CALVINISM It is important for us to see what this system is and how it is consistent within itself. The foundation of Calvinism is the Doctrine of predestination. They believe that God is all powerful, and in His Sovereignty, he has decreed whatever is to come to pass throughout history and eternity from the foundation of the world. God decreed what will happen, so it must happen without fail. God will bring everything to pass as He wills because he has already determined that it will be that way. This decree applies to individuals and salvation. It is clear that the Scriptures teach that not all shall be saved, so in Calvin's mind this must be the will of God to only save some (the Elect) and not all. No one or any created thing can resist the will of God whether it be to salvation, or condemnation. Predestination is the cornerstone of Calvinism. If only the chosen ones of God can or will be saved, then God has determined that Christ would only atone for those that He has willed that He will save. This is what is meant by a Limited Atonement . As you can see, a theory of a limited atonement rests on the assumption that the Calvinistic interpretation of predestination to salvation or damnation is true. There is no Bible proof that the atonement is limited, but this is the nature of theology that it has to support its original premise. If a man is predestined, and the atonement is limited to only those who shall be saved, how does God ensure that those that he chose will actually decide to follow Him? This is answered by the next step in this theological system, which is the doctrine of Irresistible Grace. This means that God will draw those he pleases to save, and only those, with a calling that they will find themselves unable to resist. How does a holy God fellowship with those who are predestined to salvation apart from any ethical consideration? If it is based upon God's good pleasure and decree, and all our actions are already predestined, then how can God be one with a "saved" but sinful creature? Calvin solves this with the theory of imputed righteousness. Since according to this system, God is 100% responsible for everything including the choice of who will be saved. Mans' cooperation or cessation from sin is not required because, if man had any input or power to do anything, then God would not be Sovereign and all powerful. In their minds, if man had a free will then God would be at the mercy of man in salvation. Imputed Righteousness claims that the holiness of Christ is transferred to the believer and counted as the believers own. Regardless of the true nature of the believer, God sees him as pure as the wind-driven snow. Now, if one is predestined to salvation, irresistibly drawn to God, and the righteousness of Christ is Imputed to the believer, then he must persevere to the end and be infallibly saved. This is so because God has decreed it to be. Since man has nothing to do with this process, then he cannot undo his predestination, thus he would be what is called in this day and age, "eternally secure." If God can no longer see the predestined sinners sin because of imputed righteousness, (which is an impossibility since God is all knowing) then this makes the Elect person's salvation irrevocable, non-negotiable, and inevitable. If we remove any part of this system because we feel it is untrue, then the entire system falls with it. If there is no decree of God to salvation or hell, then there is no cause or support for a fatalistic predestination. If there is no predestination to heaven or hell, then there is no need to distort the Scriptures to support a limited atonement to a select few. If the atonement is not limited, there is no need to invent a forced grace by a payment for the "elect" alone, or a need to create a fictional imputed righteousness to make up for the ethical shortfall of a doctrine of salvation by fate instead of a conversion of the individual and salvation from sin. Calvin's system meets the need of self-consistency in a superb manner, but is it Biblical?
Last edited by chestnutmare; Fri Oct 15, 20218:28 AM.
