I will deal with Calvin's view on water baptism later but I am tired of talking about water for now..
The more I read of what John Calvin believes, the more I believe that philosophy was his book NOT the bible. The R. Catholics were into that kind of stuff AND Calvin was not out very long before he established his Roman Catholic Protestantism where he was the new pope, so to speak. The word of God tells us over and over and over, that God talks to spiritually dead men and women, that Jesus died for sinners, the lost, the undone NOT the righteous or regenerated. A righteous or regenerated person does NOT need to be born again.
Jesus did NOT die for the righteous but for the sinners.
NOW I want to talk about John Calvin's god using...
As I tell people all the time when comparing natural and supernatural truth, they do not match up in every area, there are differences.
The Lord PLEADS with his people to return to him when they go astray. He does NOT want them to go astray but IF they do, he will give them another chance to return based on their willingness to do so.
For love to be real love it must be willing to be rejected or it isn't love, it is manipulation, coercion, or force.
This sovereign God who created man in his own image, gave them the ability to choose, to obey or disobey, to ignore God, to listen to God, etc.
Jesus calls his church his bride. They are his bride because they answered his prrposal, simple as that.
NOW I want to share a few verses with you and there are many more…showing John Calvin DOES NOT know the God I know and love.
By reading the first 10 verses of Jeremiah 18, I see that the Lord compares himself to a potter BUT the potter that he is comparing himself to messed up the pottery he was working on BUT the master potter God does a few things the human potter does NOT do, he TALKS to his POTTERY and asks them some questions. In verse 6 he says, "...cannot I do with you as this potter?' saith the LORD". He goes on to say that Israel is in his hands as the clay is in the potter's hands. NOW it gets even more interesting. I think we can agree that the pottery that the human potter is working on isn't ever talked to by the potter.
Some differences
The pottery WAS MESSED UP IN THE POTTER'S HAND.
The pottery IN GOD'S HAND MESSED ITSELF UP BY DISOBEYING the potter as we see in vs 7-10.
The pottery IN THE MAN'S HAND WAS JUST A PIECE OF CLAY, no more, no less.
The pottery IN GOD'S HAND ARE SUPER COMPLICATED INDIVIDUALS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD whom God talks to all through the word, telling them to repent or suffer the consequences.
God is love and God is sovereign, they are mutually exclusive to one another.
Mankind is God's highest creature within his creation. God does NOT want puppets, he wants people who choose to love and serve him with their hearts.
Did you ask your wife to marry you OR did you tell her that she is going to marry you? Was it force or love? Was it manipulation or love by choice? Did she really choose you when you proposed or was she made to go through with it by force, like a natual wedding is at gun point?
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"
IF God died for a select few THEN to preach to every creature is just rubbing it in, harassing them because they CAN'T get saved, God does NOT want them.
(John 3:16)
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
I think God knows how to spell "the elect" AND it is NOT spelled "WORLD" IF he just died for the elect then he needs to get a better vocabulary? He doesn't need to be deceitful. He should not be afraid of mankind, just tell them the way it is. Let most of the world know that he created them to go to hell. A Christian is called to tell the truth, so if you believe that then tell it to the ones you are witnesing to if you are witnessing.
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent"
Once again, "ALL MEN EVERYWHERE" is wrong, if Calvin's god is telling the truth it would say, "to a few men in some places" AND God commands ALL men to repent IS another funny thing about Calvin's god. To repent comes from God and God will NOT convict most, he DOES NOT want them. ONLY the ones who are saved are the ones he wants. IF a person dies without knowing God IT IS because God DID NOT WANT HIM OR HER based on Calvinism.
I was watching a debate with a Christian and a Calvinist. The Christian asked the Calvinist, "Where do aborted babies go?" The Calvinist answered with a straight face, the regenerated babies go to heaven, the unregenerated babies go to hell. I thought that was NOT only sick but the guy had NO problem saying that since he was on of the REGENERATED SIDE. COOL!
Speaking of babies or others, the word says, "17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17)
What I am saying here in case anybody misses it, a baby in the womb knows neither good or evil.
(Romans 5:18)
"Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life"
NOW what is strange about this verse IS Calvinists tell me the first "all" means ALL but the second "all" DOES NOT mean ALL even though it is the same Greek word.
(2 Corinthians 5:14)
"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead"
Now here is another strange one from a Calvinistic viewpoint. "...one died for all, then were all dead." Jesus JUST died for the dead spiritually speaking NOT the regenerated, the clean, he died for the dirty, filthy sinner.
(1 Timothy 2:3,4)
" 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
Once again, God didn't mean ALL here to Calvin, God just meant ALL of the ELECT, he just left that word out on purpose, I think Calvin's god doesn't want us to know, we might think he is evil and RIGHTLY SO. Remember Satan is called the "god" of this world and he lies all the time too.