Calvinism VS. Arminianism Epic Battle of History!

The other day I was talking to a co-worker about the church (Southside). We were talking about what kind of church Southside is and I explained that we are a Wesleyan-Aminian denomination known as Free Methodists. My friend was floored because he thought that that meant we followed someone else besides Jesus Christ, I explained that no, we do not follow anyone else, only Jesus – I went on to explain that we agree with the interpretation and application of scriptures as understood by John Wesley and Jacobus Arminium. I could clearly tell that my co-worker was still not tracking with what I was saying so I asked him where he went to church; he told me that as a child he had been a part of the Baptist church. So, I explained that the Baptist denomination followed in the teachings of John Calvin – This lead to the questions of, “what is Calvinism and what Arminianism is.”

I explained it to my co-worker; but I thought, how many people wonder the same thing? So here we go! I will break this down as simply and fairly as possible.

First let’s start with, “Who are Free Methodist?”

Taken from the Free Methodist book of discipline:

Theologically, they are committed to the Wesleyan- Arminian affirmation of the saving love of God in Christ. Through prevenient grace He seeks to bring every individual to himself but grants to each the responsibility of accepting or rejecting that salvation. Salvation is a living relationship with God in Jesus Christ, giving the believer a legal position of righteousness, and therefore affirming the security of all who continue in fellowship with Him. Along with the Arminian emphasis on the universal offer of salvation, John Wesley rediscovered the principle of assurance through the witness of the Holy Spirit. He declared a scriptural confidence in a God who is able to cleanse the hearts of believers from sin here and now by faith, fill them with the Holy Spirit, and empower them for carrying out His mission in the world.

The Free Methodist Denomination uses the acrostic R.O.S.E. to help define the nature of God and how God responds to and deals with a free creation.

R – God is Relational

O – God is Open

S – God Suffers

E – God is Everywhere Active.

Regarding Atonement, Free Methodists believe:

a.      Universal Atonement

a.       All may be saved. God wants to save all people. Christ died for all, not just a “select group” called the “elect”.

b.      Knowledgeable Atonement

a.       All may have assurance of their saving relationship with God. The Holy Spirit confirms it, “witnessing” to the inner person, “You are my child.”

c.       Comprehensive Atonement

a.       Through the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the outpoured love of God persons may be transformed, being set free from destructive self-centeredness with which they are born.

d.      Grace, Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom

a.       “God creates according to God’s sovereign will and governs justly all that has been created. God does not over-leap and displace human freedom by coercing human decision-making. Rather, God supplies humanity with sufficient grace to which freedom can respond and for which freedom is accountable.” – Thomas Oden

b.      Different aspects of Grace:

                                                                          i.      Prevenient Grace

                                                                        ii.      Convicting Grace

                                                                      iii.      Resistible Grace

                                                                      iv.      Justifying Grace

                                                                        v.      Sanctifying Grace

                                                                      vi.      Renounceable Grace

To sup up all of that in its simplest terms, Jesus died for the Sins of all, He draws us to repentance of sin and new life in Him and it is up to us to respond with a, “Yes” or “No.”

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Since I am not a Calvinist, but my wife and I both attended a Baptist University (Liberty University) I will share with you what we learned from our Theology professor Dr. Elmer L. Towns in regards to Calvinism.

First Calvinism is often explained by using the acrostic T.U.L.I.P. to help understand the nature of God and how God responds to and deals with mankind.

In 1618, a national senate of the Church of the Netherlands convened in Dort and examined the teaching of Arminius in light of Scripture. The council consisted of one hundred forty-four sessions stretched over at least seven months. They concluded that the points of Arminianism were heresy. At this conference in Dort, they reaffirmed the reformed teaching of John Calvin. They stated their conclusion in five points, expressing it in the form of the acrostic forming the word TULIP.

T - Total Depravity
U - Unconditional Election
L - Limited Atonement
I - Irresistible Grace
P - Perseverance of the Saints

a.      Total Depravity

a.       Most Calvinists interpret total depravity to mean that any person in his natural state in incapable or unable to do anything to please or gain merit before God. Man is in complete rebellion against God, and by his “free will” he cannot and will never make a decision for Christ.

b.      In reality, total depravity does not mean total inability to respond to God, but total inability to please God.

b.      Unconditional Election / Unmerited Favor

a.       Calvinists believe a man obtains salvation because God began the process by choosing him without any outside influence.

b.      In truth, the term “elect” is always applied to those who have already accepted Christ, after the fact of conversion, not before.

c.       To say that God has chosen some and passed over others is to breach the unity of God. God is One, which means He is Unity and acts in perfect harmony with His nature. Every part of God influences every other attribute of God. One attribute can never act in isolation from the others; hence God cannot be guilty of acting ignorantly or with a double mind.

c.       Limited Atonement

a.       It is widely taught that Salvation is only for those who were predestined by God and that Jesus did not die for the sins of the whole world but only for the sins of the elect (Theologian D.E. Spencer).

b.      A more balanced Calvinist view agrees that the Bible teaches salvation is open to all.

c.       Christ gave substitution for all, redemption for all, propitiation for all, reconciliation for all.

d.      Jesus satisfied the demands of the law against all.

d.      Irresistible Grace

a.       Calvinists teach that the grace of God is as irresistible as the power of God, so that the elect cannot resist it, but God will bring him/her to a place of belief and salvation.

b.      Dr. Elmer Towns teaches that a balanced Calvinist would agree that, “if the human is unable to resist, then human responsibility is taken away and people are but passive agents.

c.       Irresistible Grace takes away human initiative from people.

d.      Irresistible grace is inconsistent with the biblical doctrine of the image and likeness of God. Man is created with personality. God cannot deny Himself by going contrary to the human nature, which He created.

e.       Perseverance of the Saints

a.       Calvin implied in his doctrine that if one is saved that person will persevere because of the election of God.

b.      However believers in Scripture apparently died in rebellion, sin, disobedience, they did not persevere to death.

c.       The word preservation is closer to the biblical doctrine than perseverance.

So pardon the very academic explanation of Calvin VS. Arminian doctrine, however, my hope is that maybe some will read this and avoid the common stereotypes and classifications that go on in the church.

It is so important for us to recognize that there are extremes on both sides and without going into a reductio ad absurdum on the topic, we can see where a more balanced approach in our theology is actually much closer to the truth and far more Biblical.

Pastor Willy