A WORD ABOUT ARMINIANISM, CALVINISM, AND FREE WILL Most all of the Christian theololgy in the world is based on a teaching known as Arminianism or a teaching known as Calvinism (and of course, a thousand and one shades of these teachings in between the two extremes). Both theololgies have FIVE POINTS to their teaching. We will briefly consider them. With regards to free will or free choice, we can glean the following from their teachings: ARMINIANISM: Man was given a free will/choice when he was created. He (and she) then used his free will choice and sinned. He continues to have free will until this day throughout all generations of mankind. At death however (which Arminians and most all Christians believe is not death at all, but merely a change of life in a different location), man looses his free will and is not able to freely repent or freely serve God after death. CALVINISM: Man was given free will/choice when he was created, but he lost it when he sinned. No one has free will again unless he is chosen of God, and converted, and born again, and receives Gods Holy Spirit. From that point on he once again has the ability to freely choose, and will have free choice eternally. Those ordained for eternal hell, will of course, never regain their freedom of will. A Brief Comparative Study of Arminianism and Calvinism Found at the-highway This web site has done a fine job in outlining the five points of Arminianism and Calvinism. But I will comment on their content and teaching. Point 1 Arminianism - Free-Will or Human Ability: Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with mans freedom. Each sinner posses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Mans freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with Gods Spirit and be regenerated or resist Gods grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirits assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is mans act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinners gift to God; it is mans contribution to salvation. Versus: Calvinism - Total Inability or Total Depravity: Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirits assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of Gods gift of salvation - it is Gods gift to the sinner, not the sinners gift to God. Comment: ARMINIANISM is wrong in teaching that BY the ‘fall’ [sin] mankind was weakened, but did not completely lose his ability to freely choose God. Hence they teach that man does possess free will by which he can repent, believe, and choose, good over evil, but that most will not take advantage of this God-given power, and therefore will be eternally damned and tortured. Comment: CALVINISM is wrong in teaching that because OF the ‘fall’ [sin] man no longer possessed the freedom of will to choose God. Hence they teach that man lost his free will and therefore cannot of his own will repent, believe, and choose good over evil. And those not preordained for this election will be, of course, eternally damned and tortured. That man cannot of his own will repent, believe, and choose good, is the correct and Scriptural truth, but not because of the reason given by Calvinism. Point 2 Arminianism - Conditional Election: Gods choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world was based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call. He selected only those whom He knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel. Election therefore was determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. The faith which God foresaw and upon which He based His choice was not given to the sinner by God (it was not created by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit) but resulted solely from mans will. It was left entirely up to man as to who would believe and therefore as to who would be elected unto salvation. God chose those whom He knew would, of their own free will, choose Christ. Thus the sinners choice of Christ, not Gods choice of the sinner, is the ultimate cause of salvation. Versus: Calvinism - Unconditional Election: Gods choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response of obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause of Gods choice. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus Gods choice of the sinner, not the sinners choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation. Comment: ARMINIANISM wrongly teaches that salvation is offered to all mankind, but that only a certain election are able to freely respond and receive salvation. God foresaw from the foundation of the world, those who would of their own free will choose to repent, believe, and answer God’s call completely on their own without any outside assistance from God. And those whom God did not foresee doing this, would of course, be eternally damned and tortured. Comment: CALVINISM wrongly teaches that only those elected by God from the foundation of the world can possibly be saved, as none others are even considered by God for salvation. Hence those foreknown and chosen will be saved completely by and through God, without any contributions from the elect, and the rest, of course, were foreordained to be (as the Arminians likewise teach) eternally damned and tortured. Point 3 Arminianism - Universal Redemption or General Atonement: Christs redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone. Although Christ died for all men and for every man, only those who believe on Him are saved. His death enabled God to pardon sinners on the condition that they believe, but it did not actually put away anyones sins. Christs redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it. Calvinism - Particular Redemption or Limited Atonement: Christs redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christs redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation. Versus: Comment: ARMINIANISM wrongly teaches that Christ’s Sacrifice made it possible for all humanity to be saved, but it did not ASSURE that all humanity would be saved. Couple this with point two, and we have one giant contradiction. How is it possible for all humanity to be saved, when God foreknows that most will not be saved? Unbelievable! And yet most of Christendom does believe this unscriptural heresy which saves a few and sends the rest to be eternally damned and tortured. Comment: CALVINISM wrongly teaches that, although it is God only Who contributes all that is necessary for salvation, this secured salvation is given only to a protion of mankind, the unfortunate rest of which, can do absolutely nothing to bring themselves salvation, and God Himself will do nothing to save them, therefore their preordained destiny from the creation of the world is to be eternally damned and tortured. Point 4 Arminianism - The Holy Spirit Can Be Effectually Resisted: The Spirit calls inwardly all those who are called outwardly by the gospel invitation; He does all that He can to bring every sinner to salvation. But inasmuch as man is free, he can successfully resist the Spirits call. The Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until he believes; faith (which is mans contribution) proceeds and makes possible the new birth. Thus, mans free will limits the Spirit in the application of Christs saving work. The Holy Spirit can only draw to Christ those who allow Him to have His way with them. Until the sinner responds, the Spirit cannot give life. Gods grace, therefore, is not invincible; it can be, and often is, resisted and thwarted by man. Versus: Calvinism - The Efficacious Call of the Spirit or Irresistible Grace: In addition to the outward general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably brings them to salvation. The internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be rejected; it always results in conversion. By means of this special call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited in His work of applying salvation by mans will, nor is He dependent upon mans cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ. Gods grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended. Comment: ARMINIANISM wrongly teaches that God’s Spirit inwardly calls all sinners, but that man’s free will enables man to resist the call and thwart the will of God. It is taught that man’s contribution to salvation is his faith to believe and be born again, so that the Spirit can do it’s part. Those who supposedly have the power to resist God’s calling will have to be eternally damned and tortured. Comment: CALVINISM wrongly teaches that God calls many to hear the gospel, but not all. And of those whom are called to hear, only a select elect will be empowered by God’s gracious election to willing accept God’s call to repent, believe, and come to Christ. Those to whom God gave no opportunity whatsoever to be saved will be eternally damned and tortured. Point 5 Arminianism - Falling from Grace: Those who believe and are truly saved can lose their salvation by failing to keep up their faith, etc. All Arminians have not been agreed on this point; some have held that believers are eternally secure in Christ - that once a sinner is regenerated, he can never be lost. Versus: Calvinism - Perseverance of the Saints: All who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus persevere to the end. Comment: ARMINIANISM wrongly teaches that it is possible to fall from grace by failing to keep one’s faith, even though this flatly contradicts their statement that God knows from the foundation of the world those who WILL accept Christ and who WILL be saved. Of course some Arminians believe that once a sinner is brought to Christ he can never fall away. But for all those who might fall away, and for all those who never came to Christ in the first place, these will all be eternally damned and tortured. Comment: CALVINISM wrongly teaches that only a few are actually pre-elected to salvation by God from the foundation of the world, and these will by the grace of God persevere unto the end, while those who were never chosen at all will be eternally damned and tortured. According to Arminianism: Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) - mans response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, choose to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, mans will plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation. According to Calvinism: Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christs death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation. These are the two main theological doctrines regarding God’s Sovereignty and man’s supposed free will, with regards to salvation. The controversy between these two views has raged in heated debates for over four centuries. Which one is Scripturally correct? Neither. Both teachings contain gross unscriptural heresy. THE UNSCRIPTURAL ‘FALL OF MAN’ Since both theories stated above teach a fall of man, it is needful that we briefly address this unscriptural theory. I, as well as most of you have heard of the fall of man hundreds if not thousands of times. One would think there is reference to man’s fall at least a few dozen places in the Bible. NOT. The fabled fall of man is not mentioned in the Bible because it is just that—A FABLE. Man was NEVER a perfect spiritual specimen in the very image of God who then FELL from that lofty position. No, man was naked flesh—SIN. Man [humankind] was a sinner who when given the opportunity, SINNED. Let me restate their positions in a nutshell: Arminians believe that God makes salvation available to all mankind, however, because man’s will is free, God knows in advance who will and will not choose to be saved. Those who choose not to be saved will not be saved, and of those who do choose to be saved, even some of them might not be saved. All unsaved will be eternally damned and tortured. Calvinists believe that God preordains a certain few to be saved. Of these, all will absolutely be saved. Those which have not been preordained to be saved, will all be eternally damned and tortured. Arminianism suggests that God offers salvation to all, but having given man free will, God knows that most can not and will not respond favorably, hence most of humanity will be lost due to the weakness and/or stupidity of God’s plan. Calvinism says that God never even offered most of humanity a chance at salvation, thus making God incomprehensibly evil. Well, there you have it: Christendom in a nutshell. And what an evil and disgusting picture it is! And here is the unfortunate part of the Good News Gospel of Christendom to the world of humanity: FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE HUMAN RACE THERE IS NO ETERNAL HOPE OR SECURITY IN THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! MOST OF HUMANITY WILL BE DAMNED AND TORTURED IN FIRE FOR ALL ETERNITY AND THERE IS NO LOVE NOR POWER IN HEAVEN OR EARTH THAT WILL PREVENT IT ! This is, of course, my own personal paraphrase of their gospel, for which I take personal accountability. I am confident that the Church will take appropriate actions against me. God have mercy upon them all. Here’s God’s answer to four hundred years of this carnal-minded theological swill: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED (I Tim.2:4). AND: My counsel shall stand, and I WILL DO ALL My pleasure. I have spoken it, I WILL also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I WILL also do it (Isaiah 46:10-11).
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 16:28:31 +0000