One of Many Difficult Passages that Calvinists Abuse
There are many verses that are twisted and abused (see 2 Peter 3:16) by “Calvinists” to teach their doctrines. One is found in the thirteenth chapter of Acts, where the Bible says, concerning those who accepted the Gospel that they were “appointed to eternal life” (13:48).
Instead of abusing this text to make it contradict the Gospel—the way our friends who fancy themselves “Reformed” and “Calvinsts,” rather than simple disciples of Jesus trying to share the simple love of Jesus with everyone, do—let us approach this passage responsibly and in light of the truth of the Gospel. Jesus deserves that and so much more.
Keep in mind as you consider difficult passages that they are never as “difficult” as they seem. Yes, some are difficult, but they are not THAT difficult. They are not so mysterious that we must interpret them in ways that contradict clear Bible teaching in other places. The difficult passages must be interpreted in light of clear and simple passages. Not the other way around. When people assign a meaning to a difficult text that makes it contradict things that are taught simply and plainly over and over in the Scriptures, they have engaged in Biblical malpractice. Calvinists rob people of Christian hope and the goodness of God while claiming to be the ones who truly appreciate the goodness of God. With all of their learning and all of their “theological insight,” as they claim, they do not understand biblical interpretation in its most basic form. They do not understand the simplest things about interpreting the Bible. For example, as we said, you never interpret a simple text in light of a difficult one. It’s always the other way around. That is not only biblical, that is just common sense. What you don’t know for sure has to be interpreted in consideration of what you do know for sure. That is just Biblical Exegesis/Interpretation 101. Everyone should know that. Especially those who consider themselves “teachers.”
Words have meanings. And the meanings of words determine the meanings of sentences. And the meanings of sentences determine the meanings of concepts. In this passage, the most important word, in view of the controversy surrounding it and the way it is misused, is the word “appointed.” Some versions have “ordained.”And that is fine. That is the faithful Gospel preacher’s word. That’s the true disciple of Jesus’ word. That’s not the Calvinist’s word. They can’t have that word because it does not belong to them and it does not teach their doctrine. I’m not saying that there are no Calvinists who are faithful disciples of Jesus. But if they are, it is in spite of what they teach, not because of it. The word that is translated “appointed” or “ordained” can have different meanings depending on the context. It can even mean something as simple as an “arrangement.”
People who know Greek—and you do not have to know Greek to understand the Bible or go to heaven, but you need to know it if you are going to follow fanciful, complicated ideas of men—know that “appointed” or “ordained” here can be a middle-voice construction or it can be in passive form. In the passive, it would mean “were appointed.” But in the middle-voice construction, it would mean “appointed themselves.” I may not know exactly what Paul meant by that statement in Acts 13:48, but I know what he did not mean. He did not mean that God appointed certain ones to be saved before they were born, irrespective of their personal choice to align with Christ. He did not mean that these people accepted Jesus because God ordained that they would instead of them choosing to do so for themselves. You don’t have to know what something does mean to know what it cannot mean. At the same time, it seems clear that “appointed themselves” would be the proper way to interpret the word here because that would be in harmony with the rest of the Bible. “God gets the credit for it,” the Calvinist will say. And on that we agree. But we despise the manner in which the Calvinist tries to “help” the Gospel to glorify God. It does not need help from anyone, especially not Calvinists. In the context of the passage, the ones who were “appointed for eternal life” were Gentiles who decided to accept the Gospel as opposed to some Jews who rejected it on this occasion. They rejected God’s message. Paul even says that they rejected it for themselves. God did not reject it for them, and therefore God did not choose it for the others. He doesn’t do the rejecting or the choosing for you (Acts 13:46).
You cannot say that there is “Calvinism” in this verse when the record explicitly states that they rejected the Gospel for themselves. It was their decision to do so. How could it be their decision to reject the Gospel, causing Paul to basically “shake the dust off his feet” and decide to turn to others, others who then had God make the choice to receive it for them. The Jews rejected it for themselves, but the Gentiles chose it because God made them choose it? This is just utter stupidity. I am not saying that Calvinists are stupid. I’m not saying that John Calvin himself was stupid. I am saying that Calvinism itself is stupid and whatever the ramifications of that may be are what they are. But the whole theological system of Calvinism is stupid.
This passage teaches exactly what the rest of the Bible teaches about the Gospel. Here were individuals who heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and decided to receive it. They accepted Christ as their Lord and as their Savior. THEY did that. God did not “do it for them.” To paint God as one who watches from heaven while some people reject Christ, but then suddenly becomes actively involved in causing His “elect” to receive Christ—or say it however you want to but they believe “they received Christ because God had already appointed them to”—reflects exceedingly negative on the character of God. This is not just bad theology. This is atrocious, irresponsible theology, no matter how respected the leaders who teach it may be in certain circles.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
