Years ago, I thought about how Calvinism has been labeled as a heresy by KJV Only Fundamentalist Baptists. Dr. Max D. Younce of the Heritage Baptist Bible Church had written a book Not Chosen for Salvation. I used to be in the KJV Only Fundamentalist. The moment I learned that Charles H. Spurgeon was also a Calvinist, I decided to take the neither Calvinist nor Arminian position that some have taken. Unfortunately, Younce has been endorsing that pervert David J. Stewart who I supported for years. I even had no idea that the pulpit of the late Jack F. Hyles has been marred with so many scandals that I thought were just “Jesuit propaganda”. I may have gotten out of the KJV Only movement. However, I still read through a KJV with concordance to get the Hebrew and the Greek words.
The text I decided to study is 2 Thessalonians 2:12-17 to further understand salvation. This time, I will be from the KJV. It’s because the KJV happens to be the favorite version of fundies. Sure, there are some KJV Onlyists who are still friendly towards non-KJV Onlyists. My issue is with the KJV extremists who quarrel with non-KJV Only brethren. Now, let’s read from this text and get some of the Greek to understand it more:
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s very easy to say that predestination was something just invented by John Calvin. However, the KJV text here writes it clearly on the doctrine of election. God has selected the elect from the beginning unto salvation. In short, the man who is part of the elect isn’t the man who selects. The Greek word for beginning is arche, where we get the word archaic. Arche would also mean “the first place, principality, rule, magistracy” or that it’s the active cause. The Greek word for chosen is aihreomai which means taking for one’s self, to prefer, to choose, or elect. The Greek word for salvation is soteria where we get the word soteriology. Soteria means deliverance or salvation. We see that from the arche (beginning), God has aihreomai (chosen) certain people for soteria (salvation, deliverance).
The deliverance is through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. The Greek word for sanctification is hagiasmos. The Greek word for a saint is hagios. It means to be purified, to be consecrated, and set apart for the purpose of God. This would be comprehended that those who have chosen God weren’t chosen because they chose God. Instead, the lost sinner who has no ability to choose God, chose God, because of man’s total inability to believe the Gospel. Romans 3:10-19 says that nobody really looks for God. That’s why some people will never believe no matter how they see the good works shine before them.
How does the elect get gathered? 2 Thessalonians 2:14 says that the elect are called by the Gospel. The very idea that Calvinism kills missions is foolish. It’s not Calvinism but hyper-Calvinism that causes missions to stifle. Some dead churches today are non-Calvinist. Spurgeon, a Calvinist, also said the following:
If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t I must preach “whosoever will” and when “whatsoever” believes I know that he is one of the elect.
The preaching happens to find out which people are chosen for salvation and who aren’t chosen for salvation. I still am thankful for non-Calvinist Christian missionaries for their commitment to the Gospel;. One example was the late missionary, Robert Earl “Bob” Hughes. The man, though not a Calvinist, was determined to do God’s will. Hughes understood the importance of missions and that God will do the rest. A non-Calvininist would even say, “Let us just preach and God will gather them. God knows who will accept and who will reject.” The Calvinist view says, “Only God knows who He has chosen and who He hasn’t.” How will you know who is elected then? It’s by preaching to people. That’s why both the Calvinist and non-Calvinist can agree that all they can do is preach and God will do the rest.
In the case of the doctrine of election, it’s even more humbling to realize that you couldn’t believe in salvation by grace through faith unless God chose you first. It can also sound cruel because we want to believe in man’s free will to believe. Yet, we must see that, again, no one is searching for God, no not one. If it wasn’t for God’s choosing, fallen people will never choose God and still be on their way to Hell. Then again, I’m not going to major in the minors. I’m a Calvinist, some aren’t Calvinists, I’m no longer KJV-Only, and some still are KJV-Only. What we must focus on is the doctrine of salvation by grace through leading to sanctification which will inevitably lead to glorification. The perseverance of the saints isn’t persevering to be saved but persevering because one is saved.
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