Refuting 7 Kinds of Unconditional Election to Salvation “Proof” Texts The fallacy of Calvinist Unconditional Election is that they teach that mankind is divided into 2 groups: the “elect” and the “reprobate.” However, the truth is that God has made all men the same because: “The Lord …..he beholdeth all the sons of men…..he fashioneth their hearts alike;” Psalm 33:13-15. Hence, i) there is no such thing as God’s one, eternal, sovereign, all-encompassing decree, and ii) there is no such thing as “the elect” or “reprobate.” Scripture proves that salvation is not limited to “the elect:” - If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” (John 7:37). - “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43). - “whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 9:33). - “he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.” (1 Peter 2:6). - “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (1 John 5:1). - “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17). Question 34: How do Calvinists get around these clear verses on free will? Answer: They either ignore them, deny them or lie about their existence, by saying things like: “The saving grace of God, changing the heart of the sinner precedes the will to come to Christ.” (Hoeksema, “Whosoever Will” p.24). Chafer says “It is misleading to assert...that whosoever God wills may come.” (Theology, vol. 6, p.252). Note: The above verses teach that “whosoever himself wills”, not “whosoever God wills.” Question 35: Does God have a predetermined number of elect people waiting to be saved by Irresistible Grace, as Calvinists claim? Answer: Consider the Bible’s reply to Calvinist’s “proof texts:” 1. God’s People: i) “I have much people in this city.” (Acts 18:10). Calvinists think this verse teaches that God has a predetermined number of unsaved people in Corinth waiting to be saved by Irresistible Grace. The standard Calvinist interpretation is: - “Being assured that God had chosen many to salvation, Paul set out to reap the harvest.” [David Nettleton (GARBC President) “Chosen to Salvation”, RBP, 1983, p.161]. - Before Paul and the gospel ever got to Corinth, the Lord had much people there by virtue of God’s election of many in that city.” (D. Englesma, Hyper-Calvinism, p.57). Answer: That the Lord had “much people” in Corinth there is no doubt, but who were they? They were NOT unsaved elect, because unsaved people are never spoken of as God’s people. The Bible describes unsaved people as “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2), “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). Key: The “much people” are defined in v.1-9 as: a) Aquila and Priscilla (v.2), b) Jews and Greeks that Paul persuaded in the synagogue (v.4), c) Silas and Timotheus (v.5), d) Justus (v.7), e) Crispus and all his family (v.8), f) Many Corinthians who heard, believed and were baptised (v.8). ii) Book of Life. Are the elect’s names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and the nonelect’s names not written there? “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8). “…they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world…” (Revelation 17:8). Answer: Everybody’s name is written in the Lamb’s book of life at birth. When they willfully reject Christ their names are blotted out of the book of life. (Revelation 3:5; 22:19). iii) God’s Sheep: Are God’s sheep the “elect”? (John 10:14-16, 26). Calvinists like Pink think that the “elect” are “sheep” before they are born. (Satisfaction, p.251,252). Answer: 2 problems with this are: a) If the “elect” are sheep before they believe, then they already have eternal life. (John 10:28). If sheep were never goats, then this contradicts the truth that all are born “dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1). b) Who are the sheep? The sheep are Israel according to Micaiah (I Kings 22:17), Asaph (Psalm 74:1; 78:52; 79:13), David (Psalm 119:176), Isaiah (Isaiah 53:6), Jeremiah (Jer. 23:1; 50:6,17), Ezekiel (34:6,11,12), and Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:6; 15:24). “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:6). When Christ came, his sheep, like Simeon (Luke 2:25), Anna (Luke 2:36-38), Zacharias and Elisabeth (Luke 1:5, 6), the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20), and the disciples (John 1:40- 49), knew him (John 10:14), followed him (John 10:27), and received eternal life (John 10:28). 2. Given to Salvation. Question 36: Does God the Father give “the elect” to God the Son? (John 6:37. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:39). Calvinists presume that “only those whom the Father gives to Christ can come to him.” (Palmer, p.27). Answer: i) That this will of the Father was not a sovereign, eternal decree is clear because one of those given to Christ was a devil (John 6:70), who was lost (John 17:12). Believers cannot become lost, so this does not refer to all believers. “that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” (John 17:2). John 17:6,9,11,12,24. Calvinists connect these verses to John 6:37 and presume that the word “give” proves that God the Father by Unconditional Election gave the “elect” to God the Son before the foundation of the world so He could make a Limited Atonement for them. ii) John 6:37 reads that the Father gives to Christ those who believe, as v.45 teaches: “Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh to me.” iii) John 17:6 says that Jesus manifested His ‘name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world’ Answer: - Christ hasn’t manifested His name to anyone since then. - These given to Christ were men. Are all women lost? No! iv) “thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” (John 17:6). Have all Christians kept God’s Word? No. Hence this doesn’t refer to all Christians. v) Christ personally gave them the Father’s words. (John 17:8,14). We have the Bible, but Christ didn’t personally give it to us. Conclusion: Yes, a definite group was given to Christ during His earthly ministry, and not before the foundation of the world. The ones given by the Father to the Son were the little flock of Jewish disciples, known as apostles, and his sheep. (John 10:27,29). 3. Ordained to Salvation. All Calvinists use Acts 13:48 to support the claim that every saved person was ‘ordained to eternal life’ before the foundation of the world by a sovereign, eternal decree. Answer: The word ‘ordain’ never refers in the Bible to an unconditional, sovereign, eternal decree: i) Judas was ‘ordained’ with the other 11 disciples (Mark 3:14),yet he turned out to be a devil (John6:70 ii) God did not accept the sacrifices of priests who were ordained after Calvary (Hebrews 5:1; 10:10-14 iii) God has ordained that all pastors who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel (I Corinthians 9:14), but not all do so; iv) Do all Christians practise good works, even though ‘God has before ordained that we should walk in them?’ (Ephesians 2:10). Note: Acts 13:48 says ‘ordained’ not ‘fore-ordained.’ 4. Chosen to Salvation. Any verse mentioning the word ‘chosen’ or ‘choose’ is a ripe candidate to support Calvinism. It doesn’t matter if salvation is not the context. So then to a Calvinist, if someone is ‘chosen,’ he always reads it as unconditionally, sovereignly, eternally elected to salvation. i) Matthew 20:16; 22:14 ‘For many be called, but few chosen.’ (Matthew 22:14). a) Calvinists after ‘chosen’ add the words ‘to salvation’, which is nowhere in the context. b) Both passages concern ‘the Kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 20:1; 22:2), not heaven or salvation. c) Both passages are parables, not doctrinal statements on salvation. d) Matthew 20:1-16 concerns labourers, whereas salvation is a gift (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8). e) In Matthew 22:14 the ones chosen, are chosen because they accepted the invitation (Matthew 22:9), and had the prescribed wedding garment (Matthew 22:11). f) The ones chosen were ‘bid to the marriage’ (Matthew 22:9), not fore-ordained to go. g) The ones chosen were ‘good and bad’ (Matthew 22:10), not just the ‘elect’; h) The ones chosen responded to a general invitation (Matthew 22:9). ii) John 15:16. Christ chooses his disciples to bear fruit, not to be saved. The error of Calvinists twisting this verse is seen by comparing John 6:70, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil,” with Mark 3:13-14 which says, ‘He ordained twelve, that they should be with him.’ By reading Unconditional Election into these verses, we end up with a sovereignly elected, irresistably called, ordained devil. (John 6:70). iii) Acts 9:15. ‘He (Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles.’(Acts 9:15) ‘The God of our fathers has chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.’ (Acts 22:14). The Calvinist, Custance, said that Ananias knew Saul was elect: “Ananias knew that the unsaved man to whom he was called to minister the Gospel was numbered among God’s elect.” (p.283). Answer: Paul was a chosen vessel. However, Paul was already saved when he went to Ananias. He was not chosen to salvation, but he was chosen to ‘bear the Lord’s name’ (Acts 9:15); to know God’s will (Acts 22:14); to see Christ and hear his voice (Acts 22:14); to be a minister and a witness (Acts 26:16); to open the Gentiles eyes and turn them to God (Acts 26:18). Calvinists don’t see the context. iv) Galatians 1:15,16 is used by Calvinists to teach Unconditional Election: ‘But it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me.’ That Galatians 1:15,16 and Jeremiah 1:5 do not teach Unconditional Election of prophets from eternity past, is seen by these truths: a) Paul’s election was not to ‘salvation and life’, but to ‘office and service’; b) Election is supposed to be eternal, but these verses teach that it is only from their mothers’ wombs. This overthrows Unconditional Election from eternity past; c) Paul was separated on another occasion. It was not to salvation, but to go on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:2) after he was saved: “Separate me Barnabus and Saul for the work…” d) Paul classified himself as the “chief of sinners” (I Timothy 1:15), not as someone who had an eternal union with Christ. v) I Peter 2:9 is used to support Unconditional Election: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Answer: a) It is not said when this choosing took place, why it took place, or what they were chosen for; b) It is clear that individuals are not the subject, but the church as a collective body is in view. vi) Psalm 65:4 “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.” Answer: a) This verse speaks of God’s courts, God’s house, and God’s temple, not about salvation. b) The time of choosing is not mentioned; c) New Testament salvation is not even remotely connected with the verse. vii) James 2:5 “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” Answer: Is every welfare recipient one of the ‘elect’ and ‘chosen to salvation’? No! It just means that generally speaking poor people are more receptive to the Gospel than rich people. viii) II Thessalonians 2:13 “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” Answer: The Thessalonians were chosen from the beginning of what? The phrase ‘from the beginning’ according to Calvinists means eternity past, but from the Bible it means when we are saved as seen from Romans 16:7. Paul stated that Andronicus and Junia were in Christ before him. This contradicts the Calvinist view that all the elect were in Christ from eternity past. Key: “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.” (Romans 16:7). Key: Hence, in Calvinism the ‘elect’ are all put in Christ at the same time (eternity past), but in the Bible no one is put in Christ until he is saved. In II Thessalonians 2:13, Calvinists have transported the phrase “from the beginning” back to “before the foundation of the world” to line up with their theology. The Bible defines the phrase ‘from the beginning’ as being the time Paul departed from Macedonia and came to Thessalonica: ‘Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.’ (Phil 4:15,16). Hence Paul defines the ‘beginning of the gospel’ as when he left the city of Philippi to begin his departure from the province of Macedonia. Thessalonica is in Macedonia. Hence God chose that the Thessalonians would hear the gospel from the beginning of Paul’s departure from Philippi (II Thess. 2:13) to get the gospel preached to them when the Lord gave Paul the Macedonian call in Acts 16:10. Notice that God chose the Thessalonians to salvation not by a sovereign decree in eternity past, but ‘through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,’ which choosing and belief took place in 53 AD (Acts 16:9,10 and 17:1-4). The conditions for God saving the Thessalonians are stated as sanctification of the Spirit and belief/obedience in the truth of Christ’s blood sacrifice in both II Thessalonians 2:13 and I Peter 1:2. See Spiros Zhodiates, NT Word Study Dictionary: Note: a) The Greek phrase for ‘from the beginning’ is “απ αρχη” (ap’ arche), which is different from the phrase “from eternity”, “απ αιωνος” (ap aionos) as in Acts 15:18 (“known from eternity (“απ αιωνος”) are to God all his works”). Hence God did not choose the Thessalonians from eternity past, but from the beginning of when Paul left Philippi. b) Calvinists err presuming that ‘from the beginning’ means from before the beginning of the world, by changing ‘from the beginning’ to ‘before the foundation of the world’, hoping nobody will notice. c) Greek authority S. Zhodiates writes of this verse: “With a preposition preceding: apo (575), from, ap’ arches (746), from the beginning: (B) Of any particular thing eg: of the gospel dispensation, or of Christian experience meaning from the first (Luke 1:2; John 15:27; Acts 26:4; II Thessalonians 2:13;I John 1:1; 2:7,13,14,24; 3:11; II John 5,6). (Complete New Testament Word Study Dictionary p.261). The same expression occurs in Acts 26:4, ‘My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first (“απ αρχης”) among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews.’ This is clearly not referring to eternity past, nor do most occurrences of this phrase (“απ αρχης”). ix) Ephesians 1:4 is the twin Calvinist proof text of II Thessalonians 2:13 used to teach Unconditional Election to salvation in eternity past: “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” (Ephesians 1:4). Answer: a) Election is neither mentioned here nor anywhere in Ephesians. b) The choosing is ‘that we should be holy and without blame’, not that we should be saved or ‘in Christ.’ This may be why Calvinists mostly quote only the first half of this verse. c) The correct interpretation is seen by noting the connection of ‘according as’ at the start of v.4, with ‘in heavenly places’ at the end of v.3. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love’. (Ephesians 1:3,4). Note: The choosing had nothing to do with salvation, but concerned our position in Christ. Once a man gets ‘in Christ’ he gets in on the choosing. Key: God chose that whoever was in Christ would be blessed ‘with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,’ and be ‘holy and without blame before him in love.’ Calvinists err in thinking that v.4 teaches how we get in Christ. x) II Timothy 1:9‘Who hath saved us,and called us with an holy calling not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.’ Question 37: When did God give us saving grace? In eternity past (Calvinist position), or when we got ‘in Christ’ (Bible)? The Calvinist Baker (p.102) says, ‘Paul declared clearly that the elect had been given grace before they ever existed.’ Answer: Grace was not physically given to any man ‘before the world began’, because there were no men around to give it to. Grace was ‘given to us in Christ Jesus.’ Key: God deposited grace in Christ before the world began. It was only given to us when we got ‘in Christ.’ This grace ‘is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ 2Timothy1:10. xi) An even greater error of Calvinism is to unite the phrases ‘in him’ (Ephesians 1:4) and ‘in Christ Jesus’ (II Timothy 1:9), with ‘before the foundation of the world’ (Ephesians 1:4) and ‘before the world began’ (II Timothy 1:9), to teach that the ‘elect’ were ‘in Christ’ before the world began. This teaching of the ‘eternal union’ of ‘the elect’ with Christ is also based on Jeremiah 31:3, ‘The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.’ (Jeremiah 31:3). Calvinists use this verse to teach Irresistable Grace, and that because of this ‘eternal union’, God eternally loved the elect. The result of an ‘eternal union’ & an ‘eternal love’ is an ‘unregenerate, elect sheep’ that is considered a child of God. Question 38:If the ‘elect’ were always children of God, could they have ever been children of the devil? Answer: According to Ephesians 2:1-3 and 12, the ‘elect’ were ‘children of wrath’ (Ephesians 2:3), and ‘without God’ (Ephesians 2:12), and not children of God. The problem Calvinists create for themselves is that, before the ‘elect’ got ‘in Adam’ (I Corinthians 15:22) they already had a relationship with Christ. This means that, according to Calvinism: - The Fall didn’t affect the elect. It was only the means of reprobating the ‘non-elect’; - This Fall that wasn’t a fall, allows Calvinists like Pink to claim that one can be dead ‘in sin’ and yet be ‘in Christ’ at the same time. (Exodus, p 19); - None of the elect have ever been in danger of going to hell; - ‘before God, His people are justified from eternity: and he beholds them forever as perfectly righteous in Christ.’ (Hoeksema, Grace, p.73). Answer: This is a complete overthrow of the Gospel. How could the elect ever be lost? The Bible refutes this Calvinist nonsense by teaching that the Fall affected all men equally: ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’. (Romans 5:12).‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ (I Corinthians 15:22). Note: No-one was ever ‘in Christ’ until his salvation: ‘Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.’ (Romans 16:7). In Calvinism, the ‘elect’ are all put in Christ at the same time, in eternity past. In the Bible, no-one is put in Christ until he is saved.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:07:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015