Is Jesus a Calvinist?

By: Dion Morrow

Was Jesus A 5 Point Calvinist?

Western values are so embedded with human sovereignty, and are so man centered and egocentric that it has influenced the kind of theologies that Western cultures have adopted throughout the ages. In response to these theologies, Protestant reformers founded a system of theology commonly known as Calvinism with an emphasis on five distinct and fundamental points. These five points can be summarized by the acronym T.U.L.I.P, (Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints.) Calvinism stands alone, not only from every other religion, but from every other system of Christian theology and denomination, in contradicting these Western values. An understanding of key Biblical texts is more than just a pointless academic debate between Christians, but is profound in the kind of faith, love, and Christian life it produces in relationship with God and the world. An honest examination of the texts and doctrines that are central to the five points of Calvinism will undoubtedly lead to a conclusion that Jesus surely was, and is, a Calvinist.

This article will be a thorough and honest examination of key texts that are central to the five points of Calvinism, and will respond to arguments surrounding these issues since the Scriptures were penned.

Total Depravity

According to John Piper (1998), “When we speak of man’s depravity we mean man’s natural condition apart from any grace exerted by God to restrain or transform man. Total depravity means that our rebellion against God is total, everything we do in this rebellion is sin, our inability to submit to God or reform ourselves is total, and we are therefore totally deserving of eternal punishment” (p. 1). Total depravity essentially says that humans are so radically corrupted and depraved in our nature that we cannot love or have faith in God without His sovereign calling, working, and gift of Grace. A few key texts that Calvinists use to assert their claim is Romans 3:9–18, James 3:8, and Psalm 53:1–3 (Baucham, 2011).

In Romans 3, Baucham (2011) explains how Paul quoted from Psalm 53 which gives a very detailed account of human nature and its corruption and hatred towards God. He explains that none seek after God and that not one does good. In James 3:8, Baucham draws our attention to the fact that James says that no one can tame their tongue because it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. The Greek word for restless is ‘ἀκατάστατον’, which means unstable, almost anarchic. The Greek word for poison is ‘ἰοῦ’, which comes from the word used for rusting metal or snake venom. Baucham exegetes Psalm 53:1–3 which describes man’s fallenness and explains how it says that every human has turned away from God and has become corrupt and commits abominable injustices. The Hebrew word for corrupt is ‘הִֽ֝שְׁחִ֗יתו,’ which comes from the word used to describe spoiled milk or rotten and decaying flesh.

Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” After Jesus claimed His deity, the pharisees were grumbling among themselves about Jesus and actively disbelieving in Him and His claims. Remember that whenever Jesus says to come to Him He doesn't mean to actually physically walk or run to Him because that would then mean that the entirety of humanity after the first century is doomed, so He has to simply mean to believe in Him. But Jesus said that not a single person can come to Him or believe in Him, and unless the Father ‘draws’ a person to coming to faith in Jesus, they will not and cannot. The Greek word for ‘draw’ is ‘ἑλκύσῃ’, which is better translated and literally means, ‘to drag’, and is used in the same sense when Jesus told the disciples in the boat to cast their net on the other side and they were unable to ‘draw’ or ‘drag’ the net full of fish into the boat. Jesus said that the only way that a person can believe in Him is if God the Father drags them to faith in Him.

Unconditional Election

According to Piper (1998), “Unconditional Election is God’s free choice and own personal determination before creation, not based on foreseen faith or human conditions, to which rebels he will elect to be saved and to grant faith and repentance” (p. 1). Some key texts used to support this doctrine are Romans 11:5–7, Romans 9:11–12, and Romans 9:16 (Piper, 2013).

In Romans 9:16, Piper (2013) explains how Paul is telling us that our election is completely sovereign and set apart from us because it does not depend on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. The Greek word for human will is ‘θέλοντος’, which means to ‘wish, will, or desire’. The Greek word for exertion is ‘τρέχοντος’, which means ‘to run or exercise oneself’. Piper also applies Romans 11:5–7, which says that there is a remnant of Israel that is elected to salvation by Grace, not by works, otherwise grace would not be grace and that all of Israel, except for the elect, failed to obtain what it was seeking because God hardened them. The Greek word for elect is ‘ἐκλογὴν’ which means ‘a divine selection or choosing out of’. In Romans 9:11–12, Piper again explains how Paul speaks about election,”that though the twins Jacob and Esau were not yet born, and hadn’t done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, He said that the older will serve the younger as it was written, ‘Jacob I loved and Esau I hated’.” The Greek word for ‘election’ is the same word used in Romans 11. The Greek word for calls is ‘καλοῦντος’, which means to call forth or summon.

In contrast, Greg Boyd (2015) actually redefines Romans 9, not as a salvific chapter and context, but as a covenantal Chapter to the Jews. He says, “The expressed issue Paul is addressing is whether or not ‘the word of God had failed’. That is, had God’s promise to be the God of the Jews and to have them as his covenant people been rescinded”(p. 1). I would have to disagree because in Romans 9:24, after Paul gives an entire detail on election and the promise and calling of God, he says, “even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” The point of everything Paul said from verses 1–23 was that God calls and elects, that He calls and elects Jews and Gentiles, and that those who are called and elected are God’s heirs according to the promise. This simply cannot be in reference to the covenantal promise to physical Israel because the promise was not made to Gentiles and we see that Romans 9 is clearly a reference to Jews and Gentiles alike. This fits the rest of Scripture specifically Galatians 3:26–29 that says we are all sons of God through faith in Christ, that there is neither Jew nor Greek for we are all one in Christ, and that if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to promise. This is Paul’s point in Romans 9:8, that it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but children of the promise are the ones regarded as the true descendants. If you are a born again believer, whether Jew or Gentile, you are elected and chosen of God and therefore a descendant of Abraham and an heir according to promise. Paul in Romans 9 is simply expounding that God and God alone is sovereign in who He chooses and elects to be saved as in verse 16 of Romans 9, “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or runs but by God who shows mercy.”

Limited Atonement

Palmer (1980) says, “When the Calvinist uses the term limited, he does not mean that the atonement is limited in its power to save. On the contrary, he believes that the atonement of Christ is unlimited in its power, that Christ saves to the “uttermost,” and that the atonement is of infinite worth and value. But he does believe that the unlimited atonement of Christ is limited in its scope, that Christ intended to and actually did remove the guilt of the sins of a limited number of people”(p. 42). Some key texts used by Palmer are John 6:37–40, John 10:14–16, and John 10:26–27.

In John 6:37–40, Palmer (1980) describes that Calvinists believe that Jesus intended and purposed that His atonement should pay only for the sins of those that the Father has given Him. Jesus said that all that the Father has given to Him will go to Him and He will certainly not cast them out, and that everyone who beholds and believes in Him has eternal life. That it is the Father’s will that all that the Father has given to Him, He will lose none and they will be raised up on the last day. His exegesis of this text is that the Father chooses who comes to Jesus with faith, and they are a gift. As in verse 44 Jesus says, “nobody can come to Me unless the Father draws them to Me.” So clearly represented here, if someone does not put their faith in Jesus, it is because they were not given as a gift to Jesus and they were not drawn by the Father. Palmer gives a quick application of John 10:14–16 where Jesus says, “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. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice.” He says Jesus is making known that He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him, and that He has gentile sheep who will hear His voice. But most importantly that He lays down His life only for the sheep. He quickly adds verses 26–28, which say that unbelievers do not believe because they are not His sheep. They do not hear His voice and they do not follow Him because they are not His sheep and they are not being drawn to Him because He did not lay His life down for them.

Irresistible Grace

Palmer (1980), defines Irresistible Grace and says, “It means that the Holy Spirit will definitely and certainly, without any if’s, and’s or but’s — cause everyone whom God has elected from eternity past and for whom Christ died to believe in Jesus”(p. 58). Some key texts that are used to refute this doctrine are Acts 7:51, 2 Timothy 3:8, and Romans 9:19 (Anderson, 2017).

In Acts 7:51, Anderson (2017) describes how during Stephen’s sermon, he rebukes the Pharisees because with their uncircumcised hearts and ears they resisted the Holy Spirit like their fathers in the Old Testament did. Anderson believes that because they resisted the messages given by the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament prophets, they are able to resist the saving grace of God. In 2 Timothy 3:8, Anderson describes how Paul when writing to Timothy, gives an account of Jannes and Jambres who were likely two of the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses in Exodus. He uses this verse as a way to refute the doctrine of Irresistible Grace because if they could resist and oppose Moses, they can resist and oppose the saving work of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 9:19, he rebukes the doctrine of Irresistible Grace because after 18 verses of direct statements on how God was, is, and always will be the absolute sovereign in all aspects of salvation, in verse 19 Paul indirectly asks, “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’” And the next verse, Paul gives a rebuke and directly asks, “Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?” And his point is that the question was about resisting God’s will, and the person was rebuked for it. So he believes Calvinists have built a bad theology because he thinks it is based on a question.

Although Anderson (2017) believes and says that the doctrine of Irresistible Grace is a flawed doctrine and a misinterpretation of scripture, I disagree because of his misunderstanding and misinterpretation of these scriptures. Paul, in verses 20–21, clearly understood the Old Testament analogy in Jeremiah 18:3–6 which says,”Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,”Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.” He is simply using this analogy to say that it is as irrational and far more arrogant for a man to question God’s choice to save certain sinners over others as for a piece of pottery to question the purposes of the potter. Anderson does not understand or account for how God has sovereignly worked in disobedience and has made that clear throughout Scripture. For example in Romans 9:32 it says that God has bound everyone in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. Again in Genesis 50:20 after Joseph’s brothers threw him in a dry well and then sold him into slavery to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver, Joseph later tells his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” He clearly says that God meant the evil that happened to Joseph for good that resulted in Egypt being saved. Also, Anderson fails to give an account of the rest of scripture that clearly is in disagreement with his misinterpretations. For example, in John 6:37 Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” The idea when Jesus says “gives me” is that every person elected to salvation by the Father and then dragged by the Father to faith in Jesus must be seen as a gift from the Father to the Son, and they cannot resist because God has elected them and then drags them to faith in Christ, and nobody can ever resist God’s will, plan, or desire which is explained in Job 42:2 and says, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” The Pharisees clearly resisted God, but this can only be interpreted correctly with the understanding that it was God’s will for them to resist Him. Whenever we see a passage of scripture that looks or seems like it is saying that we can resist God, we must compare it to the rest of scripture that says we cannot resist God’s will because we can clearly see that God’s will is involved in disobedience.

Perseverance of the Saints

MacArthur (2015), when defining the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints says, “They whom God has accepted in His beloved Son, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from a state of grace but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved” (0:56–1:20). Some key texts used by Calvinists that affirm this doctrine are 1 Peter 1:3–5, Jeremiah 32:40, and 1 John 2:19 (MacArthur, 2015).

In 1 Peter 1:3–5, MacArthur (2015) exegetes the text and explains how it says that we have been caused to be born again to a living hope, to an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, being reserved in heaven for a salvation to be revealed in the last time. He focuses on our inheritance that we have been given, which is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and being reserved in heaven. The Greek word for imperishable is ‘ἄφθαρτον’, which means ‘not corruptible, undecaying, and immortal’ and was used in describing something that was unravaged by an invading army. The Greek word for undefiled is ‘ἀμίαντον’, which means ‘unpolluted, unstained with evil, and not able to be contaminated’. The Greek word for unfading is ‘ἀμάραντον’, which means ‘does not fade away, enduring, and perpetual’ and was the direct opposite of the word used to describe flowers and grass that wither and decay over time. The Greek word for being reserved is ‘τετηρημένην’, which means ‘being guarded, and kept’ usually used in the sense of a military line. In Jeremiah 32:40, MacArthur explains how God promises to make an everlasting covenant with Israel and that He will not turn away from them, and He will put the fear of God in their hearts so that they wont turn away from Him. The Hebrew word for everlasting is ‘עוֹלָ֔ם’, which means ‘eternal, perpetual, and without end’. The Hebrew word for ‘will not’ is ‘לְבִלְתִּ֖י’, which means ‘a failure to fail’. In 1 John 2:19, MacArthur lays out what the Apostle John says, how those who went out from the Church, were never truly of the Church, because if they were truly of the Church, they would have remained, but they went out from them so it would be made manifest that they were not truly of the Church. MacArthur explains how the Apostle is saying that if anyone abandons the faith, it only means they never truly had faith to begin with. The Greek word for ‘not’ used toward the end of the verse is ‘οὐκ’, which means never. They were never truly of or a member of the Church or body of Christ.

Jesus said in John:27–30, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Jesus clearly says that true born again believers are the sheep that the Father has given to the Son, that they will never perish, and that nobody can snatch them from His hands. Nobody can snatch them from His hands because nobody can snatch them from the Father’s hands because the Father is greater than all, including the sheep, and Jesus and the Father are one. So very clearly seen here is that no born again believer will ever perish or be snatched from the hand of God and is absolutely and perfectly eternally secure and saved. Ephesians 1:13–14 says, “In Him, you also, having heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.” This passage is saying that when we believed in the Gospel, we were given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance of eternity in heaven with Christ. The Greek word for guarantee is ἀρραβὼν, which literally and historically means earnest. It is the same exact word that is used today when referring to earnest money contracts which are given to show that someone is serious about business.

For example, if I want to buy a piece of property I write a contract and give a sum of money which is called an earnest check and if I fail to bring the rest of the money that I owe at closing time then you get to keep my earnest money and the property. God gives the born again believer the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as the earnest of our eternal inheritance of heaven. This means that if God gives us the Holy Spirit as the earnest and if He does not give us heaven on judgement day, He loses the third person of the Trinity, which means that the only way a Christian can lose their salvation is if God stops being God.

The Truth of the Matter

Calvinism is not a system of theology that was brought about to be an academic debate and a platform or excuse to argue and bicker between Christians. Contrary to popular belief, Calvinism was brought about because of the anathematic false gospel, doctrine, and theology of the Catholic religion among others and was a product of the Protestant Reformation and the reformers that rejected their blasphemous and heretical beliefs. Calvin was a Protestant reformer in the 1500’s who searched the scriptures and explained the fundamental and Biblical core beliefs of Christianity in view of the true Gospel and the variety of sound doctrines that the Scripture tells us to firmly hold on to. Calvinism simply brings into remembrance not only the great truths in all of Scripture, but of the very words of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The importance in recognizing and submitting to the doctrinal truths of not only the writers of Holy Spirit inspired scripture, but also the LORD Himself is so great that it has lifelong and possibly eternal effects. The nature of the doctrine and theology in the scriptures has two fundamental purposes. The first purpose is that God uses them to reveal His characteristics, nature, and His will so that we may understand who He is, His relationship to us, and what He does and does not want from us. The second purpose is to perfect the believer for God’s glory. If we fail to affirm sound doctrine and theology in scripture, we fail to know God and protect the eternal truths that are given to us which when abused cause every kind of destruction and damnation. We also fail to be perfected and therefore fail to glorify God which is the very reason for our existence. Against much ridicule and debate in the last 500 years, the five points of Calvinism firmly grasp and simply reaffirm the great truths that were spoken of by Lord Jesus the Christ, and in that we can with all confidence affirm that Jesus truly was and still is a five point Calvinist.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Jesus was God born in the flesh and a Jewish Rabbi from the 1st century, and John Calvin was just a man and a Protestant Reformer in the 16th century AD. So no, Jesus the Christ was not a Calvinist, because Jesus is God and adheres to no principle or system other than His own which is completely and eternally perfect and did not even stay on earth long enough for it to even be a possibility.

In that, I must recommend that you who are reading should carefully, diligently, and in all humility and eagerness search and examine the scriptures as the noble Bereans and see if these five doctrines of Calvinism can stand the test against them and be found true to the Word of God. We undoubtedly are commanded to test every spirit and messenger of God’s Word, so I strongly exhort you to test what you have read and heard here to see if they might be true, but also to test any spirit or messenger in contradiction. It is my honest and confident belief that if you are as noble and honest as the Bereans in your careful examination of the Bible, you will without any shadow of a doubt see and agree that no, Jesus did not adhere to the doctrines of the five points of Calvinism, but that the five points of Calvinism adhere fully to the doctrines and teachings of Jesus Christ.

References

Baucham, V. [The Doctrine Of Total Depravity] — Voddie Baucham. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox73f136YUs&t=254s Accessed 17 April 2020.

Piper, J., 2013. Five Reasons To Embrace Unconditional Election. [online] Desiring God. Available at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/five-reasons-to-embrace-unconditional-election Accessed 17 April 2020.

Palmer, E., 1980. The Five Points Of Calvinism. Grand Rapids, Minn.: Baker Books.

Anderson, S., 2020. Irresistible Grace Defined And Refuted. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_EUq3j_uy4 Accessed 17 April 2020.

MacArthur, J., 2015. John Macarthur: Meeting There At Last: The Perseverance Of The Saints. [online] YouTube. https://youtu.be/yrp-RFKpb8 Accessed 17 April 2020.

Boyd, Greg. “How Can Salvation by Grace Involve Free Will? — Greg Boyd.” ReKnew, August 7, 2014. https://reknew.org/2014/08/how-can-salvation-by-grace-involve-free-will/. Accessed 17 April 2020.

Boyd, Greg. “Rethinking Election: Romans 9, Part 1 — Greg Boyd.” ReKnew. Greg Boyd, August 17, 2015. https://reknew.org/2015/08/rethinking-election-romans-9-part-1/. Accessed 17 April 2020.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB. Thomas Nelson, 2013.

NEE, WATCHMAN. The Normal Christian Life. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing, Inc., 2000.

Piper, John. “Total Depravity.” Total Depravity by John Piper. John Piper & Bethlehem Church Staff, 1998. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/piper/depravity.html