Journeying Into Theology - Pt. 3

I already know that there is no way this post will be a brief one, but we'll jump right into it. If you're new, you can catch up on Part 1 HERE, and Part 2 HERE first!

This chapter of the journey beings with an article that my pastor once sent me, and in this article (which you can read HERE), it lists several websites, groups and domains that fell under the umbrella of Calvinism; from desiringgod.org, gospelcoalition.org, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, to The Resurgence. I remember reading through that list and looking up and seeing every single one of these websites on my favourites bar. I then realized that since entering university, I had been walking into Calvinism without even knowing it.

So what even is Calvinism? Before I even attempt to answer that, I'll quickly address that I am quite new to all this, I'm not well-versed with camps of theology, and it has definitely been something I've been wanting to look into, I just haven't had the time and haven't been able to find the right and best resources to learn from. Again, this is a journey, I'm not close to figuring any of this out yet, so I apologize if I misunderstand something or explain something inaccurately.

Calvinism, by what I understand currently is that simply said, this view focuses on how "God is Sovereign". The most extreme side of this view would be to say that evangelism is not necessary or important because God has already sovereignly chosen the elect so they'll be saved in the end anyways (which isn't a right way to view it as we are clearly commanded to evangelize and make disciples of all nations - Matthew 28:18-20)

From what I know, there are five main points of Calvinism, portrayed by the acronym, TULIP (Source: HERE)

Total Depravity 
We are sinful at heart and by nature, as we inherited it after what happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis. Calvinists believe that because of our sin, there is no way we could know God or have a relationship with him on our own terms and by our own efforts, but instead the only way we could be born again was through God's work, by predestination and His will (John 1:12-13).

Unconditional Election
The belief that some are elected, some are not. The doctrine of election states that before the foundation of the world, God had predestined the ones He would save out of sin. God chooses whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens those who he wants to harden (Romans 9, Ephesians 1:4-8). We as limited humans have no idea who are elected and who are not.

Limited Atonement
Christ did not come to die for everyone, He came to die for the elect, those who are predestined. "Though Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient for all, it is only effective for some (those who believe)." John 17:9 is an example where Christ prays not for the whole world, but for those God has given him.

Irresistible Grace
You cannot resist the calling of God, the Holy Spirit works in the elect to draw them to God in repentance, which will help them to willingly obey and follow God. This term "irresistible grace" is an interesting one I find, as there are two ways in which it is seen. First, that His grace is irresistible in a good and amazing way, like how ice cream is irresistible to children because it is so delicious, while at it same time, this grace is irresistible, it reveals the reality that one is not capable of pushing it away. Does that make sense?

Perseverance of the Saints
The salvation of the elect cannot be lost. For those who are elect, their salvation is completely secured, for Jesus has redeemed and saved them. John 10:27-28 state that those given eternal life shall never perish.

The more I think about this view, the more I realize that those who have such a theological standpoint have fully and completely submitted themselves to God. They recognize that without God they are nothing. It was only through God's sovereign work and choice that they were brought to know Him. They couldn't receive and accept salvation on their own efforts and terms but by only by God's grace.

After hearing and being exposed to all this, it's quite insane as it almost seems as if it goes against everything I had learnt in the church growing up.

Arminianism is what I guess many would say, the opposite view of Calvinism. In the simple terms that I currently know, Arminianism focuses on that fact that "God is love". The extreme form of arminianism would be universalism, which says that God loves everyone, everyone is going to heaven no matter what (which is an incorrect view as well).

From what I know, the points of arminianism are pretty much the opposite of the points for calvinism. Reading up on the history of it, it seems that Jacobus Arminius (the founder) mainly had conflicting views with the idea of unconditional election and predestination in Calvinism. Five points on Arminianism that I found (HERE) are:

Human Free Will
Salvation is found through Jesus Christ alone, and it is given to those who believe in Him. Those who choose to not believe are left in sin.

Conditional Election
God, being one who is all-knowing, looks ahead to see who decides to respond to the gift of salvation.

Universal Atonement
Christ died for everyone but only those who believe have their sins completely forgiven and washed away.

Resistible Grace
All good that is done is because of God's grace, and anyone can reject grace which makes it resistible.

Fall From Grace
It is possible for a believer to lose their salvation, but it is important that the believer is actively working out their salvation and are persevering to follow Christ according to scripture.

I know it may looks like I am biased on my thoughts, and I would say that this is due to a) my lack of knowledge on the subject and b) the calvinistic influences i've had since entering university. Even reading up on it online, it's been hard to find a neutral perspective!

Recently, I got to discuss this debate with my "adopted father" from Harvest, and one interesting thing he pointed out was that under the view of calvinism, one sees God as completely sovereign and all-powerful considering that He was the one that called the elect into faith, and one would see themselves as much lower because they have no part in the process of coming to faith.

Whereas from an arminian perspective, though one would still see God in a high and powerful position, one would also see themselves in a position of power as they believe that they would have the capability to determine and influence their eternity by receiving and accepting the gift of salvation by their own efforts. In a sense, this brings God down because it would mean that He isn't all powerful if He could not determine the eternal fate of people.

He noted that if you focus heavily on calvinism, you would be in the danger of thinking too highly of God, but there isn't such thing as thinking too highly of God. But if you focuses heavily on arminianism, you would be in the danger of thinking too highly of yourself which could be an issue. Agree? Disagree?

Now that all this, or at least a brief skeleton of it on the table, I'd like to share two questions that I've been wrestling with, and maybe it'll be something for you to ponder on as well.

1. Does God love everyone?
My immediate and natural answer is yes, as those who are made in God's image, ones who are called to have dominion over all creation and the earth, we are significantly valuable to God aren't we? But when it comes to the idea of election, would the answer to this question be no? It makes sense that God would love the elect, but that would mean He doesn't love the non-elect, correct? Christ's death on the cross was the ultimate act of love, so if God loved everyone, including the non-elect, it wouldn't make sense to have Christ's sacrifice not apply to them as well right?

It is so difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that there are people who are not elect. It makes me think; then are they (the non-elect) just mindless, soulless wanderers on the earth that God uses, as if they were chess pieces to help further build His kingdom, to make his name known, an example being the Pharaoh in Exodus, or as instruments to help build and strengthen the faith of the elect? That just sounds absurd doesn't it?

But at the same time, as with the doctrine of election, sometimes there are things we as limited humans are not meant to know or understand, and we must trust that there is a good purpose behind this, if this is what scripture has revealed.

This idea of election is addressed in Romans 9, it says;

"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. for the scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth". Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 

One of you will say to me: "then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?"  

- Romans 9:14-21

It makes sense to me, that if we believe that God is the Creator, the one who designed us, He knows has a specific intent behind it all, and He has the right and the ability to define how we live.

2. Are we worshipping the God of the Bible?
I remember learning the importance of properly understanding scripture, in its proper historical and cultural context, so that our understanding of God is not thwarted. If we misunderstood scripture, or if we changed our understanding of God, mistakenly or intentionally, we would end up worshipping the God we want to worship rather than the God that is depicted in the bible.

So when it comes to such views, like Arminianism and Calvinism, and having them be so opposed to each other, I cannot help but think, "if one of these views were correct, or "more correct", would that mean that those who were convicted to believe the other view would not be worshipping the God of the bible"? Not that one's salvation would be impacted, but would we one day stand before God and watch Him would point to one group and say "good job guys, you interpreted scripture correctly"?

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that we believe in the gospel, the gospel being that Christ died and rose again. Everything else is secondary to that. I personally don't think we'll ever resolve this big debate between Calvinism and Arminianism, and that is okay. I have learnt that all this discussion is a good thing, it challenges your faith, to think more critically, but it is crucial that we do not let it consume us, that we do not let it cause division and hardened hearts towards one another. We are all a part of The Church, the bride of Christ, and yes we'll have disagreements about certain things, but that is alright. We are unified by the centrality of the gospel and that is key.

All that being said, it makes me wonder why God made it so confusing, from the debate on women in ministry to predestination; why couldn't He just be a bit more clear about it all? Does He not know that it could potentially cause division and conflict within His people? Why would he allow such a fuss to take place when He could have avoided it all to begin with by being more explicit in His word? Perhaps its so that we could wrestle with it, so that our faith could be challenged, stretched and strengthened.

Now that we're up to speed, here's my current stance on the Calvinism and Arminianism debate:

Why don't we just disregard the labels and the theological camps for a moment. Let's look at Abraham from Genesis. Did he fall under calvinism or arminianism? He didn't have to deal with this debate, because He worshipped and believed in the God that was revealed to Him. I guess you could say this is a cop out answer, but I want to worship the God Abraham worshipped, and I pray earnestly that I would worship the God that the Holy Spirit reveals to me through the reading and studying of his Word. If it so happens to fall under Calvinism or Arminianism, or a mix of both, then so be it. I trust that the Holy Spirit will work accordingly and that the Word of God will not fail us!

I can say that this does not mark the end of my journey and my wrestle with theology, and as challenging and crazy the ride has been so far, i'm excited to see what's to come and what's to be learned. If you're reading this, thank you for joining me on this journey by reading along, God bless you! Who knows, but I'm sure there'll be a part 4 one day.

I'll leave you with a quote from Jacobus Arminius that says;

"There does not appear any greater evil in the disputes concerning matters of religion, than the persuading ourselves that our salvation or God's glory are lost by every little difference. As for me, I exhort my scholars, not only to distinguish between the true and the false according to Scripture, but also between the essential articles of faith, and the less essential articles, by the same Scripture." (Source: HERE)