Who are you calling a Calvinist?

A look at the fundamental principle of Calvinism concerning the doctrine of salvation

By Thomas M. Parsons

Calvinism is a general term used to describe the theology of John Calvin, a sixteenth century French reformer of the church. Calvin did for Christianity in France what Luther did for it in Germany, but perhaps to a lesser degree. Both men broke from the church primarily over the doctrine of salvation. The basic question each of these men sought to answer was whether salvation was obtained by a mixture of grace and human works, which was and still is the Roman position, or whether it was obtained by grace alone, the position held by virtually all evangelical Christians today. Both Calvin and Luther taught that salvation was the work of God bestowed on men through grace by faith. In this respect they both agreed with the Apostle Paul, especially his writings in Romans concerning this very question.

John Calvin was born July 10, 1509 in Noyon, France, the son of an attorney who sent John to Paris to study law when John was just fourteen years of age. By the age of 23, Calvin had earned a Doctor of Law degree. Four years later he moved to Geneva, Switzerland.

Problems soon developed for Calvin in Geneva. A friend, William Farel, asked Calvin to help him develop a new system of doctrine and practice for the church in Geneva. Calvin with his mind trained in the development of logical arguments, readily agreed. But they soon had a problem with their new catechism. The city council rejected it, saying it was an attempt to “form a new papacy” to impose on the citizens. This assessment was made of Calvin and Farel’s work because of their insistence that everyone in Geneva subscribe to the catechism under the penalty of excommunication. When Calvin and Farel refused communion to all citizens on Easter Sunday in 1538, the city council expelled Calvin and Farel from Geneva.

Calvin and Farel parted ways, and Calvin went to Strasbourg for three years to serve as the pastor of a church there, after which he returned to Geneva where he lived the rest of his life. While living in Strasbourg, Calvin sought and obtained a wife. He rejected the Catholic doctrine of celibacy for servants of the church and determined to marry in order to publicly proclaim this rejection. He found a willing wife in a widow whose name was Idellette de Bure. They married in Strasbourg in 1539 when Calvin was thirty. Idellette had two children from her previous marriage, and Calvin and she gave birth to a son, but he only lived two weeks. Idellette died in 1549 after only ten years of marriage to Calvin. He wrote of her that she was a great helper to him in his ministry, that she never concerned him about her children, and that she was very generous.

Calvin’s return to Geneva was by invitation of the city council. Some of Calvin’s supporters had been elected to the council, and other influential citizens urged the council to invite him to return. He was asked by the council to help draw up documents of reformation for the church, which Calvin did. The council accepted his reforms and they became the law of the church and the city.

When he returned to Geneva with his wife and her two children, he began to have health problems that plagued him until his death. He had frequent bouts with gout. Kidney stones disrupted his life on several occasions, causing him debilitating pain and making it necessary for him to be carried to the pulpit to preach. He also suffered from migraine headaches. There were times he was carried bed and all to the platform where he delivered his sermon from his bed.

In spite of these problems, Calvin was a workaholic. He usually ate only one meal a day, and spent most of his time in his study, taking a short walk after his daily meal. He often told friends who scolded him for his lifestyle that he did not want the Lord to find him idle when He returned.

On May 27, 1564, Calvin died in Geneva. He was buried in a cemetery there. His tombstone contained only the initials “J.C.” as per his request. Calvin was 54 years of age.

Calvin’s publication of his Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536 was a high point of his life and of the history of Christian theology. It was in that publication that most of the doctrines associated with Calvinism were given form.

Most historians view Calvin, not so much as a reformer, but as an organizer of the theological views of the protestant church of his time. His views differed little from those of the other reformers of his day, including Martin Luther. His training in logic and argument gave him a powerful tool to put the doctrines of reformation into permanent written form. This is, perhaps, his greatest legacy.

Calvinism today is found in the theology of the Christian Reformed churches, principally, and in other denominations as well in altered forms. Baptists are often accused of being Calvinists, even though there are several aspects of Calvin’s Institutes that Baptists reject. In one doctrine, however, Baptists are usually more Calvinistic than not. That doctrine is soteriology, or the doctrine of salvation.

There are two aspects of Calvin’s theology that are greatly respected by Baptists and by all Christians who base their theology solely on the Bible. Calvin did this. He said that he would believe nothing, no matter who taught it, if it could not be defended in the Scriptures. For Calvin, there was no other source of truth but the revealed Word of God. Not even human experience, not even his own experience, was sufficient to prove a truth. It must be found in the Bible. For those of us today who take that same view, that nothing can be substantiated as truth apart from the Bible, Calvin must be viewed as a hero of the faith.

The other aspect of Calvin’s theology that appeals to Bible believing Christians today is his insistence on the sovereignty of God. God is everything; man is nothing. No good thing would happen apart from the grace of God. Man is incapable of producing anything that could satisfy God’s righteousness or be of eternal value.

It is this very doctrine, the sovereignty of God, which is at once a great blessing to modern believers, and at the same time a curse, especially for Baptists, because we believe in the sovereignty of God, but we don’t always like the implications of that belief.

There are two theological ways to view the issue of salvation. One way was stated more or less succinctly by the followers of Dutch reformer James Arminius in what has come to be known as the five points of Arminianism. The other view is attributed to Calvin in his five points, often summarized by the acrostic tulip.

Arminianism’s five points, as Calvin’s, apply only to the doctrine of soteriology, or salvation. Other doctrinal views of these two opposing theologies are not in question here. The five points of Arminianism are:

[1] Humans have the ability to express their free will and thus may choose or not choose to put faith in Jesus Christ for salvation,

[2] God called those human beings to salvation whom He knew in advance would come to Christ by their own free will,

[3] Christ died universally for all human beings, but His work on the cross is only effective potentially for individuals. Christ’s universal death on the cross enables God to forgive those who exercise their free will and come to Him.

[4] Human beings have the ability to resist the work of the Holy Spirit in wooing a person to faith in Christ.

[5] Human beings can fall from grace and lose their salvation if, by their own free will, they choose to do so.

Notice the center of this argument is human free will.

Calvinism, on the other hand, states five points that are the complete opposite of the Arminian view, and are often expressed by the acrostic tulip.

[1] Total depravity. Human beings are totally depraved because of their sin nature and completely unable to come to Christ by their free will alone.

[2] Unconditional election. God in His grace offers unconditional election to sinners, which means that, since they are totally depraved and unable to use their free will to come to Christ, God must call them to faith in Christ, or elect them, choose them, for salvation. If God did not do this, no one would or could come to Christ.

[3] Limited atonement. Christ died only for the elect. He did not die for all human beings, but only for those whom He elected to salvation.

[4] Irresistible grace. Elect human beings will, sooner or later, respond to God’s election; they will not be able to resist unto death. They may hear the Gospel many times and refuse to trust Christ, but eventually they will give in to the irresistible call of God.

[5] Perseverance of the saints. Saved human beings cannot lose their salvation once they have it. If it is called eternal life, than it must actually be eternal, that is, it must last forever. If one could choose to walk away from it, and actually lose it thereby, it could not honestly be called eternal life. Those who are saved will remain saved, even though they may chose not to live for the Lord for all or part of their earthly lives.

Notice, the center of this argument is the sovereignty of God.

Historically, churches such as the Roman Catholic, the Methodist,, and other main line Protestant denominations have leaned toward the Arminian school of thought. Churches such as the Baptist, Presbyterian and others have leaned toward the Calvinistic school. But the real question is, what does the Bible teach?

[1] The Bible teaches that human beings are totally depraved sinners who do have a free will in expressing that sin nature. It is not difficult to see the doctrine of total depravity as taught in the Scriptures, especially in Romans. But the Scriptures also teach that God is sovereign over all and has the final determination of everything. This doctrine, too, is fairly obvious to all who study the Scriptures.

[2] The Bible teaches that God did know everything in advance, that He is aware of all from the beginning to the end. He knew all about each individual even before that individual was born. But the Bible also teaches that God has consistently made choices, not because He knew in advance what someone would do, but simply because of His sovereign will. For example, He chose Abraham over Lot, Isaac over Ishmeal, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his brothers. His choice of Jacob over Esau is especially damaging to the argument of Arminianism because the Bible clearly shows that Esau was a better man, humanly speaking, than Jacob, the deceiver.

[3] It is clear from the Scriptures that Christ’s death on the cross was provided for all sinners. He died for all. But not all benefit from His death. It is also clear in the Bible that only those who trust Christ have eternal life. Only believers have the blessed benefit of Christ’s death for them.

[4] It is clear that the Bible teaches that certain individuals are drawn to salvation by God, in spite of their own free will. The Apostle Paul is an example of this. Paul believed in God, and he believed he was serving God by destroying Christians and their work. It was not because of his free will that he changed his mind and came to Christ. It is clearly because Christ called him on the road to Damascus that Paul believed.

[5] The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is an eternal work of God and that once a person is saved he cannot lose that salvation even if he denies it by his words and by his life. Once God begins a good work in a person, He will finish it. Once a person is in the hands of Jesus Christ, no one can pry him or her out of His hand.

These are the beliefs I myself hold to. In some ways I suppose you could say I am an Arminian in my viewpoint. Whosoever will may come. But I am much closer to the position of Calvinism. None that the Father gives me, said Christ, will I lose.

I believe people do have a free will and that they can exercise it in respect to God. But I also believe that because people are totally depraved, they are unable to use their free will to do anything but either reject God totally, or recreate God in their own image to satisfy their own prejudices and preferences.

I believe that God knew in advance that, because of their total depravity, no one would ever by his or her free will choose God. If any were to be saved from the penalty of sin, God had not only to provide the way of salvation, but He had to do something to insure that anyone would respond in faith. Thus He chose some to salvation. If He did not do this, no one would ever be saved.

I believe that Christ died on the cross to pay for the sins of every human being who ever lived or who will ever live. But I do not believe everyone will wind up in Heaven because of Christ’s death. Though He died for all, only those He elects and who believe will ever enter Heaven.

I believe that a person elected of God to salvation can resist the Holy Spirit’s wooing for a short, or for a long time. But I also believe that before death comes to an elected person, that person will come to Christ.

I believe that salvation, once obtained, cannot be lost. I may wander away from God, and some do. I may deny Him after I once owned Him. But whether I believe it or not (and I do), God’s work of salvation is eternal in me. I cannot lose what God gave.

Some would argue that election is unfair, and I would agree. It is unfair. But not to me. It is unfair to Christ. He suffered for my sin. He did not need to do that. He chose to do it. The innocent One took the guilt of the sinner on Himself. That is unfair. But the unfairness of election is to my advantage, because if God had not elected me, I would never find my way to Him on my own.

Some would argue that election and irresistible grace create robots who are unable to do anything but respond to God. But the truth is that we are robots, slaves to sin, the Bible says. If any of us are ever to escape that slavery, it must be the work of God, not of ourselves and our free will.

So, am I a Calvinist? I suppose, in some ways I am. Am I an Arminian? No, not really, for I reject the idea that man can save himself in any way simply by expressing his free will.

I am a Bible believing Christian who knows that he is a sinner, totally depraved, and totally unable to come to Christ on his own. I believe in a God Who loves me and, for reasons I may never know, elected me to come to Him for salvation He freely provided for all. I cannot understand all of this, and I am not certain where my free will ends and His sovereignty begins, but I know that apart from God and His grace, I would spend eternity in Hell because of my own free will and my depraved nature which makes it impossible for me to come to Him on my own.