LTRP Note: The following is a chapter from the Lighthouse Trails book Castles in the Sand, the only novel we know of that exposes the dangers of contemplative spirituality and spiritual formation. The story, based on true facts, is about a young Christian college girl who is introduced to mysticism through her spiritual formation professor. In the following chapter, Tessa, troubled by some of the strange symptoms she is experiencing when practicing meditation, seeks help from her school counselor. But alas, the counselor is involved in the very spirituality that is affecting her.

Lighthouse Trails published this book in 2009 because we saw the danger that many young people were in when they began attending Christian colleges, seminaries, and universities that were promoting spiritual formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality). Today, nine years later, the landscape of these religious institutions is more dangerous and deceptive than ever, and the majority are going in this direction.

Castles in the Sand
by Carolyn A. Greene
Bad Counsel

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.–Jesus, Matthew 6:7

“And so, I’m really not sure what to think anymore about this spiritual formation training,” Tessa said softly. She felt very small and insignificant sitting in front of the huge desk in the head counselor’s office. The walls were covered with hardwood panels, and on the one with the credenza pushed against it hung a framed portrait of a man staring down at her with knowing eyes. The counselor wrote on a notepad with an expensive-looking gold pen. He had been at Flat Plains Bible College for nearly five years and most of the students respected him. Tessa had often heard him play the cello in the string quartet during chapel for Monday meditations. He was a bachelor, but not the kind the girls would flirt with. She wondered if he ironed his own shirts every day, as he always wore a crisp white one under his sports jacket. He had a few odd quirks but was generally kindhearted and caring. Tessa didn’t know why she felt so uncomfortable as she sat in his office. The counselor analyzed the comments he’d been jotting down. His notes said this girl had dark circles under her eyes and seemed very nervous. She had no previous record of drug use and had never gotten into trouble at school.

“Miss Dawson, we realize it’s an emotionally and spiritually demanding course. You have probably been working very hard. I see you stayed at school over the Christmas holidays as well as spring break last week to catch up on some course assignments. With the semester nearly over, the pressure will soon be off. Have you talked to your spiritual formation professor?”

“Well, she was the one who recommended that I be mentored by Ms. Jasmine. Naturally, I was excited about that, at first. Now, I’m not sure anymore. So I talked to the other counselor this morning, and she told me that you and Ms. Jasmine are the only people I need to talk to about my concerns.”

“Did she now? Instead of speaking to me, have you talked to Dr. Winters first about your concerns?” He secretly wished Dr. Jasmine Winters hadn’t been so casual with the students, allowing them to address her by her first name. It was simply disrespectful.

“Well, that’s the problem. I’m not comfortable with that.”

The counselor leaned forward on his oak desktop and looked at her over his black-rimmed glasses. “Well, apparently Dr. Winters is comfortable enough to have you all call her Ms. Jasmine. Now, could you tell me exactly why you are ‘uncomfortable’?”

“It’s like this. I . . . when I am in a session . . . I mean, when I did the sessions with Ms. Jazz, I mean Dr. Winters, strange things happen, I mean, happened.” Tessa started to cry. “I’m sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well.”

Tessa felt her throat tightening. This wasn’t easy for her. At first, in the beginning of the school year, everything was good. Really good, actually, and Tessa had soon become a keen and open-minded student. But later, she’d begun having reservations, even before Katy read her “the list.” She couldn’t say why, exactly, only that she’d started to feel vaguely suspicious and oddly unsettled about the whole thing. That was probably why she could never muster the courage to take it to the next level. And lately, her resistance seemed increasingly ineffective. She used to have control, but she didn’t seem to have it anymore. Had the words of warning, the words she had so carelessly rejected, been right after all?

“What sort of strange things?” the counselor asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yes. Well, this may sound very, very weird, but I get a tingling, prickling sensation in my head and my hands, and sometimes all the way down to my feet.”

“Has Dr. Winters been letting you drink her Yerba Mate? It sometimes has an . . . effect on certain people.”

Tessa shuddered at the thought of the South American tea Ms. Jasmine sometimes drank through a metal straw. She thought the Yerba leaves looked and smelled like a wet horse stall.

“No. You don’t believe me, do you?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded, wrinkled paper. It was the list Katy had tried reading to her the other night. Later, when Katy wasn’t there, Tessa picked it up, folded it neatly, and put it in one of her books. “I would like to read this to you. These are some symptoms that–”

“That you have?”

“Well, I might have some, but so does my friend Elise and at least half the class. But Dr. Winters has most of these. Can I just read this?”

“Have you been to see the school nurse?” he asked.

“I don’t need a nurse!” she said too loudly, and remorsefully looked down at the floor. “Please . . .” she said quietly.

“Go ahead.” The counselor leaned back in his chair.

“These are some of the symptoms I am talking about. It’s only some of them.”

Before coming there that day, she had highlighted certain symptoms on the list with a yellow marker, ones she had either experienced herself or saw or heard about in others, including Ms. Jasmine–especially Ms. Jasmine. She held the wrinkled paper in her clammy hands and began reading the symptoms she had marked:

Hearing sounds like a flute, waterfall, bees buzzing, ringing in the ears, inner voices, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating, emotional outbursts, uncontrollable laughing and crying, rapid mood shifts, fear, rage, heightened awareness, trances, sensations of heat or prickling in the hands and head, feelings of peace and tranquility, ecstasy, dreams or visions of spirit guides, out-of-body experiences, awareness of auras, chakras, healing powers, sensitivity–

“All right, all right. That’s enough, I’ve got the point,” the counselor interrupted. He pulled off his glasses, puffed a few breaths of hot air onto the lenses, and unfolded a clean white handkerchief to polish them.

“But I’m not finished. I–”

“Miss Dawson, look, I believe you. A few other students have reported minor things. But everything has an explanation. This is a very old school. Before we rule out the insulation or the lead paint, here’s what I think. First of all, you have completed the required reading, am I correct?”

Tessa nodded.

“Then you must know that the ancient Christians who tapped into methods of prayer that the modern church has forgotten also describe many of the same experiences. What if these things, which you say make you fearful, are simply God’s graces and favors being bestowed upon you? Rather than having a fear-based faith, we must open ourselves to God’s voice. We must not shut the door to new forms of God’s communication with us, Tessa. The Bible says, ‘Shout to the Lord a new song!’ We cannot put God in a box.”

He reached behind him and pulled a book from his shelf. The title on the cover said The Interior Castle, but Tessa thought this one looked older and thicker than her copy, which was called Selections from the Interior Castle. He pushed up his thick-framed glasses and opened it to a page with a folded corner.

“As St. Teresa of Avila wrote, ‘Our Lord is just as pleased today as He has ever been to reveal favors to his people, and I’m convinced that anyone who will not believe this closes the door to receiving them herself.’ So you see, only those who believe and open the door will be the recipients of His revelations and favors!”

Tessa knew about that. She had written a paper on the Teresian prayer model. “Yes, I understand that concept. But something is not right, I’m telling you. One evening not long ago I arrived early at our mentoring session, and Ms. Jazz was . . . she was . . .”

“Tessa, Dr. Winters is a very spiritually disciplined person, and a fine role model. She does the fixed hours of prayer several times a day, and some people, when they find out, just don’t understand. It’s a classic case of fearing the unknown. I trust she has been training you to do your prayer exercises as well. May I ask how far you have gone in your quiet prayer time in regard to the inner rooms of the Teresian prayer model?”

“Well, I . . . I could never get past the fourth room,” she said, sniffing. “The castle. It haunts me in my dreams. What I thought was beautiful is turning into a bad dream. It’s just not lining up with . . .” She stopped in mid-sentence and thought about Katy and Gramps, and how they would often say that something was not “lining up with Scripture.” “I guess I just don’t know anymore if the voices I am hearing are from God or . . . I’m just . . . I’m very scared.”

“Dear Tessa, I think I have just answered your own question.” The counselor looked pleased with himself and assured her with a compassionate smile. “Now take a deep breath and listen to me carefully. Close your eyes . . . There, that’s right. Now, do you remember how St. Teresa compared the doubts we have to reptiles? Let me read a little more from the fifth chapter.” The way the counselor read reminded Tessa of the way Ms. Jasmine read–slowly, methodically, pronounced:

In the prayer of quiet in the previous mansion, the soul needs to be very experienced before it can be sure what really happened to it. Did it imagine the whole thing? Was it asleep and dreaming? Did the experience come from God, or from the devil disguised as an angel of light? The mind feels a thousand doubts. And so it ought, for as I said, we can be deceived in these mansions, even by our own nature. It is true that there is little chance of those poisonous creatures entering the Fourth Mansion, but slippery little lizards are small enough to slip in unnoticed. They do no harm, especially if we ignore them, but these little thoughts and fancies thrown out by the imagination can be annoying.

However active those lizards may be, they cannot enter into the Fifth Mansion. Here, neither the imagination, the understanding, or the memory has any power to prevent God’s grace flowing into the soul.

The counselor closed the book and placed it on a stack of Travel Mongolia magazines. His chair creaked as he leaned back and took off his glasses again. “Tessa,” he said, “perhaps you need to enter into the fifth room of the castle and allow God’s grace to flow into your soul. You seem too focused on poisonous, negative thoughts, which you simply must choose to ignore. I suggest you contemplate Scripture more often through your lectio divina exercises.”

Tessa nodded her head, folded the paper, and stood up. Her ears began to ring again. The book he had read from sounded different from the one she had. Why were they always quoting to her out of books? Gramps usually quoted the Bible, and he seemed to know a lot of it by heart. She wasn’t sure if Ms. Jasmine even owned a Bible. If she did, Tessa had never seen it.

She was more confused than ever. Everyone here kept telling her to shut out the noises and go within herself. “There you will find your true self,” they’d say. However, her true self was the part of her that was so confused. Gramps always said that God is not the author of confusion. For some reason, Tessa remembered that cold fall day at the retreat when they were instructed to go and find their true selves, and she found the [mysterious] woodsman instead. What was that verse he read? “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.”

She had no idea why she remembered that verse today, but how desperately she longed to know truth and have wisdom right now.
“May I go now?” she asked, rubbing her temples. “I . . . I have a really bad headache.”

The counselor nodded and watched her walk to the door….

“Oh and Miss Dawson, one more thing,” he said as she paused with her hand on the knob. “St. Teresa, your namesake, also said that a venomous reptile cannot live in the presence of divine light. If we are to be Christ followers, we must choose not to join the ranks of the spiritually uncivilized who refuse to be enlightened. Please keep this in mind.”

Tessa gave a weak, “OK,” then opened the door and stepped into the hall. The door swung shut behind her with a precise click. She watched as students walked past her to their classes, chatting and laughing happily as though everything was normal and there wasn’t a care in the world. As for herself, she wondered if she was going mad. Nothing made sense anymore.

Back in the office, the counselor glanced at his watch. Thank goodness she’s gone, he thought. It was nearly noon. Time for the Daily Office, the fixed hours of prayer Ms. Jasmine had taught them at their second staff retreat. He found that even five minutes spent centering down helped him get through a stressful day. Lately, more students like Tessa had begun to ask him too many difficult questions. Not to mention that paranoid old Mr. Brown who had been phoning and giving him a hard time.

He was beginning to feel more than a little annoyed.

He locked his office door, put a Taize worship CD into his Sony player and sat down in his chair again. Glancing up at the chart on his wall, he took a deep breath. He nearly had it memorized but wanted to be sure of the steps, so he read them again:

-Be attentive and open
-Sit still
-Sit straight
-Breathe slowly, deeply
-Close your eyes or lower them to the ground

Then he closed his eyes and slowly repeated the verse of the day from the Sacred Meditation website–

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know . . .
that I am God . . .
that I am God . . .
that I am God.
That I am God,
I am God,
I am God,
I am God,
I am,
I am,
I am,
I am . . .

The noise in the hallway soon disappeared as Dr. Frank Johnson … shut out the sounds around him and slipped into a peaceful inner silence.

(This is an excerpt from chapter 19 of Castles in the Sand, the 1st novel ever written that exposes the dangers of contemplative spirituality.)

Related Information:

Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation (Important Reasons Why It Shouldn’t)

By Roger Oakland
Understand the Times, International

Recently, I read a Facebook post by a southern California pastor that the “emerging church” was no longer a problem for him or his church. He stated that the emerging church was just another passing fad that had come and then disappeared never to be heard of again. His church was going to focus on what was positive and insinuated that “hyper-discernment ministries” were scaring his sheep into believing they were living in the last days and that apostasy was rampant.

The comments by this pastor are not uncommon. In fact, fewer and fewer shepherds today are warning the sheep in their flocks of the dangers lurking not only outside the fold but also within the fold. A good shepherd must keep watch over his flock as many wolves are lurking around seeking whom they may devour. Ignoring these dangers does not make the problems go away. Sheep can easily be misled by false unbiblical teachings that are like a grain of arsenic in a milk shake. The milk shake may look and taste good but the grain of arsenic will be enough to kill someone.

When a pastor makes the claim that the emerging church is a thing of the past, this shows he is either uninformed or he is willingly ignorant. Sad to say, it can be both, and he may not even know it. The emerging church has many stealth methods to find its way under the radar. Satan is a master deceiver and knows what he is doing. In the early stages of the emergent church takeover, the methods may have been somewhat more obvious, at least to those with God-given discernment.
Now that the clear majority of churches have been inoculated with the poison, it appears that the majority of sheep have fallen victim to the poison and have fallen asleep. Discernment is diminishing. Worse yet, the shepherds (i.e., pastors and teachers), who are supposed to protect the sheep, have fallen asleep. They are still looking for ways to replace the older generation who “smelled a rat” and left. Now these pastors are looking for ways to fill the pews with novel ideas that appeal to the “carnal mind” (Romans 8:7).

There is one area that will illustrate that the emerging church is still alive and active in many churches, ministries, Christian colleges, and seminaries. One of the most effective ways for contemplative mysticism, along with other eastern mystical beliefs, to creep in is through recommended books for the women of the church in the “Ladies Ministry.” Millions of Christian women are reading books like Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, and books by Beth Moore are read and studied more than the Bible.

In fact, in many churches, these books replace the Bible altogether. Rather than teach verse-by-verse through a book of the Bible, the leader of the women’s study teaches page-by-page through a book that is very appealing to the flesh and provides additional revelation to the Bible. When a discerning woman in the study goes to the pastor and expresses her concerns, she is often chided for being divisive, or her concerns are totally overlooked.

One of the problems is this: often the pastor’s wife is the leader of the women’s study. He may or may not recognize that his own wife is off track. Whatever the case, recognizing the danger of what is going on and taking action is not in his portfolio—he doesn’t want to rock the boat. Soon the women have their husbands reading the books they are reading, and they too become inoculated with unbiblical ideas. Before long, the church that was once right on, is right off.

Emergent apostasy is spreading like wildfire around the world. The only way to slow this delusion down is to shine the light of God’s Word on Satan’s plan. However, therein lies the problem. Human pride will never be corrected by the truth unless leaders will humble themselves. Unfortunately, most who have chosen the path they are on have no intention to change. Even when they are chided with love, they hurl back nasty names rather than repent.

(Roger Oakland is the author of Faith Undone and The Good Shepherd Calls, both which address the emergent church.)

NEW BOOKLET: A Potter Looks at Romans 9 by David Dombrowski is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 10 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the booklet. To order copies of A Potter Looks at Romans 9, click here.

By David Dombrowski

Have you ever wondered why Jesus spoke in parables? Concerning the Messiah to come, the Old Testament indicated that He would open His mouth in parables (see Matthew 13:35 and Psalm 78:2). And throughout His ministry, Jesus used countless illustrations in His teachings. For some, He became a “stumbling block and a rock of offence” even as He shared spiritual truths with earthly illustrations. And I’ve pondered from time to time of both the positive impact to those who understood and the negative repercussions of those who took His statements the wrong way. As an ex-Roman Catholic, I am particularly concerned with how one takes His statement, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35) because I understand now that His statement was spiritual and not physical (see John 6:63). But, over the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has tortured and executed many people over this very point.

Before making the above statement, Jesus had the following discourse with the people who were flocking to Him:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:26-29; emphasis added)

From the above dialogue, it becomes clear that Jesus wanted them to believe the Gospel. The Gospel was never intended to become a works-based religion of literally ingesting Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist but the Good News that God bestows eternal life to those who put their trust in the complete and finished work of Christ at Calvary in redeeming us from our sins. Unfortunately, even though Scripture refutes an earthy, physical view of how God redeems us, people remain blind to the meaning of the Gospel until they humbly and whole-heartedly turn to Christ. Until then, there is no assurance of salvation because they have never laid hold of it.

Likewise, Calvinism offers a distorted view of salvation based largely on a misconceived idea of what God is like. And while Catholicism is rooted in a misconstrued perception of what John 6 is talking about, Calvinism, likewise, is founded on an equally misconstrued view of what Romans 9 is talking about. In fact, Calvinist leaders will often guide their students to Romans 9 (isolating it from other Scriptures) because it is one of the very few passages in Scripture that remotely appears to support the conclusions of John Calvin—namely that man really has no free will and consequently anything and everything that happens on planet Earth has been preordained by God and is according to His own good pleasure; likewise, according to this view, it is God’s good pleasure to send most people to Hell. Romans 9 is often used to lure unsuspecting people into debates about predestination in that it gives the Calvinist a sense of security that he will win his hearer to his side.

This, of course, is a misuse of Scripture because while Romans 9, when isolated from the rest of Scripture, may seem to hold to the fatalistic viewpoint of Calvinism, the whole of Scripture absolutely refutes the findings and conclusions of John Calvin. Like Calvin, the Calvinist is now left with a lifelong task of having to read all of Scripture through a filter, where the meanings of words must be altered and Scriptures twisted and distorted to fit the Calvinist view.

It is therefore often unproductive to try to have any intelligent debate by looking only at Romans 9 as it seems to defy resolution by mulling over it in isolation from the rest of Scripture.

However, there is a passage in Jeremiah that not only refutes Calvinism it also addresses Romans 9. And while there are countless Scriptures that equally refute Calvinism, this passage has special significance because it speaks of the potter referred to in Romans 9:19-23 where Paul uses the illustration of a potter in similar fashion to why Jesus spoke in parables. The things of God, being spiritual, are often difficult to understand and can often be best explained by way of illustration. However, earthly illustrations need to be nonetheless spiritually discerned as we have already seen in Jesus’ referral to Himself as “the bread of life.” We must, therefore, take care not to distort an illustration from its actual and intended meaning.

With that said, let’s take a look at Jeremiah 18:1-12:

1The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. 12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. (emphasis added)

First of all, we should establish who the potter is in this passage. Rather than giving Jeremiah a vision, God instructed him to observe an actual potter at work. However, we learn in verse 6 that this potter served as an illustration of God as the potter of humanity—something that is both symbolic and quite literal. For in Genesis 2:7, we read that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground” making Him a potter in a literal sense of unequalled skill and intelligence. The capitalized word “LORD” refers to the Jehovah of the Old Testament whom John refers to as “the Word” in the New Testament who created all things (John 1:3) and “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (v. 14), referring to Jesus. The same word for “LORD” is also what is used in this passage from Jeremiah, which identifies this Potter as our Creator who later became man to be our Redeemer.

Now, even though our bodies are mere clay, God did a wonderous work in creating us with an eternal soul (Genesis 2:7) fashioned after His own image (Genesis 1:26). And, while Genesis 1 and 2 are somewhat ambiguous as to what it means to be created in God’s image, Jeremiah 18 gives us insight into how we were created.

It should be pointed out here that while the potter Jeremiah was observing was doing something physical, the work of the Potter referred to as “LORD” is doing a work that is spiritual. The spiritual “clay” really has to do with the fact that God has created all of us with a free will. The idea of free will actually makes a lot of sense from the perspective of God as our Potter (Creator) because if God had created us without it, we would be no more than puppets pleasing God not because we want to but because we would, in effect, be forced to do His will. But Scripture says that “God loveth a cheerful giver” as opposed to one who gives “grudgingly, or of necessity” (see 2 Corinthians 9:7; emphasis added). This, of course, makes complete sense even from a human perspective in that love—given or received— takes on full meaning when it is done freely and by choice.

So God made us of a spiritual “clay” that includes free will. However, this presents a dichotomy for the spiritual Potter in that He now has a substance (“clay”) to work with that is mutually exclusive of the results. For just as the earthly potter finds inconsistency in the clay he uses, the spiritual Potter must deal with the inconsistency of free will in the spiritual clay He uses to create and sustain life in each individual. Such is the situation in Jeremiah 18 where the potter Jeremiah is observing may have exceedingly great skill yet finds that “the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter” (v. 4); but rather than throw the clay away, he reworks the same clay again into “another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it” (v. 4). In other words, he reshaped the clay into a vessel that still seemed good to him though it had failed to take the shape of what he originally designed.

Such is the predicament of our spiritual Potter who fashioned each of us with a free will. But rather than throw us away, He works on us when we stray, refashioning our lives with the hope of repentance. We see this brought out dramatically in this passage from Jeremiah where God, speaking to the nation of Israel, gives opportunity after opportunity for repentance—both individually and as a people. Here God emphasizes that how we live our lives is not determined by our genes but on the choices we make. Ezekiel 18:1-4 elaborates on this point in referring to a proverb that suggested the iniquity of parents is locked into succeeding generations. In response to this, God says, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (v. 4). In other words, everyone is responsible for him or herself, and it is our own iniquity that brings us down. Likewise, the opportunity for repentance is available to us all, just as God’s forgiveness is available to all.

Thus, as we ponder the workings of the spiritual Potter in Jeremiah 18, it becomes abundantly clear that He has no resemblance to the imaginings of John Calvin. While Calvin’s “God” bestows no free will on all people, Jeremiah’s God is opposite in designing us as our Potter. In fact, beginning with verse 5, it becomes clear that it is God Himself, speaking through Jeremiah, who will now describe Himself as our Potter. Speaking of entire nations, God says that if a wicked nation repents, He will “repent” of the judgement that He meant to bring upon it (vv. 7-8); likewise, if a godly nation turns to wickedness, God will “repent of the good, wherewith [He] said [He] would benefit them” (v. 10). Furthermore, in verse 11, God speaks to the individual when He says, “return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good” (emphasis added). Here, it is abundantly clear that God sees man as having:

a. A free will (otherwise He would not plead with them to repent)

b. The ability to repent (again, why else would He ask them to repent?)

c. The ability to do good (as seen in verse 11)

But the clay of Calvin is a crippled clay in that Calvin’s creation has no free will (but must act out what God has predetermined him to do), is totally lacking in the ability to repent and believe, and is unable to do good (due to “total depravity”—the “T” in TULIP). Scripture says, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19) and "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31); but Calvin says the opposite in that we must be converted first before we can repent and believe. Again, Scripture says, "godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation" (2 Corinthians 7:10) and "the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). What all of this is saying is that we must come to Christ in order to be converted. Conviction of sin enables us to see our need of a Savior while putting our faith in Christ opens the door to receive Him (be converted, born again).

But Calvin has rendered us as a disabled clay totally unlike the clay of Jeremiah 18. It is no wonder we are now receiving testimonies here at Lighthouse Trails of people coming out of Calvinism who thought they could find strength and assurance in it but instead were left with fear and uncertainty.

Furthermore, Calvinism renders people ineffective for leading people to Christ.* As an example of this, I remember our neighbors we once had who belonged to the Reformed church who criticized us for reaching out to another neighbor with the Gospel because they had already decided the other neighbor was predetermined to go to Hell. Their son told us he was a Christian because he had been baptized into the Reformed church as a baby (as prescribed by Calvin), but he later turned to the occult walking away from what he knew to be the Christian faith altogether. Calvinism also renders its members ineffective in that it actually presents another Gospel than that taught in the Scriptures. Though Calvinist scholars have much to say, when all is said and done, their only conclusion is that there is only one assurance of salvation, and that is in knowing that they are of the elect; but they can never know if they are of the elect and are therefore left with doubt and fear. Assurance in the Cross has been superseded by election, which turns out to be no assurance at all.

The problem for the Calvinist is that Romans 9, under the tutelage of John Calvin, has become a stumbling block for the Christian in much the same way that the Catholic Church has used John 6 to mean that we are saved through participation in Holy Communion. But just as careful examination of John 6 in the context of the whole chapter and with the whole of Scripture will bring one to the Gospel, Romans 9 will bring one to the Gospel when properly understood.

Unfortunately, the Calvinist is left with thinking that his doctrine is sound when he states: We are saved “by grace alone through faith alone” when all the while under the Calvinist system, he is actually being “saved” by election alone under a very confused theology that turns the steps to salvation around backwards and makes the Cross inaccessible because free will has been made void. In fact, the only assurance he can have is in “the perseverance of the saints” (the "P" in TULIP), but that is no real assurance at all because he can never know if he persevered enough nor if he will persevere to the very end. Ironically, this system of believing is actually works-based and not by grace alone nor is it by faith alone. The Calvinist is caught in a system designed by John Calvin that appears as if it should work but in actuality places the “believer” in a life-long position of questions and doubt. And while there are Calvinists who will proudly go about saying, “I am of the elect,” the truly honest and learned Calvinist knows in his heart that Calvinism offers no such assurance. That is why Calvin himself appealed to God before he died to show him mercy and grant him salvation—if God willed it.

So, even though I cannot relate to you the pain and damage of being raised Calvinist, I can as an ex-Roman Catholic comprehend what it means to take something beautiful in Scripture (i.e., the Gospel) and twist it to mean something else. It is the burden of exchanging the easy yoke of the Gospel for the heavy yoke of man.

If Romans 9 were not offering a Gospel to “whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17) but rather only to a pre-selected few, at the very least, the immediate context of Romans 9 would support this. But, in fact, we find this is not so. On the contrary, Romans 9:7-8 indicates that the true children of Abraham are the children of promise (i.e., those who believe in the promises of God just as Abraham did). And while Romans 9:20-23 may seem perplexing, it can only make sense with the rest of Scripture that God was willing to endure (not delight in) the vessels fitted for destruction because He has created everyone with a free will. This is what is so aptly brought out in our Jeremiah 18 passage about the Potter. And, yes, God does have foreknowledge of those who will reject Him, but the decision to receive or reject God’s promises nonetheless resides in the heart of man according to his own will. Hence, according to Romans 9:19-20, those who resist God are guilty because they have freely willed it to be so. As for salvation being freely given, Romans 9:30 goes so far as to say that salvation is available even to the Gentiles if they will but receive "the righteousness which is of faith." Then, in closing, this chapter, Romans 9:31-33 speaks of the “stumblingstone and rock of offence” (v. 33) referred to earlier in our discussion. It is of paramount importance, therefore, that we do not play games with the Gospel. The Gospel is true, it is of promise, and it is available to whosoever wills it. Finally, Romans 9 ends with these words: “[W]hosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” [disappointed] (v. 33, emphasis added).

Moving beyond Romans 9, we do not have to look very far to find some of the most comforting and reassuring Scripture to support the idea that God’s salvation is freely given to all who will come to Him. Romans 10:4 tells us that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (emphasis added). And perhaps the best way to end this discussion is to look at the words of Scripture that follow in Romans 10: 8-13; the italicized portions are of special relevance to this subject. May God bless you as you give your life freely to Him.

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (emphasis added)

To order copies of A Potter Looks at Romans 9, click here.

Note: While this article was intended to bring clarity to the Potter in Romans 9, it is not exhaustive in dealing with the entire chapter. Romans 9:11-18 is also confusing to many in stating that God will have “mercy on whom he will have mercy” (v. 18). For an excellent explanation of this passage (as well as more on the Potter), we highly recommend Adrian Rogers’ video presentation on this subject.

Also, whether you are new to the subject of Calvinism or are working through its teachings, Bob Kirkland’s book Calvinism: None Dare Call It Heresy is an excellent resource that is available through LT as is Dave Hunt's book, T.U.L.I.P. and the Bible.1

*While there are Calvinists who are involved with evangelizing and mission work, it is not what most would think of evangelizing; the Calvinist who "witnesses" to others is merely hoping that he or she somehow is "witnessing" to one of the elect, who upon hearing about Christ will be "converted" and then able to believe on Christ. Many Calvinists do not like altar calls or open invitations to receive Christ because they fear it will draw too many "false converts" (i.e., the non-elect who make a profession of faith but who really aren't of the elect).

To order copies of A Potter Looks at Romans 9, click here.

(David Dombrowski is the chief editor of Lighthouse Trails and the author of several LT booklets. Photo: from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission.)

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