'My brand of Calvinism sets me free to win the lost' claims Dr R T Kendall, the maverick pastor of Westminster Chapel, in a recent interview. 'I don't accept Limited Atonement' he explains, '... That way you can say to anybody, 'Christ died for you' and be telling the truth'.'
Limited atonement and evangelism
The argument is an old but persistent one. If we do hold that Christ died only for the elect, does that not make evangelism much more difficult? Would we not be more successful if we took the view that Christ died for all? However, Dr Kendall himself has to admit, 'We are doing our best within the area but we are only having modest success.' He is hardly unique amongst his contemporaries there, of course, but it is obvious that the rejection of Limited Atonement is no panacea for lack of success in evangelism.
Historically, of course, there is no difficulty in giving examples of five point Calvinists who were remarkably successful evangelists. C H Spurgeon in the 19th century and George Whitefield in the 18th century spring readily to mind.
Whitefield once wrote to Wesley
Universal redemption, as you set it forth, is really the highest reproach upon the dignity of the Son of God, and the merit of His blood ... Universal redemption, taken in a literal sense, falls entirely to the ground. For how can all be universally redeemed if all are not finally saved?
Spurgeon said once in a sermon,
Some say that all men are Christ's by purchase. But, beloved, you and I do not believe in a sham redemption which does not redeem. We do not believe in a universal redemption which extends even to those who were in hell before the Saviour died, and which includes the fallen angels as well as unrepentant men. We believe in an effectual redemption, and can never agree with those who would teach us that Christ's blood was shed in vain.
There is no reason at all why accepting the doctrine of Limited Atonement should make anyone less evangelistic. More humble yes, but' not less evangelistic. If it does, that person has misunderstood the Word of God. A recent publication, A Price for a People by Tom Wells, deals very well with this issue in short and clear compass.
Appeals
In the interview, Dr Kendall goes on to defend his practice of closing evangelistic services with an appeal to come to the front by saying that Dr Lloyd Jones had no difficulty with his practice when he did it following sermons preached by 'The Doctor' in Upper Heyford in the seventies. More pertinent is the fact that in a long and evangelistically successful ministry of over forty years Lloyd Jones never advocated or practiced 'giving an appeal'. His opposition to the practice is very clear from the helpful chapter entitled 'Calling for decisions' in his widely known Preaching and Preachers.
'People deserve an opportunity to respond to the gospel' argues Lloyd Jones' successor at Westminster Chapel, 'and giving them that opportunity is to allow them to do what they want.'
However, this relatively modern practice is never found in the New Testament. In an appendix to his 1986 book The Great Invitation, Erroll Hulse answers all 22 of Dr Kendall's arguments in favour of this unhelpful practice.
Gifts of the Spirit
Towards the end of the interview, Dr Kendall reiterates his view that the 'Gifts of the Spirit' (ie the supernatural gifts we read of in the New Testament) can be known today. Offending all sides he says, on the one hand, 'How many have the true gift, healing or tongues or prophecy, is in my view questionable.' (Whether he considers Paul Cain, a member of Westminster Chapel, to be a true or false prophet is not stated). On the other hand, he adds, 'I'm certainly open to them. What we'd like to see more is their genuine operation.'
Once again, Dr Kendall is out of step both with the New Testament and the Reformed Theology to which he lays claim. The appendix to Walter Chantry's Signs Of The Apostles, first published in 1973, cites some 15 eminent Christian teachers, from John Chrysostom to A W Pink, all of whom taught quite clearly, from Scripture, what has been the historic Christian view, that the supernatural sign gifts operated only until the completion of the canon of Scripture and have now ceased. Chantry's brief book is still a competent rebuttal of the notion that supernatural gifts are for today. And it does not all hinge on 1 Corinthians 13 by any means!
(The original interview appeared in Christian Lifestyle Vol 2, No 2, 1993 Ed. Andrew Saunders)
This article originally appeared in Grace Magazine
