Christ and Calvinism

Well, I have been posting for almost a week now! It is fun, at least thus far, to be a part of the cyber-world. However, it is completely unacceptable to not yet have mentioned one of my passions! I will now rectify this dilemma with some observations from this morning's reading of Matthew 16:13-28. I will encourage you to turn to Matthew and read the passage so that I don't have to type it out! Someday I will learn to link the passage so you can just click and read!

First, this is the passage where Christ asks the most important question anyone can ask:

"But who do you say that I am?"

Peter correctly answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." The importance of Peter's answer cannot be overstated! If you cannot say that Jesus is the Christ, the Lord of all and the Lord of your life, you cannot be saved; that is, you are not able to be saved. The only way of salvation is through Christ - John 14:6. Peter acknowledge Christ's deity. Someday, all creation will acknowledge it!

The second thing I want to note is in the verse 17:

"And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'"

As important as it is to note Peter's response, it is infinitely more important to correctly assess the source that led to it. The source of the knowledge of Christ's deity is God Himself! God the Father is the one who gives knowledge of Christ which leads to salvation! Jesus again states this true in John 6:44:

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."

The Father draws men to Christ. If He did not, men would not come to Christ. They would not come to Christ because they are spiritually dead. They are depraved! They are not just 'very far gone,' (as one denominational doctrine affirms), they are all the way gone! Mankind is so far gone that they are dead! There is as much hope for a spiritually dead man to come to Christ as there is for a physically dead man to jump out of his casket and dance a jig! Unbelievers are dead in their sins and cannot come to Christ. They cannot choose Christ. They have zero ability to pursue Christ. It is impossible!

Next, we must give Christ His due glory! The knowledge of Him is the truth on which He will build His church! If we are to participate in this building project, we must preach Christ! We must teach Christ! He is the True Cornerstone! What grace that He would include us in His building project!

The next paragraph, 16:21-23, describes Christ showing His disciples how He must suffer and die. It is here that Peter, the disciple who a few verses earlier acknowledged Christ's deity, rebukes Christ. The text is clear that Peter rebukes Christ for revealing His calling. Apparently Peter did not think about God's plan of salvation and how that would play out in history. Obviously, Peter did not like to hear what Christ was saying. As the incident continues, Jesus rebukes Peter saying,

"Get thee behind Me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but on man's."

Christ's response is quite alarming! Christ suggests that Peter was being influenced by Satan to thwart Christ's destiny! As John MacArthur notes, "...those who would thwart His mission were doing Satan's work." Peter thought he was furthering the kingdom, but in reality he was attempting to block the progress! How easy it is to oppose the truth!

As we continue to read Matthew 16:24-27, Christ describes following Him. He says;

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."

John MacArthur notes,

"To them (disciples) it would have evoked a picture of a violent, degrading death. He was demanding total commitment from them -- even unto physical death -- and making this call to full surrender a part of the message they were to proclaim to others."

To follow Christ requires us to put to death our wants and desires, choosing to follow Him and do His will. He demands our all! He requires all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. He is Almighty God and He deserves nothing less than our all!

So what does this have to do with Calvinism? Well, I have been doing some reading about Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon was unwaveringly Calvinistic in his beliefs because they explained salvation correctly. It is God who has elected believers unto salvation. It is God who draws men to Christ. It is God who saves them. It is God sanctifies them. It is God who will glorify them. Humanity is nothing more than a conduit through which God brings Himself glory. God saves men for His glory. The fact that there is benefit to the person is a secondary issue. God saves men because it shows off His greatness!

Because God does everything for His glory, we know that God saves for His glory. Here is the parallel between Matthew 16:13-28. God reveals Christ. Calvinism affirms the same truth we see in Matthew 16:17. Men are dead in their sins and cannot know Christ. We cannot believe in and of ourselves! God must bring us the knowledge of Him. He does this through regeneration -- that is making a spiritually dead person spiritually alive. Believers are alive in Christ! It is not our faith that saves! It is God's grace that saves! The faith He gives is the vehicle which brings His grace, His favor!

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Such is the claim of Scripture and such is the claim of Calvinism. Arminianism, however, claims that we must believe before we are regenerated! It claims that a spiritually dead person can respond to spiritually alive stimuli. This is wrong! Just as a dead man cannot respond to an alive one, neither can the spiritually dead respond to Christ! It is impossible. Yet Christ can give a new life! He has power over death! Arminianism reworks Ephesians 2:8 to read like the following:

"For it is by faith you have been saved through grace; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God."

Arminianism says your faith saves you and then God's grace regenerates, justifies, and adopts you. Scripture clearly is not teaching this.

Next, just as Peter thought he was furthering the kingdom but was actually blocking its progress, Arminianism seeks to put man's will before God's will. It seeks to make 'free will' the hinge on which the door of salvation turns. It makes God respond to man. It makes the future dependent upon something other than God's will. It makes man's will the swallow which ingests the serum of salvation when it is God who injects us with the antidote for our sin! Arminianism is not furthering the kingdom, but blocking it. Now I am not saying that anyone who believes this doctrine is an unbeliever. Christ saves by grace through faith in Him, whether or not we understand what He has done. But Arminian theology leads to immature Christians and false conversions. When the church adheres to Biblical doctrines she shall regain her former strength and boldness, especially the church in America!

Finally, Calvinism takes up its cross and follows Christ. Believers who understand Calvinistic theology have put aside the ego-stroking lies of the "free will" movement and taken up the pride-wounding truth that God chooses whom He will save! The Calvinistic explanation of God's sovereignty in salvation preach total abandonment of self and total submissiveness to Christ our Lord. Calvinism preaches total commitment to Christ -- even unto death! The self-renouncing faith the bible speaks of requires complete devotion. Believing in the biblical truths of God's saving grace is part of our cross. It is God's way.