The beliefs of Calvinism can best be represented by the acronym T.U.L.I.P. Here are the interpretations of what each point of belief means to a Calvin, and what the Bible says in response.
Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability)
What Calvin Meant: Humans are completely sinful, and incapable of doing good.
What the Bible Says:
Genesis 1
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
1 Timothy 4:4 (New International Version)
4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Weeds
24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28" 'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "
THEREFORE: We are created in God’s image, and God himself deemed us VERY GOOD. We have chosen, however, of our own free will, through temptation by “the enemy”, to fall from that perfection that God originally created. That means we are imperfect and sinful – all of us, from the moment of birth. But we are STILL created in His image, and have, for that reason (and it alone) the capacity for good, the ability to choose good, to choose right. We are CAPABLE of making a choice to lead us closer to the Father because of the nature God gave us, just as we are CAPABLE of making a bad choice that moves us farther away from the Father because of our own disobedience and sinful nature. Man is sinful, but not TOTALLY DEPRAVED, by virtue of being a creation of God. God cannot and does not create Evil. We choose evil. Can we deny that non-Christians are capable of making a right choice, of doing good, even if it does not lead to their salvation? This can only be because of that quality endowed by the Creator, making all men in His image. We must remember that Jesus himself was human and flesh – it is Gnosticism to believe that all matter is completely evil.
1 John 4: 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Unconditional Election
What Calvin Meant: God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not. Some are predestined to Hell.
What the Bible Says:
1 Peter 1:2 (New International Version)
2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Therefore: We do not earn our salvation. There is no formula for meriting the grace of God. God knows, however, the choices we will make in response to His calling, before we make them. He has the foreknowledge and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are and are not capable of, and what will work to His purposes. Using this knowledge, He chooses those whom He will to carry out His divine plan. Council of Orange 529 AD, Canon 12: "God loves us because of what we will be by the gift of His grace, not because of what we are by our own merit." St. Augustine said "God does not command what is impossible, but in commanding advises you to do what you can and to ask for what you cannot do,"(67)
Limited Atonement:
What Calvin says: Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect.
What the Bible Says:
John 3:16 (New International Version)
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 Timothy 4
9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 10(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Matthew 23:37 (New International Version)
37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
Matthew 22
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'
5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.
13"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14"For many are invited, but few are chosen."
Acts 13
38"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
Revelation 3:20 (New International Version)
20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
THEREFORE: God does not reject His creation – we reject HIM. MANY are invited. He is knocking at our door. If WE hear him knocking and answer, He will enter our lives. In the sower’s parable, the seed is spread on all different types of soil. A good farmer, however, knows where to focus his seeds to produce the best crop. He will not waste seed on poor soil, because he knows how the soil will reject the seed. He has FOREKNOWLEDGE. Does he not want all his land to be good for planting his crops? Absolutely. But our free will essentially determines the type of soil we will be, and how we will receive His message. God did not purposefully make “bad soil”, He did not create some people for the express purpose of going to hell, and He desires all to be saved, but knows (through His omnipotence and foreknowledge) that all will not choose Him. As St. Augustine stated : "God does not abandon those whom He has once justified by His grace, unless He is first abandoned by them." (68)
Irresistible Grace:
What Calvin Meant: When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted.
What the Bible Says:
Acts 7
51"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Hebrews 12
15See to it that no one misses the grace of God
22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.
The Book of Jonah
THEREFORE: God has the power and sovereignty to COMPEL us to Himself, but He chooses not to. He allows us to make a choice in response to His call. Why would He allow us this ability? Because He knows that love is not love if it is compelled. He allows us the dignity of choice. From the beginning – as Adam and Eve. Because He wants us to CHOOSE to love, as He chose to love us. Don’t get me wrong. God is VERY PERSUASIVE , and our will is no match for His, not by an infinite long shot. Ask Jonah about that. But the story of Jonah tells us something very important. God said “Go”, but Jonah said “NO!” Over and over again. Until God set the circumstances in motion to the point where Jonah finally agreed to God’s plan for himself. But God did not use Jonah as a puppet, as He certainly could have, taking him over so that He said yes instantly. He allowed Jonah the dignity of Free Will, and then He made it very clear to Jonah that the answer needed to be “YES”, and eventually Jonah changed his mind. Moses was reluctant to God’s call, as was Paul initially. That’s why it’s so worthy of emulation for those examples in the Bible who said “yes” without hesitating, immediately, without question. 38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." The ultimate example is Jesus in the garden of Gesthemane “Not my will, but Yours be done”. Jesus died for us willingly, because it was the Father’s will – he was not COMPELLED to die for us. If so, there would have been no need for the devil to tempt Jesus. The temptation in and of itself shows that Jesus COULD HAVE chosen another path, but DID NOT of his own free will. He was in complete obedience to the Father, but he did not HAVE to be. Jesus had a choice, and made the right one.
Perseverance of the Saints:
What Calvin Meant: You cannot lose your salvation
What the Bible Says:
1 Timothy 4
15Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Hebrews 10
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."[g] 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
1 Timothy 4
Instructions to Timothy
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Matthew 13:
20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.
2 Peter 1
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
THEREFORE: There would be no need to encourage the saints to persevere, if there was not a risk on salvation being lost. There would be no use of the word “IF” in the above Bible verses, if salvation was secured regardless of one’s actions and obedience to God’s word. There would be no parable of the seed on the rocky soil. We have the hope of the promises the Lord gives us. We trust in that hope. But it is arrogance that leads to complacency to assume that we are all a “sure thing” by virtue of being one of the “special, chosen ones”. We persevere in the hope and promise of things to come, as the pearl of great price.
