For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Hello, my name is Geoff, and I am a Calvinist who loves John 3:16. If that sounds inconsistent or contradictory, then perhaps you have not actually grasped John 3 or Calvinism.

Calvinism and Arminianism both teach that all who believe will be saved - there is no debate. That absolutely any and all who call upon Christ will be saved is as much a Calvinist foundation as it is an Arminian.

The question is not whether God will save all who believe but, rather, whether any at all will believe apart from the effectual calling of God.

Will a morally wicked and depraved slave of sin suddenly turn from his sin (which he loves) to God (whom he hates) unless God first grants him the gift of a new heart? Will a spiritually dead, blind and deaf rebel humble himself under the grace of the gospel unless God first grants him new life, eyes and ears?

Calvinism declares that absolutely no one will come to the Son apart from the sovereign drawing of the Father and calling of the Spirit. Isn’t that what John wrote just a few verses after 3:16 when stating that all people naturally hate and refuse to come to the light (John 3:19-20)?

Who believes? Who comes to the light? Only those whose very coming to Christ was ordained and accomplished by the Father (John 3:21).

Isn’t this the message of Christ in John 6? The Son declares that only those who are drawn by the Father will come (v. 44 and v. 65) and that all who are drawn by the Father will come (vv. 37-39). Feel the weight of that for a second. None will come unless drawn, and all who are drawn will come. That, my friends, is Calvinism.

Calvinists and Arminians agree that God will lovingly save all who call upon Him and trust in the gospel. Whosoever believes shall be saved. We simply disagree over who will believe and how.