. 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 they are associated with the word T-U-L-I-P:
T - Total 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 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. 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.