You may be aware that in November 2017 I authored and published a book titled, Simply Calvinism: A Defence of Reformed Theology. Since the publication of that book I have rejected Reformed Theology. In this article I am going to state some of the reasons why I now hold to a position that is against the teachings of Calvinism. I feel that it is only right to set the record straight and I feel that now is the time to write a short outline as to why I have rejected Reformed theology. My book Simply Calvinism is now out of print. There would be no need to set the record straight if I had not published material in defense of Reformed doctrine. 

It is unfortunate that I wrote such things in 2017. However, back then I was a strong defender of Calvin and Reformed teachings. I was committed to the Westminster Confession of Faith and only associated with people from a Calvinistic background. I did not embrace all of the teachings of Calvinism, but I did hold to TULIP. I have changed my view and moved away from Reformed theology. I have disposed of most of my Reformed books and material and embrace what I believe to be a more biblical position than what I once held to. This article will display my change of heart towards Calvinism and set out some principles and reasons behind my rejection of Calvinism. This article is in no way meant as an attack on Reformed doctrine, nor is it an attack on people who hold to Reformed theology. I am merely stating what I believe and why I believe what I believe.

So, what is wrong with Calvinism? Since the Reformation, Calvinism has dominated much of the Christian church. It has been so well established that many Christians simply assume it to be the correct expression of Christian doctrine. But Calvinism has some serious biblical and theological weaknesses that unsettle Christians, pastors, preachers and scholars alike. When I looked afresh at Calvinism I asked myself, “Do I really believe that?” Sometimes the answer was, “yes”. However, I found myself saying, “no” more than “yes”. I was challenged to look again at what Calvin and Reformed doctrine actually teaches according to their own sources and material. When I compared the teachings of Reformed doctrine to Scripture I found that there were some serious flaws and issues with Calvinism.

During a study of the Scriptures I asked myself do I really believe that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. I was studying the first chapters of Genesis and I realised that it was never in God’s plan or design for mankind to fall and disobey him. It was then that I realised that Calvinism is fatalism. Calvinists teach that all events are preordained by God. They teach that the fall of Adam and Eve was ordained by God. They teach that God ordained mankind to sin and every evil that happens is again in the plan and will of God.

Calvinism is an attack of the nature and love of God. The deity that Calvinism teaches is like an evil dictator who has pleasure in afflicting suffering on his creation. In fact some of the most evil and wicked dictators the world has known are more compassionate than the deity that Calvinism teaches.

Calvinism is a doctrine right out of the pit of hell itself, when it comes to the fundamental facts of salvation and Jesus Christ; who tasted death for every man and the call is for whosoever will. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

If you believe in the 5 points of Calvinism then you believe in Fatalism. The Bible says in Amos 3:3, ”Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” The Bible and Calvinism do not agree.

It is worth noting that I became a Calvinist by reading Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion and other Reformed material and books. A man does not become a Calvinist by reading the Bible. When I was saved in September 2012 I believed what the Bible actually taught and then moved away from biblical doctrine when I embraced Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. Praise be to God that He showed me the errors and falsehoods I once held to.

John Calvin once said, “I rest assured that God would never have suffered any infants to be slain except those who were already damned and predestined for eternal death.”

When it comes to salvation Calvinist believe that you are predestined meaning that you don’t have free will. When the Holy Ghost puts you under conviction you cannot resist. According to the Calvinist you have no choice in the matter of salvation. It has already been predetermined by God for you to be saved and you have no say in the matter. I believe in the Sovereignty of God, and I believe He knows all things. The Bible does not teach that children and babies are damn to hell before they have a chance to receive Christ. The Bible does not teach that the souls of men and women are damn to hell because God is not willing to save them.

Calvinists will deny most of the things in this paper, but this is what Calvin actually taught and said. Calvinist will call non-Calvinists “Arminians.” Arminianism does have a more accurate understanding of Scripture, but there are issues with Arminianism (such as a person can lose their salvation). I am not an Arminian. I do not hold to Arminian doctrine enough to identify with the core teachings of that system. I am nothing but a Christian. I hold to nothing but the Word of God.

This paper is just a brief outline of the teachings of Calvinism in light of the Bible. So let’s take each point of the TULIP doctrine and compare them to the Bible.

Total Depravity

The first point in the TULIP doctrine is Total Depravity. By this Calvinism teaches that mankind is so depraved that he has no ability to do right; he will always do wrong. Thus mankind has no free will to choose to do right or wrong. The Bible mentions freewill multiple times. In the King James Version freewill is mentioned 17 times.

The Bible says that man has the responsibility to accept or reject the offer of salvation in the Gospel. God created mankind, not robots.

Joshua 24:15 says, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Here are some verses of Scripture that speak of freewill and a choice between right and wrong.

Ezr 7:13  I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.

Isa 7:15  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

Isa 7:16  For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Isa 14:1  For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

Phil 1:22  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

In Genesis 4, the idea of complete depravity is called into question. When Cain became upset because God favored Abel’s offering over his own, God warned Cain that sin was at his door and advised him not to let it dominate him, or else it would control him (refer to Genesis 4:6-7).

God did not treat Cain as if he was completely depraved. Instead, God encouraged Cain to take control over the sin that was lurking nearby. The scripture indicates that Cain killed his brother not due to total depravity, but because his actions were wicked while his brother’s were virtuous.

In the New Testament, we encounter further instances of individuals who dedicated themselves to serving the Lord, held Him in reverence, and earnestly sought Him.

We learn about Zacharias and Elisabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. The Scriptures indicate that they were both upright in the sight of God, living blamelessly according to all of the Lord’s commandments and ordinances (Luke 1:6).

Additionally, we read about Simeon, a righteous and devout man, who was anticipating the comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him (Luke 2:25).

Moreover, there is Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Aser. She was an elderly woman who had been widowed for many years. The Scriptures tell us that she did not leave the temple but worshipped God with fasting and prayers both night and day (Luke 2:36-38).

In Matthew 13:17, Jesus told His disciples, “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Unconditional Election

Calvinism teaches that before the foundation of the world God chose certain people to be saved and certain people to be damned. Meaning that some are designed for Heaven and some for Hell. The ones that are chosen for heaven are what Calvinists call God’s “His elect” or “the elect”.

This means then men and women do not choose to accept or reject Christ; the decision has already been made for them by God himself.

One of the key aspects of the Gospel is love. We are called to love God because he has saved us. How then can we love God if we have no freewill to do and are forced to love him by his so-called “unconditional election.” Love is a choice. It is not forced. We choose to love. The Gospel is a message of love, not forced servitude.

The Bible teaches that whosoever will come to Christ will be saved. Whosoever is mentioned 13 times in 11 verses in the King James Version.

Mark 8:35 says, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mankind has a freewill to accept or reject the Gospel.

Revelation 22:17 says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Again the will of man is responsible to respond to the call.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. How can anyone became a Calvinist after reading John 3:16 is beyond me.

John 4:14 says, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Romans 10:11-13 says, “For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It is clear from reading these passages that Christ died for all mankind not a limited selected few. This brings us onto the next point of TULIP.

Limited Atonement

This point is the most troubling and controversial aspect of the Calvinistic system; as it strikes at the heart of the doctrine of the atonement. Limited Atonement teaches that Christ only died for his elect; thus Christ only died for a select few that he desires to save.

The Bible does not teach this dangerous doctrine. Rather the Bible teaches that Christ died for all mankind; and his death is effectual when a person receives Him by faith.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 says, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

Titus 2:11 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”

1 Timothy 1:15 says, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” He came to save sinners, not a select few sinners.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

1 John 2:2 says, “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

2 Peter 2:1 says, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1 teaches that Christ died for false teachers. So, Calvinist, are these false teachers of God’s elect. The Scriptures say that these false teachers deny the Lord that bought them.

The Scriptures speak for themselves.

Irresistible Grace

The doctrine of Irresistible Grace teaches that a person cannot resist the Holy Spirit when the person is called to believe the Gospel. So, can the Holy Spirit be resisted, that is the question here.

The charge against the people in Acts 7:51 is that they always resist the Holy Spirit. Acts 7:51 says, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” The Bible says the opposite of Calvinism.

Romans 13:2 says, “Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. This means that God can be resisted by mankind.

Hebrews 10:29 says, “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

Perseverance of the Saints

Calvinism teaches that a saved person must endure to the end to be saved; do good works till you die as proof you are saved.

This is a faith plus works salvation, not of grace. They teach, do good works to be saved. Therefore a Calvinist can never how true assurance of salvation.

The Bible teaches that a saved person does good works because they are saved, not to be saved.

Romans 7:15 says, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” Writing to the believers in Rome the apostle Paul wrote about his daily struggle and battle against sin and his own flesh. This verse would indicate that a saved person has indwelling sin that they fight against everyday and thus does not always live rightly before God. In verse 24 Paul wrote, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

The Bible teaches that we can have assurance of salvation.

1 John 5:13 says, “ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

2 Timothy 1:12 says, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

1 Peter 1:18 says, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers.”

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

As a footnote to these Scriptures I would like to bring to your attention Psalm 62:9, “Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.” John Calvin was a man of high degree and he was a liar. He lied about the nature of God and Christ’s desire that all men to come to a saving knowledge of the truth. I will close with Romans 3:4, “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

Some believe that if you aren’t a Calvinist, you must be an Arminian, and the other way around. However, these aren’t the only belief systems, as there is also a biblical view. This view is that the atonement is unlimited and that the believer is eternally secure, understood as the preservation of the saints rather than their perseverance, which aligns with scripture. The Bible asserts nowhere that an individual saves themselves, nor is anyone unable to respond to the Gospel. Both Calvinism and Arminianism are false philosophies, heavily reliant on works-based salvation. I advise you to not be misled by any of these factions.