A Quick Study Of Calvinism's Favorite Words
I am going to do a quick study of several of Calvinism’s favorite words – sovereign, predestined, elect, chosen, whosoever, and hardens - looking them up in the Bible (in context) and in the concordance to see what we can learn about them.
1. Sovereign
Despite the fact that Calvinists heavily build
their theology on their idea that being “sovereign” means that God has to
control every detail, every sin, every choice we make, every speck of dust or
else He can’t possibly be God … this word NEVER shows up in the King James
Bible or in the concordance. (Strong’s
concordance uses the King James.)
And when it is used in, say, the NIV, it's used as a title (Sovereign Lord), not a description of how God has to act. Sovereign is about the position
God holds, being the Top Dog, the High King, the One over and above all, the
One who has the final say in all matters.
“Sovereign” is about the position of power and
authority that God holds. But God
Himself gets to decide how He will act in that position. And the Bible shows us time and time again
that God has decided to restrain His use of power/authority to give men the
right to make real choices that affect the outcome (Genesis 1:26, Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua
24:15), the right to do things He doesn’t want us to do (examples: Jeremiah
19:5, Hosea 8:4) and to not do things He does want us to do (example: 1
Kings 20:42). And in His sovereign
power, He decides how to weave it all together into His plans – our choices, our sins, our
obedience, our disobedience, our prayers, etc..
But Calvinists go outside of the definition of
“sovereign.” Instead of defining it
correctly (being about the position God holds), they make it about how they
think He must operate within that position, how He has to use His
power and authority. They essentially
decided that the only way God can be a sovereign God is if He’s always
using His power all the time to control everything, even our
thoughts, choices, and actions. Or else
He can’t be God!
[And they try to suck you into Calvinism by presenting
you with false dichotomies like this: “Either God is in control or man is. Either God is sovereign or man is. Either God controls everything or God
controls nothing. Either God chooses who
gets saved or man is more powerful than God because we save ourselves. So which one is it?”
They present you with two bad options: an absurdly wrong
one and the Calvinist one, forcing you to reject the absurd one and accept the
Calvinist one.
But the problem is that they left out the biblical one
from the beginning and that they start with bad definitions of things like
“sovereign/in control, etc.” The
biblical option would be that God is sovereign and in control, but He has
chosen to not actively control everything.
He has chosen to give man the right and responsibility to make real
choices, not because He’s weak or not in control (which is what Calvinists will
accuse you of saying) but because He wanted it to be that way so that
men willingly and voluntarily choose to love Him and worship Him instead of
being “forced” to. Because He wanted it
that way. The biblical option is not
that God determines who gets saved or that man saves himself but that God has
made salvation possible for all people and offers it to all people, but He left
it up to us to decide to accept or reject that offer. Never let a Calvinist define the words or
give you the options you must choose between.
And always be critical of their illustrations, too. Such as the one about “There are 100 men on
death row and God walks in and graciously frees 10 of them. Now, He didn’t have to free any of them
because they all deserved death, but He chose to free 10 of them, showing how
loving and gracious He is. And He let
the other 90 stay on death row as they deserved, showing how just He is.”
And they try to make it sound like this shows how loving,
gracious, good, generous, and just God is.
Like it’s a perfectly reasonable illustration of what God is like.
However, the part they don’t tell you is that the
men were only on death row to begin with because Calvi-god caused
them to be the wicked, murderous criminals they were, never giving them a
chance to be any different. So Calvi-god
didn’t “graciously” save 10 of them who deserved their death sentence; he first
caused them to do the crimes that got them on death row. And he didn’t simply pass over the other 90,
letting them pay the penalty they deserved; he caused them to be murderers and then
decided that they would pay the penalty for what he made them do.
That is not loving, gracious, good, generous, or just! And it's a deceptively bad illustration! But it’s one that sucks many good, humble
Christians into Calvinism nonetheless. (Also
see "When Calvinism’s “Bad Logic” Traps Good Christians.")]
Anyway, Calvinists say that if there’s one thing
He doesn’t control – one speck of dust floating around that He’s not actively
controlling – then He can’t be God.
(Show me the verse for this!)
Telling God how God has to act in order to be a
“sovereign” God is a dangerous thing indeed!
And yet, “sovereign” isn’t even in the King James Bible
or the concordance anywhere!
Interesting.
2. Predestinate/predestinated
Calvinists also make a lot out of this word:
predestined. Their whole theology is
built on it, on the idea that God predestined who goes to heaven and who goes
to hell because, well, remember that He has to control our choices or
else He can’t be God.
But do you know that this word only shows up 4 times in the King James? And according to the concordance, it simply means that something is determined beforehand. But it doesn't say what is determined beforehand or how it is determined beforehand. Nor is there any indication in the definition that it's talking about salvation. And so you have to look at the word in context to see what it says. And here it is, in context:
Romans 8:29-30 (KJV): “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son … Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
Notice that God “predestined” those whom He
“foreknew.” And whom does He
“know”?
Well, according to Matthew 7:21-24, He doesn’t
know those who simply act like they are Christ-followers but who aren’t really
Christ-followers in their hearts. And
according to John 6:44, Jesus knew from the beginning who would not
believe in Him. Therefore, I would say
that those God knows – foreknows – are those who truly believe in Him, who are
true Christ-followers. And those are the
people He predestines.
And what does He predestine them for? Eternal life?
Salvation?
No! It says that
those whom He foreknows are predestined to be conformed to the image of His
Son. This is not a verse about God
predestining certain “elected” sinners to salvation. It’s about God predestining true believers
(anyone who chooses to believe in Him) to be conformed to Jesus’s image. It’s about God predestining the destination
of a believer’s path, the direction our path heads after we choose to believe
in Jesus – to grow to be more like Jesus and to eventually be glorified. (This verse is about the truth that a true
believer cannot lose their salvation.
The path of a true, Spirit-filled believer is predestined to end
in glorification.)
To truly understand predestination, you need to read Ephesians in the KJV. Ephesians 1:5, 11-12 (KJV): “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself … In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”
Does this say certain sinners are predestined to salvation/eternal life?
No. To know what “adoption of children” means (the NIV words it “adoption as sons”) go to Romans 8:23 (NIV): “… we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
“Predestined for adoption” is not about certain sinners being predestined for salvation/eternal life. It’s about the promise that God will redeem the bodies of all believers, that we will reach that “glorification” talked about in Romans 8:30, eventually acquiring the full benefits of being a child of God.
Even Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV) confirms this when it says that “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, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.”
Notice that those believers were not included in Christ until after they believed. And after they believed, they were given the Holy Spirit as a promise that they will be redeemed. This contradicts Calvinism on at least three points:
First, it confirms that predestination is not about certain sinners being preselected for heaven, but it’s about believers being predestined for redemption. Second, it contradicts Calvinism’s idea that the elect are “in Christ” (essentially “saved”) from the beginning of time, because Scripture shows they were not in Christ until after they believed. And third, it contradicts Calvinism’s view that the elect have to get the Holy Spirit first, that He causes them to believe in Jesus, because it shows that they didn’t get the Holy Spirit until after they believed, as a result of believing.
And notice also that the second "predestination" (in Eph. 1:11-12, but you have to use the KJV) specifies that the "inheritance" believers get is what was predestined, NOT that certain people are predestined for salvation. Basically, Ephesians predestination is saying that we who are “in Him” (as a result of choosing to believe in Him) are predestined to have our bodies redeemed, to get an inheritance, and to be “for the praise of his glory.” All of this is promised by God to anyone who chooses to put their faith in Jesus. And anyone can.
This is not about individual people being pre-chosen for salvation, but it’s about the destiny of anyone who chooses to believe in Jesus. And that's a big difference!
3. “Elect/Election/Elected”
In the New Testament, there are 3 uses (definitions) of
it, according to Strong’s concordance:
Strong’s 1588 (elect/elect’s) - There are 16 times this
definition is used. A selection of the
most relevant verses for our topic would be Matthew 24:31, 1 Peter 1:2, Romans 8:33,
2 Timothy 2:10, and Mark 13:20,27. The
definition of this word has to do with being “chosen out, selected.” But it doesn’t say for what.
Strong’s 1589 (elected) is used 1 time: 1 Peter 5:13. Once again, “a picking out, choosing.” But it doesn’t say for what.
Strong’s 4899 (election) is used 6 times: Romans 9:11,
11:5, 11:7, 11:28, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Peter 1:10. It means “chosen with, elected together,” but
it doesn’t say for what.
There is no implication in any of these definitions that
these words inherently and necessarily refer to being chosen for
salvation. Nor does it say how
they were chosen. The use of “elect” in
any passage could simply refer to a generalized idea of those people God has
“chosen/selected.” But how did He choose
them? Notice in Romans 11:4-5
that God chose those who did not bend a knee to Baal. The people chose first, then God chose those
who did not choose against Him. Whether
He chose them or not was based on their choice for or against Him. If “elect” simply means a generalized “chosen
people,” is it not possible that God chose those whom He knew would choose Him?
Anyway, let’s look at some of those verses to see what else
the Bible says (these are all KJV), to see if they can be understood in any
other way than “elect = predestined for salvation”:
Matthew 24:31: “… and [the
angels] will gather his elect from the four winds …” (Also included here are other “tribulation”
passages such as Mark 13:20,23: “And except
that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved: but for the
elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days... But false
Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shew signs and wonders, to seduce,
if it were possible, even the elect.”)
This is during the tribulation, and there is a point where the angels will
come and gather the believers. Since
this word simply means “chosen out, selected,” the most obvious implication is
that “elect” could simply mean that these are the people who are selected to be
gathered up by the angels. It’s not that
certain sinners are chosen to get eternal life, but that certain people are marked
out as the true believers, those who will be selected when God sends the angels
to gather all the believers.
(Side note: It seems that lots of Calvinists do not
believe in a pre-tribulation rapture because they can’t figure out why there
would be believers in the tribulation if all the “elect” are supposed to be taken
out in a rapture before the tribulation.
In Calvinism, the elect are technically “saved” way before the beginning
of time, so no elect should be left behind.
Therefore, they do not believe there can be a pre-trib rapture because
there are still believers (the elect) on earth during the trib. However, biblically, people do not become
saved until they choose to believe.
Therefore, there will be those who believe before the rapture and there
will be those who do not come to faith until after the rapture. And that’s why there are still believers on
earth during the trib. There is no “predestined
to be saved before the beginning of time.”
Tribulation believers didn’t get saved until after they believed, after
the rapture. That’s why they are on
earth during the tribulation instead of being taken up in the rapture.)
1 Peter 1:1-2: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered through [certain cities], elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ…” If you read this carefully, you’ll see that it says nothing about those believers being elected (chosen) for salvation, but that they were elected (chosen) to be obedient and sprinkled with Jesus’s blood. This isn’t about being chosen for salvation, but about true believers being chosen (destined) to be obedient and to be covered by Jesus’s blood because they accept Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus’s sacrifice is available for all people because He died for all men’s sins. But only those who accept His death on their behalf will be covered by His blood.
[Side Note: Calvinists make the mistake of inferring things the verse doesn't say. Like if I told a Calvinist "I love chocolate ice cream," they would infer that it must mean I hate vanilla ice cream. If I said that I bought bananas at the store, they would infer that I only bought bananas and nothing else. But I never said anything like either of those things. They inferred it.
And so when a verse says something like "[God] called you out darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9), they would infer that it must mean that God didn't call anyone else, only "us." When a verse says "In his great mercy he has given us new birth ..." (1 Peter 1:3), they would infer that it must mean He didn't offer mercy/new birth to anyone else, that He created them for a merciless death because He only gave "us" mercy and new birth. But that's not what the verse says.
If I bought a candy bar for 50 people in a room and offered one to each person but only 5 took it, those 5 could say that, in my generosity, I gave them a candy bar. But in no way does it imply I only offered those 5 people a candy bar or that I deliberately withheld candy from the others.
1 Peter 1:3 simply says that they got new birth because God gave it to them, not that the offer wasn't given to anyone else also. Be careful when listening to Calvinist interpretations of verses. Listen for when they add things or infer things the verse isn't saying.]
Back to 1 Peter 1:1-2: Also note that this generation was the one chosen to be the first to get the Holy Spirit and to be saved through Jesus’s death, whereas the generations before were saved through the Law. “Elect” could also have to do with God choosing that generation to be the first to get saved the new way: through the Holy Spirit and believing in Jesus.
Romans 8:33: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s
elect? It is God that justifieth.” There is nothing here to imply God decided who
would be saved, just that believers are justified by God. It’s basically saying that if God says
someone is “not guilty” (because they chose to believe in Jesus and put their
faith in Him), then they are not guilty, no matter what anyone else says. If God accepts them, they are accepted for
sure. He accepts those who believe in
Him and rejects those who reject Him (Romans 10:11,13 and 11:20).
2 Timothy 2:10: “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Salvation is "in Christ Jesus," and remember that according to Ephesians 1:13 we are included "in Him" when we believe. When we believe, we become one of the elect. But if being elected means God predestined them for heaven, why would Paul need to “endure” anything to make sure they obtain salvation? How can Calvinist election be secure/assured if it hinges on what other people do or don’t do?
Romans 9:11: “… so that his purpose of election might stand …” This is about God choosing to bring Jesus
into the world through a certain bloodline, not about certain individuals being
chosen for salvation.
Romans 11:5: “Even so then at this present time also there is a
remnant according to the election of grace.” This is specifically about God choosing, out
of grace, to reserve a remnant of the Jewish people (Romans 9:27). And notice again how He “chooses” people: He
chose those who did not bend a knee to Baal (Romans 11:4).
God responded to man’s choice. It
was not an arbitrary choosing where man could do nothing to affect whether he
was chosen or not, which is what Calvinist election is.
And Romans 11:7: “What
then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath
obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”
This is about God choosing to give the offer of salvation to the
Gentiles, as a whole, because Israel rejected Jesus. Israel “earned” their blindness because they
hardened their hearts to the truth and rejected Jesus, and so God turned His
attention to the Gentiles. That’s what
this means, NOT that certain people are chosen for salvation (But if election means predestined for
heaven, why the warning to the Gentiles in Romans 11:20-22 that they
could be “broken off” too if they turn from God? How can predestination be secure if it can be
lost? If it can be lost, it wouldn’t be
predestined then, now would it? That
wouldn’t make sense. But the answer is
that this passage isn’t about individuals being elected/predestined for heaven
at all. It’s about God choosing to turn
His attention from Israel who rejected Him and to focus on the Gentiles for the
time being, offering them the salvation/Truth that Israel rejected. But it’s also a warning that God could choose
to close the door to the Gentiles too, if they reject the Truth like the Jews
did. This has nothing at all to do with
Calvinist predestination/election of individuals.)
Romans 11:28: “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your
sakes; but touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” This is about Israel being chosen as God’s
special people. It’s God promise that He
will not stay turned away from them forever, that someday He will turn again to
them and restore them to Him.
1 Thessalonians 1:4: “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” The NIV says “For
we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you …”. Paul doesn’t mean “We know that God
predestined you for salvation too,” just that “we know you are true believers
also.” And how did they know this? How were they “chosen”? See 2:13: “…
when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God …” They are not arbitrarily chosen by God
to be part of the elected group. They
became part of that group when they chose to believe the Gospel. Once again, God chooses those who choose Him.
2 Peter 1:10: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make
your calling and election sure…”
This is simply telling them to test themselves to see if they are really
in the faith, to live like the true believers they are. And if they do this, they will be rewarded
for their faithfulness in heaven. But if
being elect means that God decides who goes to heaven and if we can’t do
anything to change it or affect it, then what good would being “diligent” about
anything do? What affect would it have
if everything has been predetermined and if we can’t affect anything anyway
because Calvi-god controls it all?
Also note: If Calvinists say that “elect” (“chosen”) necessarily
means that those people were chosen/predestined by God for salvation, then they
must also say that the “elect angels” (1 Timothy 5:21) were
chosen/predestined for salvation. And
they must also say that Jesus (the “elected/chosen” cornerstone in 1 Peter
2:6) was predestined for salvation.
Because all these passages use the same Greek word.
So, were angels and Jesus predestined to be saved too?
[As I've heard it best summed up: We are elected to service, not salvation. Election, in the Bible, is about believers being elected for service to God, not about certain sinners being elected for salvation. And so when anyone chooses to believe in Jesus, we become one of the elect, those who are of service to God. Election is not the same thing as Calvinist predestination, as Calvinists like to teach. My Calvi-pastor gave a sermon where he said that (almost word for word) "There is an important doctrine called the doctrine of predestination. The Bible calls it the doctrine of election. I use these terms interchangeably." This is a big, fat lie because nowhere in the Bible will you find the phrase "doctrine of election." And yet this Calvinist pastor basically says that the Bible itself clearly reports that there is a "doctrine of election" and that it's the same thing as predestination. Not true! And so deceptive! Predestination is about a believer (anyone who chooses to truly put their faith in Jesus) being predestined to be redeemed and glorified and to bring glory to God, and election is about believers being of service to God. Neither of these is about certain sinners being pre-chosen to be saved over others. But it's about what happens once we choose to believe in Jesus. Remember, even the angels and Jesus were elect. This doesn't mean they were chosen for salvation, just that God chose them for a particular service. This makes so much more sense than saying election means predestined to be saved.]
4. “Chosen/Chose”
In the New Testament, there are 29 uses of this
word.
Of those, seven have nothing to do with anything related
to our topic at hand (Luke 10:42, 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 (3 uses of “chosen”), 2
Corinthians 8:19, 2 Timothy 2:4, James 2:5).
Three are about Jesus (Matthew 12:18, Luke 23:35, 1 Peter
2:4).
And twelve are specifically about Jesus choosing His
disciples or about specific Bible people being chosen for specific jobs (John
6:70, 13:18, 15:16, 15:19, Acts 1:2, 1:24, 9:15, 10:41, 15:22, 15:25, 22:14,
Romans 16:13).
[Calvinists err when they take the verses about Jesus
choosing His disciples and make it about us instead. That is NOT what the verses are saying or
implying. Just because Jesus chose His
disciples doesn’t mean God chooses who will be saved and who won’t be. Notice that John 6:70 says that Jesus
chose a “devil” as one of His disciples, alongside the true believers. If Calvinism is right to apply Jesus
“choosing” His disciples to God “choosing” who believes in Him then this would
mean that God also chooses “devils” (reprobates) to be part of His “disciples.” And it would mean that the elect could turn
out to be “devils.” Ultimately, it would
mean non-elect people could be “chosen” and that elected people could turn out
to be “non-elect.” But as I said, Calvinists
err in applying the “Jesus chose His disciple” verses to the salvation of
individual believers.]
This leaves only seven verses that are worth looking into
for how they relate to salvation and Calvinism.
First Group:
Matthew 20:16 (KJB)
and 22:14: “ … many are called, but few are
chosen …”
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV):
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Revelation 17:14 (NIV):
“… and with [the Lord] will be his called, chosen and
faithful followers.”
These four have the same Greek word (Strong’s 1588, same
as “elect” above) for “chosen/chose” (and so, most likely and in general, this is similar to election, being chosen for service to God).
And the definition of this word is about being “chosen out, selected.” But it doesn’t say for what. (Also, it implies “favorite.”) So you have to look at the verses in context
to find out.
First off, in 1 Peter 2:9, it’s also translated
“chosen generation/nation” and it appears to be about the Jewish race being
chosen as God’s people (Deuteronomy 7:6), in which believers are
included when we are grafted in after we choose to put our faith in Jesus (Romans
11). This is not about individual
people being chosen for salvation, but about Israel (true believers too) being
chosen to “proclaim God’s praises.”
And Matthew 20:16 only has the “few are chosen”
part in the King James. It says, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many
be called, but few chosen.” The
other translations leave off the last part.
So I am not sure what to make of this one, other than the passage where
this verse appears has nothing to do with God choosing certain people for
salvation and others for damnation. It
has to do with God’s right to pay all of His “workers” equally, to give all
believers the same reward regardless of when they were “hired.” Therefore, I see nothing in this passage to
support Calvinist predestination. More
likely, it’s that all believers are called to be faithful and obedient, but
only some are chosen to be rewarded abundantly because they actually did live faithfully.
In Matthew 22:14, we read the parable of the king
inviting people to come to a wedding banquet, but the people refuse to come. And so the king tells his servants to go out
and invite anyone and everyone they can find in the streets. But one guy comes in who isn’t dressed for
the wedding, and they kick him out. And
then we read, “For many are invited, but few are
chosen.”
I would point out that, if this refers to salvation, the
ones who the king invited at first refused to come. This contradicts a Calvinist’s idea of predestination,
that God determines who will believe, that the elect have to believe,
and that we have no real control over our own choices and cannot affect our
eternity.
However, Dr./Pastor Tony Evans says in his study Bible
that this is about believers losing spiritual rewards in the millennial kingdom
for not living faithfully now (similar to the verse above). He says that while all believers are called
to salvation, only a few faithful ones will be chosen to rule with God during
the millennial kingdom. The rest will be
denied that special reward because of their unfaithfulness, their lazy
Christian walk.
I have to admit, I never considered it in this light
before, but it makes a lot of sense.
Either way, this does not support Calvinism in any sense.
And in Revelation 17:14, I get the feeling that
this isn’t about choosing who gets salvation but choosing who gets to come back
with Him to do battle at Armageddon. He
will bring with Him those who were faithful to Him.
Once again, the definition of “chosen” does not
inherently relate to salvation. So
Calvinists are wrong to insert “salvation” into it. And as I pointed out, Romans 11:4-5 shows
us that God bases His choice on our choice.
So if you want to read salvation into “chosen” (when it’s not inherently
there) then I would do it with the Bible as your guide – God chooses those who
choose Him. Anyone who receives Jesus
and believes in His name has the right to be called a child of God (John
1:12). We are included in Him when
we believe (Ephesians 1:13).
Second Group:
Mark 13:20 (NIV): “… But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen …”
Ephesians 1:4 (NIV):
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the
world to be holy and blameless in his sight …” (God “chose” those who are “in Him.” He didn’t choose who would be “in Him,” but
He chose those who chose to be included “in Him” through their belief.)
These two have the same Greek word (Strong’s 1586). The definition, in this case, is about
picking out, selecting. But once again, it
doesn’t say for what. And it says that
it doesn’t necessarily mean that the “not chosen” ones are rejected. This “choosing” carries with it the ideas of
kindness, favor, love. [Note: It doesn’t
carry the idea of “salvation” or “eternal life.”]
To me, the definition alone shows that this “chosen”
isn’t about salvation, about God accepting certain people for heaven but
rejecting others to hell.
I covered Mark 13:20 in the “elect” paragraph
already (tribulation believers who are “selected” to be gathered by the angels),
so let’s look at the Ephesians verse.
Since the definition of “chosen” doesn’t say what they were chosen for,
you have to look at the verse. And Ephesians
1:4 tells us what this “chosen” means.
If you read it in context, it isn’t saying anything about
certain sinners being prechosen to be believers, to inherit salvation/eternal
life. It says that those who are
believers (those who are “included in [Jesus]” after they choose to believe in
Him, as seen in Ephesians 1:13) are chosen “to
be holy and blameless in his sight.”
This isn’t about choosing certain people for salvation but about
believers being chosen to be holy and blameless in God’s sight, because we accepted Jesus’s sacrificial death
on our behalf, letting His blood pay for our sins and wipe our slates clean. Anyone who chooses to be “in Jesus” will be
seen as holy and blameless in God’s sight.
When read in context, this is not a Calvinist verse. Once again, it’s about the destiny of those
who choose to believe. The path of a
believer (where we end up) has been predetermined, not whether or not we become
believers.
Last Verse:
2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV):
“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers
loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through
the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
This one uses Strong’s 138, which explains it as “to take
for oneself.” This could sound like it
supports Calvinism (“chose you to be saved”) … until you look at what the verse
is really saying.
First, it’s not talking about individual people being
chosen for salvation, but it’s talking about that generation being chosen to be
the first to be saved through the Holy Spirit and through belief in Jesus, as
opposed to the generations before that were saved through devotion to God, as evidenced by their adherence to the Law. It’s about God choosing the method of
salvation that the generation gets, not about God choosing who gets
saved.
Second, when you look up that word “saved” in Strong’s Concordance
with Vine’s Expository Dictionary (Strong’s 4991, “salvation”), it isn’t even
about eternal salvation, heaven and hell.
It says it’s about the deliverance God will bring believers when Jesus
comes again for His people, to spare us from the wrath He will pour out on the
ungodly at the end of this age. Big
difference!
This isn’t a Calvinist verse at all or a “predestined for
heaven or hell” verse. It’s about God
choosing to switch the method of salvation at that time to being from devotion to God and obedience to the Law to faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
And it’s about God choosing to spare true believers from His end times
wrath.
5. “Whosoever”
Calvinists think they are clever when they come up with memes like this.
They say that John 3:16’s “whosoever believes
shall not perish” really means “all the believing (people) shall not perish.” They say that “whosoever” really means the
“elect” – that the elect will not perish but have eternal life. Because, in Calvinism, the elect are the only
ones who can/will believe in Jesus. And
since “whosoever believes” sounds too much like an invitation to salvation, as if anyone can believe and be saved, they re-interpret
it instead as “all the believing/believers shall not perish” to make it sound more like a statement about the destiny of the elect. (They think that knowing some Greek words
shows how smart and reliable they are, as if we’re going to go “Well, they know
the Greek word so they much be right!
They’re so smart!”)
They back this up by saying that “whosoever” is made up
of two Greek words (and this is accurate) – the first is the word for
“all/any/every/whole” and the second is the word for “the/who.” And they pick the “all” and the “the” to get
“all the believing” or “all the believers.”
But they are WRONG!
This does not work because, according to the concordance, the
word “believes” in this verse is a verb, not an adjective (as in Calvinism's “the
believing people” or "all the believing" which sounds like they are using it as a verb but it's still an adjective) and not a noun (as in “the believers”). Therefore, neither of those is right. Because if “believes” is a verb, you can’t
use the “the.” An article (“the”) does
not go with a verb. And so you would
have to use the “who” – “any who believe” (anyone, everyone, all who believe).
Clearly, it is a mistranslation to say “all the
believing/believers” (the “elect”, in Calvinism). It is not the case. It is exactly what it says: “Whosoever [anyone who] believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.”
And if that’s not convincing enough for you …
If the “whosoever” in John 3:16 is talking about
the elect (“the believing/believers”) then these verses would also have to be
talking about the elect because they use the same Greek word (sometimes
translated as “anyone” or “everyone”):
“But I tell you that anyone who is
angry with his brother will be subject to judgment …” (Matthew
5:22, NIV for all these)
“But I tell you that anyone who
looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his
heart.”
(Matthew 5:28)
“Anyone who divorces his wife and
marries another woman commits adultery …” (Luke 16:18)
“Everyone who falls on that stone
[Jesus] will be broken to pieces …” (Luke 20:18)
“ … a time is coming when anyone who
kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” (John
16:2)
“Whoever denies the Son does not
have the Father …” (1 John 2:23)
Does it sound like “the elect/believers/believing” in
these verses?
No?
Then it can’t be said that the “whosoever” in John
3:16 means the elect believers either!
Despite Calvinist attempts to change it, John 3:16
means exactly what we think it does, that anyone can believe in Jesus
and that those who do will not perish but have eternal life.
6. “Hardens” and “prepared”
“Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants
to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:18, NIV)
Calvinists loves this verse and the word “hardens.” They say it means that God decides who will
go to heaven and who won’t, and that He hardens those whom He’s predestined for
hell so that they can’t believe in Him.
[This is strange, though, because if Calvi-Jesus never
died for them anyway and if Calvi-god won’t give them Calvi-Holy-Spirit to
“wake them up” and make them believe – if it’s already totally impossible
for them to believe in Calvi-god from the beginning – why would he need to go
the extra step of hardening their hearts too?
And why would he cause Satan to try to steal the truth from the
non-elect (Mark 4:15) and trick them to keep them from seeing the truth
(2 Cor. 11:14) and blind them to the truth (2 Cor. 4:4) … if they
were never able to believe in the first place?
It doesn’t make sense.]
Anyway, if you look up this Romans verse in context,
you’ll see that it’s about God having the right to decide whom to use for
special purposes and whom to use for common purposes. It’s about God having the right to choose
Israel to be the bloodline that brings Jesus into the world. It’s about God having the right to extend the
offer of salvation to the Gentiles. It’s
not about God predestining the salvation of individual people. (Also notice in 2 Timothy 2:20-21 that
believers can affect whether or not they are used for noble purposes or for
ignoble purposes, based on whether or not they cleanse themselves from being “ignoble”
– cleanse themselves. God doesn’t
do it for them and hasn’t pre-decided it.
He responds according to our choices.)
And if you look up “hardens” in the concordance, you see
nothing about it being a decision God makes from the beginning of time to keep
people from ever having the chance to believe in Him so that He can send them
to hell. The concordance says that being
hardened is basically a punishment from God for first hardening our own hearts,
for continually resisting Him even though He has waited lovingly and patiently
for us.
If we resist Him too long and set our hearts against Him,
He might one day make it permanent, hardening our condition, making our
decision permanent. That’s what
“hardens” means. It’s God solidifying
the condition we first chose.
This is what He did with Pharaoh. Pharaoh hardened his own heart for the first
five plagues … and then God made it permanent and worked it into His
plans. But make no mistake: Pharaoh
chose it first, again and again. (And
yet how did my Calvi-pastor explain Pharaoh’s hard heart? Something like this: “Well, I know it says
that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but that’s not what happened. God hardened it first and then Pharaoh did
it.” But is that what the Bible
says? No! Shamelessly switching up what the Bible said
to fit with Calvinism!)
[And since we are in Romans 9, let’s look at the
phrase “prepared for destruction.”
Romans 9:22 (NIV):
“What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make
his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath – prepared
for destruction?”
This could definitely sound like God created certain
people specifically so that He could destroy them, that He predestined certain
people to hell. It could sound like that
… until you look it up in the concordance.
In the concordance and King James, the word is not “prepared”
but “fitted.” And it says that “fitted”
indicates a strong correlation between someone’s character and their
destiny. It’s written in such a way to imply
that the objects of wrath prepared themselves for destruction. So it’s not that God made them that way; it’s
that they made themselves that way by how they chose to live and be.
A little time in the concordance makes it so much
clearer. And so much less Calvinistic!]
So let me ask … How much biblical support does Calvinism really
have? Enough to justify how it destroys
God’s trustworthy, loving, gracious character, how it minimizes Jesus’s
sacrifice, and how it contradicts what God clearly, plainly said in His Word?
I hope you can see that Calvinism does not have nearly as
much biblical support as it thinks it does.
So remember this when you’re talking with a Calvinist who tells you that
“Calvinism is the Gospel” and that you have to agree with them or else
you’ll be disagreeing with and dishonoring God.
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful
workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants
masquerade as servants of righteousness.
Their end will be what their actions deserved.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15, NIV)