Why is Calvinism so dangerous? #8 (Evangelism and prayer)
[In this series, I'm breaking the long post "Why is Calvinism so dangerous?" into bite-sized pieces.]
8.
The Bible says ... We are to evangelize because it's how people will hear the Gospel so that they can believe. By hearing the Gospel, we can believe, and by believing, we inherit eternal life.
Romans 10:14: "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"
John 20:31: "But these are written that you may believe ..."
But Calvinism says ... Evangelize because God told you to, even though God's already decided where everyone will go. The elect will be saved and the non-elect will be damned, no matter what, but we still have to obey God's command to spread the Gospel.
Makes no sense! Calvinism says that we are elected/born-again before we can even respond to the Gospel, that we can't respond to the Gospel or believe in Jesus unless God first regenerates us and gives us the Holy Spirit. They say that we need to evangelize and to spread the Gospel in order to help the elect people who don't yet believe realize that they are elect (to "believe" and be saved). They say that God predestined that the elect would hear the Gospel and believe, but that the non-elect will never be able to "hear" the Gospel and believe.
[But, I wonder, what happens if we don't evangelize? Would the elect fail to realize they are elect and fail go to heaven? In Calvinism, do our efforts to evangelize (or our failure to evangelize) really make a difference in anyone's eternal destinies? If it does, then how "predestined" can things be? If it doesn't, then why share the Gospel or evangelize? And if it's all predestined anyway and if everything we do is controlled by God, then even our failure to evangelize would be predestined/caused by God too, for His glory. And so therefore, evangelizing and not-evangelizing are equally caused by God and glorifying to Him. So why bother? Calvinism shoots itself in the foot when it comes to evangelism, among many other things.]
It is important to know that the Calvinist gospel is only for the elect, not for all people. Calvinist theologians have even said things like "If we knew who the elect were - if they came with marks on their backs - then we'd know who to share the Gospel with. But since we don't know, we have to share it with all."
Does this not anger you!?! Do you not realize what this says!?!
It's saying that if Calvinists knew who was non-elect, they wouldn't even share the Gospel with them - because the Gospel is not for the non-elect. The non-elect have no hope because Jesus didn't even die for them and because God won't let them repent and believe.
Contrary to how Calvinists make it sound, the Calvinist gospel is not about saving anyone from hell - because the elect were never on their way to hell and the non-elect can never be rescued from hell. The Calvinists gospel is merely about helping the elect realize that they're already saved, that they've always been headed to heaven (even before they repented and believed) but that they just didn't know it yet.
My ex-pastor - a die-hard dogmatic Calvinist - was really big into missions. And I couldn't figure out why ... until I read some articles he wrote. His whole reason for missions (besides the fact that God told us to do it) is to "make God famous." He believes that God's greatest and basically only goal is to be famous among the people, to get more glory for Himself. (But even evil people are "famous," for all the wrong reasons.) And so when he evangelizes, it's not to spread God's love to all people or to help all people find healing and salvation in the Lord. It's to "make God famous" (and to help the elect realize they're elect).
It's sad to me to think about the pathetic, twisted, half-gospel that people are getting through Calvinist evangelism: that "you too can be saved ... if you are one of the elect" and that God is really only about Himself and has predestined the non-elect to hell for His glory.
Now to be fair, my ex-pastor believes in calling people to repent of their sins (while believing that only the elect can and will repent). But he doesn't do "altar calls," asking people if they want to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. He says it's because he doesn't want people to think they're saved just because they "walked the aisle." (But I bet that's not the reason at all. I bet the real reason is because he doesn't want people thinking that they have a choice about salvation, about Jesus. Because that goes against the very heart of Calvinism!)
But how can you challenge people to repent without giving them the opportunity to do so, to express their willingness to make Jesus their Lord and Savior? Calvinists believe in calling people to repent but not calling them to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. I don't get that. It doesn't make sense. How can we choose to repent but not choose to believe in Jesus?
Calvinists talk like they are so humble for thinking they have absolutely no control over their salvation, that "it's all God's doing" ... but then they go and act like they have some sort of control/influence over other people's eternal souls, like "We have to evangelize, spread the Gospel, and call people to repent or else people won't get saved."
So then, do we get a choice about obeying God's command to evangelize but we don't get a choice about obeying God's command to believe?
It doesn't make sense. It's nonsense. It's "Alice in Wonderland"-type nonsense!
And how humble are Calvinists really, if they say we can't do anything to be saved, not even believe, and if they say that whether or not we believe is up to God ... when God Himself tells us that believing is the one work He gives us to do to be saved?
Acts 16:30-31: " 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'... 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved...'" and John 6:28-29: "Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the work God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'"
Once again, if Calvinists tell us that we can't do the one thing God said we need to do to be saved, then how can anyone be saved the Calvinist way?
On a different but similar note: Calvinists also act like prayer matters, even though they believe that God preplans/controls/causes everything that happens. But if everything's already been pre-planned, if God controls/causes all that happens, what difference does prayer really make? How necessary is it?
Calvinists answer the "Why pray?" question with "God ordains the means as well as the ends," meaning that God predestined the prayer as well as the answer to the prayer.
Calvinists answer the "Why pray?" question with "God ordains the means as well as the ends," meaning that God predestined the prayer as well as the answer to the prayer.
But if we don't pray, isn't that what was predestined and caused by God?
To make it seem like prayer is more important in Calvinism than it really is, Calvinists will say that prayer is about showing our dependence on God, about humbling ourselves before Him, about connecting with Him. And yes, that's all a part of it.
But I also believe the Bible clearly shows that prayer does have an effect on what happens. I believe God has chosen to work with and through mankind's cooperation and prayers, to a degree. Prayer is what activates God to do His Will. And without it, God doesn't always intervene. Prayer is not just for show; it really does matter and make a difference and affect what happens.
Oh, really!?!
I mean, really, seriously ... think that over for a few moments. Think about how "everything is predestined and will happen exactly like God planned" meshes with "but you need to pray or you won't get what God planned to give you." Does it make sense? (Or is it straight outta Wonderland?)
(For more on this, see my Bible Study lesson on Prayer and see "Prayer, Faith, and God's Will", about the times prayer doesn't seem to "work.")
Okay now, back to evangelizing, to spreading the Gospel: The Bible says, "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31) The very reason God gave us the Scriptures was so that we could learn about Jesus and believe in Him, and that by believing, we could inherit eternal life.
In the Bible, hearing to Gospel leads to believing which leads to being saved.
But in Calvinism, being saved (before time began) leads to hearing the Gospel which leads to believing. Well, for the elect only, of course.
Which one are you gonna side with? That we're saved because we believe ... or that we believe because we're saved?
"... Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31)
"... believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)
"... whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
"... to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12)
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..." (Mark 16:16)
If you're interested, here are some sermons on prayer from the pastor I trust most to be the most biblically accurate (and enjoyable and practical): Dr. Tony Evans. Even though I've been a Christian for over 35 years, I never cease to learn something new from him. He's been such a huge blessing to me as we came out of Calvinism, helping restore my faith and a proper biblical perspective. He will be one of the first persons I seek out in heaven to hug.
