The late lamented Mr. Denham
has put, at the foot of his portrait, a most admirable text,
“Salvation is of the Lord.” That is just
an epitome of Calvinism; it is the sum and substance of it.
If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist, I should
reply, “He is one who says, Salvation is of the Lord.” I cannot
find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the
essence of the Bible. “He only is my rock and my salvation.”
Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be a
heresy; tell me a heresy, and I shall find its essence here,
that it has departed from this great, this fundamental, this
rock truth, “God is my rock and my salvation.” What is the
heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect
merits of Jesus Christ the bringing in of the works of the
flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of
Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the
Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will
discover itself here.
- C. H. Spurgeon,
A Defense of Calvinism
