independent
they believe a certain way, independent of how they act, like independent of
of how they act, like independent of their personality or their persona on X,
their personality or their persona on X, independent of the pastor who fails you,
independent of the pastor who fails you, independent of any false teaching that
independent of any false teaching that you hear from someone in your camp. What
you hear from someone in your camp. What is true? What does the Bible actually
is true? What does the Bible actually say about God and about salvation?
say about God and about salvation? That's the most important thing. Not who
That's the most important thing. Not who the representatives are of these things,
the representatives are of these things, but like what is actually true. Let what
but like what is actually true. Let what is true take root in your life and bear
is true take root in your life and bear fruit in your life and focus on Christ
fruit in your life and focus on Christ and focus on his salvation. I do think
and focus on his salvation. I do think it's so important to understand these
it's so important to understand these things and debate these things and know
things and debate these things and know these things. But at the end of the day,
these things. But at the end of the day, again,
again, the gospel is for you.
the gospel is for you. And Jesus did die on the cross to save
And Jesus did die on the cross to save us from our sins so that whoever
us from our sins so that whoever believes in him by grace through faith
believes in him by grace through faith will not perish and go to hell when we
will not perish and go to hell when we die, but have eternal life. I don't
die, but have eternal life. I don't think we need to get caught up. Am am I
think we need to get caught up. Am am I chosen or not? The beautiful thing
chosen or not? The beautiful thing though about election is that when you
though about election is that when you become a Christian, you are saved
become a Christian, you are saved forever and ever. And there's nothing
forever and ever. And there's nothing that you can do to lose that.
that you can do to lose that. Those who leave Christianity were never
Those who leave Christianity were never really saved in the first place because
really saved in the first place because God is all powerful and he who began a
God is all powerful and he who began a good work in you will be faithful to
good work in you will be faithful to complete it. That's I think where we can
complete it. That's I think where we can get our comfort in all of this. So, um,
get our comfort in all of this. So, um, I know that was a lot. There's a lot
I know that was a lot. There's a lot more that I could have said. There's so
more that I could have said. There's so much on Calvinism. You can look on
much on Calvinism. You can look on Ligonier. You can look at Desiring God.
Ligonier. You can look at Desiring God. Get a little book, um, the little book
Get a little book, um, the little book on the Christian life by John Calvin, no
on the Christian life by John Calvin, no matter where you stand. Like, it's just
matter where you stand. Like, it's just really, really wise and really good. Um,
really, really wise and really good. Um, I hope that gave you some understanding
I hope that gave you some understanding and some basis when people say Calvinism
and some basis when people say Calvinism to know what they're talking about. All
to know what they're talking about. All right, we will be back with an
right, we will be back with an incredible testimony on Friday. I know
incredible testimony on Friday. I know you guys are going to love it. I'll see
you guys are going to love it. I'll see you then.
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