The Primary Proof Texts Used Against Calvinism
The Big Three (Matthew 23:37, 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9)
Those who oppose Calvinism appeal repeatedly to these three proof texts. We are called upon to take these verses in their "plain meaning" and then are left to accept their subjective assertion as to what the plain meaning is. If we really believe the Bible is our source of authority, it is crucial that both sides give their exegesis of the texts at issue. I'll be drawing from the exegesis offered by James White in his book The Potter's Freedom. For a more thorough treatment of these topics, please consider picking up a copy of the book.
Matthew 23:37
ESVMatthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
This is a verse used to demonstrate the ability of man to resist God and of God's desire to save being thwarted by the free will of man. Is that what this Scripture demonstrates? I believe yes, and no.
First, yes--fallen man can and does resist God at almost every turn. It is only a misunderstanding of Irresistible Grace (Effectual Calling) that would cause someone to think that Calvinists don't believe in man's ability (and propensity) to resist God. Effectual calling refers to God's sovereign regeneration of his elect.
Context
Whenever you want to know what a Scripture is teaching, you need to put it in its context. This verse is found in the same context with these:
ESVMatthew 23 1"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you- but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice...
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides...
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!...
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!...
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!...
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!...
33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
As you can see, this passage comes in the context of a fierce rebuke of the religious leaders of the Jews. Note who the pronoun "you" refers to in verses 33-35 where the killers of the prophets are described. We see the killers of the prophets (Jerusalem) being lamented over. One would be hard pressed to make "Jerusalem, the city ... your ... you" be anyone other than the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus has been rebuking.
Now let's look more closely at who was resisting and who was to be gathered. Do you see it? Here Jesus laments that the religious leaders were resisting him in his drawing of their children.
To sum up, we have a verse where the religious leaders are being lamented (after the sharpest rebuke Jesus gave anywhere) over their resistance (something no Calvinist would deny) to God's drawing of the children of Israel.
Matthew 23 is perfectly consistent with reformed theology.
1 Timothy 2:4
ESV1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Here the "plain meaning" of the text would appear to support opponents of Calvinism. Admittedly, the burden of proof in this case rests with us.
The reformed interpretation of this verse is that "all people" refers to "all kinds of people" meaning without regard for social status, ethnicity, gender, etc. How do we support such an interpretation? Two reasons: first, Paul has a pattern of using the term this way; and secondly, to believe otherwise would require us to believe that Jesus tries and fails to save.
Let's look at Paul's pattern. Here we see it in Titus 2-3 (emphasis added)
ESVTitus 2: 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, ...
3 Older women likewise are to be...
4 and so train the young women to ...
6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be ...
9 Slaves are to be ...
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ...
3:1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities,
Here we clearly see Paul using all people as all kinds of people. It us understandable to see this kind of language in a culture that is so divided by ethnicity, social/economic status, gender, etc. Let's look for more examples since one example is hardly a pattern.
NASBActs 22:15 'For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
Here Luke records Paul's account of Ananias' charge to him. Can "all men" here mean every single person everywhere? Or does it make more sense for this to mean men of every tribe and nation? There are other places where Paul speaks in kinds or categories of people with references to "all."
ESVColossians 3:11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
ESVGalatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Allegations against Paul take a similar form. In Acts 21:28 is Paul being accused of preaching to every single individual person?
NASBActs 21:28 crying out, "Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place."
Context
In 1 Timothy 2, is there any reason to see Paul as talking about kinds or categories of people? Let's look at the context.
ESV1 Timothy 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now we need to ask ourselves, is Paul urging Timothy to pray for every single person in the world? Every single person in the city of Ephesus? Note what Paul says next, this is the key: "for kings and all who are in high positions." Persecuted Christians here are urged to include kings and high officials (their chief persecutors) in their prayers--a category of people to be included rather than excluded.
More disturbing is the very idea that Jesus tries and fails to save. As James White states in a chapter titled "The Perfect Work of Calvary" in The Potter's Freedom:
In its simplest terms the Reformed belief is this: Christ's death saves sinners. It does not make the salvation of sinners a mere possibility. It does not provide a theoretical atonement. It requires no additions, whether they be the meritorious works of me or the autonomous act of faith flowing from a "free will." Christ's death saves every single person that it was intended to save.1
Can you read Jesus' words in John 6 and come to any other conclusion? Where is there room for failure?
ESVJohn 6:37-40 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
To sum up, in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 we have Paul encouraging Timothy to include the kings and high officials in his (and the church he oversees) prayers. God will draw His elect from among all people, and will fail to save none of them.
2 Peter 3:9
ESV2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
The most popular and the most abused text among "the big three" is also the simplest to demonstrate as being far from the proof text opponents of Calvinism make it out to be. What is Peter talking about here? What promise? Who is he talking to (who is "you") ?
Context
To figure out what Peter is talking about, we really need to put it back into its context.
ESV2 Peter 3:1-13 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
What is Peter writing about here? Peter is writing about the promise of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the coming judgment. As you read it in context you find that this verse is inserted by Peter to help explain the appearance of "slowness" in Christ's return. Now we need to ask the obvious questions: when it speaks of "not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" Any of whom? All of whom?
When 2 Peter 3:9 is used as a proof text against Calvinism it is done so almost exclusively without its context. It is either asserted or assumed that the verse is talking about the promise of salvation and the any/all reference is to everyone. It is used to prove that God couldn't possibly have a predestined (elect) people, but rather, desires (and fails) to save every single person. See the 1 Tim 2:4 discussion about a "savior" who tries and fails.
When we place it in context, we see that this isn't even what Peter is talking about here. Not only are these texts not talking about personal salvation, election or predestination (concepts clearly taught elsewhere but defined out of existence by opponents of Calvinism2) it is talking about a specific people. Any/All of whom? You don't have to look far; it's in the verse: "is patient towards you." "They" ("them/their"--the scoffers of verses 3-5) are still in the scope of this immediate context, but Peter makes no effort to include them in this statement: "...but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." The "you" in this context is the audience of the letter, defined in the salutation: "to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours."
ESV2 Peter 1:1-3 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
To sum up, in 2 Peter 3, we see Peter talking about the perceived slowness of Jesus Christ in keeping his promise to return. In verse 9 Peter is explaining God's patience and how the calling of the elect to repentance needs to be completed prior to Christ's return. It has nothing to do with the scope of the atonement, but rather, the timing of Christ's return in glory.
1The Potter's Freedom, James R. White, Calvary Press Publishing, 2000 p. 230.
2To claim to believe in predestination and election and then turn around and say it is based on God "looking down the corridors of time to see who would freely choose him" is to define predestination and election out of existence. How is this different from no predestination at all? Read Ephesians 1, Romans 8 and 9, and John 6 for clear revelation of God's sovereignty in election.