Why I Am A Calvinist

I hear lots of people tell why they are NOT Calvinists. In this post I will tell you why I am a Calvinist. It is not because I am a follower of John Calvin, although I agree with him on many things. The doctrines Calvin taught did not begin with Calvin, of course. Nor did the counterpoint of Calvinism, i.e. Armianism, begin with James Arminius. These are simply terms now used to denote what Bible believers believe about sin, salvation, and the sovereignty of God. 

In a nutshell, I am a Calvinist because I believe that God can save a sinner any time he pleases. This is the way the apostle Paul prayed, saying: "Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." (Rom. 10: 1) I also believe that everyone God saves, he chose to save before the world began.

 Arminianism says God cannot save sinners unless they let God do so. Yet, even though Arminians affirm this, they often do not pray like this. Rather, they pray like Calvinists when they pray for God to save another person, for such a prayer implies that God can save them any time he chooses. The same is true when we pray for God to heal another person, our prayer is based upon our belief that God can heal anyone any time he desires.

A.W. Tozer, well known Bible teacher is reported to have once said: "I preach like an Arminian but I pray like a Calvinist." I have not been able to find where he said this, however.

Said Spurgeon:

"You have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say, but you never heard an Arminian prayer - for the saints in prayer appear as one in word, and deed and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free will: there is no room for it." (Sermon - “Free-Will A Slave,” 12/2/1855)

I wrote about this in this post (here), writing:

Such a prayer reveals that the ultimate deciding factor in the salvation of any soul is the prerogative of God.  It shows that the one uttering such a prayer believes that the one for whom they are praying can only be saved if God simply wills and makes it so.  If God is already doing all he can to save the friend who is being prayed for, and is already as disposed as he can be to save that friend, then why pray that God save that friend?  Would it not be more apropos to Arminian theology to pray to the sinner rather than to God?

The fact is, God is able to conquer the will, for we are told that God "is able to subdue all things" (Phil. 3: 21) and that would include the stubborn will of sinners, God taming the will as a man tames a wild horse. Christians sing about their conversion experiences by saying they "surrendered" to God as in the song "I surrender all." They surrendered and God conquered or subdued.

God is able, when he pleases, to work in people so as to make them willing to will what God wants them to will and do. (Psa. 110:3; Phil. 2:13; Rev. 17:17) He has "the king's heart" in his hand, under his control, and can turn the heart "withersoever he will." (Prov. 21: 1) He is able to "move" people, to "stir them up," and to do things providence so as to cause people to do and act as he wants. (Ezra 1:1, 5; Hag. 1:14)

Why pray to God for our leaders, for all in authority over us (per I Tim. 2: 1-2), so that we "may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." But, if God cannot control what such authorities choose to do, or actually do, then why pray to God for those leaders? We pray that God will give them wisdom, for instance. We assume he can give them wisdom any time he chooses, and even in cases where those in authority are not asking for it themselves. And, giving this wisdom will cause those authorities to make choices different than they would have made otherwise.