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 His love and His justice 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 love to the elect by predestining them to heaven, but He shows His "love" to the non-elect merely by providing for their needs while they're on earth (before sending them to eternal hell for being the unbelievers He caused them to be).  

See, now they won't feel like they're lying when they - in their strategic efforts to trap you - say "Yes, I believe God loves everyone."  You see, they want you to think they mean God loves everyone the same way, with a saving "Jesus died for you" love.  They want you to think they see things the same way you do, the way the Bible plainly says it: "For God so loved the world ..."  They want you to think this so that they can hook you, so that you let your guard down, so that they don't set off any red flags until you're hooked.  And then, once you're hooked, they begin to slowly reel you deeper into their Calvinist view of God's love, that He loves people differently: by saving some and by merely giving food and water to others while they're on earth before sending them to eternal hell for being the unbelievers He caused them to be.  (If that's love, I'd hate to see hate!)      

But in the Bible, God doesn't say He shows His love in two different ways, based on whether you are elect or not.  He Himself clearly told us the one main way He shows His love to sinners: He shows His love by sending Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins.  

Romans 5:8:  "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  

Unless only the elect are sinners and unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18) and ungodly (Romans 5:6), then Jesus died for all people.  For "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).  All are sinners.  And Jesus died for sinners.  

But for Calvinism to work, there has to be two kinds of sinners: those Jesus died for and those He didn't.  Those who are born as unrighteous, ungodly sinners headed to heaven and those who are born as unrighteous, ungodly sinners headed to hell.  But I don't see any verses like that in the Bible, that clearly say that there are two different kinds of sinners and that God shows His love to us in two different ways.  The Calvinist has to infer it.  And it's their inferences that lead them astray.

Instead, what I see in the Bible, plainly and clearly, is that we are all sinners who are headed to hell, that we all need a Savior, that Jesus died for all, and that anyone can believe and be saved because God loves all and wants all to be saved.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)

"For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11:32)  

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." (Romans 5:18)  

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Titus 2:11)

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  

"He is the anointing sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2) 

"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32)

"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all men ..."  (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

"... He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)  

"... Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13) 

"... that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe."  (1 Timothy 4:10)

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." (Ephesians 1:13)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

    

Do I even need to tell you how to interpret these ... or are they quite clear on their own?  

Are there "deeper, hidden" layers underneath these verses that contradict their plain, commonsense, on-the-surface meanings ... or should we take them at face-value?  

Do we need to spend months studying huge Calvinist theology books to learn what God really "meant to say" ... or does God mean what He says and say what He means?

If you have to side with one of these - what God plainly said or what Calvinists tell you God meant to say - which will you choose?  Which will you believe?

And contrary to Calvinism which says that God predestined people to hell because He needed sinners to punish in order to show off His justice and wrath against sin to get glory for it, praised for it ... the Bible never says God exercises His justice by predestining people to hell for sin.  (Find me one verse - just one - that says this!)  He Himself tells that He shows His justice by sending Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins.

“God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- he did it [sent Jesus to the cross for our sins] to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”  (Romans 3:25-26, emphasis added)

God Himself said that to demonstrate His love and His justice, He sent Jesus to the cross to die for our sins, to buy salvation for all men.  And so if we end up in hell, it's by our choice to reject God's offer of salvation, not because God predestined anyone to go there.

Why is this so hard to understand!?!  

Everyone has a pre-paid ticket to heaven available for them.  But we have to reach out and grab it.  And if we don't, it's not because God predestined us to hell or because He wanted to punish us to fully show off His attributes.  It's simply because we rejected the free gift of eternal life that God offers to all people.  If we refuse to let Jesus's death pay the penalty for our sins, we have to pay the penalty ourselves: eternal separation from God.  Hell!

Calvinists, can you not see that you've been tricked - through things like "It's for God's glory. God is sovereign and can do what He wants. It's humble to accept this. Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Did God really say...?" - into believing that God preplans all sins, then tells us not to sin but causes us to commit the sins He preplanned, and then punishes us for committing the sins He forced us to commit, but since "He is sovereign" and "it's for His glory" then it must be okay?  Can you not see how this destroys God's character, Word, trustworthiness?  

And who do you think it is that wants us to believe this nonsense?

Leave it to Satan to come up with a theology like this - one that uses God's glory, sovereignty, and Word against Him - tricking people into thinking that Jesus didn't die for all people, that God doesn't love all people enough to offer them salvation, that we have no ability to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and so God has to cause us to (the elect only, of course), that God is the ultimate source of and cause of our sins, and that the reason people go to hell is because it glorifies Him!

Stunning!  Horrifying!  

[Just for fun:  I have no idea who made this (or who Tyler Vela is, other than that he's a Calvinist), but here's an amusing 2-minute video, featuring Beaker from the Muppets, demonstrating Calvinist "humility": "Jesus Died for Me Me Me"

Notice what he says about God's love: essentially that a generalized, all-encompassing love for mankind isn't good, isn't meaningful, but that it's so much better for God to have a specific, focused love on only a few people.  

(And notice how he throws out the accusation of "universalist" if you believe Jesus died for all.  He says that can't be true because there will still be people in hell.  This is a mistake in their thinking because they start from the basis that people cannot choose, and so we can't choose to reject Jesus's offer of salvation.  Therefore, those people must be in hell by God's choice, because they never got the offer of salvation, because Jesus never died for them.  Because if Jesus died for you, you WILL BE saved, no chance of rejecting it because we have no choice.)  

If Tyler has siblings, I wonder if he'd have been okay with his parents choosing to love and care for only one sibling while choosing to hate him and let him starve to death, for no real reason other than the parents wanted to focus their love on one specific person.  I mean, if he's okay with God doing it, then shouldn't he be okay with his parents doing it?  Aren't we supposed to try to be like God?  To love people the way He does?  

But I guess Tyler Vela can be okay with all this because he's one of the few lucky "chosen ones" after all.  He won the "salvation lottery."  Hooray for him!  (Too bad for the rest, though.  Sucks to be them!)

And I just want to point out one amusing thing here.  Tyler says he doesn't know why God picked him.  Calvinists say it's a "mystery" why God chose to save them specifically, out of everyone else out there, that they don't know why they were chosen, they just were (and they act all super-humble about it).  And they accuse us non-Calvinists of thinking that we are better than, smarter than, more humble than our unbelieving neighbors because we saw our need for a Savior and did something about it, whereas our unbelieving neighbors couldn't and didn't.  Basically, we must think we're better than them if we were smart enough to figure it out, but they weren't.  

But the funny, ironic thing is: If Calvinists don't know why God chose them, then they cannot claim that it's not because they are "better" than, "smarter" than, or "more humble" than their neighbors.  They could have been "chosen" for those very reasons (for what they shame non-Calvinists for), for being "so smart, so humble, so much better than" those who didn't get chosen - they just don't know it because God didn't tell them that those were the reasons.]

Update 2023: I just found this video showing that Tyler Vela has recently renounced his faith in Christ.  Sadly, it seems that many public Christians who've recently left the faith were Calvinists.  Coincidence?

I recently posted a comment about this in the comment section of "Calvinism Obscures the Simple Gospel" at Soteriology 101, and I want to share - just because - the reply Brian (a very intelligent non-Calvinist) gave me and my reply to him (slightly edited for clarity):

My comment: Just throwing this out there (I might have said it before, can’t remember): I recently read an article that the Calvinist in the “Me Me Me” video (in the link above) – Tyler Vela – just renounced his faith in Christ.  I wonder what happened to that wonderful, saving, “specific” love that Calvi-god had for him.  He must’ve gotten evanescent grace instead.  Sad.

Brian's reply: Heather, my view of Tyler V. is that he is a good example of someone who can be very knowledgeable of Scripture and Christian history and theology, but with no firm assurance of Christ living within by the Holy Spirit.  There can be a false assurance of self-produced feelings like – “My theology is correct and in agreement with so many smart men who claimed to be Christian that I must be a Christian too”, or “When I knew I needed to escape the terrible life I was living, and was told to follow Jesus to find that escape, I had a special feeling when I was baptized in His name, so I thought I was a Christian for sure.”  But Tyler came to believe that God was not working in His life as he thought God should be, and after experiencing a life trauma, he gave up believing that the Christian God exists at all.  This made his former doubts now confirmed by experience, in his thinking.  Very sad.

My reply to Brian: That is really sad.  And I can totally understand the desire to want to wash my hands of faith, of God, when everything falls apart, when God doesn’t do what we think He “should” do.  “Shoulds” can be dangerous things.  We blame God for failing us when it’s really our expectations of Him and of faith that failed us, because they were out of line to begin with.

After I learned about what my mother did (what she was later arrested for), it was almost the straw that broke the camel’s back.  The anxiety and stress and heartbreak was so strong, so overwhelming, that I wanted to give up my faith (and I wouldn’t have minded giving up on living too).  It was like “You’re not coming through for me, God.  It would be so much easier and less heartache to not have to rely on You or wait for You, to rely only on myself.”  It was one thing to feel that life and my mother had let me down, but it was another to feel like God was letting me down too.  It was almost too much.  (It was only by His grace that I made it through those first several months/years.  I’m still not over it, but I’m still here and it’s gotten easier, so that’s good.)

I wanted to be done with it all.  I wanted to bail on God before He hurt me more [of course, God wasn't really hurting me, but it felt like it because He didn't seem to be doing anything to help, didn't seem to care].  Do you know what I mean?  It’s like people who sabotage relationships to protect themselves from pain – quit before you get hurt.  But all I kept coming back to was “To whom shall I go, Lord?  You alone have the words of eternal life.”  (One of my favorite lines in the Bible, along with my favorite prayer “I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief.”)  I’ve spent years clinging to faith in spite of my expectations and circumstances falling apart.  And I know it’s not easy to do, so my heart goes out to Tyler.

Thankfully, for me, before my severe traumas, I had already learned how much I could trust that God is real and that the Bible is trustworthy in spite of my feelings and doubts – through things like years of research and some very clear answers to prayer and some supernatural experiences (levitating someone through “light as a feather, stiff as a board” – it’s demonic, don’t do it, but I was young and stupid – and a season of clearly demonic harassment like feeling electricity engulf my body when I was waking up and once even fully awake, and feeling an invisible force choking me when waking up, and feeling an invisible presence walking up my bed towards me several times while I was wide awake, etc.)  

I’ve had enough experiences with the supernatural world to know for sure that there is a spiritual world out there, that there are angels and demons, that God is real.  And if God (and His Word) is truly real, good, and trustworthy, like I believe He is, then I choose to cling to Him in spite of my shattered expectations and broken heart.  This world is not all there is, and the best is yet to come.  Till then, I cling to Him through the good and the bad.  To whom else would I go?

Sorry, I’m rambling, but my heart breaks for hurting, broken people, and it opens up my wounds all over again.  If I could spare anyone from the kind of deep pain I’ve been through, I would.  I wish no one ever had to feel pain, despair, and hopelessness that deeply.  I’m really sorry for Tyler.  (There are tears in my eyes as I write this.)

The sad thing is that Calvinism erodes people’s faith in God as a good, trustworthy, faithful, loving God, and so they don't have that to fall back on when the pain comes.  They have been brainwashed into seeing Him as Someone who causes and is glorified by sin and evil as much as by good, Someone who could just as easily damn people to eternal torment as save them, Someone who randomly picks a few to save but prevents the rest from being saved because He created them to hate and to punish (for doing what He ordained/caused) for His glory and pleasure.  If that’s the kind of God He really is - one who causes and is glorified by sin and evil - then why in the world would we turn to Him for help and comfort when sins and evils hurt us?  Why would we seek refuge in a God like that?  No wonder Calvinists bail on God when the painful trials hit, when their expectations are shattered.  It’s sad.

I’m sorry for Tyler having to go through those kinds of feelings.  That’s a really difficult, heartbreaking struggle.  May he eventually realize that it’s not God who let him down, but it’s the Calvinism that did.

Thanks for sharing your insight, Brian.  God bless.