Lighthouse Trails Research Journal
12
A Biblical
Perspective on
Salvation Vs.
Calvinism
FROM BOB KIRKLAND’S BOOK,
CALVINISM: NONE DARE CALL IT HERESY
o subject ever discussed can be more
important and crucial in this life than
the subject of salvation. This is what the
citizens of Berea were discussing where it
says in Acts 17:11, “they received the word
with all readiness of mind, and searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were
so.” The Bereans did two things right here
in that their humble disposition motivated
them with “readiness” to receive instruction,
and they went to the Scriptures as the final
authority on the subject. Notice the plural
word “scriptures” is used as it is essential
that Scripture be compared with Scripture
in order to find out if “those things were so.”
Although this may sound elementary (and
it actually is), the sad reality is that human
nature (in particular our sin nature) tends
to be impulsive, and it is so easy to grab one
verse, or maybe just one or two words, from
the Bible and run with it, twisting and distort-
ing it from its actual meaning in Scripture.
For example, Jesus referred to himself as “the
bread of life” (John 6:35), which was obvi-
ously a figure of speech. However, Jesus then
emphasized the point by saying, “For my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed
. . . he that eateth me, even he shall live by
me” (John 6:55,57). Even though Jesus then
qualified His statement by saying, “This is
that bread which came down from heaven”
(John 6:58), comparing Himself with manna,
His disciples were already locked into a confu-
sion, disputing amongst themselves what He
could mean by His statements. The fact is,
from a non-figurative perspective, partaking
of human flesh was an unthinkable abomina-
tion, and the partaking of any kind of blood
was forbidden in the Law.
N
VOLUME 8—NO. 1
For the reason of their great confusion,
Jesus later explained to His disciples that
(a) He would soon ascend to Heaven (John
6:62) making all He had said impossible in
a physical sense, (b) that partaking of flesh
“profiteth nothing” (John 6:63), and (c)
the words He had spoken, “they are spirit”
(John 6:63) (i.e., a figure of speech). Then,
at the Last Supper, Jesus made it even clearer
that He had been using a figure of speech by
referring to the bread and wine as His body
and blood (which obviously was impossible
in a literal sense because He was still physi-
cally present) and then saying, “this do in
remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19) to signify
that they were to remember His sacrifice on
the Cross in this manner. Most unfortu-
nately, the Catholic Church has turned this
memorial into a very literal “sacrament of
the Eucharist” where participation in this
sacrament is what saves you. Hence, we now
have “another gospel” that is works based
and therefore never for certain.
Likewise, John Calvin did much the
same thing, except in his case, he latched
onto little more than a single word (predes-
tinate) and ran with it. Then, rather than
carefully looking to the whole of Scripture
to verify his precepts and conclusions, he
looked to the writings of Augustine to verify
his thinking. The result is that, as with
Catholicism, we now have “another gospel”
that is not solely based on Scripture but on
the confused thinking and misconstrued
assumptions of a mere man.
With Calvin, rather than changing
his views to fit Scripture, he changed the
meaning of words in Scripture to fit his
now distorted view of God and salvation.
We will, therefore, look to Scripture on
the subjects pertaining to salvation. A good
place to start is chapter 33 of Ezekiel where
the very words of God, spoken through a
prophet, reveal God’s heart on the subject
of repentance:
Again, the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying . . .
So thou, O son of man, I have set
thee a watchman unto the house of
Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the
word at my mouth, and warn them
from me. . . .
Say unto them, As I live, saith the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked; but that
the wicked turn from his way and
live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways; for why will ye die, O house
of Israel? . . .
[A]s for the wickedness of the
wicked, he shall not fall thereby
in the day that he turneth from
his wickedness . . . When I shall
say to the righteous, that he shall
surely live; if he trust to his own
righteousness, and commit iniquity,
all his righteousnesses shall not be
remembered . . .
Yet the children of thy people
say, The way of the Lord is not
equal: but as for them, their way
is not equal. When the righteous
turneth from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, he shall even
die thereby. But if the wicked turn
from his wickedness, and do that
which is lawful and right, he shall
live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of
the Lord is not equal. O ye house
of Israel, I will judge you every one
after his ways. (Ezekiel 33:1,7,11-
13,17-20; emphasis added)
For the sake of brevity, we have hopped
from verse to verse in Ezekiel 33, but if you
have suffered under the teaching of Calvin-
ism, it would do you well to carefully read
all of this portion of Scripture through
the twentieth verse as this passage refutes
Calvinism without Calvinists doing some
very serious mental gymnastics in altering
and twisting the meaning of words. The
italicized portions especially reveal that:
Continues on next page
SPRING 2020