Sovereignty of God
Good Morning,
On occasion, I find myself in a conversation with someone who has accepted the “Calvinistic” view of the Christian life. It is more often found among those with college and even seminary training than among “normal” believers, but that is not always the case. At least one church in our area is strong in the folly of Calvinistic philosophy.
Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”
The main idea of Calvin that people love to embrace is the election of some to salvation and the “irresistable grace” of God that saves a soul. The idea is that God picks who will get saved, and that one cannot not resist the will of God, even if they wanted to. The contrary part of that doctrine is that God also picks who will go to Hell, and there is nothing anyone can do to change that. Church members sit around studying their Bibles and trying to gain a happier life, but they never lift a finger to get the Gospel to the world around them; for the men and women around them are going to go to Heaven or hell and there is nothing any of us can do to change that.
The common believer knows this is foolish; for the idea of “irresistable grace,” and “total depravity” says that man is so bad, he could not muster up the faith to call on God for help or salvation, without God giving him the grace to call. Now that might make some measure of sense in a classroom, but in the real world, it will not work. Just as a professor challenges the number of genders, no farmer ever thought up something so ridiculous. If one lives in the real world, he will gain much truth.
For instance, a drug-addicted person was not forced down that road of ruin by God, it was the decision of the individual. The drunk driver was not forced by God to walk into that bar, to drink liquor, and then to drive. Any reasonable person knows these are the choices of man.
Isaiah writes of God knowing all things and doing what He wants in the world, but it is far from causing man to sin or to do right.
Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
Some people have taken this philosophy so far as to say that God placed the forbidden fruit in the garden because He planned and forced man to eat of it, so that Christ might come and save humanity (well, at least those who are ordained to be saved).
I know that most of you who are reading this article think it is a waste of time, and are thinking, “I have other things to do beside read foolish ideas of ignorant men.” Yet, the doctrines of Calvin are in most Bible colleges, are creeping into countless commentaries on the Bible, and are being brought subtly into the pulpits of Baptist churches across America.
When God commands us to “be not drunk with wine,” He obviously states that the decision is up to the man. When God says for a man to love his wife, it is logical that the man may NOT love her; God is urging him to do so, but the decision is left to the man. When God tells children to honour their mother and father, any child can see that the choice is in the heart and mind of the child, not one that is forced upon them by God.
When God says, “come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28), it is clearly an open invitation that leaves the choice up to the hurting one to come or not to come. From the Ten Commandments to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” God expresses His will, and though He knows all things, He does not cause all things.
The lazy, satanic excuse of not going soul winning because God has ordained some to Heaven and some to Hell is tragic. Do we leave our children to brush their teeth or not because it was ordained of God? Do we not seek to order the friends of our children? Do we not teach our children to behave with respect, diligence, or punctuality? If God is totally sovereign and ordains all things, why “train up a child in the way he should go?” For he will go the way God eternally ordained him to go, and there is nothing we can do to change it. No common Bible-reading Christian would consider such foolish ideas. Remember that college is often the source of corrupt thinking, both in the secular world and the sacred.
Why would we fast and pray for some important situation if it were ordained by the eternal edict of Heaven? This kind of thinking will cater to the flesh and caudal the spirit. This takes away the broken heart over the wayward child, and removes personal responsibility for the lost man next door. This eases the grief over the direction of society, and basically allows everyone to do what they want, to relax, and not to worry about anyone or anything else.
The average Christian in a Calvinistic church will not believe all this, for it is obviously foolish, but if we want to accept the doctrine of total sovereignty, then we must follow that road and see where it leads and it most certainly leads to a land of stupidity.
Let us be clear that there are some verses we do not understand. When we read some passages, we wonder about them, but we should not allow idiotic doctrines into our churches because of our limited understanding.
Pastor