Things My Calvinist Pastor Said #2: You're Like a "Dead Body"
(This "Things My Calvinist Pastor Said" series is a breakdown on this much longer post: "We Left Our Church Because of Calvinism," which was written last year but updated July 2020. All memes were created with imgflip.)
2. "We are as dead inside as physical dead bodies, unable to do anything. Like a dead body that just lays there - all dead - we can't even think about, want, or seek God on our own unless God makes us do it, unless the Holy Spirit first regenerates our hearts and opens our eyes."
Calvinists wrongly equate spiritual death with physically-dead bodies. They insist that if physical "dead" means you can't do anything on your own, like a dead body that just lays there, then spiritual death must also mean you can't do anything on your own. And that's why God has to cause you (well, the "Calv-elect" only) to seek Him, want Him, believe in Him - just as He predestined. Because you are dead like a dead body that can't do anything.
Calvinists call it "total depravity," but to them it's really "total inability."
[It's much more convincing and deceptive to call mankind "depraved" instead of "unable," because all Christians are willing to admit to the depravity of man. But if Calvinists called it what they really mean - "total inability," that mankind is completely unable to think about, want, seek, or believe in God on our own and so Calvi-god has to cause the Calv-elect to do it, while the non-Calv-elect can never do it - then there'd be a lot more Christians alarmed about Calvinism. But "total depravity" flies under the radar. Sneaky!]
Anyway, Calvinists say that because we are "totally depraved," we are totally unable to do anything on our own - especially anything good, such as seek/believe in God - and so we do whatever we do because God preplanned it and causes us to do it.
[But they try not to use the word "cause" - they hide it under other words like "ordained, decreed, orchestrated, etc." - because they know it would get them into messy theological trouble if they proclaimed that God "causes" sin. (But some do admit it more honestly, see "But Calvinists don't say God causes sin and evil!") And so they obscure what they really believe, hiding it under layers and layers of more biblical-sounding ideas and words, which buys them time to entrenched churches and people's hearts more deeply in their theology before anyone catches on to what they're really teaching. Question: If you have to obscure what you're saying so that people buy it, could it be because it's not the truth!?!]
But they are basing their theology on their own flawed analogy!
Find me one verse that says "spiritually dead" means that we are as lifeless and incapable of doing anything as a dead body, that we can't think or reason or analyze or decide.
You won't find a verse like that.
But do you know what you will find?
God's definition of what "dead" means:
“As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1)
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God..." (Isaiah 59:2)
Because of our sins, we are "dead." And "dead" means that we are separated from God and unable to bridge that gap ourselves (which is why we need Jesus), not that we are unable to think, seek, believe in God. Calvinists go above and beyond the biblical definition of "spiritually dead."
Plus, in the Bible, we'll find someone else who was considered "dead": The prodigal son. And yet he "came to his senses" and went back to his father. His father did not drag him back or put some sort of spell over him to draw him back. He simply waited for the son to come back. And eventually, the son "came to his senses" on his own after looking around at his life and the condition he was in, and he decided to return to the father.
Spiritual death does not mean "like a lifeless dead body" - a wrong, misleading analogy. It doesn't mean we're dead in our brains, in our wills, or in our capabilities. It just means that we're dead in our sins, separated from God, headed to hell if we don't follow God's instructions to get off that path by believing in Jesus. (If Calvinists can get you to agree to their bad analogies, then they've already got you beat.)
We're separated from God by our sins, but our brains still work. Our minds are still alive. And God expects us to use our living brains to want Him, seek Him, and find Him! (As you can see in verse after verse in #1 above.)
Look again at Amos 5:4: "Seek me and live ..." God is saying, "Seek me and you will find life," which means that if they have to seek Him to find life then they are dead right now because they haven't yet found life in Him. This means that God is talking to "dead people." He expects "dead people" to seek Him, to find life in Him.
Calvinism says "dead people can't seek God." But God Himself commanded "dead" people to seek Him - because He knows that we can, because our brains still work. And so once again, who's wrong?
Another verse to consider: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life... he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live." (John 5:24-25). Notice that the people get life after hearing and believing, which means before hearing/believing they are "dead," which means "dead people" can hear and believe, and then after believing they are brought to life (not before, as Calvinists say).
And as best I can tell, considering what the concordance says, the first two uses of "hear" in those verses are about sensing the words that hit our ears. So "hear and believe" is about sensing the words and then believing them. So "whoever" - all spiritually-dead people, which we all are at first - can hear the Word and believe.
But, according to the concordance, as best I can tell, the third use of "hear" - "those who hear will live" - is a different kind of "hear." It means to yield obediently to the voice we hear, not just to sense/listen to the words, but to really hear, to take it in, to accept it and abide by it.
So taking all this together, these verses don't mean, as Calvinists think, that only certain "elect" people can sense the voice/call of God (after the Holy Spirit brings them to life first, as they claim) and understand the Word and believe in it. But it means that all dead people can "hear" the Word, the call of God, and can believe in it, but that only those who do choose to believe in it, to yield obediently to it, will be saved by it (and only after believing are they brought to life, given eternal life).
This contradicts the Calvinist view that dead people can't hear/believe and that only certain preselected people are brought to life before hearing/believing in order to make them hear/believe.
[Sidenote: And yet Calvinists "brag" about how humble they are for believing that they did nothing to be saved, not even seeking God or choosing to believe in Jesus on their own. They say that because God "did it all" - chose them and caused them to believe - then they have "no reason to brag."
Calvinists believe in "total inability," and yet the Bible is absolutely overflowing with examples of the total opposite of "total inability," of God expecting people to make choices, to think and evaluate and make decisions, to seek Him and believe in Him and obey Him.
Calvinists insist that God has to give the Calv-elect the Holy Spirit before they can believe, to "wake them up," to cause them to believe and have faith. And so if He doesn't give you the Holy Spirit (because you were non-Calv-elect, not chosen for heaven) then you have no ability to believe and can never have faith in Jesus. Because you never got the Spirit to cause it to happen. Because you were predestined for hell.
But time and time again, the Bible shows us that belief leads to getting the Holy Spirit, not that getting the Holy Spirit leads to belief.
Acts 2:38: "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized ... And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" (We repent in order to get the Holy Spirit, not the other way around as Calvinists would say.)
John 7:39: "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive." (Belief leads to getting the Holy Spirit, not the other way around as Calvinists would say.)
Ephesians 1:13: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." (Once again, we receive the Holy Spirit as a response to our decision to believe in Jesus. Not the other way around. Also notice that these believers were not included in Christ until they believed. This contradicts Calvinism's view that all the elect are chosen in Christ, sealed in Christ, from the beginning of time. These believers were not "in Christ" or sealed until after they believed.)
Galatians 3:2,5,14: "... Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? ... Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? ... so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit [other translations say "the promised Holy Spirit"]." (Paul is asking a rhetorical question here, saying that the people did not get the Holy Spirit by obeying the law but by believing. Once again, they believed and had faith first, then they got the Holy Spirit as a result of it. Not the other way around.)
2 Corinthians 3:16: "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." (First we turn to Jesus, and then the veil is removed. But in Calvinism, the veil has to be removed first so that we can turn to Jesus. Satan's best tactics are to use God's exact words, but to twist them or reverse them so subtly that we don't notice the deception. The same words in a different order leads to a totally different meaning and, therefore, a totally different Gospel!)
And so if our belief leads to getting the Holy Spirit then it means that we don't get the Holy Spirit first in order to believe. And this means we are not "so dead inside" that we cannot believe unless the Holy Spirit "wakes us up" first. It means that we can indeed believe before we get the Holy Spirit. And this means that there are not elected people who were prechosen to get the Holy Spirit to cause them to believe. And this means that anyone can believe and get the Holy Spirit, that the choice is ours.
[Question: If Calvi-god predetermines that certain people go to hell, never giving them a chance to be saved, never giving them the faith to believe, never paying for their sins on the cross but only for the sins of the Calv-elect ... then why would he also need to harden their hearts, as Calvinists say he does? Why would he need to cause Satan to try to steal the truth from them (Matthew 13:19) and to blind their eyes (2 Cor. 4:4)? Is his "predestining them to hell" not enough? Is it not strong enough to get them to hell, as if he needs "extra measures" to make sure they don't escape his predestination? It doesn't make sense. And it isn't supported by Scripture! There is no clear, plain verse in Scripture that teaches what Calvinism does. In fact, Calvinism opposes Scripture, replacing the clear, plain truths of God's Word with its own "mysteries" and "deeper understandings" and "secret meanings." It's nonsense, that's what it is! Gospel-destroying nonsense!]
Calvinism falls apart in the true light Scripture!
"Dead people" can indeed seek and choose to believe.
In fact, God expects it and requires it.
"Seek me and live ..."
And on top of all that, there was a case in the Bible where a physically dead person heard Jesus' call and responded. His name was Lazarus. If even physically dead people can hear Jesus, how much more can physically alive but only spiritually dead people hear Him?
"Oh," but I can imagine the Calvinist saying, "that's because Jesus woke him up first, so that he could hear and respond, just like the Holy Spirit wakes up the elect first - and only the elect - so that they can hear and respond to God's call."
First off, we have no indication that Lazarus was "woken up" before he heard Jesus's call. And even if his dead body was "woken up" first, it doesn't mean that a physically alive but spiritually dead person has to be "woken up" first. Spiritually dead is not the same thing as physically dead. But even if it was the same thing, as Calvinists claim, then the story of Lazarus shows us that a physically-dead person heard and responded to Jesus, meaning that spiritually dead people can also hear and respond to Jesus.
Secondly, we still have the other example of the prodigal son who was considered "dead" coming to his senses on his own and returning to his father, and we have the many verses about God telling people to seek Him in order to be saved, including "Seek me and live."
And thirdly, there is no verse that clearly says that God only calls the Calv-elect or that He has different kinds of calls for the Calv-elect and the non-Calv-elect.
Instead, I see verses that clearly say that Jesus will call "all men" to Himself when He has risen from the dead, that God calls all men to repentance, and that salvation is offered to all people (Acts 17:30, John 12:32, Titus 2:11, Romans 5:18).
FYI: Many Calvinists have no problem admitting that God calls to all people. They just qualify it with "But only the Calv-elect can and will respond because Calvi-god draws only them with an irresistible grace because Calvi-Jesus died only for them." And so, apparently, Calvi-god gives fake calls to everyone else, fake offers of salvation and eternal life, knowing full-well that he made them unable to respond to the call, that Calvi-Jesus never died for their sins in the first place. And he gives them this fake call so that he could have a better excuse to send them to hell when they "reject" his offer as he created/predestined them to do. It's insane!
But I believe the Bible teaches that God calls and draws all people to Him, through nature and through the truth He puts in our hearts and the circumstances He puts in our paths. I believe He is active in trying to lead all people to Him (but it's up to us to decide if we will respond to Him or resist Him). I believe that everyone has the chance to find Him, the ability to believe in Him, and that salvation is possible for all because Jesus paid for all men's sins.
I, however, think that if only a very few people are chosen to be saved then that makes them "much more special" than everyone else and gives them a huge reason to be proud, to brag, because they won the "salvation lottery" out of billions of people. They got the "golden ticket" by pure luck. Hooray for them! Only five available, and they got one of them! They are super-special indeed!
However, Calvinists will counter that with "But it isn't luck. God doesn't choose people arbitrarily or randomly. He has His mysterious reasons why He chose me, but I just don't know what they are."
That's even worse!
Because it means that not everyone got the same chance to be chosen. Calvi-god didn't put everyone's name in a hat, giving everyone the same odds of being chosen, and then pick the "elect" at random.
No! Calvi-god had reasons why he picked whom he did to be saved. He looked at certain people (before everyone was born) and said, "There's just something more special about you. I'm going to choose to love you more than everyone else, to spend eternity with you instead of with others."
Even if the Calvinist claims "I don't know why He chose me, but I can't brag about being saved because I did nothing to get eternal life," it's still a backhanded self-compliment: "He just saw something more special and desirable in me than He did in you. He couldn't live without me but He could live without you. I don't know what it is, but something set me apart as worth saving more than you."
Even more reason to brag, while trying to sound like they're not bragging.
The funny thing is that Calvinists - in an effort to shame those who believe in free-will and to manipulate us into Calvinism - will accuse us of thinking of ourselves as more humble/smarter/better than our unbelieving neighbors because we were somehow "smart enough" to see our need to be saved, whereas others couldn't, which is why they don't believe.
They'll say, "You're taking the credit for your salvation, as if there's something better about you that made you realize your need to be saved. As if you have some quality unbelievers don't. But we Calvinists are more humble because we know salvation is all of God, that we're saved not because we're better than, smarter than, or more humble than unbelievers, but because God chose us for unknown reasons. We give God all the glory for our salvation, unlike you who think you saved yourself." (See this Soteriology 101 post for more on this.)
There are a few problems with this though:
#1: They assume that unbelievers don't believe because they can't believe, that they don't have the ability to believe. But unbelievers have the ability and opportunity to be saved - the same observation skills, reasoning skills, and decision-making skills I do - but they choose to not believe, to reject the truth.
#2: Calvinists think accepting the gift of salvation is taking credit for it, "saving ourselves." But in no way is accepting a gift "working for it."
#3: If the reason that Calvi-god elected the particular people he did is "unknown," then Calvinists cannot claim that they weren't saved for being better than, smarter than, or more humble than those not chosen. If they don't know the reasons they were chosen, then it could very well be that Calvi-god knew they were better than, smarter than, or more humble than others, and that's why he chose them. So, technically, Calvinists are potentially guilty of the same thing they condemn free-will believers for; they just don't realize it because they don't know the reasons they were chosen.
#4: They're still bragging, but in a round-about way - bragging about how humble they are to deny that they're smarter/better/more humble than non-believers, bragging about how much smarter they are than free-will believers, and bragging about how much more glory God gets from them than from free-will believers.
Calvinists accuse free-will believers of the pride that they themselves are guilty of. And they accuse free-will believers of the very bragging that they themselves do. (But I guess if they can accuse us of it then no one will notice it in them, right? Not even themselves.)
But if, as I believe, God made salvation available to everyone, if God calls to everyone, if Jesus died for everyone, if we all have the same ability to put our faith in Jesus, then there is truly no reason to brag or be proud if we chose to believe in Jesus for our salvation. Because anyone else can do the same thing. There's nothing special or different about us. We just chose to accept a free gift that Jesus made possible and that God offered us, that He offers to all of us and that anyone can accept.
But I digress ... as usual.]
Calvinists believe in "total inability," and yet the Bible is absolutely overflowing with examples of the total opposite of "total inability," of God expecting people to make choices, to think and evaluate and make decisions, to seek Him and believe in Him and obey Him.
God does not cause us to do what we do. He gives us the right to make our own choices, He expects us to make our own choices, and then He holds us accountable for our own choices.
Yes, He does hold all things in His hands, and He works circumstances out for His plans, and He might put us in situations that force us to make a choice or to act out what's in our hearts (without determining what we choose or putting evil into our hearts), and He does put our self-chosen obedience or disobedience to good use ... but He never prevents us from doing what He commands and He never causes us to break His commands. He might force us to make our choice about Him, but He never forces us to choose to sin or rebel or reject Him. No one has been predestined to hell!
Calvinism is an incredible assault on the Gospel and on God's holy, righteous, trustworthy character!
Calvinism flips the Gospel and Truth on its head, and then it shames and manipulates you into accepting it ... because, as they say, "it's what the Bible says, and God causes everything that happens for His glory, so who are you to question Him."
(No ... it's what the Calvinist says the Bible says. Big difference! And Calvinism uses God's glory against God, against the Gospel. How very deceptive and wicked!)
[Also see "Is Faith a Gift God Gives (forces on) Us?"]
