MY SEARCH FOR THE CHURCH ON THE ROCK
CHAPTER 4
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
As I searched for the church that Jesus built I remembered that my ancestors who came from Scotland were Presbyterians. They came to America to escape the religious persecution of the English government. In the new world they were known as the Puritans. I wondered if this could be the church of the first century. The name "Presbyterian" I can't find in the Bible but maybe this was only an oversight on their part. I began to read everything I could about this church that will forever be linked with the history and lore of Scotland. I found, for example, that the word "presbytery" describes their type of church organization, which is under "elders" in the local congregation. I also learned that a Scottish preacher named John Knox is considered the founder of the Presbyterian Church.
John Knox became a Roman Catholic Priest in Scotland about the same time that John Calvin brought the Protestant Reformation to Geneva. It was a time of religious turmoil as well as persecution not only on the European continent but also in the British Isles. A Protestant preacher named George Wishart introduced Knox to this movement and Knox became a Protestant in 1545. Knox then became Wishart's bodyguard, carrying a two-edged sword to protect Wishart from anti-Protestant Catholics. However Wishart was arrested, tried for heresy and burned at the stake by the Catholic Church in 1546. Knox and many other Protestants took refuge in the castle at St. Andrews and were safe until July 1547 when pro-Catholic French forces attacked the castle and took Knox and the others captive. He spent the next eighteen months forced to row as a galley slave on a French ship. After his release he could not go home to his beloved Scotland and lived in exile in England for another ten years. Even though he was a minister of the Scottish Reformed Church he served as a minister in the Church of England for five years.
While Knox had many differences with the Anglican Church his personal beliefs did not become set until his visits to Geneva. Here he studied with John Calvin and was changed forever. Changed also were the politics in Scotland and he felt it was safe to return home in 1559. Under his leadership and as the minister in St. Andrews, the same city where his friend had been executed, the Reformed Church accepted "Calvinism" as its fundamental theology. There have been many changes and divisions in the Presbyterian Church; one church is so liberal they are members of the National Council of Churches while another is so conservative that instrumental music in worship is considered unscriptural. What remains steadfast is that every Presbyterian Church claims they are "Calvinist." What does this mean and where did it come from?
John Calvin
Calvinism is simply the doctrine that was created by John Calvin. Calvin is without a doubt the most influential theologian of the Reformation Movement. All "Evangelical" denominations believe his doctrine! While Calvin was born in France his accomplishments were in the city-state of Geneva. Geneva had become a refuge for Protestants in the 1500's who were hiding from the Catholic authorities. Calvin was invited by the city to live in Geneva so he would not be arrested for his preaching against Catholicism. He was a brilliant theologian and wrote commentaries on most of the Bible. His book "Institutes of the Christian Religion" is a standard of Protestant thought. It was in Geneva that he developed his theology and formulated it into a system he called TULIP. This is an acronym for the five principles of Calvinism.
T TOTAL
HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY
U UNCONDITIONAL
ELECTION
L LIMITED
ATONEMENT
I IRRESTIBLE GRACE
P PERSEVERANCE
OF THE SAINTS
(I will do my best to explain as fairly as I can the Calvinist teaching about these five points. I will also quote what the Bible teaches. It will be impossible to discuss these doctrines in much detail due to space restraints. However, if I can show with just one or two passages that each of these is contradicted in the Holy Scriptures then I have proved what I believe to be the truth. I can only hope that if you are not convinced you will open your Bible and search the Scriptures to find the truth for yourself.)
T.U.L.I.P.
THE FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM
# 1 TOTAL
HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY
This simply means that babies inherit the sin of Adam. Because of this they are totally depraved and are incapable of any good. Not only do they go to hell when they die they also are by nature so sinful they are unable to respond to the Gospel of Christ even as adults.
Before
you ask "who would believe such a thing" I will tell you: The Roman Catholic
Church, the Church of England, the Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church, some
Baptist Churches, the Church of the Nazarene, all Evangelical and Reformed
Churches and of course the Presbyterian Church, just to name a few! If you have
any doubts that this is what they believe just ask yourself, "Why do most of
these churches sprinkle babies?" They believe, sincerely I might add, that if a
baby dies without or before being "christened" their soul goes straight to
eternal torment with the devil and his angels! This is total hereditary
depravity!
What does the
Bible teach?
(1) Sin is our own personal transgression of God's law.
"God will give
to each person according to what he has done." (1)
"For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what
is due him for things done while in the body, whether good or bad."(2)
(2) Our children are not guilty because we sin.
"The soul who
sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the
father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of
the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked
will be charged against him."(3)
(3) When sinners are forgiven they become like children, pure and sinless.
"I tell you the
truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never
enter the kingdom of heaven."(4)
"Let little
children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these."(5)
(4) Why doesn't Total Hereditary Depravity apply to Jesus?
He was born
of a woman yet was sinless as all babies are! (6)
# 2 UNCONDITIONAL
ELECTION
This
doctrine is also called predestination. They teach that God decided
before the world was created which people will go to heaven and which will go
to hell. This list is unchangeable so that no matter what you do your eternal
destiny is already determined.
What does the
Bible teach?
(1) God wants all men to be saved.
"For this is
good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to
come to a knowledge of the truth."(7)
"For the
grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (8)
(2) It is man, not God, who chooses where his spends eternity.
"Then Peter began to speak: "I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men
from every nation who fear him and do what is right." (9)
# 3 LIMITED
ATONEMENT
The
Calvinist teach that Christ did not die for all men. He only died for those on God's
list of the saved.
What does the
Bible teach?
(1) Christ did die for all men.
"He (Jesus Christ) is the atoning sacrifice
for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world."(10)
"The next day
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world." (11)
(2) The gospel must be preached so men can be saved.
"I am not
ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for
salvation of everyone who believes." (12)
# 4 IRRESISTIBLE
GRACE
This
doctrine of Calvinism means that God must send the Holy Spirit directly to each
of those on the saved list so they will know they are saved. They call this
their "revealing experience". If you do not get this special revelation from
God then you know you are going to be lost.
What does the
Bible teach?
(1) If this is true then the most popular verse in the Bible is meaningless.
"For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who ever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (13)
(2) We are saved though the message of Jesus. If irresistible grace is true then why preach the Gospel?
"Go into all
the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and
is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (14)
Note:
This doctrine contradicts so many plain Bible passages that it has caused
divisions in the denominations that believe it. For example the Primitive
Baptist are strict Calvinists but there are also Missionary and Freewill
Baptists who have studied their Bibles and understand that God has given every
sinner the choice to either obey Jesus or reject him.
# 5 PERSEVERANCE
OF THE SAINTS
Simply
stated, "once saved, always saved." This doctrine of the impossibility of
apostasy means that if a person is on the list of the saved it does not matter
how wicked they become they will still go to heaven. It is impossible to fall
from grace. No wonder Calvinists say that this doctrine is "full of comfort."
What does the
Bible teach?
(1) Christians can fall
from grace.
"You who are
trying to be justified by law, have been alienated from Christ; you have
fallen away from grace."
(15)
(2) Christians can sin and be lost.
"My brothers,
if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him
back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will
save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (16)
(3) Christians who return to sin are worse off than they were.
"If they have
escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end
than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then turn their
backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them." (17)
Of all the doctrines invented by men Calvinism may be one of the most extreme but I understand why so many people want to believe it: You are not responsible for anything in your life! You are a newborn baby guilty of Adam's sin and are going to hell. That's not your fault! You are born so wicked that even as a child you can do nothing good. That's not your fault! You can't believe in Jesus unless you are on the saved list. That's not your fault! You can't obey the Gospel until the Holy Spirit gives you a miraculous vision and changes your heart. That's not your fault! If you are one of the "predestined" you will still go to heaven even if you become a serial rapist who murders all his victims. That's not your fault! The devil made you sin but God has predestined you to eternal life!!! Yes, I understand why Calvinism is so popular but here is what I don't understand: Why would a brilliant man like John Calvin accept with the Catholics (18) "total hereditary depravity" when it is not in the Bible? Why did he start with this false premise and then build an entire unscriptural theological system around it? I just don't understand! Why didn't the Reformers just reject everything Catholic, open their Bibles and let God's Word reveal the truth? If they had they would have found the church that I am searching for, the one in the New Testament, the one that Jesus built on the rock.
FOOTNOTES
1.
Romans 2:6
2.
2 Corinthians 5:10
3.
Ezekiel 18:20 (also
Ezekiel 18:1-4; 18-19)
4.
Matthew 18:3
5.
Matthew 19:14
6.
Hebrews 2:14-18
7.
1 Timothy 2:3-4
8.
Titus 1:11
9.
Acts 10:34-35
10.
1 John 2:2
11.
John 1:29
12.
Romans 1:16
13.
John 3:16
14.
Mark 16:15-16
15.
Galatians 5:4
16.
James 5:19-20
17.
2 Peter 2:20-21
18.
Council of Trent
1545-1563 "Adams first sin has been transmitted to all his descendants."
Larry A. McKee
"The Parson"