Post by Dr James Ach on Jul 30, 2013 21:53:42 GMT 3
David Bennett has written an excellent chapter on the issue of assurance of salvation in Calvinism here www.freewill-predestination.com/files/assurance.pdf
It has always been my contention that the Calvinist view of "Perseverance of the Saints" ALWAYS leads to Hyper-Arminianism because for the Calvinist, assurance of salvation is always based on works. Many who are dooped into agreeing with Calvinism by rejecting the so-called Arminian position against eternal security, do so because they believe that Perseverance of the Saints means PRESERVATION of the saints, and that is the furthest from the truth. Preservation of the saints is the theology that a saved man WILL ENDURE to the end, and that if he does not, he was never saved in the first place. This has produced a historic challenge to the Calvinist for those who backslide and leads to the obvious logical conclusion asked, was I ever really saved? After all, if God predetermined their salvation, and that is what is meant by "ordained to salvation" then a consistent usage of that ordination would also follow that God ordained their works according to Ephesians 2:10. But if at any time, that person falls into sin, then that should be evidence that they are not saved, because a person's works who are determined and preordained could not possibly include acts contrary to the commandments of the New Testament.
One of the most difficult questions I have seen a Calvinist attempt to answer is: how do you know that YOU are of the elect? In response to this, the Calvinist always sites a verse or two that is in reference to the elect, such as 1 Peter 1:4. But that only proves that those whom Paul knew and addressed were elect, that doesn't answer the question of how the Calvinist knows that HE FITS THAT CATEGORY. This leads to what I call the Calvinist Uniformity Conundrum. Since election is known only to God, there is no test in Scripture of which the Calvinist can know for sure they are elect, and since election means salvation in Calvinist theology, then there is no test available to the Calvinist to know for sure they are saved, even though the Bible commands us to know. 2 Cor 13:5. Thus the only assurance that a Calvinist has that he is one of the elect is based on a constant evaluation of works-based performance. It is one thing to evaluate the LIKELIHOOD that someone MAY not be saved in questioning the validity of a persons testimony, but quite another to determine that a persons salvation DEPENDS ON an evaluation of works as a qualifying factor in verifying ones election.
Thus no Calvinist can ever know for sure whether or not he is saved.
It has always been my contention that the Calvinist view of "Perseverance of the Saints" ALWAYS leads to Hyper-Arminianism because for the Calvinist, assurance of salvation is always based on works. Many who are dooped into agreeing with Calvinism by rejecting the so-called Arminian position against eternal security, do so because they believe that Perseverance of the Saints means PRESERVATION of the saints, and that is the furthest from the truth. Preservation of the saints is the theology that a saved man WILL ENDURE to the end, and that if he does not, he was never saved in the first place. This has produced a historic challenge to the Calvinist for those who backslide and leads to the obvious logical conclusion asked, was I ever really saved? After all, if God predetermined their salvation, and that is what is meant by "ordained to salvation" then a consistent usage of that ordination would also follow that God ordained their works according to Ephesians 2:10. But if at any time, that person falls into sin, then that should be evidence that they are not saved, because a person's works who are determined and preordained could not possibly include acts contrary to the commandments of the New Testament.
One of the most difficult questions I have seen a Calvinist attempt to answer is: how do you know that YOU are of the elect? In response to this, the Calvinist always sites a verse or two that is in reference to the elect, such as 1 Peter 1:4. But that only proves that those whom Paul knew and addressed were elect, that doesn't answer the question of how the Calvinist knows that HE FITS THAT CATEGORY. This leads to what I call the Calvinist Uniformity Conundrum. Since election is known only to God, there is no test in Scripture of which the Calvinist can know for sure they are elect, and since election means salvation in Calvinist theology, then there is no test available to the Calvinist to know for sure they are saved, even though the Bible commands us to know. 2 Cor 13:5. Thus the only assurance that a Calvinist has that he is one of the elect is based on a constant evaluation of works-based performance. It is one thing to evaluate the LIKELIHOOD that someone MAY not be saved in questioning the validity of a persons testimony, but quite another to determine that a persons salvation DEPENDS ON an evaluation of works as a qualifying factor in verifying ones election.
Thus no Calvinist can ever know for sure whether or not he is saved.