“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (NIV)
This is an extremely significant verse. Observe that the demonstration of God’s love for us is found in the death of Christ. In light of the doctrine of unconditional election, a major problem within Calvinism is how I can assuredly know God’s salvific disposition towards me. The same applies to you. Is God kindly disposed towards us so that he has elected us to eternal salvation, or is he malevolently predisposed towards us and predetermined us for eternal torment? This verse clearly states that we can know God loves us because to know that God loves us, we do not have to pry into the counsels of God in eternity past to see if He has unconditionally elected us to salvation, which, of course, we cannot do. Neither do we base our assurance of God’s love for us upon practical “manifest evidences” from which we can only surmise that we might be among the elect. Regarding Christian evidences and persevering in the faith, how does that help us know that we are presently and assuredly loved by God? How could we be assured that we are among the elect? Is it based on our subjective experience? Is assurance of salvation based on whether we will continue to experience those “manifest evidences?” But our futures are also beyond our knowing. And for all the exhortations from Calvinists to leave the question of our unconditional election to rest, it persists as essential to our knowledge of what God is like and what is the nature of his saving relationship to us. These issues are far too weighty to ignore.
The fact that no one knows – neither the Calvinist preacher nor the one hearing about Calvinism – whether God has chosen them to salvation or not raises other interesting problems for the Calvinist.
First, on what logical or moral basis does the Calvinists’ ignorance of a person’s elect or non-elect status give them license to speak as if they knew the truth of a person’s elect or non-elect status? For the Calvinist to give the impression that he knows what is true about a person’s eternal destiny when he does not is to tell a lie.
Secondly, how does the Calvinist know that they themselves are among the elect? If they say no one should concern themselves with the issue of their election, then it seems that this biblical doctrine (as the Calvinist defines it) is irrelevant. It really has no meaningful application to salvation or practical living. This is a strong indication that the Calvinists’ interpretation of this doctrine is simply wrong. In fact, I argue that the Calvinists’ doctrine of election as unconditional and directly related to salvation cannot be put into the service of the gospel as “good news” and is indeed antithetical to the gospel message. This, in and of itself, is a strong indicator that it is biblically incorrect. I find it hard to detect positive meaning, purpose, or rational coherence in knowing that God has done something with respect to my eternal destiny that I cannot know. Just knowing that God has chosen some people to be eternally saved and others eternally damned is, at best, a nebulous kind of knowledge with respect to anyone’s thinking or living; at worst, it is a despairing thought.
Therefore, thirdly, if the Calvinist responds, “Only our doctrine of election can provide the assurance that we will live out a life pleasing to God with confidence because it is all up to God and not us,” the non-Calvinist responds, “The Calvinists’ claim and confidence that they have been unconditionally elected by God amounts to a presumption they make about themselves. Rather, what we non-Calvinists find assurance in is the work of Christ on our behalf precisely because it applies to all sinners, and we rest in the promise and power of God to keep us, not a presumption that we are among a limited number God predestined to salvation.” Since the Calvinist is not privy to the decision of God as to who is elect, the Calvinist must presuppose his own election. Their elect status is a presupposition they make about themselves. Without any knowledge of who is elect, Calvinists simply deem themselves to be favored by God in this way.
Fourthly, if they say they know they are elect by the witness of the Spirit or “manifest evidences” that accompany salvation, then it seems to me they are basing their salvation on their own subjective experience. Even if these experiences are genuine, what is there to assure the Calvinist that they will be lasting indications of their election? In fact, they will not last if they are not among the elect. Indeed, Calvin himself places this uncertainty upon the Calvinist when he writes,
“There is a general call by which God invites all equally to himself through the outward preaching of the word – even those to whom he holds it out as a savor of death [cf. 2 Cor. 2:16], and as the occasion of severer condemnation. The other kind of call is special, which he deigns for the most part to give to the believer alone…Yet sometimes he also causes those whom he illumines only for a time to partake of it; then he justly forsakes them on account of their ungratefulness and strikes them with an even greater blindness.”[30]
Therefore, personal experience or “manifest evidences” is a frail reed when it comes to the assurance of one’s unconditional election. Although you think you are saved because you experience something you equate to an evidence of your election, you may actually not be among the elect. Calvin admits this,
“God certainly bestows His Spirit of regeneration only on the elect…But I do not see that this is any reason why he should not touch the reprobate with a taste of His grace, or illumine their minds with some glimmerings of His light, or affect them with some sense of his goodness, or to some extent engrave His Word in their hearts. Otherwise where would be that passing faith which Mark mentions (4:17)? Therefore, there is some knowledge in the reprobate, which later vanishes away.”[31]
And in the Westminster Confession of Faith, article 10, “Of Effectual Calling,” in section 4, we read,
“Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved.” (Italics mine.)
Fifthly, the question must be raised as to what was the precise content of the “gospel” message Calvinists heard so that God could effect their predestined salvation in them? I can almost guarantee that the Calvinist soteriological doctrines were not what they heard at first. This is confirmed by the Calvinists’ evangelistic admonition that these doctrines be kept a secret until one becomes a “believer.” This is a tacit admission that the doctrines do not support evangelism and therefore can only be embraced by those who may be inclined to deem themselves elect after they are told “God loves you” and “Jesus died for you” and are “invited” and/or “commanded” to believe the true biblical “good news” so that you may be “born from above” and have eternal life. Calvinists become saved by hearing the contrary message of “good news” that their own soteriology cannot provide. They must have been assured that God loves them “in Christ” and that atonement was made for them personally and individually, and that they can and should believe this “good news” that surely applies to them. They must have heard a message of biblical hope, not “I hope so.” To have heard the message of Calvinism would have left them without any hope or assurance that they are among the elect unless they are encouraged to presume so. Therefore, the Calvinist, only after they believe in Christ for salvation, for various reasons as they understand them, embrace Calvinism as their theological system.
The point is that one must be able to know what the sure foundation is for one’s spiritual life and eternal destiny. But the Calvinist can never know this, either objectively based on their interpretation of Scripture, or subjectively based on their experience.
In contrast, Paul has not left us in doubt here. For one to know if God’s love is extended to them, that God is kindly disposed towards them, that they have the assurance of God’s Spirit never leaving or forsaking them, that nothing can separate them from the love of God and that He will always provide the needed strength and support until life is over, one can look to Christ and the cross! This stands in complete contradiction to a settled decree regarding one’s eternal destiny, which one can never know with respect to themselves or others. It stands in complete contradiction to the idea of presuming one’s own unconditional election and looking for evidence to confirm that election. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is quoted as saying, “What matters is not what I feel is true about myself at any moment, but what I know is true about God at every moment.”[32] In Christ, I know God loves me. In Calvinism, God’s love for me remains an unknown, for upon what basis does the Calvinist assure himself or others of God’s love? This issue is critical for the gospel. It is essential in the proclamation of the gospel to sinners. It is what makes that proclamation actually “good news!” Even those who are indifferent to hearing the gospel or listen without visible response need to hear and know that Christ died for them and that God loves them.
Now Calvinists will again object that they look to the cross to know the love of God. But it is precisely my point that these words not only ring hollow in light of their prior theistic determinism, but are speaking incoherently with that determinism. Calvinists may sound off exhortations, pleadings, and invitations to look to Christ on the cross for salvation and to know the love of God expressed there. But above and behind these, overshadowing them and over-riding them is the Calvinists’ absolute decree, which has fixed all things in dark mystery. For the Calvinist, the most that Christ could offer personally to any individual is the implementation of God’s eternal decree. But then we are still left without insight or hope due to the all-encompassing decree. How does this decree work itself out? What has been decreed for me? How will I know I am among the elect? Has Christ died for me? Does God love me? These are the most important questions in life. Calvinism raises them and cannot answer them coherently.
In contrast, the Bible presents Christ as for sinners, that is, all of us, and because of simple faith in the living, present, personal Christ, we are assured of God’s love. The Calvinist might respond, “Well, Paul is talking about God’s love for the elect.” They may say that Paul is writing to Christians, so “us” refers to believers, and that means they must be elect because no one can believe unless they are elect. But this would be to read the text through the Calvinists’ presuppositional lenses. This does not come from the text itself. And even if Calvinists interpret the text as “us” knowing the love of God in Christ’s death, that would be a claim incoherent with their “sovereign grace.” The “us” would have to refer to “the elect.” But can we really limit the “us” to mean “the elect,” given the context and the natural implications and flow of thought of Paul’s argument right from the beginning of Romans? Upon what exegetical or interpretive basis could it be argued that Paul is restricting this love of God to Roman Christians whom Paul perceives are unconditionally elected or predestined to salvation? Since no one knows who the elect are in this sense, then Paul doesn’t know either. He, like the Calvinist, would be presuming too much when he says that God demonstrates his own love “for us” if he is referring only to the predestined elect gathered in Rome. But, of course, this is not what Paul means. Rather, God’s love is demonstrated for all to see in Christ’s death. Paul is lear here. The scope of the demonstration of God’s love is universal; the “powerless,” the “ungodly,” and “sinners.” Calvinists will point out that love is often “particular” or “exclusive,” as in a marriage, therefore God’s love is of this type – exclusive. But using that logic, God should only love one other person. But they say he loves only certain ones – the elect – and no others. But why this arbitrary choosing in God’s love? The Calvinist fails to explain this, although divine impartiality, non-favoritism, and universal and abundant grace and love are the testimony of Scripture. We may also note that biblically speaking, any exclusivity of the love of God centers on his Church, which is constituted of those who respond in faith to the demonstration of his love for all sinners “in Christ.” Yes, God’s love is discriminating. It discriminates based on whether or not one responds in faith to the love God demonstrates to all sinners “in Christ.” Christ is the focal point for an assured, restored relationship to God. Regarding our reconciliation, Paul writes,
“For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.” (Rom. 5:10-11, CSB)
God’s love is unlimited in its scope and sufficiency, for it is demonstrated to us “while we were yet sinners.” (5:9) Indeed, he died “for us.” This can also not be understood as limited. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up I will draw all[33] men unto me.” (John 12:32) This expresses the unified desire of the Father and Jesus that in the death of Christ, all men will have put before them the way of salvation.
The central crisis point of all history has arrived. Each man has to do with what God has accomplished and his love for them “demonstrated” in Christ. No one can escape the decisive implications of Jesus’ death on the cross. If Jesus be exalted as the one and only savior of the world, then through faith in him all may obtain salvation. Yet, in rejecting him, one remains in sin with judgment to follow. Thus, we have the Bible everywhere testifying to a soteriology of conditionality, which is incoherent with a soteriology of unconditionality and determinism.
Backing up to verse 6, we find a similar phrase and thought – “while we were still helpless” (CSB) or “while we were still weak” (ESV). Who are the “we?” All men as sinners. Christ’s death is “for us” even while we were still sinners. It is sufficient for all and makes salvation a possibility for all. Paul juxtaposes our spiritual condition and the “time” element of Christ’s death to point out that if he did what he did when we were “still sinners” and “powerless,” then how much more will he do for us in the future, that is, be saved from his wrath and be saved by his life (vss. 9, 10). Not only did we not have to improve ourselves for us to be saved, but we also didn’t even have to improve ourselves for God to demonstrate his love for us in Christ’s death on our behalf. Christ is the central focus for all spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3ff.). The Calvinist perspective obscures these blessings by a secret decree of God to predestinate some to eternal life and others to eternal damnation for reasons unknown. Christ, then, would simply implement God’s eternal decision to save some. In contrast, the biblical presentation is that Jesus’ death is the demonstration of God’s love to each one of us individually and personally as a sinner. While we were yet sinners, obviously refers to all of us. Hence, Christ died for all of us. And if Christ died for all of us, then all of us can be saved. How do we become saved? By faith in Jesus Christ! God, in Christ, comes to each life, offering the salvation he has wrought as a present, accessible reality for all who will believe. Now, some Calvinists attempt to agree with some of what is said here to avoid the charge that Calvinist grace is impersonal because it is a ‘grace’ that acts irresistibly on the elect. But when they attempt to make their irresistible grace personal, it cannot be done. They retain the irresistibility of Calvinist grace rooted in a theistic determinism. Grace is still the eternal decision of God to save some. And those elected are totally passive therein. As a decision to save a predestined, limited number of elect persons, such ‘grace’ is impersonal. Christ’s work merely implements the eternal decision of God to save those he has chosen. In contrast, true saving grace comes to all. Paul emphasizes this again in Romans 5:15ff.
Go to the next and last section: Romans 5:17 – The Abundance of Grace
Chapter 14 – The Nature of Grace in Scripture
The Truth of the Gospel 