“For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” – 1 Timothy 4:10
IF THE CALVINIST is to be believed, we can only conclude that God is a liar. For any doctrine which supposes that God has chosen some men to be saved, and chosen other men to be damned, cannot but declare that God is not the Savior of all men, but only of the men he has chosen to be saved. It cannot but proclaim, that the God of love is rather a God of caprice and self-contradiction, a sadistic and unjust brute who claims to desire the salvation of all men with one breath, and peevishly prevents the majority of them from that salvation with another breath.
But if the Scriptures are to be believed, we can see that it is men who are the liars, and not God (Romans 3:4). Indeed, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). It is impossible. It is as likely that God should lie, as it is likely that the east and west should meet. God means what he says (John 14:2). And when he says that he loves the world so much he sent his only begotten Son to die for their sins, you can be sure that is what he means. When he says that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), you can be sure that is what he means. When he says that he is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11), you can be sure that is what he means.
Who then are you to believe, dear reader? Are you to believe the pure words of God, which can neither contradict themselves nor be false, or are you to believe the twisted, duplicitous words of sinful and corrupt men? The choice is entirely yours. And just as it is your choice, whether or not you will believe God or men, it is likewise your choice, whether or not you will spend eternity in heaven or in hell. Will you choose life, or death? Will you choose light, or darkness? Will you choose salvation, or damnation?
Perhaps you wonder at this doctrine. You wonder if God really loves you or not, if you are part of the elect or the damned, if you have no choice at all in where you spend eternity. It may not make sense to you, why the Son of God would willingly give his life for the souls of men he knew would reject him. But, as with all other things, this is an issue of final authority. If human understanding trumps the Word of God, then Calvinism will “make sense”. But we must never make the mistake of allowing our peevish little minds to reject the changeless truths of Scripture because we struggle to comprehend them. God loves you, period. He sent his Son to die for your sins, period. And he wants you to be saved, period. Whoever you are, whatever you have done, God loves you and will save you from hell if you but receive Jesus Christ as your Savior.
“But,” the Calvinist will say, “because man is dead in trespasses and sin, he cannot choose to trust Christ. God must first choose him.” Now, it is true that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); that man is by nature inclined to iniquity and averse to righteousness (Jeremiah 17:9); that he is wholly incapable of delivering himself from the condemnation of the law of sin and death (Romans 5:12), and the terror of the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). But how from these truths can it be derived that man has no ability to choose to trust Christ? I find no mention of this anywhere in the Scriptures. Contrariwise, the invitation is made throughout the Bible, that whosoever will may take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). To be sure, no man can come to Christ, unless the Holy Spirit first draws him (John 6:44), but this drawing is not limited exclusively to “the elect”, for Christ himself said that he would draw all men unto himself (John 12:32). And since the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men (Titus 2:11), it cannot truthfully be said that man is unable to choose to trust or reject Christ.
You see, your wretched state of sinfulness does not disqualify you to be saved, any more than all of our good works do not qualify you to be saved, because whether you are saved or lost is not dependent upon how you live your life. It is dependent only on whether or not you have trusted Christ as your Savior (Titus 3:5). The only qualification to get to heaven is absolute perfection, and no man – yourself included – can come close to reaching that. This is why you needs the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which you can have right now, if you will simply acknowledge you are a sinner who cannot do anything to save yourself from spending eternity in hell, and believe with all your heart that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and bodily resurrected three days later.
Do not be deceived by the Calvinist liars, dear reader. God does not want you to go to hell. He does not make you go to hell. Yet, he does not make you go to heaven, either. You have the facts before you. You are a sinner (Romans 3:23). The penalty for sin is death, both bodily (Romans 5:12) and spiritual. Spiritual death is the second death, which is everlasting destruction in hell (Revelation 20:15). Because you are guilty of being a sinner, you can never do anything to make yourself righteous (Isaiah 64:6). All of your good works, even if they are done in Jesus’s name, can never take you to heaven. That is why you need Jesus Christ’s righteousness, which you can freely receive this very instant, by simply believing that he died on the cross to pay for your sins with his blood, that he was buried, and that he bodily rose from the dead three days later.
If you will but believe this with all your heart as your only hope for heaven, you will be saved and will go to heaven when you die. But if you do not believe the gospel as your only hope for heaven, and either reject it outright, or reject it partially by trusting your good works and reformation, you will go to hell forever. This has nothing to do with “predestination”; it has everything to do with what you choose to trust. Will you trust Jesus Christ alone for salvation, or will you trust what you think is good enough to save you? The choice is yours, dear reader, and yours alone to make.