Charles Spurgeon was correct when he said: "I have heard it asserted most positively, that those high doctrines which we love and which we find in the Scriptures, are licentious ones. I do not know who has the hardihood to make that assertion, when they consider that the holiest of men have been believers in them. I ask the man who dares to say that Calvinism is a licentious religion, what he thinks of the character of Augustine or Calvin or Whitfield, who in successive ages were the great exponents of the system of grace; or what will he say to those Puritans, whose works are full of them? Had a man been an Arminian in those days, he would have been accounted the vilest heretic breathing; but now we are looked upon as the heretics and they the orthodox." I think this is even more pronounced today, decades after Spurgeon uttered those words.
The great doctrines of grace, often called Calvinism, are condemned by those who are ignorant of the Scriptures. These truths are not Calvin's doctrines but Jesus' and Paul's and Simon Peter's. How can a true believer read the words of Jesus in John 10 without understanding the relationship between Christ and His sheep? It is certainly true that the death of Christ has universal value, but Jesus made it very clear that He calls a particular group to Himself, they know His voice and follow Him. He also made it very clear that only those whom the Father has ordained to eternal life will believe or follow. Who can argue with the Apostle Paul's presentation of election, regeneration and reconciliation in his epistle to the Ephesians? And Simon Peter's teaching that one's spiritual growth is confirmation of one's election?
The accusation that these doctrines encourages licentious behavior is absurd. It is human nature that encourages licentious behavior, not more so in a Calvinist than any one else, the difference being that a Calvinist tends to be more open, admitting his depravity while others hypocritically hide their bent toward sin. It is never presumptuous to acknowledge our complete failure as a sinful creature and our complete dependance on deliverance through Christ. To hold ourselves out as something that we are not is to live a lie and ignore our need for a Redeemer.
The great doctrines of grace, often called Calvinism, are condemned by those who are ignorant of the Scriptures. These truths are not Calvin's doctrines but Jesus' and Paul's and Simon Peter's. How can a true believer read the words of Jesus in John 10 without understanding the relationship between Christ and His sheep? It is certainly true that the death of Christ has universal value, but Jesus made it very clear that He calls a particular group to Himself, they know His voice and follow Him. He also made it very clear that only those whom the Father has ordained to eternal life will believe or follow. Who can argue with the Apostle Paul's presentation of election, regeneration and reconciliation in his epistle to the Ephesians? And Simon Peter's teaching that one's spiritual growth is confirmation of one's election?
The accusation that these doctrines encourages licentious behavior is absurd. It is human nature that encourages licentious behavior, not more so in a Calvinist than any one else, the difference being that a Calvinist tends to be more open, admitting his depravity while others hypocritically hide their bent toward sin. It is never presumptuous to acknowledge our complete failure as a sinful creature and our complete dependance on deliverance through Christ. To hold ourselves out as something that we are not is to live a lie and ignore our need for a Redeemer.
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