“Not willing for any to perish"

John Gronley

What Calvinism Teaches – page 3

What Scripture Teaches – page 4

God’s Sovereignty – page 7

Man’s Free Will – page 9

Five Points of Calvinism Examined – page 10

Unconditional Election – page 14

Limited Atonement – page 18

Irresistible Grace – page 19

I.   Introduction

This study of the Biblical validity of the Calvinistic system of theology was written in response to a tape series that I listened to on Calvinism. In this series the pastor of a large church in Gilbert, Arizona made the following comments:” Any theology that teaches anything other than the theology expressed by Calvinism is heresy, and the church has always taught Calvinistic like theology throughout the ages. The Synod (Council) of Dort in 1618 condemned the teachings of Jacobus Arminius as heresy and formulated the acronym TULIP to describe what they believed to be the orthodox faith as expressed through Calvinism.”

As a student of church history I know that the historical Christian church has always taught a theology of universal grace (atonement) and freedom of the will which would be closer to the theology of Jacobus Arminius than the theology of John Calvin. Calvin’s theology teaches limited atonement and bondage of the will. The beliefs of the Early Church Fathers (100 AD-325 AD) were leaning towards Arminian theology and Synergism (man’s faith freely cooperating with God’s grace). They taught that man, though fallen still has the ability to respond to God’s call, and that Christ died for the sins of mankind not just the elect. Many of these Church Fathers were disciples of the apostles, apologists, and martyrs; they laid the groundwork for the doctrine of the Trinity, defended the deity of Christ, and developed the early creeds of the church which served as bulwarks against the heresies to preserve the apostolic faith. They will be cited in The Five Points of Calvinism Examined, section VI. It wasn’t until the middle of the 5th century when the theologian Augustine of Hippo began to propagate the doctrine of unconditional election, which is the essence of Calvinism. Augustine’s theology was later refuted by the church councils until the 16th century when Martin Luther and John Calvin revived it; and made some adjustments to his theology to give us what we have today commonly referred to as Reformed theology. 

The Synod of Dort condemned the doctrines of Arminius as heresy nine years after his death. Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) was actually a staunch Calvinist and a Professor of Theology at Leyden. At the request of the Magistrate of Amsterdam he set out to defend the teachings of Calvinism from Dirik Volckaerts zoon Koornheert who was teaching the doctrine of universal grace and freedom of the will. After Arminius began studying the Bible with regards to these issues he realized that his opponent’s arguments were more Biblical than those of the Calvinists were. He too then began to teach the doctrine of universal grace and freedom of the will.

One challenging question I have about Calvinism that will be answered in this study is: if Adam and Eve possessed free will, and God was still sovereign, then why can’t fallen man possess the ability to either accept or reject God’s calling without effecting God’s sovereignty?  

I would implore the reader to keep my intentions in mind while reading this paper and to diligently study the proof texts for both systems of theology, let the scriptures be the final authority. I believe the issues that are about to be studied are first and foremost in-house debates, and are worthy of discussion but not division.
When studying theology we must understand the Bible is not a book of systematic theology rather it is God’s revelation to man. Theology is not a word of God to man but a word of man about God in response to His revelation. For example the resurrection of Christ is a Biblical fact; Christ’s claims to being the Son of God are also Biblical facts. These are clear statements in the Bible that lend themselves to no other interpretation; however, the doctrines of the Trinity, Atonement, Christology, etc. are products of systematic theology developed by man. This is not to say that these doctrines are not founded upon Biblical truth, but rather they are man’s attempt to often describe the indescribable and best explain what he feels God has communicated to him.  Systematic theology is very important and absolutely essential. Saint Paul encourages us to rightly divide the word of God. It is very important when developing theological systems to take into account the full counsel of God, and to avoid building on a few favored scriptures for reasons of theological biases; thus ignoring or explaining away clear statements in the scriptures that are contrary to one’s theology. It is a settled rule in hermeneutics that the unclear passages must be explained by the clear and obvious passages and not vice versa.

II.   What Calvinism Teaches 

Calvinism can be summed up in the acronym TULIP: Total depravity: all of mankind fell in Adam and are guilty of his sin and also inherit a sinful nature. Because of this man can not do any good much less seek and desire God; therefore, God must seek man and regenerate him before man can place saving faith in Christ. 

Unconditional election: since all men are guilty of eternal death, God in His sovereignty for His good pleasure, not foreseeing any faith on man’s part or good works has chosen in eternity past, those which He will save. He will leave the rest in their fallen state to die and suffer eternal damnation for their sins including the sin of Adam or original sin. 

Limited atonement: Christ died for the elect and only the elect. He died for His sheep and not the goats (penal substitution theory). 

Irresistible grace: since God’s election is what He has decreed and can not be thwarted, and is unconditional, when the elect receive the effectual call they will answer it and choose Christ. 

Perseverance of the saints: since God’s election is decreed, and His grace is irresistible, and Christ’s died for them alone; with so perfect a sacrifice and plan of salvation, the elect will persevere until the end.

III.   What Scripture Teaches       

(These scripture verses will be further explained throughout this study, more specifically in section VI.)

God is not pleased to withhold mercy, to pass by His creatures and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath. Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, rather than that he should turn from his ways and live.”

God wills for all men to be saved. Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Peter 3:9  “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  

God calls all men to salvation. Mathew 11:28 Jesus said “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” John 7:37 “Now on the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying ‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink’.” In John 12:32 Jesus said “And if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” Acts 17:30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent.” Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come’. And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who wishes (wills) take the water of life without cost.” Romans 11:32 “For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.” 

Man is born in a fallen state; however, he doesn’t inherit the guilt of Adam’s sin, but he does inherit a sinful nature. Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul that sins shall surely die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” Ephesians 2:3 “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

God’s grace is resistible and man can resist His calling for salvation. Luke 7:30 “But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.” Acts 7:51 “You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” Mathew 23:37 “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” Romans 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God,” John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.” Romans 10:21 “But as for Israel He says, ‘All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people’.”

Regeneration or being born again is simultaneous and conditioned on the act of faith, not prior to the act of faith. Ephesians 1:13 “In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Galatians 3:2 “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” 2 Corinthians 3:16 “but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Acts 19:2 “and he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit’.” Romans 4:3 “And what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’.” 

Atonement is universal, Christ died for all men and not just the elect; however, only those who place saving faith in Christ will benefit from it. Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men” Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”  John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd; and I know my own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”  2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” Hebrews 2:9 “But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” 

1 John 2:2 “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 Timothy 4:10 “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,” John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” 1 Timothy 2:6 “who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.” 2 Corinthians 5:19 “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.”  

God in His foreknowledge knows who the elect are. God’s election of individuals for salvation is never apart from their union with Christ and is conditioned on God’s foreknowledge of who will place faith (non-meritorious) in His Son. 1 Peter 1:1-2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.” Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;” Ephesians 1:4-5  “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,”1 Thessalonians 1:4 “knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;” 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” 

God is sovereign and unconditionally elects nations and people for purposes other than salvation. Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole world’.” Romans 9:11-12 “for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of him who works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘the older will serve the younger’.”  Psalm 135:4 “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession.” 2 Chronicles 6:6 “but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.” 

Salvation is a 100% work of God, saving faith is not a work nor is it meritorious, it is simply accepting the finished work of Christ. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no one should boast.” Romans 3:27-28 “Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.” Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Hebrews 4:2 “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Perseverance of the Saints: Many Christians believe in eternal security. This doctrine is not a challenge to the nature of God, and will not be addressed.

Summary of Biblical Teaching

The doctrines of a divine will and a divine provision of a universal salvation, on the sole condition of faith, are clearly taught in many passages and are Biblical facts. God wills to save all men and has made the provision to do so. To deny this or to restrict these passages to a particular class of people is impossible without doing violence to the grammar and context, and overthrows the system which it is intended to support. To say that God calls all men but only intends to save some is a contradiction between intention and expression and is fatal to veracity, which is the foundation of human morality, and is an essential attribute of God. A man who says the reverse of what he means is called a hypocrite and a liar. The qualities of a good, righteous, just, holy, and loving God are clearly set forth in the scriptures and; therefore, rests on the wisdom and revelation of God and not the reasoning of man. God is first a good God, and from His goodness come forth grace, mercy, love, righteousness, and justice. God is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe and in His sovereignty has given fallen man the ability to accept or reject His calling. God does not delight in the death of the wicked. Salvation is a gift and is 100% from God and man’s exercise of faith is not a work.  

IV.   God’s Sovereignty 

If God is not sovereign, He is clearly not God. God’s sovereignty and His counsel are somewhat mysterious. Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways!” There are at least three different senses in which the “will of God” is used in the Bible. When we understand the different ways in which this phrase is used, we can then understand that God is not personally nor directly responsible for the many things people want to either credit Him or discredit Him with. Though it remains true that everything that happens ultimately falls within His sovereignty. 

God has elected of His own free will to limit the exercise of His sovereignty. For example God has bound Himself by His written word, which is the essence of our faith, thus, we can be confident that when we come to Christ in faith we will be saved. We don’t have to worry if God has changed His mind or His plan for redemption in the secret counsel of His will. God in another sense is limited by His very nature for the Bible says it is impossible for Him to lie. Hebrews 6:18 “in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie.” 

God decrees things to happen. He causes these things to happen by His own omnipotence.   Biblical examples of God’s decretive will are: His choosing Israel as His people, His choosing twelve apostles, His plan of redemption through faith in Jesus, the resurrection, the final judgement of men and angels, etc. Acts 1:7 “He (Jesus) said to them ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority’.” These are just a few of the many events that have and will come to pass for God so ordained them and nothing can thwart God’s decretive will. 

God’s Preceptive Will

God’s Permissive Will

Control Not Causation

The key to sovereignty is not causation but rather ultimate control. Through His absolute foreknowledge of every plan of man’s heart and through His absolute ability and power to either permit or prevent the plans of man, God maintains complete control (sovereignty) over His creation. Foreknowledge is not to be confused with foreordination. Acts 2:23 is a good example of God’s foreknowledge working with His foreordination “this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” This clearly teaches that God’s plan to deliver up His Son was made in view of what He foreknew the Jews and Romans would do. Some have said, “God’s foreknowledge is based on His foreordination of all events”; however, if this were true then God would be the author of sin and is also incorrect because foreknowledge would be rendered merely synonymous with foreordination. God’s knowledge is limitless: Psalm 147:5 “…His understanding is infinite.” It has been charged by some whom say “those who don’t ascribe all events to God’s ordination are exalting man and degrading God”. Actually it’s just the opposite; for God to operate in His sovereignty despite man’s free will choices/blunders, and still bring about His purposes only makes Him a bigger God. No one will argue that Adam & Eve had free will, yet God was still the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. Based on God’s ultimate control, it is true, that whatever happens is God’s will.

V.   Man’s Free Will

God’s Will Can Be Rejected

Why God Permits Men to Reject His Will
David says in Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”  In verse 5, he continues: “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” In verses 8-9 the Lord replies: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.” Why did God allow David to sin? Why did He not simply stop David from sinning in the first place? God did not want His servants to serve Him because they are forced to do so. He wants those who will serve Him to do so freely, willingly accepting His instruction.

VI.   The Five Points of Calvinism Examined

1.  Total Depravity – TULIP

Doctrine stated: 1) When Adam sinned he passed on his sin or original sin to his posterity, the guilt and the effects: spiritual death, physical death, and a sinful nature. Infants are born with the guilt of Adam’s sin as well as the consequences of the fall including spiritual death and physical death. 2) Man’s will was corrupted and he lost the ability to freely choose God for salvation and is unable to convert himself. 3) Since man is spiritually dead he can not respond to God’s call without first being quickened (regenerated or born again) prior to placing saving faith in Christ.

1) Original sin: Calvinism appeals to Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” Romans 3:10 “as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no not one;’” Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Ephesians 2:3 “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” 

Doctrine refuted: the scriptures in the preceding paragraph do not make any reference to the extent of mankind’s participation in Adam’s sin. The concept of mankind being held accountable for the guilt of Adam’s sin was not accepted until the 5th century when Augustine and Jerome promulgated it.  The Eastern Church has never held the position of Adam’s inherited guilt but rather only his inherited sin nature. God forgave Adam and Eve of this sin in Genesis 3:21 “And the Lord made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.” This is the first Biblical account of atonement.  If God forgave Adam and Eve of the guilt of their sin, why would He hold us accountable? The Bible is clear with respect to the accountability of sin. Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul that sins shall surely die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” 

 Just because infants die does not prove that God is holding them accountable for the guilt of Adam’s sin, for even Christians die; and we know that we have been forgiven of all sin. It does; however, prove that we inherit the consequences of his sin. Now if Romans 5:12 is referring to the guilt of Adam’s sin, then we must also accept at the following scriptures. Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.” If indeed Romans 5:12 is dealing with the guilt of Adam’s sin, then these scriptures clearly show that Christ’s death erased the guilt of Adam’s sin. Regarding Romans 3:10 and 3:23, all men are sinners and according to Ephesians 2:3 we are sinners by nature. But we are sinners because of our sin nature and are only guilty of the sins that we commit not the sin that Adam committed.

There is strong scriptural proof to show that children are innocent in God’s eyes until they reach an age of accountability of which age, only God knows. These scriptures are Isaiah 7:15-16 and Deuteronomy 1:34-39. This is a very thorny issue for Calvinism because of the guilt of original sin. Calvin got around this issue by stating that all infants that die are among elect and therefore, Christ’s atonement is applied to them. Unfortunately this is very presumptuous and there aren’t any scriptures to support this doctrine. The issue: if Calvinism is taken in its totality, then infants and unborn babies who die, and are not among the elect will suffer eternal damnation.

2) Man has lost his ability to choose God for salvation: Calvinism appeals to John 6:44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” Calvinism often uses the analogy of a corpse attempting to respond to the call of God in trying to demonstrate that man can not accept Christ prior to being regenerated or born again. This is to demonstrate that it is an issue of man’s inability versus his will. Calvinism also states that a man can not convert himself.

Doctrine refuted: in John 12:32 Jesus said “And if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” Jesus made it clear that His saving grace will be available to all men.     Joshua 24:15  “and if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” This is a Biblical example of Joshua speaking to individuals who are in a fallen state and asking them to make a choice for God. In fact all of the Old Testament believers were in a fallen state and did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or spiritual regeneration, and yet they were still able to choose God. God must draw men unto Himself; therefore, God initiates salvation and will draw all men somehow at some point in time. Jesus said in John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.”  Here the Lord is rebuking the Jews for not coming to Him because of their unwillingness, not their inability. And again in Romans 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God,” Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” God’s word is so powerful that it can speak to the soul of man. The analogy of fallen man being a corpse isn’t appropriate because man is made up of body soul, and spirit. Even though man is spiritually dead (separated from God – Isa 59:2) he still has a soul that is still very much alive and the living word of God calls man through his soul to offer salvation to him. Even Adam & Eve were able to hear the voice of God after they died spiritually. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

All of mankind is endowed with faith. Saving faith is simply the response to the call of God that is accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Why some people hear the gospel and don’t get saved can be explained in these passages. Hebrews 4:2 “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” And Jesus explains why some people hear the word of God and don’t get saved in the parable of the sower. Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so that they may not believe and be saved. And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And the seed, which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” Man does not convert himself, all he does is respond in faith to God’s call which is proclaimed through the preaching of the word of God, which is alive and able to pierce through to the heart, thus, receiving the gift of salvation.

Testimony of the Early Church Fathers: Clement of Alexandria in 195 AD wrote “We…have believed and are saved by voluntary choice.”7 “Choice depended on the man as being free. But the gift depended on God as the Lord. And He gives to those who are willing, are exceedingly earnest, and who ask. So their salvation becomes their own. For God does not compel.”8  Tertullian who is considered the “Father of Western Theology” in 210 AD wrote, “As to fortune, it is man’s freedom of will.”9 Origen in 225 AD wrote, “It seems a possible thing that rational natures, from whom the faculty of free will is never taken away, may be again subjected to movements of some kind.”10 Hyppolytus in 225 AD wrote, “Christ passed through every stage in life in order that He Himself could serve as a law for persons of every age, and that, by being present among us, He could demonstrate His own manhood as a model for all men. Furthermore, through Himself He could prove that God made nothing evil and that man possesses the capacity of self-determination. For man is able to both will and not to will.  He is endowed with the power to do both.”11 Cyprian in 250 AD wrote, “The liberty of believing or of not believing is placed in free choice. In Deuteronomy, it says: ‘Look! I have set before your face life and death, good and evil. Choose for yourself life, that you may live.’ Also in Isaiah: ‘And if you are willing and hear Me, you will eat the good of the land’.”12

3) Man is Totally Depraved to the point that he is unable to believe in God and must be regenerated or born again before he can have the ability believe the gospel and be saved: Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.”   

Doctrine refuted: John 7:39 “But He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Ephesians 1:13 “In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Galatians 3:2 “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” 2 Corinthians 3:16 “but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Acts 19:2 “and he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’  And they said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit’.” Romans 4:3 “And what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’”

Note the order of events in each scripture passage: John 7:39: the believers had not yet received the Spirit, none the less; they still had the ability to believe in God. Ephesians 1:13: they believed; and then were sealed (received) with the Holy Spirit. Calvinism teaches the opposite, which is receiving the Holy Spirit and then believing. In Galatians 3:2: they received the Spirit by faith. Calvinism teaches that you receive faith by the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16: man turns to the Lord then the veil is removed. Calvinism teaches that the veil is removed then man turns to the Lord. Acts 19:2: Paul had assumed that the believers had received the Holy Spirit upon their believing not prior to. If it were the way Calvinism teaches the Scripture would read like this “did you believe having received the Holy Spirit?” And in the case of Abraham in Romans 4:3: under Calvinism it would have to be restated “Abraham being made righteous, then believed.” The Bible clearly shows that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is simultaneous or immediately after the act of faith and; therefore, conditioned upon faith. This is the complete opposite of what Calvinism teaches which states that man is first regenerated and then believes, otherwise stated, faith is conditioned upon regeneration.  

2.  Unconditional Election – TULIP 

Note all three views of election use the same proof texts to support their positions.

1 Peter 1:1-2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.” Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;” Ephesians 1:4-5 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,” Romans 9:11-12 “for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of him who works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘the older will serve the younger’.” Romans 9:16 “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” Romans 9:17-18 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘for this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole world’. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” 1 Thessalonians 1:4 “knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;” 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” Acts 13:48 “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” 2 Timothy 1:9 “who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,” 

Calvinism states: the Westminster Confession: “God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.”1 Based on this premise God has predetermined who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated are foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished. ” 1.5  “Those of mankind that are predestined unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, has chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto; and all to the praise of His glorious grace.”2  “The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His will, whereby He extends or withholds mercy as He pleases, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.”3 

Doctrine stated: Unconditional election; God has predetermined who will go to heaven and who will go to hell, without any foreknowledge of faith or good works on man’s behalf, but strictly for His good pleasure in the secret counsel of His will. Calvin himself taught a double predestination whereby God doesn’t merely pass by a portion of mankind, but actually predestines them to eternal damnation. 

Doctrine refuted: contrary to what the Westminster Confession teaches, it does not please God to withhold mercy, to pass by His creatures and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath. Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, rather than that he should turn from his ways and live.”  The Calvinistic system is not in harmony with the clear Biblical facts that it is God’s will for all men to be saved, and that He sincerely calls all men. Calvinism claims that God has an effectual call for the elect and a general or insincere call for the non-elect; therefore, the full counsel of God is not expressed in this system and is not consistent with the tenor of scripture. Conditional election; however, is in harmony with the Bible. 

Conditional Election 

1) God’s will to save all men: Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 11:32 “For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.” 

2) God calls all men: Mathew 11:28 Jesus said “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” John 7:37 “Now on the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying ‘if any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink’.” John 12:32 Jesus said “And if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” Acts 17:30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent.” Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come’. And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who wishes (wills) take the water of life without cost.”  

Pivotal scriptures for Conditional Election: 1 Peter 1:1-2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.” Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;” These scriptures are key to understanding this mode of God’s election because they clearly teach that His election was based on His foreknowledge and will be shown to be in harmony with the whole tenor of scripture and supported by the early church.

The election scriptures: (Please refer to pages 12 & 13 ‘proof texts’ for scriptural references) Ephesians 1:4-5 are correct, it was according to the kind intention of God’s will to save the believers in Ephesus. However, it is also His will that all men be saved, so these scriptures are in harmony with conditional election based on foreknowledge.

Romans 9:11-12, 16: these scriptures are discussing God’s sovereignty; however, the twins are an allegory representing two nations and nothing is mentioned about their eternal destinies. Genesis 25:23 “And the Lord said to her ‘Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples shall be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.’” God was, in His sovereignty dealing with His preferential treatment of nations, not individuals nor the eternal salvation or damnation of two unborn babies. Romans 9:13 “Just as it is written ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’.” It should be understood that the word hate means favored less. Luke 14:26 Jesus said “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” Jesus was saying that anyone who favored his family members more than Him was not worthy of being His disciple.

Romans 9:17-18: these scriptures are not dealing with Pharaoh’s salvation nor can it be applied to the salvation of individuals, but rather God’s sovereign dealings with Israel and Pharaoh. Note that Pharaoh hardened his own heart five times before God began to harden it and God only hardened his heart four out of the eleven instances. Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:32, 9:7, 9:12, 9:17, 9:35, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10. This is consistent with Romans 1:24 “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.” In Exodus 7:3 God was speaking in light of His foreknowledge that He was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Often God doesn’t need to do anything to harden a man’s heart but merely withholds His divine intervention as stated in Romans 1:24. God in His decretive will shall bring about His purposes. His exalting one nation over another is part of His decretive will and nothing can thwart it. The descendants of Jacob were to rule over the descendants of Esau and nothing could prevent it. God had decreed to set Israel free from the Egyptians and nothing could have stopped it. This does not preclude the fact that Pharaoh could have mitigated his damages by obeying the Lord; however, the Lord foreknew that Pharaoh would not be willing to obey Him. 

1 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, and 2 Timothy 1:9: These are all consistent and in harmony with conditional election based on foreknowledge; and Acts 13:48 is a historical account of the Gentiles who were chosen of God based on His foreknowledge and their time of salvation had come to fruition. Jude 23 “save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” Jude is talking about our responsibility to preach the gospel, thus changing the destiny of some from the fires of hell to eternal life in heaven. If God has already ordained who will go to hell, does this scripture make any sense?    

The problem with the Calvinistic view of unconditional election: the doctrines of a divine will and a divine provision of a universal salvation, on the sole condition of faith, are clearly taught in many passages and are Biblical facts. God wills to save all men and has made the provision to do so. The divine exhortations to repentance, and the lament of Christ over the inhabitants of Jerusalem who “would not” come to Him. These exhortations are insincere, meaningless, and make God a mocker of His creatures if He does not will for all men to be saved and if men do not have the ability to obey or disobey His voice. It is impossible to restrict these passages to a particular class of people without doing violence to the grammar and context. The only way of escape is by the distinction between a revealed or declarative will of God, which declares His willingness to save all men, and a secret or an unsearchable will of God which means to save only some men. He has an effectual call for His elect and a general call or an insincere call for the non-elect. But this distinction overthrows the system which it is intended to support. A contradiction between intention and expression is fatal to veracity, which is the foundation of human morality, and must be an essential attribute of God. A man who says the reverse of what he means is called a hypocrite and a liar. The qualities of a righteous man as well as a good, righteous, just, holy, and loving God are clearly set forth in the scriptures and this judgment of character is not of man’s wisdom but of God Almighty. Unconditional election also presents some problems in the area of assurance of salvation. If an individual’s salvation is based on God’s unconditional election, this individual cannot have 100% assurance that he is saved until he faces God on judgement day. On the other hand if one knows that it is God’s promise that whosoever comes to Him in faith will be saved, this individual can make sure his election and calling and know that God’s promise is for him.

Testimony of the Early Church Fathers: Hermas 150 AD: “To those whose heart He saw would become pure and obedient to Him; He gave power to repent with the whole heart.  But to those whose deceit and wickedness He perceived, and seeing that they intended to repent hypocritically, He did not grant repentance.”13 Justin Martyr is considered the church’s first apologist wrote in 160 AD: “…For the people foreknown to believe in Him were foreknown to pursue diligently the fear of the Lord.”14 Clement of Alexandria in 195 AD wrote: “Therefore, all having been called, those who are willing to obey have been named ‘the called’. For there is no unrighteousness with God…to these, prophecy says,’ If you are willing and hear Me, you will eat the good things of the land,’ proving that choice or refusal depends on ourselves.”15

Limited Atonement – TULIP see Appendix  for  complete discussion on the nature of the atonement

The Westminster Confession “…Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam, are redeemed in Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.”16 In essence Calvinism teaches that Christ died only for the elect and God’s plan was so perfect that not one extra drop of blood would be shed for any but the elect. The scriptures used to support this is John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd; and I know my own, and My own know Me, even as the father knows Me and I know the father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Doctrine refuted: the question is, for whom did Christ die? The answer is He died for all; however, His death only benefits those who appropriate it. God in His foreknowledge knew that if He atoned for the sin of the world and provided for a universal redemption, many would accept the free gift and many wouldn’t. Looking at the Passover story the Israelite family was to kill a lamb and sprinkle the blood upon the doorposts and the lintel of their home and then they were to abide in the house. God was not looking out in the backyard where the lamb was slain; He was going to look upon the doorposts of each individual home. So too Jesus who is our Passover Lamb, we must personally appropriate His blood through faith. God is not looking at all of the blood shed on Calvary just the blood that is appropriated. Again in John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosever believes may in Him have eternal life.”  Here is a good example of the conditional atonement made for all mankind, effectual only for those who appropriate it. Jesus did die for His sheep; however, he also died for the world; including the heretics. 2 Peter 2:1 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” This passage clearly teaches that Christ’s death was sufficient to redeem even the heretics. Jesus paid the price for everyone who has went astray – all mankind: Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” Hebrews 2:9 “But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” 1 John 2:2 “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 Timothy 4:10 “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,” John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” 1 Timothy 2:6 “who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.” 2 Corinthians 5:19 “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.”  

The writings of the Early Church Fathers prove that there was what we would call unanimous consent among them with regards to clearly teaching universal atonement. Here are just a couple of the many writings on universal atonement: Justin Martyr in Dialogue with Trypho cp. xcv in 160 AD wrote: “The whole human race will be found to be under a curse…The Father of all wished His Christ, for the whole human family, to take upon Him the curses of all, knowing that, after He had been crucified and was dead, He would raise Him up…His Father wished Him to suffer this, in order that by His Stripes the human race might be healed.” Irenaeus Against All Heresies bk v. 180 AD “This very thing was proclaimed beforehand: that a new thing should come to renew and quicken mankind.”

4.  Irresistible Grace – TULIP 

Doctrine stated: if God elects a man for salvation he first is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, then he has the ability to believe and he can not and will not resist God’s calling of salvation.

Doctrine refuted: this doctrine is a product of the logical progression of Calvinism. If God has elected someone to eternal life and God’s will can not be thwarted, then His effectual call must be irresistible. However, scripture show us that His grace is resistible. Luke 7:30 “But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.” Acts 7:51 “You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” Mathew 23:37 “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” Romans 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God,” John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life.” Romans 10:21 “But as for Israel He says, ‘All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people’.”

VII.   John Wesley on election and predestination

In 1765 John Wesley gave a sermon titled Free Grace that dealt with what he called ‘the horrible decree’ of predestination. Here is an excerpt from that sermon: let it be observed that this doctrine represents our Blessed-Lord ‘Jesus Christ the righteous’, ‘the only-begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth’- as a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, a man void of common sincerity. For it cannot be denied that He everywhere speaks as if He was willing that all men should be saved. Therefore, to say He was not willing that all men should be saved is to represent Him as a mere hypocrite and dissembler. It can’t be denied that the gracious words which came out of His mouth are full of invitations to all sinners. To say, then, He did not intend to save all sinners is to represent Him as a gross deceiver of the people. You cannot deny that He says, ‘Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden.’ If then you say He calls those that cannot come, those whom He knows to be unable to come, those whom He can make able to come but will not, how is it possible to describe greater insincerity? You represent Him as mocking His helpless creatures by offering what He never intends to give. You describe Him as saying one thing and meaning another; as pretending to love which He had not. Him ‘in whose mouth was no guile’ you make full of deceit, void of common sincerity. Then especially, when, drawing nigh the city, ‘He wept over it’, and said, ‘Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often I would have gathered thy children together … and ye would not’. Now if you say, ‘They would’, but ‘He would not,’ you represent Him (which who could hear?) as weeping crocodile’s tears, weeping over the prey which Himself had doomed to destruction.

Such blasphemy this, as one would think might make the ears of a Christian tingle. But there is yet more behind; for just as it honors the Son, so doth this doctrine honor the Father. It destroys all His attributes at once. It overturns both His justice, mercy, and truth. Yea, it represents the most Holy God as worse than the devil; as both more false, more cruel, and more unjust. More false; because the devil; liar as he is, hath never said he ‘willeth all men to be saved’. More unjust; because the devil cannot, if he would, be guilty of such injustice as you ascribe to God when you say that God condemned millions of souls to everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels for continuing in sin, which for want of that grace He will not give them, they cannot avoid. And more cruel; because that unhappy spirit ‘seeketh rest and findeth none’; so that his own restless misery is a kind of temptation to him to tempt others. But God ‘resteth in His high and holy place’; so that to suppose Him of His own mere motion, of His pure will and pleasure, happy as He is, to doom His creatures, whether they will or not, to endless misery, is to impute such cruelty to Him as we cannot impute even to the great enemy of God and man. It is to represent the most high God as more cruel, false, and unjust than the devil. This is the blasphemy clearly contained in ‘the horrible decree’ of predestination. 

 VllI.   Summary 

Salvation is 100% a work of God and faith is the acceptance of Christ’s finished work.

Saving faith is not meritorious and man’s cooperation in salvation is essential in responding to God’s call and passive in regeneration. All men are endowed with the capacity to believe, and answer the call of God.

God sincerely calls all men to salvation and His written word is alive and able to pierce through the hardest heart assuming the recipient is willing to receive it.

God’s election is based on His foreknowledge and not His foreordination.  The scriptures and the early church are witnesses to this. 

Atonement is universal and Christ shed His blood for all men, even the heretics and unbelievers.

Westminster Confession: chapter 3, section 1

1.5.    Westminster Confession: chapter 3, section 3 & 4

Westminster Confession: chapter 3 ,section 5

Westminster Confession: chapter 3, section 7

Westminster Confession: chapter 6, section 6

Westminster Confession: chapter 7, section 3

Westminster Confession: chapter 10, section 2

Clement of Alexandria:  The Instructor, book 1, chapter 6

Clement of Alexandria:  Salvation of the Rich Man, chapter 10

Tertullian:  A Treatise on the Soul, chapter 20

Origen:  De Principiis, book 2, chapter 3

Hyppolytus:  The Refutation of All Heresies, book 10, chapter 29

Cyprian:  The Treatises of Cyprian, chapter 52

The Pastor of Hermas:  book 3, chapter 6 

Justin Martyr:  Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 70

Clement of Alexandria:  The Stromata, book 1, chapter 18

Westminster Confession: chapter 3, section 6

Westminster Confession: chapter 5, section 2

References of the Church Fathers were taken from The Writings of the Fathers Down to AD 325 Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, DD & James Donaldson, LLD (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., reprint 1995 [orig. 1885]). References of the Westminster Confession were taken from The Westminster Confession of Faith, Free Presbyterian Publications, Gaslow Scotland, reprint 1990 [orig. 1646].

The atonement or the mystery of redemption as the apostle Paul describes it is just that – a mystery which none of the leading theories can fully explain. Most theologians acknowledge the speculative nature of the leading views of the atonement and openly refer to them as theories. All of the theories seem to go well beyond the pages of scripture and are constructed on logic and philosophy more so than the plain and simple scriptural truth that Christ died for sinners and His death was an acceptable sacrifice; and satisfied God’s need to deal with the sin issue once and for all. The early church didn’t fully develop any formal dogma regarding the nature of the atonement until the 11th century when Anselm promulgated his Theory of Satisfaction which weighed heavily on logic versus scripture. Anselm viewed the nature of the atonement from a feudalistic paradigm. Up to his time many of the great church fathers believed that Christ’s death was a ransom paid to Satan. Anselm claimed that the ransom was paid to God in satisfaction of His honor. The Reformed view or Penal Substitution theory is a modification of Anselm’s theory in that it was not God’s honor that needed to be satisfied but rather His justice. Another leading view is called the Governmental theory which states that Christ was not a substitute in punishment but in sufferings; and God was able to accept His sufferings as satisfaction of His justice and can now freely pardon all who accept Christ through faith. As mysterious and speculative is the nature of the atonement, there are biblical truths that God has decided to reveal to us that are adequate so far saving faith is concerned. Most orthodox theologians will agree on the following biblical truths regarding the nature of the atonement:

Vicarious – Whether it be the Penal Substitution or Governmental theory; both schools of thought agree with the explicit biblical view that Christ died for us. Whether He died in place of us as an absolute substitute in punishment (Penal Substitution) or as a provisional substitute in sufferings (Governmental), all will agree that He died for sinners.

Real Atonement – All will agree that the atonement was necessary and had intrinsic value regarding the forgiveness of sins.

Reconciliation – The death of Christ reconciled man with God.

Redemption – Christ’s death was a ransom and redeemed us from the demands of the law, the curse of the law, sin and Satan. It was a ransom to God on behalf of His honor, moral government, retributive justice, rectoral justice; and an appeasement of His wrath.

Satisfaction – The death of Christ was acceptable to God for the salvation of man evidenced by His resurrection. God was satisfied with His atoning death as the grounds for the forgiveness of man.

Calvinists hold to the Penal Substitution Theory. The Governmental Theory also maintains substitution and satisfaction but in a different sense than that of the Calvinistic view. The Governmental view holds to a substitution in sufferings and emphasizes God’s satisfaction in a rectoral sense while acknowledging an element of His retributive justice. The Penal Substitution theory lays much of its emphasis on God’s obligation to punish sin because of His holy nature and punitive justice while acknowledging an element of His rectoral justice. The Governmental theory lays its emphasis on God’s punishing sin to uphold His honor and the integrity of his moral government as the moral ruler of the universe. 

The Penal Substitution theory maintains that Christ in His life of obedience (active righteousness) and sufferings and death (passive righteousness) provided a substitution in penalty for the elect. God’s nature and divine justice demands that sin be punished and God is obligated to punish sin because of its intrinsic demerit. This punishment is not remissible as it is what provides satisfaction to God and divine justice. Christ was imputed with the guilt of the elect, therefore; sin was fully punished in Him. This is the theory in a nutshell.

Problems with the Calvinistic View of the Atonement:

Is God required to punish sin: “God is determined, by the immutable holiness of His nature, to punish all sin because of its intrinsic guilt or demerit; the effect produced on the moral universe being incidental as an end.” – Dr. A.A. Hodge 

God is not required or obligated by any law or by His nature to punish sin; though He does punish sin for both rectoral and retributive purposes. There is no scriptural proof that God is obligated by His nature or law to punish sin. Additionally if God requires that sin be punished in the sinner or a substitute as the grounds for forgiveness; then this is not gratuitous forgiveness. To exact the punishment from the sinner or substitute and then declare them forgiven is not true biblical forgiveness. The judge either pardons or punishes but not both. Jesus gives us a good example of forgiveness in the parable of the unmerciful servant in Mathew 18:23. In this example the servant’s master forgave him his debt without any retribution or punishment. Psalm 103:10: …He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Satisfaction is impossible: The Penal Substitution theory asserts that the judicial infliction of the punishment of sin is on the grounds of personal, intrinsic demerit. Those that hold to this theory maintain that the guilt of sin was imputed to Christ but not the moral turpitude or personal demerit. This raises many questions: Can you separate guilt from personal demerit or the sinner in any real sense? No, guilt cannot exist apart from sin—guilt is not sin. You cannot transfer or impute moral character. Therefore if satisfaction demands that sin be punished solely on the grounds of its intrinsic demerit, then satisfaction by substitution is absolutely impossible. Even if it were possible to separate guilt from sin in any real sense (versus the abstract), sin would still not be punished in Christ but merely the guilt! Nothing could be punished in Christ that was not transferred to Him. Divine justice demands that “the soul that sinneth shall surely die” and “the wages of sin are death”; therefore the actual sinner must be punished accordingly—eternal death.

Acquittal and justice: Most who hold to the Penal Substitution theory maintain that justice demands that when the payment is made for the sin the sinner is acquitted. This would imply that all the elect were saved at Calvary; when someone gets ‘saved’ they are actually just waking up to the fact that they have been saved all the time. According to this theory it would be unjust for God to hold the elect accountable for sin when it has already been paid for by Christ. 

Equality of punishment: If the punishment of sin is eternal damnation, can Christ provide satisfaction though He didn’t suffer eternal damnation? Again the answer is no. Advocates of the Penal Substitution theory maintain that since the substitute is of much greater value, the punishment can be reduced. This is sort of like trading gold for silver. The Penal Substitution theory is very strict in that it maintains that God is obligated and justice demands that sin is fully punished according to its demerit, the wages of sin being eternal death. Can the temporal death of a substitute fully punish sin? Adherents to the Penal Substitution theory are very strict with regards to God’s obligation to punish sin in its totality to its fullest measure.

Absolute or Provisory nature: The Penal Substitution theory maintains that since Christ substituted for the sinner in punishment; if God were to condemn someone for their sins that Christ had already paid for; He would be guilty of double jeopardy; therefore Christ had to die for the elect and only the elect and couldn’t possibly pay the penalty for the unsaved or non-elect. This is the essence of limited atonement. This raises more questions: To charge God with double jeopardy is a misunderstanding of God’s justice. This same reasoning would also charge God with injustice when He had His Angel of Death kill 70,000 innocent Jews when He punished David for taking a census; yet none would dare make any such accusation. 

The Old Testament sacrifices required the sinner to appropriate the sacrifice to their lives. The Passover lamb is an excellent example of this. Though the sacrifice had been made, it was of no benefit to the individual unless the blood of the lamb was applied to the door posts of his house. So this sacrifice had a provisory nature and not an absolute nature as proffered by the adherents of the theory of Penal Substitution. The atoning benefits of the sacrifices had to be appropriated to the individuals much like the serpent in the wilderness had to be appropriated by faith of the individual.

Christ died on behalf of sinners, not as an absolute penal substitute: Christ compared the nature of His atoning death to that of the serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness John 3:14-15. Here Jesus clearly shows us the provisory nature of His death. Only those who looked to the serpent in faith were healed, yet it was raised up on the pole for all who were bitten; just as only those who look to Christ’s atoning death in faith shall be saved. This picture of the atonement clearly shows us that Christ died on behalf of us not as a substitute in punishment. No one would argue that the serpent was not functioning in the office of a substitute. Of the 29 scriptures in the New Testament regarding the atonement of Christ; only 1 employs the word Anti which means for or instead of (substitute) and the other 28 employ the word Huper which most commonly means for or in behalf of or for the benefit of.  Mat 20:28 the word Anti is used to describe Christ’s death as a ransom for (anti) many. In Lk 22:19, 20, Jn 6:51, 10:11, 15:13, Rom 5:6, 5:8, 8:32, 14:15, 1 Cor 1:13, 15:3, 2 Cor 5:14, 15, 5:21, Gal 1:4, 2:20, 3:13 Eph 5:2, 5:25, 1 Thes 5:9, 10, 1 Tim 2:6, Tit 2:14, Heb 2:9, 1 Pet 2:21, 3:18 4:1, 1 Jn 3:16 In all of these scriptures the word Huper is employed where the word for is used. Examine each scripture and as you read them instead of the word for replace it with the phrase in behalf of, for the sake of, for the benefit of. Christ dying on behalf of mankind is much different than Christ dying for the elect.

Conclusion: Christ’s death was not an absolute penal substitution but did have an element of substitution in it. Moreover it is truer to the scriptures to say that Christ died on behalf of sinners and was a substitute in sufferings; this is not to say that there wasn’t an element of retribution (but more of a collateral issue and quite undefined). The atonement was essential and satisfied God which was proven by the resurrection. There is not one theory of the atonement that adequately explains the nature of Christ’s death. Each theory has some elements of truth but not to the exclusion of the other theories. What God has revealed to us in His bible is sufficient for salvation. Let’s not go too far beyond the pale of scripture, rather accept the simple fact that Christ died for sinners, His death reconciled us to God and redeemed us from the law, sin and Satan; and it was absolutely necessary for Christ to die for us, and God was satisfied by His death.