A Reformed / Calvinist Perspective
> Few doctrines cut closer to the heart than this one. Scripture affirms both that God “so loved the world” (John 3:16) and that He chooses some to salvation while others remain under judgment (Ephesians 1; Romans 9). How can God love all, yet elect only some? And why did this issue explode in the 17th‑century conflict between the Reformers and the Arminians?
This post will:
- Explain the nature of the paradox
- Sketch the Reformed / Calvinist answer
- Note the Arminian / Wesleyan alternative (and its implications)
- Highlight the historical debate with the followers of Jacobus Arminius
- Show why this matters deeply today
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1. The Nature of the Paradox
A. God’s Love and Desire for Salvation
Scripture strongly affirms God’s goodness and His desire that sinners be saved:
- “God so loved the world…” (John 3:16)
- God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
- He is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
- God “has no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezekiel 18:23, 32)
There is a real, sincere, compassionate divine love toward sinners, including those who never repent.
B. Election and Reprobation
At the same time, Scripture teaches:
- Unconditional election
- God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4–5)
- “Those whom he predestined he also called… justified… glorified.” (Romans 8:29–30)
- “All that the Father gives me will come to me…” (John 6:37)
- Reprobation / passing over
- “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Romans 9:13; Malachi 1:2–3)
- “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” (Romans 9:18)
- Some are described as “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” (Romans 9:22).
The paradox:
- If God loves all and desires all to be saved,
why does He not elect all? - If He elects some and passes over others,
how can His love for “the world” be sincere?
Reformed theology insists: this is not a logical contradiction, but a matter of different aspects of God’s will and love, and of human sinfulness more serious than “spiritual sickness.”
2. The Reformed / Calvinist Explanation
A. Two Aspects of God’s Will and Love
Classic Reformed theology distinguishes:
- God’s revealed/preceptive will (what He commands and delights in)
- God commands all to repent (Acts 17:30).
- He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23).
- There is a genuine compassionate love for all people—often called common grace.
- God’s secret/decretive will (His eternal plan)
- He freely, wisely chooses some to salvation and leaves others in their sin (Romans 9; Ephesians 1).
- This is His special saving love for the elect.
So:
- God can sincerely will that all repent (preceptively),
while decreeing that only some will infallibly come (decretively). - He can love all with a general benevolence, yet love His chosen ones with a special, covenant love.
John Calvin:
“God has a twofold will… By the former He calls all equally to Himself through the external preaching of the word; by the latter He brings to Himself those whom He wills in a special way.”
—paraphrased from Institutes 3.24
B. “All” and “World” in a Reformed Reading
Reformed interpreters often note:
- “All” can mean all kinds of people or “all without distinction,” not always “every individual without exception.”
- Example: 1 Timothy 2:1–4 (kings and those in high positions, not just one group).
- “World” in John 3:16 often emphasizes the scope and surprising target of God’s love (a rebellious, fallen world, not just Israel), not universal salvation.
Still, the Reformed tradition generally affirms:
- God’s love for the non‑elect is real (He shows patience, kindness, common grace).
- But His saving intention (to actually bring to repentance and faith) is particular.
John Murray:
“There is a love of God from which the non‑elect are not excluded…
But there is also a love that is peculiar to God’s elect.”
—John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (paraphrased)
C. Total Depravity: Not Just “Very Sick,” But Spiritually Dead
A key difference with Arminian / Wesleyan views is the depth of human sin.
Scripture describes our natural state as:
- “Dead in… trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1)
- “By nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3)
- “No one seeks for God… no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12)
- “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God… it cannot submit to God’s law.” (Romans 8:7–8)
- “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” (John 6:44)
Reformed theology draws the necessary implication:
- We are not merely spiritually sick but able to respond if we choose;
- We are spiritually dead, morally unable to choose God apart from regenerating grace.
Hence:
- If anyone believes, it is because God first gave life and opened the heart (Acts 16:14; John 6:65).
- Election is not God foreseeing who would “use their free will well,” but God freely choosing and then effectually calling the dead to life.
3. Arminian / Wesleyan Explanations and Their Implications
Now, let’s acknowledge the alternative to the Reformed view of predestination.
A. Arminian / Wesleyan View in Brief
Arminianism affirms the following:
- Universal saving will: God truly desires each and every person’s salvation.
- Prevenient grace: an enabling grace given to all, restoring their ability to choose for or against Christ.
- Conditional election: God elects those He foreknows will freely believe.
- Resistible grace: people can accept or resist the Spirit’s call.
In this view:
- Humans are indeed fallen, but not so dead that they cannot, with prevenient grace, freely accept or reject the gospel.
- Final destiny hinges on the individual’s free response, not God’s unconditional choice.
B. The “Sick vs. Dead” Contrast
Historically, Reformed theologians have argued that this Arminian picture implies:
- We are not truly dead in sin, only very sick,
- And that the decisive factor in salvation is our choice, not God’s election.
This is precisely what the Canons of Dort (1618–1619) rejected.
4. The Historical Clash: Reformers and the Remonstrants
A. The Remonstrance of 1610
After the death of Jacob Arminius, his followers (the Remonstrants) put forward five articles (1610) that challenged settled Reformed teaching. They affirmed:
- Conditional election based on foreseen faith
- Universal atonement, with effectiveness dependent on human response
- Necessity of grace, but resistible
- Human freedom to cooperate with or resist grace
- Uncertainty about perseverance (later, many held that true believers could fall away)
The underlying assumption:
Even after the fall, with prevenient grace, humans retain a decisive ability to accept or reject the gospel.
B. The Synod of Dort and the Canons
The Reformed churches responded at the Synod of Dort (1618–1619). Its Canons:
- Defended unconditional election:
- God chose His people “out of the whole human race… according to the sovereign good pleasure of His will” (Canons of Dort I.7).
- Affirmed total depravity:
- Fallen humans are “incapable of any saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage to sin” (III/IV.3).
- Taught irresistible (effectual) grace:
- The Spirit “by a marvelous, and mysterious, and powerful operation… infuses new qualities into the will” (III/IV.11).
- Insisted on perseverance of the saints.
The Canons explicitly reject the idea that:
- Human free will is the decisive cause of faith, or
- God elects those He foresees will believe of themselves.
In other words:
We are not just very sick; we are dead.
If we are saved, it is because God raises the dead.
5. Election, Reprobation, and God’s Justice
A. God Is Not Obligated to Save Anyone
Reformed theology starts here:
- All have sinned and deserve condemnation (Romans 3:23; 6:23).
- If God left everyone in their sin, He would be perfectly just.
- Election is sheer mercy; reprobation is justice.
Paul’s argument in Romans 9 is foundational:
- “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” (Romans 9:14)
- “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” (Romans 9:18)
- “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:20)
Calvin:
“We make the distinction between God’s mercy and His justice:
to the one He freely gives what he does not owe; from the other He justly withholds what is not due.”
—paraphrased from Institutes 3.21–24
B. Reprobation: Passing Over, Not Creating Sin
Reformed theologians carefully state:
- God does not create unbelief in neutral people;
- He passes over some, allowing them to follow their own sinful desires;
- He may judicially harden (Romans 1:24–28; 9:18), but always in response to sin already present.
The Canons of Dort:
“God… leaves the non‑elect in His just judgment to their own wickedness and obduracy.”
—Canons I.15 (paraphrased)
6. Why This Paradox Matters for Us Today
A. It Deeply Shapes How We See God
- God’s love: not sentimental, but holy and sovereign.
- God’s freedom: He is not bound by our decisions; He is the Potter, we the clay (Romans 9:21).
- God’s mercy: Election highlights the sheer grace of salvation—no one can boast.
Charles Spurgeon:
“I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him.”
—C.H. Spurgeon, A Defense of Calvinism
B. It Exposes the Danger of Trusting Our Own Choice
If we adopt a view where:
- We are merely spiritually ill but fundamentally able;
- God’s grace is equal for all, and our decision is decisive;
then in practice we risk:
- Moving our confidence from Christ alone to our act of believing,
- Making our will the final arbiter of salvation rather than God’s mercy.
Paul warns:
- “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16)
To make salvation “depend” on human will—even partly—is to reintroduce boasting and anxiety.
C. It Fuels Humility, Worship, and Mission
Paradoxically, Reformed teaching on election:
- Humbles us:
- “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)
- Intensifies worship:
- We praise God that He “made us alive together with Christ” when we were dead (Ephesians 2:5).
- Energizes mission:
- Paul stays and preaches in Corinth because God says, “I have many in this city who are my people” (Acts 18:10).
- Election guarantees that evangelism will not be in vain; God has people yet to be gathered.
John Piper:
“The doctrine of election is meant to give us hope in evangelism, not to take it away: God has people everywhere whom He intends to save through the gospel.”
—paraphrased from Desiring God resources
D. It Comforts Us in a Broken, Confusing World
When we wrestle with:
- Why some believe and others don’t,
- Why our own heart was opened,
this doctrine says:
- Salvation is not random, nor is it ultimately about us being wiser or better.
- It is rooted in God’s eternal, wise, loving counsel (Ephesians 1:3–6).
That doesn’t remove mystery, but it anchors us.
7. Living with the Tension
We may never fully see how God’s universal love and particular election fit together. But Scripture gives us enough to:
- Affirm both:
- God truly loves and invites all.
- God freely and sovereignly elects some.
- Reject the idea that we are merely “very sick” and able to save ourselves by a better choice. We were dead, and God made us alive.
- Rest in God’s mercy while proclaiming the gospel indiscriminately to everyone.
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