The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his122/reform1.lzh/REFORM1.TXT

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MOV:Arminianism and Calvinism Contrasted  by Lorainne Boettner

    The following material from Romans: An interpretative Outline
(pp. 144-147), by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas, contrasts the
Five Points of Arminianism with the Five Points of Calvinism.

THE "FIVE POINTS" OF ARMINIANISM

1.  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 man's freedom.  Each sinner posses a free will, and his
eternal destiny depends on how he uses it.  Man's 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 God's Spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace
and perish.  The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he
does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe,
for faith is man's act and precedes the new birth.  Faith is the
sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.

2.  Conditional Election

   God's 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 man's 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 sinner's choice of
Christ, not God's choice of the sinner, is the ultimante cause of
salvation.

3.  Universal Redemption or General Atonement

   Christ's 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 anyone's sins.
Christ's redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept
it.

4.  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 Spirit's call.  The Spirit cannot regernerate the sinner until he
believes; faith (which is man's contribution) procedes and makes
possoble the new birth.  Thus, man's free will limits the Spirit in
the application of Christ's 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.  God's grace,
therefore, is not invincible; it can be, and often is, resisted and
thwarted by man.

5.  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.

According to Arminiansim:

   Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God
(who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) - man's 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, man's will plays a cecisive
role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipeints of the gift
of salvation.

THE "FIVES POINTS" OF CALVINISM

1.  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 Spirit's 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 port of God's gift of
salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to
God.

2.  Unconditional Election

   God's 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 God's 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 God's choice of the sinner, not the
sinner's choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

3.  Particular Redemption or Limited Atonement

   Christ's 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, Christ's
redemption secured everything mecessary for their salvation, including
faith which unites them to Him.  The gift of faith is infallivly
applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, therefore
guaranteeing their salvation.

4.  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 external 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 man's will, nor is He
dependent upon man's cooperation for success.  The Spirit graciously
causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come
freely and willingly to Christ.  God's grace, therefore, is
invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to
whom it is extended.

5.  Perserverance 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.

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 Christ's 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
recepients of the gift of salvation.