There’s so much misrepresentation of what Calvinism or TULIP is all about. Some non-Calvinist brethren don’t understand it. There was even this statement of TULIP as a flower. Most people don’t understand that the term Calvinism wasn’t created by John Calvin but named after him. TULIP became an acronym to summarize what Calvin emphasized. I did more than a year of study about TULIP. I read through Dr. John F. MacArthur’s book The Gospel According to Jesus to investigate the book than rely on what Hyles followers have to say.
I’m not surprised to find someone who said Charles H. Spurgeon couldn’t be saved, and was a “Jesuit spy” (because of that hand-in-coat pose similar to Napoleon Bonaparte), and I think that guy just wants to irritate anyone he could, especially with his so-called “Jesuit expertise”. Spurgeon, a preacher admired even by non-Calvinists who are aware he’s a Calvinist, said this about the Gospel:
And I have my own private opinion, that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and him crucified, unless you preach what now-a-days is called Calvinism. I have my own ideas, and those I always state boldly. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor, I think, can we preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the peculiar redemption which Christ made for his elect and chosen people; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation, after having believed. Such a gospel I abhor. The gospel of the Bible is not such a gospel as that. We preach Christ and him crucified in a different fashion, and to all gainsayers we reply, ‘We have not so learned Christ.’ [Spurgeon’s Sermons, vol. I (Baker Books, reprinted 2007), 88-89.]
Some preachers can say that Calvinism or TULIP can’t be compatible with grace. I did some further study on TULIP, what each point really means, and the Scriptures. I prefer to quote from the KJV (which was translated by Calvinistic scholars) in my defense of my newfound Calvinism. Got Questions summarizes TULIP’s doctrine of grace as follows:
Total Depravity – As a result of Adam’s fall, the entire human race is affected; all of Adam’s descendants are spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1, 5). Calvinists are quick to point out that this does not mean that all people are as bad as they could be. Rather, this doctrine says that, as a result of man’s fall in Adam, all people are radically depraved from the inside and that their depravity affects every area of their lives.
Unconditional Election – Because man is dead in sin, he is unable (and stubbornly unwilling) to initiate a saving response to God. In light of this, God, from eternity past, mercifully elected a particular people unto salvation (Ephesians 1:4–6). These people are comprised of men and women from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9). Election and predestination are unconditional; they are not contingent on man’s response to God’s grace (Romans 8:29–30; 9:11; Ephesians 1:11–12) because man, in his fallen state, is both unable and unwilling to respond favorably to Christ’s offer of salvation.
Limited Atonement – The purpose of Christ’s atoning death was not to merely make men savable and thus leaving the salvation of humanity contingent on man’s response to God’s grace. Rather, the purpose of the atonement was to secure the redemption of a particular people (Ephesians 1:4–6; John 17:9). All whom God has elected and Christ died for will be saved (John 6:37–40, 44). Many Reformed Christians prefer the term “particular redemption” as they feel that this phrase more accurately captures the essence of this doctrine. It is not so much that Christ’s atonement is limited as it is particular, intended for a specific people—God’s elect.
Irresistible Grace – God has elected a particular people to be the recipients of Christ’s atoning work. These people are drawn to Christ by a grace that is irresistible. When God calls, man responds (John 6:37, 44; 10:16). This teaching does not mean that God saves men against their will. Rather, God changes the heart of the rebellious unbeliever so that he now desires to repent and be saved. God’s elect will be drawn to Him, and that grace that draws them is, in fact, irresistible. God replaces the unbeliever’s heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). In Reformed theology, regeneration precedes faith.
Perseverance of the Saints – The particular people God has elected and drawn to Himself through the Holy Spirit will persevere in faith. None of those whom God has elected will be lost; they are eternally secure in Him (John 10:27–29; Romans 8:29–30; Ephesians 1:3–14). Some Reformed theologians prefer to use the term “Preservation of the Saints” as they believe that this choice of words more accurately describes how God is directly responsible for the preservation of His elect. It is clear in Scripture that Christ continues to intercede for His people (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). This continues to provide believers with the assurance that those who belong to Christ are eternally His.
How the doctrine of unconditional election emphasizes the grace of God for sinners incapable of saving themselves
Concerning the doctrine of election, I really want to quote from 2 Timothy 1:9 from the KJV:
Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
In defense of the doctrine of election, it focuses on one thing that verse says–not according to our works! The Greek word for calling is klesis which also means invitation. This focuses on being saved by grace. The doctrine of election is based on these things–not because of what you and I did but what God did. Without God choosing the sinner, the sinner will never choose God. Romans 3:10-12 highlight the total depravity of man. Many times, we tell the sinner to choose God but let’s face it–telling people to look for God is but laughed at. An atheist can consider it laughable because he or she is hardened in their heart, in spite of the evidence. No amount of evidence will ever convince a hardened person
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (KJV)
In short, no one can save themselves, including believing and calling upon the name of the Lord. People can’t follow the Lord Jesus Christ since they’re so dead in sin. It’s very easy to talk about Romans 10:9-13 but who really will bother calling upon the name of the Lord and believing the Gospel if no one is seeking after God. If people are so dead in the sinful nature from Adam–who’s going to believe the Gospel?
Many times, some try to make the doctrine of election more palatable. One of the methods is saying that God saw into the future and saw lost sinners who responded by faith. Sometimes, some will say that, “The man who is elect is the man who selects.” Non-Calvinist brethren in Christ also say, “Only the Lord knows who will accept and who will reject.” Often said, we try to focus on the limited free will of man. However, John 6:37-44 says that none may come to Jesus except the Father draws them.
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (KJV)
This means that if God didn’t choose the person first–that person will never accept God. That’s what makes it even more humbling is that no man can take pride that they finally did Bible study, that they got saved during a Crusade that preaches the Gospel right, that somebody said the sinner’s prayer after hearing a Gospel hard enough for shallow seekers to reject it, in Bible class, in Sunday school, etc. People want to take pride they won so-and-so to the Lord. I wanted to take pride in it only to discover that people will not listen even if the Bible is expounded in deeper Greek and Hebrew, even if facts and figures are shown, and whatever methods there may be. People tend to believe only what they want to believe. I can talk about Jesus’ resurrection all I want but if the person is lost in sin, they’d rather follow the teachings of dead men like Buddha and Mohammad than Jesus.
Perseverance of the saints focuses on the fruit, not the root
I’m afraid that the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints has been often misrepresented. Sometimes, a Christian brother or sister can be misinformed about the doctrine without subscribing to the thought one can be saved but never be sanctified in the Christian life. It’s not about persevering or doing good work to be saved. It’s doing good works because one is saved. Sure, part of me still wants to live like the Devil but that’s countered because one is saved. Instead, we teach that even if a Christian does fall away but that falling away is never complete. There are lapses every now and then but we do have this doctrine that differentiates the saved from the unsaved. It’s easy to talk about once saved always saved (OSAS) while ignoring Scriptural warnings about fake converts.
Spurgeon also spoke this in his sermon “The Final Perseverance of the Saints“:
Please to follow me with your Bibles open. You, dear friends, have most of you received as a matter of faith the doctrines of grace, and therefore to you the doctrine of final perseverance cannot require any proving, because it follows from all the other doctrines. We believe that God has an elect people whom he has chosen unto eternal life, and that truth necessarily involves the perseverance in grace. We believe in special redemption, and this secures the salvation and consequent perseverance of the redeemed. We believe in effectual calling, which is bound up with justification, a justification which ensures glorification. The doctrines of grace are like a chain— if you believe in one of them you must believe the next, for each one involves the rest; therefore I say that you who accept any of the doctrines of grace must receive this also, as involved in them. But I am about to try to prove this to those who do not receive the doctrines of grace; I would not argue in a circle, and prove one thing which you doubt by another thing which you doubt, but “to the law and to the testimony,” to the actual words of Scripture we shall refer the matter.
What’s what preachers like John F. MacArthur and Paul Washer are referring to. No matter how a Christian may fall, that person can’t fall away completely. This is one of my favorite MacArthur quotes that would help point to grace leading to a life of good works:
Ninth, Scripture teaches that genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they will persevere in the faith (1 Corinthians 1:8). Those who later turn completely away from the Lord show that they were never truly born again (1 John 2:19). In contrast, easy-believism teaches that a true believer may utterly forsake Christ and come to the point of not believing.
There’s no instant maturity. There will be lapses every now and then. Yet, the perseverance of the saints is often agreed upon among true believers, Calvinist or not, that can be better called the preservation of the saints. Perseverance happens because of grace. Titus 2:11-14 also teaches that God’s grace teaches good works. Ephesians 2:10 also says Christians are equipped unto good works.
Harry A. Ironside, a non-Calvinist also teaches this one which is in agreement with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints:
What about Matthew 24:13? “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Weymouth says, “He who stands firm unto the end.”
The writer of this question recognizes that primarily this refers to the great tribulation, but it is a principle that I believe every preacher of the Word should insist on. There is no use in people professing conversion, going forward, raising their hands, going to an inquiry room, joining the church, getting baptized, taking communion, teaching a Sunday school class, doing missionary work, giving their money for Christ’s work, and going on like this for years, and then by-and-by drifting away, turning from it all, denying the Lord that bought them, refusing absolutely the authority of Jesus Christ, and yet professing to be saved. It is endurance that proves the reality of a work of grace within the soul. That is the difference between one who is merely reformed by the teaching of Christianity and one who has been born again. You see this very clearly when you contrast Peter and Judas.
Peter slipped and sinned grievously, but in spite of it all he endured to the end. Jesus said, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not,” and though his outward life for a brief period was not what it should be, his faith remained, and Jesus restored him, and he went on to the end of his life until crucified for his Savior. Judas was one of the chosen, he was with the apostolic band but never was regenerated, and so when he sinned and sold his Lord, he turned away an apostate and died a suicidal death. Jesus said of him long before, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Not, “One of you is in danger of becoming a devil,” but “One of you is a devil.” And we are told: “Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:25). Peter was a backslider, Judas was an apostate, and there is a great difference between the two. If a man says, “I am saved,” let him prove it by going on. That is why I say we should not be afraid of the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. Some say, “But I knew a man who was a wonderful Christian, and now he has given it all up and says he is still saved.” He is only deceiving himself. The next time you see him you tell him that the Bible says, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” There is no use your carrying on a profession if your life does not prove it to be real. Men can misuse any doctrine.
In an older version of the site Bible Baptist Church Katipunan (which still continues to be faithful in gathering the elect even as a non-Calvinist church) also had this in their beliefs:
XV. Of The Perseverance Of The Saints
We believe that such only are real believers as endure unto the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that a special Providence watches over their welfare; and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation.
Psalm 121:3; Matthew 6:20; 13:19-21; John 8:31-32; 10:28-29; 16:8; Romans 8:28,35-39; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 1:14; 1Peter 1:5; 1John 2:19
In short, everything from T to P in TULIP is rooted in God’s grace. It’s not man’s work including the ability to persevere to the very end. Fruit isn’t instantaneous but it happens. There’s no instant maturity but maturity is bound to happen. I suspect the misrepresentations are more often done out of malice by closet Antinomians that kept unaware (Jude 1:4). Antinomian means someone who is against the law. No one can be saved and remain the same. Only fake converts will think they have a license to sin True converts will not be perfect but they will no longer live like the rest of the world, by the grace of God.
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