What Biblical Error Leads to Calvinism?

What biblical mistake led to the theological disaster of Calvinism?

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Romans Chapter 9: Calvinism's Proof-Text or Paul's Gospel

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[KingdomTheologyTV]

Some have accused me of preaching "works based righteousness" in this video.
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I appreciate them confirming the thesis of the video. Namely, , that Calvinists believe meeting the conditions which God demands us to meet, in order to inherit eternal life, is condemned by God. This self-induced dilemma has led them to embrace determinism with all of the errors it produces.
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The Bible actually teaches that men must repent, trust in Christ in order to be reconciled to God.
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And it teaches they must endure in faith & obedience to inherit eternal life.
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On the other hand, the Bible in general, & Paul in particular, condemns those who imagine that keeping the works of the law of Moses is a condition for reconciliation with God or a condition for eternal life.
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God demands faith, repentance & obedience. But He does not demand perfect faith, or perfect obedience, but has given us an Advocate sitting on the throne of grace to which we can daily come.
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Nor are we expected to meet these conditions without the grace of God that influences & guides us. He draws the sinner & He leads the saint.
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But, the truth of Scripture is plain & clear, men must repent, men must believe & men must obey. God will not cause us to do this. He will judge us if we do not do it.
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Gbu!

[neoturfmasterMVS]

We must believe in free will - we have no choice.

-Isaac Singer

[PresidentChristopher]

I wonder how shocked these great Calvinists, like Paul Washer, would be if they met the early church father Polycarp, a disciple of John.

[seanvann]

Excellent understanding 👏

Thanks for the short video!

[tims]

Romans 4 contrasts Works vs Faith. Therefore, Faith is NOT a work. Replace Believe/Belief and Faith with Trust. Theologians have abstracted Faith. Romans 4 (ESV~). 1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham trusted God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but trusts in him who justifies the ungodly, his trust is counted as righteousness

[winniegaston]

I have recently found you after completing a 14 part series with Dr. Phil Stringer on The Dangers of Calvinism. Looking forward to your Tulip series!!

[millennialocracy]

Well, On the road to Damascus Paul didn't become a follower of Christ till Christ reviled himself to him. Paul didn't choose anything in that interaction, he was set out to kill the Apostles until Christ turned him into a new creature.

[georgemoncayo]

Everything that happens in history has been decreed/Predestined before the world was created see Eph 1:11, Proverbs 16:33 and Amos 3:6. And yes even when terrible things happen, I know it's hard for some people to accept but look what happened when David sinned against God and one of Davids punishments was that God told him that he was going to use Davids own son to shame his Father by Absalom Absalom doing something immoral to his Fathers concubines in front of all of Israel, see 2 Samuel 12:11-12 God said "Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun." Notice how God said "I WILL DO THIS THING."That was fulfilled in 2 Samuel 16:21-22. Jesus did not die for every single person ever and Jesus didn't die to make people savable. He died to save his elect. In John 17:9 Jesus said that he does not pray for the world. The word world is used in different contexts, in that context he's talking about the non elect. In John 3:16 world means that he purchased people from every tribe, tongue and nation Rev 5:9 and for the children of God scattered abroad John 11:52. Some have been "long beforehand marked out for condemnation" Jude 4 and "appointed to doom." 1 Peter 2:8. About Pharaoh God said “For this VERY PURPOSE I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." Rom 9:17-18. Jesus said "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Matthew 11:25-27. So, 2 Pet 3:9 the "not willing that any should perish" if you read that letter in context, 2 Pet 1:1 says "To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours." As far as salvation for all men verses, Paul was refuting the false notion of his time that God was only desiring to save just the Jews and 1 Tim 2:2 says to pray "for kings and all who are in authority" because as humans WE DON'T KNOW WHO THE ELECT ARE SO WE PRAY FOR EVERYONE! That's what it means in verse 4 by saying "all men." Amos 3:2 God said "of all the nations of the earth I have only known you." For centuries God passed over the majority of humankind because this verse isn't about knowledge it's about relationship. And it isn't because God foresaw Israel was more righteous then the other nations because sometimes Israel was more sinful then the pagan nations see 2 Kings 21:9. Only those who were predestined to be saved will be see Acts 13:48, Ephesians 1:4-5, Eph 1:11, Romans 9:11-23, John 6:37. 1 Samuel 3:14 God said “Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” That's Limited atonement.

[repentri]

You are preaching a works based righteousness

[pastorchrisstewart]

at 1:50 you basically describe regeneration as preceding faith and yet hold to classical Pelagian/Arminian theology I find this to be a non sequitur position . Jesus calls His disciples and uses "Deute" δεῦτε a active imperative adverb analogous to a command...He did not say "pretty please follow me" "or would you like to follow me"

at 2:04 you quote Jesus "Apart from me you can do nothing" and yet I hear enough of a pause afterward to insert a "but, ". in John 15:5 Jesus says δύνασθε  dunasthe from the root Dynnamai....the disciples (and we) are unable or lacking the power to do ANYTHING apart from Christ...including coming to Him.

at 3:20 this line of reasoning is a straw man attack as not all Calvinists translate work is always meaning "works salvation". Context and syntax determine interpretation. In Romans 4:4 "the one who works" ἐργάζομαι ergazomai is relating to the natural "work" of a man in Paul's illustration. The answer is in Romans 4:20-22 where Paul gives the conclusion that Faith produces Works and they were credited as righteousness in the Old Covenant. Not ALL of Paul's references to "works" is in response to the Judiazers...context, context, context.

4:46 Determinism as a philosophy or a natural outcome of the Sovereignty of God? Many can not understand God's sovereignty over his creation due to an Idol they have created called "free will". God alone is the only being with a true "free will". Mankind's will before Regeneration is captive to sin (Romans 1, 3, 5, 7-11..ect).

Error?...Is it not God from the beginning declared that Salvation is in and of Him and Him Alone? (Psalm 3:8, Jonah 2:9, Acts 4:12, Rom 11:36)
Jesus promises salvation, perseverance, and eternal life to those given to Him by the Father. (John 6, John 10) John states that we are overcomer's and will endure till the end (1John, Revelation)
Who has control over the clay? The clay? or the Potter? (Jeremiah 18)

Hebrews 5:9 "pas ho hapokuo" all who obey, or "all who listen/obey" as hapokuo has its root in Okuo "to hear". Who is it that hears, listen, and obeys? Matthew 13:13-17 the hearers are dependent upon God and not their own "ability" or lack their of. (Jeremiah 13:23, John 6:44-45, John 14:17, Romans 8:7-8, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 12:13, )

at 7:25 you state that God decides...indeed even before the foundation of the earth. (Eph 1:4-5, 11, Romans 8:29) God chooses before any human action or activity (Romans 9:13-16) Can not God both provide the ways as well as the means for salvation?

at 7:37 you claim that Calvinism is based on a determinism philosophy as a filter for the scriptures? Yet there is both theistic and atheistic determinism in philosophy and I believe you are conflating the two concepts and applying them to Calvinism. Calvinism's "determinism" is based on scripture and scripture alone (Sola Scriptura) without Plato or Aristotle Philosophy as "lenses". (Ephesians 1:11; Daniel 4:35; Isaiah 14:24; 46:10, Psalm 33:11).

at 8:20 you state that we have the ability to exercise faith and that faith makes us part of the elect?

Regeneration preceding faith has been a teaching that the early church taught and believed: Paul, Augustine up until Pelagius and eventually Arminius.

[ManassehJones]

You're missing the new birth prior to sanctification. Unregenerates repenting from sin has
You MUST be born again from above in order for the "Spirit" to mortify your fleshly lusts.
Romans 8:13 KJV
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

[neoturfmasterMVS]

No man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open unto all men: neither is there any other thing which keepeth us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief.

John Calvin

[runcandy]

I suppose I don't see the dilemma or call to action. Calvanist do not disagree with anything said in the video besides the accusations. Calvinist follow, obviously, the teachings found in the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin never makes the claim that ontological determinism is necessary. Instead the debate is only about what God is doing behind the scenes, one might say. It does not make claims about the horizontal nature of the Gospel message. It only makes claims about the soteriological process, which is why we as evangelicals place this debate as a second tier issue.

[davidrose]

As you explained in the first 2 minutes this is what we do believe. If fact it is you who are contradictory. In your own words, we need grace to repent and believe and endure.
Is God's Grace irresitable. Forget Spurgeon, Calvin, Luther, Augustine, Paul. Resd what Read what Christ Himself said in John 6:35-40. In this short passage our Lord tells us Salvation is impossible unless it is given by the Father, and in vs 39 yet all are equally responsible for their own unbelief. We uphold God's Sovereign Right to do as He pleases and our responsibility for our sinful actions. You called Reformed belief a human philosophy yet its you who holds a view of "Free Will" found no where in Scripture !

[jonnbobo]

An understandable overcorrection to Works Based Theology.... we humans tend to overcorrect

[reynaldodavidJo]

God does not invite all to repent and be saved because God knows that the reprobates cannot be saved since they will never believe... if all can believe, then all can be saved, but Jesus Himself said that few can be saved because the way to life is narrow and few can find it...

[ecfcjakarta]

Well whats the point of leaving a comment on a video like this when its all already been said? 🤣

[R.L.KRANESCHRADTT]

(PS.. be sure to open this thread and read the comments)
Christopher, I enjoy your channel. I think this Very good video, much needed. Since the Calvinist contends that whatsoever comes to pass is by God's eternal decree(WCF chap3), whenever they struggle with falling short and missing the "mark" in their personal lives it brings the doubt that God is not actually working salvifically in their lives else, why would they do these things and struggle with sinful thoughts and actions. He wouldn't determine the 'elect' to do that ???🤔🤔 They forget that Jesus is our 'advocate' before the father... actually, they ignore it. Because why would the 'elect' need an advocate and their system categorically precludes the "non-elect' from any work of Christ on their behalf. However, this is problematic for their position ... they must explain it away, so they do, and consequently condemn themselves to needless doubt in the process.... and Satan smiles, again.
1John 2;1-2"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The root of Calvinism is founded upon the lie which Satan told Eve in the Garden. I.e., you can't actually trust God to have your personal best interests in mind. When one accepts and believes in TULIP it plants a 'poison pill' in the mind of the believer that God may not actually love them, personally. They 'know' God only truly loves Calvin's "elect" ... but nobody can ever know who these mysterious lucky few are... not even the man in the mirror.
And since they are taught to believe that the love which they feel for God is only by is his monergistic act upon them and not a choice of their own it may not be real (see evanescent grace). The end result is this; Perfect love casts out fear, but if you doubt the love is genuine, you cannot escape the fear. If someone believes in Christ unto their own salvation, God has promised to save them, they are sealed by the Holy Spirit after they believe... not before.
If Satan cannot prevent someone from believing in Christ and spending eternity with him in heaven when they die, he seeks to undermine their relationship with the Heavenly Father while here on earth... it's the next best thing as far as he's concerned... and Calvinism can have that effect. Augustine and Calvin didn't invent the lie which became TULIP... they fell for it.

[billbill]

You make solid points and I agree with you. I also believe that most religion has a misconception of repentance. We can not completely turn from sin, so a physical repentance would be only the fruits of the flesh upon conversion. So saving repentance is a turning in faith. From Ourselves man and the Physical world or creation and into a Spiritual Creator God. I think its at this point when one is truly then converted. Unfortunately we instead, hear the gospel, the spirit is sent, we feel his love, and think ourselves saved (because some pastor said you were). without EVER putting our faith in God. we never fully take it from ourselves or other men/physical knowledge of things seen etc). we instead remain worldly and Hellenized into sin in such a way we think unholy things are holy and holy things are unholy. We continue in life with salvation in hand and think ourselves spiritual because we follow the traditions of the church or interpretations of scripture from scholars and "men of renown" who call themselves Christian, so you must be too. Or you read what Paul says Faith is and think because your Christian "and therefore spiritual" must have that kind of faith. I submit here, that you don't. Most just continue in there same way of thinking they had before "Truth" was given. There faith is in Physical things because they are Physically minded. This is why conversion is a work of God, Because Spiritual things, WE! cannot know outside of God reveling it. Think of it like this, we put faith in the mailman coming tomorrow, or our recliner not falling apart when we sit on it. This is Faith (we don't think about it) but its faith based on our Own Knowlege (we seen the mailman come 40 years every day, and we have without fail seen that chair support and comfort us for 40 years) its Physical faith in what we have seen (does this sound like the same faith Paul talks about?).
In revelations it says the Spirit is sent but we send it away sorrowful. Because we instead putting our faith in God as the sores of Love felt upon it being reveled, we think like we are used to and think its because of what we did (remember we have a sinful nature and our faith is in ourselves in this nature. Read what satin said would happen if woman ate of the tree! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE DO). we instead profess with our mouths our faith to God, but our hearts are far from Him. We don't hear the still small voice because our loud carnal physical fallen mind screams from all around us leading us into the world and not to God. THIS IS the ONLY REPENTANCE that saves you. This is the Only repentance that is a WORK of God ALONE. Any other is a work of man and counted as fruits of the flesh (the Physical changes one makes in there life to fallow the word of God), This has Nothing to do with Salvation and everything to do with following the Word of God. its what sets us apart and others can know we are Christian (Gods chosen). However, not all Christians are saved (unless you think Judas is saved). so the saving factor is and always has been OUR REPENTANCE of FAITH. Its Not us, its GOD, and always has been. I believe its in this Physical Faith religion came about and its this very Physical faith that is what was being kept out of the original church. they were of one accord in the SPIRIT. not in the interpretation of man but the truth of the holy spirit and seen in His Word for confirmation of its truth.

[kingdomcitizenship]

5:20 I'm not a Calvinist. But do you seriously think your works earned your salvation!? Jesus even told us that he could nothing on his own accord, and that it was the Father in him that does the work. So if the Son of God admitted that his works and actions are only possible through God in him, why do you find that erroneous that others believe that? Seems self righteous to think your works play any role in pleasing God. You sound like a Calvinist, actually. We (Sons of God) know our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags in the sight of God. You should re read Ephesians 2:8-9 if you think you can sustain your faith on your own and please God. "HE GAVE you the saving faith by which YOU HAVE COME to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and so be saved"-John 20:31. You're right, the scripture is very clear. It by grace we have been saved, through faith, and that faith was giving to us by the Father so that we could believe in Christ and be saved." The only thing our human works, in and of themselves, justify us for, is hell.