The Calvinist

One Christian Dad says:

Thanks for reading. Good Questions!

You asked, “What is the difference between a Calvinist and a Christian?”

We should look at what makes a Calvinist different from other Christians like Methodists, Lutherans, or Arminians? If we consider the famous acrostic – TULIP – we see that the Calvinists major distinctive, that which makes a Calvinist different from the majority of other Christians, is a monergistic view of the doctrine of soteriology.

in other words, “How is a man saved?”

The majority of Christendom believes that salvation is synergistic. That God and man work together for man’s salvation. They say that God predestines man to salvation based on foreseen faith. That man is capable of choosing God. While Calvinistic soteriology is different in that it is monergistic. That is, Calvinists believe that God is sovereign in salvation and man is dead in his sin unable to choose God. Salvation is completely God’s work, from beginning to end.

There is more to it than just that,but that is it in a really tiny nutshell…

So I took a look at the words to see. Most of it certainly can be applied to anyone who calls themselves a christian. But what about these verses – are they synergistic or monergistic?

See him on the shore:
“Whence this ocean store?”
“From your God above,
Thimbleful of love.”
See him now asleep.
Watch the helpless reap,
But no credit take,
Just as when awake.

You also asked, “Is being Calvinist an ‘upgrade’ to being a ‘christian’?”

Here is a quote from John Piper: “I do not begin as a Calvinist and defend a system. I begin as a Bible-believing Christian who wants to put the Bible above all systems of thought. But over the years — many years of struggle — I have deepened in my conviction that Calvinistic teachings on the five points are biblical and therefore true, and therefore a precious pathway into a deeper experiences of God’s grace”

You asked, “Just wonder why it is titled as it is.”

Because God decreed to be so… 😉