Predestination And Free-Will
So What Is A Hyper-Calvinist?
Contrary to the claims of some free-will gospel promoters, a hyper-Calvinist is not the same as a Calvinist. A Calvinist believes that the doctrines of grace are the doctrines of the Bible. Also, a Calvinist understands His total inability to participate in raising himself to “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) and he also is grateful to God for having mercy on his soul, so he does his best out of thankfulness to God, of sharing the Gospel with those who are lost. Now a hyper-Calvinist is a person who uses the doctrine of election and predestination as an excuse not to share the Gospel, claiming that if God has predestined people to be saved, then there is no need to share the Gospel. Some hyper-Calvinists, such as those who call themselves Primitive Baptists, have invented an elaborate system of theology whereby they interpret certain passages of scripture in a very unorthodox fashion to justify their belief that God does not use the preaching of the Gospel as a “means” (or instrument) in the salvation of souls.
In contrast, a Calvinist understands that if not for the grace of God, if not for the good pleasure of the Almighty, he too would still be a spiritual blind man wandering about in the darkness of this sin-cursed world, oblivious to the fact that he is running headlong into the eternal fires of Hell where the smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever and they have no rest day or night (Revelation 14:11). I venture to say that a true hyper-Calvinist has no real understanding of God’s grace at all and so he is not a true blood-bought disciple of Christ. If he thinks he is, he had better examine himself promptly and carefully to see if he indeed is “in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Summary: This article is a section of a much larger article on the Bible doctrines of Election and Predestination called “Who accepts Whom?“. You are urged to check out that larger article for many other thought provoking questions pertaining these “Doctrines of Grace”. — RM Kane