There’s No Such Thing as a Four-Point Calvinist

…or a four-and-a-half pointer, or a four-and-seven-eighths pointer, or a…well, you get the point (pun intended). Those who attempt to reject or discount any of the five points, or who mix and match theological distinctions from the Arminian and Calvinist camps do so, I think, to appear more scholarly and well-balanced and fair to all sides. What they end up doing in the process is, well, nothing.

A recent commenter here said they thought they could agree with the five points of Calvinism, with just a few slight revisions: Total Depravity without the total, Unconditional Election without the unconditional, Limited Atonement without the limited, and Irresistible Grace without the irresistible. While teaching through the book of Romans a few years back, one of my class members decided they would send out (to the whole class) a refutation of what I had been teaching in Romans. This person then proceeded to highlight which points of Calvinism they accepted and which points of Arminianism they accepted (keep in mind I had never even used those terms in class…I was just going verse-by-verse through Paul’s letter). While subbing for a teacher at the same church a few years back during the Romans study (all the adult classes were doing it), I was reading through Romans 3 where Paul quotes the OT about there being none good, not even one. Someone spoke up and basically said they didn’t really care what I had just read…they thought they were a pretty good person. Finally, during the same study (and while subbing for another teacher in another class), the subject of God’s omniscience came up. Someone in the back of the class loudly spoke up and declared that he didn’t think God knows who is going to be saved and who is not.

All of these examples, I think, have a similar thread of reasoning running through them…they all are resisting the truth that man is not in charge. People don’t like the idea that God is in control, really in control, especially when it comes to their salvation.

What is the truth behind Total Depravity? Sin has infected every inch of man and he is therefore unable to come to God of his own volition because of this radical corruption. He actually hates God, and is at enmity with Him. God therefore has to save him totally on His own. No control for man.

What is the truth behind Unconditional Election? God chooses some to have mercy based upon nothing within themselves. They have no input in whether or not they get chosen. It is solely according to the good pleasure of God’s will. No control for man.

What is the truth behind Limited Atonement? It was limited in scope, but not in power. The efficacious work of Christ was only for a select number of people, those whom the Father had given to Him. He secured their salvation, not just provided a way for them to be saved. The rest were/are passed over with no hope of being saved, because there was no atonement for their sin. Again, no control for man.

And what is the truth behind Irresistible Grace? Simply, the inward call of God is effectual. It always results in the person called coming to Christ in saving repentance and faith. The Holy Spirit regenerates whom He wills, like the blowing of the wind (John 3). There is a one-to-one correlation between those chosen to receive this grace and those who are saved. No control for man to reject this call.

The truth behind the Perseverance of the Saints is an interesting one for those who do not hold to the other four points of Calvinism (or only some of them), because most will inconsistently say that a person, even though they were the ones to make the decision to get saved, can never go back on that decision. At least Arminius was consistent!

I think that if we will picture these five points, known also as TULIP, as a row of fixed and connected Christmas tree lights, it may be easier to see how they are dependent on one another (in other words, one cannot stay lit without the other) . As with a string of lights in series where, when one goes out, all the lights go out…so go the five points of Calvinism. They are inseparable. If one truly holds to the first light in the series, the doctrine of total depravity and original sin, the rest of the bulbs quite easily fit right into theological place, with each one completing the circuit for the next one, right on down to Perseverance of the Saints. Pull any one of them out, however, and the whole string will go dark.

This is why I say that there is no such thing as a four-point Calvinist. Even though most people appear to balk at Limited Atonement, the truth is they don’t have a proper understanding of Total Depravity. If they did, they would see how one who is completely infected with sin throughout every fiber of his being has no hope of averting the wrath of God in and of himself. They would see that the biblical picture of the result of the fall of Adam left man with no ability to save himself, be it through a decision, accepting Jesus, mental assent, accepting God’s so-called ‘offer’ of salvation, works, or whatever.

It’s all about control, and man doesn’t like to hear that he doesn’t have it.

So, my 4 to 4.9 point brothers and sisters out there, just admit that when you say Calvinism is mean, unloving and unfair, you are really saying, “it takes control away from me, and I don’t like it!”