I used to have a running discussion with a good friend of mine back in my post-college-staff-member-of-a-para-church-organization-which-will-remain-nameless-Arminian-of-which-I’ve-since-repented days which went something like “What’s the bottom line?” Every other week or so there was a new bottom line. The bottom line is “grace” or “faith” or “holiness”. We got to the point where we began to dispute the bottom line idea but rather to refer to a bottom plane upon which we would drop another plank and take another step. I digress so because I was about to begin what I wanted to call “the bottom-line” with regards to Calvinism but I realize that there is no one line that encompasses the foundation of any system of thought and I wanted to get this disclaimer out of the way…

so anyway…

the bottom-line is “control”. The Calvinist asserts the complete and absolute control of God over all things. I have a dear Arminian friend (God save him) who bristles at this proposition. He then throws around words like “Determinist”, robot, puppet, etc. He can’t fathom (and for the record neither can I – but in a different way from his non-fathoming) how God can have absolute control over all things and still be a just God condemning to hell those who do not come to saving faith in Him. But there it is. The Calvinist asserts (that is Romans 9 asserts) that God is the potter and we are the clay and the potter has the right to do whatever he wants with the clay. That just (as my Poppa would put it) chafes my friends hide. So be it. After all the discussion about free-will and sovereignty and justice and love, etc. etc. etc is done the bottom line is who is the real “decider”? I hate to say it but it’s not you, it’s not me, it’s not even W… God Almighty alone is in control.