What I Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism

Table of Contents

Historical Information

John Calvin, the famous theologian and pastor of Geneva, died in 1564. Along withMartin Luther in Germany, he was the most influential force of the ProtestantReformation. His commentaries and

Institutes of the Christian Religion

are stillexerting tremendous influence on the Christian Church worldwide. The churches which have inherited the teachings of Calvin are usually calledReformed as opposed to the Lutheran or Episcopalian branches of the Reformation.While not all Baptist churches hold to a Reformed theology, there is a significantBaptist tradition which grew out of and still cherishes the central doctrines inheritedfrom the Reformed branch of the Reformation. The controversy between Arminianism and Calvinism arose in Holland in the early1600s. The founder of the Arminian party was Jacob Arminius (1560-1609). Hestudied under the strict Calvinist, Theodore Beza, at Geneva and became of professor of theology at the University of Leyden in 1603.Gradually Arminius came to reject certain Calvinist reaches. The controversy spreadall over Holland, where the Reformed Church was in the overwhelming majority. TheArminians drew up their creed in Five articles (written by Uytenbogaert), and laidthem before the state authorities of Holland in 1610 under the name

Remonstrance

,signed by forty-six ministers.

1

The Calvinists responded with a

Counter Remonstrance

. But the official Calvinisticresponse came from the Synod of Dort which was held from November 13, 1618 toMay 9, 1619 to consider the Five Articles. There were eighty-four members of andeighteen secular commissioners. The Synod wrote what has come to be known as“The Canons of Dort.” These are still part of the church confession of the ReformedChurch in American and the Christian Reformed Church. They state the Five Pointsof Calvinism in response to the Five Articles of the Arminian

Remonstrance

.

2

So the so-called Five Points were not chosen by the Calvinists as a summary of theirteaching. They emerged as a response to the Arminians who had chosen to opposethese five aspects of Calvinism in particular.It is more important to give a positive Biblical position on the five points than toknow the exact form of the original controversy. These five points are still at theheart of Biblical theology. They are not unimportant. Where we stand on thesethings deeply affects our view of God, man, salvation, the atonement, regeneration,assurance, worship, and missions.

1

These Five Articles can be read in Philip Schaff,

Creeds of Christendom

, (Grand Rapids:Baker Book House, 1977 orig. 1877) Vol. 3. pp. 545-547.

2

Ibid., Vol. 3, pp. 581-596.

2

Somewhere along the way the five points came to be summarized under theacronym TULIP

3

.

T

Total Depravity

U

Unconditional Election

L

Limited Atonement

I

Irresistible Grace

P

Perseverance of theSaintsI would like to spell out what I believe the Scriptures teach on these five points. Mygreat desire is to honor God by understanding and believing his truth revealed inScripture. I am open to changing any of my ideas which can be shown to contradictthe truth of Scripture. I do not have any vested interest in John Calvin himself, and Ifind some of what he taught to be wrong. But, in general, I am willing to let myself be called a Calvinist on the five points, because I find the Calvinist position to beBiblical.I share the sentiments of Jonathan Edwards who said in the Preface to his greatbook on

The Freedom of the Will

, “I should not take it at all amiss, to be called aCalvinist, for distinction’s sake: though I utterly disclaim a dependence on Calvin, orbelieving the doctrine which I hold, because he believed and taught them; andcannot justly be charged with believing in everything just as he taught.”

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Total Depravity

When a Calvinist speaks of man’s depravity they mean man’s natural conditionapart from any grace exerted by God to restrain or transform man. There is no doubt that man could perform more evil acts toward his fellow man thanhe does. But if he is restrained from performing more evil acts by motives that arenot owing to his glad submission to God, then even his "virtue" is evil in the sight of God.

3

I am not going to follow this order in my presentation. There is a good rationale for thistradition order: It starts with man in need of salvation and then gives, in the order of theiroccurrence, the steps God takes to save his people. He elects, then he sends Christ to atonefor the sins of the elect, then he irresistibly draws his people to faith, and finally he words tocause them to persevere to the end.I have found, however, that people grasp these points more easily if I follow apresentation based on the order in which we experience them. 1) We experience first ourdepravity and need of salvation. 2) Then we experience the irresistible grace of God leadingus toward faith. 3) Then we trust the sufficiency of the atoning death of Christ for our sins. 4) Then we discover that behind the work of God to atone for our sins and bring us to faith wasthe unconditional election of God. 5) And finally we rest in his electing grace to give us thestrength and will to persevere in faith to the end. This is the order I will follow in mypresentation.

4

Jonathan Edwards,

The Freedom of the Will

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957, orig.1754) p. 131.

3