The Tenth Leper

It never ceases to surprise me when talking with Christians I’ve just met or have run into after a long hiatus how easily the conversation turns to the controversial topic of predestination, or just Calvinism in general.  “Wow, so you’re in school, have a dog, and you’re not a Calvinist.  Sounds like things are going good!”  I personally became a Calvinist in a coffee shop three years ago and haven’t looked back.  It’s something I relish reading books on, and something I love to discuss assuming it’s done so in a loving environment.

Recently I’ve been very aware of many of the misconceptions about the Calvinist interpretation of Scripture, misconceptions that I oftentimes take for granted because they’re no longer things I’m struggling with.  Among its opponents, Calvinism is sometimes treated fairly but is more often than not caricatured (though usually not on purpose).  What is often thought to be Calvinism is actually what is called “Hyper-Calvinism,” something that is blatantly unscriptural.  Below are some points I hope will clear up confusion for some Christians by showing what Calvinism is NOT.  I don’t intend for these points to be exhaustive.  I could write and talk forever about each one of these points on their own.  Rather, I hope what follows will at least clear up some of the confusion about Calvinism that is so rampant among its dissenters and perhaps inspire fruitful discussion.

1.  Calvinism does not negate John 3:16.

If you’re banking on verses like this one and others that say that ANYONE who trusts in Christ will be saved as an argument against Calvinism, you’re not understanding what Calvinism is.  The caricature is this: God predestines only some to eternal life.  So you could be an incredible saint but if you’re not one of his elect, sucks for you.  Conversely, you could spend your whole life in extreme immorality and yet, because you’re one of God’s elect, you lucked out and get to go to heaven!  In other words, God saves some against their will and flat-out rejects some who believe in him as savior.

Of course, that is very plainly not what the Bible teaches.  I take the “whosoever” of John 3:16 as serious as any Arminian.  Christ will never reject anyone who comes to him.  “And whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37b).  But what goes on behind the scenes of this?  What causes a person to want to come to Christ?  The first part of the verse tells us: “All that the Father gives me will come to me” (John 6:37a).  Everyone who comes to Christ will be saved, and everyone who does this does it as a result of God the Father’s giving them to Jesus.

2.  Calvinism Does not Deny Choice

True Calvinism does not crumble under the reality of the individual’s choice.  To believe in choice is not antithetical to God’s predestinating certain individuals to salvation.  That they are opposed is based on an assumption Scripture does not warrant, an assumption summarized well by the classic statement: “God votes for you, Satan votes against you,  and you cast the deciding vote.”  The assumption is that man is a blank slate with equal forces pulling him in two different directions.  But the Bible, particularly Paul, is not this optimistic about the human condition.  In Romans 8:7 he writes: “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”  Writing to Timothy, he describes the unbeliever as being in “the snare of the devil…captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26).  We’re enslaved by Satan and we don’t have the luxury to say “Hmmm, think I’ll choose Christ.”

The Bible is clear that EVERYTHING in a person, including the desires and the will is subject to the heart, the ultimate source (Proverbs 4:23).  Proverbs 21:1 is a helpful verse for this discussion.  It says “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.”  The Bible’s understanding of the heart is that it is a flowing stream.  But God can and does redirect the way the stream flows.  By so doing, he’s not actively pushing the water (because it flows freely), but rather is redirecting the channel to himself.

The water flows freely within the channel.  God doesn’t force us to believe in him but graciously redirects the flow of our hearts- which were flowing towards sin- towards himself.  In so doing we gladly, not grudgingly, respond positively to Christ.  This is totally the work of God.  Augustine well said that God chooses us not because we believe, but so that we may believe.  And do remember that the essence of the New Covenant inaugurated by Christ is that God gives us completely new hearts (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

3.  Calvinism does not fully adhere to one man’s theology, namely John Calvin.

I was a “Calvin”ist at least a good year before I ever sat down and read anything by Calvin that wasn’t just a quote.  I’ve still read relatively little of his works, but I do have his “Institutes” which I hope to get to in the next couple of years, as well as a few of his bible commentaries which I love to turn to.  I love what I’ve read from him so far, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a disciple of John Calvin.  The historical particulars of why Calvin’s name got slapped onto a theology far older than himself is something that is currently unknown to me.  While I trust the man, I subject his teachings to the same scriptural scrutiny that I would give to any theologian.

4.  Calvinism does not negate evangelism.

I remember being in my car when it dawned on me that evangelism and missions was a crippling blow to the theology of Calvinism.  “Dude…” is what I think I said, “If God’s predestined people to be saved, then he wouldn’t have been so adamant about preaching the Gospel!  Checkmate!”

But by that same time the next year, I realized  there was still a move to be made.  This is similar to the misconception I mentioned in the first point.  God chooses whom he will save.  But we must repent of our sins in order to be saved.  Therefore, if God is irrevocably choosing who he will save, he is essentially ensuring that this repentance will take place.  The classic Calvinist phraseology on this point is this: God does not only ordain the end, but also the means.  God has called us to preach the Gospel, because that preaching is the means God has chosen to bring his sheep into the fold (Romans 1:16, John 10:16, Romans 10:14).  When you diminish the ordained means of salvation, you end up with hyper-Calvinism.  When you diminish the ordained end of salvation, you end up with Arminianism.  But when you uphold both and understand that God has sovereignly chosen to save a people by causing them to willingly choose him, that is Calvinism.

5.  Calvinism does not negate prayer.

Very similar to the last point.  God has not only ordained the ends, but the means as well, and prayer is one his greatest means of accomplishing his purposes.  The absolute best description of this I’ve yet to hear comes from Charles Spurgeon:  “Our prayers are God’s decrees in another shape.  The prayers of God’s people are but God’s promises breathed out of living hearts, and those promises are the decrees, only put into another form and fashion.  Do not say, ‘How can my prayers affect the decrees of God?’  They cannot, except to the degree that your prayers are decrees, and that as they come out, every prayer that is inspired of the Holy Ghost in your soul is as omnipotent and as eternal as that decree which said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light’ (Gen.1:3).”

I believe it was Martin Luther who well said that prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of his willingness.  The idea is that we’re not persuading God to do things through prayer, but rather we’re bringing those things about through those prayers.  For example, God does not save a man because he (God) has been convinced through prayer to save him.  Instead he has appointed those prayers to be the means by which he saves that man.  “But,” you might object, “that seems like a needless formality for God to choose to do things only in response to prayer.”  Yet this is a “formality” that pervades the entirety of one’s prayer life, not one that is unique to prayers of salvation.  For God knows what we need before we ask (Matthew 6:8).  Before we even say anything, he knows it (Psalm139:4).  Therefore, as A.W. Pink writes, “Prayer is not appointed for the furnishing of God with the knowledge of what we need, but it is designed as a confession to Him of our sense of the need…God requires that His gifts should be sought for.  He designs to be honoured by our asking, just as He is to be thanked by us after He has bestowed His blessing.”

6.  Calvinism does not make God the author of evil.

But it does put him in control of it.  I once had someone counter Calvinism by making this claim.  And then to throw out the trump card he asked if Hitler killing six million Jews was part of God’s plan.  That’s a very good and sensitive quesion, namely how God’s sovereignty and evil correlate.  How we treat the question depends entirely upon the motives of the one asking.  Some genuinely want to know.  Some throw out the question in order to clinch the debate once and for all.  But to acknowledge this difficulty and ask how it’s possible is nothing that hasn’t been asked before…by the Bible itself.  This is the same question Habakkuk wrestled with.  How could God use sinful people to bring judgment on his people?  His eyes are too pure to look on evil, right?  God may use evil to further his purposes, but that doesn’t mean he’s condoning it.  Rather he’s giving it the biggest slap in the face by turning it to accomplish the exact opposite of what it wants.

Joseph’s brothers selling him to slave-traders turned out to unite that family big-time and ended up saving a whole lot of people.  God himself became flesh and was sinfully crucified in order to bring salvation to his children.  God uses it for righteousness’ sake, and in the end he will punish those who carry it out.