Calvinism is not the Gospel

Here is something I read on Facebook.

Calvinism is not the Gospel

by Joshua Arnold

Calvinism is not the Gospel. The Gospel is the proclamation of the person and works of Jesus Christ.

I wholeheartedly affirm all 5 points of Calvinism, but as Calvinistic in my view as I am, and as joyful as I am in my brothers and sisters who affirm and zealously proclaim the true doctrines of the Bible that we have called ‘Calvinism’ mainly for the sake of distinguishing our view from others in a single word instead of spending 20 minutes to explain each view we have as professing Christians, the idea that a person is not saved if they don’t affirm the Calvinistic doctrines, is an error itself.

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The other TULIP

If you are familiar with Calvinism you probably know of the acronym TULIP which stands for the five points that Calvinists believe in.

Total depravity

Unconditional election

Limited atonement

Irresistible grace

Perseverance of the saints

There is another TULIP acronym which isn’t as well known.

T — Total Humility

U — Unconditional Kindness

L — Limited Criticism

I — Irresistible Graciousness

P — Perseverance in Patience

I learned about the second TULIP from this article: The Doctrines of Graciousness   I recommend this for every Calvinist reading this post.  Anyone believing the first five points also needs the second five.  And if you are a Christian who isn’t a Calvinist you need the second TULIP even if you don’t believe the first.

I learned of the article from a link in this blog post:  Your theological crisis was preordained…

Who makes the choice?

There are many doctrinal divisions among Christians.  For example, some believe that human beings repent and believe because God causes them to do so by choosing them to be saved while some believe that people believe and are saved because they choose to do so.  What does the Bible say about this?