I’m not special. I didn’t get a special grace to believe in Christ which others were denied. Instead, I have to come to the Cross to receive God’s grace, just like every other regular person. How many times did Jesus have to preach about treating our neighbor, in order to deliver the point that we should not think of ourselves as more special to God than others? God loves all of us, though not equally, but uniquely, because each person is different, loved by God in a different way, so that none of us are superficial and unnecessary.
The problem with Calvinism is the inherent claim to be special. Calvinists even affirm divine Favoritism,567 indicating that that’s what Unconditional Election is all about. The irony is that Calvinists can get very pious in their tacit claim to being special, in which they received a special grace (i.e. Irresistible Grace) to believe in Christ which others were stepped aside and passed over to receive.
Calvinists will often use the suddenness or stunning nature of their own conversion to assume, presume and insist that they must have gotten an Irresistible Grace, in which God made the choice for them to believe in Christ. Calvinists will sometimes ask: “Didn’t Jesus seem irresistible to you?” Yes, but that doesn’t mean that I received an Irresistible Grace. Calvinists have a system that makes sense of their world: They were dead, and Jesus seemed irresistible to them, which they got because they were elect, and that’s why they are saved. This helps to make their world make more sense, and consequently, they like it a lot. Then a non-Calvinist responds to their claims by pointing out that the biblical nature of being “dead” meaning separation—not corpse-like unconsciousness—and also that the Bible never explicitly teaches Irresistible Grace, and that election is only “in Christ” for believers to receive various spiritual blessings. Calvinists will then claim that non-Calvinists are boasting of their decision to come to Christ, because they were able to do it on their own (meaning without Irresistible Grace), even though non-Calvinists do not make any such “boast” about their decision, but only boasSee the topical discussion on Favoritism.t of Jesus Himself. So, this is what’s going on. Calvinists are claiming that non-Calvinists make themselves out to be special, and non-Calvinists reply that it is Calvinists who make themselves out to be special, through a claim to special graces.
____________________________________________
567 See the topical discussion on Favoritism.
[This post has been excerpted with permission from Richard Coords, Calvinism Answered Verse by Verse and Subject by Subject, © 2024.]
