Calvinism is the teaching that God already has predetermined those who will be saved and those who will suffer eternal damnation. Those that believe in this doctrine will normally use a handful of verses from the New Testament as proof that this is how salvation is given to mankind. The verses most commonly associated with this concept of predetermination read: Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness (Titus 1:1), Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2 Timothy 2:10), and For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).
Calvinism, the theological debate, has been a long running one that began in the early Enlightenment era around the middle of the Sixteenth Century. It was defined by John Calvin, a French theologian and minister. The focal point of his teachings, what would later become defined as Calvinism, was in the absolute sovereignty of God in man’s salvation and the belief that God has already predestined the eternal destination for all who have been born or yet to be born. His teachings became incorporated within the Puritan variety of the Church of England, the French Huguenots, and the Anabaptists. It is still widely held as a scriptural doctrine by many, but it can easily be discredited and exposed as a false doctrine through a careful use of scripture.
A commonsense approach to predestination and free will
The idea that everyone is predestined to either spend an eternity in Heaven or Hell before they are born is a very dangerous doctrine. It holds no scriptural basis other than what many read into Romans 8:29, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Jesus explained in his late-night conversation with Nicodemus where this predestination comes in: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). What Jesus was telling Nicodemus is a fairly common sense explanation – right now, at this moment, if you have complete faith and believe in Jesus you are not condemned but are saved. If you do not believe in Jesus and you were to die at this moment, you are condemned – and the sole reason is because you have rejected the Lord Christ Jesus. God has already predestined the destination of souls based not on deed or personal achievement, but solely on the question of whether you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior.
The foreknowing of God lies in the understanding of what the Bible clearly teaches us about salvation being based on mankind’s free will. Free will salvation has always been God’s plan for mankind; there are two passages of scripture within the Old Testament that clearly teach this biblical doctrine. The first reads: See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). There are a number of teachings within this passage that refute the false doctrine of Calvinism.
The most obvious is the invitation that the Lord extends to the Jewish people identified as life and death. God’s foreknowledge is that if they choose life, then He has an abundant supply of blessings for their obedience to His divine will. If they choose to reject the Lord and His plan, He also knows what this choice will mean. In their choice of disobedience, they will not receive blessings, but will incur the wrath of the Lord. It is the same choice that all mankind has through Christ Jesus our Lord. You can accept His gift of salvation and choose eternal life or you can reject Him and choose eternal separation from God in an eternal Hell – the Second Death – as the book of Revelation refers to it as. Right now, the Lord can see the consequences of whichever choice you make. In fact, God’s knowledge about you is so extensive that every decision you make, He can see the results of every single possible outcome.
