If You Believe in Inerrancy, You Are a Calvinist

Pastor Bob O'Bannon

It is very common for evangelical Christians to believe in the doctrine of inerrancy when it comes to their view of Scripture. In fact, some might say that you must believe in inerrancy to be a full-blown evangelical. But evangelicals are very divided when it comes to the doctrines of Calvinism. There are many evangelicals who strongly object to the high view of sovereignty contained in the system of doctrine called Calvinism. My contention is that you basically are a Calvinist if you believe in inerrancy.

Let me define my terms. By “inerrancy,” I mean the conviction that the Bible is “breathed out” by God (2 Tim. 3:16) and without error in its original manuscripts. Those who believe in inerrancy believe that the Holy Sprit carried along the writers of Scripture (2 Pet. 1:20-21) so that they wrote exactly what God wanted them to write.

For the purposes of this blog, by “Calvinism” I don’t actually mean all five points of TULIP. A true Calvinist will affirm all five points, but the point I am making here is not that inerrancy leads to belief in, say, limited atonement (the third point TULIP). Instead, my point is simply that belief in inerrancy leads to a very high view of God’s sovereignty. The natural outflow of that conviction should then compel an affirmation of all five points of Calvinism, in my opinion, but I understand that this is not the case for everyone.

So, if we understand Calvinism here as simply a “very high view of God’s sovereignty in salvation,” then how are inerrancy and Calvinism connected? First of all, consider one of the main objections that people bring against Calvinism. The objection goes something like this: “God gave us free will, and He would never violate our free will by forcing us to do something against our will. Calvinism is wrong because it turns us into robots or puppets, as if God were controlling every move we make.”

But think of what we are affirming in the doctrine of inerrancy: We are saying that the Holy Spirit guided, influenced or “controlled” the Bible writers to ensure that they wrote exactly what God wanted them to write. Here’s what 2 Peter 1:21 says: “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” That sounds like a very high view of God’s sovereignty to me.

And yet at the same time, the writers of Scripture were not robots or puppets. They were not forced to act or think contrary to their desires or intentions. The sovereignty of God in guiding their writing did not empty them of their freedom, humanity and responsibility. 

Here’s how Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck put it in Vol. 1 of his Reformed Dogmatics:

Scripture is totally the product of the Spirit of God, who speaks through the prophets and apostles, and at the same time totally the product of the activity of the authors” (p. 435).

In another place he writes, “All the various components that come under consideration in divine inspiration show that the Spirit of the Lord, so far from suppressing the personality of the prophets and apostles, instead heightens the level of their activity . . . Their whole personality with all of their gifts and powers are made serviceable to the calling to which they are called” (p. 432).

To deny God’s sovereignty over a person’s free activity, which is central to the doctrines of Calvinism, is to deny the doctrine of inerrancy. But to hold that God can superintend our actions while simultaneously allowing our freedom to flourish is to hold a high view of God’s sovereignty in healthy balance.

4 Misconceptions About Calvinism

Pastor Bob O'Bannon

While reading John Piper’s excellent new book, Five Points, it occurred to me how many misconceptions there are about the five points of Calvinism. My guess is that the main reason many people reject the five points, otherwise known as the “doctrines of grace,” is because they assume something that Calvinists actually don’t believe. Here are some common misconceptions:

Misconception 1: Calvinism teaches there is no such thing as free will.

Not really. This depends entirely on what one means by “free will.” Calvinists hold that unbelievers do not have the “freedom” or ability to come to Jesus on their own (John 6:65), to submit to God’s law (Rom. 8:7), or to understand spiritual things (I Cor. 2:14). These all constitute some level of limitation on a person’s freedom. But Calvinists do hold that unbelievers have the freedom to do what they want, say what they please, and think what they like. People do what they want – which is the essence of freedom. The problem is that they don’t want the right things, and will be enslaved to their sinful desires until God gives them new spiritual life.

Misconception 2: Calvinism teaches that Christians do not choose Christ.

It’s true that a person cannot choose Christ unless God first chooses him, as Acts 13:48 and John 15:16 state. But it does not follow from this that a person is excused from the responsibility of choosing Christ. Instead, we might say that the first evidence that a person has been chosen by God is when that person freely and gladly chooses Christ. Here is how the Westminster Confession of Faith 10.1 puts it:

All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call…and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.”

Those God chooses will come to Christ, and they will do so “most freely.” In other words, they will make a choice.

Misconception 3: Calvinism is a deterrent to evangelism.

Actually, it’s quite the opposite. The fact that God’s elect are out there, waiting to hear the Gospel, and that God has promised that He will save everyone He has determined to save (John 6:39), without exception, gives me the assurance that when my Gospel proclamation falls on the ears of one of God’s sheep, there is nothing in all creation that can keep that person from believing (maybe not at that moment, but eventually). That’s why Jesus told Paul to keep preaching the Gospel in Corinth: “I have many in this city who are my people” (Acts 18:9-10).

Misconception 4: Calvinism is a deterrent to righteous living.

Here’s how the argument goes: If a person is taught that he/she cannot lose his/her salvation, as Calvinism teaches, then what’s to keep that person from living an unrighteous life? With salvation in the bag, why not live according to the flesh? Why not ignore God’s commandments? The answer to the argument is that the Bible says those who live according to the flesh will die (Rom. 8:13), and whoever says he is saved but ignores God’s commands is a liar (I John 2:3-6). It is important to keep each of the five points of Calvinism together. The fifth point, “perseverance of the saints” (which teaches that a person cannot lose his salvation), presupposes the earlier points. The second point, “unconditional election,” teaches that Christians have been chosen to be “holy and blameless” (Eph. 1:4). The fourth point, “irresistible grace,” teaches that the Spirit gives new hearts to sinners that they might “devote themselves to good works” (Titus 3:5-8).

Calvinism is not a perfect system. It has its own difficulties to explain. But the points listed above are misconceptions, and should keep no one from embracing these glorious doctrines.