When I teach Calvinism, or what men like George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Owen have called "the doctrines of grace" or "the gospel of grace," Christians often times react negatively. They object, "I don't think God chooses who gets saved who goes to hell. That would be unfair. We're responsible for choosing him!"
But here's a provocative response to people's hostility towards Calvinism: If that's your reaction, you don't have a problem with Calvinism, you have a problem with the biblical doctrine of total depravity and original sin. Total depravity and original sin teach the following things:
1.) When you and I were brought into this earth, we were stillborn, spiritually speaking. As David said in the Psalms, "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (51:5). That is to say, we were born "dead in our trespasses and sins," as Ephesians 2:1 says. Now, whatever it means to be "dead in our trespasses and sins," we know this: it's worse than being physically dead. Spiritual death is worse than physical death. If you're spiritually alive, but physically dead, you'll live forever. But if you're physically alive, but spiritually dead, you could potentially spend an eternity apart from God.
2.) We are all culpable for Adam's sin. Just listen to Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through the one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned..." Now, does this mean that you and I were physically there in the garden of Eden? Does this mean that you and I bit into the fruit that Adam and Eve bit into? No. We weren't guilty for what they did, but we are guilty of what they did. For example, I may not be guilty for another man's exact same sin (robbing a bank), but I am guilty of that man's sin in principle (greed).
You see, when Adam sinned he did exactly what you and I and everyone else would have done: he sided with evil's opinion about God (the evil of unrighteousness) and then tried to deal with his sin and shame in his own power (the evil of self-righteousness). In this sense, theologians call Adam our "figurehead" or "representative." He represented exactly what you and I would have done if we were put in the same circumstance - a circumstance that was totally loaded in our favor (perfect mental and physical health, happiness, bliss, strength, free access to God's help and wisdom, etc.).
So, in this sense, Adam's choice was our choice. Here's a helpful example: Have you ever heard the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely?" It means that if you give someone absolute power, it's going to corrupt them. This isn't just true of black people, it's true of white people, too. It's not just true of rich people, it's true of poor people. It's true of young and old, male and female. When someone is given total control, that person always does bad things with his or her control. That's why living in a democracy where leaders have checks and balances is necessary in order for human government to operate justly. Even then it's difficult for a leader to not abuse his power. All people are guilty of this. Many self-righteous people think to themselves, "Not me. I would use my power to better the world." Not so. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You would do what others have done. History proves this. Now, not every person with absolute power has ruled to the worst of his ability, but he has still always abused his power to one degree or another.
The same is true of Adam's sin. Given the same circumstances, we would have done the same thing: we would have sided with Satan's view of God (unrighteousness) and then we would have tried to save ourselves by trying to deal with our own shame in our own power (self-righteousness). In this way, we all sin when Adam sinned.
So, as the Bible states "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). And, "None is righteous; no, not one ... no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Romans 3:10-12). Everyone is responsible. Everyone of us would have rejected God, therefore everyone of us are justly condemned and everyone of us have justly experienced the penalty of that sin: spiritual death.
So, the doctrines of original sin and total depravity teach that we, in effect, already had our chance. We already rejected God before we were born. We already sinned and turned from him. Any chance that God gives anyone after the fall of mankind is an undeserved chance. Many people think: God owes it to everyone to give them an opportunity for salvation. That's like saying all condemned murderers deserve a second trial.
Therefore, it is not surprising for God to save some and condemn others. It's surprising that he would save any at all! Instead of resisting God's sovereign choice and election, we ought to be trembling in our shoes that he chose to have mercy on us and spare us from a life of eternal torment away from his presence. This ought to utterly revolutionize our attitude towards God. We need to repent of the mistaken mindset that says, "I made it in because of my choice," and start saying, "I made it in because of his choice. I will live the rest of my life in humble, grateful obedience." Any other mindset simply leads to us to pride and self-righteousness.
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