What Does “Calling/Called” Refer to in the Bible?

Below are two posts that provide strong Biblical evidence that suggests the Biblical concept of Christian “Calling” has primary reference to “Naming” rather than a summons or invitation:

Brian Abasciano on Calling

Klein, William W. “PAUL’S USE OF KALEIN: A PROPOSAL”

Lack of Historical Precedent For Calvinistic Perseverance

Read Steve Witzki’s excellent article here.  The article will also link you to an article by Calvinist John Jefferson Davis who also traces the doctrine back no further than John Calvin.  While the truthfulness of such doctrines must ultimately be decided through careful exegesis of Scripture, the novelty of Calvinist doctrines like inevitable perseverance should not be discounted (and personally I would find such things very troubling if I were a Calvinist).  Nor should Calvinists continue to make wild claims that their doctrines represent historical Christian orthodoxy.  Such claims are simply false.

Related posts:

Nick Liguori, “Eternal Security Examined Historically: Did the Apostles Teach Eternal Security to the Early Church?”

The Early Church and Calvinism

Tim Warner, “Perseverance of the Saints”

Tim Warner, “Eternal Security?”

Church History and Calvinism

Daniel Whedon on John 6

37. All—It is remarkable that this word is in the Greek neuter. It expresses not so much a person as a nature, a thing, a character: The whole sort that the Father giveth me. These gross men did not belong to those given, because, entertaining nothing but hopes of mercenary gain from Christ and his miracles, they truly believed not, as in the last verse is said. See note on verse 26. So in verse 45 it is more fully explained; it is only every one that hath learned of the Father that cometh unto me. The Father, finding the willing soul, teaches by his law; attracts, convinces, and convicts by his Spirit; but when the soul has perfectly obeyed all their influences with a living faith, the Father does not himself save, but He draws and hands him over to Christ. Thither coming, and embracing Christ with a full faith, the man is not cast out but accepted and redeemed. But the Father giveth none to Christ who reject his teachings and drawings; none who do not freely consent to be given and go to his Son. Such is the great scheme of salvation.

Shall come unto me—Will come unto me. It is the simple future; the shall expresses no authority or securement of the coming. Every one who freely yields to the teachings and drawings of the Father, is, by the Father, given, and comes to Christ. Such a person coming to Christ will be accepted. For the Father gives none but such as will freely come. The giving by the Father is consequent upon the obedient learning; not the learning upon the giving. See notes on verses 44, 45, and 65.

38. Not to do mine own will—Not to separate myself by personal self-will from the Father, but perfectly to cooperate and carry out his scheme of redeeming mercy.

39. Of all which he hath given me—Namely, all who fully obey the Father’s drawings and come to Christ. I should lose nothing—There will be no erratic self-will in Christ, darting off from the divine plan; no remissness, no oversight, no failure. All who perseveringly believe in him, he will as faithfully and powerfully save as the will of the Father can require. Raise it up—From the dead. At the last day—The day that closes the series of human history and inaugurates the final judgment.

40. Believeth on him—So long as he performs the condition, so long is he heir of the salvation. When he ceases to be a believer he loses all claim to the divine promise, and all interest in eternal life. That he has once believed no longer secures him heaven, any more than the fact that he has once disbelieved secures eternal death.

41. The Jews—Used in an adverse sense, as opposers of Christ. Murmured—The character and destiny he has assigned them (36-40) now elicit their hostility. Down from heaven—The popular view of the coming of the Son of man from heaven, was doubtless modeled on the scene described in Daniel 7.

42. Whose father and mother we know—These Jews therefore were familiar with Nazareth. Their terms are not now, as before, Rabbi and Lord. They have discarded from their memory the miraculous feeding, and so, doubtless, they carefully forget the Davidic descent of his parents, and all reference to his miraculous birth. They scout the idea of his having come down from heaven.

43. Murmur not—There is the stern authority of a future judge in this supreme silencing of the mutter of these unhappy men. He hushes them as reprobates condemned already.

44. No man can come to me—Men are by nature so depraved and lost that they have no power to attain salvation, but for a gracious ability bestowed. (John 1:4, 5.) That ability consists in a great degree of those special drawings purchased for them by the atonement. Except the Father… draw him—That is, attract him; shed drawing influences upon him, and inwardly empower him to a full obedience; but not obliging or securing that obedience. Nor will that drawing avail unless the man freely use his natural and grace-given power to obey.

45. The prophets—That section of the Old Testament popularly styled the prophets. The quotation is probably from Isaiah 54:13: All thy children shall be taught of Jehovah. This teaching is part of the great system of the Father’s drawing to Christ. Hath heard Hath willingly listened. Hath learned—Hath applied his powers to know. Such a man has complied with the Father’s drawings. Cometh unto me—He is assigned by the Father to the Son for salvation. He exercises repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To this class belonged not these Jews.

***

65. No man can come… except—Men, apart from the guidance and aid of the Father, furnished by the Spirit and the various means of grace, are hemmed into sin. They can neither will nor do acceptably to God. The Father first enables, but not obliges. For grace used, he adds more grace. For drawings obeyed, he adds more drawings. And when they so obey his drawings as to be ready for Christ, he gives and they come. But unless they use his grace and obey his drawings both will be withdrawn. But none ever missed the drawing of God who has not misused it. Given… of my Father—And it was not given in consequence of their not having obediently learned and accepted previous grace, and having sunk themselves into gross hardness. So that because of their primary willfulness the drawing could not reach them, and for want of those drawings it was not given them to come. See notes on verses 26, 37, 38, 39, 44, and 45.

Whedon pp. 324-326, 330, 331, Wesleyan Heritage Collection CD

Full Text of John Goodwin’s Puritan Defense of Arminianism and Polemic Against Calvinism Available at SEA

Big thanks to SEA member John Wagner!

John Goodwin (Redemption Redeemed)

Another Calvinist Who Isn’t Afraid to Tell it Like it Is

In my previous post I drew attention to a person who called Jesus the Calvinist Messiah.  As it turned out, this person was really just making fun of the way that some Calvinists tend towards elitist attitudes and equate their system of theology with the gospel itself.

But here is a guy who is quite for real.  In the following post he essentially equates anyone who believes that God has endowed His creatures with a measure of free will with demon possessed swine:

The End of Two-Thousand Arminians

That’s right, according to this guy if you do not hold to strict Calvinistic determinism then you are no better than a demon possessed pig!  Thankfully, most Calvinists would never say (and hopefully never think) such things.  Most Calvinists would consider this guy a hyper-Calvinist.  Unfortunately, it seems that more and more Calvinists (especially on the internet) are moving towards this sort of elitist and militant attitude towards all those who disagree with them.  I can’t count the times that Calvinists I have discussed my differences with have essentially questioned my salvation because I rejected their strange definition of sovereignty (exhaustive determinism).  Hopefully, more and more Calvinists will take a stand against such ungodly attitudes.  I fear that if they do not they will eventually be swept up in this same sort of thinking. 

Maybe this will eventually lead to the end of the Calvinist “resurgence”.  It has been said that Calvinist resurgences are almost always plagued with a move towards hyper-Calvinism that eventually kills the movement.  Could it be because hyper-Calvinism is the logical and consistent conclusion of exhaustive determinism?  I think so, but I am glad that so many Calvinists are willing to live with inconsistencies rather than pursue that route.  However, it seems that more and more Calvinists, in an effort to be consistent, are tending towards hyper-Calvinism.  If this leads to the demise of the movement, I can’t say that I will be overly disappointed (as much as I like being called a demon possessed pig and all).

William L. Craig on Free Will and Love

Excerpt:

Even omnipotence cannot do the logically impossible. God could produce certain chemical reactions in our brains that would issue in what we’d normally describe as loving behavior toward Him, but it would be a sham, a puppet-like response. To have a genuine love relationship with us, God must put up with the possibility of rebellion.

http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/PageServer?pagename=q_and_a

HT: Brennon Hartshorn

Daniel Whedon on John 10:27-28

27. My sheep hear my voice—As the blind-born did. Those who are bent on holiness and salvation show it by listening to Christ and his Gospel. It is very illogical to infer from all this the doctrine that no man will lose or abandon the character of a sheep of Christ, that is, of a true believer. Qualities or conduct ascribed to persons as possessed of a certain character, do not imply that the character itself may not change. A hireling fleeth because he is a hireling; but that does not prove but that the man may cease to be a hireling. A thief and a robber will kill and destroy; but that does not prove that a thief or robber may not, like Saul of Tarsus, cease to be a thief and robber. So a sheep will follow Christ; but that does not imply but that the man may cease to be a sheep and even become a goat. For a man may as truly from a sheep become a goat, as from a goat become a sheep.

28. Shall never perish—No sheep of Christ can ever perish. The unbeliever and the apostate will perish, but neither the unbeliever or the apostate is a sheep of Christ. Perish… pluck—The literal sheep of the human shepherd may perish by the robber, or be plucked away by the thief; but the spiritual sheep of the true Shepherd no robber can kill, no thief can steal. He must by his own free act abandon or forfeit his spiritual character before he can lose his eternal privilege. (Daniel Whedon, Commentary, pg. 376, Wesley Heritage Collection CD)

Is the “New Heart” of Ezekiel 36:26-27 a Reference to Regeneration Preceding Faith?

Calvinists will often quote Ezekiel 36:26-27 as a proof text for regeneration preceding faith.  The Calvinist doctrine insists that one must be given a new heart before that person can believe the gospel.  For that reason, Ezekiel 36:26-27 is often called into service to demonstrate this principle.  Below is the passage with verse 25 included:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (ESV)

Does this passage give the Calvinist what he needs to defend his doctrine?  Does it truly demonstrate that regeneration precedes faith and that God must give a sinner a new heart before he or she can believe unto life?

As with many Calvinist proof texts, this passage does not give them all that they need to establish their doctrine.  In order for this passage to fit the bill, it must teach that God gives one a new heart and fills that person with His Spirit unconditionally.  The text does not teach that.  It is a mistake to assume that whenever a condition is not stated it therefore means that the actions being described take place unconditionally.  A promise stated without explicit mention of a condition does not necessitate the conclusion that said promise is unconditional.

While we can find promises in Scripture that are unconditional and promises in Scripture that are made without immediate reference to a condition, one will look in vain for a single passage regarding conversion that states that one gets saved unconditionally.  Such a passage does not exist, and this is big trouble for the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election.  But the Bible everywhere describes faith as the God ordained condition for receiving salvation, and this condition must then be assumed even in places where no condition is stated.  Indeed, the context of such passages usually implies the condition of faith even if it is not expressly stated.

With that in mind, let’s examine the text in question.  It is widely held that this passage looks forward to the new covenant that God will make with His people.  This new covenant was fulfilled in the New Testament through the shed blood of Christ.  One comes to participate in this new covenant through faith in Christ’s blood (Rom. 3:25).  The text of Ezekiel 36:25-27 describes those who will come to participate in the new covenant.  First, the passage tells us that God will cleanse those who participate in the new covenant:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

In the new covenant, this would have reference to the cleansing of Christ’s blood.  His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and we are forgiven from our past sins on that basis (Heb. 10:18-22, esp. verse 22 as compared with Ezekiel 36:25, 33; 1 Pet. 1:2, 22, 23; 2 Pet. 1:2-9; 1 John 1:7-9; Rom. 3:25).  The Bible is clear that forgiveness is a primary element of justification.  No one can be justified in God’s sight and declared righteous prior to the removal of sin.  No one can be justified while still under God’s wrath for past sins.  Justification is impossible to separate from the cleansing of forgiveness, just as the passage says, “you shall be clean from all your uncleanness.” (cf. Ezekiel. 36:33)  Already we see a problem with the Calvinist interpretation of this passage.  The passage cannot be teaching a cleansing unto faith since the New Testament is adamant that one is forgiven and justified “by faith”.  God forgives and justifies (makes righteous) in response to faith and repentance:

Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

…being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith…that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus…for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:24-28)

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. (Romans 4:5)

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Romans 5:1, 9)

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. (Romans 6:22)

[All Scriptures taken from the NASB- emphasis mine]

Passages like these could be easily multiplied.  One need only read Galatians to see that justification comes by faith.  In fact, Galatians and Romans are very much concerned with how one comes to participate in the new covenant.  Justification, regeneration, sanctification and adoption are all benefits of the new covenant.  All of these spiritual blessings become ours when we come to be united to Christ through faith (Eph. 1:3-13, esp. verse 13 which says that we are sealed in Christ upon believing the gospel).  The benefits of the new covenant are represented as the “promise” given to Abraham and his descendents, and this promise is received by faith (Rom. 4; Gal. 3).  With the promise comes adoption as children of God and the reception of the Holy Spirit, all of which are received by faith:

Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:24-29)

This one thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  (Gal. 3:2)

Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham. (Gal. 3:7)

…in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Gal. 3:14)

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:6; cf. Rom. 8:14-17)

…so that Christ might dwell in your hearts through faith… (Eph. 3:17; cf. 2 Cor. 13:5; Rom. 8:9)

…to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith. (Acts 26:18)

[All Scriptures taken from the NASB- emphasis mine]

There is no question when we compare the promise of New Covenant blessings described in Ezekiel 36 with the fulfillment of those blessings in the New Testament, that all of these new covenant blessings are received by faith.  The cleansing described in verse 25 is by faith and the reception of the Holy Spirit described in verse 27 is by faith.  Even the promise of a new purified and circumcised heart is by faith (Acts 15:8, 9; Col. 2:11-13; Heb. 10:18-22).  But the “new heart” described in Ezekiel 36:26 has primary reference to a heart that is dedicated to God and empowered to obey His law through the indwelling Holy Spirit:

And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

It is only through participation in the new covenant and reception of the promised Holy Spirit that the believer is enabled and empowered to please God, fulfill His law of love, and put to death the deeds of the flesh (Heb. 8:7-12; 10:10-18).  Paul powerfully describes this aspect of the new covenant promise in Rom. 8.  Through the power of the indwelling Spirit (received by faith) the believer can now put to death the misdeeds of the flesh and live according to the Spirit:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…So then brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. (Select verses from Rom. 8:2-14- emphasis mine)

Through the working of the Spirit within us, our desires are turned away from the flesh to the ways of God.  The Spirit regenerates and re-orientates our being so that we are now devoted to pleasing God rather than our fleshly passions.  The Spirit of God gives us the desire and power we need to overcome the flesh and live for God (Gal. 5:17-26; 6:7-9).  This is the fulfillment of the promise given in Ezekiel 36:26-27, and the fulfillment of that promise is dependent on the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is received by faith (Gal. 3:14).

Conclusion:  We can therefore conclude that Ezekiel 36:26-27 fails as a proof text for the Calvinist doctrine of regeneration preceding faith.  Ezekiel 36 looks forward to the time of a new covenant effected by Christ’s blood through which believers are cleansed of sin and made new in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; cf., Eph. 2:8-10  ).  It tells us that those who will participate in the new covenant (through faith in Christ) will receive the promised Holy Spirit, through whom the new covenant believer will be empowered to live for and please God by overcoming the passions and desires of the flesh.

When we compare the promise of Ezekiel 36:26-27 to the fulfillment of that promise in the New Testament, we find that all of the promises and benefits described in Ezekiel 36 are conditioned on faith.  Therefore, it is impossible to construe this passage in such a way as to teach that one receives a new heart empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit prior to putting faith in Christ. Rather, the passage is in perfect harmony with the New Testament (and Arminian) teaching that the promises and benefits of the new covenant (which includes a new heart and the reception of God’s Spirit) are received by faith.

Here is a Calvinist Who Isn’t Afraid to Tell it Like it is!

Marvin Merriweather writes:

Jesus was a Calvinist…I’m a five-point Calvinist who renounces any other gospel except the one true gospel of Jesus Christ the Calvinist Messiah.

http://www.marvinmerriweather.blogspot.com/

In a comments thread he writes:

Calvin was so special that Jesus held to his theology. Jesus foreknew the future and realized Calvin had the best theology in the history of the universe. John Calvin and Jesus are almost like brothers.

http://gritsgrace.blogspot.com/2009/10/total-depravity-and-regeneration.html

Is this a joke?  One can only hope.

Another One Bites The Dust

Tear up the wallchart documenting “humanity’s long lost ancestor”. Correct the recently altered “primate family tree” (pdf). Dismiss the 3.7bn year timeline “from bacteria to mammals” (pdf). Ignore the front page comment by Sir David Attenborough.

Ida, the 47million-year-old fossil described as the “first link in human evolution” and vociferously championed by the media (including the Guardian) earlier this year, is no such thing, according to a team of scientists. They say that Ida is, instead, from a “group of extinct primates” which are “not ancestors” to humans.

From: Ida, the fossil that fascinated the world, may miss out on missing link status