DEBUNKING HYPER-CALVINIST CONFUSION AND AFFIRMING OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BELIEVE

By Jun P. Espina | 08/10/2026 | 1 min read

CHRIST’S PERFECT OBEDIENCE: GOD’S LAWS ARE HOLY. WE ARE NOT

Christ’s Perfect Obedience. God’s laws are holy and perfect. You’ll go to hell if your consuming passion and theology is to obey them—for you cannot, a hundred percent.

The non-born-again Christian religions (which include Catholicism!) of this life have preached obedience to God’s laws to enter God’s kingdom.

We found in Matthew 19, for example, a young ruler who had confidently declared before Christ his so-called perfect obedience to divine laws as he would want to inherit eternal life.

However, Christ said, “If you wish to be complete….” Why, what was lacking? He loved his neighbors as himself and also honored his parents. He had stolen nothing, killed no one, and had never been a false witness his entire life? (See Matthew 19:16-22.)

Christ continued, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matt. 19:21)

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NON-CHRISTIAN VIEWPOINTS REGARDING ONE’S OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAWS

I met a person who told me he believed in Christ, aside from being quietly supportive of his community and friendly with his neighbors. He was also a faithful churchgoer. But he had no relationship with our Lord. Christ’s Spirit did not possess him! (cf. Rom. 8:9) He did not sincerely believe and trust in Christ.

The young ruler mentioned in Matthew 19 was just like him. Both want to do good and appear religious, except that they could not genuinely believe in and follow Jesus.

It is the meaning of Christ’s word to the young ruler: “Follow and love Me more than your possessions and yourself.” (cf. Matt. 19:21)

It is faith in Christ, in a nutshell, that real born-again Christians possess.

THE HYPER-CALVINIST/PREDESTINARIAN CONFUSION

We need to answer first the hyper-Calvinist/predestinarian confusion regarding obedience to God’s laws.

What is this divine law in particular? The “law” or requirement to believe in Christ. (Note: “believe” is an action word requiring “obedience”.)

The Necessity to Believe

A Phillipian jailer asked Paul and Silas this question: “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believed].’” (Acts 16:30-31)

The predestinarians (such as MacArthur, John Piper, Sproul, et al.) insist that “we cannot believe because we cannot obey God’s laws or conditions.”

Is predestinarianism biblical? Are we predestined to believe?

No, that’s the truth. Hyper-Calvinism is false.

We need to believe in the operation of our free will.

Christ told the “young ruler” to “follow Me.”

Billy Graham’s Teaching on Our Need to Choose to Believe

We need to decide to believe in and follow Jesus. Billy Graham once said indecision is a decision, or time itself (meaning your coming death) will decide whatever is in your heart for Jesus.

Why is Predestinarianism Heretical?

Ezekiel 18:32 declares, “‘For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord God. ‘Therefore, repent and live.’”

We can hear God’s word and repent.

The hyper-Calvinist/predestinarian’s powerful Scripture to support predestination is found in John 6:44.

Our Lord declares,

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44)

It means we cannot believe in Jesus without our Father God’s help to believe.

Christ Has Clarified John 6:44 to Avoid Confusion

To clarify this Scripture’s meaning (and thus, shut off any blasphemous predestinarianism), our Lord clarified His doctrine in the following verse, 45: “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”

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Hear the Word of God. Believe in the Scriptures. Come to Jesus!

The Holy Spirit is helping us to understand God’s word. We just need to hear and learn. The apostle Paul declares, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17)

The Predestinarian Heresy

According to hyper-Calvinists, unless we are favored and predestined, our portion is hell, being hated by God even before the foundation of the world. Christ does not love all. That’s the gist of this heresy.

As affirmed by a leading extreme Calvinist, John MacArthur, online, “Jesus died for somebody”—for those predestined to believe.

But the Apostle John has explained this man-made confusion and Bible-twisting of John 6:44. He said, “There was the true Light [Jesus] which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” (John 1:9)

Jesus enlightens every man. (A Scripture backing John 6:44!)

Our Lord also stated this teaching about our native ability to decide to repent and believe based on our free will in Matthew 23:37:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”

You are UNWILLING to believe “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” to be saved!

CHRIST’S PERFECT OBEDIENCE TO DIVINE LAWS

In the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul said,

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1)

It is how Scriptures fix this enigma of offering forgiveness to all of humanity on account of their sins. There is no more CONDEMNATION or JUDGMENT for those truly born-again Christians because of Christ’s atoning blood.

Why the Trouble of Shedding the Blood of God’s Only Son, Jesus?

Here lies normal people’s skepticism about the Gospel: Why did the Father in Heaven allow Jesus to die? Could he have appointed John the Baptist or Paul to sacrifice for the sins of humanity?

The Old Testament’s offering or sacrificial system symbolizes the holiness required to approach God. Because of this, the apostle Peter said,

“[K]nowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” (1 Pet. 1:18-19)

Christ does not have a single inherited sin because the Holy Spirit caused His conception by a miracle through His human mother, the Virgin Mary. Our Lord’s virgin birth has made His shed blood on the cross “spotless” and a perfect offering for the forgiveness of sins.

Since the Father accepted the offering of Christ’s own blood for the remission of sins, Christ declared a covenant in the New Testament that is separate from the old, which was marked by animal sacrifices to approach God.

As such, our Lord declared,

“[F]or this is My blood of the [new] covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26:28)

OF THE BLOOD OF WHITE CHICKENS TO APPEASE THE GODS

Even some uncivilized tribal people have practiced bloodletting to appease the gods. I had been a history instructor in college, but I prefer AI to do research for me about the shedding of blood of white chickens as a religious practice. AI gave me this response:

“The practice of offering the blood of white chickens to appease the gods is a traditional ritual among certain tribal communities in the Philippines. This ritual is part of a broader set of beliefs and practices that involve the offering of blood to honor spirits and seek their guidance. The ritual is often performed to prevent evil forces from causing harm….”

With or without a Bible, people seem to have this “inner voice” about a blood-sacrificial system.

But only Christ’s atoning blood is accepted in Heaven for the eternal forgiveness of sins.

It is affirmed by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1.

“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him [Christ], and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Verses 19-20)

YOUR SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS DOESN’T GLORIFY GOD

I hear this comment repeatedly: “If you’re only good to your neighbors, God will be good to you, too.”

What if you obeyed the Ten Commandments like an authentic Seventh-day Adventist or a Jew?

Well, if obedience to God’s laws is your passport to heaven, you are completely mistaken. For it was Jesus who obeyed all divine commandments for us. As stated plainly by Paul in Romans 10,

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (v.4)

And in Galatians 2:16, Paul also wrote, “that a man is not justified [or made righteous] by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.”

In Luke 18, Christ spoke about the “Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.” In this story, a Pharisee prayed and boasted before God about his so-called “perfect” righteousness and obedience to God’s laws, and that he was unlike the tax collector nearby.

Then Christ said, “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified [made righteous] rather than the other.” (See Luke 18:9-14.)

FAITH IN JESUS, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, IS THE ONLY PATHWAY TO DIVINE FORGIVENESS

One of the most popular and related verses concerning eternal salvation from the New Testament precepts is about salvation by grace through faith in the Savior. Paul writes it in Ephesians 2:8-9. It says,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

I mentioned hyper-Calvinism (predestinarianism) earlier in this article because of this unambiguous Scripture (Eph. 2:8-9) being twisted by the predestinarian heresy to make it appear that FAITH is part of “the gift of God.”

In my library, I had a 14-volume “Barnes Notes” (now I have gifted all 14 volumes to a certain church). From this material, I learned that “faith” (in the Scripture just mentioned) is not a part of the “gift of God.” Why? One reason is that God does not BELIEVE for us—whereas, we are required to believe to be saved.

Having a little background about this controversial subject (because of the proponents of the “Sovereign Grace” group—aka hyper-Calvinists), I could write a wide-ranging prompt that the AI could understand. Whether “faith” is part of the “gift of God” for salvation, here’s AI’s response:

The Gift is Salvation: The Greek demonstrative pronoun touto (“this” or “that”) is neuter, while “grace” (charis) and “faith” (pistis) are feminine. Grammatically, “touto” cannot refer to either word individually; instead, it refers back to the entire preceding clause: “by grace you have been saved through faith.” Thus, the entire package of salvation is the gift.

Faith is Human Responsibility: Faith is defined as the “empty hand” that receives the gift, not the gift itself. If faith were a gift given by God, it would imply that God exercises faith for us or in us, which contradicts the nature of personal trust and belief. As one source notes, “He who created you without you will not save you without you,” meaning God does not believe for us; we must exercise faith ourselves.

Grace vs. Works: The passage contrasts salvation by grace through faith with salvation by works. If faith were a meritorious work, it would need to be a gift. However, since faith is inherently non-meritorious (it trusts in another’s work), it does not need to be a gift to maintain the doctrine of grace. Salvation is the free gift; faith is the means by which that gift is received.

CORE OF THE MATTER: FAITH AND NOT GOOD WORKS TO BE SAVED

If someone offered you a lifespan of over 150 years through a “miracle oil,” for example, you would grab that opportunity—purchase a bottle of the oil—without hesitation.

But when Jesus offered eternal life to the Jews, they killed Him.

Why? Because they refused to believe.

The struggle is not about doing some philanthropy or any type of help for the church. Robbers do that often.

The point is to trust in the promises of Christ.

Our Lord’s fundamental declaration is found in John 11. He said to Martha,

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Vv. 25-26)

It is a life-and-eternal-death question: Do you trust and believe in Jesus?

>>> Breaking the Chains of Predestinatarianism: Embracing Free Will in Christian Faith. The True Path to Salvation: Why Faith, Not Works, Saves. Christian faith, Salvation by faith, Faith vs works, Predestination, Hyper-Calvinism, Free will in Christianity, Jesus’ obedience, Christian theology, Atonement, Grace and faith, Biblical salvation, Born-again Christianity, Christian repentance, Blood sacrifice symbolism, Christian doctrine <<<

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