Thursday Theology: What to Avoid & Why (Hypercalvinism)

The great Princeton theologian, Dr. B. B. Warfield, describes Calvinism as follows:

Calvinism is evangelism in its pure and only stable expression, and when we say evangelism we say sin and salvation. It means utter dependence on God for salvation. It implies therefore, need of salvation and a profound sense of this need, along with an equally profound sense of helplessness in the presence of this need, and utter dependence on God for its satisfaction. Its type is found in the publican who smote his breast and cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" No question there of saving himself, or helping God to save him, or of opening the way to God to save him. No question of anything but "I am a sinner, and all my hope is in God, my Saviour!"... The Calvinist, in a word, is the man who sees God. ...Everywhere he sees God in His mighty stepping, everywhere he feels the working of His mighty arm, the throbbing of His mighty heart...

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, that great soul-winner, once said,

We only use the term "Calvinism" for shortness. That doctrine which is called "Calvinism" did not spring from Calvin; we believe that it sprang from the great founder of all truth. Perhaps Calvin himself derived it mainly from the writings of Augustine. Augustine obtained his views, without doubt, through the Holy Spirit of God, from diligent study of the writings of Paul, and Paul received them from the Holy Ghost and from Jesus Christ, the great founder of the Christian Church. We use the term then, not because we impute an extraordinary importance to Calvin's having taught these doctrines. We would be just as willing to call them by any other name, if we could find one which would be better understood, and which on the whole would be as consistent with the fact. ...The old truths that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, is the truth that I preach today, or else I would be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine.

On nearly every side we hear the voice of inquiry with Pilate's old question, "What is truth?" There are a thousand different religious opinions regarding the answer to this query. ...Often... it is asked by serious, troubled souls desirous of finding their way through the rocky religious shoals of life's storm-tossed sea of religious confusion. It is the latter I hope will find help in this study.

...Perhaps it is more correct to say that all such perspectives derive from one of two systems of theology. The root principles of all are to be found embedded either in Calvinism or in Arminianism. Such, at least, are the modern terms used to distinguish and describe these widely differing systems of theological thought and teaching. These terms, however, have a tendency to confuse and mislead.

Christianity should bring us to the feet of the apostles, and, indeed to the feet of our Lord Himself. Any understanding of revealed truth which fails to do so is not worthy of the name "Christian." ...
Calvinism is essentially the glorious Pauline system of biblical truth...

The following warning should guide anyone who embarks on a study of Calvinism:

...The importance of the subject discussed should lead us to proceed only with profoundest reverence and caution. While it is true that mysteries are to be handled with care, and while unwarranted and presumptuous speculations concerning divine things are to be avoided, yet if we would declare the Gospel in its purity and fullness we must be careful not to withhold from believers what is declared in the Scriptures concerning the truth of Calvinism. That some of these truths will be perverted and abused by the ungodly is to be expected. No matter how plainly it is taught in Scripture, the unenlightened mind considers it as absurd, for instance, that one God should exist in three persons, or that God should foreknow the entire course of world events, as that his plan should include the destiny of every person. And while we can know only as much about Calvinism as God has seen fit to reveal, it is important that we shall know that much; otherwise, it would not have been revealed. Where Scripture leads we may safely follow (L. Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, pp. 54-55).

Calvinism may kill man-centered evangelism, but true, biblical Calvinism gives evangelism its only proper doctrinal foundation. Furthermore, it guarantees evangelism's success. God saves sinners--that is Calvinism. He does not merely make salvation possible, but actually saves by plan and power.

...God elected the means of salvation as well as the recipients of salvation. His Word reveals that He chose to save His own people through preaching and witnessing: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

But we must always remember that preaching and prayer are the means and not the cause of anyone's salvation. The cause is God's unconditional, electing love. For God so loved the world that the "whosoevers" will believe and will not perish.

Who are the "whosoevers"?

"My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

...They will come because Christ died for them and Christ has prayed for them. "I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given me: for they are thine" (John 17:9). Jesus prayed for the future sheep who would come. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word" (John 17:20). "Father, I will that they also, Whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).

... we are presently reaping the fruits of unbiblical evangelism. The great apostle, instructing a young minister to do the work of an evangelist, tells him that doctrine is the first purpose of Scripture. "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for DOCTRINE . . . ." (2 Tim. 3:16).

...These precious doctrines that set forth a God who actually saves, and does not just makes salvation possible for sinners to somehow save themselves by a decision, or by cooperation in their salvation. Rather, these doctrines declare a God who actually saves by plan, by purpose and by power.

I mean those doctrines that reveal the three great acts of the triune God in recovering poor lost sinners, that is:

Each Person of the Trinity works for the salvation of the same people, thus securing the salvation of those people infallibly.

These doctrines make salvation depend on the work of God, not on the ability or will of man. These doctrines give all the glory to God for the saving of sinners--not dividing that glory between God and sinners. These doctrines reveal that history is nothing less than the working out of God's preordained plan. These doctrines set forth a God who is sovereign in creation and sovereign in redemption; the Trinity working together for the salvation of the sheep. God the Father planned it. God the Son achieved it. God the Spirit communicates and efficaciously applies it. There is no war in the Trinity. They all work together for the same people: "My sheep hear My voice...."

...God's sovereign grace does not annihilate man's powers, rather it overcomes his powerlessness. It does not destroy his will but frees it from sin. It does not stifle, or obliterate his conscience but sets it free from darkness. It regenerates and recreates man in his entirety and in renewing him by grace, causes him to love and consecrate himself to God most freely.

...Much of the modern confusion about Calvinism stems from distortions and caricatures of its actual teachings. For this reason it is vital to understand what Calvinism does not teach.

Calvinism is not anti-missionary: Rather, it gives the biblical foundation for missions (John 6:37; 17:20,21; 2 Tim. 2:10; Isa. 55:11; 2 Pet. 3:9,15).

Calvinism does not destroy the responsibility of man. Men are responsible for whatever light they have, be it conscience (Rom. 2:15), nature (Rom. 1:19,20), written law (Rom. 2:17-27), or the gospel (Mark 16:15,16). Man's inability to do righteousness no more frees him from responsibility than does Satan's inability to do righteousness.

Calvinism does not make God unjust. His blessing of a great number of unworthy sinners with salvation is no injustice to the rest of the unworthy sinners. If a governor pardons one convict, is it injustice to the rest (1 Thess. 5:9)?

Calvinism does not discourage convicted sinners, but welcomes them to Christ. "Let him that is athirst come" (Rev. 17:17). The God who convicts is the God who saves. The God who saves is the God who has elected men unto salvation. He is the same God who invites.

Calvinism does not discourage prayer. To the contrary, it drives us to God, for He it is who alone can save. True prayer is the Spirit's prompting, and thus will be in harmony with God's will (Rom. 8:26).

My pastor has done a beautiful job of putting the following hymn to guitar music. We are blessed to have a pastor and his wife that are both musically talented for God's glory and sound in their doctrine. We are so blessed that they come before the Lord as broken and ready to be used by the Lord. They are a blessing to our family and church and it is with great joy and love for them that we pray often for their family.

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Saviour true,
No, I was found of thee.

--Anonymous

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