Question: Could you take the time to review the [CURE - Christians United for Reformation] ...

Question: Could you take time to review the enclosed newsletter? It’s published by a group called CURE (Christians United for Reformation, headed by Michael Horton and praised by leaders such as Richard Halverson, R. C. Sproul, J. I. Packer, and James Boice) who are trying to bring back “Reformed Theology.” They claim they are not Reconstructionists, but hold to many similar doctrines, such as Calvinism, rejection of the Rapture, denial that Israel any longer has any prophetic significance, the claim that we are already in the Millennium, Christ is now reigning “spiritually” but will not reign physically on earth over Israel restored to her land, that Satan is presently bound, etc. Could you review and clarify their teachings and expose their errors?

Response: Most of the questions you ask I’ve dealt with in previous books (see especially Whatever Happened to Heaven? and Global Peace and the Rise of Antichrist), but I will respond briefly.

Much Calvinism is biblical, but some is not. We agree that God is sovereign and could righteously send us all to hell. His word clearly declares, however, that God loves all mankind (Jn:3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
See All..., etc.), wants all to be saved and none to perish (1 Tm 2:4; 2 Pt 3:9, etc.), provided for everyone’s salvation in His Son (Jn:3:17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
See All...; 1 Tm 2:6; 1 Jn:2:2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
See All..., 4:14, etc.), and those who perish do so because they reject the salvation He freely provided and did all He could to persuade them to receive. Many of my friends are five-point Calvinists. I think they are terribly wrong in teaching that God doesn’t desire all mankind to be saved. It is a libel upon God’s character! However, the gospel they preach is biblical. There are fine Christians on both sides of this issue and therefore we don’t expend much time disputing it.

As for their eschatology, those holding the Reformed view pick the verses that seem to support it and ignore those that don’t. Only by reconciling all of Scripture can we arrive at the truth. For example, they say that the establishment of Israel again in 1948 has no significance. Instead, God’s promise to bring Israel back to her land was fulfilled in her return from Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple that took place 500 years before Christ. They ignore the many verses which promise a final restoration after which Israel will never again disobey or dishonor God or be removed from her land (Israel was cast out and scattered again in A.D. 70 and remains in rebellion and unbelief to this day). God repeatedly states that Jerusalem “shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever” (Jer:31:40And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
See All...; Is 60:14-22; Ezek:34:11-31 [11] For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. [12] As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. [13] And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. [14] I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. [15] I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. [16] I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. [17] And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. [18] Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? [19] And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. [20] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. [21] Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; [22] Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. [23] And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. [24] And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. [25] And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. [26] And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. [27] And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. [28] And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. [29] And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. [30] Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. [31] And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.
See All..., 36:8-38; 39:29; Am 9:14-15, etc.) and that His people “shall not sorrow any more at all” (Jer:31:12Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
See All...) nor dishonor Him ever again (Ezek:37:23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
See All...; 39:7), all of Israel shall know and serve God from that day forth (Ezek:39:22So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
See All..., 28; Zec 12-14, etc.)—obviously yet to be fulfilled.

Likewise, one must ignore or spiritualize away hundreds of verses in order to hold the Reformed view that the Olivet discourse and the Book of Revelation (up to 20:11) were fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed. Clearly Matthew:24:21-22 [21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
See All... wasn’t fulfilled (far greater tribulation has befallen both Jews and Christians in our day than at A.D. 70, nor was there danger then that all flesh would be wiped out); Christ did not visibly return to earth in the sight of all mankind (Rv 1:7; Mt 24:30) causing Israel to repent and believe in Him (Zec:12:10-13 [10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. [11] In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. [12] And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; [13] The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
See All...:6); the angels didn’t literally gather the elect (Israel) from the four winds to their land (Mt 24:31); one-fourth of earth’s population wasn’t wiped out (Rv 6:8); a third of the trees and all green grass wasn’t burned up, a third of the oceans didn’t turn to blood causing a third of all life therein to die (Rv 8:7-10); the two witnesses didn’t preach for 1,260 days in Jerusalem, die at the hand of Antichrist, then resurrect three and one-half days later and ascend to heaven (Rv 11:2-12); Antichrist didn’t arise and control all buying and selling, be worshiped by all the earth and make war with the saints and overcome them (Rv 13:4-17), etc., etc.

There are scores of similar specific prophecies which cannot be spiritualized away and which clearly have not yet been fulfilled. I deal with these prophecies and give a thorough treatment of the Rapture and Second Coming from a strictly biblical basis in my new book How Close Are We? which has just come off the press.