What is the main issue with Calvinism as it is termed? It is supposed to be centered upon God. However, when the teachings of Calvinism are twisted or turned to where they are taken from the core of God-centeredness, then historical Calvinism which was based on God-centeredness becomes much like Arminian thinking and the differences are not seen as that great. Historical Calvinism rested completely on Soli Deo Gloria which means to God alone be the glory. The doctrine of depravity will never be truly understood apart from that teaching. The doctrine of unconditional election and all other doctrines will never be understood apart from that basic biblical teaching. God exists in triune love and He does all out of love for Himself and His glory.
Surely it can be seen that the doctrine of depravity will be totally different if it is man-centered than if it is God-centered. All other doctrines are the same way. For example, if we look at depravity from a man-centered way, we think of sin as what one human being does to another. We will think that if we are outwardly kind and nice or simply refrain from doing evil to other human beings and doing some good we are good people. However, a thorough centeredness on God changes all of the above. We will begin to see that we cannot do good works for people apart from the love that God works in human beings for Himself and we cannot love a human being apart from love for God. We begin to see that even our outward acts we normally think of as good are not good at all apart from a concern for other people’s souls and the glory of God in them.
An important text that will help us to understand this is from I John 4: “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Verse 7 tells us that believers are to love each other for love is from God. All those who truly love are born of God and know God. Verse 8 tells us that those who do not love do not know God. Here we see the line drawn. The reason that the believer is able to love is because the believer is born of God and knows God. The reason the unbeliever does not love is because the unbeliever does not know God. The word “know” here denotes more than just a bare knowledge gained by the intellect, but an intimate love. It comes from being one with Christ and in that sense knowing God through Christ. No matter what the unbeliever does in the way of doing good acts will not be from love because the unbeliever has no source of true love because the only true source of love is God. In other words, I Corinthians 13:1-3 is set out for us. Nothing that an unbeliever does will ever be considered good because it is without true love. That is what looking at things from a God-centered perspective will do. It gives one a more biblical view of things.
Another way this helps us to see the depravity issue is it helps us to see what it means to be dead in sins and trespasses. The unbeliever is dead in sins and trespasses and has no spiritual light or life. That unbeliever has no love for God or any other human being because s/he has no love for God. Whatever the unbeliever does is an act of spiritual death because there is no eternal life or love in the person. What can the act of the will of a dead person do? Does a person that is spiritually dead have a free will in spiritual things? Can a person that is apart from the love of God in Christ and the power of the Spirit act with love which is found in Christ by the Spirit alone? True faith works by love according to Galatians 5:6. As long as there is no love, there will never be true faith. The doctrine of total depravity from a God-centered perspective teaches us that faith and love cannot come from a human being by an act of the will but can only come from God Himself. Evangelism from a God-centered perspective, therefore, must always take this into account. A human being that is dead in sins and trespasses can never move him or herself to love God apart from God working that in a human being. It can never come from the human being as an act of his or her will since true love can only come from God and His work.
As we look at the real differences between Calvinism and Arminianism, we can see that a bridge that is built between the two apart from a God-centeredness is not a bridge that will take one into the truth for either side. We live in a day where God and theology is thought of and looked at through the lenses of academia and man-centeredness. We live in a day where both Calvinists and Arminians have been swept up into forms of man-centeredness. While there may be peace between theological Arminians and theological Calvinists, there can never be a true peace between man-centeredness and God-centeredness. There is no bridge that will bridge the gap between man-centeredness and God-centeredness. The only bridge between the two is Christ and that is the Gospel which is God-centered and takes man-centered humans and converts them to God-centered ones.
God Loves... Himself 
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