The genius of Calvinism is its commitment not to go beyond the plain teachings of the Word of God on either divine sovereignty or human responsibility.
Regarding divine sovereignty, the Bible teaches both predestination and providence. By predestination, I mean the decrees of God, which are "His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." By providence, I mean God's "most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions." God has declared the end from the beginning, saying, "My counsel shall stand and I will do all My pleasure." God is working all things for His own glory and for good to those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose. God has planned and decreed every event, no matter how seemingly trivial, and is governing history to implement flawlessly His plans.
Regarding human responsibility, the Bible speaks of the human free agent as the one rightfully responsible for all that he does. God genuinely delights in obedience to His commands. Thus God is grieved when people break His moral laws or disregard His warnings or disobey the gospel command to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When God's warnings are heeded, He withdraws His threatened judgment and thus, from the perspective of the historical process, repents or changes His mind.
To the infinite divine Mind, these truths regarding divine sovereignty and human responsibility perfectly complement each other without any contradiction. To the finite human mind, however, there is an appearance of contradiction. The complete congruence of these truths is beyond our full understanding. C.H. Spurgeon describes this predicament this way:
"That God predestines, and yet that man is responsible, are two facts that few can see clearly. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory to each other. If, then, I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is foreordained, that is true; and if I find, in another Scripture, that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other. I do not believe they can ever be welded into one upon any earthly anvil, but they certainly shall be one in eternity. They are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the human mind which pursues them farthest will never discover that they converge, but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring."More than once Calvin counsels patience with these high mysteries which God has revealed but not totally explained. We need to recognize that there are limits to what we can understand when dealing with the eternal, and we need to learn where those limits lie. A few times Calvin uses "learned ignorance," a phrase previously used by St. Augustine, to refer to this scripturally acquired knowledge of our intellectual limits:"Let this, therefore, first of all be before our eyes: to seek any other knowledge of predestination than what the Word of God discloses is not less insane than if one should purpose to walk in a pathless waste, or to see in darkness. And let us not be ashamed to be ignorant of something in this matter, wherein there is a certain learned ignorance. Rather, let us willingly refrain from inquiring into a kind of knowledge, the ardent desire for which is both foolish and dangerous, nay, even deadly. But if a wanton curiosity agitates us, we shall always do well to oppose to it this restraining thought: just as too much honey is not good, so for the curious the investigation of glory is not turned into glory. For there is good reason for us to be deterred from this insolence which can only plunge us into ruin" (Institutes, III.XXI.2)."Let us, I say, permit the Christian man to open his mind and ears to every utterance of God directed to him, provided it be with such restraint that when the Lord closes his holy lips, he also shall at once close the way to inquiry. The best limit of sobriety for us will be not only to follow God's lead always in learning but, when he sets an end to teaching, to stop trying to be wise" (Institutes, III.XXI.3).We cannot with our creaturely minds reconcile all the Bible teaches about divine sovereignty with all the Bible teaches about human responsibility. For example, if God in eternity past decreed my every thought, word and action, then how can these be genuinely my own and thus my genuine responsibility? God has not answered that question for us. The answer is probably beyond our comprehension anyway. God's sharing this bit of information with us would probably be like a man's sharing a subtle joke with his dog. The dog may be able to understand the simple command "sit" but not a subtle joke. As the Apostle Paul exclaimed, "How unsearchable are God's judgments, and His ways past finding out!" By faith we accept that things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Not everyone, however, is willing to accept these lofty truths on faith. Some insist that they will believe only what they can fully understand. They try to transcend "learned ignorance" through philosophical speculation. Such speculation often involves lowering a doctrine to the level of human understanding by denying or contradicting something else Scripture clearly teaches. For example, the Bible teaches all of the following:
The gospel offer is genuine and sincere, even to those who persist in rejecting it. God delights in gospel obedience and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
God gives salvation as a totally free gift to those He has chosen to save, who have done nothing to deserve this choice of mercy and grace.
Many do not obey the gospel command and will suffer eternal punishment for their sins.
The Calvinist simply accepts all three of these truths and acknowledges that he cannot totally understand how all three fit together. Those who cannot live with Biblical mystery will reject one of the three to make the other two understandable on the human level.
Some reject truth number one. They argue that God cannot be genuinely grieved when those whom He has not chosen to save as a gift of grace, reject the gospel. In such cases, the gospel offer is not motivated by a sincere desire for gospel obedience. The only reason to offer such people the gospel is to increase their guilt and judgment.
Some reject truth number two. They argue that since God desires all to be saved and yet many are not, salvation cannot be all of grace. There must be some human contribution to salvation which turns the point and thus determines who is saved and who is not.
Some reject truth number three. They argue that since God desires all to be saved and since salvation is a free gift, everyone will be saved.
The Calvinist has a different approach altogether. He accepts the clear teaching of Scripture on all three points. When God's revealed truth goes beyond his creaturely abilities to understand, the Calvinist does not elevate his mental capabilities as the final measure of the possible. He accepts in faith what God has said even when he cannot fully understand it.
Because the Bible is a true revelation of eternal truths, proper Biblical interpretation often involves a degree of "learned ignorance." A few other examples of intellectually humbling truths are the Trinity, the Incarnation, the relationship of time and eternity, and the genuine temptation of the impeccable Christ.
For a fuller discussion of Calvinism, go to http:\\capo.org\cpc\grace.htm.