INTRODUCTION: The following objections were leveled against the doctrines of grace in a recent Facebook post I was having with a gentleman who abhors Calvinism. The person leveling them said that the first five points were inconsistently practiced by Calvinist evangelists since Calvinism doesn't provide any basis to do those things. Numbers six through ten are objections that are either misrepresentations of historic, orthodox and creedal Calvinism or are simply declarations of distaste for certain attributes, actions, and decrees of the God of the Bible.
The objections are in blue font with my response following:
1. "Repent the Kingdom of God is at hand . . ." - Why is this inconsistent with the Biblical doctrines of election and predestination? Romans 9 teaches that God shows mercy to whom He will have mercy. Romans 10 teaches that people cannot be saved unless they hear the gospel. The lesson: God uses the means of gospel preaching to bring in the elect. This is historic, Biblical Calvinism 101.
1. "Repent the Kingdom of God is at hand . . ." - Why is this inconsistent with the Biblical doctrines of election and predestination? Romans 9 teaches that God shows mercy to whom He will have mercy. Romans 10 teaches that people cannot be saved unless they hear the gospel. The lesson: God uses the means of gospel preaching to bring in the elect. This is historic, Biblical Calvinism 101.
2. "Christ and Him crucified for the remission of sin . . ." Again, not inconsistent, but consistent with Biblical predestination/election. Christ laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:14). What Christ procured on the cross for sinners, will be applied to the elect in historical time as men preach the gospel, the elect hear, and are subsequently drawn by the Father (John 6:37-44).
3. "Be holy as He is holy . . ." Have you read the Puritans? Have you read Jonathan Edwards work titled "Holiness"? The Puritans lead the way in holiness and piety in the late 17th and on into the 18th centuries. God's sovereignty does not cancel out the saint's responsibility to be increasing in sanctification. "For it is God who is at work within you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13) "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." (Heb. 10:14)
4. "Sin, righteousness, and judgment to come . . ." My friend, have you not heard MacArthur's series on Revelation? If that's not preaching on the Judgment to come, I don't know what is. I and the rest of the evangelists I associate with consistently preach against sin, warn of impending judgment, and proclaim that men need a righteousness not of their own derived from their own filthy rags of good works, but that which comes through faith in Christ. Calvinist evangelists also preach that after men are regenerated, they will desire to follow God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and that if that desire if not there, they are not saved.
5. "A godly sorrow that leads to repentance . . ." - I recently preached this very thing last week on the street to a group of homeless folks. See here: http://www.youtube.com/wat
6. ". . . except there are times that you can't because God is causing you to sin." Again, this is to ignore primary and secondary causation. Chapter 5.2 of the The Modern 1689 London Baptist Confession puts it this way,
Nothing happens by chance or outside the sphere of God's providence. As God is the First Cause of all events, they happen immutably and infallibly according to His foreknowledge and decree, to which they stand related. Yet by His providence God so controls them, that second causes, operating either as fixed laws, or freely, or in dependence upon other causes, play their part in bringing them about. Gen. 8:22; Prov. 16:33; Acts 2:23.A person's regeneration is directly, actively caused by God, but God does not directly cause the reprobation of a sinner but does so through secondary causes. A classic example of this is found in 1 Kings 22:19-23 where the true prophet Micaiah prophesies that a demon will be allowed to deceive Ahab's prophets to serve as the secondary cause that God uses to cause Ahab to go into battle at Ramoth-Gilead and be killed. Another classic example is found in Job chapters 1-2 where Satan is seen as being under the sovereign control of God yet God chooses to "let him loose" as a means to test Job's faith. Job recognized that ultimately his pain and suffering comes from the hand of God (Job 1:21-22). The most famous example would be Acts 4:27-28 with the crucifixion of Jesus. Acts 4:27-28 clearly teaches that the most heinous evil that ever occurred, namely, the murder of the Son of God, happened because it was predestined by God. The people that participated in it did what they wanted to do according to their own sinful natures, but God ultimately was in charge of their wills as He certainly could have kept them from sinning against Him, though He didn't decree to do that so that men would be saved. Calvinists recognize that according to Scripture, ultimately everything that occurs, occurs as a part of God's sovereign plan for the universe; a plan which has existed from eternity past (Isa. 46:10).
The only way around this would be to embrace Open-Theism. If God has exhaustive foreknowledge of all future events (and He does, cf. Isa. 46:10) and created anyway knowing that this world would end up the way that it did, then this means that He is the ultimate cause of it since He knowingly set it up to be this way. Nevertheless, He cannot be blamed for it as He Himself does not cause a man to sin (cf. James 1:13-15), and there is no law above Him that says that He can't do what He desires with His creation (Pro. 16:4; Rom. 9:19-23).
O Lord, why have You caused us stray from Your ways, and hardened our heart from fearing You?" (Isaiah 63:17)Isaiah does not ask the Lord whether or not He caused them to sin. Isaiah asks why He caused them to sin, to "stray from Your ways." Earlier Isaiah wrote,
Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire; 28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent, Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin. (Isaiah 30:27-28)It's obvious from the context who is putting the "bridle in the jaws of the people." It is the Lord that is leading them to ruin. As most non-Calvinists rightly note, this is God hardening them in their sin as a form of judicial punishment; but it is God's activity nonetheless.
King David is another man who informs us concerning the truth of God's sovereignty over evil and sin because God Himself told David that He would cause someone to commit adultery with his wives as a form of judgment against His house.
Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 'Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun. (2 Samuel 12:11-12)The Lord takes full responsibility for this massive adulterous affair stating, "I will do this thing". What is He talking about? He makes Absalom have sex with David's ten concubines (2 Samuel 16:21-22; 20:3).
David prayed, "Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity . . ." (Psalm 141:4) David knew full well God does incline people's hearts to do wicked things through various means, and so he asks the Lord not to do so with him. Yet, the Lord did so, even with David. Besides the adulterous affair with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of Uriah in 2 Samuel 11 which the Lord caused (Proverbs 20:24), later it says,
Now again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and it incited David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah." (2 Samuel 24:1)The following verses reveal David sinned when he did this act which God "incited" him to do through the secondary cause of Satan (1 Chron. 21:1). Therefore, the Lord clearly moved David to sin through secondary causation. In fact, it is ultimately God who moves all men to sin through secondary causes whenever they sin,
I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23)Man's steps, man's actions, are not of himself. If man's actions are ultimately not his own, whose are they? They are God's and His doing,
Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way? (Proverbs 20:24; see also 16:9)When men do evil, that is "ordained by the Lord" for His own sovereign purposes (cf. Gen. 50:20; Acts 4:27-28). Nevertheless, God cannot be blamed or rendered guilty since there is no law over Him, He can do what He wants with His creation, and what He does He does justly, contrary to the opinions of men. Consider again what Chapter 3.1 of the Modern 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith says,
FROM all eternity God decreed all that should happen in time, and this He did freely and unalterably, consulting only His own wise and holy will. Yet in so doing He does not become in any sense the author of sin, nor does He share responsibility for sin with sinners. Neither, by reason of His decree, is the will of any creature whom He has made violated; nor is the free working of second causes put aside; rather is it established. In all these matters the divine wisdom appears, as also does God's power and faithfulness in effecting that which He has purposed. Num. 23:19; Isa. 46:10; John 19:11; Acts 4:27, 28; Rom. 9:15, 18; Eph. 1:3-5, 11; Heb. 6:17; Jas. 1:13; 1 John 1:5.
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7, KJV does a good job here of a literal translation; וּבוֹרֵא רָע [uvorê' râ`] "and create evil")
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? (Lamentations 3:37-38, KJV)
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? (Amos 3:6, KJV)Even though He takes no pleasure in wickedness as it violates His moral will (Psalm 5:4) and He is holy and righteous (Psalm 145:17), He is nonetheless the creator of evil, as Isaiah 45:7 explicitly states. Job knew this. He knew God is the cause of all things, even evil. Job said,
With Him are strength and sound wisdom, The misled and the misleader belong to Him. (Job 12:16)Job was talking about God's absolute cause and control of everything. Read the context of Job 12:16 in Job 12:13-13:1. God Himself says,
If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. (Ezekiel 14:9, KJV)
This indeed is a form of God's judgment, but note that it is God that "deceives" the false prophet to prophesy falsely and then punishes that false prophet for the very thing he rose him up to do. This same thing is seen in Gen. 50:20, Isaiah 10:5-19, and Acts 4:27-28.
7. "[you] sin because God makes you . . . " - See response under # 3 above. So, while God is the ultimate cause of whatsoever comes to pass, it is the sinner himself acting as a secondary cause that is solely guilty for his own sinful lusts,
7. "[you] sin because God makes you . . . " - See response under # 3 above. So, while God is the ultimate cause of whatsoever comes to pass, it is the sinner himself acting as a secondary cause that is solely guilty for his own sinful lusts,
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)
Because God ordains, plans, and decrees that sin and evil exist in His creation, it does not logically follow that this therefore makes God a sinner, wicked, or evil. To assert such is blasphemous.
8. "righteousness because you aren't . . . " - "Indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "If we say that we [Christians] have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) While Christians can and do sin (1 Kings 8:46; Galatians 5:16-17; 1 John 1:8; James 3:2), sinning is not a pattern-habit of their lives because they have been born of God (1 John 3:9-10). Thus, any righteousness we have is not of our own work, effort, or exertion, but solely by imputation, or being credited as righteous. If we do not repent and believe we will not receive imputed righteousness per Romans 4:4-5 and Philippians 3:9, we have no righteousness,
8. "righteousness because you aren't . . . " - "Indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "If we say that we [Christians] have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) While Christians can and do sin (1 Kings 8:46; Galatians 5:16-17; 1 John 1:8; James 3:2), sinning is not a pattern-habit of their lives because they have been born of God (1 John 3:9-10). Thus, any righteousness we have is not of our own work, effort, or exertion, but solely by imputation, or being credited as righteous. If we do not repent and believe we will not receive imputed righteousness per Romans 4:4-5 and Philippians 3:9, we have no righteousness,
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness . . .
. . . and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith . . .
When we are credited as righteous in God's sight by virtue of repentance and faith through what has done for sinners in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18), we are credited perfect (even though we still sin) and are given a new heart whereby we have a desire and ability to grow in sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
9. ". . . judgment because I am going to judge you and throw you into hell for the way I made you." - The Bible teaches that false teachers were prepared for destruction and are likened to creatures that are born to be captured and killed,
9. ". . . judgment because I am going to judge you and throw you into hell for the way I made you." - The Bible teaches that false teachers were prepared for destruction and are likened to creatures that are born to be captured and killed,
But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, (2 Peter 2:12)Proverbs 16:4 clearly states that God has made everything for Himself, even the wicked for the day of doom,
The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil. (Proverbs 16:4)And 1 Peter 2:8 says that the unbeliever who stumbles in disobedience to the word are appointed to stumble,
and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this [doom] they were also appointed. (1 Peter 2:8)
As Dr. Curt Daniel notes regarding 1 Peter 2:8,
There is no word "doom" in the Greek but has been added by the translators. It should read, "to this they were appointed". To what? To disobedience to the Gospel, that is, unbelief in Christ. God foreordained that some men would believe in Christ, be saved and go to Heaven. He also foreordained that the rest would not believe, but would thereby disbelieve, be lost and go to Hell. Curt Daniel, The History and Theology of Calvinism, 299.
Let's consider Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Jesus said that given Judas' predestined role in history and the subsequent judgment he would face for turning Christ over to the Jewish leaders, it would have been better if Judas had never been born,
What is more difficult for the non-Calvinist is not only the fact that Christ's crucifixion was predestined (Acts 4:27-28; Luke 22:22), but that Judas' role as the reprobate betrayer was predestined as well,The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. (Matthew 26:24; Mark. 14:21)
While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:12)
10. "You can't have godly sorrow unless I make you be sorry and make you repent. The ultimate puppetry from the sovereign god of Calvinism." Sadly, this is more mockery and mischaracterization of God's truth. God says that people cannot come to Christ apart from the sovereign drawing of the Father,
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44)No one can come to Christ unless it is granted to him by the Father,
And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." (Joh 6:65 NAU)
No one can savingly repent unless God enables them to do so because all unbelievers are in the trap of the devil, being help captive by him to do his will,
The Lord's slave must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. (2 Tim. 2:24-26)
No one can savingly believe unless God grants it to them,
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (Phil. 1:29)
Those who do not savingly believe are willing and voluntary slaves to their own sinful desires and cannot welcome and embrace God's truth. Jesus told the unbelieving religious leaders of His day,
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God. (John 8:44-47)
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom. 8:6-8)
Thus, the unbeliever is completely unable to do submit to God's will because their mindset/heart is decidedly against God's truth and light and will not come to the light lest they be exposed in their sin and wickedness.
IN CONCLUSION, men are not puppets that are at mechanistic whim of a fatalistic divine process as our objector has asserted, but men are willing and voluntary slaves to their own sinful desires, and lest the Lord Jesus Christ set them free through regeneration in the context of gospel preaching, they will always choose to go to Hell rebelling against God because their sinful natures are averse to God's love, light, truth, and holiness.
