Calvangelism

About a block from the church I attend, there is another church. Actually there are about five churches in a one block radius of our church. Hey, it's East Tennessee, the buckle of the Bible Belt. But one of these churches is a Primitive Baptist Church.

For those of you who don't know, Primitive Baptist does not mean old Baptist. Primitive Baptists are Baptists who are Calvinists. They have been mischaracterized by some as being hyper-calvinists, but this is not so. They are simply Baptists who will not use any means whatsoever to evangelize. It is not that they are against evangelism, but against the use of tracts, missions agencies, etc. They also deny the proclamation of the Gospel as the means of regeneration. Notice that I said that they deny that the proclamation of the Gospel is the means of regeneration and not that they deny the need to proclaim the Gospel to the lost.
Instead they believe that the proclamation of the Gospel is needed for faith, with which we would all agree. But where we differ is in that they believe that the proclamation of the Gospel is only received once that one has been regenerated by the Spirit, whereas Southern Baptist Calvinists generally believe that the Spirit uses the proclamation of the Gospel to regenerate the lost so that they may receive the Gospel.

It's a small difference, but a difference big enough to cause them to distance themselves from other Calvinistic Baptists by creating their own denomination. Which brings us to our point, There are no Calvinists who oppose the proclamation of the Gospel to the lost. To be sure, there are hyper-calvinists who have adopted a fatalistic view of salvation where God is willy-nilly picking whoever he wants to be saved and there is nothing we can do about it. But they are not Calvinists.

Calvinists have always been an evangelizing lot. Especially the Calvinists among the Southern Baptist denomination. (For the record, you cannot be a Southern Baptist and be against evangelization. The whole denomination is a mission board.) While there have been disagreements with others as to the methods of evangelization or whether methods should even be used in evangelization, the fact of the matter is that Calvinistic Baptists have always spread the Gospel among the lost.

So where did the idea come from that Calvinists don't spread the Gospel? Well, to begin with it comes from a misunderstanding of the doctrine of election. Secondly, it comes from a misunderstanding of the doctrine of Total Depravity. But mostly it comes from a misunderstanding of the Calvinists understanding of the role of Scripture and preaching in salvation.

For the Calvinist verses like 1Peter 1:23 (since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;) are not without meaning.
It is clear from this verse that regeneration takes place in connection with the word of God, but only by the power of the Spirit who blows where He wills. So Calvinists do not believe that just the words by themselves have the ability to regenerate, otherwise everyone who ever heard the Gospel would be saved, but that the Spirit uses the Gospel as His vehicle by which He blows new life into the elect.
Adding to this is the belief that conversion is a response to the Gospel. It is impossible to have true biblical faith unless that faith is focused upon Christ who is proclaimed in the Gospel message. Repentance form dead works and sin is a response to the commands of the Gospel. Turning from self-reliance, sin, and self-love are responses to the command of Christ to leave all and follow Him.

So for the Calvinist evangelism is an imperative. We must preach the Gospel to every creature. The preaching of the Gospel is God's ordained means of bringing the elect to Himself. His Spirit uses the word preached to regenerate the dead and create faith in Christ in the unbeliever. So...why do Calvinists evangelize the lost? Well, because we are commanded to (Luke 24:46,47), but also because the evangel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16, I Corinthians 1:21)