A Brief Calvinist FAQ

What is “Calvinism”?

Calvinism is a shorthand name for the Biblical teaching that God is Lord and sovereign over every detail in all of human existence, named after a theologian who taught this, John Calvin.

Does Calvinism teach that God has already chosen who will be saved and who will be damned?

Yes, the Bible teaches that God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, from the hairs on our head, to the sparrows in the sky, and the loving election of a vast multitude to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ forever. This is sometimes called Unconditional Election: apart from anything we have done, God freely chose His own. 

Doesn’t Calvinism teach that people are puppets and have no free-will or personal responsibility?

No, Calvinism teaches what the Bible teaches, which is that God is sovereign and men are free creatures who are responsible for their own choices. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD” (Prov. 16:1).

How can God be sovereign and predestine all things and people be free and responsible at the same time?

First, we are Christians which means we must submit to God’s Word even when we can’t do the math. Certainly, there is mystery here, as with other biblical doctrines like the Trinity. 

Second, if you already believe that God created everything from nothing and that God knew everything that would happen if He did, then you already believe that God chose every detail that would ever happen, when He said, ‘Let there be light.’ Creationists who believe in God’s omniscience are Calvinists.

Third, we should not think of God as a very large version of us, as though His will bumps into our wills and choices. He is completely Other, transcendent, on a completely different plain or dimension. His sovereignty is more like the authority of an author, an artist, a composer, and our freedom and responsibility are established by Him. 

But didn’t Martin Luther write a book called “Bondage of the Will?”

Yes, he did, and he is certainly correct that our will and desires are morally bound or enslaved to our nature. The Bible teaches that men are naturally dead in their sins and need to be made alive. This is what is sometimes called Total Depravity or Complete Inability. We cannot even lift a finger to save ourselves. 

Why does the Bible command men to repent? If they can’t really repent, why does God command them to?

The gospel offer of forgiveness and the command to repent in Christ crucified, buried, and raised, is the means by which God makes men alive. The command to repent is the same as the message Ezekiel preached to the dry bones; it is what God has determined to use. When God said ‘Let there be light,’ there was no ability for the darkness to turn itself into light, or when Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, he had no ability to obey, but the command is the means God used. This principle is sometimes called Irresistible or Efficacious Grace. 

But why does God judge other men for not repenting if they have not been foreordained for salvation?

The Bible gives two answers to this question: the first answer is because those men love their sin and do not want to repent and so God leaves some of them in their sin, and the second answer is for His own glory – He is God and we are not. 

Where does the Bible teach this?

In Romans 9 it says, “Wherefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Rom. 9:18-20).

But does this mean that God is the author of evil?

The Bible teaches that God cannot do evil Himself because He is entirely holy and good, and in that sense He is not the author of evil, but He did create a world in which evil was allowed to come into existence, and He is exhaustively sovereign over every detail of that.

Where do we see God’s sovereignty over evil?

In Genesis, what Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. In Job, God permitted Satan to attack him, and in the prophets, we read that if darkness, wars, famines, or calamities strike, God has done it. But the central sign is the fact that the Jewish and Roman leaders committed the greatest evil in human history by crucifying the Lord of Glory, and the Bible says they only did what God had foreordained would happen (Acts 4:27-28).

Doesn’t the Bible teach that Christ died to save the whole world?

Yes, but not everyone believes. So you are left with concluding that Christ tried to save the whole world but failed, or else his death was sufficient to save the world but according to God’s plan accomplished the salvation of an enormous multitude, the vast majority of the world. This doctrine is sometimes called Limited or Definite Atonement. All those for whom Christ died will surely be saved because they were purchased by the blood of the Lamb.

Does Calvinism teach “once saved, always saved” or that it is impossible to lose your salvation?

The Bible teaches that some people can come into close covenantal contact with Christ and yet still not be truly born again. They are so close to Christ that when they fall away it can be said that they are being cut off from Christ, that they are trampling the blood of the covenant, and they are shipwrecking their faith. But the Bible also teaches that all who truly come into a saving relationship with Christ can never fully fall away. This is not because we cannot lose our salvation but because Christ cannot lose any of His own. It says in Philippians that He who began a good work in us will complete it. This doctrine is often called the Perseverance or Preservation of the Saints. 

Does Calvinism make people arrogant and judgmental, since they think that some people are not chosen by God for salvation?

While some men may certainly be sinfully arrogant and judgmental, the Bible teaches that since election to salvation is entirely of God’s grace, through faith, and faith is the gift of God, no man can boast about any part of his salvation. All men deserve judgment, wrath, and Hell, but God has determined to save a vast company that no man can number. These doctrines, understood rightly, ought to make men fall down in profound relief, humility, and grateful praise. 

Photo by Manuel Nägeli on Unsplash