What's wrong with Calvinism?

I am noticing a trend of friendliness toward Calvinism in the online Christian community. Some who hold to Calvinistic theology openly proclaim that they are Calvinists. I applaud their honesty. However, there are teachings in Calvinistic theology that I object to, mainly election and predestination.

Now, election and predestination are Biblical concepts, but they are done according to the foreknowledge of God.

Calvinism (at least the forms I have seen taught) teaches that before time began, God selected those whom He would save. Calvinists are quick to point out verses that teach that a man can not come to Salvation unless he is drawn by the Spirit. This teaching misses John 12:32, which teaches that Christ will draw all men. Or what about I Timothy 2:4, where Paul writes that God our Savior "will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth." (Which is His desire, though it will not happen.) If God set out in the beginning of eternity and plotted whom He would save, and forced His irresistable grace upon them, then according to I Timothy 2:4, everyone would be saved. We know that this is not true. Not all will be saved.

Calvinism recognizes God's sovereignty in salvation, but it ignores the free-will of the individual to accept the gift of salvation. So, how does free-will harmonize in scripture when election and predestination are also Biblical? Easy. A first year student at Texas Baptist Institute can tell you that these teachings harmonize in Romans 8.

(By the way, TBI catches a lot of flack in our associated work and on these blogs, all of which is unwarranted, and in my assessment, doesn't come from a pure spirit.)

Romans 8:29-30 says "Whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified."

You were created with a free-will, but God in His infinite knowledge foreknew how you would respond to the Gospel and His efforts to draw you. Learning what it would take to get you to accept the Gospel, He predestinated you to go though the events necessary to bring you to repentance. At the right time, He called you to salvation. As you accepted Christ as your Savior, He justified (saved) you. Those He saved, He glorified. (We haven't been glorified yet, but it is as good as done.) He foreknew, elected, predestined, called, saved and glorified, in that order.

Knowing that God would have all men to be saved, we must assume that God would predestine everyone in a way that would manipulate them to repent. However, knowing that not all men will repent, we must assume that there are those who will not repent no matter what God does. This refutes irresistable grace. Those who die and go to Hell go there because there is no way God can reach them, because they will refuse Him at every turn. God draws some people for a lifetime, only to be rejected in the end. He leaves some alone after his initial call, knowing that a lifetime of drawing will not work. Why? He's God.

There are other disagreements I have with Calvinism, such as the fact that I believe that Christ paid for all the sins of the world when He died on the cross, not just the sins of the elect. I don't feel like delving into that at this time.

Calvinism is not Biblical. That doesn't mean that those who are Calvinists are evil people bent on destroying Christianity. Many Calvinists are good-hearted people who are saved and want to spread the Gospel. None the less, Calvinism still is not Biblical, and should be regarded as such.

The successful evangelical efforts of regarded Calvinists do not validate their theology, for if it did, we would have to validate the scriptural error of any denomination who wins people to the Lord.

There are groups that lead people to Christ by preaching repentance and faith, and thousands are saved upon accepting their message. However, some of these groups do not teach Baptism. Some don't baptize properly. Some don't even teach it. Some have even eliminated Baptism. Does their evangelical success validate their error on the doctrine of Baptism? Of course not. Niether should the error of Calvinism be validated by the success of missions programs and evangelistic efforts of noted Calvinists.

Does Calvinism present a danger to the American Baptist Association? Yes. If we become friendly to the theology, there will be those who embrace it. The effect will be strife and contention between Calvinists, and non-Calvinists, which will ultimately lead to division, and even a possible split.

Passion for God is wonderful, so is concern for the lost (which, I believe, go hand-in-hand). Let's not let our passion and concern lead us to error.