Lighthouse Trails Research Journal
7
CALVINISM: CHANGING THE MEANING OF
WORDS TO PROMOTE A THEORY
BY LT EDITORS
n 2018, Lighthouse Trails published
Bob Kirkland’s book Calvinism: None
Dare Call It Heresy. Over the last few
years especially, the editors at Lighthouse
Trails have grown increasingly troubled
and dismayed to see how Calvinism has
and continues to infiltrate today’s Chris-
tian churches, ministries, and colleges. If
you do not understand what Calvinism
really teaches, it would be a good idea to
seek that understanding because sooner or
later, it is going to affect your family, and
the results could be devastating, especially
for the younger members of your family.
Some people automatically think that
the main premise of Calvinism is believing
in eternal security and that if you are not
Calvinist, then you must not believe in
eternal security for the believer (or in salva-
tion solely by the grace of God and not of
man’s merit). That is not what Calvinism is
really all about. In fact, as Kirkland shows
in his book, Calvinism does not offer the
assurance of salvation at all, and it actually
diminishes and cheapens the grace of God.
Some people also think that if you are
not Calvinist, then you must be a so-called
“Arminianist.” The fact is, there are many
Christians (of which we are among them)
who are neither Calvinist nor Arminian*
Please do not take this lightly. At some
point, we do believe many Calvinist leaders
and teachers (in particular, the newer ones
coming on the scene) will fold in with the
great apostasy and will take their followers
with them.
We encourage you to read Calvinism:
None Dare Call It Heresy. For the months
of September and October 2019, you may
get the book for 40% off retail ($7.17). If
you truly cannot afford to buy the book,
please write to us, and we will send you a
complimentary copy.
I
Volume 7—No. 5
Below is chapter 3 of Bob Kirkland’s
book, Calvinism: None Dare Call It Heresy.
This chapter discusses the main premise of
Calvinism that limits the availability of the
Gospel to a small “elect” rather than mak-
ing it available to “whosoever believeth.”
“CALVINISM: CHANGING THE MEANING
OF WORDS TO PROMOTE A THEORY”
BY BOB KIRKLAND
he only way Calvinists can support
their theory from the Bible is to alter
the meaning of Bible words or take them
out of context. When a Calvinist teaches
“whosoever will,” he means whosoever
“God wills.” Calvinist arthur A. W. Pink
(1886-1952), who “sparked a renewed
interest in the exposition of Calvinism,” 1
wrote, “The fact is, the love of God is a
truth for the saints only.” 2 He said:
T
[T]he “world” in John 3:16 must, in
the final analysis, refer to the world
of God’s people. 3
When a Calvinist talks about the “sover-
eignty” of God, he has his own definition
of the word sovereignty (as he does with the
word depravity). Easton’s Illustrated Bible
Dictionary says that the sovereignty of God
is “[H]is absolute right to do all things ac-
cording to his own good pleasure.” 4
God, in His sovereignty, in His absolute
right to do all things according to His own
good pleasure, has established some laws
for mankind. For example, the Bible says,
“except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish”
(Luke 13:3). God, in His sovereignty, has
determined that the sinner who does not
repent [i.e., turn to God by faith] will not
gain eternal life.
Considering that the word “sovereignty”
is not in the Bible and considering the
actual meaning of the word, rather than
Calvin’s distorted meaning (which he
needed to support his theory), we see God
is no less sovereign because He, according
to His own good pleasure, gives man a free
will making him capable of receiving Christ
as his Savior.
Again, when A. W. Pink said the “‘world’
in John 3:16 must, in the final analysis, refer
to the world of God’s people,” he contin-
ued, saying, “Must we say, for there is no
alternative solution.” 5 The dictionary says, a
solution is, “an answer to a problem.” John
3:16 presents no problem unless you are a
Calvinist needing a “solution” to support
your theory. The way a Calvinist solves his
problem is to simply change the meaning
of words in the Bible and in the dictionary
to mean what they need to mean to support
their position.
Calvinist writers have made many dec-
larations that God has decreed everything
that would happen in this world, from
Adam’s sin to the doom of billions of people
in Hell. The only way they can maintain
their theory is to change the words “world”
and “whosoever” to “elect.” Since Calvin-
ists can change these words in John 3:16,
it must be all right to change these words
in John 15:18-19.
USING THE CALVINISTIC
“SOLUTION” IN JOHN 15:18-19
ohn 15:18-19 says:
J
If the world hate you, ye know that
it hated me before it hated you. If ye
were of the world, the world would
love his own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you.
Using the Calvinist “solution” of chang-
ing the word “world” as they did in John
3:16 so that it means elect, John 15:18-19
now must read:
If the elect hate you, who are the
elect, ye know that the elect hated
Continues on next page
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019