The Language of Calvinist Progressive Justification and No Assurance of Salvation
In the following clip, notice that Calvinist Todd Friel includes Christ’s “perfect life” as being part of the atonement. Problem is, God was “pleased” with Christ when he was baptized by John and lived about three years after that. If God was pleased with Christ at that point, obviously a perfect life wasn’t required. Christ didn’t have to prove that he was the perfect Lamb of God—He was the Perfect Lamb by virtue of who he is. Since when does God prove that He is God?
Furthermore, if Christ had to live a perfect life as part of the atonement, that’s not a righteousness manifested apart from the law (Rom 3:21), and posits the idea that there is a law that can give life (Gal 3:21). These are the two 3:21s that decimate the blatant false gospel of Calvinism. It doesn’t matter who keeps the law, “apart” means apart, and the law can either give life or not give life…for justification.
But the error goes deeper than that. This is the double imputation version of Calvinism. Supposedly, we (Christians) must live life in such a way that our sanctification (Christian living) is by faith alone in Christ’s perfect obedience to both the cross and the law. IF we do that, Christ’s perfect obedience will be imputed to our Christian life, and we will REMAIN justified. It’s salvation by Christ plus antinomianism.
That’s why Calvinists redefine antinomianism as a belief that the law is not needed at all in the Christian life, and they are supposedly “friends of the law” because they believe it is the standard for justification. However, in the final analysis there is no difference; either way, the law isn’t for us to keep (“uphold” Rom 3:31) for any reason. An obedience supplied for us must be applied to our Christian lives by faith alone; the same way we were saved.
Since living by faith alone, as opposed to being declared righteous by faith alone is really tricky business, assurance of salvation is ambiguous and their verbiage reflects this. Salvation finality is usually framed in the future tense, or at least implied that way. Freil states, with an added tonal emphasis, that like unbelievers, “WE” don’t have to die either (versus we will not die). Following the Friel clip, I have a visual illustration from a Piper video clip that also reflects the uncertainty of salvation.
No John Piper; He has already taken our place; no John Piper; His righteousness already counts for me; no John Piper; He is already my solid ground.
Which Jesus do you believe in? The one who has already taken your place? Or the Calvinist Jesus that might take your place IF you do something this way, that way, or the other way?
paul
Calvinism’s Get Out of Election Free Card
We will begin this post by reviewing the abysmal belief system that is Calvinism, but in the final analysis, there is good news for those who embrace it; at least in their own minds.
Calvinism is a hopeless belief system. Plainly, there is no assurance of salvation, and it completely devalues life. It posits God as a god that created mankind so that his wrath against sin could bring him glory. He created abject failure in order to bring himself glory. The heroes among the Calvinists are those who eloquently plunge the debts of how evil we are. That would be the Puritans. All of life’s energies are focused on realizing how worthless we are in God’s eyes. The code phrase is “giving all the glory to God.”
Then, at the one last final judgment, you find out if you hated yourself enough to get into heaven by faith alone in sanctification. And if you don’t make it, oh well, you are merely getting what you deserve anyway. The logic follows:
1. God predestined man to sin according to his sovereign design and will.
2. God is glorified by the astounding reality that he would save anybody.
3. God is glorified by the eternal destruction of mankind.
4. Our struggle with the righteousness of this is evidence in and of itself of our wickedness.
The basic logic leads to an inevitable worldview.
It’s right for God to slaughter women and children anytime he pleases. God gives life and he takes life. Everybody who dies, dies because God wills that they die.
God is taking life every day. He will take 50,000 lives today. Life is in God’s hand. God decides when your last heartbeat will be, and whether it ends through cancer or a bullet wound. God governs.
So God is God! He rules and governs everything. And everything he does is just and right and good. God owes us nothing.
If I were to drop dead right now, or a suicide bomber downstairs were to blow this building up and I were blown into smithereens, God would have done me no wrong. He does no wrong to anybody when he takes their life, whether at 2 weeks or at age 92.
God is not beholden to us at all. He doesn’t owe us anything.
~ John Piper
Likewise, Pastor Steve Lawson, one of the who’s who of the Calvinist resurgence of our day, suggests that Christ himself will personally torture people in hell for all of eternity. Plainly, the Bible states otherwise. Eternal judgment is separation from God. Critical to understanding the Bible is a vast dichotomy between justification and sanctification. There is to be no fear of a future judgment for those who trust Christ, but the Bible does call on believers to fear present consequences for actions contrary to God’s counsel. Calvinism calls for a fear in regard to future eternal judgment among Christians because a dissuasion of security is a Reformed tenet starting with Augustine. No distinction is made between fear in justification (which lacks love and therefore fears judgment) and fear of present consequences in sanctification.
It all looks pretty grim, but membership has colossal benefits for this present life. First, you do not have to take any personal responsibility for what you do. Sinners will be sinners, and we are already damned accordingly. Secondly, it supplies an answer for every question of life: good things that happen are grace; bad things happen because we are evil; and we deserve it. Thirdly, it enables us to detach ourselves from the emotional rigors of this life. We can stand back and observe our own life from a distance. Death, failure, injustice, etc. only serve to show us more of our own depravity as “set against God’s holiness.” The only difference between a lost person and a saved person is the saved person knows of their own depravity. The unregenerate are defined by “Phariseeism,” i.e., they think there is some good within them.
So, how can Calvinists be so happy in all of this? Well, they get the benefit of all of the aforementioned, plus a get out of election free card. The key is the Reformed tenet of the power of the keys. Whatever Reformed elders bind on earth, will be bound in heaven, and whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Reformed elders are mediators between God and man. Yes, fear is a wonderful thing and we can’t be sure we are going to heaven to stay, wink, wink, unless the elders like us. If the elders like us, we are probably in. Membership has its privileges.
I am utterly convinced that this is why there is a church every two miles on the interstate with a 500,000 dollar budget. Listen carefully to what we say: “Such and such is a member in good standing.” Good standing for what? Well, for one, Calvin believed, like all in the authentic Reformed tradition that sins committed in the Christian life “separate us from grace,” viz, salvation. And, forgiveness for that sin can only be obtained through membership in the local church, and by elders who have the authority to forgive that sin. And, only water baptism joins us to the local church. This speaks for itself.
Calvinism is spreading in our culture like wildfire. Any questions as to why? Basically, live by faith alone, and support your local Reformed mediator while living anyway you want to. The fact is, in most Neo-Calvinist churches of our day, people are living in open sin while those who ask questions are the only ones being brought up on “church discipline.” Come now, look around, that’s what is going on. No? This mindset is also responsible for the wildly successful contemporary biblical counseling movement; the good news is that Jesus does everything for you, and if you think you can do anything—you are a Pharisee. A successful marriage is defined as two totally depraved people living together who are on a journey to discover how evil they both are. That was easy!
I believe that we will see huge ecumenical movements in the future that find common ground on the total depravity issue. It will be a common belief that people really don’t change, and that grace defines all of man’s existence. I believe this is the last day’s antinomian blitzkrieg predicted in the Bible, and I believe the hallmark of it will be a reuniting of Protestantism and Catholicism.
Both came from Augustine, and that’s where they will return. The get out of election free membership card will seal the deal. From there, with at least 2 billion votes at its disposal, governments will agree to once again enforce the institutional church’s orthodoxy. This is just a mere repeating of history, and it looks a lot like the book of Revelation. Granted, because of the Enlightenment era and the liberty it exposed humanity to, the final tyranny will not be as ironclad as pax romana, it will be “iron mixed with clay.”
Nevertheless, the freedom offered in antinomianism and its wide easy road will lead to the same bondage experienced throughout human history.
paul
The New Calvinist Wide Road to Hell: “Your” Doesn’t Mean, “Your”; Matthew 5:20
As posted yesterday, accepting any rewriting of history is a very dangerous precedent, especially in regard to the gospel, and the New Calvinist crowd works hard at rewriting history. The Resolved series of conferences sponsored by John MacArthur Jr. focused heavily on rewriting history, often representing Puritans as martyrs when many were executed for political intrigue. The Fox’s Book of Martyrs is a shameful and egregious rewriting of history; specifically, it omits the fact that Protestants were guilty of the exact same persecution towards those who disagreed with them. The book has no credibility whatsoever.
This brings us to the rewriting of history in regard to the Pharisees by New Calvinists. The narrative goes like this:
The Pharisees were really, really good at keeping the law, but at the end of the day, Christ said that you need a righteousness that exceeds theirs! What to do? Answer: cling to faith alone which imparts righteousness to us not our own. When Jesus said “your” righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, he was really talking about His own righteousness imputed to us.
So, saving faith is defined as knowing you are wicked. The unregenerate are defined as those who think they possess righteousness. The new birth is therefore defined as a different knowing—not a different person. If you think you are a different person who possesses a righteousness that is part of you, well, you don’t “need a physician.”
Hence, you must see Christ’s role in justification as ongoing and not finished, and you must continue to appropriate the imputation of His righteousness by simply believing and not “anything we do.” The New Calvinists of our day use the exact same lingo as the Australian Forum did, and that is why they are running from that history:
Christ’s doing and dying—not ours.
This truism was uniquely Forum, as well as many other truisms authored by them and used by the New Calvinists of our day. However, let us not miss the fact that this idea of an ongoing need for a justification physician is fundamental Calvinism whether the theologians of our day know it or not. If you are going to call yourself a Calvinist, you really ought to read Calvin for yourself.
So, in Matthew 5:20, when Christ referred to “your” [our] righteousness, “your” really doesn’t mean “your,” He meant “His” [my]. Therefore, according to New Calvinists, a better rendering would be:
For I tell you, unless you have my righteousness which exceeds that of the Pharisees who are really, really good at keeping the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Supposedly then, only those who know they are wicked inherit eternal life. Hmmmmm, really? Actually, there are a couple of huge problems here, and what is at stake is the true gospel. First, the Pharisees were not really, really good at keeping the law—they were horrible at keeping the law. Christ said they were “lawless” on the inside and the outside. They also edited the law with their own traditions. This whole, the Pharisees were really, really good at keeping the law is a rewriting of history.
Secondly, the Bible states in many, many places that Christians possess righteousness that is part and parcel with their being. We are not only declared righteous, we are righteous, and only the righteous will inherit the kingdom. Pastors, I warn you: when you hear a fellow Christian say they “have no righteousness of their own,” you better qualify that. Righteousness, albeit a gift, is ours because it is gifted to us, and certain attitudes about works in sanctification reveal what we believe about justification; e.g., the Parable of the Talents.
The reason we are considered righteous, and are righteous regardless of the fact that we still sin is a matter of proper understanding about law and gospel. Suffice to say for purposes of this post that we have this treasure in jars of clay, but yet, that doesn’t take away from the value of the treasure—it is still a treasure. In 1John, we are told God’s seed is IN us. End of argument. Moreover, Paul uses a double emphasis to state the fact that Christians possess a goodness that is part and parcel with their being:
Romans 15:14 – I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
What part of “you yourselves” do we not understand? When Christ said “your” righteousness, he meant “your.” Christ said, “You must be born again.” This isn’t a rebirth of mere awareness that James railed against; this is a rebirth of your being.
Another reason New Calvinism wants to separate itself from the Forum is because they lacked the same nuance that New Calvinists like John Piper and Al Mohler have mastered. The Forum wrote an article titled, “The False Gospel of the New Birth” footnoted by one of its participants and leading authority on New Calvinist hermeneutics, Graeme Goldsworthy, who was invited to lecture at Sothern Seminary in 2009. The clear argument of the article was that the new birth was true (as are shadows, but do not have the sun’s life-giving source), but any emphasis on it would take away from the “best thing” which is Christ. In other words, the new birth is true, but irrelevant—even damaging because it puts the focus on us and not Christ. This gets into the whole subjective gospel versus objective gospel that there is no room for here.
I fear that New Calvinism is one of the wide roads that lead to hell that Christ warned us of. It redefines the new birth as a mere awareness devoid of new creaturehood. It is a movement that heralds the total depravity of the saints and denies the new birth.
paul
The Pitiless Mean Streets of American Christianity
“Beware of any verbiage that implies that healing comes forth by ignoring the blood that cries out from the ground. This verbiage comes from the heart of the tyrant himself, or those who carry water for him.”
“Yes, we live in a day when the American church separates justice from love, and accepts the bribe of fellowship in exchange for justice. In the same way that we offer prayer in place of supplying need, we offer condolences in place of justice. And we side with the many in our silence.”
Here in Dayton, Ohio one roams the inner-city streets at their own risk. It’s a risk that you accept if you want to go there for some reason. Likewise, people still want to go to the institutional American church for some reason, and do so at their own risk. But there is one difference: if you get mugged downtown, you might get justice, it’s a consolation prize.
Per the usual, something in my life provokes a post like this, and this post is no different. I don’t get into conspiratorial topics in my writings for two reasons: it’s hard enough getting Christians to believe the obvious and we should at least start there, and why talk about UFOs when identifiable fiendish opulence is dancing in the aisles and on the altars?
Nevertheless, if you do the research that I do, one thing becomes apparent: the New Calvinist movement that is crossing denominational lines and taking over the American church is not about the gospel, it’s about power, money, and politics. Frankly, the global aspirations of Al Mohler and many other Southern Baptist leaders are not unapparent, especially if you are well versed in Plato’s Republic. Yesterday, I was searching through information sent to me by others that a friend requested, and found myself in dark contemplation.
I keep a picture of the Jonestown aftermath in my office, the one where two adult women are embracing a toddler as they died the foretold “painless” death by spiked Kool-Aid. It’s an apt reminder for my sluggish heart that gravitates towards thinking well of those who look good and speak well. Yes, it was a protest because the US was going to take away their right to live in a socialist utopia because Jim Jones murdered a US Senator. While searching for the information, I also stumbled upon a clip about Chinese public executions that are commonplace in that culture. The story was good news that the “Peoples Supreme Court” is going to start reviewing the executions and the present rate of about ten executions a day may slow down.
Don’t you know, it’s always about the “people.” Jim Jones’ “People’s Temple” and the Chinese “People’s Supreme Court,” and by the way, your local Reformed elder “wuvs you.” Bad results are always beside the point because people are stubborn and constantly want to think for themselves. If everyone would just obey for a change, all would see that elitists know what they are talking about in regard to the “collective good.” You see, all of the slaughter is for you, you are wuved. And John Calvin wuved you. He wuved you soooo much that he wrote a weally big letter to the king of France called the Calvin Institutes calling for the execution of all who disagreed with him, because like all Platonists, he knows about the “collective good.” Yes, no wonder John Piper went to Geneva and announced his world vision for Calvin’s “Post Tenebras Lux.” Piper calls it a “wonder.” Yes indeed. You are wuved.
And in the midst of all this, I received an email from someone of my past who still wuvs me soooo much. He is concerned because I am, yawn, and here we go again, “bitter.” And why am I bitter? Well, that’s just too rich, but let me do a little prerequisite. In regard to the elitists that want to rule the world, premise is out and authority is in. Little brats that ask mommy why are the best picture: “Why?” ‘Because I said so.’” In this picture, you’re the brat and John Calvin is the mommy. It’s about the collective good; it’s about things you can’t comprehend.
The person who contacted me summarily dismissed seven years of research and informed me of my reality. He understands none of it, but this he does understand: we can’t understand, and my “glory story” is not in touch with Luther’s “cross story.” Now listen up, this is the tie that binds the American church with every murdering tyrant that ever breathed air on the earth:
“I am truly very sorry for the difficult things that have happened in your life. This is why it is difficult to offer correction. We will always be disappointed with people in the end, but thank God, if we keep our focus on Him, he is a faithful anchor of peace for our souls. What happens to us is not nearly as important as how we respond to it. I fear your response is not healing, but rather further hurtful to you and others around you. Again, I speak in gentleness, but if you place me in a position to have to speak uncomfortable truths to you, please do not assume I am answering you in a hateful tone.”
Yes, we will always be “disappointed” with the Calvinesque of the world. Calvin probably did not have to slaughter nearly as many as he did for our sake. Luther could have hated the Jews a little less, and Zwingli could have drowned fewer Anabaptists. The execution mode mocked their audacity to refute Luther and Calvin’s position on water baptism. And we are “disappointed” with Reformed elders in this country who merely improvise in their persecutions, but we must remember that it is all for us.
Beware of any verbiage that accuses Christ of not being concerned with justice in the here and now. Beware of any verbiage that implies that Christ does not hold us accountable for justice. Beware of any verbiage that implies that healing comes forth by ignoring the blood that cries out from the ground. This verbiage comes from the heart of the tyrant himself, or those who carry water for him.
And the words of a heartless tyrant ALWAYS come dressed in the garb of “love,” and in the political realm, it is always the “people’s” guillotine. The one built for them, and for their sake, adorned with the finest and sharpest blade available—only the finest for the people.
Exodus 22:15-17
You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,
Exodus 23:6
“You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit.
Deuteronomy 10:18
He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 16:18
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
Deuteronomy 16:19
You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
Deuteronomy 27:19
“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Yes, we live in a day when the American church separates justice from love, and accepts the bribe of fellowship in exchange for justice. In the same way that we offer prayer in place of supplying need, we offer condolences in place of justice. And we side with the many in our silence.
As I looked for the data, and perused the many pictures of beautiful Chinese damsels who had half their heads blown off with an AK-47 for some trivial offence, I wondered why God ever allowed sin to come into the world. I plunged into a dark pit of doubt and darkness. I found myself in utter despair and began to attempt to climb my way out with my thoughts. I prayed to the God I doubted to save me with reason. As I clawed desperately for hope, I reasoned that perhaps I do not even understand the basic premises of metaphysics that I assume. As I looked at those pictures, I knew that at times trust can be a bitch. And then the thought came…
For whatever reason God allowed sin to come into the world, He gave His only Son to heal it. And when He was on earth, His devotion to the Father never wavered. The Father listened as His Son cried out to Him in the passion. Christ Himself wept over Jerusalem. These thoughts brought light into my mind and the dark spirit fled—my prayers were answered. God despises sin more than I ever have or will, and has given more than anyone because of it. In allowing sin into the world, His solution was a burden that only God Himself could bear. So, I still do not know why, but the only way of hope is clear.
But this I do know: God cares just as much about what happens to us as our response. The silent lamb will return as a roaring Lion who will shake the earth. It is our duty to do all we can for justice in the here and now to obtain justice for the wronged. We are to be like Christ in the here and now. Be sure of this: justice, either now or future is a down payment for healing. Let those who separate justice from love be accursed. The repentance of our persecutors is the most efficacious to the healing process, and this is also being denied victims wholesale in the American church. The victims are offended, no one is held accountable, and justice is withheld, but the gospel has much to say about repentance and justice, and it is said to EVERYONE including those who think they speak for God.
It all comes from the same anti-Christ logic. It is the collective good over the one in 99. Today’s Reformed “shepherd” doesn’t understand that one life has already been given for the collective good, and their ignorance is predicated on the fact that they do not know Christ or anything of His justice. This is their kinship with the worst of any murdering mystic depot, and the very reason that they adore John Calvin.
To those who have joined hands with TANC, find a good picture of the Chinese damsels and put it in your wallet or purse with the pictures of your loved ones. It is a reminder that we must never stop fighting against tyranny in the church. It is a reminder that we must cry out in the wilderness if we have to. Tyranny in the church is the same logic that pulls the trigger on an AK-47.
paul
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@JohnPiper Servetus far from only problem with Calvin—told Francis -all in disagreement should be executed = puzzle that he’s your hero.
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