If one of my many Calvinistic friends were to read this article, he would probably come to the conclusion that it is theologically shallow and lacking substance. That may be because I am writing from my heart, not my head.

         I have appreciated the friendship of a number of Calvinists, and I applaud their obvious desire to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.

         If doors of fellowship close between us, they will not close from my side. I desire to maintain the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3) until we come to the unity of the faith (Eph. 4:13).

         The Calvinistic "doctrines of Grace" embodied in the five points of Calvinism are a praiseworthy attempt of finite man to define and protect God's infinite sovereignty.
         The rigidity of their conclusions rules out any discussion and consigns to the pit of "Arminianism' any and all who call for a balanced evaluation of them.
         Having been supposedly and sincerely drawn from the well of Biblical truth, they become, at the least, the touch-stone for biblical interpretation. At worst, they take on an inspiration of their own.
         They obscure God's love under an avowal of sovereignty. They fail to see that once a sovereign choose to love, He limits His sovereignty by the consequences of love. Absolute sovereignty and unconditional love are mutually exclusive.
         One of the contributions Calvinism has made to the Christian witness is its untiring crusade against "decisional regeneration" which they see as promoting man's ability to decide and thereby impugning God's sovereignty. Sometimes this problem is heightened by long, emotional altar calls during which "walking the aisle" seems to be one desired outcome.
         I am sincerely thankful whenever the Gospel is preached when the Christ who is preached is the infinite Christ of the Bible.
         However, I have to admit that many Calvinistic friends base their theology on Romans 11, but can never bring themselves to utter the finiteness of their theology as expressed in verse 33.
         When I survey my feelings about Calvinism, I have to admit that one of my greatest problems is that the Calvinist cannot honestly say to anyone, "God loves you." To my heart, God's love is the core of the Gospel message, and to restrict this love to less than 10% of His Creation is to me a monstrous mistake.
         A Gospel message without the warmth of God's love is cold and bleak indeed.
         In his article entitled "Arminians need the gospel, too" (THE EVANGELICAL TIMES [England]). Peter Meney wrote the man-centered view of Christ's work which has him (sic) dying to make salvation possible for all people yet actually securing salvation for none."
         This is the Christ I want to follow. I want to serve a Christ Who was willing to secure God's love debt to man even if no one responded to Him.
         Love that is not willing to risk all is not true love.
         One who fathers a child and bears no responsibility to that child is personally and socially repulsive. One who would create a world and love only a small fraction of His creation fails the initial test of responsibility.
         God did not have to create a world, but having done so, He took upon Himself the responsibility for His Creation. You do not have to father a child, but having done so, you take upon yourself the responsibility for that child.
         A typical Calvinistic statement of faith states, "that regeneration precedes and produces faith in the heart of those born from above." This is believed necessary because of the total depravity of man; the Calvinist reasoning that since the dead cannot hear the Gospel, re-birth must come first.
         It was God Who chose the comparison between natural birth and spiritual birth (John 3:6). Had God wanted His re-birth to be different that it plainly is, He would have decreed that the natural birth be different than it is.
         In both births, the first act must be the sowing of the seed. The unsaved person is blinded by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4). Psalm 119:130 says, "The entrance of thy words giveth light." Sowing the seed of the Word of God is central to evangelism, because it is this that the Holy Spirit uses as His only weapon (Ephesians 6:17). And it [is] only the Holy Spirit who administers salvation.
         With humans, the gestation period is fixed. With God's working re-birth (regeneration), this period varies greatly. Since with God all things are possible, instant birth can come from the sowing of the seed. God is not limited by time.
         Human seed can be sown without birth coming. The possibility of birth relies on the power of the seed and the receptiveness of the egg. Since it was God Who chose birth as an example of re-birth, can we not follow this to its conclusion?
         If the "seed" we are sowing in the hearts of men is the seed of our accomplishments, our testimony, our experiences, or our illustrations, can we expect the seed to bring forth fruit? If our experiences and illustrations are based on the word of God, they can then be a weapon for the Holy Spirit to use in genuine conviction (John 16:9).
         Does this conviction of sin come upon a dead person or a living person - upon the regenerate or the unregenerate? According to this passage, it comes upon those who "believe not in me."
         Therefore, the individual is still dead when the seed is implanted.
         When does regeneration take place? Clearly, in His first mention of regeneration in John's Gospel (1:12), the stipulation is given: "To as many as received Him." Further consultation with Scripture gives us the understanding that this is identical with other words that convey the same meaning- believe, trust in, rely on.
         Can a dead man respond? Yes, if the response is based upon the power of the message and not on the residual "free will" which can become an accomplishment. We have heard genuine preachers of the Gospel say, "All you have to DO is trust Christ." This grates upon the ears of a Calvinist, and it grates upon my ears. Can man respond negatively?
"Ye will not come to me" (John 5:40) uses the same word for "will" as John 5:21, "The Son quickeneth whom he will." Calvinists quote verse 21 to prove divine unconditional election, but can irresistible grace stand up to verse 40?
         If in man resides an ability to respond to the Gospel, and God gave him that ability, his using it does not abrogate God's sovereignty.
         It also means God gave the ability to respond negatively.
         The choice treasure of a theology that speaks of an Infinite Voice forcing a response but not the nature of the response is that it leaves intact all the Bible verses that speak of God's love.
         "God so loved the world." The Calvinist will say that means that God loves people from all over the world (Jews and Gentiles), but they freely admit it is impossible for them to go to any individual, even if he be a professing Christian, and say, "God loves you."
         There are Calvinists (may their tribes increase) who believe in a free proclamation of the Gospel. Yet they must be very careful in their manner of presenting the Christ's death on Calvary, for they feel they cannot tell any individual that Christ died for them.
         It was upon Christ's heart (for he gave it as a final instruction) to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Each of us has that commission; we must search the Scriptures and see what is the "good news" - the evangel which we preach.
         Is it that 144,000 will get to heaven and others will inhabit the new earth?
         Is it that we will call our wives on resurrection morning to accompany us to a new world where she may be eternally pregnant and produce spirit babies to populate it?
         Is it that after our life on earth we will sojourn in that "place of happy pains" called purgatory eventually to have atoned for sin and its punishment and enter God's presence?
         Is it that God so loved some people and if you are one of them He will draw you by His irresistible grace to Himself?
         Or is it that God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life?