Why I Left Atheism (Part 4)

By John Clayton

Another thing that I think needs to be mentioned here as we discuss some of the things that led me to believe in God were things that had to do with my happiness. I remember that as a young person, I had what would be an ideal home by worldly standards. My parents were marvelous people; there was no divorce, unfaithfulness, or neglect in my family. We did things as a family. We enjoyed each other, yet I ran away from home. I was rebellious and antagonistic. As I look back at God's Word today, I can see why these things happened. In Colossians 3:20, for example, the Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord." Obedience was not a characteristic of John Clayton as a young man. Living in Bloomington, Indiana, Indianapolis was known as the party town, and if I wanted to go to Indianapolis, I went. When my mother said she did not want me to go, I disconnected the speedometer and went. I did anything and everything I wanted to do. After all, there was no God. All my parents were doing was restricting my fun and enjoyment in life; why should I obey them? I lived a life that was totally antagonistic to everything that my parents stood for. It is amazing to me today that some parents, who do not believe in God and demonstrate this lack of belief to their children by what they say or the way they live, wonder why their children will not obey them. Why should they? They have removed the only source of authority that they have, and no child is going to obey a parent who has destroyed that source of authority. I am convinced that much of our law and order problems center around this very question.

Years ago I was talking to a young man in Michigan who had been a participant in some of the riots at the University of Michigan. He made the statement to me that he had done these things and I asked him why he had not obeyed the law. He said, "What law?" and I said, "The law of the land--the law that God has instituted." He looked at me and laughed and said, "Man, I don't believe in God." I do not believe we can have law and order when we remove the source of the authority to that law and order. Certainly, my rebelliousness and failure to obey my parents brought a great deal of unpleasantness and misery not only into my life, but into theirs as well. The very next verse, Colossians 3:21, contains another statement that I think had a great deal to do with my unhappiness and rebelliousness as a child. The statement is made, "Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged." My parents had a tradition when I was a young man--a tradition they called the cocktail hour. I have never seen my parents drunk, but they would drink a few martinis and my mother would ask me questions that ordinarily she would not have asked. I remember, for instance, she would sometimes ask, "What did you do with the girl you took out last night?" That was the last thing I was going to tell my mother, so I learned to look her right straight in the eye and lie. I could lie to her or anybody else without batting an eyelash. I conditioned myself to do things that were wrong. I conditioned myself to steal. I remember the first time that I stole something. It was a box of raisins from the IGA store. I felt so badly that I took it back and apologized. Sometime later, I stole a comic book from a drug store; I took it back, but I did not apologize. Six months later, I was stealing almost anything I could get my hands on, not because I needed it, but because it was fun--it was a challenge. I even went so far as to be caught stealing money from my parents. That brings me to the next point, which is certainly another thing that had to do with my happiness.

When I read passages in the Bible like Psalm 53, for instance, I sometimes feel like God is describing John Clayton some years ago. Psalm 53:1-3 says:

The fool hath said in his heart, "There is no God." Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Another statement, made by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, 14, says:

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

I have tried almost everything you can imagine to find pleasure and happiness. I will not try to tell you that I did not find pleasure using my own system of following my own desires, but I can guarantee you that I did not find happiness. I tried every conceivable thing you can think of. I tried all kinds of things--things that were immoral, that were wrong, that hurt other people, and things that I would not even want to describe. I did those things because I was trying to find pleasure and happiness and, as I say, I found pleasure sometimes. However, I never went to bed at night satisfied or happy with my life and enjoying my living. I never got up in the morning looking forward to a new day. Life was just one long chain of misery. &

"Calvinism" vs the Bible

By Bob Myhan

What is known as Calvinism began in the imagination of Augustine and was popularized by John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. The Council of Dort (1618-1619), reduced Calvinism to the following points, represented by the acronym TULIP as a memory aid:

1. Total depravity

2. Unconditional election

3. Limited atonement

4. Irresistible grace

5. Perseverance of the saints

Calvinistic reasoning is as follows. Because all men are born so totally depraved that they could not obey if they would and would not obey if they could, they could hardly be expected to meet conditions of election. But the Bible affirms that some are elected to salvation. Therefore, they must be elected unconditionally. To the Calvinist, there would be no sense in Christ’s blood atoning for the sins of the non-elect. Therefore, the atonement must have been limited to the elect. Since some were unconditionally elected to salvation and their sins were atoned for by the blood of Christ, the grace of God, when it comes, must be irresistible lest the blood of Christ be wasted. “Irresistible grace” refers to the supposed direct operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart of man to “regenerate” him in order to secure his “voluntary” obedience. After being “regenerated” man cannot help but obey; his “voluntary” obedience has been secured. Not only is the “voluntary” obedience of this yet unsaved but regenerated individual secured, but his continued “voluntary” obedience is secured once he is saved so that he will always be saved. That is, he will necessarily persevere, not by his own will but by the will of God; he cannot now be lost because the grace of God in sanctification is as irresistible as the grace of God in salvation. Calvinists believe that regeneration so changes a man that he now wants to be saved and will be saved. Thus, one might be regenerated but not yet saved. He is not saved until he obeys but his obedience and salvation will necessarily follow his regeneration.

The main reason Calvinists have such a hard time accepting the simple plan of salvation revealed in the Bible is that they think we are saying, and they cannot accept that baptism does what they think the Holy Spirit does. To them, conversion (which they mistakenly call regeneration) occurs “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” To them the heart is instantaneously changed intellectually, emotionally, ethically and volitionally by the direct operation of the Holy Spirit. Of course, the Bible does not teach that baptism does what they think the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit does indeed change the heart but not instantaneously and not by a direct operation.

Biblically speaking, regeneration is not the cause but the result of obedience. It is a figure of speech for the result of obeying the conditions set forth in God’s Word and having one’s sins forgiven. One is regenerated in that he stands before God as a “new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17), having been “born again...of water and the Spirit” (John 5:3-5). Thus, regeneration is not the cause of the new birth nor is it the new birth itself. Rather, it is the result of the new birth. &