What’s the connection between Calvinism and the Antichrist? Specifically, Calvinism teaches that Christians cannot lose their salvation. Yet we often hear of the danger of apostasy if one isn’t prepared for the “Antichrist’s Great Tribulation.”
I’ve written on this before. This is a re-visit of the issue.
The Charge
Here’s a paraphrase from a recent comment by a five-point Calvinist: If pretribulationism is wrong and the church faces the Antichrist, then pretribbers can lose everything. Many of them will become vulnerable to apostasy from the Antichrist’s system.
By “lose everything” I gather this includes that believer’s salvation. This individual isn’t speaking of rewards or crowns. By implication, he’s suggesting that professing believers might take the Mark of the Beast, unless they accept that the church will be in the Great Tribulation (and somehow prepare).
A conundrum
But how does this apostasy warning square with the person’s Calvinism? For a brief rundown on Calvinism’s TULIP system, see Got Questions’ article: What is a Calvinist? Calvinist R. C. Sproul answers the question: Can a Christian Lose their Salvation? Read the Got Questions Version.
The answer is no!
Citing the example of Peter’s public denial of Christ, Sproul notes that there’s no question that Christians can radically fall. Then he adds,
But the question is; are these people who are guilty of a real fall irretrievably fallen and eternally lost, or is this fall a temporary condition that will, in the final analysis, be remedied by their restoration? In the case of a person such as Peter, we see that his fall was remedied by his repentance. However, what about those who fall away finally? Were they ever truly believers in the first place?
Sproul provides two verses for our consideration:
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Rom 8:29-30
They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. 1 John 2:19
For more see Got Questions’ Is Once Saved, Always Saved Biblical?
Does God lose us after foreknowing and predestining us?
Fostering unwarranted division
So the non-pretrib Calvinist evangelist must say something like this: “O, and by the way; you’re predestined and eternally saved and can’t lose your salvation; but you better prepare for the Antichrist or risk losing it (apostasy).”
Does that make any sense?
The OSAS opponent is more direct: “You better prepare for the “Antichrist’s Tribulation” or you’ll get confused after not being raptured; take the Mark of the Beast, and lose your salvation.”
I’ve asked these folk how they prepare and get essay-length responses which don’t answer the question. They don’t target postmils and amils, so one presumes these groups are somehow naturally prepared. It’s a myopic self-exulting and divisive posture that seeks to justify a bias.
The right response
In “O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? Collected Sermons“, John Murray writes,
If we prize our life (that is, our natural life) more than Christ’s honor and will compromise his truth and glory rather than part with life, then we are not Christ’s. That’s the simple issue. We’re not his if we will compromise truth and justice and honor in order to preserve our life in expense of God’s glory. (The Cost of Discipleship)
As Murray said, it’s that simple!
Maranatha!
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