Radical Disciples – A Remnant Revolution

Caution: This was written by a man who is widely known as a strong Calvinist. Some readers may find him too strong a Calvinist. But, although a strong Calvinist, he does not think that only strong Calvinists will get to heaven.

Historic Calvinism teaches that the gospel is to be proclaimed indiscriminately to all men, that all men are responsible to believe the gospel, and that God promises salvation to all who come in faith to Christ to receive it. For this reason, the term “Evangelical Calvinism” is an apt description of the historic Calvinistic position regarding the gospel. Historic Calvinists believe in proclaiming the gospel to all men indiscriminately, and calling all without exception to come to Christ and be saved. Some of the most prominent evangelists and missionaries of history were evangelical Calvinists, including George Whitefield, Charles H. Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Davies, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Asahel Nettleton, John Knox, John Calvin, and many others.

 Hypercalvinism, in contrast, teaches that the unregenerate are not responsible to trust in Christ for salvation. Instead, the gospel call is viewed as being directed solely to the elect of God, and often, only to those who have already been regenerated by God.

Hypercalvinists often manifest an apathy or even an antipathy toward evangelism and missions. This is epitomized by John Ryland’s (Sr.) alleged rebuke to William Carey when Carey expressed a concern for evangelizing the heathen: “Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do so without your help or mine.”

Biblical theology is perpetually challenged by the human tendency toward imbalance—emphasizing one truth to the exclusion of another. A true scholar of God’s Word must be willing to embrace both the truth that salvation is always a monergistic work of God, and also that God calls men indiscriminately to come to Christ in faith to receive forgiveness and eternal life and holds them guilty for not coming. These are not two incompatible assertions, but rather two clearly revealed, Biblical truths that can be reconciled without doing violence to either. It is fitting that God should invite even the non-elect to come to Christ to receive salvation, for this demonstrates the kindness of God and fully manifests and underscores the fact that they alone are to blame for the horrific eternal destiny that awaits them.

If we err on the side of Hypercalvinism, our zeal for evangelism will be consumed by doubts about the appropriateness of beseeching unregenerate people to come to Christ, or of promising salvation if they will but come to Christ to receive it. The question “But what if they are not elect?” may keep nagging at us, and we may decide to omit any explicit calls to faith or repentance. Our gospel may degenerate into “If you are elect, you will come to Christ, and if not, then anything I say to you will fall on deaf ears,” or we may decide that we should try to second-guess who is elect and only give the gospel to them.
The issues raised in this article are vital to our evangelistic ministry.

If we do not answer these questions well, we cannot expect the sort of evangelistic fervor and effectiveness that characterized the ministries of the Reformers and Whitefield, Edwards, Nettleton and Spurgeon and of the pioneering missionaries such as Carey and Judson. Beliefs have profound consequences in our lives and actions—sound doctrine is essential for effective ministry. It is my prayer that this article will start you thinking about these issues and that you will come to a position that leaves you with a renewed commitment to the doctrines of grace, along with a renewed compassionate zeal to proclaim God’s mercy to perishing sinners.

by M Servinka