I rarely jump on bandwagons. I was an Angels fan in Southern California before they won the World Series in 2002. I refused to jump on the Shaq and Kobe train, nor have I ditched the 49ers since the wheels came off. I don’t like to be a part of the crowd. Why? I am still a bit unsure. But I like to think it is because I look at something without rose-colored glasses, discerning the merits of a candidate, of a team, of a movement, from afar in order to protect myself from becoming someone who believes without knowing, understanding and living.

And that is why these questions go through my mind. Why Calvinism?

Because Calvinism is the most thorough description and explanation of the connection between God and man as written in the Bible and provides the most ample guide to glorifying God by placing Him on His rightful throne above all creation and remaking our joy as the fruit of such glorification rather than the object of our desire, which is God above all else, because He alone is worthy of such devotion.

Because Calvinism is not a set of doctrines that are found only by first reading Spurgeon or Calvin, but by the clear reading of scripture, which is correctly placed above all human wisdom, and the understanding of its inerrant nature as God’s word.

Because Calvinism is a righteous rebellion against the current framework of evangelicalism and its failures to make disciples, rather than converts of moralism, and respond to the broken state of humanity.

Because Calvinism does not place hope in this world, in humanity, technology, or spirituality but in God through the death and resurrection of His Son, which enables those who repent and believe, through God’s sovereign grace in election and the work of the Spirit, to be righteous in His sight as adopted sons and daughters.

Essentially, it wasn’t until I changed the source of my joy from myself and the things in my life to God and the furthering of His glory, that the pains and struggles of life were replaced with a light so blinding, that the context of my life became eternity. And that is the fruit of Calvinism.

And that is my answer.

Some would say I’m preaching from Calvinism rather than the Bible. Ultimately I agree with Spurgeon, Calvinism is just a nickname for the gospel. Unfortunately, the gospel isn’t something that is understood equally by all, even those within the Church. So the title of Calvinism has to be accepted as the best way to articulate the gospel in a way that best reflects the gospel of the Bible.