It is written:
“ I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart3. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,”. (Romans 9:1-3)
The religious system of Calvinism (named after John Calvin, the inventor of the doctrine) claims that before the foundation of the world, God predestined the vast majority of humanity to be eternally dammed. This, of course, is completely in contradiction to the express declaration of God, Who desires that even the most wicked would repent and be saved (cf. Ezekiel 18:23; 1 Timothy 2:4-6).
It is also interesting to consider that if Calvinism is true, then the Apostle Paul was more loving then God Himself, since he desired that the damned would be saved (cf. Romans 10:1-4).
As one former Calvinist has written:
“(Reflecting on Calvin’s belief that the mass of Israel were not of the elect and were instead unconditionally and eternally reprobate by the will and good pleasure of God, one is left to wonder what Calvin conceived to be the real import of Paul’s expressions of profound sorrow and compassion for Israel-after-the-flesh and his intense yearning for their salvation (9:1-3 and 10:1). Why should Paul have “great heaviness and sorrow” for those for whom God had no such sorrow? Why should he even wish himself accursed from Christ for those who were reprobate by the design and will of God? Why should Paul care so much for those for whom God cared nothing-whom even He hated (as Calvin presumed Paul to understand and teach). Why should Paul pray to God for Israel, that they might be saved, when (as Calvin presumed Paul to understand and teach) he knew that “the rest were blinded” and consigned to everlasting perdition-for which, alone, they had been created by the immutable will of God and for His eternal praise and glory! Why should the Apostle endure such anguish of heart and spend himself in such profound yearning of spirit in prayer to God for the salvation of men whom God had created only to be the objects of His everlasting hatred and wrath? Why did not the Apostle pause to consider what God must have thought about such foolish agonizings and pleadings for men whom he knew to be forever excluded from His saving purpose? Why did not Paul get in step with God and stop insulting him with ridiculous prayers for something he knew to be contrary to His will?)”. (Robert Shank, Elect in the Son: A Study Of The Doctrine Of Election, 1159-1168 (Kindle Edition); Minneapolis, Minnesota; Bethany House Publishers)
The discrepancy that Shank notices here is one of many regarding the system of Calvinism.
The beautiful news of the Gospel is that God desires the salvation of every sinner (2 Peter 3:9). He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross of Calvary and pay for our sins (Hebrews 2:9). Why not today repent and be baptized into Christ and have your sins washed away (Acts 2:37-47; 22:16)? Or if you are a Christian who has wandered from the Lord, won’t you please come back through repentance and prayer (1 John 1:9; James 5:16)?
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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