Dave Hunt

Isn’t the doctrine of Calvinism really a libel on the character of God? Does it not present a God who does not love everyone enough to want all to go to heaven, a God who sent Christ to die only for the elect and not for all? Yet no basis can be given for why God (who is impartial) would elect one and not another (nor is there anything in any of us to cause God to elect us at all).

For the Calvinist to take verses which clearly say God loves the whole world, that He is not willing that any perish, that He wants all to come to the truth, etc. and to say that “world” and “any” and “all” only mean the elect is to impose on those verses a view which perverts the meaning of what is being said and conflicts with the rest of the Bible. We have at least one verse where this artificially imposed meaning won’t hold: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Surely “our”/“ours” must be the elect and the “whole world” must be everyone else.

It could not be said in plainer language that Christ’s blood was shed not just for the elect but for the sins of the whole world. Limited atonement thus collapses and with it much of the rest of Calvinism. God is vindicated as a God who is love, who truly loves all so much that He has done everything needed to save the whole world. Christ paid the penalty for all; the Holy Spirit seeks to convict and draw all. Therefore, anyone who is in hell for eternity is there not because God could have saved them by extending irresistible grace but did not. They are there because they rejected the salvation God provided and freely offers to all.

John MacArthur...[claims]...there is a difference between “God’s will of decree (His eternal purpose) [and] God’s will of desire. There is a distinction between God’s desire and His eternal saving purpose, which must transcend His desires.” Where does the Bible make such a distinction—and how could it be? Calvinism denies that a man's choice has anything to do with his eternal destiny, but that God sovereignly regenerates whom He will. Commenting on “desires all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4), MacArthur writes, “In His eternal purpose, He chose only the elect out of the world (John 17:6) and passed over the rest [whom He desired to save], leaving them to the consequences of their sin....”

Here again we have an attempt by a “moderate” Calvinist to distance himself from “hyper-Calvinism.” But in doing so, he entraps himself in the absurdity that God (who in Calvinism can save anyone He desires to save) predestined to eternal doom some whom He desired to save.

Question for Dave Hunt: In his book, George Mueller tells how God uses trials to increase our faith. Such an interpretation would have to be read into the [biblical] text. Abraham’s life (for example) proves that notion wrong. Otherwise, God would be a child abuser!

Answer: You seem to think that no Christian should face any trials; or that if they do come, they could only be from Satan. But was it not God who commanded Abraham to offer Isaac? Was Job wrong when he said submissively, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). Paul clearly says that God gave him a “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me,” and he explains why: “lest I should be exalted above measure.” Paul also rejoices in the blessed result: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7, 9).

Surely, if anyone was in God’s perfect will it was Christ himself. Yet He endured many trials and was a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Indeed, He learned obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8). And Christ declared that Christians would likewise suffer for His sake: “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

There was no greater apostle than Paul, yet he suffered “in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep...in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen...in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst...in cold and nakedness...” (2 Corinthians 11:22-33).

Those who preach the “prosperity gospel” today must conclude that Paul didn’t know how to make a “positive confession,” or he would have prospered like they do. We would have to conclude the same concerning the heroes and heroines of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 who suffered such horrible trials. On the contrary, the trials strengthened their faith. Indeed, how else could one demonstrate one’s faith without it being put to the test? Thus Peter speaks of “the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold...[which] might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ...” (1 Peter 1:7).

The Bible is literally filled from beginning to end with the thrilling testimonies of those whose faith our gracious Lord strengthened through many trials. Perhaps today’s church’s neglect of that part of Scripture has contributed to a warped view of living the life of faith.