Following are Important Distinctions between Calvinism and Arminianism followed by confessional, creedal, or modern statements that further illustrate their differences.
TOTAL DEPRAVITY
Fallen man in his natural state lacks all power to believe the gospel savingly, despite all external inducements that may be extended to him. His will is in bondage to sin, and he cannot choose good over evil in the spiritual realm unless he is first regenerated by the Spirit of God enabling him to come to faith.
The French Confession, Article IX
[The French Confession - Also called the Gallican Confession or the Confession of Rochelle, it was prepared by John Calvin (1509-1564) and his pupil Antoine de la Roche Chandieu (1534-1591). It was approved by a synod in Paris in 1559 and adopted (and revised) by the Synod of La Rochelle, held in 1571. It was the creed of the Huguenots.]
IX. We believe that man was created pure and perfect in the image of God, and that by his own guilt he fell from the grace which he received,[1] and is thus alienated from God, the fountain of justice and of all good, so that his nature is totally corrupt. And being blinded in mind, and depraved in heart, he has lost all integrity, and there is no good in him.[2] And although he can still discern good and evil,[3] we say, notwithstanding, that the light he has becomes darkness when he seeks for God, so that he can in nowise approach him by his intelligence and reason.[4] And although he has a will that incites him to do this or that, yet it is altogether captive to sin, so that he has no other liberty to do right than that which God gives him.[5]
(1) Gen. 1:26; Eccl. 7:10; Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:2-3; (2) Gen. 6:5, 8:21; (3) Rom. 1:21; 2:18-20; (4) I Cor. 2:14; (5) John 1:4-5,7; 8:36; Rom. 8:6-7
The Canons of Dort, First Head of Doctrine: Divine Election and Reprobation
[These were produced by the Synod of Dort (1618-1619) as a response to Arrninianism. (Dort is in Holland.) The Five Points of Calvinism produced here were in response to five points presented by the Arminians. The Synod was an international body and so made the Canons of Dort the most international of the Reformed documents.]
Articles of Faith: Article 15
What peculiarly tends to illustrate and recommend to us the eternal and unmerited grace of election is the express testimony of sacred Scripture that not all, but some only, are elected, while others are passed by in the eternal decree; whom God, out of His sovereign, most just, irreprehensible, and unchangeable good pleasure, has decreed to leave in the common misery into which they have willfully plunged themselves, and not to bestow upon them saving faith and the grace of conversion; but, permitting them in His just judgment to follow their own ways, at last, for the declaration of His justice, to condemn and punish them forever, not only on account of their unbelief, but also for all their other sins. And this is the decree of reprobation, which by no means makes God the Author of sin (the very thought of which is blasphemy), but declares Him to be an awful, irreprehensible, and righteous Judge and Avenger thereof.
UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
God's election is a free, sovereign, unconditional choice of sinners, as sinners, to be redeemed by Christ, given faith, and brought to glory. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality foreseen in man.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter X: Of Effectual Calling
[The Westminster Confession of Faith - This confession was produced by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, which had been created by the English Parliament in 1643 to settle various theological and ecclesiastical issues in the British Isles. It was presented to Parliament in 1646 and with scripture proofs in 1647. It was essentially an English Puritan document that didn't take hold in England but was embraced enthusiastically in Presbyterian Scotland and so later the English-speaking Presbyterian world as well. It covers the spectrum of theological topics and is similar to the Belgic Confession.]
I. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,[1] by his Word and Spirit, [2] out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ;[3] enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God,[4] taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh;[5] renewing their wills, and, by his almighty power, determining them to that which is
good, [6] and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ:[7] yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.[8]
1. Acts 13:48; Rom. 4:28, 30; 11:7; Eph. 1:5, 11; II Tim. 1:9-10; (2) II Thess. 2:13-14; James 1:18; II Cor. 3:3, 6;I Cor. 2:12;(3) II Tim. 1:9-10; I Peter 2:9; Rom 8:2; Eph. 2:1-10; (4) Acts 26:18;I Cor. 2:10, 12; Eph. 1:17-18; II Cor. 4:6;(5) Ezek. 36:26
(6) Ezek. 11:19; 36:27; Deut. 30:6; John 3:5; Titus 3:5; I Peter 1:23; (7) John 6:44-45; Acts 16:14; (8) Psa. 110:3; John 6:37; Matt. 11:28; Rev. 22:17; Rom. 6:16-18; Eph. 2:8; Phil 1:29.
II. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man,[9] who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit,[10] he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.[11]
9. 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 9:11; (10) I Cor. 2:14; Rom. 8:7-9; Titus 3:4-5; (11) John 6:37; Ezek. 36:27; I John 3:9; 5:1
LIMITED ATONEMENT
The redeeming work of Christ had as its end and goal the salvation of the elect only and actually secured salvation for them, guaranteeing it. His death was the substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners.
The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine: The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby - Articles of Faith, Article 8
For this was the sovereign counsel and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation; that is, it was the will of God that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby He confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation and given to Him by the Father; that He should confer upon them faith, which, together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, He purchased for them by His death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing; and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them, free from every spot and blemish, to the enjoyment of glory in His own presence forever.
[Mt. 20:28; Jn. 17:6, 9, 10; 10: 14-15; 15:13; Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25; et.al]
IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
The work of the Holy Spirit in bringing men to faith never fails to achieve its object. It always results in conversion. The Spirit irresistibly and invincibly draws sinners to Christ. Success is not dependent upon man's will or cooperation.
The Canons of Dort, Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine: The Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God, & the Manner Thereof - Articles of Faith, Article 11
But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect, or works in them true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them, and powerfully illuminates their minds by His Holy Spirit, that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit He pervades the inmost recesses of man; He opens the closed and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised; infuses new qualities into the will, which, though heretofore dead, He quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it good, obedient, and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions.
PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
Believers are kept in faith and grace by the unconquerable power of God till they come to glory. All that He has chosen are eternally saved. The power of God that has been present in their spiritual life from the start preserves them in the state of salvation.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XVII: Of the Perseverance of the Saints
They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.[1]
1. Phil. 1:6; II Peter 1:10; Rom. 8:28-30; John 10:28-29; I John 3:9; 5:18;I Peter 1:5,9
This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father;[2] upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ,[3] the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them,[4] and the nature of the covenant of grace:[5] from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. [6]
(2) Psa. 89:3-4, 28-33; II Tim. 2:18-19; Jer. 31:3; (3) Heb. 7:25; 9:12-15; 10:10, 14; 13:20-21; 17:11, 24; Rom. 8:33-39; Luke 22:32; (4) John 14:16-17; I John 2:27; 3:9
(5) Jer. 32:40; Psa. 89:34-37; see Jer. 31:31-34; (6) John 6:38-40; 10:28; II Thess. 3:3; I John 2:19
Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins;[7] and, for a time, continue therein: [8] whereby they incur God's displeasure,[9] and grieve his Holy Spirit,[10] come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts,[11] have their hearts hardened,[12] and their consciences wounded;[13] hurt and scandalin others,[14] and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. [15]
(7) Exod. 32:21; Jonah 1:3, 10; Psa. 51:14; Matt. 26:70, 72, 74; (8) II Sam. 12:9, 13; Gal. 2:11-14; (9) Num. 20:12; II Sam. 11:27; Isa. 64:7, 9;(10) Eph. 4:30; (11) Psa. 51:8, 10, 12; Rev. 2:4; Matt 26:75; (12) Isa. 63:17; (13) Psa. 32:3-4; 51:8; (14) Gen. 12:10-20; II Sam. 12:14; Gal. 2:13; (15) Psa. 89:31-32; I Cor. 11:32
FREE WILL / HUMAN ABILITY
Man is never so completely corrupted by sin that he cannot savingly believe the gospel when it is put before him. God does not interfere with man's freedom (his ability to choose good or evil in spiritual matters). The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated, or resist God's grace and perish. Faith is man's act and precedes the new birth.
The Canons of Dort, Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine: The Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God, & the Manner Thereof - Rejection of Errors
Paragraph 9 [The Canon of Dordt rejects those...]
Who teach: That grace and free will are partial causes [synergism] which together work the beginning of conversion, and that grace, in order of working, does not precede the working of the will; that is, that God does not efficiently help the will of man unto conversion until the will of man moves and determines to do this.
For the ancient Church has long ago condemned this doctrine of the Pelagians according to the words of the apostle: So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy (Rom. 9:16). Likewise: For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? (I Cor. 4:7). And: For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
The Belgic Confession of Faith, Article XV: Original Sin
[The Belgic Confession of Faith - This Reformed confession was prepared in 1561 by Guy de Bres (c.1523-1567), who was later martyred, and others, and then slightly revised by Francis Junius (1545-1602) of Bourges. First written in French, it was soon translated into Dutch and Latin. The Synod of Dort (1618-1619) made a revision but did not change the doctrine. It covers the spectrum of theological topics.]
Article XV: Original Sin
We believe that through the disobedience of Adam original sin is extended to all mankind; which is a corruption of the whole nature and a hereditary disease, wherewith even infants in their mother's womb are infected, and which produces in man all sorts of sin, being in him as a root thereof, and therefore is so vile and abominable in the sight of God that it is sufficient to condemn all mankind. Nor is it altogether abolished or wholly eradicated even by regeneration;[1] since sin always issues forth from this woeful source, as water from a fountain; notwithstanding it is not imputed to the children of God unto condemnation, but by His grace and mercy is forgiven them. Not that they should rest securely in sin, but that a sense of this corruption should make believers often to sigh, desiring to be delivered from this body of death.
Wherefore we reject the error of the Pelagians, who assert that sin proceeds only from imitation.
CONDITIONAL ELECTION
Man is he never so completely controlled by God that he cannot reject the gospel call. God's choice of certain individuals before the foundation of the world was based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call. Election was conditioned upon what man would do. The faith which God foresaw upon which He chose them, resulted solely from man's will. The ultimate cause of salvation is not God's choice, but the sinner's.
UNLIMITED 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. Christ's redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it.
The Canons of Dort, Second Head of Doctrine: The Death of Christ, and the Redemption of Men Thereby - Rejection of Errors
Paragraph 1 [The canons of Dordt reject those...]
Who teach: That God the Father has ordained His Son to the death of the cross without a certain and definite decree to save any, so that the necessity, profitableness, and worth of what Christ merited by His death might have existed, and might remain in all its parts complete, perfect, and intact, even if the merited redemption had never in fact been applied to any person.
For this doctrine tends to the despising of the wisdom of the Father and of the merits of Jesus Christ, and is contrary to Scripture. For thus says our Savior: I lay down my life for the sheep, and I know them (John 10:15, 27). And the prophet Isaiah says concerning the Savior: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand (Isa. 53:10).
The Cross - Possibility or Salvation?
The key question we must ask ourselves is, What exactly does the cross of Christ do for sinners? Christians have adopted two basic answers to this question. The popular answer is that the Cross creates the possibility of saving everyone, while the Biblical answer is that the Cross actually saves those who believe in Christ. The popular answer holds that those who are saved can attribute their salvation to the Cross plus their decision to apply for its benefits, while the Biblical answer holds that those who are saved can attribute their salvation to the Cross alone. (David C. Hagopian, et. al., Back to Basics: Rediscovering the Richness of the Reformed Faith (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1996), 44.
RESISTIBLE GRACE
The Spirit 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. Until the sinner responds, the Spirit cannot give life.
The Cross - Suffering or Payment?
Yet such a view [that Christ paid the penalty for our sins] is foreign to Arminianism, which teaches instead that Christ suffered for us...what Christ did He did for every person; therefore what He did could not have been to pay the penalty, since no one would then ever go into eternal perdition. Arminianism teaches that Christ suffered for everyone so that the Father could forgive the ones who repent and believe. (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, s.v. "Arminianism", J. K. Grider, 80).
BILLY GRAHAM QUOTES FROM DECISION MAGAZINE:
"The new birth is something that God does for man when man is willing to yield to God."
"Any person who is willing to trust Jesus Christ as His personal Savior can receive the new birth now." "The Holy Spirit will do everything possible to disturb you, draw you, love you, but finally it is your personal decision... .Make it happen now."
FALL FROM GRACE
It rests with believers to keep themselves in a state of grace by keeping up their faith; those who fail here fall away and are lost [not all Arminians are agreed on this point].
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