February 8, 2005

• Why We No Longer Call Ourselves “Reformed”
  or “Calvinists”

  (From Outside the Camp Vol. 6, No. 2)

  ---

  As most of you know, we used to identify ourselves as “Reformed” and “Calvinists.” We used these terms
  in the general sense to mean that we believed in the doctrines of grace, sometimes known by the acrostic
  TULIP: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, and Perseverance of the Saints. But as
  we have come to think more about these labels and what they convey (even unintentionally), we have
  decided that it is more harmful than helpful to use these labels. And with some new information we have
  found, the label “Calvinist” is actually not even consistent with a belief in the doctrines of grace.

  “Reformed.” The name “Reformed” comes from the “Protestant Reformation” and the “Reformers” who led
  it. Even before the more well-known “Reformation” of Luther and Calvin, there were other “Reformers”
  before this. But what does the word “reform” mean? It means “to improve by change.” The “Reformation”
  sought to improve the Roman Catholic Whore Church, to correct it, to modify it, to alter it – to reform it.
  This is absolutely contradictory to what God commands in His Word. God’s Word says, “Because of this,
  ‘come out from among them’ ‘and be separated,’ says [the] Lord, ‘and do not touch [the] unclean thing,’
  and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). The “Reformed” mindset would change 2 Corinthians 6:17 to
  say, “Because of this, ‘reform them’ says the Lord, ‘and try to change the unclean thing into the clean
  thing,’ and I will receive you.” God does not command His people to reform the assembly of unbelievers,
  lawlessness, darkness, Belial, and idols; He commands His people to COME OUT and BE SEPARATED from
  them and to NOT TOUCH THEM. Coming out and separating and not touching is quite a different thing than
  reforming. If one is in a rotten house, coming totally out of that house and living somewhere else is quite a
  different thing than attempting to rehabilitate the house while continuing to live in it.

  God’s word also says, “And I heard another voice out of Heaven saying, My people, come out of her, that
  you may not share in her sins, and that you may not receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4). The
  “Reformed” mindset would change Revelation 18:4 to say, “And I heard another voice out of Heaven
  saying, My people, reform her, rebuke her for her sins while remaining in Babylon to try to get it back on
  the right path.” God does not command His people to reform Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of
  the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth; He commands His people to COME OUT of her. And what
  of those who do not come out of her? They are partakers in her sins and will be partakers of her judgment.
  As 2 John 11 says, the one who speaks peace to one bringing a false gospel is a partaker – a sharer – in
  the evil deeds of the one bringing a false gospel.

  Now anyone familiar with the Roman Catholic Whore Church knows that well before the “Reformation,”
  there was no true gospel there. They had been promulgating the devil’s doctrine of salvation conditioned
  on the sinner for a long, long time. The Roman Catholic Whore Church was absolutely corrupt, through and
  through. False doctrine reigned. Idolatry, blasphemy, murder, fornication, and all manner of evil was the
  norm. This was truly a haven of harlots, a synagogue of Satan, a dwelling place of demons, a filthy,
  unclean, unholy entity if ever there was one, and it continues to be so today. This is not something that is
  to be reformed. It is to be abhorred, shunned, rejected, eschewed, repudiated, renounced, and forsaken.
  “COME OUT,” God says. God does NOT say “reform.”

  Today, we have people who are
  advocating for a “modern reformation.” What this means to most is that
  the “church” of today (meaning all professing Christians, to them) is
  in need of a “reformation” like in the
  days of Luther and Calvin. This call for “reformation” is mostly coming
  from people who profess to believe
  the doctrines of grace (and who call themselves “Reformed” or
  “Calvinists”). What they do not realize is
  that the vast majority of professing Christian churches and professing
  Christians are just as much part of
  the Great Whore as the Roman Catholics are. At the same time they are
  calling for “Reformation,” they are
  calling those who believe a false gospel their brothers in Christ.
  Unless God saves them and shows them
  that these synagogues of Satan are full of evil people, their supposed
  “Reformation” is just an attempt to
  make unregenerate Arminians into unregenerate Calvinists.If God
  regenerates someone who has been in a false church (whether Roman
  Catholic or Protestant,
  Arminian or Calvinist, Baptist or Presbyterian or Independent), what is
  that person to do? As soon as it is
  known that this church preaches or tolerates a false gospel, that
  person is to LEAVE. He is not to stay and
  try to reform the church. He may witness to his former fellow
  churchgoers, he may expose the church and
  its doctrines as false, but he is not to be a part of that church any
  more. If he stays in that church,
  indicating that this church is a true church and preaches true doctrine
  and that his fellow church-goers are
  his brothers and sisters in Christ, then he is a participant in – a
  sharer in – their sins.

  Think of this analogy: Suppose a man is a member of a homosexual advocacy group. Now suppose that
  this man is regenerated by God. Will this man stay a part of the homosexual advocacy group that
  promotes and defends the homosexual lifestyle? Will he try to reform it into a Christian group? Of course
  not. He will COME OUT of it and REPUDIATE it. So it is with someone who is a member of a synagogue of
  Satan. False gospel doctrine is just as horrific, just as disgusting, just as repulsive, just as vile, just as evil,
  just as wicked as homosexuality. In fact, Jesus said that it would be more tolerant for the Sodomites in
  Judgment Day than for those who reject the true gospel (Matthew 10:14-15).

  Whereas before, we called ourselves “Reformed” to show that we believe the doctrines of grace, we now
  realize that there is too much more that is implied in this word to justify its use to identify true Christians.

  “Calvinist.”
  The name “Calvinist” comes from the name of the most famous “Reformer,”
  John Calvin. Calvin’s name is used in one of the nicknames for the
  doctrines of grace, which is the “Five Points of
  Calvinism.” The “Five Points of Calvinism” were formulated in response
  to the “Five Points of Arminianism,”
  named after James Arminius. Therein lies one of the problems. To
  counter the doctrines of a man and his
  followers, the coiners of the name “Calvinism” used a name that implies
  the very same thing as “Arminianism,” which is that the doctrines were
  of a man and his followers. When a man’s name is attached to a set
  of doctrines, then it is implied that the doctrines originated with
  this man. Thus, the whole “Calvinism-Arminianism” controversy becomes
  merely one in which opinions of man are debated: “Calvinism”
  emphasizes the sovereignty of God, while “Arminianism” emphasizes the
  responsibility of man, all within
  the pale of true Christianity. As the God-hater A.A. Hodge said, “The
  difference between the best of either
  class is one of emphasis rather than of essential principle.” People
  say, “I am of the Calvinist (or Reformed)
  persuasion (or tradition).” (See the Heterodoxy Hall of Shame in Volume 3, Number 1.) It becomes
  nothing more than a persuasion, an opinion, an inclination, a leaning, based on the doctrines of a man and
  his followers. The logical conclusion of such thinking is that the “Calvinism-Arminianism” debate is nothing
  but divisive, partisan bickering between Christians over non-essential doctrine. Since they both consider
  the other to be Christians, then being in separate churches is nothing but schism based on a party spirit. If
  the “Calvinists” believe that the “Arminians” are their brothers in Christ, then, if they were consistent, they
  should join the “Arminian” churches. If the universal atonement and free-willism of the “Arminians” is not
  a vital difference, then separating over such non-essentials is sin. “For when one may say, Truly I am of
  Paul, and another, I of Apollos; are you not fleshly?” (1 Corinthians 3:4).

  But for us who are Christians, we do
  not follow the doctrines of men. That is what the God-hating
  Pharisees did (Matthew 15:9). We follow the doctrine of Christ (2 John
  9). The doctrines known as the
  “Five Points of Calvinism” did not originate in the sixteenth century
  with John Calvin or in the seventeenth
  century with the Canons of Dordt. They are doctrines from the Word of
  God. They are NOT the “Five
  Points of Calvinism.” The tolerant “Calvinists” can go on bickering
  with their brothers in Satan, the “Arminians,” all the while embracing
  them as brothers in Christ, but the CHRISTIANS will believe and
  proclaim
  the doctrine of CHRIST. Their boast will be in the cross of Christ
  ALONE, which makes the only difference
  between salvation and damnation.

  Finally, to describe a belief in the doctrines of the name “Calvinism” implies that Calvin believed the
  doctrines of grace and that those who believe the doctrines of grace believe what Calvin believed. We have
  recently found out that Calvin did not even believe all of the doctrines of grace. In fact, he did not believe
  the very heart of the gospel, which is the efficacious atonement of Jesus Christ. Needless to say, we were
  shocked and saddened when we discovered this. But the proofs are incontrovertible. (Note that the proofs
  below do not merely depend on Calvin’s use of the word “world” outside of the context in which he used it,
  which could be taken many different ways.) Contrary to William Cunningham’s statement that “There is
  not, then, we are persuaded, satisfactory evidence that Calvin held the doctrine of a universal, unlimited, or
  indefinite atonement” (The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation, p. 398), the quotes below
  cannot be explained in any other way than universal atonement. [It is interesting to note that Cunningham
  also stated, "Now it is true, that we do not find in Calvin's writings explicit statements as to any limitation
  in the object of the atonement, or in the number of those for whom Christ died; and no Calvinist, not even
  Dr. Twisse, the great champion of high Supralapsarianism, has ever denied that there is a sense in which it
  may be affirmed that Christ died for all men" (p. 396). If we take Cunningham's version of Calvinism -
  that NO Calvinist has ever denied that there is a sense in which Christ died for everyone without exception
  - then we are certainly FAR from being Calvinists, as is every Christian.]

  The following are quotes from John
  Calvin, each followed by an explanation of what he was saying. You will
  find that what he was saying cannot be explained in any other logical
  way. John Calvin was an
  unregenerate man when he made these statements. Those “converts” from
  Roman Catholicism who believed what he said about the atonement were
  doing nothing more than going from the Roman Catholic
  Whore Church into the Protestant Whore Church. They were just going
  from wicked Roman Catholic
  universal atonement to wicked Protestant universal atonement, from
  being lost Roman Catholics to being
  lost Protestants.

  HETERODOXY HALL OF SHAME

  “And, indeed, in the Second Epistle of Peter, Christ alone is mentioned, and there he is called Lord. But He
  means that Christ is denied, when they who had been redeemed by his blood, become again the vassals of
  the Devil, and thus render void as far as they can that incomparable price.” [Commentary on Jude 4]

  Calvin is here saying that some of those who were redeemed by the blood of Christ go back to being
  vassals of the Devil. [These people that Calvin believed were redeemed by the blood of Christ are described
  in 2 Peter 2 as false teachers who bring in damnable heresies (v. 1), made to be taken and destroyed, who
  shall utterly perish in their own corruption (v. 12), and cursed children (v. 14), among other things.]

  “Also we ought to have good care of those that have been redeemed with the blood of our Lord Jesus
  Christ. If we see souls which have been so precious to God go to perdition, and we make nothing of it, that
  is to despise the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Sermon on Ephesians 5:11-14]

  Calvin is here saying that souls that go to perdition are precious to God, because they have been redeemed
  with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

  “The four reasons, whereby Paul doth carefully prick forward the pastors to do their duty diligently, because
  the Lord hath given no small pledge of his love toward the Church in shedding his own blood for it. Whereby
  it appeareth how precious it is to him; and surely there is nothing which ought more vehemently to urge
  pastors to do their duty joyfully, than if they consider that the price of the blood of Christ is committed to
  them. For hereupon it followeth, that unless they take pains in the Church, the lost souls are not only
  imputed to them, but they be also guilty of sacrilege, because they have profaned the holy blood of the Son
  of God, and have made the redemption gotten by him to be of none effect, so much as in them lieth. And
  this is a most cruel offense, if, through our sluggishness, the death of Christ do not only become vile or
  base, but the fruit thereof be also abolished and perish …” [Commentary on Acts 20:28]

  Calvin is here saying that the lost souls within the church are part of the redemption gotten by Christ, and
  the fruit of the death of Christ is abolished and perishes when the pastors do not do their duty.

  “He makes this favor common to all, because it is propounded to all, and not because it is in reality
  extended to all; for though Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, and is offered through God’s
  benignity indiscriminately to all, yet all do not receive him.” [Commentary on Romans 5:18]

  Calvin is here saying that although Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, yet all do not receive
  Him. If he had just said, “Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world,” we could have considered the
  possibility that he could have meant “the whole world of the Jews and Gentiles” or “the whole world of the
  elect” and not everyone without exception. But he goes on to say that “all do not receive him,” which
  means that he believed that Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, including all who do not receive
  him.

  “True it is that the effect of His death comes not to the whole world. Nevertheless, forasmuch as it is not in
  us to discern between the righteous and the sinners that go to destruction, but that Jesus Christ has
  suffered His death and passion as well for them as for us, therefore it behoves us to labour to bring every
  man to salvation, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be available to them …” [Sermon CXVI on the
  Book of Job (31:29-32)]

  Calvin is here saying that Jesus Christ has suffered His death and passion for the righteous as well as the
  sinners that go to destruction. (Note also that Calvin used the term “whole world” to mean everyone
  without exception.)

  “The word many is not put definitely for a fixed number, but for a large number; for he contrasts himself
  with all others. And in this sense it is used in Romans 5:15, where Paul does not speak of any part of men,
  but embraces the whole human race.” [Commentary on Matthew 20:28]

  Calvin is here saying that in Matthew 20:28, the “many” for whom Christ was given as a ransom is not
  talking about any part of the human race but the whole human race. If he had just said that Christ is a
  ransom for the whole human race, we might be able to consider the possibility that he did not mean
  everyone without exception. But he contrasts “part” and “whole,” obviously meaning that he believed that
  Christ was given as a ransom for the whole human race as opposed to just part of the human race.

  After finding these quotes, we obviously could not call ourselves Calvinists (although we had already
  stopped calling ourselves Calvinists before finding these quotes), since we do not believe what Calvin
  believed regarding the essential gospel doctrine of the efficacious atonement of Jesus Christ. Calvin did not
  believe that the work of Christ secures the salvation of all whom He represented. He did not believe that
  the work of Christ alone is what makes the only difference between salvation and damnation.

  We hope that this article will make others think about what names they attach to themselves, now that the
  real meaning of some of these names has been put forth. We are not “Reformed.” We are not “Calvinists.”
  We are followers of Christ – the true Christ whose atoning blood and imputed righteousness is the only
  ground of our salvation.

  ---

  Home

  Articles

  Heterodoxy Hall of Shame

  • 12:09 am
  • 5 Comments