First of all, what are the primary doctrines of Calvinism? There are five points: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the saints (the acronym TULIP helps me remember them). The first point is the most foundational. Each of the remaining points hinge off of the reality that we are dead in our sins, not merely sick. Ephesians 2:1-3 makes it clear, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." Who is Paul addressing? The saints in Ephesus (1:1) who were once dead in their sins. What does dead mean here? It means dead. We often hear analogies like you're bobbing in the water, just about to drown and God throws out a life preserver; all you have to do is grab ahold of it to be saved from death. The problem with this analogy and ones like it is that we aren't fighting for our lives, we are already dead. We are already at the bottom of the ocean. Dead people can't reach out and grab anything. They are dead!
This idea of spiritual deadness doesn't begin here in the New Testament. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3, man was doomed to have sinful hearts from birth. You hear it said all the time, you don't have to teach a child to sin. That's because they were born with a sinful nature! In Romans 5 , Paul expounds on the fact that in Adam, all man has sinned. He was our representative and since he failed, we failed. We have what's called an imputed sin nature. In Genesis 6 starting in verse 5, we read "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." But things are different now, right? Since God judged the whole earth with the flood and killed off everybody except for Noah, this is no longer true, right? Wrong. After the flood God reaffirms that "the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21). Romans 3:10-12 doesn't give us any more credit than Genesis - "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." Do you hear the universality and the depth of our depravity? No one does good! No one is capable of doing good! Dead people can't do good! Isn't coming to God in faith a good thing? If people are incapable of doing good, then how can they come to God in faith?
That is the key to this whole discussion. Dead people can't choose God. They have to be made alive spiritually (regeneration or being born-again) to even have the inclination to choose God. Otherwise, they will go on living in their sin completely on the own accord, by their own will. So what has to happen for someone to be inclined to repent from their sins and believe in the gospel? They must be born again. In John 3:3 Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." He continues in verse 6-8, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you here its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." The Spirit of God clearly initiates regeneration. This leads into the second point of Calvinism: Unconditional Election.
Ephesians 1:4-6 "Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the beloved."
Since dead men can't do good and therefore can't choose God, regeneration (being made spiritually alive) is necessary for anyone to be saved. The Spirit initiates regeneration, therefore, God initiates salvation in those whom He has chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. Listen to John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." Do you know what the word "draws" means in the greek? It literally means to drag! How great the Father's love for us that He would bring us to Himself even as we are holding on so tightly to the sin that entangles us!
So back to defining Unconditional Election, it is simply the notion that God has chosen some before the foundation of the world to be saved. This was necessary for any of us to be saved. Had God not chosen some of us to be saved, no one would have chosen Him. He did not choose us based upon anything that we were going to be or do. It was completely based upon God's will (John 1:12-13). Now to the question, God gives all people the ability to choose Him. Well, all people would have to be regenerated then as we have seen. So if you want to suggest that there are regenerate people who reject God and ultimately spend eternity in hell, you have some theological issues of your own! Romans 8:29-30 sheds some light on the efficacy of God's election. "For those whom He foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified." It is an unbreakable chain from God's knowing us before we were, to our glorification. It is important to note here that the foreknowledge that is spoken of here is NOT God looking into the future to see who would choose Him and who wouldn't. This simply is not what foreknowledge means. Another important note is the idea of calling. There are two different types of calling: general and specific. The general call is the proclamation of the gospel to all peoples. The specific calling is the drawing of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. It is the efficacious calling. The calling that is spoken of here is the specific calling. It is regeneration.
I am not going to discuss the last three points of Calvinism. I am in deep enough to begin distinguishing between Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism so I will leave it up to you to study Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. I recommend a book by R.C. Sproul called Chosen by God.
So then the logical question is, if God has elected those who will believe, why be a missionary? This is the hyper-Calvinist thinking - and the thinking that most people have towards Calvinists. God will work out His plan of salvation for the elect so we don't have to worry about mission or evangelism. We'll just stay in our holy huddles and wait for God to save His elect. Is this what you think as a Calvinist? Or, is this what you think about Calvinists? Let me explain why both of you are wrong in your thinking.
There is a key component to God's plan of salvation that hyper-Calvinists have missed. God has chosen in His will to use the saints in His process of saving people. There are a few texts that we need to look at. The first is James 1:18, "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creation." What is crucial to see here is that the means by which the Holy Spirit (who is God) draws and regenerates is the word of truth. The preaching of the gospel is the means by which God draws people unto Himself. When the gospel is preached (remember we called that the general call), the Holy Spirit awakens those whom God has chosen with a specific call that leads to salvation. The specific call happens when a general call is given. That is what James is saying here. Can you see already the need for missionaries? If the specific call is contingent upon the general call, then mission is still the responsibility of the saints.
The clearest text that I can show this in is Romans 10:13-17, "For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." People must hear the gospel to be saved. Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ. The gospel must be preached for the Holy Spirit to regenerate the hearer, that the hearer may repent and believe the gospel. I am fully convinced that those who die having never heard the gospel are going to hell. Why? Because they have sinned against a holy God and have not called upon the name of Jesus to be saved. Doesn't this add even an urgency to mission?
Not only does this understanding of salvation demand urgency on our part, but it gives us hope that our labor will not be in vein. Could God say this if He hadn't predestined some to believe: "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb..." We read this in Revelation 7:9. It is the consummation of redemptive history. People from every tribe, peoples and language worshipping Jesus in heaven. How could God accomplish this without electing some from every tribe, peoples and language? We know God is true and His word is true. For Him to be able to say this before it happens means He must have predestined those from every tribe, peoples and language. How then does Calvinistic theology give us hope in mission? God will do the hard work. It is our job to go and preach the gospel. This is the task that He has given us. But God does the transforming work. And since He has promised people from every tribe, peoples and language, we can be sure that every unreached people group that missionaries go to reach, will be reached before Jesus comes back. Their work will not be in vein. I hope that you see how the logic flows. Calvinistic doctrine should give us the hope and strength that we need to give up our lives to preaching the gospel to those who have never heard.
I understand that I did not spend the necessary time to try to convince you to become a Calvinist if you are not already. I understand too that some of you who are Calvinists don't like to be called Calvinists for various reasons. I'm just using the name to classify our understanding of salvation. You can call it whatever you want. What I want you to see is how you can be a Calvinist and a missionary - and how it (in my opinion) is extremely biblical. It is not an oxymoron. Our drive in mission, no matter where you lie should be that God receives maximum glory from all peoples in the worship of His Son, Jesus. They have to hear about Him to believe in Him. Let's go and tell them, huh?
To be completely honest, since I have embraced these doctrines, my view of God has only increased. The idea that God saves people for His own glory, wow! He is that good that He knows that if we live to worship Him, we will be filled with inexpressible joy that nothing else can match, wow! The idea that I had nothing to do with my own salvation, and He gets all the glory and credit, wow! He is so big, so amazing, and so far above us. Let's just end this little blog with worship. Go and read Psalm 96!
For the nations,
Scott
