The Anti-Calvinist Rant

Posts

Why is Calvinism so dangerous? #10 (Sovereignty)

[In this series, I'm breaking the long post "Why is Calvinism so dangerous?" into bite-sized pieces.] 10. The Bible shows that ... "Sovereignty" means that God is the highest authority there is. There is no one above Him and no one He is accountable to. (I say it's perfectly fine to end a sentence with a preposition.) He has the power to do whatever He wants. And as seen in the Bible all over the place, part of what He wants is to allow us to make decisions, within any boundaries He sets up. He wants us to want Him, to willingly choose to love and worship and obey Him, not to be forced to or programmed to. (Anyone else singing "I Want You to Want Me" from Cheap Trick right now? If you weren't, you will be now. Ha ha ha!) Forced love can never be true love. And being sovereign and all-knowing, He knows ahead of time what we will choose to do and how He can work it all into something good, to accomplish His over-arching plans.

Why is Calvinism so dangerous? #9 (Love and justice)

[In this series, I'm breaking the long post "Why is Calvinism so dangerous?" into bite-sized pieces.] 9. The Bible says ... God shows H is love and His j ustice by sending Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins. But Calvinism says ... God shows His love by saving the elect (and by caring for the non-elect on earth) and He shows His justice by damning the non-elect to hell for their sins/unbelief. Calvinists know the Bible says "For God so loved the world ...", and so to appear biblical they say "Of course, God loves everyone." But secretly, they believe in two different kinds of love: a "salvation" kind of love for the elect and a mere "kindness" kind of love for the non-elect. He shows His l ove to the elect by predestining them to heaven, but He shows His "love" to the non-elect merely by providing for their needs while t hey're on earth (before sending them to eternal hell for being the unbelievers

For Easy Reference:

Leaving You With Links To Anti-Calvinism Posts

List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, and Theologians

How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (simplified version)

Some non/anti-Calvinist websites and preachers I recommend:

Soteriology 101 (here is the Facebook page)

Beyond the Fundamentals

Hoppers Crossing Christian Church (here's their blog)

The Idol Killer (And here is his Youtube channel. FYI: I think he believes we can lose our salvation, but I do not.)

Tony Evans (my all-time favorite, from Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, click here for his YouTube channel)

Greg Laurie

Ralph "Yankee" Arnold (I haven't watched him but my husband recommends his videos against Calvinism)

Billy Graham

Andy Woods (whom I've never watched but a friend highly recommends him because he preaches against Calvinism)

(And if you want to get to know me better, click here for some completely random, pointless facts about me. And click here if you want to know what I look like.)

FYI, about Greg Laurie:

While I don't think Greg Laurie is a Calvinist, his Harvest church says, under the "salvation" heading on their beliefs page, "Before Creation, God chose those who would be saved." It sounds Calvinist but I wonder if it's meant in a "God chooses anyone who chooses Him" way, that salvation is open to all but only those who willingly choose Jesus are chosen to be saved, which is something I heard Greg preach once. But it's worth being discerning about, since Calvinism is creeping in everywhere.

FYI:

This blog is the result of seeing our wonderful Evangelical Free church, which we attended for nearly 20 years, being aggressively taken over by Calvinism, and no one in leadership cared about our concerns. So thank you, Calvinist elders, for not listening. This blog wouldn't have been made without you!

FYI: If you copy and repost anything on this blog (it's ok if you do), please provide a link back to my original post, and if you add or change anything then make sure it's clear which words are mine and which are yours. Thank you. (Also FYI: I often call Calvinism's god "Calvi-god" for short, to keep it clear who I'm referring to.)

And these are long posts. Try as I might, I can't do "short and simple." I write long and complex stuff. So be prepared!

Why I started this blog:

I've been studying and speaking against Calvinism for awhile now, over at My Crazy Faith. But I wanted all this info on its own blog. The title is about me opposing Calvinism in general and dogmatic, theologian-type Calvinists. "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 deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) Satan's best schemes involve wolves in sheep's clothing, disguising lies as truth, darkness as light, and using God's Word against Him. This, I believe, is what Calvinism is!

But, to be clear, I am not ranting against the average "Calvinist" who probably isn't even aware of what Calvinism really teaches, and who, if they were aware, would probably not be a Calvinist anymore. Nor am I against those who were manipulated into Calvinism, who have unwittingly absorbed it and are just trying to live their faith as best they can, according to how the teachers tell them to be. These are the kinds of people I hope to help through this blog. In fact, I know some wonderful people who are Calvinists, and it makes me sad to tell them I believe their theology is wrong. I am not against the people, the average Calvinist (most of whom I think are not trying to be deceptive or to twist Scripture or to sugarcoat their theology - it's just what they've been taught). But I am against - and must speak out against - the theology itself (which flips Scripture on its head and destroys God's grace and Jesus's sacrifice) and the wily ones who teach it to others (especially through deception, manipulation, shaming people, and other strong-arming tactics). This is what I am ranting against and who I am referring to when I refer to "the Calvinist".

Also, when I say I disagree with "predestination," I mean a Calvinist's view of it, which is far different from the Bible's view of it. In Calvinism, certain people are predestined to be believers (and everyone else is out of luck). But in the Bible, anyone who chooses to believe in Jesus is predestined to glory and to bring God glory.

And Calvinists also get "election" wrong. They think election is the same as predestination, that certain people are "elected" to salvation, that we have no choice about if we're saved or not, no influence over it or active part in it because Calvi-god planned it all from the beginning and we can't affect his plans. But in the Bible, anyone can be saved. And election is about those who become saved being elected for (chosen for) service to God. Everyone who chooses to put their faith in Jesus is elected to serve Him.

These are huge, significant differences! One (Calvinism) closes the door of salvation to most people and takes away our responsibility to believe, to choose Jesus ... and the other (the Bible) opens the door of salvation up to all people and tells us to choose whom we will serve.

Biblically, and contrary to Calvinism, no one is beyond the reach of God's love, grace, and forgiveness! No one is hopeless! God loves us all, Jesus died for us all, and there is hope for us all, if we will choose Him as our Lord and Savior. This is why I must rant against Calvinism. It is a Gospel-destroying, faith-killing, soul-sucking theology which proclaims that most people are hopelessly lost and destined for hell because Calvi-god never really loved them, Calvi-Jesus didn't die for them, and salvation was never possible for them because Calvi-god deliberately created them to be sinners so that he could get glory for punishing them for their sin (even though he caused them to be that way). This is Calvinism! And does it sound like the true Gospel to you!?!

I do not claim to know everything about the Bible or Calvinism. I will make mistakes. I am human. I am still learning. And my view of Calvinism is, of course, based on the encounters I've had with Calvinists and with what I've read from Calvinists. It's not meant to be representative of all Calvinists, of Joe Shmoe Calvinist online who I never talked to but who has a slightly different view of Calvinism than what I present. (And when I talk about what the Calvinist "says," I don't mean the words they actually use. I mean what their theology actually teaches. I know they will read what I write and say, "We don't say that!" And they're right; they don't SAY it, but they mean it. I'm just taking off all the deceptive layers they wrap their theology in, exposing what it really teaches, in spite of what they say to cover it up.)

But even if I make some Scripture mistakes and even if I don't totally accurately represent all Calvinists and even if my thoughts are still a little fuzzy about all this, my bottom-line concern is to properly represent the character of God and the Gospel's message. (And sorry about the random color changes in the paragraphs. Stupid computer! Also, when I say "concordance," it's Strong's concordance with Vine's Expository Dictionary.)

As Always ...

Just because I link to someone else's blog doesn't necessarily mean I agree with everything they believe. So be discerning for yourselves. Run everything they say (and everything I say) through Scripture.

[And for the record, just because I'm not a Calvinist doesn't mean I'm an Arminian (Arminianist?). I do not agree with them at all that true believers can lose their salvation. I have not studied Arminianism, nor do I intend to. I study the Bible. So I guess I might describe myself as I've seen others do it: Biblist. I'm not looking to any other person's theology or interpretation of Scripture; I just want to know what God says in His Word and who He is according to His Word.

And to be clear, here is how I view the gospel in a nutshell, without nit-picking on proper terminology: The Bible is the inspired Word of God. And it tells us that God loves all people, wants all people to seek Him and believe in Him and be saved, offers salvation to all people, and has given all of us the ability to believe in Him. But He leaves the choice up to us. Jesus Christ - God the Son, sinless, born of a virgin - came to earth in a human body, died on the cross to pay the penalty for all of our sins so that we could have eternal life, and then He rose again, conquering the grave/evil and proving Himself to be God. If you believe this (and anyone can believe it!) and confess that you are a sinner and that you need Jesus, willingly accepting His sacrifice for your sins, trusting in His death and resurrection, you will be saved. And then you will be filled with the Holy Spirit who seals all believers for the day of redemption and who helps all believers grow in the Lord. Once saved and sealed with the Spirit, you cannot be unsaved, even if you stumble and fall along the way.]

On this blog:

Regarding verses quoted from the NIV: Scripture quotations taken from HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (registered trademark). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Regarding verses from the ESV: “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

And FYI, the concordance I use is a Strong's Concordance which includes Vine's Expository Dictionary. But I only refer to it as "my concordance." Just so you know.