01-INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The tulip is truly a beautiful flower. Unfortunately, it has become the symbol of a system of belief that is spurious. The word spurious means; not authentic, genuine, or true; in other words false. The system of belief I am refering to is Calvinistric Soteriololgy. The word soteriology comes from the Greek word soteria, meaning salvation.God has revealed in His Word the means to have forgiveness for our sins and a home in Heaven when we die. However, there is not total agreement in the Christian realm as to how God provides His gift of salvation to mankind and to whom this gift is offered. For the past 500 years there has been much contention within the Church of Jesus Christ regarding who can receive God’s gift of salvation. The central point if contention is this: Did God choose who will be saved and who will be damned, or does God offer the gift of salvation to any who will believe and receive it? The purpose of this paper is to examine Calvinistic Soteriology, establish the fact that it does not comply with the teachings of Scripture and present true Biblical soteriology. A topic as serious as salvation is something of which God wants us to have no doubts. Therefore, we should be able to find the truth in the Bible. As a personal testimony, let me tell you that I followed the teachings of Calvinism for 35 years. What caused me to change my beliefs? I know for sure that it was God’s influence in my life! Due to a situation that occured in my church, my wife Nancy and I were having a discussion on the teachings of Calvinism. I could see that she was becoming increasingly distressed that I was so adamant about my beliefs. Finally, she tearfully asked me not to discuss it with her any more because she did not believe it and she was becoming too upset. That night I fervently asked God to show me the truth about salvation at a time when I was not looking for it. I asked in that way because I had studied the doctrines of Calvinism many times in the past, but it was always with the mindset that it was true; an a priori if you will. I wanted God to show me the truth at a time when I was not looking for it, and my mind was open. Two days later, as I was preparing my Sunday School lesson, I was working on the point that Jesus is the mediator between God and man and not Mary. I was in the e-Sword program highlighting the verse 1 Timothy 2:5 so I could copy and paste into my lesson outline. As I was highlighting the verse, my eye moved up (was moved up!) to the previous verse.

1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. That was it!! It hit me right between the eyes!! Even though I had read that verse many times before, it was always under a Calvinistis mindset. But as soon as I read that verse with an open mind, I knew that God was speaking to me!!

Now please don’t misunderstand, I am not suggesting that this verse absolutely proves that Calvinism is wrong, but I had asked God to show me the truth at a time when I was not looking for it and He did just that. I truly believe that He was sending me a message and I cannot tell you how many things God has revealed to me since that time when I was not looking for them!! It has been an incredable experience for me and I want to share it with you. Before we begin, I would like to clarify some trerminology. Many who believe in Calvinistic Soteriology do not want to be labeled Calvinists. They say correctly that John Calvin was wrong in many of his doctrinal teachings. Some prefer to use the term Reformed Doctrine, others prefer the term Doctrins of Grace, or the Sovereignty of God. Accordingly, in this study, we will use the terms Calvinism and Calvinist only with referenct to Calvinistic Soteriology. There are also some variations within the teachings of Calvinism. For example, Calvinism teaches that election unto salvation is based on God’s decree, but there are different opinions as to when this decree was established. Some Calvinists believe that God decreed who will be saved and who will be lost before He even created the world. Others believe that God made His decree after the fall of man. Still others believe that God did not establish His decree until after Jesus atoned for sin on the cross. In a later section, we will see that none of these teachings are true, but before we do that, I would like to describe to you how we will use the Scriptures to determine the truth.