Calvinism Vs. Arminianism

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© 2014 Steve Urick. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 02/24/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5750-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5749-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number:2014901971

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All Scripture quotes are taken from the King James Bible.

Calvinism vs. Arminianism is an edited and expanded chapter taken

from the author’s book: False Teachings and Divisive Movements.

Other paperbacks and eBooks by the author:

Acts 1 Dispensationalism

The Fundamentals of the Christian Faith

Christian Discipleship and the Local Church

Practical Christian Living

Signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

and the End of the World

The Church in the Coming Great Tribulation

Nowmillennial Dispensationalism

Evangelism and Christian Apologetics

Major Cults and False World Religions

The Truth About Roman Catholicism

The Truth About Islam

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Table of Contents

Introduction:   The Great Protestant Debate

1.   Total Depravity

2.   Unconditional vs. Conditional Election

3.   Limited vs. Unlimited Atonement

4.   Irresistible vs. Resistible Grace

5.   Perseverance (or Preservation) of the Saints

6.   Questions & Answers

7.   Summary of Calvinism’s Soteriology

Appendix I:   23 Reasons Why Calvinism Should be Rejected by all Christians

Appendix II:   9 Reasons Why Arminianism Today Falls Short of Sound Bible Doctrine

Appendix III:   Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Appendix IV:   A Final Sobering Thought About Calvin

Epilogue

Recommended Resources

Sound doctrine matters.

"I hear that there be divisions among you . . .

For there must be also heresies among you."

1 Corinthians 11:18-19

"Study to show thyself approved unto God,

a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the Word of truth."

2 Timothy 2:15

"Beloved . . . it was needful for me to write unto you,

and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for

the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

Jude 3

Introduction

The Great Protestant Debate

There exists an ongoing debate between two opposing theological systems that have divided Protestant Christianity since Reformation times (starting in the 1500s). The great debate is between the so-called five points of Calvinism and the five points of Remonstrance (Arminianism). Not only is there strong disagreement between these two theological systems of interpretation, it has also divided Christians and many churches around the world as well.

The apostle Paul desired that the brethren all speak the SAME THING, and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the SAME MIND and in the SAME JUDGMENT (1 Cor. 1:10). If it can be proven from Scripture that certain points on either side are clearly unbiblical (and we know that both can’t be totally right), then true disciples of Christ should (and must) abandon those points in favor of God’s infallible teachings in His Word, the Bible.

The purpose of this study is to promote unity amongst the whole body of Christ by examining and answering these two doctrinal systems and calling upon Christians everywhere to return to the biblical faith that was once for all delivered unto the saints by Jesus and the apostles in the first century church.

[Note: Keep in mind, within each camp there are Christians who hold to various shades of beliefs, resulting in disagreements amongst them, since they might not hold to pure Calvinism or Arminianism. Thus, the goal of this book is to concisely and accurately examine what each system mainly teaches and not get caught up with every variant view that exists. For those who are deeply interested in the topic, I suggest they read the actual writings of Calvin and Arminius, or else books by leading Calvinists and Arminianists that accurately represent each view (see ‘Recommended Resources’ in the back of this book or Google Calvinism and Arminianism).

Also know that not all Calvinistic churches hold to all the tenets of Reformed Theology. Reformed churches are Calvinistic, but also Covenantal, that is, they baptize infants and are sacramentalists (they believe special grace is offered in and through the elements of baptism and the Lord’s Supper), view the Church as being Israel and has replaced her (Israel) forever, and are often postmillennial in their eschatology (doctrine of last things), that is, the Church will take over the world and bring in the kingdom of God before Christ returns, whereas non-Reformed churches that hold to Calvin’s five points (see below) may reject covenantalism completely. For more information, read the author’s book: False Teachings and Divisive Movements.]

Brief Overview of Each System

Calvinism is a doctrinal system formed by Swiss Reformer, John Calvin (1509-1564), which emphasizes five distinct doctrines, known as, The Five Points of Calvinism. These points are remembered more easily by the popular acronym, TULIP.

1.   Total Depravity of man

2.   Unconditional Election

3.   Limited Atonement

4.   Irresistible Grace

5.   Perseverance of the Saints

Keep in mind, the sovereignty of God is central to Calvinism and drives its hermeneutic. All other attributes of God (His love, goodness, omniscience, etc.) takes a backseat to God’s sovereignty in the soteriological (salvation) system known as TULIP.

[Note: John Calvin wrote and published his four volume magnus opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion (an apologetic defense of Reformed Protestantism), over the course of several years, beginning when he was twenty-seven. Calvinism later became the foundation for the Presbyterian and Reformed churches in Europe and eventually America (although the Anglican Puritans, some Reformed (or Particular) Baptists, and various other evangelical Christian groups accepted Calvinism). Calvinistic beliefs are affirmed in several great Protestant statements of faith, such as: the First Helvetic Confession (1536), the Belgic Confession (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (1563), the Canons of Dort (1619), and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647).]

Arminianism is a doctrinal system formed by Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) as a reaction to Calvinism in the Netherlands. These beliefs were later affirmed in the five points of Remonstrance (written reasons for opposition):

1.   Conditional election based on God’s foreknowledge.

2.   Unlimited atonement.

3.   Although man has free will he cannot save himself.

4.   Prevenient grace, which enables man to cooperate with God in salvation.

5.   Conditional perseverance—believers can be lost.¹

Jacobus Arminius was once a Calvinist, who even studied in Calvin’s seminary in Geneva, but then changed his view after being defeated, he felt, in a debate over the issue of universal grace and the free will of man. Arminius was a godly man who was falsely accused of teaching all sorts of heresies by his opponents, ranging from Socinianism (a denial of predestination, the Trinity, and the true nature of atonement) to Pelagianism (the denial that Adam’s sin affected his posterity, salvation by grace plus works, and sinless perfectionism in this life).

1

Total Depravity

Calvinism teaches that as a result of Adam’s fall, the entire human race is spiritually dead in sin.² God must regenerate a person before he or she can believe the gospel. Man does not play a crucial part (decision-wise) in salvation at all. Because of man’s bondage of the will to sin and Satan, man is incapable of repenting or turning to God and believing in Christ. God alone, by grace, must do it all, from start to finish (monergism). A spiritually dead sinner must be regenerated first by the Holy Spirit in order to respond to the gospel and then be given the gift of faith to be saved.³

Arminianism says as a result of the Fall, man has inherited a corrupt sin nature, thus is depraved and has a tendency to think, say, and do evil (Rom. 3:12-18; 7:17, 20-21-25). Man also has a conscience and knows he is a sinner (Rom. 2:14-15). But with the illuminating, convicting, and drawing influence of the Holy Spirit, man is able to cooperate with God (synergism) in responding to and believing in the gospel (this is called prevenient grace),⁴ resulting in justification and regeneration. No one is able on their own to come to Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit.

What saith the Scriptures?

Both sides agree that man is depraved or sinful and can do nothing to save himself on his own. The corruption of sin extends to all men and to all parts of men so that there is nothing within the natural man that can give him any merit in God’s sight. Man cannot earn salvation by doing good works or righteous living. Apart from God’s grace, all fallen humans choose sin; their will is bound by a corrupt sin nature within that manifests itself as depravity (this does not mean all are as rotten as can be, but we are all affected by sin). Thus, God had to intervene by sending Jesus to die for us or we would all perish.

God must first initiate and draw men unto Him in order to be saved. However, Calvinism takes the sovereignty of God to a fatalistic extreme by saying man is so completely depraved he has no ability to turn to God or believe in Christ, unless God has willed it for that person. Consequently, God decides who can and will believe, not each individual sinner. Furthermore, contrary to Calvinism, the Bible teaches that people become born again or regenerated when they first believe in the gospel, not before:

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, THE GOSPEL of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise . . . For by grace are ye saved through FAITH . . ." (Eph. 1:13, 2:8).

"Being born again [regenerated, quickened, made alive] . . . BY THE WORD OF GOD . . . And this is the word which BY THE GOSPEL [not a pre-salvation work of regeneration] is preached unto you" (1 Pet. 1:23, 25).

So with Calvinism it is not faith in the gospel that regenerates, but rather, regeneration precedes actual faith in Christ. But Ephesians 2:5 clearly refutes the notion that one can be made spiritually alive (regenerated or born again) and yet not be saved and in Christ: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [regenerated, made alive] us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved)." But again, this is contingent upon faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8). Furthermore, Scripture is full of legitimate calls to the wicked to choose to do right and turn to the Lord:

Genesis 4:7: "If thou doest well, shall thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door . . .". God placed full responsibility on Cain for his response. He was not a brain-dead sinner.

Isaiah 1:19-20: "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword."

Isaiah 45:22: "Look unto me, and BE YE SAVED, all the ends of the earth [all people]: for I am God, and there is none other." God is calling everyone in the world to salvation.

Isaiah 55:6-7: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near; Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord . . .".

Ezekiel 33:11: "Say unto them, ‘As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: TURN YE, turn ye from your evil ways’."

Acts 3:19: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted . . .".

Acts 17:24, 26-27: "God that made the world and all things therein . . . hath determined . . . That they [all the nations] should seek the Lord, if haply [in hope of] they might feel [grope] after him, and find him, though he is not far from every one of us."

Acts 17:30: ". . . God . . . now commandeth ALL MEN every where to REPENT [turn and seek God]."

All people, from all nations, are commanded by God to seek Him. A free will response of obedience is expected by God after He has told sinners what to do (and He already has in His Word), thus total depravity does not equal total inability to turn and seek God. This is where Calvinism errs from the truth. It fails to see that God expects all mankind to seek Him by asking a basic question: Who are you that I might know you?

Calvinism, with its extreme and unbiblical view of grace, says that in order for salvation to be all of God it must exclude men from any sort of active participation in it (such as seeking, repenting, or choosing) and, instead, let God do it all by overriding man’s unwillingness (via regeneration first) and then interjecting into his or her mind a willingness to believe the gospel. But this undercuts the process of salvation, since God will not do for sinners what He commands them to do. Sincere seeking of the true God (I am not