Sunday, April 6, 2025

Do Calvinists Worship a Different God?

 Do Calvinists Worship a Different God? - christianpost.com

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All true Christians should have an issue with the title of this article. That's because all true Christians believe there is only one God. That is the God of the Bible. If you are worshiping something other than the God of the Bible, you are worshiping an idol.

The title would be better rewritten to read: "Do Calvinists Believe in a different Gospel than the one in the Bible. Here too, there are not different Gospels. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 1:8: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."

So here is my answer to the question, "Do Calvinist believe in a different Gospel than the one in the Bible?" No. They believe in the one true gospel that began in Genesis 1:1 and ends in Revelation 22:21. I agree with Pastor Charles Spurgeon who said: "I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else."

And elsewhere Spurgeon says, "The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox's gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again."

Here are some lies the devil, no, excuse me, many preachers tell their congregations about what Calvinists believe:
  • God is the author of sin
  • There is no such thing as free will. We are all just robots
  • Jesus died for nothing
  • God delights in sending innocent people to hell
  • Salvation is by works, and we have to continue to do good works to stay saved
None of these are true. And the next time you pastor tells you they are, ask him this question: "If I can't trust you to tell me the truth about what Calvinist believe, how can I trust you to tell me the truth when you are preaching on John 3:16?"

If you want to know more about Calvinism, the best place to start is listening to sermons preached by Calvinists. And in my opinion, the best "Calvinist sermon" I have ever heard is Compel Them to Come In, by Pastor Charles Spurgeon. If you never learn any more about Calvinism than what you hear in this sermon, then you got your money's worth. Again, as Pastor Spurgeon said, "It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else."

        

Next, I would like to recommend the following 4 sermons and one book:

Just a note about this last sermon, The Holiness of God.  Pastor Resinger is a Calvinist - He holds to the 5 points of Calvin. But this sermon is not so much a defense of Calvinism as it is an exposition of the Character of God. And it goes a long way to answer the question put by the Christian Post writer, "Do Calvinists Worship a Different God?" Pastor Reisinger says that if you ask most Christians what the essential character of God is, they will immediately answer 'love.' God is love. Isn't that what the Bible says? And if you go to most sporting events, you will see banners saying, "God is Love." I won't say any more about that, but after you listen to Pastor Resinger's sermon, The Holiness of God, you might change your mind!

Years ago, I heard a story of a small child who came home from school with a picture of a smiley face that read, "Smile. God loves you!" Well, the child's parents were Calvinists. And they had their son draw another picture and bring back to school. This picture had a big circle with angry face drawn on it. It read, "Mourn. God might hate you!" Both of these probably distort the true character of God. But people who die without having their sins covered by the blood of our Lord Jesus are going to meet an angry God, not a loving God. The following quote is from The Sinfulness of Sin, Ralph Venning (1621-1643)

"It's as if the sinner should say to the Lord in the Day of Judgment, 'Have mercy on me.'

'Have mercy upon you?' says God. 'No, I will have no mercy upon you. There was a time when you might have had mercy without judgment, but now you shall have judgment without mercy. Depart! Depart!'

If they should then beg and say, 'Lord, if we must depart, let it be from Thy throne of judgment, but not from Thee.'
'No,' says the Lord. 'Depart from me. Depart from my presence, which is joy. Depart, and go to hell!'
'Lord,' they say, 'seeing we must be gone, bless us before we go, that Thy blessing may be upon us.'
'Oh no,' says God, 'Go with a curse. Depart ye cursed.'
'Oh Lord, if we must go from Thee, let us not go into the place of torment, but appoint a place, if not of pleasure, then of ease.'
'No, depart into fire, burning and tormenting flames.'
'Oh Lord, if into fire, let it be only for a little while. For who can dwell in everlasting burning?'
'No! Neither you nor the fire shall know an end. Be gone into everlasting fire.'
'Lord, then let it be long before we go there.'
'No, depart immediately. The sentence shall be immediately put into execution.'
'Oh Lord, let us at least have good company who will pity us, though they cannot help us.'
'No, you shall have none but the tormenting devils. Those whom you obeyed when they were your tempters shall be with you as tormentors.'
What misery sin has brought on man to bring him to hear this dreadful doom."

Finally, here is an excerpt from Rev. Paul den Butter's Sermon on Total Depravity:

"It is commonly stated that the central doctrine of the Reformation was the doctrine of justification by faith. Now it is of course true that justification by faith was one of the major issues of the Reformation. But more basic than the justification of the ungodly by faith alone, is the doctrine of man's depravity and consequently the bondage of his will. Martin Luther, one of the great reformers, has acknowledged this fact in his discussion with the great humanist Erasmus. Erasmus was a roman catholic, though he had quite a bit of criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, he never broke ranks with the Roman Catholic Church, and he saw need for reformation, but he never broke ranks with the Roman Catholic Church. He was a defender of much of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Well, this humanist defended the doctrine which is still taught by Roman, namely that man is not totally depraved. But that man still has a freedom in the use of his will. And writing a treatise on the freedom of man's will Erasmus defended that Roman Catholic position of semi-pelagianism Luther replied in his famous book the bondage of the will. and in that book Luther makes the statement, 'you alone have attacked the real thing, that is, the essential issue. You have not worried me with extraneous issues about the papacy, purgatory, indulgences and such like, trifles, rather than issues, in respect of which almost all to date have sought my blood...you, and you alone, have seen the hinge on which the vital turns, and aimed for the vital spot. For that I heartily thank you, for it is more gratifying to me to deal with this issue, and the issue is 'Does man have a free will or not.' And Luther has seen that on this issue everything hinges. Is man totally depraved or not? Is man completely corrupt or has he still some good within. now on this question there have been 3 positions during the history of the church. There was first of all Pelagianism, let me give you a little bit of church history also tonight. There was in the first place Pelagianism, named after a British monk, Pelagius, who preached in Rome from 401 to 409. ad. and Pelagius said every man comes into this world his own Adam. every man is born in a state of innocency. and he is endowed with the full ability to make his own choice and to decide whether he will be virtuous or vicious. So, Pelagius did not believe, not at all, in man's corruption. and in man's depraved nature. man was born in a state of innocency and man could determine whether he would be a virtuous person or a vitious person. Of course, Pelagius was honest enough to admit that man was doing sin but he did not sin because the source was within his heart no, no he sinned because he imitated other people that committed sin. There is also a second position called semi-pelagianism that goes not so far as pelagianism. . Pelagius said man is innocent. man is not depraved at all. He can make himself depraved, but he is not. Semi-pelagianism said sure man is depraved, but not completely depraved, man is sick, but he is not dead. and if man will only use those faculties which he still has and if he moves in the direction of God then God's grace will come, and he will lead him the rest of the way. Man is deformed yes, man is sick sure but man is still able to use his free will and using his free will he must make the first move and take the first step and God will do the rest. That is Semipelagians which was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church and by Arminianism, and by much of modern evangelism. But then there is a third position which is sometimes called Augustinianism, named after Augustine, a church father, who brought out of the word of God the doctrine of original sin. and of the need of divine grace in the entire complex of Gods saving activities. Augustine showed from the word of God that man is not depraved but that man is totally depraved. And for that reason, no activity of man can save him. or can make the beginning of salvation. but that grace and grace alone can save man. Well, these are the three positions, and it is not difficult t determine which positions our father held when they confessed total depravity."
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