Lesson 17: A Problem For Calvinism

We’ve noted the Scriptural truth that God’s Presence (i.e. the Holy Spirit) and the Word are tied together. The Holy Spirit revealed the Word of God to the apostles (John 14.26-27; 16.13) and when we follow the Word we receive the Spirit (Acts 2.38; 2John 9). We still have more to discuss and learn about the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but let’s first address some doctrinal errors that result from a basic misunderstanding of the connection between the Spirit and the Word.

What Calvinism Says About The Holy Spirit’s Role

For those unfamiliar with the basic tenants of Calvinism, they can be summarized with the following five-point acronym:

• Total Depravity: man is completely lost and evil, cannot even desire to do good.
• Unconditional Election: God chooses who will be saved. Man has no say.
• Limited Atonement: Jesus’ sacrifice was only for the elect, those predestined. 
• Irresistible Grace: God acts in an irresistible way on the elect.
• Preservation of the Saints: the elect can never be lost.

It is in the matter of Irresistible Grace that Calvinism teaches error regarding the Holy Spirit. “God sends His Holy Spirit to work in the lives of people so that they will definitely and certainly be changed from evil to good people. It means that the Holy Spirit will certainly – without any and’s, if’s and but’s – cause everyone whom God has chosen from eternity and for whom Christ died to believe on Jesus.” (Palmer, Edwin H. The Five Points of Calvinism. Page 58)

You will most likely not be surprised to learn that there is no Scripture that describes the Holy Spirit working in such a way. So, why would a Calvinist claim such? First, it is important to note that in any “system” of theology, each point stands or falls with the others. So, if it is true that man is completely depraved even to the point where he cannot desire to do good, then “acceptance of Christ cannot be left partially to man, for then all would refuse, and Christ’s atonement would have been in vain. Thus limited atonement points to the irresistible work of the Holy Spirit.” (Palmer 61) However, the Calvinist also claims that the Scriptures support his argument.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out… No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6.37,44)

• “Jesus says here that the Father has given certain people to Jesus, and that every single one of them ‘will come to me.’… That can occur, of course, only if God irresistibly causes them to come.” (Palmer 61)
• Is that what Jesus was saying? Look closely at vs. 45.

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10.16)

• “Some belong to the flock already, others do not. Those that do not He will certainly bring into the fold. He does this by sending the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and to draw them irresistibly to the fold.” (Palmer 62)
• Can you find any support for this in the passage?

“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16.14)

• “He had of late commended her godliness; and yet he showeth that she could not comprehend the doctrine of the gospel, save only through the illumination of the Spirit. Wherefore, we see that not faith alone, but all understanding and knowledge of spiritual things, is the peculiar gift of God, and that the ministers do no good by teaching and speaking unless the inward calling of God be thereunto added.” (Calvin, John. Commentary on Acts)
• How does the passage argue against this interpretation?

Three Problems For Calvinism

1. Calvinism has it backwards. The doctrine of irresistible grace necessitates that one receive God’s Spirit and only then can he hear and respond to the Word of the gospel. This is not Biblical teaching. We receive the Spirit when we obey the gospel message (Acts 2.38). The Word is our means of receiving the Spirit 
2. (Galatians 3.2; Ephesians 1.13). Following God’s word is what makes us fit for the Spirit, not the other way around. 
3. God’s Spirit is not found in unholy places. We have noticed throughout the Scriptures that God’s Presence is found in holy, consecrated sanctuaries. If man is totally depraved, Calvinism would have God’s Presence coming into a completely unholy sanctuary. However, only after we are sanctified and consecrated can we actually become a temple of God (see 1Cor. 6.11,19).
4. The Word is not deficient in power! Calvinists charge that we give too much credit to man with regards to his salvation. I agree with their point that all credit for man’s salvation should go to God. However, the Calvinist actually takes credit away from God by claiming that the Word alone is insufficient. The Scriptures teach that the gospel is God’s power for salvation (Romans 1.16), that the Word is able to bring forth fruit in our lives (Matthew 13.23) and give us true freedom (John 8.31-32). The Scriptures supply all we need to be pleasing to God (2Timothy 3.16-17).

Being Biblical About Conversion

One of the chief, if not the chief, issues with systems like Calvinism is that every verse of Scripture must be tortured to fit a few base principles/assumptions. In the case of Calvinism, the system depends on God’s absolute sovereignty (i.e. determinism) and man’s complete depravity. For those two principles to be true, man cannot come to God on his own; God must irresistibly draw man to Himself. But the assumptions of Calvinism contradict the plain teaching of Scripture; to argue that one cannot come to Christ without the irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit is simply not Biblical. Note just a few examples of conversion from the book of Acts:

• Those on Pentecost were “cut to the heart” when they “heard” the message of Peter (Acts 2.37). They then asked what they needed to do, and once they were told they responded.
• Acts 4 records that “many of those who had heard the word believed” (Acts 4.4).
• The Ethiopian eunuch was reading the prophet Isaiah and needed someone to explain the Scripture to him. Once Philip “told him the good news about Jesus” from the Scriptures, the eunuch responded to the gospel message (Acts 8.26-40).
• After telling the Philippian jailer that he needed to “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16.31), Paul “spoke the word of the Lord to him” (Acts 16.32). It was then that the jailer and his household responded to the message.

A Biblical understanding of conversion certainly emphasizes the role of the Spirit. It is the Spirit that delivered the words of life to the apostles, and when men respond to that message they receive the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2.38). But a Biblical understanding of conversion also shows that man can either respond to the Spirit’s message or reject it. As Paul said to the Jews who rejected the gospel, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles” (Acts 13.46).