Biblical Objections To Calvinism Part 1 of 2 | Jesus Before Election

This is part 1 of 2 sermons given by Jordan Hatfield in 2015 where he explains biblical reasons why the doctrine of Calvinism is not true.

FIND MORE VIDEOS FROM GREAT LIGHT STUDIOS COVERING THE TOPIC OF CALVINISM HERE:

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METAMORPHOSIS | From Violent Drug Dealer To Jesus Follower

SEEK FIRST (Freedom From Anxiety And Fear)

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[inTruthbyGrace]

Praise God for the comfort He provides to the Body of Christ in the way we are led to nourish one another! Jordan this is such perfect timing! Thanks for bearing with my longer comments but God really is having me do all this study and you keep uploading videos that hit the mark!!

In studying Romans 8:28- 8:30 this morning it occurred to me that to drill down to identify those who are κλητοῖς "the called" according to God's purpose, we need to find those Scriptures that identify those to whom God is doing the verb "to call" καλέω. If we can find those Scriptures pinpointing who Jesus is calling, we can figure out who are "those called according to God's purpose".


Though Calvinists argue "the called" κλητοῖς of Rom 8:28/8:30 are ONLY those precious few whom God "elected" to salvation _before the beginning of the world, _ the Scripture is clear that Jesus said He did NOT come to call some group so precious in God's eyes that were _predestined for salvation before the beginning of the world_ but RATHER, Jesus said He came to do this verb ("to call" καλέω) to SINNERS Matt 9:13! 


Now, if Isaiah 53:6 and the Rom 3's half dozen references to other OT Scriptures are true..then *_all have gone astray_*_ so ALL are sinners and all need a Savior <--- then Jesus, who came to call sinners, is calling __*_everyone_*



Therefore, ALL men (Gen 18:18, 21:18) are called according to God's purpose which was to send Light to those who sat in darkness (John 3:16-21, Isaiah 9:2, Is 42:16, John 8;12) by sending Jesus, The Light of the world (John 1:1-14) and today, if you will hear His word, harden not your heart, and believe (Rom 10:17, Gal 3:2-5, Eph 1:13 etc) ANY sinner, who receives a love of the truth (2Thes 2:10, John 5:24, John 17:17, John 14:6, John 1:12, John 3:33, John 3:18, John 8:12, 12:35, 12:46) can compare themselves to God's revealed righteousness in His Word and see, cognitively and logically (even w/ a hardened heart we can still engage our reason and knowledge) and see we have ALL fallen short of God's glory and we are in need of reconciliation to God, forgiveness of sin and redemption from that sin by a savior which is Jesus THE Christ (John 5:39, Rom 3:19, Gal 3:24-25 etc)...



THEREFORE:


The κλητοῖς "called" are God's eligible/target audience for salvation---> Jesus said He came *_to call_* sinners, all sin, Δ ALL ARE CALLED... (and "all" means "all" in Is 53:6)


The ἐκλεκτός "elect" (chosen) are those κλητοῖς "called" who respond to God's call by believing, by faith in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:2-11, Eph 2, 1 Pet 5:14, Jude 1:1, 1John 5:20, Heb 13:21, 2Tim 1:1, 9, 13, 2Tim 2:1, 10, 2Tim3:12-15, Gal 3:27, 2Cor 5:17-21, etc...)


You have probably mentioned this before but I think Romans 8:28-39 is just another angle to look at what is being laid out in Ephesians 1 which is all consistent with the idea that all sin so we are _all CALLED_ by Jesus to repent and believe and become God's elect in faith in Christ...



The critical, fatal malfunction of Calvinist's doctrine is in how it terminates in denying the Lord that bought them: If anyone holds the status of being God's "elect" or "choice" AT ANY TIME when they are outside of FAITH in Jesus.... then FAITH in Jesus is not what defines the "elect".


But Scripture is clear: no one is chosen OUTSIDE of Jesus and NO ONE can possibly be chosen ἐκλεκτός without FAITH in Jesus so when the "Reformed" camp argue that they themselves were "chosen by God before the beginning of the world" that special status being claimed is being applied to them *_BEFORE_* they had faith in Jesus. This concept of election to salvation before faith in Christ is a foreign soteriology that takes a bulldozer to very specific elements of the gospel:

1. If there is an election to salvation that occurred *_before_* someone entered the covenant of Jesus' perfect blood being shed for the remission of _sins_ by FAITH, then that covenant was NOT necessary to becoming God's elect.
2. If there is an election to salvation that happened before someone received the gift of the righteousness that comes EXCLUSIVELY from each man's faith in Jesus, then faith and that righteousness that comes by faith were not necessary to becoming God's elect.
3. If there is an election to salvation that stands outside of Jesus, then they put an axe to the vine of the unique holiness of Jesus into which the fruitless branches MUST be grafted in in *_becoming the elect_* ...



I can't help but see that the further this doctrine becomes ingrained in the Calvinist adherents, the more risk they run of literally denying the Lord that bought them... thankfully most people who consider themselves Calvinists do not really understand where this doctrine concludes.

[LovesHugItOut]

The other thing with Calvinist (TULIP) doctrine is not only does it force you to worry and wonder if you were among "the elect" that God wanted to save, but you also need to wonder and worry if you were one of the ones that Jesus died for. This also makes evangelism really muddy. Its really sad and pretty serious. If someone comes into agreement with TULIP theology it will cause scripture to constantly be filtered through that doctrine. Scriptures gets disingenuous really fast.

[kjb]

You said Calvinism distorts who God is, but you won’t label it a cult? What are your standards to consider something a cult? If you really believe Calvinism misrepresents God and his character, how can you not label it a cult? If it’s just based on motivation, then what about the “cults” that have well-meaning people who just fall into error? I think there’s a double standard here or just some fear to call Calvinism what it really is.

[JohnTheBaptist]

From your video it seems you interpret the reformed perspective of the ordo salutis as eternal justification, but traditionally that has not been taught (Antinomians were the first to teach such doctrine) to better represent what reformed theology holds to when it comes to how God saves sinners (Ordo Salutis - Justification -> Adoption -> Sanctification -> Glorification) I would look at their catechisms for example the baptist catechism of Benjamin Keach (Reformed Baptist) specifically questions 37-39 to have a more precise understanding of the doctrine they hold to.

[Jr-bueb]

Question: Is faith a spiritual blessing?