 | |
|
"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (cf. Matthew 7:14).
The natural, ordinary, commonsense meaning of words is not sufficient for sustaining the doctrines of Calvinism. Words of key phrases must be defined in partisan fashion or the doctrine evanesces. In the following verses regarding atonement (allegedly affirming the tenet of Limited Atonement), Calvinism takes the unjustified liberty of defining the word "many" to mean the elect only.
Isaiah 53:12 “… and he bare the sin of many….”
Matthew 20:28: “… the Son of man came… to give his life a ransom for many.”
Matthew 26:28: “… For this is my blood… which is shed for many….”
Hebrews 9:28: “… Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many…”By defining many to mean the elect only, Calvinism offers a classic example of eisegesis (forcing the text to fit a preconceived system of theology).
Calvinism, as well as the tenet of Limited Atonement, “stands or falls” on the premise that all five-points of Calvinism affirm: “Christ died for the elect only”! However, Scripture consistently states the “contrary” and, unlike Calvinism’s rendition, states it explicitly: He died not for ours sins only, “but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Isaiah 53:6: “… and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
John 1:29: “… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
John 3:16: “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.”
1 Timothy 2:6: “Who gave himself a ransom for all....”
1 Timothy 4:10: “… we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all….”
Hebrews 2:9: “…that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
1 John 4:14: “… the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”
And if these words of the “disciple whom Jesus loved" are not literal, do words mean anything?
1 John 2:2: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Calvinism 101:
If the word is "many," then the meaning is few (cf. Matthew 7:14).
If the word is "whosoever," then it must mean only the elect.
If the word is "world," then it can’t mean the whole world.
And if the word is "all," then all doesn't mean all at all!
During his Grand Jury testimony, regarding the Lewinsky affair, President Bill Clinton, attempting to reconcile the irreconcilable, reasoned: "… It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is.” However, as children of light, we must be gravely aware of the consequence of twisting Scripture as the “… unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).
Calvin in his later years appeared to suffer that malady so common to Calvinists, i.e., doubts concerning salvation. And for good reason: Calvinism teaches a salvation based on confession, repentance, and calling on the Lord, but the "Bondage of the Will” presupposition relegates redemption to nothing more than the “luck of the draw.”
So how is one to know if he was one of the elect? Calvinist R. T. Kendall writes: “nearly all of the Puritan ‘divines’ went through great doubt and despair on their deathbeds as they realized their lives did not give perfect evidence that they were elect.” If works are a Calvinist’s only assurance of personal salvation, it is an implausible assurance:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you… (Matthew 7:21-23).Yet, whosoever believes that "whosoever" means whosoever is at peace; "perfect love casteth out fear."
John 3:15: “… whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Acts 10:43: “… whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”
Romans 10:13: “… whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”Calvin in his later years appears to have relinquished his doctrine of Limited Atonement: “And He said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many” (Mark 14:24). Although, Calvinism still affirms that "many" in this verse refers to the elect, John Calvin in contrary commentary attests:
… by the word 'many' he means not a part of the world only, but the whole human race… (John Calvin, Rev. William Pringle, English Translation, Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Vol. 3, emphasis added).
And Calvin's "Last Will and Testament, April 25, 1564" affirms that the Sovereign Redeemer’s blood was shed for the entire human race:
… that I suppliantly beg of Him, that He may be pleased so to wash and purify me in the blood which my Sovereign Redeemer has shed for the sins of the human race… (John Calvin, as cited in: Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Volume VIII: Modern Christianity, The Swiss Reformation, 1889; emphasis added).
1By Ruth Nguyen at Vietnamese Wikipedia - Transferred from vi.wikipedia to Commons by Vinhtantran., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5204369
No comments:
Post a Comment