Question: How can some people who are “dead in trespasses and sins” by the typical Calvinistic definition be able to look and act so much like genuine believers that “everyone around” them assumes they are real Christians? If you have ever read or heard the very literal way Calvinists typically describe someone who is dead in sin then you know why this is a valid question. How could someone who has been nominated by their peers and ordained by their church authorities as a leader in a Bible believing church still be enslaved in their radical corruption and/or total depravity (as defined by Calvinists)? How can someone who is “utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil” be mistaken for a genuine believer, let alone a leader in a church? (WCF Ch. 6, #4) Wouldn’t such a phony stand out in church… like I would stand out in an NBA team photo?
I recently heard a sermon preached by Pastor Kevin DeYoung entitled “The Called Will Come and Never Be Cast Out.” Kevin is an excellent teacher of the Bible. His humble preaching demeanor is endearing and disarming. As a layman, I find his grasp of all things theological really impressive, even intimidating. I thoroughly enjoy hearing him teach. But preaching on John 6 he exposed the difficulty Calvinists have with the biblical teachings on the nature of the new birth and the assurance of salvation. To no one’s surprise, Kevin called upon John Calvin to help him out of a tight spot; but even Calvin couldn’t come through. Here is a sampling from the sermon. First, Kevin asserted this:
“If you have saving faith in Jesus Christ, you are a walking miracle, because you were dead, dead in sins and trespasses, unable to come.”
After insisting that the drawing of John 6:44-45 is utterly irresistible and born of God’s (alleged) unconditional predestination of the elect, he then invoked Calvin to help with the confusion regarding assurance that is created by their view:
But even Calvin was careful to say don’t get your head lost in the abyss of predestination. Calvin warned against indulging in “curious inquiries about eternal predestination” because he knew that some people would say “Well, am I chosen? Am I chosen? Am I elect? How do I know? Am I elect?” Listen very carefully to what Calvin himself says: “They are madmen who seek their own salvation or that of others in the whirlpool of predestination, not keeping the way of salvation which is exhibited before them.” And then he says this: “Faith is a sufficient attestation of the eternal predestination of God.”
Lastly, in an evangelistic appeal to any unbelievers, who somehow may have had ears to hear, Kevin said:
Maybe everyone around you thinks you’re a Christian; you know you’re not a Christian. You know you haven’t really believed this. You know you’ve just been coming, you’ve just been going through the motions. Someone wants you here. Maybe you’ve even been a leader in this church and you haven’t really been a Christian. Is there a miracle at work in your life?
Here are a few reasons why this is a problem, especially for Calvinists.
If genuine faith in Jesus is miraculous then could it be a verifiable miracle, if someone can fake it so convincingly that everyone around them believes they are Christian? How would the “miracle” of faith be verified? A profession of faith? No, Judas professed faith. The devils believe and tremble. (James 2:19) How are we to distinguish between the professed faith of a convincing hypocrite and the real faith of a genuine believer? Do real believers actually think of their faith as miraculous? I doubt it, especially those raised in the faith, those who have been on the journey for a while and understand the spiritual nature of God’s expectations in Scripture for the regenerate. (Not to mention Jonathan Edwards’ famous “resolutions” and the elusive certainty in his “Religious Affections.”) Most of us find our faith quite human (even fallible), rational, sometimes wavering, and constantly under attack. With perhaps a few extraordinary exceptions, the genuine faith of the believers recorded in Scripture does not seem all that miraculous.
I understand we must try to protect the saints from pride, but teaching that faith in Jesus is miraculous is an over-correction, which is confusing and dangerous to the point of harm. This assertion lacks explicit biblical support; it is asserted by flawed inferences that are neither good nor necessary. In all the biblical texts that teach we are justified by faith alone, there is no hint of faith being miraculous. There is nothing in John 6:45, which suggests the “teaching” and “learning” from the Father is essentially an irresistible and infallible miracle. A miraculous faith would emasculate it as an actual and meaningful condition of salvation. Our personal trust in God would be relegated to an irresistible by-product of our unconditional election. This quenches the spirit of a “faith that works by love.” Gal 5:6
Calvin was wise to direct us away from ethereal speculations about the predestinating purposes of God in determining whether we have been born of God – or not. The letter of 1st John is a manual on assurance, in terms of the new birth, and there is nothing in the letter about predestination. Nor is there anything in the letter about genuine faith requiring a miracle. Teaching, as Calvin does, that “faith is a sufficient attestation” of the new birth ignores the other necessary components of a biblical assurance. The context of assurance is where we must remember that faith without works is dead. (James 2:20-26)
Calvin’s over simplification of biblical assurance leads to the kind of easy believism that has especially troubled Calvinistic churches and others who have been influenced by their exaggerated views of the dramatic and immediate change that, supposedly, always comes with faith in Christ. Having been a believer in Jesus for over 45 years, I sometimes marvel that preachers, who have been pastors for any length of time, still insist that “old things are passed away and all things become new” is a universal description of the practical sanctification of their parishioners. (2 Cor 5:17) Again, see 1st John and 2 Peter 1, where the apostles describe the proper view of the new birth and saving faith. No easy, presumptive, or bookworm assurance in these scriptures.
Salvation is the free gift of God’s amazing grace. God’s universal love in Christ and an initial profession of faith yields hope for any sinner. But it is a tested, contrite, and fruit bearing faith that yields a deep and joyful assurance of the new birth, and thus, our future entrance into the everlasting kingdom. Most of us are somewhere in between. No doubt, many conversions are swift, and change is sometimes dramatic (and we could use another Billy Graham) but a full assurance, according to the Bible, takes time and diligence.
Calvin was wrong as quoted here. We must give diligence to add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness – love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ… for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-11)
Salvation is full and free in The Beloved. But joyful assurance is not without conditions.
For more on the question of assurance see Chosen Or Not, Chapter 13.