Jesus marveling at the Centurion’s faith in Matthew 8:10 rebukes Calvinism.  To approach this passage from a Calvinist perspective logically leads to falsely accusing Jesus of acting here.  

With the account of Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant in Matthew chapter 8 considered, it is seen that when saving belief in Christ is properly understood, unbelief in Christ is an assertion of one’s own autonomy.

The Calvinists confuse and conflate man responding to God in obedient faith like he ought to with man seeking to exalt himself to Godhood.  This is utterly misleading and very stupid.  It is deception and confusion which is especially useful to the devil.  By the logic the Calvinists use, Satan would have tempted Eve not to eat from the forbidden tree in the garden.  By Calvinist logic, man would be wicked not only for heeding His Creator, but for even thinking that doing so is possible.  Do the Calvinists think man was right to assert his independence from God by eating from the forbidden tree?  That would be the logical conclusion to make if man is wicked for thinking he can do what God commands.  I’ve never heard of a Calvinist following his own logic thoroughly to the point of discovering this dilemma.  

1 John 2:3-5 says: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

To quote this passage without immediately explaining it away so that it loses its force is a big no-no to the Calvinist (and others who believe in a lawless gospel).

Being a sinner has to do with the commitment of one’s will to sin rather than the state one is born in.  A sinner rejects the knowledge of God’s ways to pursue his own.  Adam and Eve undoubtedly had zero defects, morally and otherwise, when they were created.  Yet they had the capacity to choose sin over obedience to God even in their pure, unfallen state.  God has made it clear that He demands and expects people to repent and obey Him in their fallen state in order to obtain His grace which is in Jesus Christ.

There is a universe of difference between obeying Jesus and trying to repay Jesus.  The Bible never says that Jesus’ righteousness is imputed to the Christian.  It rather teaches that righteousness is imputed to the obedient believer through Jesus.  Even if that sounds subtle, there is a universe of difference there.  Those who exercise and walk in a living faith in Jesus Christ are justified before God as they do so.  Calvinism does indeed promote a license for sinning because there is no point in walking in the light of truth, or in even doing right before God at all, if you have a perfect covering anyways even if you don’t.  Having Jesus as one’s Savior can never rightfully be separated from properly recognizing Him as one’s rightful Lord and acting accordingly.  The doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ is a lie in implicitly saying otherwise.

1 John 1:6-7: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Acts 19:13-20  says: “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.  And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”

This shows that the name of the Lord Jesus is magnified, and the Word of God grows mightily and prevails, through man’s obedience in striving to please God according to the terms of the Gospel.  This demands that man repent and bring forth deeds fitting for repentance in submission to Jesus’ Supreme Authority.

Many preachers and Bible teachers don’t have their story straight about whether you need to turn from

your sins and walk in the light of God’s Word to have an interest in Christ’s atoning blood- or whether we can just skip over the repentance and discipleship and just trust in Christ’s blood to justify and forgive us.  

1 Corinthians 14:8 says: “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”

The Calvinists, when they are not being inconsistent with their own doctrines, get hesitant or openly vilify any teaching which definitely and practically puts responsibility on man to live holy and obedient to God.  We have the testimony and example of the faithful men of Scripture to demonstrate how we should not give place to such hesitancy nor be moved by such vilification.

The Apostle Paul testified before King Agrippa in Acts 26:19-21: “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet (fit) for repentance.  For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.”

That’s from the same man who wrote Ephesians 2:8-9 by the way.  And he wasn’t contradicting himself- because the grace which he taught is God’s true grace which promotes righteousness and doesn’t provide a license for continuing in sin.  It is not unconditional.    

Romans 1:16-21 says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness  (that is, the justification) of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

God is angry at those who are not receiving the truth they ought to know and doing what they are supposed to be doing before Him.  This refusal to glorify God is opposed to exercising a living faith in Christ which justifies one before God.  This is logical since God’s solution for man’s justification would logically have to thoroughly address the why regarding His controversy with man.

God gets no glory from man if He were to essentially force man into submission like Calvinism practically teaches by its Irresistible Grace doctrine.

The poor logic of Calvinism causes Calvinists to employ double talk by saying things like “the damnation of the non-elect is their own fault”- even though they believe the non-elect had no potential at all to be anything but damned.

On the other hand, Calvinism and “actual Bible context” never go together.

Psalm 33:13-15 says: “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.  From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.  He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.”

This also strikes at the Calvinist teaching of unconditional election with great force.

And Psalm 34:11-16 says: “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.  What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?  Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.  Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.  The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.  The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”

The concept that forsaking evil to wholeheartedly pursue what is right before God is not a necessary element of a living faith in Him, or the concept that God will irresistibly some cause some people to do what’s right in His eyes, denigrates God’s authority and throne.  Think about it.  What if someone was going around telling people they need not, or could not comply, with the demands of an earthly king.  That would be a rebel who hates the king.

Mark 12:28-34a says: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”

Calvinist Total Depravity cannot account for this man’s spiritual state here.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 says: “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.  Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.”

This refutes Calvinist logic by showing how what man gains from his labor, in accordance with God’s will, is still the gift of God.  By Calvinist logic, it wouldn’t be such unless man did absolutely nothing for it.  

What is known among Calvinist circles as “Hyper-Calvinism” is really just a more consistent Calvinist.  

All Calvinism is Hyper-Calvinism.  Both “Hyper-Calvinists” and “Regular Calvinists” believe that everything which happens was decreed by God to happen.  

Jeremiah 19:3-5 says: “And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.  Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind…”

This is an easy, obvious proof that not everything which happens was decreed by God to happen.

Exodus 6:6-8 says (God is speaking to Moses here): “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.”

This passage shows how the Israelites were predestined by God to enter Canaan as they left Egypt, yet almost everybody of that generation who were adults that time, did not make it to their predestined goal because of their disobedience.

Even with their corrupted view of God’s election, Calvinists can never know for sure that they are elect- even though most presume that they are or think that they probably are.

Many are drawn to Calvinism, or don’t see it as so bad, because of their high regard for Charles Spurgeon.  Such should get an idea of how confused and unstable Spurgeon was.  Consider that Spurgeon taught that Calvinists and Arminians don’t serve the same God (and I don’t believe that we have to label ourselves Arminian in order to reject Calvinism- that is a relatively new thing in history anyways- the Apostles of Christ didn’t call themselves Arminians).  Yet Spurgeon also claimed that John Wesley was a great and Apostolic man.  Wesley certainly rejected Calvinism, and also severely rebuked Calvinism in his latter years- and Spurgeon would have regarded John Wesley as an Arminian. 

Look at these two Spurgeon quotes and judge if he is reliable for anything theological.

““I do not serve the god of the Arminians at all; I have nothing to do with him, and I do not bow down before the Baal they have set up; he is not my God, nor shall he ever be; I fear him not, nor tremble at his presence…The God that saith today and denieth tomorrow, that justifieth today and condemns the next…is no relation to my God in the least degree. He may be a relation of Ashtaroth or Baal, but Jehovah never was or can be his name.” -Charles Spurgeon

Now look at this other Spurgeon quote.

“If there were wanted two apostles to be added to the number of the twelve, I do not believe that there could be found two men more fit to be so added than George Whitefield and John Wesley.” -Charles Spurgeon

And if you think Spurgeon’s lunacy and inconsistency ends there, you’re wrong.  Look at this ridiculous quote from Spurgeon about John Calvin.

“Among all those who have been born of women, there has not risen a greater than John Calvin; no age before him ever produced his equal, and no age afterwards has seen his rival.  In theology, he stands alone, shining like a bright fixed star, while other leaders and teachers can only circle round him, at a great distance-as comets go streaming through space-with nothing like his glory or his permanence.” -Charles Spurgeon

Wasn’t Calvinism supposed to be about giving all the glory to God?  Well, so much for that.  Here we have the guy whom the system is named after (though the system itself is by Calvin’s own admission based on what Augustine taught) being praised by perhaps the most well known Calvinist of the past two centuries.  Spurgeon speaks of John Calvin in a way which it would be very inappropriate to even speak of Christ’s actual Apostles.

Speaking against Calvinism and unconditional security could never do any harm at all if such were actually true.  But since people want to believe that they are true, and still often get upset when they are spoken against, this makes it obvious that preaching against Calvinism and unconditional eternal security challenge fortresses of false security which many have built in their sin.

If you want a real theology that is not man-centered, just echo what the Bible teaches anyways: Each individual is responsible before God to submit to His covenant conditions in Jesus Christ and live accordingly- or eternal condemnation must be their lot.

Many theological controversies actually have been solved- it is just that many do not accept the verdicts which the clear evidence calls for.  Many theological controversies stem from nothing besides the evil influence of ungodly men masquerading as righteous, godly men.

2 Peter 2:1-2: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them (it’s no surprise that this very verse rebukes Calvinism- it utterly destroys it), and bring upon themselves swift destruction.  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

Here is a key quote from John Calvin.

“We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction.” – John Calvin (from “Institutes of the Christian Religion” Book III, Chapter 21, Paragraph 7)

Romans 16:17-18: says “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

 My note: “Learned” in the above passage is a reference to having learned from Christ’s Apostles who also wrote the Gospels, as well as referenced the Old Testament constantly to reinforce and shed light on everything they taught in their epistles.

True believers in Jesus Christ are actually elect because they believe in the elect One who is the chief cornerstone of the household of God.  

They are foreknown because they are in the One who was foreknown to be the Author of salvation.

And as they abide in Him, they are on track to reach the predestined glory which has been prepared for those who endure to the end as His faithful disciples.

The Book of Ephesians especially, and the testimony of Scripture as a whole, show so clearly that specific individuals being among that number or not is surely not predestined.

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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