Shall the God of the Whole Earth do Righteously?

Blame-shifting and avoiding responsibility seem to be traits with which most of us are personally very familiar. We have all seen examples of how the rich and powerful break laws and get away with it due to knowing the ropes, buying a good lawyer, or actually writing laws to make themselves immune to the very laws they put upon the people. The newspapers and television are full of examples of corporations and people of political, religious or economic power who used their power to cover up their mistakes, escape the consequences of their actions, and find a scapegoat to shift the blame. While "the buck stops here" may be a nice slogan that wins votes, few leaders carry the slogan beyond just a slogan. Few actually walk the talk.

When we see the senator's son get a slap on the hand when caught in possession of drugs, while another young man serves three years for the same crime, something inside most of us cries for justice.

When a man or woman is elected into an office because they had a tremendous amount of money behind them, something inside most of us says, "This is not the best way to choose those who will govern us."

When an individual uses the reputation of their family name to gain power and position, we instinctively sense that something is wrong. A person should stand on their own reputation.

We know that a good lawyer will help in court- that good lawyers cost more money. Logical conclusion? Rich people fare better in court than poor people. When we see this, we know it is injustice.

When we hear a lawyer say something like this: "I hope we get Judge Brown, he's a strong conservative," something inside of us says that it shouldn't matter who the judge is. Justice should be justice no matter who the person is who gives it out. But we know that is not reality.

When we look at examples like those above, if we are not involved in the actual outcome of the incidents we can see that things are not "fair," and that "justice" is not being evenly administered. We seem to have an ability to discern what fairness is, as long as we stay objective and are not personally involved in the situation.

I think most of you who are reading this article will agree that things in this life are not really "fair." Some are born into better families, richer countries, healthier bodies, better times and conditions, more intelligence, etc. We see these "unfair" situations all around us. Now the more of the "better" conditions we experience, the more likely we are not to see the injustice of it all. It is usually when we are deprived of the better things that we can see the unfairness and injustice.

Most of us would agree that all is not equal here on earth, that there is injustice in this world. We attribute this to selfishness, greed, pride, rulers of darkness, and Satan. We generally don't accuse ourselves for the injustices of the world, they are usually someone else's fault. Christians usually cannot see how much they are to blame for many of the injustices in the world. But worse than that, we are blind to the fact that some of our theologies make God turn out to be the most unjust Ruler of all mankind. In the name of justice, we say that God must send billions to the eternal torture chamber. The one and single reason for this inferno is because without it, God could not be just.

Let us see how modern theology has painted God the ultimate image of injustice while claiming it portrays Him this way in the name of Justice. The hypocrisy in this situation is absolutely incredible and yet most of Christendom is totally blind to their contradictory creeds which are declared as "truth."

Clearly, at the height of the hypocrisy is the Calvinist doctrine of election. Among the denominations who hold some of or all of John Calvin's views are Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregation, some Baptist, as well as other denominations. The doctrine begins on very scriptural grounds and then departs into utter darkness. According to the doctrine the "elect" were chosen from before the foundations of the earth. We do not chose God, God has predestined the "elect" to eternal bliss with God, apart from works or anything else. It is completely a foreordained gift, all of God, nothing from man. One cannot earn it, decide to accept it, or lose it. It is a done deal. This is Scriptural. Among the scriptures one can use to prove this are: Romans 8:28-32, Romans 9:16, Romans 9:21-24, as well as many others. "Jacob I loved and Esau I hated," perhaps sums up the case for predestined election. The scriptures declare that Esau was hated of God even before he was born, even before he could commit a bad act. Of "Predestination," Calvin says, "we call the eternal decree of God, by which he has determined in himself the destiny of every man. For they are not created in the same condition, but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. For every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestinated either to life or to death." Calvin applies this teaching even to entire nations. Israel will be saved and the surrounding nations will be lost. It is predestined.

So here we have a situation just like the injustices in the present world. If you are born a "king's kid" you will get the goodies whether you deserve them or not, you will literally get away with murder. But if you were born outside the family in power (God's family) you will not receive justice, you will be persecuted and mistreated and will have no recourse in the court of justice because you are not one of the family. You cannot raise your position, work your way to the top, or get rewarded by doing good. None of these things count in Calvinism. Favoritism, nepotism, being born with a silver spoon in your mouth is the game played in the Christian family of Calvinism. We Christians properly call this sort of activity "injustice" when we see business and political leaders do these sorts of things. Yet when we attribute the exact same kind of activities to God, we call it "justice." You see, we have a tendency to see ourselves as "the chosen" and quite frankly don't really care about what happens to "other" people. We become like the God we hold in our hearts. When we become unjust in our doctrines and attitude toward our fellow man, we create God in our own image. He becomes unjust but we call it "justice."

Now a Calvinist must ultimately become a blatant bigot. He is in the kingdom and he could care less what you think of Him. He won't wrestle with you about the injustice of his system. Should a person question the justice of such a system, Calvin will answer, "The counsel of God, as far as concerns the elect, is founded on his gratuitous mercy, totally irreprehensible, though incomprehensible judgment." God's will is the supreme rule of justice so that "what he wills must be considered just for the very reason that He wills it. When you ask, therefore, why the Lord did so, the answer must be, because He would. But if you go further and ask why He so determined, you are in search of something higher and greater than the will of God, which can never be found. Let human temerity, therefore, desist from seeking that which is not, lest it should fail of finding that which is. This will be a sufficient restraint to any one disposed to reason with reverence concerning the secrets of his God." (Taken out of Calvin's Institutes III Chapter 21) I translate the above as "I said God said it and therefore it's true, now no more questions. That settles it."

I have been in quite a few arguments with Calvinists about this doctrine. Many of them act just like John Calvin did. They are also just as blind to the Scriptures as John Calvin was. Calvin said that God wills most of mankind to eternal torment. Perhaps it can't be found in his translation of the Bible, but the King James Bible declares, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3,4) Calvin was either blind or an outright liar. I will leave that up to you to decide. To most humane, thinking people, Calvin's system is at the height of injustice and unfairness. The Calvinist's response is, "Tough." I called it Calvin's system. That's not quite true. John Calvin got the idea from Augustine. John just modified this monster somewhat. Then again, even Augustine didn't invent it. He was a Manichaean elder for about nine years. Read about the Babylonian Manichaean religious system and then you will discover where this Calvinist system really came from.

The Arminian system, which comprises Roman Catholics, Orthodox, most of the rest of Protestantism, Pentecostalism, and Charismaticism, as well as the quasi-Christian groups such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Worldwide Church of God, Seventh Day Adventists etc., find the Calvinist system revolting, but apparently not too revolting because they go to the same pep rallies such as the Promise Keepers together. They go to the same prayer meetings and their church buildings and rituals are much alike. The Arminianist just doesn't like the fact that Calvin locked many out without giving them a chance. So they created the "salvation by chance" gospel. Everybody gets at least one chance to be adopted into the Royal Family. The Arminianist sees the Scriptures that declare that God "will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," but does not actually have the drawing power for everyone to be saved. Therefore, they interpret these Scriptures as God desires all to be saved, but can't get the job done. He makes the offer to all, but most reject it. To prove this kind of gospel is almost as difficult as Calvin's gospel.

They also have Scriptures like Romans 1:20 and stretch it a mile or two to get it in line with their gospel. But while they try to vindicate God by at least giving everyone a chance to be a King's kid, they still make Him a respecter of persons. Everyone knows most people don't make it on the first chance. As a matter of fact, if you go into a church where there are a few honest Christians (sometimes hard to find) and you were to ask how many got "saved" on their first chance, most would have to admit it took several "chances" before they "decided to follow Jesus."

It is obvious that there are far more Bibles, preachers, churches, tracts, etc. in some countries than in others. The United States probably has more Bibles in it than all the other countries combined. I have close to 100 in my office. In the United States, it is hard to go through a week of television without running into some preacher preaching his version of the gospel. So then, if it usually takes more than one shot to get "saved," there are clearly places in the world that are gospel-rich and others that are gospel-poor. When it comes to "hearing" or reading the word, God has certainly chosen some nations over others. He has been a "respecter of nations." As a matter of fact, we would be justified in calling God a racist, because the white races over the last 2000 years have received far more "Word" than all the other races combined.

So in trying to make God look a little better than Calvin made Him out to be, Arminius and his army of billions of Christians, have not made Him out to look much better. While Calvin made heaven a country club with exclusive membership only for those with the proper lineage dating back to before time, Arminius and company still leave God as a respecter of persons. Worse yet, most of humanity isn't interested in God's offer. Hell seems to have more appeal or power than the attraction of God and heaven. And still worse yet, salvation by grace through faith, not of works, becomes nothing more than a slogan mouthed, but not really believed. And worst of all, Arminianism teaches one can lose their salvation. The "eternal" life one receives when "saved" isn't eternal after all. The whole gospel becomes an awful lie! But at least we can now blame humans for getting toasted for eternity. They have at least vindicated God from preordaining most into the barbecue pit.

But it doesn't end here. It gets worse. Calvinists teach that sinners deserve the wrath of God which is eternal torment. No degrees of punishment seem to exist. One punishment for everything under the heading of "sin." "The wages of sin is death," which is translated "eternal torment." The scripture does not give a formula like stealing-5 years, adultery-10 years, gossip-15 years. No, it simply states that the "wages of sin is death." One big wad of sin and one big punishment. So when a non-believer does anything described as a sin, he's done for, but when a Christian does the same thing, all of a sudden the rules dramatically change. In the Christian circle, there are degrees of sin and degrees of punishment. However, a simple "I'm sorry" cleans the slate. No slap on the hand, no lighter sentence. King's kids get away with everything just by doing this magical thing called "repentance," a theological word for saying, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Now I know it is hard for most denominationally-bent Christians to see the injustice and hypocrisy of these false gospels. They are "rich King's kids." They are just like the rich man in the Rich Man and Lazarus Story. They see the unbelievers as the rich man who will one day get toasted while they cuddle up to Abraham. But the reality of the matter is they are the rich man about to get kicked out of the kingdom. Abraham can't stand their spoiled brat behavior and it's time the rich kids got a spanking-a very hard spanking. The rich man couldn't see his self-righteousness and the poor man said even if one was raised from the dead the rich man's brothers wouldn't believe. Jesus raised a "Lazarus" from the grave and the Pharisees still wouldn't believe. Remember?

Oh Bible-filled, church abundant, rich Christians! What will finally get us to see that the Gods we have created are in our own image? What will it take before we finally see that our Father is not a respecter of persons? He hardens and He has mercy on all. He locks all in unbelief so we can't puff up our prideful little chest and declare, "I have decided to follow Jesus." When it comes to salvation, no one on the face of this earth decided anything! The gift is free and it goes to all whether we like it or not. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw ("drag" in the Greek) all mankind unto myself" is not an invitation to decide to do anything. It is a declaration of fact that will come to pass whether we decide to believe it or not. The Potter is going to do all His good pleasure whether we approve or not. The man who the church will not hire during the work day will be hired in the last hour and given the same wages as the self-righteous hypocrite even if the dead-works Christian Pharisee thinks he should get more or not. When God's justice is in the earth, the earth will learn righteousness. It is abundantly clear to everyone on the face of the earth that the God preached by the vast majority of the church is not just, not fair, and not righteous. He is a respecter of persons, weak, and two-faced; made in the perfect image of she who formed Him, namely the so-called body of Christ called by the name of "the Church."

In conclusion then, we find that in earthly matters, we call racism, favoritism, double-standards, prejudice, etc. "unjust." Yet the doctrines of the modern church have made God all of the above and worse and say He is just! No wonder unbelievers look at us and call us hypocrites. The church has fallen into such darkness that unbelievers see clearer than Christians. But then again, wasn't that exactly the way it was at the end of the Jewish era? Solomon said it well, "There is nothing new under the sun." If history repeats itself, the end of church history will be quite different from what the "end-time" preachers are telling us. You have heard of the expression, "Remember the Alamo?" Listen very carefully . . . .remember Jerusalem 70AD!!!