Ryken v. Ryken: Calvinist Inconsistency in Light of Billy Graham’s Gospel (Stephen C. Marcy)

 

I saw the blog post below after I posted mine 5 days ago.  I was encouraged to see that this writer, much more educated and fluent than I am, used a thought which I included in my post to show the error in the election doctrine.  Marcy says:

 What is meant by, “all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  For the Calvinist there must be a subtext to that statement.  It must mean “all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; and only the elect will call upon the name of the Lord, and that by an irresistible grace and effectual call."

(Stephen Marcy's post is very long so I only included relevant excerpts below. Marcy begins with a quote from Ryken.)

“Billy Graham’s simple gospel message came down to human sin, and the fact that every single human being is a sinner and that our plight is absolutely impossible, except for the fact that God in Christ made atonement for our sins.

… He pointed repeatedly to the historical truths of the crucifixion and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.  He pointed to justification by faith and the promise of the gospel, that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  He heralded the truth that if we profess with our lips that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.  He firmly believed that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. That was the gospel he preached in the beginning, that was the gospel he preached in the end. And that means that yesterday morning  (February 21, 2018)  when Billy Graham drew his final breath in his 99th year, he died confident in the promises he had for so long preached.  Many people will honor Billy Graham in the coming months. But I’m confident that Billy Graham would say the real way to honor him is to preach the gospel he preached, starting here, starting now.”[32](End of Ryken's quote)

 (Marcy's Thoughts)

 Dr. Graham taught that the salvation was for every individual.  There is no “unconditional election” or Calvinist “predestination” at work in salvation.  “Whosoever will” may come.  God accomplished salvation for every sinner on the cross.  That salvation is appropriated by the decision we make in this life upon hearing the gospel message.  That decision determines one’s eternal destiny.  There is no “total inability” when it comes to deciding to accept or reject salvation.  Dr. Graham states,

“We are living in an age of grace, in which God promises that “whosoever will” may come and receive His Son.  But this period of grace will not go on indefinitely.  We are even now living on borrowed time.”[19]

“Jesus does not allow us to be neutral about him.  Jesus demands that we decide about him.”[20]

“Men and women do make decisions wherever the Gospel is proclaimed; whether publically or privately, some say yes, some say no, and some procrastinate.  No one ever hears the Gospel proclaimed without making some kind of decision!”[21]

“The most important decision you will ever make is the decision you make about eternity.”[22]

  “When we are called before God and His throne of judgment, it will be too late to reverse our decision.  It is during our lifetime here on earth that we decide our eternal destiny.”[23]

“Jesus taught that there is an eternal destiny for each individual – either heaven or hell (John 5:25-29).  The eternal destiny of each individual depends on a decision made in this life (Luke 16:19-31)…”[24]

“What you do with Christ here and now decides where you will spend eternity.”[25]

 

What is meant by, “all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  For the Calvinist there must be a subtext to that statement.  It must mean “all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; and only the elect will call upon the name of the Lord, and that by an irresistible grace and effectual call."  But that twists the simple, plain meaning of the words that salvation is universal, inclusive and possible for all if they will “call upon the name of the Lord” to something reflecting the Calvinist a priori deterministic presuppositions about the nature of God’s eternal decree, sovereignty and election as unconditional.

Sure Dr. Graham preached “the truth that if we profess with our lips that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.”  But he did not believe the “if” was dependent upon being predestined to salvation and was referring to an irresistible “grace” that God causes to occur only in those he chose for salvation. 

Sure Dr. Graham “firmly believed that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.”  But he did not believe that the Word of Christ first regenerates the unconditionally elect so that they might exhibit faith.

 

 Ryken v. Ryken: Calvinist Inconsistency in Light of Billy Graham’s Gospel

June 3, 2020 

Stephen C. Marcy