Gene Bridges from Strange Baptist Fire

I wrote:

Someone that I have come to respect wrote that they shy away from the term "Calvinism"... preferring this coined term "Calvangelist" or "Calvangelism".
(I like that term).
He also mentioned that he was in a recent forum that discussed that a 4 pointer cannot truly be a Christian in light of their argument that Calvinism IS the Gospel. Here is my response (AND PLEASE CORRECT MY ERRORS... I have much to learn and am teachable, but I am certainly not a theologian, just someone who wants to rightfully be able to defend what I believe and why for the glory of God)
I responded to this person with the following:
...I do not agree with the "Calvinists" that go to the ungodly extreme of claiming a 4 pointer cannot be a Christian. Though we are called to do self-examination of our own salvation, and Biblically confront those in obvious sin, we must be careful not to go around acting like we are God, knowing who is saved and who isn't.
When I share the Gospel or talk about my beliefs with a non-Christian, I do not start with "I'm a Calvinist." If a believer asks me what I believe, I tell them. Do I label it Calvinism? No. It is Biblical Doctrine thus labeled Calvinism because he is known for "systemizing" it. However, i am not ashamed to be called a Calvinist, though too many have marked it as extreme and mishandled it as hyper. I love to talk to people about what it really is. There are many terms that have been warped and mis-defined. Such as sola scriptura, evangelical Christian, fundamentalist. However, giving such terms up is not the answer. Communicating and living out the truth of what they really are is.

Mr. Bridges wrote:
...It sounds like (he) had a run in with some of Marc Coppenger's crowd. He's so hyper that he believes Calvin is a heretic (No, I'm not kidding either, this is no exaggeration).

In the article "Is Your Vision of God Too Small" I deal with this. To say "Calvinism is the gospel."
To say that if the Arminian gospel is not the true gospel, then Arminians are not saved is muddled in several respects. Arminian theology is an admixture of truth and error. It can be taken in either a more evangelical direction or else a more Pelagian direction. We are saved by election, but not by believing in election. Because election is true, we should believe in it and commend that belief to others, but one of the things which makes sovereign grace to be sovereign is that it can save men and women with a defective theological understanding--up to a point.

What, exactly, is there in the offer of the gospel (or whatever we want to call it) that we should not urge upon elect and reprobate alike? Take repentance. Don't all men have a moral duty to obey God? And if they sin, don't they have an obligation to repent? Total depravity subtracts from their ability, but not their duty. To say otherwise is to say that the more wicked we are, the less responsible we are for sin. By that line of logic, the more evil I am, the more innocent I am. Talk about another gospel! What about faith in Christ? If it is true that Christ is the Savior of the world and the Lord of the universe, then shouldn't everyone believe that and trust in him? Isn't there a standing obligation on the part of everyone to believe in whatever is true?

Ah, but if Christ didn't die for the reprobate, then they are not qualified to believe in him, right? Wrong! It's Arminians who define the offer of the gospel in those terms. In the examples of Gospel preaching in the New Testament, you never run across a conversion formula which consists of believing that Christ died for me as a condition of salvation. The *fact* that Christ died for the elect alone is a condition of salvation, but *believing* that Christ died for the elect alone is not a condition of salvation. Since the Scriptural offer of the gospel is never framed in those terms, it is applicable to elect and reprobate alike.

And, as a practical matter, the reprobate will never believe it any way, while only the elect will believe it, so where's the harm? The elect will believe that Christ died for them as a result of believing in him. Let's not get the cart before the horse.

Again, the point is not that the preacher goes self-consciously out of his way to target the reprobate. No, the point is that he shouldn't be inhibited by any self-conscious scruples and anxieties. Leave the sorting out of the sheep and the goats to God on the Day of Judgment![1]

The essence of the Gospel is not a precise doctrinal formulation of how the forgiveness purchased by Christ's blood comes to the believing sinner. Rather it is the convicted sinner's realization that Christ alone, because of His substitutionary death for sinners, can save Him from his sins and the condemnation he so richly deserves, joined with a plea to Christ for mercy.

The Holy Spirit does not necessarily weed out every vestige of Arminian thinking from us the instant He regenerates us. But He does lead us into the truth as we progress through the Christian life.

We discern the spiritual condition of the Arminian the same way we do of a Calvinist... Does he exhibit the fruit of the Spirit of God? Does he affirm essential Gospel truths: His own sinfulness, the holiness and justice of God, the vicarious nature of Christ's atonement, that Christ alone is the sinner's righteousness? Does he acknowledge the full inspiration and inerrancy of God's holy Word? Does he love the Lord and His people? Is he humble and kind? Does He trust Christ to save him from his sins?

These are the marks of a true Christian, whether he holds to Arminian or Calvinistic beliefs. Let us be Biblical, not merely philosophical in our assessment of the salvation of others. [1]
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[1] Cervinka, Ibid.

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[1] Hyper-Calvinism

You may want to look at monergism.com under the "hyper-Calvinism" page. There are some articles there on "Neo-Gnostic Hyper-Calvinism" that will help you well. Also, check out the article in the 2nd footnote above from Triablogue.
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"Most of God's people are contented to be saved from the hell that is without; they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is within." (Robert McCheyne, Pastoral Letters [Shoals, Indiana: Kingsley Press, 2003], p. 50)