Several years ago, James White (Calvinist) and Michael Brown (Armenian) debated over whether or not God has decreed from all eternity that some are elect to salvation and some are elect to damnation.
This ages-old debate is an argument of predestination and election. Did God elect some to be saved and others to be damned?
As a Calvinist, James White argues for, and Michael Brown argues against the concept of predestination.
Today, as I was listening, I realized just how wrong-headed they both are. The question is not, is predestination Biblical? which it is. The question is, How are men saved?
A theology of the cross is so vital to understand the whole of Scripture.
Obviously, God is in control of who believes and who does not, but He did not save his people by a divine decree, which is the argument that White gives.
Neither did He save a people based on their decision, which is Michael Brown’s position (If he’s honest. As James White says, the only intellectually honest Armenian is an Open Theist).
God saved His people through the finished work of His only begotten Son on the cross, 2000 years ago. The cross saves God’s people from their sin and what takes away the sin of the whole world.
It is a Biblical fact that God has predestined some to be saved for all eternity, but the Bible does not teach that God predestined some to hell. You can make logical inferences about whether or not God predestined some to hell and some to heaven (Double Predestination is the official term). Still, when you do, you are putting your reason above Scripture rather than putting Scripture above your reason.
The Bible teaches us that Christ died for all. God so loved the world. Christ died for the sins of the world, especially those who believed. Christ died not for our sins only, but the sins of the whole world.
The text is very plain – Christ’s death atoned for the sins of the whole world.
This universal atonement is what gives us the authority to confidently tell anyone and everyone we meet, “Christ died for you repent and believe for the forgiveness of your sins!”
This is the true Gospel.
The reason for the confusion is, the reformed (Calvinist) doesn’t separate the thing accomplished (the cross) from the thing applied (personal union with Christ).
The finished work of Christ on the cross is how God saved mankind. Salvation is applied individually to men through the means of grace – Word and Sacrament.
This is what the Calvinist doesn’t believe. They give lips service to the Means of Grace, but it is all spiritual, taking place in the spiritual realm. The outward physical elements are unnecessary and inconsequential, even though this belief is unscriptural.
We are unified with Christ by faith. His baptism washes our sins away, regenerates us, gives us the Holy Spirit, and works faith in us unifies us with Christ by making us part of his death, burial, and resurrection. His supper makes his blood and body apart of our being, forgives us our sins, and makes us a part of his body.
As Luther puts it, it works opposite of regular food assimilation. When we eat regular supper, our body assimilates what we eat and makes it apart of us. When we eat the Lord’s Supper, it incorporates us and makes us apart of the body of Christ.
These are real, tangible gifts that can be tasted, touched, seen, felt and believed that they genuinely unify us with the Saving Lord.
The Calvinist has no objective assurance outside of himself of his unification with Christ – that he loves the brethren, that he desires Scripture – these rely on the individual’s state at any given moment.
The Bible tells us that we can know that God saves us because we can believe Christ when he tells us that his death, his righteousness is a gift, and it is for you.
But we can also reject these gifts. Christ died for all, yet not all will be saved. Why? We don’t know why. Scripture doesn’t tell us. Scripture reveals those in hell are in hell because of their unbelief, not because of a decree from God.
What makes hell so awful is that everyone who is there will be there of their own accord. Their debt was paid, and they have rejected the payment.
The debate is not about whether the Bible teaches election and predestination? Of course, it does. The question is, is God responsible for those who are in hell?
The Biblical answer is, No. The sinner is responsible for his eternity in hell.
