I Guess This John Calvin Quote Is Why "Easy Christians" Say Reformed Theology Makes Salvation Too Complicated
After getting into an argument with somebody who keeps throwing mud at Reformed preachers like John F. MacArthur, Paul Washer and even the great Charles H. Spurgeon saying that their theology makes salvation too complicated, this quote by John Calvin jumped into me. The reality is that many churches today have that easy believism heresy or the Once Prayed Assuming Saved heresy. Many just say that "simple prayer" without really understanding what salvation is about. It's a diluted presentation of the Gospel.
Now I agree that people need to affirm they're sinners but they must be show why they're sinners. I guess "Easy Christians" hate Reformed Theology is because it requires true humility. Romans 3:10-19 shows that no one is righteous and by God's Law, all must be silenced before God. James 2:10-11 shows we can't keep the perfect standard of God. Galatians 3:24 shows that the Law is our schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. I don't think I would know I'm a sinner who can't save himself if it wasn't for the Law. The Law showed me my sin and still does. The Law which I used to hate is now my delight.
For the "Easy Christian" it's safe to assume that they just say, "Just say this prayer and you'll be saved." I guess that's why they say Reformed preachers "add works to salvation" even to the point that when things are written in black and white and that it's clear as day that they don't, they still insist in doing so. I guess these people want a Lawless "Christianity" which is nothing more than Antinomianism. You can't be a Christian and hate God's Law, believe that Christians can remain barren for the rest of their lives because that's just not biblical.
But Biblical preaching calls people to be exposed to the Law. It's not adding works to salvation but it shows why our works can't inherit salvation. This encounter with the holiness of God through the presentation of the Law is badly needed. This is the kind of preaching that starts removing the thorns, softening the hardness of the soil and getting deeper roots. Everyone starts off as a bad soil hearer but with them being exposed to God's holiness they soon become humbled and confounded to the point they become good soil hearers. To believe that anyone can be a Christian and still stay the same is utter heresy. No chapter and verse in the Bible taken into context can convince me of a Christianity that doesn't change anybody at all!