One says, "I follow Paul";
Another, "I follow Apollos"

Neil Thielke -- October, 2006

While reading Wayne Grudem's book, Christian Beliefs, I was galled by Grudem’s avocation that God purposefully made most of the people in His historical plan appointed (chosen/ elected/ preplanned) before creation by Him for hell. (One person called this "elected reprobation".) Most of Grudem's material is great, but then comes the poison pill of his definition of "election".  Grudem articulates the Calvinist position very accurately. He says “People who remain in unbelief do so because they are unwilling to come to God, and the blame for such unbelief always lies with themselves, never with God” (p. 84). On the other hand he solidly defends the idea that “God chooses some to be saved and passes over others, deciding not to save them” (p. 84).  Because of the glaring contradiction, Grudem goes on to say, “Once again, we probably will not be able to fully understand in this age just how this can be so” (p. 84).  Calling Calvin the “greatest theologian of the reformation” (p. 149), Grudem identifies himself with calvinistic interpretation of scripture (p. 13 of Grudem’s book Bible Doctrine).

While I appreciate that Grudem is not trumpeting the virtues of Calvin throughout his book, there are many others who proudly proclaim themselves “calvinist” defying the exhortation of Paul in I Corinthians 3.  We could substitute the names of Luther and Calvin for those of Cephas & Apollos:

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
(1 Cor. 1:10-13, NIV)

I escaped the quagmire of the reformers when I came to Christ only to be faced with the whole issue all over again by "Bible believing" co-workers who steep themselves in the reformer’s material, searching for “systematic truth”. (The epitome of this for me was a Jewish teacher expounding on the virtues of Martin Luther. The irony is that Martin Luther is the reformer who advocated that all unconverted Jews, those who choose not to become Lutheran, should be mercilessly persecuted and killed.) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/luther-jews.html

Likewise, Jean Calvin ran his own Kingdom on earth at Geneva and supported the executions of those who did not buy into his orthodoxy and those who violated the moral laws of his Kingdom on earth. http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/history/death_penalty.html

May the Lord protect us from the travesty of such a definition of God’s kingdom as Calvin and Luther expressed. Conversely, the Kingdom that Jesus promoted was not of this world:

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36, NIV)

14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:14-15, NIV)

Neither Luther nor Calvin moved to totally embrace the scriptures as their guide but clung to the clergy-laity separation of the Old Testament from which the Catholics largely drew their model. Nor did they take up the need for restoration of believer’s baptism (the first act of obedience of a born-again believer), continuing instead to base their doctrine on Old Testament circumcism expressed in an infant sprinkling act. Their reformation was marginal at best.

Jan Comenius (1592- 1670) wrote of those in the Catholic tradition in the middle ages- of which both Calvin and Luther were extensions as “partial reformers”:  “Out of the Bible they forge their different creeds; these are bulwarks behind which they entrench themselves and resist all attacks… In divine service the words of men are usually heard more than the Word of God… What can help? Only the one thing needful: return to Christ, looking to Christ as the only Leader, and walking in his footsteps, setting aside all other ways until we all reach the goal, and have come to the unity of faith (Ephesians 4:13).  As the Heavenly Master built everything on the ground of the scriptures, so should we leave all particularities of our special confessions and be satisfied with the revealed Word of God which belongs to us all.” (The Pilgrim Church by Edmund Broadbent, pp. 157- 158)

E. H. Broadbent’s book The Pilgrim Church traces the historical pathway of those who chose the scriptures as their guide rather than the Catholic Church or its reformers. It provides a “systematic” study of those who were not followers of men but rather followers of the Word of God- as much as they were able to.

Let us return back to the scriptures in totality for our reference point and identity.  Let us distance ourselves from the reformers whose doctrines and practices supplant the place of the Word of God’s centrality in our midst.  Henceforth let us know the reformers, not only by their doctrine, but also by their fruit: the terrors, intolerance, and tortures for which they and their followers were known in their day.  Jesus said,

¹⁶ “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:16-20, NIV)

And concerning the non-election of those who refuse Christ, Let us continue to bring the Word of God and His hope to everyone, for the Bible does not say “Everyone who has been predestined for hell by God will go to hell”, and “he blesses all who are predestined”. Neither does it say that “those who are predestined by God will never be put to shame” but what does it say?

¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:10-13, NIV.  Bold added by author for emphasis)

Furthermore the scriptures did not say that “Christ died for the sins of the predestined” but

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2, NIV.  Bold added by author)

Luther’s call for “sola scriptura” is an exhortation to embrace a journey that has not yet been completed by either his or Calvin’s followers. While I personally respect Grudem (he has a great article on Christians and their involvement in the political election linked to his personal web page) and others who hold to the calvinistic tradition (some are my dear friends), at the same time, a call to distance ourselves from the reformers’ extremes and identities and a return to the identification with Christ and the scriptures is in order for this age.

Last and most importantly, we also must accept those among us who hold to such differences without rushing to divide ourselves or castigating others because of some difference. If we don't practice this, we will find ourselves doing the exact same things we are critiquing others of doing: putting our understanding of Christ at the center of our lives instead of putting Christ Himself there.

All Bible references are taken from the:
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

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