Calvinism
Exposed
Background
• John Calvin (1509-1564) was a
sixteenth century Swiss theologian
who became a leader in the
Protestant Reformation.
• Calvin was strongly influenced by
the writings of Augustine, who lived
in the fifth century.
Background
• The five major tenets of Calvinism
are summed up by the acronym
TULIP.
• The five tenets are mutually
dependent and logically connected.
• They are based on a false
assumption concerning the
sovereignty of God.
TULIP
• T- Total Hereditary Depravity
• U- Unconditional Election
• L- Limited Atonement
• I- Irresistible Grace
• P-Perseverance of the Saints
Total Hereditary Depravity
Man is born in sin with a corrupt nature
and is unable to do any good on his
own; he is born totally depraved.
Total Hereditary Depravity
Total Hereditary Depravity expressed:
Although we assert that natural manone who has not been regenerated by
the Holy Spirit- can do relative good, it
is necessary to reemphasize that even
this relative good is not fundamentally
“truly good” in God’s sight.
Total Hereditary Depravity
Total Hereditary Depravity expressed:
The reason for this is, as the Belgic
Confession puts it, that the motive of
love and faith is missing. In fact, that
relative good is basically, in the
deepest sense, nothing else than sin
and evil.
(The Five Points of Calvinism, Palmer, Pg 13)
Total Hereditary Depravity
Total Hereditary Depravity expressed:
"We are condemned before we have
done good or evil, under the curse
before we know what it is.“
(John Wesley, Sermons on Original Sin, p. 340)
Total Hereditary Depravity
Total Hereditary Depravity exposed:
• God made man upright: Eccl 7:29, Deut 1:39
• The very nature of sin: 1 John 3:4, Ezek 18:20
• Be as the child : 1 Cor. 14:20; Rom 16:19
Unconditional Election
God arbitrarily chose certain fixed
individuals to be saved before the
foundation of the world; He predestined
some to be saved and others to be lost.
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election expressed:
"God has predestined and foreordained
some men and angels to everlasting life
out of His free grace and love without any
foresight of faith or works in man or
perseverance in either of them…
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election expressed:
…and others are foreordained to
everlasting death and the number of
either is so certain and definite that it
cannot be increased or diminished.“
(Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch. 3)
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election expressed:
Predestination Defined: "The doctrine
that the salvation or damnation of
individuals has been foreordained by
God; the determination beforehand of
future events."
(Webster's Dictionary, 1977 edition, p.289)
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election exposed:
• We have freedom of choice: John 24:15;
Ps. 119:30
God
predestined
the
plan,
• God is impartial: Rom 2:11; Acts 10:34
not
man!
• Salvation is
our the
choice:
Phil 2:12;Heb 5:9
Limited Atonement
Christ died only for the elect; He
did not die for those predestined
to eternal death.
Limited Atonement
Limited Atonement expressed:
"Christ's redeeming work was intended
to save the elect only and actually
secured salvation for them. His death was
a substitutionary sacrifice of the penalty
of sin in the place of certain specified
sinners. In addition to putting away the
sins of His people…
Limited Atonement
Limited Atonement expressed:
…Christ's redemption secured everything
necessary for their salvation, including
faith, which united them to Him. The gift
of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to
all for whom Christ died, thereby
guaranteeing their salvation."
(The Five Points of Calvinism, Defined, Defended, Documented)
Limited Atonement
Martin Luther
“And all the prophets saw this, that Christ
was to become the greatest thief,
murderer, adulterer, robber, desecrator,
blasphemer, etc., there has ever been
anywhere in the world. He is not acting in
His own Person now. Now He is not the Son
of God, born of the Virgin.
Limited Atonement
…But He is a sinner, who has and bears
the sin of Paul, the former blasphemer
persecutor, and assaulter; of Peter, who
denied Christ; of David, who was an
adulterer and a murderer, and who
caused the Gentiles to blaspheme the
name of the Lord…”
-- Galatians 3:13, p. 277
Limited Atonement
Paul Billheimer
“Because He was ‘made sin,’ impregnated
with sin, and became the very essence of
sin, on the cross He was banished from
God’s presence as a loathsome thing. He
and sin were made synonymous…”
-- Destined For The Throne, p. 83
Limited Atonement
Limited Atonement exposed:
• God is impartial: Rom 2:11
• Christ died for all: 2 Cor. 5:14; Heb 2:9;
1 Tim 4:10
• Jesus’ blood can cleanse anyone’s sins:
1 John 2:1-2
Irresistible Grace
The Holy Spirit miraculously draws the
elect to Christ apart from the word and
regardless of their desire; it is an
irresistible force of grace.
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace expressed:
"The gospel invitation extends a call to
salvation to every one who hears its
message. It invites all men without
distinction to drink freely of the water of
life and live. It promises salvation to all
who repent and believe…
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace expressed:
…But this outward general call, extended
to the elect and non-elect alike, will not
bring sinners to Christ. Why? Because
men are by nature dead in sin and are
under its power...
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace expressed:
…They are of themselves unable and
unwilling to forsake their evil ways and to
turn to Christ for mercy. Consequently,
the unregenerate will not respond to the
gospel call to repentance and faith…
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace expressed:
…No amount of external threatenings or
promises will cause blind, deaf, dead,
rebellious sinners to bow before Christ as
Lord and to look to Him alone for
salvation…
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace expressed:
…Such an act of faith and submission is
contrary to the lost man's nature.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit, in order to
bring God's elect to salvation, extends to
them a special inward call in addition to
the outward call contained in the gospel
message…
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace expressed:
…Through this special call the Holy Spirit
performs a work of grace within the
sinner which inevitably brings him to
faith in Christ …
The Five Points of Calvinism, Defined,
Defended, Documented (pgs 48-49)
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible Grace exposed:
• Contradicts free will: John 12:47-48; 8:24
• How do we obtain faith: Rom 10:17;
John 6:44-45; 2 Thess. 2:14
• Belief comes before salvation: John 3:16;
Mark 16:16; Acts 16:31
Perseverance of the Saints
It is impossible for the elect to fall
away and be lost; they are “once saved,
always saved.”
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
"The doctrine of perseverance of the
saints does not maintain that all who
profess the Christian faith are certain of
heaven. It is saints -- those who are set
apart by the Spirit -- who persevere to
the end…
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
…It is believers -- those who are given
true, living faith in Christ -- who are
secure and safe in Him. Many who
profess to believe fall away, but they do
not fall from grace for they were never in
grace…
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
…True believers do fall into temptations,
and they do commit grievous sins, but
these sins do not cause them to lose their
salvation or separate them from Christ.“
The Five Points of Calvinism, Defined,
Defended, Documented
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
“We take the position that a Christian's
sins do not damn his soul. The way a
Christian lives, what he says, his
character, his conduct, or his attitude
toward other people have nothing
whatsoever to do with the salvation of
his soul…
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
…That is settled in Christ and Christ alone .. All
the prayers a man may pray, all the Bibles he
may read, all the churches he may belong to,
all the services he may attend, all the sermons
he may practice, all the debts he may pay, all
the ordinances he may observe, all the laws
he may keep…
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
… all the benevolent acts he may perform
will not make his soul one whit safer; and
all the sins he may commit from idolatry
to murder will not make his soul in any
more danger.”
Sam Morris, Baptist Preacher
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
"If I killed my wife and mother and
debauched a thousand women, I couldn't
go to hell -- in fact, I couldn't go to hell if I
wanted to....”
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints expressed:
“…If on the judgment day, I should find
that my loved ones are lost and should
lose all desire to be saved, and should
beg God to send me to hell with them, He
couldn't do it“
Bill Foster, Baptist Preacher, 1959
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the saints exposed:
• We can fall from grace: Gal 5:4;
2 Pet 2:20-22; Acts 8:13, 22-23
• We Can fall away: Heb 6:4-6; 10: 26-29;
1 Tim 4:1
Let us stand ready to
defend God’s word
against this
treacherous doctrine