In the last 8 years or so of dealing with Calvinists and Calvinism, I’ve found that many Calvinists are not very consistent with their theology.  Of course there are some who are consistent with their theology, but they are few and far between.  As I’ve debated with and attempted to reason with Calvinists, I’ve meditated upon things that they would say to me.  There are many things that they really shouldn’t say, if they were consistent were their theology.  Here’s a list of things that I don’t think a Consistent Calvinist should say:

1) “Jesus died for you” – They believe in the doctrine of “Limited/Definite Atonement” (the “L” of T.U.L.I.P.).  This means that they believe that Jesus ONLY died for the “elect” – those that God chose for salvation, before He even began to create the Universe. Calvinists will also say that they don’t know who the elect are.  If they don’t know who the elect are and Jesus only died for the elect, then they couldn’t possibly say this to ANYONE.

2) “God loves you” – Calvinists constantly cite Romans 9:13, in the hopes of proving “Unconditional Election” (the “U” of T.U.L.I.P.) – as I said above, this is the idea that God chose very few people for salvation and that He did this before He even began to create the Universe.  Of course they twist this verse and commit eisegesis, since they are looking at Romans 9 through their “Calvinist eye glasses”.  Yet, if the “U” of T.U.L.I.P. is correct and their interpretation of Romans 9:13 is correct, then there’s no possible way that they could say this to ANYONE.

3) “God wants you to be saved” or “God doesn’t want you to go to Hell” – see above points for reasons why they can’t say this, to ANYONE.

4) “I want you to be saved” – Why would they say this, if they’re not sure if God wants that person to be saved?  Don’t they want to be like their “god”?  If so, then they shouldn’t be saying this to ANYONE.  In fact, they should be willing to say that they WANT MOST people to be damned to Hell, since that’s what their “god” wants.

5) Praying – “God, please save this person” – See the last two points above, for reasons why they couldn’t pray this for ANYONE.

6) “God doesn’t want you to do that” or “God doesn’t want you to believe that” – Calvinists believe that God decrees/ordains/predestines all things, whatsoever comes to pass.  That means that EVERYTHING is “God’s will”, in some way or another.  Every porn film, every drunk driver, every satanist, every pedophile, the Pope, all of the ISIS attacks on people, every Arminian, every Pelagain, every murderer and rapist, every abortionist, every Roman Catholic, every Hindu, every divorce, every sex trafficker, etc., is all the will of the “god” of Calvinism.  The ironic philosophical issue that Calvinists need to deal with on this point, is did the “god” of Calvinism predestine them to say, “God doesn’t want you to do that” or “God doesn’t want you to believe that”?

7) “Hey brother in Christ” or “Hey sister in Christ” – Even if that “brother” or “sister” is exhibiting some kind of “fruit” of salvation, they may end up departing from the faith.  And when that happens, the Calvinist will say that such a person was NEVER saved to begin with – that they were just another “false convert”.  This is all due to the Calvinist believing in “Perseverance/Preservation of the Saints” – the belief that ALL true Christians will remain Christians, until the end.  Once again, they have no idea who the “elect” are, so they can never say for sure that anyone else is a “brother” or “sister”.

8) “I’m saved” – The same points from #7 would also apply to them.  For all they know, the “god” of Calvinism is just deceiving them into believing they are saved, when they really aren’t.  Of maybe their own hearts are deceiving them, since they believe that their own hearts “are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.”  And since Calvinists sin everyday in thought, word and deed (<—that’s their confession about themselves), what fruit do they have that would ensure them that they truly are saved?

9) “I used to be on my way to Hell” – Now, even if we ASSUME that the person saying this IS a part of the “elect”, they still could never say this.  How could the “elect” ever be on their way to Hell?  They were chosen for salvation, before they even existed, before they ever sinned and even before Adam ever sinned, according to Calvinism.  No “elect Calvinist” could ever say this…EVEN IF they knew for sure, that they were a part of the “elect”.

10) “You weren’t born a homosexual” – They believe that everyone is “born a sinner”, because of Adam’s sin.  If that is true, then why can’t someone be “born a homosexual”?  I mean, if we are all “born sinners because of Adam’s sin” (no matter what theory of original sin that you hold to), then it is consistent to say that we could be “born liars”, “born thieves”, “born pedophiles” and “born homosexuals”.  Therefore, Calvinists can’t say this to ANY homosexual.

Of course this isn’t an exhaustive list, by any means.  Yet, I truly think that a Consistent Calvinist can’t say any of these things.  Many of them still say at least one of the things from above, though.  Why is that?

My theory is that the conscience of many of them is still intact and working.  And because their conscience is still working, they are letting it drive what they are saying, instead of their horrible theological system.  That’s good news, to some degree.  Unfortunately, Calvinists often let their false doctrine drive what they say, think and believe.

For more on “Consistent Calvinism”, take a watch of my videos series on this topic:

CONSISTENT CALVINISM VIDEO SERIES