Do Calvinists Preach a Different Gospel? / Does Calvinism Teach a Different Gospel?

They don't practice what they preach

Wow! Did I touch a nerve or what?! Just recently, as most of you are aware, Dr. John MacArthur passed away. There was an immediate response online and even in local churches. People all over the world have been ministered to by John MacArthur. That includes me. Less than 24 hours went by before social media posts started to roll in. Most were offering prayers and sympathies to the church and family of Dr. MacArthur. However, there were many that were not sympathetic, not gracious. In fact, they were downright mean and unchristian. Well, I had had one too many conversations and read one too many articles and social posts than I could tolerate. I did what I would not normally do, I made a video on the ministry you tube site and commented on other people's posts and comments. I felt it pitiful that perhaps the most faithful and influential Bible teacher of our day was taking hits, after his death, from those who CLAIM the name of Jesus. Vile, obnoxious, ignorant and unchristian comments. They couldn't even wait until the family had a chance to mourne and bury their loved one. Well, as I expected, those same types of people lashed out at me with the same venom that they used for Dr. MacArthur. From both sides I might add. This is where it comes in handy to be somewhat immune to that foolishness. You know, sticks and stones, and all of that. I am older now and I have a firm grasp on what I believe and I am not here to please man, only God. I will preach and teach what I believe the Scripture to teach even if I am the only one who believes it. I have no desire for popularity, fame, fortune, prestigious positions nor favor with those who refuse to listen. My sole goal is faithfulness to God and His Word. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

As far as the remarks about Dr. MacArthur, from my side of the aisle, I read comments about how he was a devil, that he didn't make it to heaven, and a host of other gossip and innuendos. I had heard enough. With His Grace For All ministries lazer focused on evangelism and the proclamation and defense of the true gospel and sound Biblical exegesis, I felt compelled to distance myself from those who are exhibiting this behavior unbecoming a believer. I did not want this ministry nor myself associated in any way with the vulgar things that were being communicated in public about John MacArthur in particular and Calvinists in general. I also did not want to make off the cuff comments and lead anyone to believe that I did not believe defending against Calvinism was not important. Scripture speaks of those who cause division due to false doctrine. Someone once said that all of this debate around Calvinism was taking away from that which really mattered. I often ask those people, what is it that really matters? What is the MOST important thing in the Bible? They almost universally say that the most important thing is the truth of the gospel. Well, I could not agree more. The problem is, the Calvinism debate IS about that very subject - the gospel. It is not a secondary doctrine, it is the highest of all primary doctrines and we MUST get it right.

That brings me to this article. One comment that was made over and over on responses to my video was that John MacArthur can't be in Heaven because he was a Calvinist and Calvinism preaches a false gospel. Well, maybe it's time we address that comment. I hear it all the time.

Now, it is true that a person cannot get to Heaven without the good news of the gospel. Paul says it is the power of God unto salvation. (Romans 1:16-17). He also tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17). So, how do we reconcile the false teaching of Calvinistic soteriology while at the same time saying that Calvinists are fellow believers?

Well, first of all, we should define the gospel. This is done clearly for us by Paul in I Corinthians 15:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,"

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is the skeleton of the gospel. It is the core, the foundation and technical information of the gospel. Now, we put the meat on the skeleton. What is the meat? Well, at this point, we have to discover how the gospel results in being born from above, i.e., becoming saved. THAT information is all over the Bible, but let's narrow it down to just a couple of verses.... Acts 16:29-32 says... "Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.". And again, in Acts 8:26-38 "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace,a queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.”

So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,

so He did not open His mouth.

In His humiliation He was deprived of justice.

Who can recount His descendants?

For His life was removed from the earth.”

“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?” Then Philip said ,"If you believe with all your heart, you may. "And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him."

And of course, the Magna Carta of the Reformation is the Book of Romans. It is here where the Reformation was birthed. And the central theme of the reformation was "Justification by faith". Scripture tells us we are saved by grace through faith, nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. Now, let's pause here for one minute. Have you ever heard a Calvinist preach the gospel? I have never heard a Calvinist say anything other than salvation is by grace through faith. They don't preach water baptism, they don't preach salvation by works and they preach the same words that you and I would preach. That is when they preach the gospel. Let me ask you, are they then preaching the gospel? You must admit that yes, they are preaching the gospel. According to Scripture faith comes by hearing the gospel. It does not say that a person who hears the gospel from a Calvinist cannot be saved. It is not the preacher that saves anyone, it is the gospel. Now, also, if that Calvinist preacher believes that salvation comes through faith in Jesus, then that Calvinist is also saved. This is regardless of whether he believes his faith originated with himself or with God. It is, at this point, irrelevant if he believes he was elected or if he chose himself to be saved upon hearing the Word.

Now, does Calvinism teach the gospel? The answer to THAT question is no! Herein lies the difference. When a Calvinist preaches the gospel, they don't teach Calvinism, because they are two completely different things. It is not until someone is saved and gets wrapped up with a church that teaches Calvinism that the false teaching of Calvinism rears it's ugly head. Now, you have a whole church of believers being indoctrinated with Augustinian Gnosticism. But that does not take away their salvation.

Now, once a saved person starts to believe Calvinism, does that person all of a sudden stop being a Christian? No, of course not. Likewise, a preacher who teaches a false theology because of ignorance, poor teaching or any number of reasons, after salvation, doesn't automatically stop being a believer. He might be a bad teacher and he might miss most of truth around the things of soteriology, but being a good theologian does not save anyone. Neither does being a bad one, cause one to lose salvation, unless they have believed a false gospel.

That is not to say, that there aren't those out there who might include Calvinism in their gospel presentation, but I have never heard one. You might say that Calvinists don't practice what they preach. As a matter of fact, John MacArthur is well known for walking both sides of the fence. In his early ministry and in his upbringing, he was not a Calvinist. Later on, he started down that path. However, even in his latter years, he would say things like... "from our side, it takes our faith to be saved. From God's side, it is all of His grace." He always seemed to struggle with Calvinism. I don't know of one Calvinist that says you must believe in Calvinism to be saved. Likewise, it is foolish to say that if a person does believe in Calvinism, they can't be saved. It is a lazy man who does not want to take the energy to distinguish between the gospel that saves and a doctrine that teaches falsehood. It is this very distinction that provided an avenue for Calvinists and non-Calvinists to be able to minister together in years gone by. Some of the greatest Christian preachers of bygone years were Calvinists. They love the Lord, they love His Word and they love the church of Christ. They are just like all of us, there are some theological matters that they get wrong. Are they wrong on Total Depravity, original sin, guilt of Adam, regeneration, limited atonement, irresistible grace and a host of other doctrines? Yep! But, when they preach the gospel, they usually get it right. It's as if they all of a sudden become a Bible believing Traditionalist believing in free will. When we preach the gospel, we are giving the gospel to save anyone who will come by faith to Jesus. When a Calvinist preaches the gospel, they are looking for the elect. As Paul said... "Whether in pretense or in truth, the gospel is preached." (Philippians 1:18).

Now, finally, lets address the opening verse about cursing of the one who preaches a false gospel. To do that, I would like to contrast that with James 3:1. Now, often people use these verses as if they are saying the same thing. Well, they are not. One involves being "accursed" and the other involves a "stricter judgment". What is the difference? In the Galatians passage it is clear that there is no other gospel than that which has been preached by Jesus and the apostles. To preach another gospel is to show that the one preaching is not a believer and is accursed, cut off from Christ, as Paul uses it in Romans in 9:3. The passage out of James does not excommunicate the teacher from the faith, it only says he will come under a stricter judgment. In this case, it is referring to a more broad application of correct words, bridling the tongue and maintaining sound words and doctrine.

So, do Calvinists preach the gospel? Well, do they preach that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone? Do they believe Jesus is God? Do they add works to salvation? DO they believe Jesus died and rose again the third day? My friend, if they get all of that correct, how can you say they are not genuine believers? The fact is, you can't. In reality, as non-Calvinists, we should be fighting against the theological systematic of CALVINISM, not waging war on the CALVINIST. They are misled and are leading others astray. It is our responsibility to correct, teach and rebuke those who teach falsely with the truth of the Word of God, not with personal attacks that are childish and foolish. Remember, you don't know it all either. Remember, pastor, most of your congregation is made up of Scriptural babes. The Calvinist who has believed in Jesus as Savior is your fellow brother or sister in the Lord. If you are a teacher of the Word, those "evil Calvinists" are also your responsibility to teach to.

Let me ask you first however, to get your own house in check before you go out and spout the childish drivel that you call orthodox truth. As someone once said... 'You need to check yourself before you wreck yourself".

So, yes, both sides, go out and vigorously debate, poke fun at each other, hold firm your belief of truth. Stay faithful to what you believe the Word teaches. Argue, fight it out, debate, yell and scream a bit too. But keep the personal condemnation at home in the trash can where it belongs. Grow up. Then when it's done, agree to pray for each other and encourage each other and be there for each other. Being civil does not mean forfeiting doctrinal integrity. Then, when we get to Heaven, I'm sure God will sit us all down and teach us all a few things - just like old John and RC, who are, I'm sure, getting an ear full right now. :)

Day One