The Tension Around Calvinism

I don’t doubt that a good number of believers will disagree with what I am about to say. I believe there is a tension around the nature of God and what Christians, and Calvinists, feel the nature of God is really like. Is God all powerful, prone to fits of anger, vindictive or is He loving, patient, kind and compassionate?

In the Old Testament the Israelite's knew God to be a someone who didn’t mess around and was to be feared. The Lord makes no bones about the consequences to people for disobeying Him. In Exodus Thirty Two we read of the consequences when Israel worshiped the calf that Aaron made for them while Moses was talking to God on the mountain. As soon as he returned, Moses called those still faithful to him and instructed them to strap on a sword. They were then to go back and forth from the gate of the camp and to slay their brother and their friend. This was a commandment from the Lord and three thousand men of Israel died that day

Another instance is described in Numbers Twenty One where the people of Israel were headed for Mount Hor in order to avoid Edom. They spoke against God and he sent snakes against them. He then instructed Moses to construct a bronze serpent and to attach it to a pole. Those who looked at it would be saved. God seemed to be both swifter to judge and to punish in the Old testament than we find in the New Testament
Now these are two well known instances and there are very many similar occurrences in the Old Testament. However, if we look at the people in the Old Testament of whom it says they were anointed of God and I assume it is fair to say they were filled with the Spirit of God. Their experience seems to more closely match that of the New Testament saints. People like Samson and Saul struggled even with their anointing but there are many Christians who struggle with their anointing as well. There are also Christians today like King David in the Old Testament who could relate to his descriptions of a benevolent creator who loves His children. A compassionate being who wants only the best for them. A God who is loving, patient, kind and compassionate.

In the New Testament we are under the New Covenant and are dealing for the most part with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The relationship the saints of the New Testament have through the Spirit and in Christ Jesus is much more loving and personal. As I mentioned before it much more closely matches the relationship that David presents to us in the Psalms or for that matter that many of the Old Testament saints, prophets and judges had with the Lord in that they were anointed and received the Spirit of God as do we.

So how does this relate to the tension between Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvinists believe that those who believe on Jesus Christ are predestined and everything that they do is also foreordained. This is also the Calvinist view of the wicked and the lost. That they are equally predestined to eternity in hell fire. How does this reconcile with the biblical view of a loving God who so loved the world that He gave his only Son that whosoever believes on him shall not perish but will inherit eternal life?

Why do Calvinists have such a stern view of God despite the way He is portrayed in the New Testament? I tend to think it has much to do with a tendency of the Church to misunderstand the relationship with God under the Old Covenant in contrast with the complete reversal of fortunes through Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross and under the New Covenant. Under the Law man was constrained by an inability to abide by the Law in any state approaching perfection which was the standard that God required.

Whereas, Christ as the Son of Man completed a life that was perfectly without sin and became the sacrifice necessary as the only begotten Son of God to pay the price for all who would believe on Him. Thus the requirements of the Law are fulfilled in Christ Jesus and the price of the sins of mankind are paid by for those who attain salvation through Him.

Matthew 5:17-18 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one dot or one mark will pass from the law until all be fulfilled. MEV

The New Covenant as described in Jeremiah chapter Thirty One and restated in Hebrews Eight verses Eight through Twelve tells of the New Covenant that Jesus spoke of in Matthew Twenty Eight before He ascended. It tells of the relationship we have under Christ where the Holy Spirit indwells us and writes the Law on our hearts. In this way the Law is fulfilled in us as we by faith on Christ Jesus are justified and through the indwelling of the Spirit we are sanctified.

Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, because they broke My covenant, although I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law within them and write it in their hearts and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.MEV

Now a point I would make here is that the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the people of Israel. All the people of Israel not just those who are predestined. When Jeremiah prophesied this he believed God was speaking to all of Israel and those who heard this message of Israel down through the centuries have believed this message was for all of Israel not just some Israelites. Am I saying all Israelites will repent and be saved? No but all have the opportunity of salvation in Christ in the Gentile Church. All receive the message of the New Covenant through the Cross and grace is available to all. Will all repent and be saved? No, but all have the opportunity.

To make this point a little more explicit we can look at Moses bringing the Law to the people of Israel in Exodus Chapter Twenty. Now the whole nation were assembled waiting for Moses and Aaron while they went up the mountain to speak with God and to get the Law. They came back down to meet the priests and the people. The people asked for Moses to speak to them because they feared the Lord and what would happen to them if God spoke to them. We can see from this they were all earnestly attentive to God as one people. The Law was given to the people of Israel and applied to all of them. None were expected to disobey but all were expected to repent and obey as God instructed them through Moses.

So it is with all mankind today. We have the Word of God and it is expected that all will obey the Word. So it is intended for all men and women to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to repent but grace is applied only to those who do repent. Provision is made for all but applied to the elect.

Another area of tension around Calvinism and Arminianism is the contention that God is Love. Being fairly conservative by nature many Christians and in particular males tend to be uncomfortable with the idea that God is Love. But the bible supports this notion and it tends to raise questions among those who prefer a more authoritarian stereo type for God.

1John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.MEV

1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.MEV

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.MEV

So, if God is Love and if we abide in love we abide in him. Is it not fair to say that God would allow His children some choice in the decision to follow Him and believe on His Son. In fact doesn’t it go hand in hand with the idea that Satan rebelled against God and led one third of the angels against God and from that time God has desired a people who love Him and seek to follow Him of their own volition. Such that, they believe the love that God has for us. They understand that God is love. And whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in Him. And also as the scripture says:

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. NASB

Yet another concept that is an important one in the tension around Calvinism is found in Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Earlier in this article I mentioned that God is seen to be all powerful, prone to fits of anger, vindictive. This is particularly so in the Old Testament. Yet Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit are much more focused on love, forgiveness and compassion for the lost.

I wonder if perhaps that vengeful God of the Old Testament is based on the actions of God the Father who abhors sin and won’t tolerate it. But He so loved us that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life. Such that, we have been baptized into the death of Christ Jesus and to sin and through Him into the resurrection and newness of life. Finally then hidden with Christ in God so when the Father looks upon us He sees the Son, Christ Jesus. Could that be the reason we no longer hear of a vengeful God but rather a loving Father who desires a people who will follow him of their own accord. Of free choice?