February 3, 2025 • 28 mins
Is Calvinism a theological misunderstanding, or does it align with biblical teachings? Join us as we tackle the controversy surrounding John Calvin’s doctrines by dissecting the TULIP acronym—Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. Some parts of Calvinism may resonate with scripture, but we argue others are in stark contrast. While exploring these complex ideas, we propose that everyone is granted grace to respond to God, challenging predestination and the notion that atonement is exclusive to the elect. Our discussion invites you to embark on a personal exploration of scripture to uncover the truth behind these theological debates.
We also confront the validity of Calvinism by highlighting the universal call to faith and the essence of God’s love as revealed through scripture. We question predetermined salvation by emphasizing the significance of human choice, referencing key biblical passages like Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8-9. We assert that God’s desire is for all to be saved, and encourage you to engage with scripture to discern these teachings. Furthermore, we ponder the power of language and its alignment with Christian values, hinting at future content that could explore this topic more deeply. Stay connected with us on social media, and share your thoughts and suggestions for upcoming episodes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is up?
Faith In Failures community.
Welcome back to another episode.
Today we're going to dive deepinto Calvinism.
Some of you may have not evenever heard of this term or this
kind of branding overChristianity, but today we're
going to dive into it.
We're going to give my completethoughts.
First we're going to talk aboutwhat it is, what they believe,
(00:21):
what they hold to, and thenwe're going to break down in
scripture why I believe thatthis perspective is completely
wrong, and then we're going towrap it up.
So stick around.
Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you
to all of the new subscribers.
If you haven't yet considersubscribing, hit that bell
notification so that you can seeevery time I put out a new
(00:44):
video.
A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
subscribed yet, so why not?
It's free.
You can also find a PayPal linkbelow if you want to give a
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
Video.
(01:14):
So let's walk over what exactlyis Calvinism?
Let's look at the kind of, thesetup of what they use in their
theology.
So it's a system of theologythat originated with the
teachings of the reformer JohnCalvin.
So hence, calvinism In the 16thcentury.
Now it's famously remembered bythe acronym TULIP T-U-L-I-P.
(01:35):
So the first, the T, is totaldepravity.
The second is unconditionalelection.
Number three is limitedatonement.
Four, irresistible grace.
Five, perseverance of thesaints.
Now, as we go through this,there is no doubt some of these
(02:01):
parts of this are biblical andaccurate.
Parts of this are biblical andaccurate, but we're going to
break down a little bit of thevery specific details of what
they believe and why.
I believe the word saysdifferent, but we're going to
walk through it.
So these points summarize aCalvinism perspective of
(02:23):
salvation how we as humans cometo know God and are saved from
our sins.
So this is what they go back to, to say this, this, this and
this.
This is how you're saved, thisis how you remain saved, this is
what happens to get you to besaved.
We're going to dive into thatand get real deep on that.
So we're going to break themdown kind of briefly but I'll
(02:44):
give you something to chew on.
Hopefully you at home andwatching this, you will go
search for yourself.
I hope every episode makes yougo search and dig for yourself.
Do not take a guy on YouTube'sopinion.
You need to work out your own.
Salvation with fear andtrembling before the Lord.
Salvation with fear andtrembling before the Lord.
(03:10):
So let's kind of dive into thetulip part.
So, total depravity.
So the definition?
Now this is the Calvinistperspective.
Humans are so fallen that theyare completely incapable of
choosing God or doing soincapable of choosing God or
doing so or doing anything goodon their own.
Common Calvinist claims is thatbecause we are so depraved, if
(03:39):
God does not choose usunconditionally, we can never
come to him.
Now, there's no question thathumanity is sinful.
We were born into sin.
We have the fall of man In thevery beginning, in Genesis,
where God creates everything.
He creates man, then he createswoman from that man, and all
this is well and good.
(04:00):
But then they end up beinglured or deceived by the promise
of knowing what is beyond whatthey know, which, if you pay
attention to today's world andthat's kind of what we're
tempted with all the time.
However, I believe Scriptureshows that, although we are
(04:24):
fallen, god grants every personenough grace to respond to him.
Key word to respond.
We'll look at specific verseshere shortly.
So, unconditional election.
Okay, so this is the tulip,this is the you.
The first one was totaldepravity.
The second unconditionalelection.
(04:44):
So the definition and this isfrom a calvinist perspective
before creation, god chosecertain individuals to be saved
and others to be passed over oreffectively condemned without
any conditions, meaning god'schoice isn't based on anything
we do or believe, it's purelyHis will.
Now, the problem with this isthis view implies that God does
(05:10):
not sincerely desire everyone tobe saved, only the elect.
So the third, the L limitedatonement.
The definition sorry, it doesnot look like I'm, it says it's
(05:33):
on my eye, we'll see thedefinition, the Calvinist
perspective of limited atonementJesus' atoning sacrifice on the
cross was only for those whomGod predestined to be saved.
Now the problem with this isthis teaching conflicts and
contradicts with multiplescriptures that speak of Christ
(05:55):
dying for the world, not just acertain group of people or elect
.
That he actually died for theworld.
We're going to look atscripture in just a minute, so
hold on.
So the I in TULIP irresistiblegrace by Calvinist perspective
and definition if God has chosento save you, his grace will
(06:17):
ultimately overcome yourresistance.
So we have a problem, bigproblem.
You can't say no to it.
And what's the problem.
This teaching makes human willalmost irrelevant in the
salvation process, suggesting wedon't really get to respond
freely to god.
So the p of tulip isperseverance of the saint.
(06:43):
Now, I believe in part of this.
If you persevere to the end andyou remain faithful, you remain
with God, you will make it toheaven.
That's, to me, very biblicalcommon sense.
Their definition is those whoare truly elected and saved will
persevere in faith until theend, that they cannot lose their
(07:05):
salvation.
Now, this is a setup.
We've talked about this before.
If you can lose your salvation,it's a setup.
No, I don't think someone cancome in and rob you of your
salvation, but I do believe, andbased on Scripture watch that
other video if you haven't seenit but based on Scripture, we
have choices to stay with or towalk away.
Based on scripture, we havechoices to stay with or to walk
(07:26):
away.
The Bible even describes in theend there will be a great
outbreak of a revival typesituation where people will be
coming to God, coming to faith,coming to know Jesus, and then
there will be a great fallingaway.
Well, you can't fall awayunless you are first next to.
So that is a literaldescription of being able to
(07:46):
fall away, fall out of favorwith God by turning away, but
they, while scripture assures usGod keeps us, it also warns us
repeatedly about falling away,suggesting our ongoing faith
matters.
So I agree partly with this,but the key part that they, the
Calvinists, try to say is thatthere is not a choice, that once
(08:09):
you are chosen, you are chosenand you can't stop it.
So let's look at a few key Bibleverses.
We have one, two, three, four,five, six.
I could do a lot more.
Wait, did I accidentally dohold on?
Yeah, I accidentally did.
So we have five.
I accidentally did the last onetwice on accident.
(08:32):
So we're going to first lookover in 2 Timothy, 2.
I'm going to have it on yourscreen.
So second, sorry.
1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 3and 4.
1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 3and 4.
This is good and pleases God,our Savior, who wants everyone
(08:54):
to be saved and to understandthe truth.
Now, this passage directlystates that God wants everyone
it's right here in the texteveryone to be saved and to
understand the truth, to besaved and to come to know the
truth.
(09:14):
If we pair this with thedoctrine of unconditional
election, it appearscontradictory to say God only
elects a specific group ofpeople.
Why would he desire thateveryone become saved, yet only
(09:35):
choose some?
So we have a conflict of natureand scripture defining God, and
that is in direct conflict.
God, he never changes.
He always, always stays thesame and the way he was is the
way that he is and the way hewill always be.
(09:56):
So let's go to our next text.
In second Peter chapter, verse 3and 9, the Lord isn't really
being slow about his promises,as some people think.
No, he is being patient for oursake.
He does not want anyone to bedestroyed, but wants everyone to
(10:21):
repent.
He doesn't want anyone to bedestroyed, but everyone to
repent.
So again we see the inclusivelanguage everyone.
He desires everyone to come toknow salvation.
God's heart is for all to findrepentance.
To me, this seems like a very nobrainer argument against
(10:45):
selection of God will onlyselect a few and it takes away
the free will of that.
If you once said yes to God,well, now you're in and you
can't resist him.
Now, I'm not saying that heisn't irresistible, but if we do
this, then we are nothing butmeat puppets, which sounds
disgusting when I say it outloud, but it's like we don't
(11:08):
have.
We don't ever have a choice andwe're predestined, which means
that before you were ever born.
Now, god's knowledge of ourchoices and his implementation
of his will over our choices aretwo separate things, which
means God can know what you'regoing to choose.
(11:28):
He is God, he is sovereign.
My view on this and my view onsalvation does not make God less
powerful or less sovereign orless all-knowing or less
omniscient and omnipresent.
He is all of the things thatthe characteristic of God.
The Bible describes Him.
All these things are true andthey will remain true forever.
(11:50):
But he is not going to force.
Just for a good example, inGenesis he didn't force Adam and
Eve.
He gave them a choice.
He gave them, he presented themwith options and he said here's
the options Don't do this.
Everything else is good, butthis do not.
And he said here's the options,don't do this.
(12:10):
Everything else is good, butthis do not.
And so if you are usingCalvinism as a launching pad of
understanding, you haveconfirmation bias, where you
read the scripture and all lookat the very basic thing of if it
was already predestined, godwould not have given the option
(12:35):
to go against his word.
You're telling me that Adam andEve, both directly created, not
by other humans, created fromthe gift of God, gives us to be
able to procreate, but he,literally with his own hand and
his own breath, breathed andthey came to life.
He took the rib from Adam andcreated the woman, and it was
like all these things were goodand God still gave them the
(13:00):
option to opt out and to walkaway from, and there was a price
that they had to pay for that.
They got kicked out of paradise.
They couldn't come back ever,and so we have a very early on
description of how God says youhave a choice, but yet Calvinism
, whatever John Calvin pulledout of the scripture, and I
(13:23):
don't know what scripture she'spulling from.
There's some that people pullfrom the once saved, always
saved, theology, but it doesn'thold water when you read things
about falling away, which isanother video that I've already
done.
Please go look it up in myplaylist.
But anyways, this is good andpleases God.
Let's see.
We're on 2 Peter 3, 9.
The Lord isn't really beingslow about his promise, as some
(13:44):
people think.
No, he is being patient foryour sake.
He does not want anyone to bedestroyed, but wants everyone.
Now why would?
Why he wants everyone to repent.
Why would God be patient?
Because he's hoping that morewill choose.
His desire is for us to choosehim, but he is patient, he's
(14:05):
loving and he is good and he isjust, and so his desire is for
us to come to him.
But not all will come and somewho have come will turn away.
We see the inclusive language.
Everyone God's heart is for allto find repentance.
Limited atonement teaches Christonly died for a specific few,
(14:28):
but these verses show aconsistent message God desires a
universal invitation forsalvation.
So let's be simple and let's goto one of the probably the
first verses.
If you're a Christian that youlearned was this verse right
here?
Now think about how they think.
Calvinists think that you canonly come to Christ if you are
(14:52):
chosen to come to Christ.
Now read this, for this is howGod loved the world.
He gave His one and only Son sothat everyone who believes in
Him will not perish but haveeverlasting life.
Notice it says God loved theworld, not a small subset of
(15:12):
humanity, not a select few, buthe loved the world, the entire
world.
It then says everyone whobelieves in him will have
eternal life Everyone.
It's trying to cast the net aswide as possible, like a regular
(15:32):
church.
Saying is like let's makeheaven crowded, let's get as
many people, let's try to savethe world.
Jesus himself gave the mandateto the disciples go into all the
world, preach the good news.
What would be the point of themspreading?
Like, if you, if the Calvin, ifyou went by the Calvinist
(15:53):
theology, what would be thepoint of preaching the gospel If
God's already selected who'sgoing to come and who's going to
stay?
There would be literally nopoint.
The um, the uh acts two, wherethe Holy spirit came down.
There would be no point Forthere needing to be power to
give them authority over thedemonic spirits, the oppression
(16:19):
that was over the people, toliterally be more bold, to have
a leader into all truth.
There would be no point ifeveryone who is going to come to
Christ has already beenselected.
The rest of the book ispointless.
That's just the facts.
(16:40):
So Calvinism doesn't.
For some reason in his studieshe did not see that common
denominator of okay, well, ifthey're going to, if they're
mandated to, spread the gospel,then there must be a wide net
instead of a select few.
It just doesn't make sense.
Doesn't make sense at all.
Because, uh, even jesus, whenhe called out his disciples we
(17:03):
just did this in our bible studyon wednesday, last wednesday
that he, I will make you fishersof men, he didn't say some men,
he didn't say I'm going to gopoint out which men, but he said
I'm going to make you a fisherof men.
And if you know how they fishedback then, it was a wide net to
catch as many as you can in oneswoop.
So it just seems like a nobrainer.
(17:24):
The invitation is not arestricted.
The invitation is not arestricted.
It's not restricted to a group,pre-selected or pre-chosen.
It's an offer made to allthrough jesus christ, so that
every person has the opportunityto accept it.
(17:44):
So let's go to romans um,chapter 6, verse 23, for the
wages of sin is death, but thefree gift of god is eternal life
through christ jesus, our lord.
Salvation is described as agift.
A gift can be received or itcan be rejected.
(18:05):
If god's grace were trulyirresistible, then it wouldn't
really be a gift offered at all.
It would be more like animposed salvation for the elect.
But the verse and many othersportray eternal life as
something lovingly given whichmust be freely received.
(18:31):
And we're going to look at ourlast verse.
It's a little bit shorter today, but it's very intentional and
direct to the point.
Look over Ephesians 2, verse 8and 9.
God saved you by His grace whenyou believed, and you can't
take credit for this.
It is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward forthe good things we have done, so
(18:55):
none of us can boast about it.
Now, while this verseemphasizes we can't earn
salvation by works, it alsounderscores that we are saved
when we believe.
There is nothing in the word ofGod that calls out a specific
people that is allowed to besaved and another people that is
not.
This has zero hope attached toit.
(19:17):
The human response in this textsays when you believe, which
means there is somethingreceived and chosen people
choose to come to the Lord, justas they can choose and this is
(19:40):
the issue with the wholepredestined and eternal security
and all that stuff is yes, whenwe live for Christ, we are
secure in salvation, we aresecure in heavenly places, but
we have the option.
Time and time and time again,you see examples of people who
(20:01):
knew God but run from God, thatcame to God, but then they
rejected God and there isconsequences for rejecting God.
To say that you don't have theoption means you shouldn't have
a consequence.
If there's no choice, thereshould be no consequence.
There can't be a consequencebecause you didn't choose.
(20:22):
Calvinism suggests that ourbelief is a result of God's
decree and is irresistible.
But scripture repeatedly callsus to choose to believe and
place our faith in Christ.
So now, given the scriptureswe've looked at today, here are
(20:42):
a few reasons why I believeCalvinism in its strict form is
not supported by the Bible.
Number one Scripture teaches,as we just read, a universal
invitation over and over and,over and over.
The Bible uses specificlanguage, like all or the whole
(21:04):
world.
If atonement was truly limited,these passages could be
misleading at best, and for themto say different means that
they are saying scripture iswrong and that's not what it
means, when it's very plainlywritten in the scripture.
And if somebody says that whatthe scripture means and they try
to twist it up to meansomething else, I would run for
(21:24):
them because I would almostlabel them a heretic.
God's will and human choice.
The Bible shows that Goddesires everyone to repent and
to be saved.
That is the heart of the Father.
That is why he sent his son sothat everyone could have the
option to repent and to be savedand to turn from their wicked
(21:46):
ways.
If he unconditionally electedonly some, this would seem to
conflict with his stated desirein passages like 1 Timothy 2 and
2 Peter 3.
The third reason I think thisis not accurate or biblical is
the nature of God's love.
God's love is portrayed asself-giving and available to all
(22:11):
, for this is how God loved theworld.
John 3.16.
He extends God's invitationuniversally, not selectively.
Number four he consistentlycalls for repentance and for us
to believe.
The New Testament is full ofinvitations to repent, believe
(22:35):
and receive Christ.
If grace were irresistible,such appeals would be
unnecessary.
The calls imply a humanresponse, and this is a genuine
need and a possibility.
So I want you to think aboutthis.
Maybe you believe this way andyou've never heard this argument
on this side before, or maybeyou have never heard of
(22:58):
Calvinism, but you are.
This is your first dive into it.
What you need to do as aresponsible Christian is not
believe a YouTuber or a channelor a reel or a TikTok, and you
need to dive in yourself and sayLord, what are you leading me
to what?
And not only opinions of people, but what is biblical.
(23:21):
That should be, as a Christian,your number one thing Does it
align with what the Bible saysor does it contradict what the
Bible says?
If a belief or a theologycontradicts in any way what the
Bible says, run from it.
Now, that doesn't mean alldenominations are perfect and
this and that I get that, butall denominations and I'm a part
of one, all denominations are100% man-made.
(23:45):
It's not biblical.
Matter of fact in the ActsChurch, where the Lord was doing
a new thing and breaking out,it was a spirit-filled movement
and I believe that's what I'm apart of right now as the Church
of God from Cleveland, tennessee.
But I do not look down onothers for what they believe,
(24:08):
because I understand thatunderstanding sometimes can be
limited, especially if you'retaught in a way that excludes or
runs from hard conversationsabout biblical truths, acts 2
being one of those.
So you, as a Christian, you havea responsibility to know what
your church believes, what theyteach, like if they exclude
(24:33):
certain books of the Bible anddon't teach out of them or ever
talk about them or say that, oh,because of this little one
sentence right here nullifieseverything that happens after
that, like, for instance, thereare some that believe that the
gifts of the spirit died outwith the apostles, when actually
there was a obviouscontinuation in Corinthian, the
(24:54):
church of Corinth.
That were not the disciples,they were not the apostles, they
were not.
They were church people,different churches that Paul was
writing letters to, and thesepeople had gifts of the spirit.
They were perverting them andmaking them about themselves,
but it was obvious that theystill existed and still was
around.
It wasn't dying out, it wasaround.
It wasn't dying out, it wascontinuing.
So, that being said, most ofCalvinists that I know of
(25:19):
believe they're cessationists.
They believe that all the giftshave died down when there is no
scripture to back that up.
And so that's what I want you,as a believer in Christ.
I want you to not take a personwho sounds good, who sounds
charismatic, who sounds you knowthey keep your attention, that
you like the way they speak, youlike the way they preach.
You need to work out yoursalvation between you and God
(25:42):
according to scripture, notdenomination according to
scripture, not according to whata man says, but according to
the word of God.
This is where you will find agood, healthy, solid place to
where you can really begin togrow and you begin to flourish.
That's what our whole goalshould be.
Is spiritual maturity that weneed to stop making it about our
(26:05):
preference and making it moreabout God's presence.
Is God even here?
Are we gathering?
Are we worshiping?
Are we learning the word?
Are we being able to apply theword in our lives?
If not, then you're at thewrong church and don't go there
because your family's been therefor 50 years.
Sometimes some of the hardestthings you have to do is to cut
(26:29):
off enjoyable things for thehealth and benefit of your
spirit and your mind and yourfamily.
So I hope today this was alittle bit insightful.
I hope this spurs a hunger foryou to dive deep and really
dissect and know what youbelieve, because it's important
to know what you believe becauseif not, you'll believe anything
(26:50):
, and I don't want that for you.
I want you to be a person whowho, if their church was to blow
up today, everybody in it died.
You could start your own churchbecause your foundation was on
Christ, the solid rock, notbuilt on man, not built on a
church, not built on anorganization, not built on on a
denomination, but built onChrist, the solid rock, and then
(27:12):
you build from there, from thescriptures up.
Okay, I think it's very healthyfor a person who loves God to
deconstruct their faith, andwhat I mean by deconstruct is
start seeing, start asking,start looking is what I believe,
what scripture says, and if itdoesn't, you need to change your
belief and don't keep it thatway, because you enjoy your life
(27:33):
right now and you don't wantanything to mess what you got
going on up, which is very, veryeasy to do, because we like
what we like and we like to dowhat we like to do.
I don't want to change the way Ispeak, even though the Bible
says that even slander isagainst the way we should be
acting as Christians, or whatcomes out of my mouth Like these
(27:53):
are biblical examples.
That may be a good one iscursing wrong.
That may be the good next video.
Anyways, if you have an ideafor a video, comment down below,
below this video, and or, ifyou will, that'd be so awesome.
If you would rate whateverplatform you listen, whether
it's Spotify, Apple or Androidpodcast.
(28:14):
If you would rate this andshare this, that would be
awesome.
Download it and just give athumbs up on YouTube or
subscribe to the channel, andyou can also find me on
Instagram my personal is StephenTillman but also at Faith and
Failures and on Facebook.
So thank y'all.
I love y'all, I'm praying foryou and I hope you have an
amazing week.
What is up?
Faith In Failures community.
Welcome back to another episode.
Today we're going to dive deepinto Calvinism.
Some of you may have not evenever heard of this term or this
kind of branding overChristianity, but today we're
going to dive into it.
We're going to give my completethoughts.
First we're going to talk aboutwhat it is, what they believe,
(00:21):
what they hold to, and thenwe're going to break down in
scripture why I believe thatthis perspective is completely
wrong, and then we're going towrap it up.
So stick around.
Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to say thank you
to all of the new subscribers.
If you haven't yet considersubscribing, hit that bell
notification so that you can seeevery time I put out a new
(00:44):
video.
A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
subscribed yet, so why not?
It's free.
You can also find a PayPal linkbelow if you want to give a
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
Video.
(01:14):
So let's walk over what exactlyis Calvinism?
Let's look at the kind of, thesetup of what they use in their
theology.
So it's a system of theologythat originated with the
teachings of the reformer JohnCalvin.
So hence, calvinism In the 16thcentury.
Now it's famously remembered bythe acronym TULIP T-U-L-I-P.
(01:35):
So the first, the T, is totaldepravity.
The second is unconditionalelection.
Number three is limitedatonement.
Four, irresistible grace.
Five, perseverance of thesaints.
Now, as we go through this,there is no doubt some of these
(02:01):
parts of this are biblical andaccurate.
Parts of this are biblical andaccurate, but we're going to
break down a little bit of thevery specific details of what
they believe and why.
I believe the word saysdifferent, but we're going to
walk through it.
So these points summarize aCalvinism perspective of
(02:23):
salvation how we as humans cometo know God and are saved from
our sins.
So this is what they go back to, to say this, this, this and
this.
This is how you're saved, thisis how you remain saved, this is
what happens to get you to besaved.
We're going to dive into thatand get real deep on that.
So we're going to break themdown kind of briefly but I'll
(02:44):
give you something to chew on.
Hopefully you at home andwatching this, you will go
search for yourself.
I hope every episode makes yougo search and dig for yourself.
Do not take a guy on YouTube'sopinion.
You need to work out your own.
Salvation with fear andtrembling before the Lord.
Salvation with fear andtrembling before the Lord.
(03:10):
So let's kind of dive into thetulip part.
So, total depravity.
So the definition?
Now this is the Calvinistperspective.
Humans are so fallen that theyare completely incapable of
choosing God or doing soincapable of choosing God or
doing so or doing anything goodon their own.
Common Calvinist claims is thatbecause we are so depraved, if
(03:39):
God does not choose usunconditionally, we can never
come to him.
Now, there's no question thathumanity is sinful.
We were born into sin.
We have the fall of man In thevery beginning, in Genesis,
where God creates everything.
He creates man, then he createswoman from that man, and all
this is well and good.
(04:00):
But then they end up beinglured or deceived by the promise
of knowing what is beyond whatthey know, which, if you pay
attention to today's world andthat's kind of what we're
tempted with all the time.
However, I believe Scriptureshows that, although we are
(04:24):
fallen, god grants every personenough grace to respond to him.
Key word to respond.
We'll look at specific verseshere shortly.
So, unconditional election.
Okay, so this is the tulip,this is the you.
The first one was totaldepravity.
The second unconditionalelection.
(04:44):
So the definition and this isfrom a calvinist perspective
before creation, god chosecertain individuals to be saved
and others to be passed over oreffectively condemned without
any conditions, meaning god'schoice isn't based on anything
we do or believe, it's purelyHis will.
Now, the problem with this isthis view implies that God does
(05:10):
not sincerely desire everyone tobe saved, only the elect.
So the third, the L limitedatonement.
The definition sorry, it doesnot look like I'm, it says it's
(05:33):
on my eye, we'll see thedefinition, the Calvinist
perspective of limited atonementJesus' atoning sacrifice on the
cross was only for those whomGod predestined to be saved.
Now the problem with this isthis teaching conflicts and
contradicts with multiplescriptures that speak of Christ
(05:55):
dying for the world, not just acertain group of people or elect
.
That he actually died for theworld.
We're going to look atscripture in just a minute, so
hold on.
So the I in TULIP irresistiblegrace by Calvinist perspective
and definition if God has chosento save you, his grace will
(06:17):
ultimately overcome yourresistance.
So we have a problem, bigproblem.
You can't say no to it.
And what's the problem.
This teaching makes human willalmost irrelevant in the
salvation process, suggesting wedon't really get to respond
freely to god.
So the p of tulip isperseverance of the saint.
(06:43):
Now, I believe in part of this.
If you persevere to the end andyou remain faithful, you remain
with God, you will make it toheaven.
That's, to me, very biblicalcommon sense.
Their definition is those whoare truly elected and saved will
persevere in faith until theend, that they cannot lose their
(07:05):
salvation.
Now, this is a setup.
We've talked about this before.
If you can lose your salvation,it's a setup.
No, I don't think someone cancome in and rob you of your
salvation, but I do believe, andbased on Scripture watch that
other video if you haven't seenit but based on Scripture, we
have choices to stay with or towalk away.
Based on scripture, we havechoices to stay with or to walk
(07:26):
away.
The Bible even describes in theend there will be a great
outbreak of a revival typesituation where people will be
coming to God, coming to faith,coming to know Jesus, and then
there will be a great fallingaway.
Well, you can't fall awayunless you are first next to.
So that is a literaldescription of being able to
(07:46):
fall away, fall out of favorwith God by turning away, but
they, while scripture assures usGod keeps us, it also warns us
repeatedly about falling away,suggesting our ongoing faith
matters.
So I agree partly with this,but the key part that they, the
Calvinists, try to say is thatthere is not a choice, that once
(08:09):
you are chosen, you are chosenand you can't stop it.
So let's look at a few key Bibleverses.
We have one, two, three, four,five, six.
I could do a lot more.
Wait, did I accidentally dohold on?
Yeah, I accidentally did.
So we have five.
I accidentally did the last onetwice on accident.
(08:32):
So we're going to first lookover in 2 Timothy, 2.
I'm going to have it on yourscreen.
So second, sorry.
1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 3and 4.
1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 3and 4.
This is good and pleases God,our Savior, who wants everyone
(08:54):
to be saved and to understandthe truth.
Now, this passage directlystates that God wants everyone
it's right here in the texteveryone to be saved and to
understand the truth, to besaved and to come to know the
truth.
(09:14):
If we pair this with thedoctrine of unconditional
election, it appearscontradictory to say God only
elects a specific group ofpeople.
Why would he desire thateveryone become saved, yet only
(09:35):
choose some?
So we have a conflict of natureand scripture defining God, and
that is in direct conflict.
God, he never changes.
He always, always stays thesame and the way he was is the
way that he is and the way hewill always be.
(09:56):
So let's go to our next text.
In second Peter chapter, verse 3and 9, the Lord isn't really
being slow about his promises,as some people think.
No, he is being patient for oursake.
He does not want anyone to bedestroyed, but wants everyone to
(10:21):
repent.
He doesn't want anyone to bedestroyed, but everyone to
repent.
So again we see the inclusivelanguage everyone.
He desires everyone to come toknow salvation.
God's heart is for all to findrepentance.
To me, this seems like a very nobrainer argument against
(10:45):
selection of God will onlyselect a few and it takes away
the free will of that.
If you once said yes to God,well, now you're in and you
can't resist him.
Now, I'm not saying that heisn't irresistible, but if we do
this, then we are nothing butmeat puppets, which sounds
disgusting when I say it outloud, but it's like we don't
(11:08):
have.
We don't ever have a choice andwe're predestined, which means
that before you were ever born.
Now, god's knowledge of ourchoices and his implementation
of his will over our choices aretwo separate things, which
means God can know what you'regoing to choose.
(11:28):
He is God, he is sovereign.
My view on this and my view onsalvation does not make God less
powerful or less sovereign orless all-knowing or less
omniscient and omnipresent.
He is all of the things thatthe characteristic of God.
The Bible describes Him.
All these things are true andthey will remain true forever.
(11:50):
But he is not going to force.
Just for a good example, inGenesis he didn't force Adam and
Eve.
He gave them a choice.
He gave them, he presented themwith options and he said here's
the options Don't do this.
Everything else is good, butthis do not.
And he said here's the options,don't do this.
(12:10):
Everything else is good, butthis do not.
And so if you are usingCalvinism as a launching pad of
understanding, you haveconfirmation bias, where you
read the scripture and all lookat the very basic thing of if it
was already predestined, godwould not have given the option
(12:35):
to go against his word.
You're telling me that Adam andEve, both directly created, not
by other humans, created fromthe gift of God, gives us to be
able to procreate, but he,literally with his own hand and
his own breath, breathed andthey came to life.
He took the rib from Adam andcreated the woman, and it was
like all these things were goodand God still gave them the
(13:00):
option to opt out and to walkaway from, and there was a price
that they had to pay for that.
They got kicked out of paradise.
They couldn't come back ever,and so we have a very early on
description of how God says youhave a choice, but yet Calvinism
, whatever John Calvin pulledout of the scripture, and I
(13:23):
don't know what scripture she'spulling from.
There's some that people pullfrom the once saved, always
saved, theology, but it doesn'thold water when you read things
about falling away, which isanother video that I've already
done.
Please go look it up in myplaylist.
But anyways, this is good andpleases God.
Let's see.
We're on 2 Peter 3, 9.
The Lord isn't really beingslow about his promise, as some
(13:44):
people think.
No, he is being patient foryour sake.
He does not want anyone to bedestroyed, but wants everyone.
Now why would?
Why he wants everyone to repent.
Why would God be patient?
Because he's hoping that morewill choose.
His desire is for us to choosehim, but he is patient, he's
(14:05):
loving and he is good and he isjust, and so his desire is for
us to come to him.
But not all will come and somewho have come will turn away.
We see the inclusive language.
Everyone God's heart is for allto find repentance.
Limited atonement teaches Christonly died for a specific few,
(14:28):
but these verses show aconsistent message God desires a
universal invitation forsalvation.
So let's be simple and let's goto one of the probably the
first verses.
If you're a Christian that youlearned was this verse right
here?
Now think about how they think.
Calvinists think that you canonly come to Christ if you are
(14:52):
chosen to come to Christ.
Now read this, for this is howGod loved the world.
He gave His one and only Son sothat everyone who believes in
Him will not perish but haveeverlasting life.
Notice it says God loved theworld, not a small subset of
(15:12):
humanity, not a select few, buthe loved the world, the entire
world.
It then says everyone whobelieves in him will have
eternal life Everyone.
It's trying to cast the net aswide as possible, like a regular
(15:32):
church.
Saying is like let's makeheaven crowded, let's get as
many people, let's try to savethe world.
Jesus himself gave the mandateto the disciples go into all the
world, preach the good news.
What would be the point of themspreading?
Like, if you, if the Calvin, ifyou went by the Calvinist
(15:53):
theology, what would be thepoint of preaching the gospel If
God's already selected who'sgoing to come and who's going to
stay?
There would be literally nopoint.
The um, the uh acts two, wherethe Holy spirit came down.
There would be no point Forthere needing to be power to
give them authority over thedemonic spirits, the oppression
(16:19):
that was over the people, toliterally be more bold, to have
a leader into all truth.
There would be no point ifeveryone who is going to come to
Christ has already beenselected.
The rest of the book ispointless.
That's just the facts.
(16:40):
So Calvinism doesn't.
For some reason in his studieshe did not see that common
denominator of okay, well, ifthey're going to, if they're
mandated to, spread the gospel,then there must be a wide net
instead of a select few.
It just doesn't make sense.
Doesn't make sense at all.
Because, uh, even jesus, whenhe called out his disciples we
(17:03):
just did this in our bible studyon wednesday, last wednesday
that he, I will make you fishersof men, he didn't say some men,
he didn't say I'm going to gopoint out which men, but he said
I'm going to make you a fisherof men.
And if you know how they fishedback then, it was a wide net to
catch as many as you can in oneswoop.
So it just seems like a nobrainer.
(17:24):
The invitation is not arestricted.
The invitation is not arestricted.
It's not restricted to a group,pre-selected or pre-chosen.
It's an offer made to allthrough jesus christ, so that
every person has the opportunityto accept it.
(17:44):
So let's go to romans um,chapter 6, verse 23, for the
wages of sin is death, but thefree gift of god is eternal life
through christ jesus, our lord.
Salvation is described as agift.
A gift can be received or itcan be rejected.
(18:05):
If god's grace were trulyirresistible, then it wouldn't
really be a gift offered at all.
It would be more like animposed salvation for the elect.
But the verse and many othersportray eternal life as
something lovingly given whichmust be freely received.
(18:31):
And we're going to look at ourlast verse.
It's a little bit shorter today, but it's very intentional and
direct to the point.
Look over Ephesians 2, verse 8and 9.
God saved you by His grace whenyou believed, and you can't
take credit for this.
It is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward forthe good things we have done, so
(18:55):
none of us can boast about it.
Now, while this verseemphasizes we can't earn
salvation by works, it alsounderscores that we are saved
when we believe.
There is nothing in the word ofGod that calls out a specific
people that is allowed to besaved and another people that is
not.
This has zero hope attached toit.
(19:17):
The human response in this textsays when you believe, which
means there is somethingreceived and chosen people
choose to come to the Lord, justas they can choose and this is
(19:40):
the issue with the wholepredestined and eternal security
and all that stuff is yes, whenwe live for Christ, we are
secure in salvation, we aresecure in heavenly places, but
we have the option.
Time and time and time again,you see examples of people who
(20:01):
knew God but run from God, thatcame to God, but then they
rejected God and there isconsequences for rejecting God.
To say that you don't have theoption means you shouldn't have
a consequence.
If there's no choice, thereshould be no consequence.
There can't be a consequencebecause you didn't choose.
(20:22):
Calvinism suggests that ourbelief is a result of God's
decree and is irresistible.
But scripture repeatedly callsus to choose to believe and
place our faith in Christ.
So now, given the scriptureswe've looked at today, here are
(20:42):
a few reasons why I believeCalvinism in its strict form is
not supported by the Bible.
Number one Scripture teaches,as we just read, a universal
invitation over and over and,over and over.
The Bible uses specificlanguage, like all or the whole
(21:04):
world.
If atonement was truly limited,these passages could be
misleading at best, and for themto say different means that
they are saying scripture iswrong and that's not what it
means, when it's very plainlywritten in the scripture.
And if somebody says that whatthe scripture means and they try
to twist it up to meansomething else, I would run for
(21:24):
them because I would almostlabel them a heretic.
God's will and human choice.
The Bible shows that Goddesires everyone to repent and
to be saved.
That is the heart of the Father.
That is why he sent his son sothat everyone could have the
option to repent and to be savedand to turn from their wicked
(21:46):
ways.
If he unconditionally electedonly some, this would seem to
conflict with his stated desirein passages like 1 Timothy 2 and
2 Peter 3.
The third reason I think thisis not accurate or biblical is
the nature of God's love.
God's love is portrayed asself-giving and available to all
(22:11):
, for this is how God loved theworld.
John 3.16.
He extends God's invitationuniversally, not selectively.
Number four he consistentlycalls for repentance and for us
to believe.
The New Testament is full ofinvitations to repent, believe
(22:35):
and receive Christ.
If grace were irresistible,such appeals would be
unnecessary.
The calls imply a humanresponse, and this is a genuine
need and a possibility.
So I want you to think aboutthis.
Maybe you believe this way andyou've never heard this argument
on this side before, or maybeyou have never heard of
(22:58):
Calvinism, but you are.
This is your first dive into it.
What you need to do as aresponsible Christian is not
believe a YouTuber or a channelor a reel or a TikTok, and you
need to dive in yourself and sayLord, what are you leading me
to what?
And not only opinions of people, but what is biblical.
(23:21):
That should be, as a Christian,your number one thing Does it
align with what the Bible saysor does it contradict what the
Bible says?
If a belief or a theologycontradicts in any way what the
Bible says, run from it.
Now, that doesn't mean alldenominations are perfect and
this and that I get that, butall denominations and I'm a part
of one, all denominations are100% man-made.
(23:45):
It's not biblical.
Matter of fact in the ActsChurch, where the Lord was doing
a new thing and breaking out,it was a spirit-filled movement
and I believe that's what I'm apart of right now as the Church
of God from Cleveland, tennessee.
But I do not look down onothers for what they believe,
(24:08):
because I understand thatunderstanding sometimes can be
limited, especially if you'retaught in a way that excludes or
runs from hard conversationsabout biblical truths, acts 2
being one of those.
So you, as a Christian, you havea responsibility to know what
your church believes, what theyteach, like if they exclude
(24:33):
certain books of the Bible anddon't teach out of them or ever
talk about them or say that, oh,because of this little one
sentence right here nullifieseverything that happens after
that, like, for instance, thereare some that believe that the
gifts of the spirit died outwith the apostles, when actually
there was a obviouscontinuation in Corinthian, the
(24:54):
church of Corinth.
That were not the disciples,they were not the apostles, they
were not.
They were church people,different churches that Paul was
writing letters to, and thesepeople had gifts of the spirit.
They were perverting them andmaking them about themselves,
but it was obvious that theystill existed and still was
around.
It wasn't dying out, it wasaround.
It wasn't dying out, it wascontinuing.
So, that being said, most ofCalvinists that I know of
(25:19):
believe they're cessationists.
They believe that all the giftshave died down when there is no
scripture to back that up.
And so that's what I want you,as a believer in Christ.
I want you to not take a personwho sounds good, who sounds
charismatic, who sounds you knowthey keep your attention, that
you like the way they speak, youlike the way they preach.
You need to work out yoursalvation between you and God
(25:42):
according to scripture, notdenomination according to
scripture, not according to whata man says, but according to
the word of God.
This is where you will find agood, healthy, solid place to
where you can really begin togrow and you begin to flourish.
That's what our whole goalshould be.
Is spiritual maturity that weneed to stop making it about our
(26:05):
preference and making it moreabout God's presence.
Is God even here?
Are we gathering?
Are we worshiping?
Are we learning the word?
Are we being able to apply theword in our lives?
If not, then you're at thewrong church and don't go there
because your family's been therefor 50 years.
Sometimes some of the hardestthings you have to do is to cut
(26:29):
off enjoyable things for thehealth and benefit of your
spirit and your mind and yourfamily.
So I hope today this was alittle bit insightful.
I hope this spurs a hunger foryou to dive deep and really
dissect and know what youbelieve, because it's important
to know what you believe becauseif not, you'll believe anything
(26:50):
, and I don't want that for you.
I want you to be a person whowho, if their church was to blow
up today, everybody in it died.
You could start your own churchbecause your foundation was on
Christ, the solid rock, notbuilt on man, not built on a
church, not built on anorganization, not built on on a
denomination, but built onChrist, the solid rock, and then
(27:12):
you build from there, from thescriptures up.
Okay, I think it's very healthyfor a person who loves God to
deconstruct their faith, andwhat I mean by deconstruct is
start seeing, start asking,start looking is what I believe,
what scripture says, and if itdoesn't, you need to change your
belief and don't keep it thatway, because you enjoy your life
(27:33):
right now and you don't wantanything to mess what you got
going on up, which is very, veryeasy to do, because we like
what we like and we like to dowhat we like to do.
I don't want to change the way Ispeak, even though the Bible
says that even slander isagainst the way we should be
acting as Christians, or whatcomes out of my mouth Like these
(27:53):
are biblical examples.
That may be a good one iscursing wrong.
That may be the good next video.
Anyways, if you have an ideafor a video, comment down below,
below this video, and or, ifyou will, that'd be so awesome.
If you would rate whateverplatform you listen, whether
it's Spotify, Apple or Androidpodcast.
(28:14):
If you would rate this andshare this, that would be
awesome.
Download it and just give athumbs up on YouTube or
subscribe to the channel, andyou can also find me on
Instagram my personal is StephenTillman but also at Faith and
Failures and on Facebook.
So thank y'all.
I love y'all, I'm praying foryou and I hope you have an
amazing week.
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