What is Calvinism? What are the five points of Calvinism and are they biblical? -Podcast Episode 187 

I heard a quote ,I think it was C.S. Lewis not sure though, "I passed by a building once with a sign over the door which read "All who will enter here may do so freely." As I entered the door and turned around I saw another sign which read "All who entered here were elected to do so." My pastor says regardless of which way you believe with this debate it doesn't affect how you tell people about Christ.

I don't care who gave opinions before me. I don't identify with theologians or reformers. I care about what I read in the Bible, I pray for wisdom and discernment and everything that I don't immediately feel confident about; I take it back to the Bible and prayer. God is the ultimate for questions and understanding. 😊

Why call yourselves Calvinist after a man named John Calvin? Why not just call yourselves Christians after the man Christ Jesus?

God chooses some,or none would be saved. Many are called-few chosen.

"How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind in a moment-I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith." - Charles H. Spurgeon Faith is a gift (Eph 2:8-10), not "your own doing," so that "no one may boast." Former Armenian here.

All of these isms! Just Jesus for me!

Thank you for doing this series.. Appreciate it much..

I do know if not for John Calvin's teaching I would not be here. My family name is DuPree and my ancestors from France who refused to convert to catholicism followed John Calvin's teachings. The catholic king issued a letter that if you refuse to convert you had to leave France or die. My ancestors left France for England. From there they came to the British colonies in the late 17th century. There were 3 brothers of which one was my 7th great grandfather. They were known as Huguenot. I get to combine my love for the Bible and Bible history with world history and my American history.

The Bible states very clearly in multiple places, God chooses those who believe. When the jailer asked Paul what should I do to saved, Paul said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The problem with most self described Calvinists is pride and arrogance. It reminds me of Paul's criticism of puffed up intellectuals. Whether you are a 5, 4, 3 point Calvinist matters not to me but arrogance is anathema to church health.

I’m just non denomination I’m tired of these groups

When I hear people discussing the tenets of Calvinism and Armenianism it reminds me of the sectarianism spoken of in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. It is unfortunate that we as believers must be identified by human leaders and not by Christ, Calvin didn't develop the doctrine of election, God created grace, and God further extended grace through His Son’s death, burial, and resurrection for us, not Luther, not Calvin, and neither Zwingli. The doctrine of election was in the mind of God before the creation of all things. I believe we need to leave the pettiness of choosing who is the best leader who carries the best doctrines of biblical truths or who is the best commentator. God’s Spirit is the best commentator because the Spirit knows the mind of God, He is the one we are to follow, the fact of the matter is none of these men can give us eternal life. I am so grateful to God for taking the pride out of me in saying; ‘I am a Calvinist.’ God showed me in His Word that was prideful and petty. Isaiah 2:11 We must never forget who is our leader and King, the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone!

I was just about to do research on this and you made it easier

*Wishing God's blessings of joy and serenity for everyone watching this video. Can't wait to see your names for prayers! 🌟🙏❤🌟🙏❤🌟🙏❤🌟🙏❤🌟🙏❤🌟🙏❤*

I do not hear anything new here.....same old arguments that have been going on since Calvin. I wonder why the podcast panel feels its so important to "straddle the fence" The question of the week was, What is Calvanism? What are the five points of Calvanism and are they biblical? Just answer these questions honestly and let the Bible speak for itself. Personal opinions only water down this issue down and add fuel to the fire of the argument.

What is the point of life with calvinism ??

While this issue is important to your theological perspective, seemingly lately there has been a TON of anti-Calvinist propaganda, slander, name-calling, even bullying, in my RU-vid feed. I have viewed some of these videos & am so put off by the slander, name-calling, condescension, etc… WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM! WE ARE ALL MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD! PLEASE SHOW ONE ANOTHER THE RESPECT, LOVE & KINDNESS OF A SISTER OR BROTHER!

It's by Grace , Eph 2:8-9. Jhn 14:6, Jhn 8:32. Peace to all and know Jesus loves you ❤️.

When I was an Armenian, i wanted to believe that I had some part to contribute to my salvation, but this was pride. I didnt know that our "free will" is corrupt due to our slavery to our sin nature 😈 (Rom. 6:20, John 8:34). Until Christ removes the scales from our 👁 eyes (Acts 9:18-19) and regenerates us ("making us born again"/making us alive in Him), giving a new nature, we do not love Him. We were His enemies (Rom. 5:10), even. No man naturally accepts the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). No man naturally seeks for God nor understands Him (Rom. 3:11). If youve opened your heart to Jesus' knocking at all, it was His mercy. He implants a new heart of flesh in you and removes your heart of stone (Ezek. 36:26). The whole Bible is "Calvinist," if you want to use that word. Jesus is a "Calvinist," if by that, you mean that He claims it is all God's work: "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." (JOHN 6:44) We didnt choose to be born. Did we help in that? If you want to say that you peeked your head out, but it was actually our mom who did all the work. Same thing with being born again. It's not rocket science. Jesus did all the labor. We reap the benefits.

1 Corinthians 1:11-13 Paul implores us to follow Christ. Whatever our understanding, desire unity over the non-negotiables not the negotiables. Please don’t be a spiritual bully.

As RC Sproul said, "Reformed Theology is another name for BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY."

As I recall Calvin isn't the source of the TULIP idea. That came from the person who followed him as head/leader.

Before the beginning God always had a perfect plan. He knew, by the way, he created the universe. Who was gonna choose him and who was not.

Faith is not a work or a good deed that earns salvation. Paul labors this point in Romans. We can't boast because it's through faith not works. If God requires our faith to access his salvation this isn't earning our salvation. If our faith earned our salvation then Christ didn't need to die, our faith would save us. If all can believe then it isn't a special thing we can boast about. Cannot God sovereignty chose to give us choice? Didn't he do this for Adam and eve?

I think associating your ministry with any “ism” is a slippery slope. Your focus should be on answering questions from Jesus’ point of view and He was not an Armenian, Calvinist, Catholic or Methodist, etc. God calls us to repentance and “wants none to perish.”We answer His call and are thus saved OR we reject His call and are thus NOT saved. We are born again or we are not born again. John 3:3 Don’t muddy the Gospel. This can trigger people into thinking your ministry has been affected by the End Times apostasy. “We are to called share the Gospel according to the scriptures.” It’s about searching the scriptures and adopting Jesus’ view, not Calvin’s nor Martin Luther’s nor C.S. Lewis nor Got Questions view for that matter. It’s all about Gods’ view. And His view is found in the pages of scripture whereby the Holy Spirit “will guide us into all the Truth.” That Truth is the Bible - or Bibleism - if you need an ‘ism.’

For those interested, Soteriology 101 w/ Dr. Leighton Flowers is a great resource for an opposing view that isn't Arminian. :)

Appeal to people’s free will? isnt man’s will blind in sin and never free?

We make it a rocket science 🚀 because we don't like the idea of God being sovereign over our will. But Christ died to save His people, not just to make us "saveable." ❤ Jesus did not keep Judas, but had him perish (John 17:12). But the elect He will never lose: 📕 John 10:28 "and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." Also, Christ made it clear that He told parables to keep certain people from believing: 📕 Mark 4:11-12 "And He was saying to them, 'To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.'" God chose specific people as His elect to show that it doesn't "depend on man. . . but on Gods mercy" (Rom. 9:16): 📕 1 Corinthians 1:27 "but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong," God turns our hearts wherever He wishes (Prov. 21:1). Make no mistake about it.

Here is the issue that I have with Calvinism… Where did Jesus or the Apostles or The Bible refer to Calvin or Calvinism…??? ANSWER: It Didn’t. Instead of following a man or a teaching… Once saved we are sealed with the Holy Spirit who is our Teacher. I have the Word of God that is more than enough, and I have the Holy Spirit who leads me, guides me, and teaches me. Yes some of what Calvin said are Biblical. But instead of looking to Calvin, I am going to read the Word of God and pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show me. The scripture is 100% inspired by God and 100% correct and 100% complete. So why does one need to look to another man’s interpretation of the Scripture when we have the Holy Spirit. And I question anyone who looks to a man to interpret the Scriptures instead of searching the scriptures for oneself and then asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. I think this video doesn’t help bring people to a Saving Grace knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but instead sews confusion. And the Bible tells us confusion comes from the Devil. Time Is short. The Bible Is very clear. I do not put myself into a camp or group, I look to Jesus and the Holy Spirit of the Almighty God to show me. I am lead by the Spirit of my Lord and Savior who is my Helper and Teacher… I do not look to a man.

Jesus says I lay down my my life for the sheep, John 10:18 . The Bible teaches there are sheep and goats . Nowhere in scripture does it say that Jesus laid down his life for goats . In the end he will separate the sheep from the goats . Matt 25:31-46. To the sheep he says enter into the kingdom, to the goats , to the eternal fire . Jesus died for all ,it is speaking of all whom the Father has given Him before time began.

I believe Christ died for ALL not just some chosen few.

Can someone please help me understand this serious question about Calvinism? Can someone from GotQuestions please address this? In Calvinism they believe that people are predestined for heaven and chosen. Do they also believe that God has created others (not chsen for heaven) and chose for those people to go to hell? If so, then how do you define Him as a loving God who wishes for none to perish as scripture states? I truly am seeking someone's perspective on this, some clarity.

Ezekiel 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

No not Biblical. All means All

Freewill vs Elect. I don't believe this is a salvation issue as long as a person put his/her trust and faith in Jesus Christ. We will know the answer when we are in heaven. For the debate right now, I am leaning towards elect. I believe in "saved by grace". I don't deserve it, but God saved me. 100% credit goes to God for my salvation. If I go with freewill, then I have something to boast about my salvation (that I made the right choice). So this sounds like "saved by work" to me.

I'm not a Calvinist but you have to purposely deny and purposely ignore the fact that God does all the choosing in both Old Testament and New. God sought after. We didn't. I've heard it said "well thats not fair that some don't get chosen". Well, if it was based on fairness, no one would go to heaven because we all deserve hell. I've also heard it said that to believe you're chosen is arrogant. No. It's not. It's humbling. He chose you so you better to the work He's called you to do and take it seriously! Personally, I'm so grateful. The reason some have a problem with predestination and election is they don't want to give themselves fully over to God. They want to have some power, some control still. They want 2 gods. The God of the Bible and themselves

I have no understanding of calvinism . It makes no sense to me and I have never heard a simple explanation of it from a calvinist .

Calvinism is wrong and we all need to call it out.

Calvinism. It is simply what the bible says.

What are your objections to Calvinism? 1. It is not Biblical 2. God is not an unjust, terrible, horrible, monster.

You have to throw out human responsibility with Calvinism. God is determining everything, even your sin and all evil and then blaming you for it. Also, you cannot be mad a pagan for being a pagan because under Calvinism that’s what he was predestined to be - he has no other choice. So when Jesus said he loved the rich young ruler, he didn’t really mean it, because the rich young ruler was actually a reprobate predestined to damnation from the foundations of the world. It’s extremely hard to be a consistent Calvinist and preach the gospel.

Either God chose who will believe or he doesn't. If he does chose then he also chooses to condemn those who God created with no ability to repent. The same repentance that God commands through all of Scripture and God then also is angry that they don't and tells them if only they would. There are good and I would argue better interpretations of the few proof texts Calvinism uses that doesn't make God out to be duplicitous. Ephesians 1, who is predestined to what? "Faithful in Christ" are determined ahead of time to be adopted and made holy and blameless. How did they get in Christ? Vs 13 having heard gospel and then believed. If Calvinism seems to mar the character of God you see all throughout Scripture, understand there are better explanations. Soteriology101 is a good place to start. Romans 9 and Ephesians 1 are not only interpreted 1 way.

Here’s the thing thats fine if God chooses who he saves but if he does do that and there’s no human free will in the matter then don’t waste time preaching the gospel to the “unsaved” technically there is no unsaved people if that was true, just spend time exhorting the already “saved”

The Foreknowledge of God And here is where we get into the weeds. Here is when some of the more in-your-face holders of the Calvinist doctrine will come out of the woodwork and call me a heretic, one who is irredeemably reprobate, and one whose doctrine is evermore erroneous to the utmost. Why would they do such a thing? Because I dare use the word ‘foreknowledge’ rather than ‘predestination’ and I dare say as Peter did that we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God, and not the predestination of God. 1st Peter 1:2 We are elect not because of some arbitrary preference, not because God chose a handful out of every generation to save and sentence all others to eternal darkness, but because He foreknew those who would obtain salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. God doesn’t just say, ‘you I like, so no matter what you do, you’re golden. You will make it to heaven even if I have to drag you there, and no matter how much you resist, it’s still going to happen.’ By the same token He does not say, ‘you I don’t like, so no matter how penitent, how righteous, how faithful, how true you strive to be, or in fact are, the doors are closed, and there’s no way you’re getting in. No matter how much you pray, you weep, you repent, you beg or you plead, the answer is still no.’ This is no small thing. We are not splitting hairs. This is not one of those issues where we can agree to disagree, and I will tell you why. If God operated on predestination rather than foreknowledge, one would be in the right to wonder until their final breath if they were on the special list, or if they suffered and died in vain only to discover that they didn’t make the cut, they didn’t get drafted, and all that remains is eternal darkness. If God did not operate based on foreknowledge, then not one of those who lived and died for the name Jesus would have that blessed assurance that their death and sacrifice was not in vain, but rather that the inheritance was waiting for them beyond the veil. What if I suffer and it turns out I wasn’t chosen? What if I suffer and it turns out I wasn’t predestined? What if I go through the most horrendous of torture and loss, only to be told that my name didn’t show up anywhere on the guest list and so, away with me? We can be intellectually dishonest at this juncture and start putting up the straw men we so lovingly tend to, such as ‘no one that isn’t truly saved would ever suffer like that’, but the guys who walk into crowded market places and detonate themselves aren’t saved, yet they make the ultimate sacrifice for a lie all the same. So that argument falls by the wayside, that straw man burns in the flames of truth. Men suffer every day for imaginings of their own making, and the empty promises of dead or inexistent gods. It is in God’s foreknowledge that we are able to greatly rejoice in our tribulations, because it is according to His foreknowledge that we are elect. So what is the difference between foreknowledge and predestination? The best way I can describe it, is that foreknowledge is someone knowing both where you will be and how you will get there many years from now based on your own choices, while predestination is someone knowing where you will be and how you will get there many years from now because they will have forced you to keep to a certain route whether or not you wanted to, chose to, or desired to. Predestination is a false unbiblical teaching.. And God having foreknowledge om·nis·cience the state of knowing everything. Is Biblical. God knows if you see yourself a sinner in need of Jesus as your Savior and if you see His sacrificial death the shedding of His blood, dying in your place for your sins and that you truly love Him and His Truth and Trust in Him. Believing that He died, was buried, and rose from the dead. That He is alive and since He lives we the true believer will live! Jesus died for me and I will live for Him obeying His Word loving His people telling the lost about this great plan of salvation. Paul’s inspired words tell it well: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭1:15‬ And in Romans: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:9-13‬ Now I hope this will help one to understand how important to heed to the inspired warning from Peter... “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” ‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1:10-11‬ ‭ One more important note...one should investigate why wherefore is therefore...

I believe that both systems show that Christ is the only bridge between God and sinful human beings. Therefore, they’re not heretical teachings.

We make the gospel too hard, when if we just stick with the Holy Bible it is clear who can be saved or lost and it depends on believing and trusting God and what He sent His son to do on the cross. John 3:16 - 3:20 kjv 16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. PERIOD, POINT BLANK!!

By all means, Calvinism IS the Gospel! Because the Scriptures say so: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins." - Eph 2:1 "The way of man is not in himself: that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." - Jer 10:23 - The 1st point, Total Depravity of Men. "What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath-prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory?" - Rom 9:22-23 - The 2nd point, Unconditional Election and Reprobation "He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own." - Titus 2:14 - The 3rd point, Limited Atonement (Christ died only for the elect) "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26 "For God's gifts and His calling are irrevocable." - Rom 11:29 - The 4th point, Irresistible Grace "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Phil 1:6 - The 5th point, the Perseverance of the Saints

There are 3 mysteries which will never be solved in our life time. 1. The Trinity of God. 2. The Divinity of Christ. and 3. Free-will vs Election.

Sorry folks I'm a bible believing Christian, you know the once saved always saved...God's grace is sufficient for me, no one will snatch them from my hand, yeah that kind of Christian.

Calvinism is not taking responsibility for what Jesus taught and enabled us to do.

Calvinists can't understand this one verse 1cor 15:22 ALL DIE ALL MADE ALIVE...

Calvinism is heresy

Is clavinism heresy ? Let me ask John calvin wait he is already dead 💀 now go and read your bible

If Calvinism is the gospel, why it is not in the bible? It is a man-made gospel and not of God. Don't be fooled by the evil one.

The Bible is both C and A…. If you know scripture.

Hey Shea, so you believe in a God who gives you no choice about ANYTHING???

Paul said, who is Paul who is apollos nobody, it is the Christ and Christ alone, in the same way who is Calvin nobody, the moment you say you are a calvinist you already lack, how can you put the name of a man on a pedestal, Calvin is trying to interpret the word, I am better to say that I am a Pauline, because it is Calvin and everyone else who is trying to interpret the words of Paul, yet Paul is the author of his word which Calvin is trying to interpret, therefore calvinism does not exist, what exists is the truth, all truth comes from God he is The Giver of Truth, do not waste your time with Luther do not waste your time with Calvin do not waste your time with Augustine do not waste your time with Thomas Aquinas, they all lack they all fail to see the truth, you all preach error what shall I say, I exchange one error for another I still remain an error, it is written, they do not know what they are saying they are full of the spirit of error, you are not allowed to preach error when does the Holy Spirit preach error, you have heard it said, it does not matter if you preacher error what matters is that I have a relationship with Christ, yet, if I have a relationship with the Christ how then can I preach error.