Discipleship Resource Center - The Reformed Faith

The Reformed Faith

Written by Loraine Boettner

"The purpose of this article is to set forth, in plain language and in terms easily understood, the basic differences between the Calvinistic and the Arminian system to theology, and to show what the Bible teaches concerning these subjects. The harmony that exists between the various doctrines of the Christian faith is such that error in regard to any one of them produces more or less distortion in all of the others."

Sections:
    * The Sovereignty of God
    * Man's Totally Helpless Condition (pg. 2)
    * Christ's Atonement (pg. 3)
    * The Foreknowledge of God (pg. 4)
    * The Universalistic Passages (pg. 5)
    * The Two systems Contrasted (pg. 6)
        THE "FIVE POINTS" OF ARMINIANISM (pg. 7)
        THE "FIVE POINTS" OF CALVINISM (pg. 8)

The Sovereignty of God

The purpose of this article is to set forth, in plain language and in terms
easily understood, the basic differences between the Calvinistic and the
Arminian system to theology, and to show what the Bible teaches concerning these
subjects. The harmony that exists between the various doctrines of the Christian
faith is such that error in regard to any one of them produces more or less
distortion in all of the others.

There are in reality only two types of religious thought. There is the
religion of faith, and there is the religion of works. We believe that what has
been known in Church History as Calvinism is the purest and most consistent
embodiment of the religion of faith, while that which has been known as
Arminianism has been diluted to a dangerous degree by the religion of works and
that it is therefore an inconsistent and unstable form of Christianity. In other
words, we believe that Christianity comes to its fullest and purest expression
in Reformed Faith.

In the early part of the fifth century these two types of religious thought
came into direct conflict in a remarkably clear contrast as embodied in two
fifth-century theologians, Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine pointed men to God
as the source of all true spiritual wisdom and strength, while Pelagius threw
men back on themselves and said that they were able in their own strength to do
all that God commanded, otherwise God would not command it. We believe that
Arminianism represents a compromise between these two systems, but that while in
its more evangelical form, as in early Wesleyanism, it approaches the religion
of faith, it nevertheless does contain serious elements of error.

We are living in a day in which practically all of the historic churches are
being attacked from within by unbelief. Many of them have already succumbed. And
almost invariably the line of descent has been from Calvinism to Arminianism,
from Arminianism to Liberalism, and then to Unitarianism. And the history of
Liberalism and Unitarianism shows that they deteriorate into a social gospel
that is too weak to sustain itself. We are convinced that the future of
Christianity is bound up w ith that system of theology historically called
"Calvinism.' Where the God centered principles of Calvinism have been abandoned,
there has been a strong tendency downward into the depths of man centered
naturalism or secularism. Some have declared - rightly, we believe - that there
is no consistent stopping place between Calvinism and atheism.

The basic principle of Calvinism is the sovereignty of God. This represents
the purpose of the Triune God as absolute and unconditional, independent of the
whole finite creation, and originating solely in the eternal counsel of His
will. He appoints the course of nature and directs the course of history down to
the minutest details. His decrees therefore are eternal, unchangeable, holy,
wise and sovereign. They are represented in the Bible as being the basis of the
divine foreknowledge of all future events, and not conditioned by that
foreknowledge or by anything originating in the events themselves.

Every thinking person readily sees that some sovereignty rules his life. He
was not asked whether or not he would have existence, when or what or where he
would be born, whether in the twentieth century or before the Flood, whether
male or female, whether white or black, whether in the United States, or China,
or Africa. All of those things were sovereignly decided for him before he had
any existence. It has been recognized by Christians in all ages that God is the
Creator and Ruler of the world, and that as such He is the ultimate source of
all power that is found in the world. Hence nothing can come to pass apart from
His sovereign will. Otherwise He would not be truly GOD. And when we dwell on
this truth we find that it involves considerations which establish the
Calvinistic and disprove the Arminian position.

By virtue of the fact that God has created everything that exists, He is the
absolute Owner and final Disposer of all that He has made. He exerts not merely
a general influence, but actually rules in the affairs of men (Acts 4:24-28).
Even the nations are as the small dust of the balance when compared with His
greatness (Is. 40:12-17). Amid all the apparent defeats and inconsistencies of
our human lives, God is actually controlling all things in undisturbed majesty.
Even the sinful actions of men can occur only by His permission and with the
strength that he gives the creature. And since He permits not unwillingly but
willingly, then all that comes to pass - including even the sinful actions and
ultimate destiny of men - must be, in some sense, in accordance with what He has
eternally purposed and decreed. Just in proportion as this is denied, God is
excluded from the government of the world, and we have only a finite God.
Naturally, some problems arise which in our present state of knowledge we are
not able fully to explain. But that is not a sufficient reason for rejecting
what the Scriptures and the plain dictates of reason affirm to be true.

And shall we not believe that God can convert a sinner when He pleases?
Cannot the Almighty, the omnipotent Ruler of heaven and earth, change the
character of the creatures He has made? He changed the water into wine at Cana
and converted Saul on the road to Damascus. The leper said, "Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean" (Matt. 8:2). And at a word his leprosy was cleansed.
Let us not believe, as do the Arminians, that God cannot control the human will,
or that He cannot regenerate a soul when He pleases. He is as able to cleanse
the soul a s the body. If He chose He could raise up such a flood of Christian
ministers, missionaries and workers of various kinds, and could so work through
His Holy Spirit, that the entire world would be converted in a very short time.
If He had purposed to save all men He could have sent hosts of angels to
instruct them and to do supernatural works on the earth. He could have worked
marvelously in the heart of every person so that no one would have been lost.

Since evil exists only by His permission, He could, if He chose, blot it out
of existence. His power in this respect was shown, for instance, in the work of
the destroying angel who in one night slew all of the first-born of the
Egyptians (Ex. 12:29), and in another night slew 185,000 of the Assyrian army
(II Kings 19:35). It was shown when the earth opened and swallowed Korah and his
rebellious allies (Nu. 16.31-35). King Herod was smitten and died a horrible
death (Acts 12:23). In Daniel 4:34-35 we read that the Most High God's "dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation; and
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and
no one can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"

All of this brings out the basic principle of the Reformed Faith - the
sovereignty of God. God created this world in which we find ourselves, He owns
it, and He is running it according to His own sovereign good pleasure. God has
lost none of His power, and it is highly dishonoring to Him to suppose that He
is struggling along with the human race, doing the best He can to persuade men
to do right, but unable to accomplish His eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and
sovereign purpose.

Any system which teaches that the serious intentions of God can in some
cases be defeated, and that man, who is not only a creature but a sinful
creature, can exercise veto power over the plans of Almighty God, is in striking
contrast to the biblical idea of his immeasurable exaltation by which He is
removed from all weaknesses of humanity. That the plans of men are not always
executed is due to a lack of power, or a lack of wisdom, or both. But since God
is unlimited in these and in all other resources, no unforeseen emergencies can
arise. To Him the causes for change have no existence. To assume that His plan
fails and that he strives to no effect is to reduce Him to the level of His
creatures and make Him no God at all.
Man's Totally Helpless Condition

As we read the works of various Arminian writers, it seems that their first
and perhaps most serious error is that they do not give sufficient importance to
the sinful rebellion and spiritual separation of the human race from God that
occurred in the fall of Adam. Some neglect it altogether, while for others it
seems to be a far away event that has little influence in the lives of people
today. But unless we insist on the reality of that spiritual separation from
God, and the totally disastrous effect that it had on the entire human race, we
shall never be able properly to appreciate our real condition or our desperate
need of a Redeemer.

Perhaps it will help us to realize more clearly what fallen man's condition
really is if we compare it with that of the fallen angels. Angels were created
before man, and each angel was placed on test as an individual, personal, moral
being. This apparently was a pure test of obedience, as was that of Adam. Some
of the angles st ood their test, for reasons only fully known to God, and, as a
result, were then confirmed in a state of perfect angelic holiness, and are now
the elect angels in heaven (I Tim. 5:21). But others fell and are now the demons
that we read of in the Scriptures, the devil apparently being the one of highest
rank among those who fell.

In Jude we read of "angels that kept not their own principality but left
their proper habitation, he [God] hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day" (v.6). And in II Peter we read that "God
spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed
them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (2:4). The devil and the
demons are totally alienated from God, totally given offer to sin, and without
any hope of redemption. Their fate is described by Christ as that of being cast
into "the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: (Matt.
25:41).

   There is no redemption for fallen angles. The writer of the Epistle to the
Hebrews says, "For verily not to angels doth he give help, but he giveth help to
the seed of Abraham" (2:16). Their fate is fixed and certain. For men and for
angels endless punishment is the penalty for endless sinning against God. Some
would try to make God appear unjust as though He inflicts endless punishment for
sins committed only in this life. But lost men and lost angels or demons are
endlessly in rebellion against God, and they endlessly receive punishment for
that rebellion.

But when God created man a moral creature, He proceeded on a different plan
than He did with the angelic order. Instead of creating all men at one time and
placing them on test individually, He created one man, with a physical body,
from whom the entire human race would descend, and who, because of his union
with all of those who would come after him, could be appointed as the legal or
federal head and representative of the entire human race. If he stood the test,
he and all of his descendants, his children, would be confirmed in holiness and
established in a state of perpetual creaturely bliss as were the holy angels.
But if he fell, as did the other angels, he and all his posterity would be
subject to eternal punishment. It was as if God said, "This time, if sin is to
enter, let it enter by one man, so that redemption also can be provided by one
man."

Therefore Adam in his representative capacity was placed on a test of pure
human obedience. The penalty of disobedience was clearly set before him: "And
Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen.
2:16-17).

Hence, the clearly declared penalty for sin was death - exactly the same
penalty that had been inflicted on the angels who fell. As with angels, it was
purely a test of whether or not man would be an obedient and appreciative
subject in the kingdom of heaven. It was a perfectly fair, simple test, clearly
set forth, very much in Adam's favor, for which he would have no excuse if he
disobeyed.

But, tragedy of tragedies, Adam fell. And the entire human race fell
representatively in him. The consequences of his sin are all comprehended under
the term death, in its widest sense. It was primarily spiritual death, or
separation from God, that had been threatened. Adam did not die phy sically until
930 years after he fell. But he was spiritually estranged from God and died
spiritually the very instant that he sinned. And from that instant his life
became an unceasing march to the grave. Man in this life has not gone as far in
the ways of sin as have the devil and the demons, for he still receives many
blessings through common grace, such as health, wealth, family and friends, the
beauties of nature, and he still is surrounded with many restraining influences.
But he is on his way. And if not checked, man would eventually become as totally
evil as are the demons. In his fallen state he fears God, tries to flee from
Him, and literally hates Him, as do the demons. If left to himself he would
remain forever in that condition, because as it is written, "There is none
righteous, no, not one; There is none that understandeth, There is none that
seeketh after God" (Rom. 3:10-11). Nothing, absolutely nothing, but a mighty
supernatural act on the part of God can rescue him from that condition. Hence if
he is to be rescued, God must take the initiative, must pay the penalty for him,
must cleanse him from his guilt, and so reinstate him in holiness and
righteousness.

And that is precisely what God does. He sovereignly picks a man up out of
the kingdom of Satan, and places him in the kingdom of heaven. Those are the
elect that are referred to some 25 times in the Scriptures: Matt. 24:22: "For
the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened those days" (at the destruction of
Jerusalem). I Thess. 1:4: "Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your election."
Rom. 11:7: "The election obtained it, and the rest were hardened." Rom. 8:33:
"Who shall lay anything to charge of God's elect"; and many more.

The Bible tells us that God has rescued a multitude of the human race from
the penalty of their sins. In order to perform that work, Christ, the second
Person of the Trinity, took upon Himself human nature through the miracle of the
virgin birth, and was born into the human race as any normal child is born. God
thus became incarnate, became one of us. Jesus then lived a perfectly sinless
life among men as the representative of His people, placed Himself before His
own law, and suffered in His own Person the penalty that God had prescribed for
sin. In His sinless life He kept perfectly the law of God that Adam had broken,
and so earned perfect righteousness for His people and thereby earned for them
the right to enter heaven. What He suffered, as a Person of infinite value and
dignity, was a just equivalent of what His people would have suffered in an
eternity in hell. In this manner He freed His people from the law of sin and
death. And as the fruits of that redemptive work are applied to those who have
been given to the Son by the Father, they are said to be regenerated by the Holy
Spirit, that is, to be made alive spiritually, to be born again.

Paul expresses this broad truth when in the Epistle to the Romans he says:

             "Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world,
             and death through sin, and so death passed unto all men, for
       that all sinned ... But no as the trespass, so also is the free gift.
            For if by the trespass of the one many died, much more did the
          grace of God, and the gift of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound
  &nb sp;         unto the many ... so then as through one trespass the judgment
            came unto all men to condemnation, even so through the one
               act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to
         justification to life. For as through the one's disobedience the
             many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the
               one shall the many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:12-19).

Unless one sees that contrast between the first and the second Adam, he will
never understand the Christian system.

And writing to the saints that were at Ephesus, Paul said, "And you did he
make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins." And he goes on
to say that we:

            "...were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest, but
            God, being rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
            us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us
            alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and
             raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the
            heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he
             might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness
              toward us in Christ Jesus: for by grace have ye been saved
         through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
                not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his
            workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
                God afore prepared that we should walk in them." (Eph.
                                      2:1-10)

In Christian theology there are three separate and distinct acts of
imputation. In the first place Adam's sin is imputed to all of us, his children,
that is, judicially set to our account so that we are held responsible for it
and suffer the consequences of it. This is commonly known as the doctrine of
Original Sin. In the second place, and in precisely the same manner, our sin is
imputed to Christ so that He suffers the consequences of it. And in the third
place, Christ's righteousness is imputed to us and secures for us entrance into
heaven. We are, of course, no more personally guilty of Adam's sin than Christ
is personally guilty of our sin, or than we are personally meritorious because
of His righteousness. In each case it is a judicial transaction. We receive
salvation from Christ in precisely the same way that we receive condemnation and
ruin from Adam. In each case the result follows because of the close official
union which exists between the persons involved. To reject any one of these
three steps is to reject an essential part of the Christian system.

Thus we see the strict parallel between Adam and Christ in the matter of
salvation. In the above passages Paul piles one phrase upon another stressing
the fact that we were not merely sick, or spiritually disinclined, but
spiritually dead. Christ Himself said, "Except one be born anew, he cannot see
the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). And again He said, "Why do ye not understand my
speech: even because ye cannot hear my words" (John 8:43). The unregenerate man
cannot see the kingdom of God, nor hear in any spiritually discerning way the
words spoken concerning it, much less can he get into it. Had we been left to
ourselves we, like the fallen angels, would never have turned to God.

A spiritually dead person can no more give himself spiritual life that a
physically dead person can give himself physical live. That requires a
supernatural act on the part of God. We get into the family of God in precisely
the same way that we get into our human family, by being born into it. By that
supernatural act God Himself, through His Holy Spirit, sovereignly takes us out
of the kingdom of Satan and places us in His spiritual kingdom by a spiritual
rebirth.

And having once been born onto the kingdom of God, we can never become
unborn. Since it took a supernatural act to bring us into a state of spiritual
life, it would take another such act to take us out of that state. Hence the
absolute certainty that those who have been regenerated and who therefore have
become truly Christian will never lose their salvation, but will providentially
be kept by the power of God through all the trials and difficulties of this life
and will be brought into the heavenly kingdom. "He that heareth my word, and
believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but
hath passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). "If any man is in Christ, he is
a new creature" (II Cor. 5:17). "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them unto me,
is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand"
(John 10:27-29). This is known as the doctrine of eternal security or the
perseverance of the saints.

This gift of eternal live is not conferred upon all men, but only upon those
whom God chooses. This does not mean that any who want to be saved are excluded,
for the invitation is "He that will [KJV, whosoever will], let him take the
water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). The fact is that a spiritually dead person
cannot will to come. "No man can come unto me except the Father that sent me
draw [literally, drags] him" (John 6:44). Only those who are quickened (make
spiritually alive) by the Holy Spirit ever have that will or that desire. These
in Scripture are called the elect. But in contrast with these, there is another
group that we may call the non-elect. And concerning them Professor Floyd
Hamilton has very appropriately written:

     "All that God does is to let them alone and allow them to go their own way
    without interference. It is their nature to be evil, and God simply has
    foreordained t o leave that nature unchanged. The picture often painted by
    opponents of Calvinism, of a cruel God refusing to save all who want to be
    saved, is a gross caricature. God saves all who want to be saved, but no one
    whose nature has not been changed wants to be saved."
Christ's Atonement

We are not told why God does not save all mankind when all were equally
undeserving, and when the sacrifice on Calvary was that of a Person of infinite
value, amply sufficient to save all men had God so desired it. But the
Scriptures do tell us that no all will be saved. However, we can say that the
atonement, which was worked out at an enormous cost to God Himself, is His own
property, and that He is at liberty to make whatever use of it He chooses. No
man has any claim to any part of it. We are told repeatedly that salvation is by
grace. And grace is favor shown to the undeserving, even to the ill- deserving.
If any part of man's salvation were due to his own good works, then indeed there
would be a difference in men, and those who had responded to the gracious offer
could justly point the finger of scorn at the lost and say, "You had the same
chance that I had. I accepted, but you refused. Therefore you have no excuse."
But no. God has so arranged this system that those who are saved can only be
eternally grateful that God has saved them.

   It is not for us to ask why God does as He does, for the Scripture
declares:

              "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?
           Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou
            make me thus? Or hath no the potter a right over the clay,
             from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and
              another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his
                wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much
            long-suffering vessels fitted unto destruction: and that he
               might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of
            mercy which he afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he
                             also called." (Rom. 9:20-24)

Only the Calvinist seems to take the fall of man seriously. A proper
evaluation of the fall and of man's present hopeless condition is the missing
element in so much of today's thinking, teaching and preaching. Arminianism
seriously errs in assuming that man has sufficient ability to turn to God if
only he will. The Calvinist insists that man is not merely sick or indisposed or
just needs the right incentive, but that he is spiritually dead, and that the
atonement of Christ does not merely make salvation an abstract possibility such
that all men can turn to God if they will. The Calvinist holds that the
atonement was an objective work accomplished in history which removed all legal
barriers against those to whom it was to be applied, and that it would be
followed by the work of the Holy Spirit subjectively applying the merits of that
atonement to the hearts of those for whom it was divinely intended.

We call attention again to one of the most important verses in Scripture
concerning the matter of salvation: "No man can come to me, except the Father
that sent me draw him" (John 6:44). Another like it is; "All that the Father
giveth me shall come unto me; and he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out" (John 6:37). And to the Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote: "The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to
him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged" (I Cor.
2:14).

   And how does God cause the elect to exercise faith? The answer is: In
regeneration the Holy Spirit subdues man's heart to Himself, and imparts to man
a new nature which loves righteousness and hates sin. He does not force man
against his will, but makes him lovingly and spontaneously obedient to His will.
When the Lord Jesus appeared to the hardened persecutor Saul as he was on the
way to Damascus, he immediately became obedient to the Lord's will. "Thy people
offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power," said the Psalmist (110:3).
Thus God gives His people the will to come. That act on God's part, in the
sub-conscious nature of the person, is known as regeneration, or as a new birth,
or being born again. When a man is thus given a new nature, he reacts according
to that nature, as do all of God's creatures. He then exercises faith and does
good works characteristic of repentance as naturally as the grape vine produces
grapes. Whereas sin was his natural element, now holiness becomes his natural
element - not all at once, for he still has remnants of the old nature clinging
to him, and as long as he remains in this world he still is in a sinful
environment. But as his new nature is free to express itself he grows in
righteousness; he enjoys reading God's Word, praying, and having fellowship with
other Christians.

We therefore have to choose between an atonement of high efficiency which is
perfectly accomplished, and an atonement of wide extension which is imperfectly
accomplished. We cannot have both. If we had both we would have universal
salvation. But the Arminian extends the atonement so widely that so far as its
actual effect is concerned, it has practically no value other than as an example
of unselfish service. Dr. B. B. Warfield used a very simple illustration to
present this truth. He said that the atonement is like pie dough - the wider
you roll it the thinner it becomes. And the Arminian, in making it apply to all
men, reduces its effectiveness to such an extent that it becomes practically no
atonement at all.

Furthermore, for God to have laid the sins of all men on Christ would mean
that as regards the lost He would be punishing their sins twice, once in Christ,
and then again in them. Certainly that would be unjust. If Christ paid their
debt, they are free, and the Holy Spirit would invariably bring them to faith
and repentance. If the atonement was truly unlimited, it would mean that Christ
died for multitudes whose fate already had been determined, who already were in
hell at the time He suffered. If the atonement merely nullified the sentence
that was against man so as to give him a new chance if he would exercise faith
and obedience, it would mean that God was pl acing him on test again as was his
ancestor Adam. But that kind of a test was tried and had its outcome long ago,
even in a far more favorable environment. Carried to its logical conclusion, the
theory of unlimited atonement leads to absurdity.

We should remember that Christ's suffering in His human nature, as He hung
on the cross those six hours, was not primarily physical, but mental and
spiritual. When He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," He
was literally suffering the pangs of hell. For that is essentially what hell is,
separation from God, separation from everything that is good and desirable. Such
suffering is beyond our comprehension. But since He suffered as a divine-human
person, His suffering was a just equivalent for all that His people would have
suffered in an eternity in hell.

As a matter of fact, the redeemed man gains more through redemption in
Christ than he lost through the fall of Adam. For in the incarnation God
literally came into the human race and took human nature upon Himself, which
nature Christ in His glorified body will retain forever, and evidently He will
be the only visible God that we will see in heaven. Peter tells us that we now
are "partakers of the divine nature" (II Peter 1:4); and Paul says that we are
"heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17). Think of that!
Partakers of the divine nature, and joint-heirs with Christ! What greater
blessing could God possibly confer upon us? As such we are superior to the
angels, for they are designated in Scripture only as God's messengers, His
servants.

Ultimately the Arminian is faced with precisely the same problem as is the
Calvinist - that broader problem as to why a God of infinite holiness and power
permits sin at all. In our present state of knowledge we can give only a partial
answer. But the Calvinist faces up to that problem, acknowledges the Scriptural
doctrine that all men had their fair and favorable chance in Adam, that God now
graciously saves some of the fallen race while leaving others to go their own
chosen sinful way and manifests His justice in their punishment. But having
admitted foreknowledge, the Arminianism has no explanation as to why God
purposefully and deliberately creates those who He knows will be lost and who
will spend eternity in hell.

However, as regards the problem of evil, we can say that God created this
world as a theater in which He would display His glory, His marvelous attributes
for all of His creatures to see and admire - His being, wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness, and truth. Here we are concerned primarily with His justice.

God's justice demands that goodness must be rewarded and that sin must be
punished. And it is just as necessary that sin be punished as it is that
goodness be rewarded. God would be unjust if He failed to do either. Therefore
He created men and angels not as robots who would automatically produce good
works as a machine produces bolts or tin cans but who would deserve no rewards,
but as free moral agents, in His own image, capable, in Adam before the fall, of
choosing between good and evil. He manifests His justice toward those whom He
has purposed in grace to save by rewarding them for the good works that are
found in Christ their Savior and credited to them, confirming them in holiness,
and admitting them into heaven. And He manifests His justice toward those whom
He has purposed to by- pass for their willing continuance in sin.

Likewise, if sin had been excluded, there could have been no adequate
revelation God's most glorious attributes, grace, mercy, love and holiness, as
is displayed in His redemption of sinners. Let us remember that the angels in
heaven earned salvation through a covenant of works, by keeping God's law. As
in the Case of Adam, they had been promised certain rewards if they obeyed. They
did obey, and were confirmed in holiness. They have not experienced salvation by
grace. There is an old hymn which says, "When I sing redemption's story, the
angels will fold their wings and listen." And so it will be in the ultimate
contrast between men and angels.

Hence the explanation of sin is that God permits it, but controls and
overrules it for His own glory. If sin had been excluded from the creation those
glorious attributes could never have been adequately displayed before His
intelligent universe of men and angels, but for the most part would have
remained forever hidden in the depths of the divine nature.
God's Foreknowledge

The evangelical Arminian acknowledges that God has foreknowledge, and that
He therefore is able to predict future events. But if God foreknows any future
event, then that event is as fixed and certain as if foreordained. For
foreknowledge implies certainty, and certainly implies foreordination. The
evangelical Arminian does not deny that there is such a thing as election to
salvation, for he cannot get rid of the words "elect" and "election," which
occur some twenty-five times in the New Testament. But he tries to destroy the
force of these words by saying that election is based on foreknowledge, that God
looks down the broad avenue of the future and sees those who will respond to His
gracious offer, and so elects them.

But in acknowledging foreknowledge, the Arminian makes a fatal concession.
Figuratively speaking, he cuts his own throat, for the simple reason that as God
foresees those who will be saved, He also sees those who will be lost! Why,
then, does He create those who will be lost? Certainly, He is not under any
obligation to create them. There is no power outside Himself forcing Him to do
so. If He wants all men to be saved and is earnestly trying to save all men, He
could at least refrain from creating those who, if created, certainly will be
lost.

The Arminian cannot consistently hold to the foreknowledge of God and yet
deny the doctrines of election and predestination. The question persists: Why
does God create those who He knows will go to hell? It would be mere foolishness
for Him to wish to save or try to save those who He knows will be lost. That
would be for Him to work at cross purposes with Himself. Even a man has better
sense than to try to do what he knows he will not do or cannot do. The Arminian
has no alternative but to deny the foreknowledge of God - and then he has only a
limited, ignorant, finite God who in reality is not God at all in the true sense
of that word. If election is based on foreknowledge, that makes it so
meaningless that it becomes more confusing than enlightening. For even as
regards the elect, what sense is there for God to elect those who He knows are
going to elect themselves? That would be just plain nonsense.
The Universalistic Passages

Probably the most pla usible defense for Arminianism is found in the
universalistic passages in Scripture. Three of the most quoted are: II Peter
3:9, "Not wishing [or, KJV, not willing] that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance"; I Tim. 2:4, [God our Savior] "who would have all men
to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth"; and I Tim. 2:5,6,
"...Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all."

In regard to these verses we must keep in mind that, as we have said
earlier, God is the absolute sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth, and we are
never to think of Him as wishing or striving to do what He knows He will not do.
For Him to do otherwise would be for Him to act foolishly. Since Scripture tells
us that some men are going to be lost, II Peter 3:9 cannot mean that God is
earnestly wishing or striving to save all individual men. For if it were His
will that every individual of mankind should be saved, then not one soul could
be lost. "For who hath resisted his will?" (Rom. 9:19).

These verses simply teach that God is benevolent, and that He does not
delight in the sufferings of His creatures any more than a human father delights
in the punishment that he sometimes must inflict upon his son. The word "will"
is used in different senses in Scripture as in our everyday conversation. It is
sometimes used in the sense of "desire" or "purpose." A righteous judge does not
will (desire) that anyone should be hanged or sentenced to prison, yet he wills
(pronounces sentence) that the guilty person shall be punished. In the same
sense and for sufficient reasons a man may will to have a limb removed, or an
eye taken out, even though he certainly does not desire it.

Arminians insist that in II Peter 3:9 the words "any" and "all" refer to all
mankind without exception. But it is important first of all to see to whom those
words were addressed. In the first verse of chapter 1, we find that the epistle
is addressed not to mankind at large, but to Christians: "...to them that have
obtained a like precious faith with us." And in a preceding verse (3:1), Peter
had addressed those to whom he was writing as "beloved." And when we look at the
verse as a whole, and not merely at the last half, we find that it is not
primarily a salvation verse at all, but a second coming verse! It begins by
saying that "The Lord is not slacking concerning his promise" [singular]. What
promise? Verse 4 tells us: "the promise of his coming." The reference is to His
second coming, when He will come for judgment, and the wicked will perish in the
lake of fire. The verse has reference to a limited group. It says that the Lord
is "long-suffering to us-ward," His elect, many of whom had not yet been
regenerated, and who therefore had not yet come to repentance. Hence we may
quite properly read verse 9 as follows: "The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing
that any of us should perish, but that all of us should come to repentance."

In regard to I Tim. 2:4,6 "Who would have all men to be saved, and to come
to the knowledge of the truth ... who gave himself a ransom for all," is used in
various senses. Oftentimes it means, not all men without exception, but all men
without distinction - Jews and Gentiles, bond and free, men and women, rich and
poor. And in I Tim. 2:4-6 it cl early is used in that sense. Through many
centuries the Jews had been, with few exceptions, the exclusive recipients of
God's saving grace. They had become the most intensely nationalistic and
intolerant people in the world. Instead of recognizing their position as that of
God's representatives to all the people of the world, they had taken those
blessings to themselves. Even the early Christians for a time were inclined to
appropriate the mission of the Messiah only to themselves. The salvation of the
Gentiles was a mystery that had not been known in other ages (Eph. 4:6; Col.
1:27). So rigid was the pharisaic exclusivism that the Gentiles were called
unclean, common, sinners of the Gentiles, even dogs; and it was not lawful for a
Jew to keep company with or have any deals with a Gentile (John 4:9, Acts 10:28,
11:3). After an orthodox Jew had been out in the marketplace where he had come
in contact with Gentiles he was regarded as unclean (Mark 7:4). After Peter had
preached to the Roman Centurion Cornelius and the others who were gathered at
his house, he was severely taken to task by the Church in Jerusalem, and we can
almost hear the gasp of wonder when, after Peter told them what had happened,
they said, "Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance to life" (Acts
22:15), that is, not to every individual in the world, but to Jews and Gentiles
alike. Used in this sense the word "all" has no reference to individuals, but
simply to mankind in general.

When it was said of John the Baptist that "There went out unto him all the
country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in
the river Jordan, confessing their sins" (Mark 1:5), we know that not every
individual did so respond. We read that after Peter and John had healed the lame
man at the door of the temple, "all men glorified God for that which was done"
(Acts 4:21). Jesus told his disciples that they would be "hated of all men" for
His name's sake (Luke 21:17). And when Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto myself" (John 12:32), He certainly did
not mean that every individual of mankind would be so drawn. What He did mean
was that Jews and Gentiles, men of all nations and races, would be drawn to Him.
And that is what we see is actually happening.

In I Cor. 15:22 we read, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall
all be make alive." This verse is often quoted by Arminians to prove unlimited
or universal atonement. This verse is from Paul's famous resurrection chapter,
and the context makes it clear that he is not talking about life in this age,
whether physical or spiritual, but about the resurrection life. Christ is the
first to enter the resurrection life, then, when He comes, His people also enter
into their resurrection life. And what Paul says is that at that time a
glorious resurrection life will become a reality, not for all mankind, but for
all those who are in Christ. And this point is illustrated by the well known
fact that the race fell in Adam, who acted as its federal head and
representative. What Paul says in effect this: "For as all born in Adam die, so
also all born again in Christ shall be make alive." Verse 22, therefore, refers
not to something past, nor to something present, but to something future; and it
has no special bearing at all on the Calvinistic-Arminian controversy.

Two other verses that also are often quoted in defense of Arminianism are
"Behold , I stand at the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he
with me" (Rev. 3:20); and "...he that will [KJV, whosoever will], let him take
the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). This general invitation is extended to
all men. It may be, and often is, the means that the Holy Spirit uses to arouse
in certain individuals the desire for salvation as He puts forth His
supernatural power to regenerate them. But these verses, taken by themselves,
fail to take into consideration the truth that already has been stressed in this
article, that fallen man is spiritually dead, and that as such he is as totally
unable to respond to the invitation as are the fallen angels or demons. Fallen
man is as dead spiritually as Lazarus was dead physically until Jesus cried with
a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth," and the Pharisee Nicodemus, "Except one be
born anew [or, from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God"(John 3:3). And
again, He said to the Pharisees, "why do ye not understand my speech? Even
because ye cannot hear my word" (John 8:43). Apart from that divine assistance
no one can hear the invitation or put forth the will to come to Christ.

The declaration that Christ died for "all" is made clearer by the song that
the redeemed sing before the throne of the Lamb: "Thou wast slain, and didst
purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and
nation" (Rev. 5:9). Oftentimes the word "all" must be understood to mean all the
elect, all His Church, all those whom the Father has given to the Son, as when
Christ says, "All that which the Father giveth me shall come to me" (John 6:37),
but not all men universally and every man individually. The redeemed host will
be make up of men from all classes and conditions of life, of princes and
peasants, of rich and poor, bond and free, male and female, Jews and Gentiles,
men of all nations and races. That is the true universalism of Scripture.
The Two systems Contrasted

We have said that Christianity comes to its fullest expression in the
Reformed Faith. The great advantage of the Reformed Faith is that in the
framework of the Five Points of Calvinism it sets forth clearly what the Bible
teaches concerning the way of salvation. Only when these truths are seen as a
unit an in relation to each other can one really understand or appreciate the
Christian system in all of its strength and beauty.

The reason that so many Christians have only a weak faith, and that so many
churches present only a rather superficial form of Christianity, is that they
never really see the system in its logical consistency. It is not enough for the
professing Christian to know that God loves him and that his sins have been
forgiven. He should know how and why his redemption has been accomplished and
how it has been made effective. And that is set forth systematically in the
Five Points of Calvinism.

Historically, the Five Points of Calvinism have been held by the
Presbyterian and Reformed churches and by many Baptists, while the substance of
the Five Points of Arminianism has been held by the Methodist and Lutheran
churches and also by many Baptists.

The Five Points of Calvinism may be more easily remembered if hey are
associated with the word T-U-L-I-P:

T - Tota l Inability
U - Unconditional Election
L - Limited Atonement
I - Irresistible (Efficacious) Grace
P - Perseverance of the Saints

   The following material, taken from Romans: an Interpretive outline, by
David N. Steele and Curtis Thomas, Baptist ministers in Little Rock, Arkansas,
contrasts the Five Points of Calvinism with the Five Points of Arminianism in
the clearest and most concise form that we have found anywhere. It is also
included as an Appendix in The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by the
present writer. Each of these books is published by the Presbyterian and
Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, N.J.
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 ultimate 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 regenerate the sinner until he believes; faith (which is man's
contribution) proceeds and makes possible 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 Arminianism:

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
decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift
of salvation.
THE "FIVE 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 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.

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 th e 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. 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.

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 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.

Amen.