12-CALVINISM AND EVANGELISM
Chapter Eleven Calvinism and Evangelism
There are those who will say that the teachings Calvinism have no effect on the gospel. They say that Calvinism still teaches the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that by embracing the gospel, a person will be saved. While it is true that the teachings of Calvinism do not modify the gospel itself, these teachings can have an influence on evangelistic outreach of the gosple by its proponents. In order to expand on what I mean by that statement, I will give you one example of something that happened in my own family. My brother Bob was a teacher in a Christian school in Ohio. At the time, he was not aware of all the beliefs of the pastor of the church. His pastor was also the principal of the school. Bob had been observing one particular student who seemed to be having spiritual problems. In fact, Bob suspected that that the young boy was not saved. One day, Bob had the opportunity to counsel with the boy. Bob gave him the gospel and encouraged him to trust in Christ as his Savior. Bob’s pastor had been observing this incident and later he called him into his office. The pastor informed Bob that he had observed him counseling the young boy about his need to be saved. Then he said something to Bob that shocked him to his roots: he said "we do not do that here." He told Bob that he was usurping the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and that if God wanted the boy to be saved, He would draw him unto Himself. It was not Bob’s place to initiate a call to salvation!! Bob was shocked and saddened by the attitude of his pastor, and he told him that he believed that he should always give the gospel to an unsaved person when the opportunity arose. Consequently, he lost his teaching position and later felt that it was time to leave the church. Now you may think that this is an isolated incident, but my brother tells me that this is a big problem in his area. In fact, he could not find a church near him that did not have the same beliefs. He is currently having his own services in his garage and inviting neighbors to attend. Now I am not implyimg that all Calvinists have this same attitude in regard to evangelism. My own church supports some missionaries who have Calvinistic beliefs, yet they are very active in evangelism. The point is that Calvinistic Soteriology has the potential of spawning a dangerous attitude about evangelism. This trend is growing in the mid-west. If a person has the idea in the back of his mind that God chooses who will be saved, then there is a strong possibility of less fervency with the gospel. That is simply a logical conclusion. I had Calvinistic beliefs myself for many years, and I must admit that I often felt the influence of the teachings of election in my heart. In conclusion, let me say that the attributes of the God of the Bible ARE NOT manifested in the teachings of Calvinism. We need to cast ourselves upon the the God of infinite mercy and portray Him as such to a lost world. God has given us a myriad of promises in the Scriptures and one of the most endearing is this:
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
We must make a decision. Do we believe in the Calvinistic view of God’s method of salvation, or do we believe that the teachings of Calvinistic Soteriology are spurious? I believe that Calvinism paints an unfitting portrait of God concerning His dealings with mankind. Calvinism does not adhere to the biblical template of salvation. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith, and not of works. Salvation is a gift of God that must be received by faith or it will be lost. God does not want robots or puppets who follow Him because they are forced to do so. God wants us to be like little children who trust Him, and obey Him out of love (agape). The teachings of Calvinism ignore many of the attributes of God, such as His longsuffering patience with a lost world, His pleading and reasoning with a rebellious generation, and His touching grief at the rejection of the people He loves.
Yes, the Tulip of Calvinism is spurious indeed, and I plead with those of you who embrace its petals to pluck them from your mind and replace them with the flowers that portray a true picture of God: The Lily of the Valley, The Rose of Sharon, and the Camphire of the Vinyards. Let us not follow a false concept of God’s attributes. Yes, God hates sin. Yes, God will judge sin. But God loves us. His compassion is boundless. His mercy endureth forever. The sphere of His longsuffering patience is beyond our comprehension. He want us in Heaven with Him, and He has provided everything necessary for that to happen. But He does not force His incredible gift on anyone, nor does He choose who will receive it and who will not. God’s gift of salvation is available to any and all who will beleive and receive it! For the most part, this paper has been written for Christians who may have questions about the doctrines of Calvinism. But there may be some who are reading this paper out of curiosity and you may not be sure of your eternal destiny. This is a very dangerous condition to be in, and I implore you to take these next Scripture verses as the most important information you have received in your life! God loves you with all his heart, and He wants you in heaven with Him. But you, like all humanity, have an obsticle in your being that must first be removed. That obsticle is sin, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This is not only physical death, but the Bible tells us of a second death.
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Every person born has the nature of sin in him. We inherited this nature from Adam when he and Eve sinned against God:
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man(Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
We are all sinners by natrure and sinners by practice:
Romans 3:10-12 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
God solved this dilemma Himself by sending His own Son to become a man, live a sinless life, and take the sins of the world upon His own body on the Cross of Calvary.
Romans 5:8-9 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Colossians 1:13-14 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. The wages of sin is death, but the price has been paid by The Savior Jesus Christ. Now the gift of salvation can be offered to you, but you must believe and receive it by faith. God will not force you to accept his gift of salvation.
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
If you will put your faith in Jesus Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection, the Bible says that God will redeem you from the power of sin, and receive you unto Himself.
I fervently invite you to do that now, please don’t put it off, now is the time for salvation!!
Let us thank God for His love and mercy toward a people who do not deserve it!!
2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.