CALVIN WAS A FLOWER CHILD

For those who avoided the drug culture and are old enough to remember the sixties, the anti-war crowd, with their tie-dyed t-shirts, tambourines, Eastern Gurus, and hedonistic approach to life, were nicknamed "flower children." John Calvin is not that kind of "flower child; he probably would roll over in his grave to have me call him one. Calvin was one of the most influential theologians of the Protestant Reformation, and his seminal work, Institutes of the Christian Religion published in A.D. 1536, is still a "litmus test" for Protestant conservatives. The typical question is, "Are you a Calvinist or an Arminian?" "The other camp" is known for agreeing with Jacob Arminius, a challenger of Calvin's theological positions. Most Protestant Christians are either Calvinists or they are Armininians.

Calvin's teachings are known by the acronym T.U.L.I.P.: T. - total depravity of man; U. - unconditional election; L. - limited atonement; I. - irresistible grace; and P. - perseverance of the saints (hence, the flower child joke). I have no problem with the first two and the last, but limited atonement and irresistible grace are not biblical according to my understanding of God's Word. His atonement was for all mankind, in that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, not just those who would accept Him as Lord and Savior (Jn. 1:29; 1 Jn. 2:2). God is no respecter of persons, and His light (grace) is before all men (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Gal. 3:25; 1 Pet. 1:17; Jn. 1:9). Logic tells me that if God does not want any to perish, that the only way to be saved is by believing in God who gives light (grace) to every man, and some reject that light (grace), then saving grace is not irresistible (2 Pet. 3:9; Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jam. 2:23; Jn. 1:11).

I have to agree with Arminius who said the atoning work of God extends to all men, and he called it "prevenient grace." Those of you who have been on an Emmaus Walk should be familiar with this term. The dictionary defines "prevenient" as "an expectant antecedent of human action." It is grace that is given by God, who reveals Himself in some way, to every man. Arminius also rejected Calvin's view that the grace of God which is capable of producing salvation was irresistible. Again, logic tells us that if grace is offered to all men, and some reject it, it is not irresistible. Man has a free will, and must choose to accept the light revealed to him. Arminius, however, taught some things with which I do not agree. He taught that believers could "sin their way out of salvation." I have written many times in the past about believers having eternal life, so I will simply say that he is wrong in my opinion. He also rejected unconditional election, thereby saying that works are involved in one's being saved. As with the security of the believer, I have written much on salvation being totally the work of grace, as opposed to grace by works. The very definition of grace prohibits that view since grace is defined as "unmerited favor."

The inspiration for this post was the October 20, 2010 edition of The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest. As the writer so apply put it, "I am neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian. I'm just a Christian with a Bible."