Episode 10: Why This Debate Matters!

Episode Length: ~50–60 minutes
Episode Focus: Theology, assurance, evangelism, worship, pastoral care
Audience: Christians wondering why the Calvinism–Arminianism debate matters in real life

After examining doctrines such as election, free will, grace, evangelism, and assurance, a natural question arises:

Why does this debate matter at all?

In Episode 10 of The Closet Calvinist Podcast, we step back from the technical arguments and explore why these theological questions are not merely academic, but deeply pastoral, practical, and worship-shaping.

This episode explains how our understanding of salvation shapes:

• Our view of God

• Our confidence in the gospel

• Our assurance as believers

• Our humility and worship

Why should Christians care about debates over:

• Sovereignty and free will?

• Grace and human responsibility?

• Election and assurance?

• Why doctrine matters for Christian living

• How views of salvation shape our understanding of God’s character

• The connection between God’s sovereignty and assurance

• Why this debate affects evangelism rather than discouraging it

• How the doctrines of grace cultivate humility

• Why theology should always lead to worship, not division

• John 17:17 — “Your word is truth”

• 1 Timothy 4:16 — Watch your life and doctrine closely

• Acts 17:11 — The Bereans examined the Scriptures daily

• Isaiah 46:9–10 — God accomplishes all His purpose

• Daniel 4:35 — God does according to His will

• Psalm 115:3 — Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases

• Jonah 2:9 — Salvation belongs to the Lord

• Romans 8:29–30 — God’s sovereign work from foreknowledge to glorification

• Ephesians 1:4–6 — Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world

• John 10:28–29 — No one can snatch Christ’s sheep from His hand

• Philippians 1:6 — God completes the work He begins

• Romans 8:38–39 — Nothing can separate believers from God’s love

• Acts 18:9–10 — God has many people yet to be saved

• 2 Timothy 2:10 — Enduring for the sake of the elect

• Romans 10:14–17 — Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ

• 1 Corinthians 4:7 — What do you have that you did not receive?

• Ephesians 2:8–9 — Salvation by grace, not works

• James 4:6 — God gives grace to the humble

• Romans 11:33–36 — Doxology flowing from God’s sovereign grace

• Colossians 3:16 — Let the word of Christ dwell richly

• Revelation 5:9–10 — Praise to the Lamb who saves

This debate matters because it is ultimately about God’s glory and the gospel.

Right doctrine:

• Grounds assurance in God’s faithfulness

• Fuels evangelism with confidence

• Destroys pride and magnifies grace

• Leads believers to humility and worship

The goal is not winning arguments, but submitting joyfully to what Scripture teaches.

As Romans 11:36 (ESV) reminds us:

“For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Bonus Episode

In this bonus episode, we address a question that provokes strong reactions among Christians:
Why is Calvinism so deeply disliked—even among believers?

The answer is not primarily emotional, cultural, or historical.
It is theological.

Calvinism is resisted because it teaches that salvation is governed entirely by God’s sovereignty, not human autonomy. This episode explores why that truth offends fallen human pride and how Scripture consistently places salvation in God’s hands alone.

• Why Calvinism provokes emotional opposition, not just disagreement

• How human pride resists the loss of “decisive choice” in salvation

• The biblical case for God’s absolute sovereignty in saving sinners

• Why Scripture teaches inability, not neutrality, in fallen man

• How Calvinism removes all grounds for boasting

• Why evangelism is not hindered—but guaranteed—by God’s sovereignty

• Romans 9:16 — Salvation does not depend on human will or effort

• Romans 9:18 — God has mercy on whom He wills

• Romans 9:20 — Man’s place before God’s authority

• Jonah 2:9 — Salvation belongs to the LORD

• Ephesians 2:1 — Dead in trespasses and sins

• Ephesians 2:4–5 — God makes the dead alive

• John 8:34 — Slavery to sin

• Romans 8:7–8 — Inability to submit to God

• Ephesians 2:8–9 — Salvation by grace, not works

• 1 Corinthians 1:30–31 — Boasting only in the Lord

• John 6:44 — No one can come unless drawn by the Father

• Romans 10:14–15 — God ordains preaching as the means

• Acts 13:48 — Those appointed to eternal life believed

Calvinism is not hated because it is harsh.
It is hated because it is humbling.

It denies man the role of sovereign decision-maker and declares that salvation—from start to finish—belongs to God alone. In doing so, it magnifies grace, secures assurance, and places all glory where Scripture says it belongs: with God.

Key Themes CoveredScripture References (ESV)God’s Sovereignty Over SalvationMan’s Spiritual ConditionGrace, Faith, and BoastingHuman Inability and Divine DrawingEvangelism and God’s OrdinationCore Takeaway

Episode 9: Arminian Counter-Arguments — and Calvinist Responses from Scripture
Episode Focus: Arminian objections, Calvinist responses, biblical theology
Audience: Christians seeking clarity on the Calvinism–Arminianism debate

In this episode, we address several of the most common Arminian objections to Calvinism and examine how Calvinism responds—not with philosophy or speculation—but with Scripture.

This episode is not a polemic against Arminians. Many faithful believers hold Arminian convictions and sincerely desire to honor Christ. The goal here is not to question motives, but to ask a single, foundational question:

What does the Bible actually teach?

Do common Arminian counter-arguments:

• Faithfully represent the teaching of Scripture?
  Or

• Miss key biblical distinctions about grace, sovereignty, and salvation?

• God’s will and desire in salvation

• Whether election is based on foreseen faith

• The biblical silence on prevenient grace

• The nature and sincerity of the gospel offer

• Human freedom and irresistible grace

• God’s sovereignty and the problem of sin

Calvinist Response: Scripture distinguishes between God’s revealed will and His sovereign saving will.

• 1 Timothy 2:4 — God desires all kinds of people to be saved

• 2 Peter 3:9 — God’s patience toward His people

• John 6:37 — All the Father gives will come to Christ

• John 6:39 — Christ loses none of those given to Him

Calvinist Response: Scripture grounds election in God’s purpose and mercy, not human response.

• Romans 9:11–13 — Election before works or faith

• Romans 9:16 — Salvation depends on God’s mercy

• Ephesians 1:4–5 — Chosen before the foundation of the world

• Ephesians 2:8–9 — Faith is a gift of grace

Calvinist Response: Scripture teaches effectual grace, not merely enabling grace.

• John 6:44 — No one can come unless drawn by the Father

• John 6:37 — Those drawn will come

• Acts 16:14 — The Lord opens Lydia’s heart

• Ezekiel 36:26 — God gives a new heart

Calvinist Response: The gospel is sincere because God commands all to repent and promises salvation to all who come.

• Matthew 1:21 — Christ saves His people from their sins

• John 10:11 — The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep

• Acts 17:30 — God commands all people everywhere to repent

• John 6:37 — Whoever comes will never be cast out

Calvinist Response: Scripture defines freedom as liberation from sin, not autonomy from God.

• John 8:34 — Slaves to sin

• Romans 8:7 — The flesh cannot submit to God

• Ezekiel 36:26–27 — God changes the heart

• Philippians 2:13 — God works in us to will and to act

Calvinist Response: Scripture affirms God’s holiness and sovereign control without making Him morally responsible for sin.

• James 1:13 — God is not the author of evil

• Genesis 50:20 — God uses evil intentions for good

• Acts 2:23 — God’s sovereign plan carried out by sinful men

• Isaiah 10:5–15 — God uses wicked nations without endorsing their sin

Arminian objections often arise from sincere concerns about God’s character, justice, and human responsibility. Calvinism does not dismiss those concerns—it answers them biblically.

Scripture teaches that:

• God is sovereign

• Humans are morally responsible

• Grace is effective

• Christ truly saves

• God alone receives the glory

As Romans 11:36 declares:

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be glory forever. Amen.”

Episode Focus: Pride vs. humility, grace, election, boasting, worship
Audience: Christians who believe Calvinism leads to arrogance or elitism

One of the most common relational criticisms of Calvinism is that it produces pride. Some argue that believing God chose you inevitably leads to arrogance or spiritual superiority.

In Episode 8 of The Closet Calvinist Podcast, we examine this claim in the light of Scripture. Rather than encouraging pride, the doctrines of grace remove every possible ground for boasting and instead produce humility, gratitude, and worship.

Does Calvinism:

• Encourage pride and spiritual elitism?
  Or

• Destroy pride by grounding salvation entirely in God’s grace and mercy?

• Why pride is a universal human problem, not a Calvinist one

• How Scripture defines the source of boasting

• Why salvation by grace eliminates self-exaltation

• How the doctrine of election humbles rather than exalts

• Jesus’ rebukes of religious pride

• Why arrogance among Calvinists is a misuse of doctrine, not its fruit

• How true Calvinism should lead to humility and worship

• Proverbs 16:18 — Pride goes before destruction

• James 4:6 — God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble

• 1 Corinthians 10:12 — Let anyone who thinks he stands take heed

• Ephesians 2:8–9 — Saved by grace so that no one may boast

• 1 Corinthians 1:26–29 — God chooses the weak to eliminate boasting

• 1 Corinthians 4:7 — What do you have that you did not receive?

• Deuteronomy 7:7–8 — God chose Israel not because of merit

• Romans 9:16 — Salvation depends on God’s mercy, not human will

• Romans 11:5–6 — Grace and works are mutually exclusive

• Luke 18:9–14 — The Pharisee and the tax collector

• Matthew 23:12 — Whoever exalts himself will be humbled

• John 13:14–15 — Jesus models humility through service

• Colossians 3:12 — God’s chosen ones clothed with humility

• Galatians 6:14 — Boasting only in the cross

• Romans 11:33–36 — God’s sovereignty leads to worship

Calvinism does not produce pride.

When rightly understood, it removes every reason for boasting, humbles the sinner, magnifies grace, and directs all glory to God alone.

If Calvinism ever leads to arrogance, it has been misunderstood or misapplied. The doctrines of grace are not badges of superiority—they are reasons for humility, gratitude, and worship.

Episode Focus: The gospel invitation, human will, God’s sovereignty
Audience: Christians who believe “whosoever will” contradicts Calvinism

One of the most frequently raised objections to Calvinism is the appeal to verses that say “whoever believes” or “whosoever will may come.” Many Christians assume these passages contradict the doctrines of grace—especially election and irresistible grace.

In Episode 7 of The Closet Calvinist Podcast, we examine what Scripture actually means by “whosoever will.” By letting the Bible interpret itself, we show that the universal gospel invitation and God’s sovereign grace are not in conflict, but work together in God’s plan of salvation.

Do passages that say “whoever believes”:

• Teach that human will is the decisive factor in salvation?
  Or

• Affirm a universal gospel invitation that only God’s grace enables sinners to accept?

• Where the phrase “whosoever will” appears in Scripture

• The difference between the gospel invitation and human ability

• Why Scripture says no one seeks God apart from grace

• How God makes sinners willing to come to Christ

• How divine sovereignty and human responsibility coexist

• John 3:16 — Whoever believes will have eternal life

• Revelation 22:17 — Let the one who desires take the water of life

• Isaiah 55:1 — Come, everyone who thirsts

• Matthew 11:28 — Come to Me, all who labor

• Romans 3:10–11 — No one seeks for God

• John 6:44 — No one can come unless the Father draws him

• John 8:34 — Slaves to sin

• Romans 8:7 — The flesh does not submit to God

• John 6:37 — All the Father gives will come

• Ezekiel 36:26 — God gives a new heart

• John 3:3–8 — Born again by the Spirit

• Acts 16:14 — The Lord opened Lydia’s heart

• Philippians 2:13 — God works in us to will and to act

• John 6:37 — Whoever comes will not be cast out

• Romans 9:16 — Salvation depends on God’s mercy

• Acts 17:30 — God commands all people everywhere to repent

“Whosoever will” does not contradict Calvinism.

Scripture teaches that:

• The gospel invitation is genuine and universal

• Anyone who comes to Christ will be saved

• The reason anyone wills to come is because God first works in the heart

Grace does not close the door to sinners—it opens blind eyes so they willingly walk through it.

Episode Summary

In this supplemental episode, we address a common objection to the doctrine of Irresistible Grace by comparing two encounters with Jesus: the rich young ruler and Zacchaeus the tax collector. Both men encountered Christ, but only one experienced saving grace. Scripture reveals that the difference lies not in human willingness, but in God’s sovereign, effectual call.

• Luke 18:18–23 – The Rich Young Ruler

• Luke 19:1–10 – Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

• John 6:37

• John 6:44

• John 6:65

• Ezekiel 36:26–27

• Romans 8:7–8

• Ephesians 2:1–5

• 1 Corinthians 1:23–24

• External call vs. effectual call

• Human inability and spiritual bondage

• Christ’s sovereign initiative in salvation

• Grace that transforms the heart

• Salvation as mercy, not obligation

“Irresistible Grace does not mean no one resists God—it means no one resists God when He gives a new heart.”

The Closet Calvinist Podcast

Episode 6: Is Calvinism Fair? What About God’s Justice?

Episode Focus: God’s justice, fairness, mercy, grace, election
Audience: Christians wrestling with questions of fairness and divine sovereignty

One of the most emotionally charged objections to Calvinism is the question of fairness. Many people ask whether it is just for God to choose some for salvation and not others, and whether election makes God unjust.

In Episode 6 of The Closet Calvinist Podcast, we examine what Scripture actually teaches about fairness, justice, and mercy. Rather than asking whether Calvinism is fair by human standards, this episode asks a deeper biblical question: What do sinners truly deserve—and what does grace really mean?

Is Calvinism:

• Unfair and unjust?
  Or

• A biblical explanation of God’s mercy toward undeserving sinners?

• How modern ideas of “fairness” differ from biblical justice

• Why Scripture never describes salvation as something God owes

• Paul’s direct response to the fairness objection in Romans 9

• Why mercy, by definition, cannot be demanded

• The difference between justice and grace

• How God’s justice and mercy meet perfectly at the cross

• Deuteronomy 32:4 — All God’s ways are just

• Psalm 89:14 — Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne

• Romans 9:14 — “Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!”

• Romans 3:10–12 — No one is righteous

• Romans 3:23 — All have sinned

• Romans 6:23 — The wages of sin is death

• Exodus 33:19 — God has mercy on whom He has mercy

• Romans 9:15–16 — Mercy depends on God, not human will or effort

• Ephesians 2:8–9 — Salvation by grace, not works

• Matthew 20:1–15 — The parable of the laborers in the vineyard

• Job 41:11 — Who has a claim against God?

• Isaiah 55:8–9 — God’s ways higher than human ways

• Romans 3:24–26 — God is just and the justifier

• Isaiah 53:5–6 — Christ bears the punishment for sinners

• 2 Corinthians 5:21 — Christ was made sin for us

Calvinism is unfair.

If God were fair, every sinner would receive judgment. The wonder of the gospel is not that God does not save everyone—but that He saves anyone at all.

Grace is not something God owes.
Mercy is not something sinners deserve.
Salvation is a gift—freely given and sovereignly bestowed.

Episode Focus: Free will, human responsibility, God’s sovereignty, saving grace
Audience: Christians concerned that Calvinism denies human choice or turns people into “robots”

One of the most common objections to Calvinism is the claim that it destroys human free will. Critics often argue that if God sovereignly saves, then human choices must be meaningless or coerced.

In Episode 5 of The Closet Calvinist Podcast, we examine what Scripture actually teaches about human responsibility, the condition of the will, and God’s sovereign grace. Rather than denying free will, biblical Calvinism explains why the human will needs to be freed by grace in order to truly choose Christ.

Does Calvinism:

• Deny human free will and moral responsibility?
  Or

• Teach a biblical understanding of the will that explains humanity’s need for grace?

• How the Bible speaks about human choice and responsibility

• Why Scripture does not describe the will as morally neutral

• The effects of sin on human desires and decision-making

• How God’s sovereignty and human responsibility coexist

• Why regeneration precedes faith

• True freedom as Scripture defines it

• Deuteronomy 30:19 — “Choose life”

• Joshua 24:15 — “Choose this day whom you will serve”

• Acts 17:30 — God commands all people everywhere to repent

• Romans 10:9–10 — Call to believe and confess Christ

• Jeremiah 17:9 — The heart is deceitful

• John 8:34 — Everyone who sins is a slave to sin

• Romans 8:7–8 — The flesh does not submit to God

• Ephesians 2:1–3 — Dead in trespasses and sins

• Proverbs 16:9 — Man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps

• Proverbs 19:21 — The Lord’s purpose prevails

• Genesis 50:20 — Human intent and God’s intent

• Acts 2:23 — Christ crucified by God’s plan and human hands

• John 1:12–13 — Born of God, not of human will

• John 3:3–8 — Born again by the Spirit

• Ezekiel 36:26–27 — God gives a new heart

• Acts 16:14 — The Lord opens Lydia’s heart

• John 8:36 — If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed

• Romans 6:17–18 — Freed from sin, enslaved to righteousness

• Galatians 5:1 — Christ has set us free

Calvinism does not destroy free will.

Scripture teaches that people choose freely according to their nature—and apart from Christ, that nature is enslaved to sin. God’s grace does not violate the will; it liberates it.

True freedom is not the ability to choose anything we want.
True freedom is the ability to choose Christ.