Morphemics

Covenantal Calvinism

I am a Calvinist, but I do not subscribe to the five points known under the acronym TULIP as the foundation, much less the extent, of this doctrine. TULIP, which stands for Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints, was never intended as the foundation of any theological system. That it has become so is an accident of history.

In the Remonstrance of 1610, followers of Jacob Arminius drew up a list of five differences that they had with Reformed theology. It is important to note that this came from within the Reformed church in the Netherlands; these were not just a bunch of outsiders. They argued for election based on foreseen faith, universal atonement, partial depravity, and resistible grace. They still had not decided whether someone could lose his salvation. In 1618-19, the Synod of Dort met and refuted all five of these points in the Canons of Dort. These refutations form the basis of TULIP. For all the good that these Canons have done, they have had the negative consequence that Calvinism, in the eyes of many, has been reduced to these points. The system often exists in abstraction from the rest of one’s doctrinal beliefs. As originally conceived, these points were among the organic outworkings of Reformed theology. They were not supposed to stand on their own.

To understand Calvinism, it is necessary to back up further into history and ask, “Why the Reformation?” The Reformation primarily came about as a protest against the Roman Catholic system of works based salvation. The immediate catalyst was Luther’s objection to the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was a means to buy the souls of loved ones out of purgatory. The reason for purgatory was to purge away the venial sins of all those who had died without performing the proper penance. Penance, in turn, exists because of the Catholic doctrine of justification. Catholics get their doctrine from the Latin word justifacare, which means, “to make righteous.” However, the Latin misrepresents the Greek and Hebrew words, both of which are forensic terms meaning, “to declare righteous.” In Catholic theology, original righteousness is infused into someone through the sacrament of baptism. This person is justified at that point because he really is righteous. However, the justification only lasts as long as the actual righteousness. Once the person sins, he is no longer justified. Both the Eucharist and the works of penance are required to restore justification. Catholics believe that the death of Christ is necessary for salvation. It is the basis for God’s grace. Humanity was radically corrupted in the fall. On their own, they can do nothing to merit salvation. However, the grace of God makes their good works worthy. The grace is offered to all who partake of the sacraments. Salvation is only assured to those who actually perform the works.

Catholics believe in the necessity of Christ, grace, and faith to salvation. The Reformers disputed their lack of the word “alone.” Salvation was sola fide, sola gratia, and soli Christo. There was no room for congruous merit or works of any kind as the basis for salvation. Essential to the Catholic doctrine is a form of semi-Pelagianism. Man is only partially depraved and only in need of divine grace to assist him in his good works. This grace can be resisted. However, if the Reformers are right and works form absolutely no basis for salvation, then salvation is completely the work of God. Man is spiritually dead until God makes a unilateral decision to regenerate him. Right here are the doctrines of total depravity and irresistible grace. When the Remonstrants declared their belief in partial depravity and resistible grace, the Synod of Dort understood this to be a return to the roots of Catholicism and condemned these views as heresy. Both of these doctrines imply a works based salvation. The Reformation emphatically denies this. On the negative basis that salvation is not of works, all of the other doctrines in Reformed theology fall into place.

Yet, we cannot base an entire theology on a negative basis. If it is the case that salvation is not based in part on our own works, then it must also be the case that salvation is based wholly on the finished work of Christ. Justification is not the temporary infusion of righteousness, but the eternal imputation of righteousness. The righteousness of Christ, which is the result of his active and passive obedience, is credited to our account. Catholics call this a ‘legal fiction.” God declares us righteous when it isn’t actually the case. They would be right if the transaction were strictly forensic. However, this declaration is made on the basis of the Holy Spirit bringing me into living union with the incarnate Son of God. I have been crucified with Christ, I have risen with Christ, I am seated in the heavens with Christ, and when he returns, I shall be glorified with him.

I am among those who, through no merit of our own, have been elected in Christ Jesus and are now destined to live in eternal union with him. Consequently, the Father has set his love upon us because he so fully loves the Son. This, our union with Christ, and not some logical consideration of an abstracted system, is the basis of my Calvinism. When I consider the love of the Christ, I am dumbfounded. My only response is to fall before the holy and triune God in an inadequate display of worship.

“If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O LORD, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”
Psalm 130:3,4