WARNING: SLIPPERY

We love formulas, don’t we? Formulas make things easy. Patterns make things simple. But when it comes to Christianity this can be a serious problem. Why? Because God is not a formula. He’s a person.

Jesus is not a concept, He’s a living God.

When it comes to evangelism, we prefer the easy formulas. Give me the Roman’s Road, the Four Spiritual Laws or the King’s Way of evangelism. Even though Jesus never used any of those patterns to communicate the Gospel to anyone. Neither did the Apostles. The truth is, they never once repeated their message or their pattern. Instead, they took each person on an individual case-by-case basis and allowed the Holy Spirit to tailor-make a response based on the specific needs of that one person.

When it comes to theology we love patterns. Give me the TULIP, the Dispensations, the Apostle’s Creeds. The problem is, faith is more elastic than that, and our God isn’t a theorem to solve. He’s a living God with ideas, and plans, and emotions, and desires, and an agenda that is so far beyond yours and mine that it’s more than a little ridiculous to think for even a moment that we can figure Him out.

The real problem with patterns and formulas, however, is that once we think we’ve got everything reduced down into a formula, we don’t need God anymore. We can do everything by simply following our liturgy and our process.

But God does not work that way. He will always slip out of your box. He refuses to do things the same way every time. He is not on your leash. He is far and above every idea and concept you could possibly imagine.

How audacious to think that we can boil God down to a formula. If we’re honest, our formulas about how God works are almost always very simple. If God was ever to be expressed in a formula it wouldn’t be anything as simple as A + B = C. It would take an entire universe of chalk and an infinite blackboard beyond our comprehension to contain such a complex and unique formula like God.

Once we have a pattern we no longer need a person. Jesus is determined to slip out of our patterns because He does not want us to settle for anything less than His dynamic, constant, immediate presence and power in our lives.

How foolish we are to think that God could ever be reduced to a simple pattern. If anything, He is an enormously huge algebraic equation for whom there can never be a large enough white board to write everything down.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a relationship with a living God than with a set of formulas and predictable patterns.

Now, this doesn’t mean that God is just too complex to know and understand. The truth is, He does want us to know Him. But that ability to know Him more comes from His side of the process (revelation) not from our side of the process (formulaic faith).

Knowing God is as simple as having a conversation. Get on your knees, or take a walk in the park, or drive down by the beach, or just get alone with God and start sharing your heart with Him. Listen for His voice. Meditate on His goodness in your life. Be thankful for all you have. Trust Him with your life. And know in your heart of hearts that He loves you more than words can ever say.

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Why I Reject Calvinism

Calvin's Five Points are usually spelled out with the acronym T.U.L.I.P. which correspond to:

Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistable Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

Let’s take each one in turn and look at what they mean and why I reject them all.

 Total Depravity: To the Calvinist this doesn’t simply mean that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Instead, they take it to mean that everything about everyone is sinful and that sin touches every aspect of every person’s life. It’s also expressed as “Total Inability” which means man is incapable of even wanting to choose good or to repent.

So, if people are truly as depraved as Calvinists say, then no one could ever be saved because no one is saved without repentance and no one would ever want to repent according to this doctrine. Unless you also believed the second point of the doctrine which is:

Unconditional Election: This is the belief that the only way anyone is ever saved is by God’s choice before the creation of the earth. Some are saved by God’s choice and some are damned by God’s choice. It’s all about God’s choice and not about any human’s sincere repentance or desire to be saved since man is totally depraved (see point one above). In other words, Calvinism teaches that those who are saved receive salvation because God chose them so that they could repent, not because they repented.

This belief is largely founded on a grave misunderstanding of Romans 9 to 11. At any rate, if you accept this then you must also accept the next plank in this doctrine with is:

Limited Atonement: Since God has only chosen to save some and not all of the people, then the Atonement of Jesus is limited only to those who are pre-chosen, not for everyone on the planet. Therefore, Christ only died for those He was already planning to save ahead of time, not for the whole world. Calvinists hold that the atonement is “sufficient for all but only efficient for the elect”.

This means that God could have saved everyone on Earth, but He chose not to. Calvinism teaches that there is a select group of Christians with a set number of members that cannot be added to or taken away from. You’re either chosen to be saved or not chosen to be saved. That’s it. Next we have:

 Irresistible Grace: This just means that if you are lucky enough to be one of the number of elect, then God will give you the Grace to live the Christian life. This Grace is not resistible by the elect. It is forced upon you just like your election.  The doctrine holds that this purposeful influence of God's Holy Spirit cannot be resisted, but that the Holy Spirit, "graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ." This brings us finally to:

Perseverance of the Saints: This means that you will remain in the faith and you will never backslide, fall away or lose faith. Since your salvation wasn’t your choice, and since you have an irresistible grace from God, you will never and could never lose this faith. Good news if you’re one of the elect. Bad news if you’re not.

Those who are not elected have no opportunity to be saved, ever. It’s just game over from before the universe began. Those are the breaks.

The good news is that no one before Augustine (400 ad) ever believed or taught this doctrine. The cultic Manichaiens (a Gnostic cult) taught and believed this doctrine, which is where Augustine borrowed it from. John Calvin later refined it and because there was an attempt to refute the five points of Armenianism, the Five Points of Calvinism were created.

It is my opinion that the New Testament scriptures do not teach this doctrine and neither should we.

Why I don’t believe in the Five Points of Calvinism

Why not Total Depravity? Because God’s Word implores us over and over again to repent. It makes no sense for God to demand that people do something that He knows they cannot do, and especially to rest their eternal well-being upon an act that cannot be accomplished.

God’s salvation is conditional and that condition is met when men and women turn from their sins and chose to follow Christ and receive his eternal life within.

 Why not Unconditional Election? Because Romans 9 through 11 doesn’t teach that God is choosing individual people, it teaches that God chooses Christ and that anyone who is in Christ is saved. If you are in Christ then you are “elect” because you are part of the Body of the Chosen One who is Jesus.

The election Paul is talking about in Romans 9 to 11 is simply the identity of the Israel to whom God made His promises in the Old Covenant. Paul is clear to point out that not every Jew is truly Israel and he explains how God has the right to choose some Jews to carry the promise and others not to carry the promise. Again, this is not about salvation – it is simply about being the chosen or not being the chosen of God to carry the promise of God.

So, who is chosen? God has chosen to bless the faithful remnant of Israel. If a Jew has faith in Christ then they are truly Israel. If they are not trusting in God’s messiah, then they are not true Israel.

Again, this is not about salvation but about who is actually the rightful recipient of God’s promises and who is not. God has created two categories: Those who are in Christ (true Israel) and everyone else (those who reject Christ).

Who then are the chosen of God? Anyone who is in Christ Jesus. Who is not the chosen of God? Anyone who rejects Christ as Messiah. There are only two categories. As Paul explains so clearly in Galatians chapter 3, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (v.29)

Why not Limited Atonement? Because once you remove the first two points of Calvinism there’s no reason to accept this contrived view that God’s Grace is limited only to a select group of pre-chosen souls. Remember, “For God so loved the world…”

 Why not Irresistible Grace? Because God doesn’t treat us like robots. We can choose to follow Christ or we can chose to embrace our sin nature. This is why the New Testament scriptures urge us over and over again to guard our hearts, work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and not to fall away from Christ – because if we’re not careful we certainly can. Yes, you can turn from the faith and fall away from Christ and salvation. No one is “once saved, always saved.” If they are following Christ then they are saved but if they are not following Christ then they are – of course – not saved. It’s that simple.

Why not Perseverance of the Saints? Because as I’ve said above, we are free agents who can either chose to continue in our faith or we can chose to follow a path of sin and selfishness. God does not make us do anything, nor does the devil.

“Chose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – (Joshua 24:15)

*NOTE: Obviously this is a very hotly contested topic among Christians. If you have questions or disagreements, I'm open to your comments. Please play nice.

-kg