John Calvin’s False Gospel: How Faith Alone is Made Into a Works Salvation
The key to being saved by faith alone is once saved always saved. My father in the faith, Pastor Richard Peacock, was most impressed with a rhetorical question that I asked him in one of our conversations when I was a young believer: “If you can lose your salvation, what do you have to do to keep it?” While beaming with approval at what his young mentoree said, he replied, “That is the question isn’t it?” If you have to do something to keep your salvation, that’s works salvation.
John Calvin’s gospel is a works salvation because you have to do something to keep your salvation. You must live by the same faith alone that saved you in your Christian walk (or life; ie., sanctification). You have to do something to maintain your salvation: do not add works to your faith in your Christian walk. Salvation by Christ plus (+) NOT WORKING. This ministry has described in detail how that supposedly works in real life for the Calvinist in False Reformation: Four Tenets of Luther and Calvin’s Egregious False Gospel.
Hence, Calvin and Augustine believed the Sabbath rest was symbolic of the Christian life; working on the Sabbath would result in death. Therefore, to live is to not work. This is evident in the New Calvinist mantra that reflects the authentic Reformed gospel: “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” This isn’t merely stating that the same gospel that saved us also sanctifies us; it is stating that we must do this to maintain our justification in sanctification. Salvation by Christ plus (+) preaching the gospel to ourselves every day. This is the crux of the perseverance of the saints, the “P” in TULIP. The idea is that the essence of our sin is the desire to
Delves into Calvin’s view of Law.
show ourselves righteous by works, so we must persevere against our Pharisaical tendencies that will damn us by constant appeal to the free grace of the cross.
But that’s not all; there is yet another thing that Calvinists must do to keep themselves saved: they must believe that a perfect keeping of the law is the standard for justification and that we are totally depraved. That’s the “T” in TULIP. Because the “believer” remains totally depraved, all of his works are “filthy rags” and will only bring
“condemnation.” But what makes total depravity all-important is the fact that Calvinism makes justification answerable to the law. A perfect keeping of the law must be maintained and imputed to us throughout our Christian life. If we live by faith alone in sanctification, the perfect works of Christ continue to fulfill the law for us. But at any given time that we add works to our faith, that’s not persevering.
I delve into these arguments in-depth in False Reformation and New Calvinism for Dummies which include citations from the Calvin Institutes, Scripture, and Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. Both books can be found at tancpublishing.com
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Interesting. I always said that those who say you can lose salvation, are teaching works for salvation. It’s a fact in my mind. I also see how the P of TULIP lends towards works for salvation, since it is their perseverance that they believe saves them. That’s also works. Either way, the enemy hates a person believing the simple Gospel and having assurance. The person that has perfect assurance based in Jesus alone, is in the right position as far as the Gospel.
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Reblogged this on Clearcreek Chapel Watch.
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[…] John Calvin’s False Gospel: How Faith Alone is Made Into a Works Salvation. […]
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The way the Calvinists turn faith alone into a “works” salvation is by making you work really hard at avoiding good works. If you ever do a good work in their mind you’re damned. Do you know how hard it is to avoid all good works? Its so hard that Zimmerman couldn’t do it last Wednesday and ended up rescuing a family of 4 from a turned over and burning SUV! I’d say its even harder work to be saved in a faith alone gospel that damns you for doing any good works than in a legalistic religion.
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James,
Calvin Believed that the Sabbath was symbolic of sanctification. He believed that NT baptism replaced circumcision, and sanctification replaced the Sabbath. In the same way that one would be put to death for working on the Sabbath, we will be put to death if we work in sanctification.
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Well his followers believe that a life-long sabbath rest from good works replaced sanctification.
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Wow, Paul, you are SO wrong about Reformed Theology I hardly know where to begin. No, the Refomed do not believe in works salvation, but having saving grace sent to you by election (aka, predestination.) Good works flow out of being Spirit filled, but the works are for the benefit of your neighbor, not yourself or your salvation. The next time you post something, do some research, please.
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Mr. SDG Know It All,
Right here, right now, state Calvin’s 3 (three) election categories. This is pretty basic in regard to Calvin’s election construct.
I will be waiting blow fish, but of course, like all of the Reformed, you are unable to articulate any of the Reformed tenets such as mortification and vivification, double imputation, the vital union, etc, and even if you could do so accurately, you would be exposing your false doctrine for what it is. You are a pathetic individual unable to think a thought of your own, but come here telling me that I am clueless because I don’t vomit out the thoughts of other people like you do.
So pony up cowboy, what are the three categories–put up or shut up blow fish.
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