Leaving Calvinism: Comments from Ex-Calvinists #6
Here is the next batch of ex-Calvinist testimonies (and those who never were Calvinists but who came face to face with it) from this post: X-Calvinist Corner. (It's an Arminian website, but I am not Arminian.) I am going to highlight some of the comments that stood out to me the most. If I add any comments of my own, it will be [blue and in brackets]. I made minor corrections for better grammar and punctuation. If you want to read everything that everyone said, click on the link above:
Nathaniel:
I have quite literally spent hours and hours and hours pouring over articles and blog posts on both of these websites as well as Scripture over this past week or so, and I must say: it is a freeing, burden-lifting, God-glorifying truth that God has come to offer salvation to ALL men. And to know that I can freely proclaim the real, actualized love of God to ALL men without any kind of double-talk is overwhelming, and a couple times over the last week has brought me to tears. What a glorious God we serve!
John Gibbons:
To keep a long story short…. after awhile I started questioning my salvation daily. This was due to the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints, and a huge emphasis on Lordship Salvation (which I now believe to be "works salvation" hidden behind a facade of "justification by grace thru faith"). I lived in a small town at the time so the only Calvinistic resources available to me were online videos, sermons, and books. After watching so many videos of Calvinists constantly telling viewers to examine themselves and that if your life doesn’t measure up than you might not be saved, you tend to sink into a deep depression and fear that you might not be elect. I was highly depressed. I looked at my works and I could never measure up to what these men were telling me a real Christian looks like. I was getting to the point where I wanted to reject God and walk away. I figured if I am not elect then I will never be elect and why waste my time with a God who would damn billions just for his glory.
[For the record, all Christians at some point might question their faith, wondering if they are really saved. The difference between Calvinists and non-Calvinists, though, is that the non-Calvinist can do something about it, whereas the Calvinist is at the mercy of what Calvi-god pre-decided for them and causes them to do.
The non-Calvinist can be assured that God really does love them personally, that Jesus really did die for them personally, and that God offers salvation to them personally, and if they choose to put their faith in Jesus, they will be saved, just like God promised. If they do what God told them to do (believe in Jesus), then He will do what He promised to do (save them).
And if, over time, they have backslidden or wandered away from the Lord, it's their fault. But they can do something about it because they know that it's not God's desire for them, that He wants them to return to Him, and so they can choose to turn back to God, to recommit to Him. Or if they find out over time that they never really committed to Jesus but just thought they did, it's their fault. But they can do something about it because God really does want them to be saved and offers them salvation. And so they can choose to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior for the first time.
But a Calvinist? Ah, a Calvinist can't know for sure if they are really one of the elect because only Calvi-god knows that. They can't know for sure if Calvi-god really does love them, if Calvi-Jesus really did die for them, or if Calvi-god gave them real faith instead of a counterfeit faith (evanescent faith). They have to hope and pray that they are really one of the elect, but there's nothing they can do about it if they aren't. If they backslide or "fall away," it's Calvi-god's fault, his predestined plan for them, and there's nothing they can do about that either.
What a hopeless, evil theology - convincing people that they have no real responsibility over their own beliefs and choices, when the Bible shows us over and over again that we are responsible for our own beliefs and choices!
And of course, none of us ever can measure up - on this side of eternity - to what God wants us to be like. But that's where grace comes in. That's why grace is so amazing - because God knew we'd never be able to measure up, and so He sent Jesus to "measure up" for us, to cover us with His perfect blood. Yes, we need to do our best to follow and obey and glorify Him. Because that's what we do out of love and humble gratitude. But we do not need to fear that He will reject us if we are not good enough. He knew we'd never be good enough, but that's okay because Jesus became "good enough" for us. And so when God looks at us, at believers, He doesn't see how imperfect we are; He sees the perfect blood of Jesus sacrificed for us and the righteousness it brings us. And this should make us so relieved and humbly thankful that we love Him all the more and want to live to bring Him glory!]
Now Dimly:
... I believed myself to be saved in college, though I turned away from God in 1996 and began pursuing a dark life of drugs, alcohol, etc.... I repented of my dubious faith and reckless living, and began to earnestly seek God. In the course of studying Scripture, I came across some teachings on Reformed theology. At first, I had a very hard time accepting all of Calvinism for it (that God would predestine some for hell and only some for salvation) certainly seemed unfair and at odds with Scripture.
Mainly due to the teachings of R.C. Sproul, I accepted [Calvinism].... Sproul explained from Romans 9 that some got justice and others got mercy, and who were we to answer back to God? I was told that God sadly passed over the reprobate....
... Near the end of 2012, I began to go back and forth with a non-Calvinist on the topic of election. I got pretty irritated and, while he wouldn’t really debate with me, I set out to prove him wrong at least in my own mind. I began to read the gospel of John at the same time as Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology,” particularly his chapters on soteriology.
The first thing I saw which immediately stunned me was the emphasis on regeneration preceding faith [in Calvinism].... As I read through John’s gospel, I saw a clear discrepancy. John says that those who believe will receive the new birth and eternal life (John 1:12-13, 3:1-15, 16, 36, 5:24-25). Further study of the Scriptures brought me to the understanding that we are raised from our dead state in sin to life, all by faith in God (Eph 2:5,8; Colossians 2:11-13). While many of these verses are used by Calvinists to defend their order of salvation, I simply could not agree with their interpretations. The raising of dead sinners to life is always through faith, not [as Calvinism says] prior to faith.... faith is the means by which we are raised, and being raised is not the means by which we come to faith.
... [On how he got sucked Calvinism:] Rather than trying to do an in-depth study for myself (which I tried and found very overwhelming), I took the easy route and just accepted what I was told. Who has the time to study deep theological topics that seem to evade even the top scholars? ... But after reading Grudem’s Systematic theology, I began to see all sorts of stuff that didn’t make sense. He even contradicts the logic of his Calvinism at certain points....
... Since I have been taught to put biblical texts through rigorous questioning and study, I have asked some hard questions of Calvinistic interpretations and, personally, I find them wanting. For those reasons I can no longer call myself a Calvinist....
... The entire process has been very uncomfortable in many ways, but comforting in others. One comfort is that I am getting to know the Lord much better, and it has caused me to pray more.... I will continue to seek him and to understand his Word as much as I can with a pure heart ... I do not want to put my trust in men, but in Christ and his word.
