Calvinist Christians...Please Enlighten Me?

Question

Christ commands, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Calvinism voids that mandate by teaching that the nonelect cannot believe the gospel and that the elect are regenerated without it. That belief entangles Calvinists in a web of contradictions. Either the gospel is not "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16), or Calvinism's "regeneration" leaves one still unsaved until faith is received to believe the gospel.

Both alternatives contradict Scripture and render the gospel superfluous. If God sovereignly regenerates totally depraved sinners without any faith in Christ on their part, the gospel is not needed. Charles Spurgeon complained:
If I am to preach faith in Christ to a man who is regenerated, then the man, being regenerated, is saved already, and it is an unnecessary and ridiculous thing for me to preach Christ to him."'
(Charles H. Spurgeon, "The Warrant of Faith, in The New Park Street Pulpit Pasadena, Tex.: Pilgrim Publications, 1978),

Many Scriptures declare (e.g., John 3:15, 16, 36; 5:24; 6:40, 47), comes only through believing the gospel. Therefore, Satan attempts to take the Word from the hearts of those who hear it "lest they should believe and be saved" (Luke 8:12). The Calvinist has to admit that Hebrews 10:39 refers to the elect: "We...believe to the saving of the soul." Clearly, faith must precede salvation. Yet Calvinism rejects this cardinal truth.

Unquestionably, salvation and regeneration are inseparable, as Spurgeon said, "saved already, being regenerate.*" (* ibid).

John writes, "that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). How can the spiritually dead receive life except by regeneration? Yet Calvinism insists that regeneration precedes faith, causing the gospel to be preached to those already regenerated, a proposition Spurgeon rejected as "absurd, indeed!" As a Calvinist, however, he affirmed basically the same error: that only the elect could be saved because Christ had died for them alone.

All of the apostles' hearers surely understood that the good news of salvation was offered to every one of them: "We declare unto you [all] glad tidings." (Acts 13:32).

My questions are :
1# If Calvinism is true, how could the gospel be "glad tidings" to anyone who didn't know that he was one of the elect?
2# And if faith doesn't come until after regeneration, what is the purpose of preaching the gospel either to the unregenerate who can't believe it or to the regenerate who can believe but, being born again and saved, surely don't need it?

Please enlighten me. Thx in advance for UR explanation. Gbu my friends :).

Answer 1

The little secret in this teaching is that we are all elected to receive eternal life for believing in the Father & the Son. It is the Fathers will that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance & receive eternal life.

Ephesians1:4 According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy & without blame before Him in love:

5 Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, acccording to the good pleasure of His will...

1Jn5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come & has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is True & we are in Him who is True, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the True God & Eternal Life.



Jesus is the Elect. Our election is made sure through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (& man), Lamb of God without blemish, Resurrection & the Eternal Life.



Personally, I believe God has every ones name written in the book of life at the foundation.

[There is a scary verse of Jesus blotting one's name out of the book of life (Rev.3:5). For those who don't overcome... Compare this with 1Jn5:4. 'Who is he who overcomes? He who is born of God. What is our victory? Our faith in Jesus, Who is the Son of God...']

God knows us before we are born & has a purpose for us.

http://www.fathersloveletter.com

Some choose to be the devils messengers (Matt.25:41), and the only ones I know whose names aren't written in the book of life (since the foundation, ?Lambs book of life?) anymore are those who take the mark of the beast in the great tribulation.



People cann't see or enter the Kingdom of God until they are born again. John3.

Answer 2

We receive the spirit when the gospel is preached to us. Galatians 3:3. We don't know who is regenerate and who is not, only God knows. Therefore we are called to preach to everyone. The person does not know until they hear the gospel therefore it would be glad tidings. 1# Faith can come when regeneration and preaching are concurrent 2#



There is always the Quantum Physics analogy. Are photons waves or particles? Sometimes they behave like waves and sometimes like particles. The question is not appropriate when we understand the reality. Not a calvinist myself but I find this question interesting and want to see the other answers.

Answer 3

Thanks for your good questions.



The First Great Awakening was Calvinist (Jonathan Edwards, often called America's greatest theologian).





I'll try to help, but you need to be a little clearer in what exactly you are asking. I'll not try to answer every "proof text" you present, but I hope I can explain the basics of Reformed Theology (and, yes, there are many, many Reformed churches -- many Baptist churches remain Calvinist and Spurgeon, one of its best preachers was certainly a Baptist and a 5-point Calvinist). Today there is a growing Reformed consensus within the Southern Baptist Convention. Praise God!



The Bible clearly teaches election. It is a constant theme in Paul's letters. Romans 9 is huge -- but so is Romans 10. Calvinism does not void any of Christ's mandates. It agrees with Scripture that the nonelect cannot believe the Gospel, and teaches that the Spirit quickens faith in the elect in order that they may believe.



Let's briefly go through TULIP:



T -- Total Depravity -- all since the fall of Adam are lost and cannot of their own merit please God. Rom. 3:23 -- for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.



U -- Unconditional election: Eph. 2:8-9. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."



Why does one person choose Christ and the other person not? Is the Christ chooses more religiously inclined? Is the Christ chooser smarter? More holy? No. Why does one person, just as lost as the next person choose to believe, and the next person not? Jesus said in John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." (That gives us both Divine Election and eternal security). And John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing." (Which prompted Luther to say, if the flesh profits nothing, how can it be said to profit a little something! Which gives us Unconditonal Election no human effort, will or otherwise).



L -- Limited Atonement: Here is where a lot of evangelicals want to part company with Calvinism -- the idea that Christ died only for the elect. But there are three basic choices -- If Christ died for all, then all will be saved -- Actual Universalism. 2) Hypothetical Universalsim -- all can be saved if they choose to believe, but the converse is also true, Christ might have died for naught because there would have been no guarantee that any humans would choose to be saved. 3) Reformed Particularism (which is what the Reformation clearly taught. Luther actually writes more on predestination that Calvin does). Christ prayer, recorded in John 17:9, 20 is important on this point. 9. “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ... 20. “I do not pray for these (the disciples) alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word."



The idea that some cannot be saved is repugnant to many -- but God is under no obligation to save anyone! I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, says the Lord. (Read Romans 9 very closely).



I -- Irresistable Grace. Roman 9 -- Who can resist His will?



P -- Perseverance of the Saints -- some call this "once saved, always saved" and it is much easier to make a Scriptural case for this than the other side -- As Chuch Swindol says in his study on Ephesians, "If I can't be good enough to earn salvation, how bad to I have to be to lose it?" That's the whole point. R.C. Sproul suggest that Preservation of the Saints would actually be a better term for today, because it is God who gives salvation, and maintains it for us. It is free. Yet some people insist they have to somehow earn the right to hold onto it. So when does it stop being free?



As for evangelism, remember that the elect are not yet alive in Ch

Answer 4

that's puzzling to communicate, and besides the actuality that i think of I understand your place, you're nevertheless no longer completely clarifying the which skill of 'enlightenment.' Re: "Oneness is the top of the guy identity" is the difficult section. a lot of human beings have moments the place they have a feeling of dropping their guy or woman identity and adventure some form of know-how of oneness with the All or Absolute, and presume that's enlightenment. now and lower back that's in simple terms the start of the religious journey, and now and lower back that's as extreme as they are able to (drawn to) going - so that's their version or understand-how of enlightenment. to function my "2 cents well worth" to the communicate, enlightenment is the top of the egoic 'discovered' identity and an inner know-how of oneness with the fundamental nature. (solidarity with the All is going with out asserting) know-how of the actuality relating to one's genuine Self and solidarity with 'the genuine' occurs after ego death. that's a dissolution of the delusional self and an enduring stabilizing of one's know-how of being the staring at genuine Self - now no longer on the mercy of ego ideals/illusions. that's the actuality that instruments us loose, the actuality of who we are and why we are right here. i do no longer understand what "sure, solutions" you're pertaining to, of direction. you're splendid that anybody is claiming enlightenment because of the fact they have had short-term solidarity reports they sense as an know-how of "oneness." if that's the case, I accept as true with the rant, yet 'solidarity know-how' isn't an elementary subject rely for many folk to communicate or understand. thank you for bringing it up.

Answer 5

I agree with you that both alternatives contradict Scripture. In this matter, I agree with a teacher of mine, who is fond of saying this:



"Conflicting theological opinions are like the two banks of a river; flowing in between is the truth of God."

Answer 6

predestination and election are misunderstood in both reformed and christian reformed teachings. Salvation is free and clear to anyone who belives. Election is about God choosing us to be his and do his work as he calls his elect to do, not to be saved by election. Salvation by election is also called hyper-calvanism and is also overexplained and taught wrongly. Leaders and teachers beware of this, it is confusing and dangerous. i was raised in christian reformed religion and know of this.



Divine Election is cruel and impossible to qualifiy because of the grace involved in Christ

Answer 7

well I am not calvinist.. but I think there are not anymore a calvin church.. except doctrines of the prebysterian church and other churches that follow the same doctrine.. better look for those churches.