The Living Faith Fellowship hosts an annual Certainty Conference each fall at First Baptist Church of New Philadelphia, Ohio. We pick a doctrinal subject and clear off a spot to detail the biblical position on the subject. Our first conference was on the subject of Calvinism. We came out strongly opposed to the doctrine of eternal election as presented by “five-point” Calvinists. But lest anyone misunderstand, we are just as opposed to Arminianism, which is the opposite extreme.
Church history has been filled with religious controversies and doctrinal arguments. Most of the time, those controversies muddy the clear truths of the Bible and confuse believers while also driving the lost away from the gospel as they see us argue. One of the most famous doctrinal controversies in history involves Calvinism vs Arminianism. It finds its roots in a theological argument between two men during the Reformation in the 1500s. I will summarize the argument very briefly. I realize this will be a gross oversimplification of these theologies, but this is a simple blog post. It is not a doctoral thesis on the subjects of Calvinism and Arminianism.
Essentially, Calvinism teaches that God chose in eternity past who would be saved and who would be lost. Calvinism says man has no free will and cannot be saved until the Holy Spirit regenerates him. If you are one of the “elect” then you will get saved no matter what because God’s irresistible grace will run you over like a linebacker with a free shot at the quarterback. If you are NOT “elect”, you cannot get saved even if you want to, because God chose it for you before the world began. This theology was not new with John Calvin (1509-1564). It was taught centuries before he was born, but he popularized it in the Reformation with his theological treatise titled “The Institutes of the Christian Religion”.
Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) took the opposite position. These two men never knew each other personally. Arminius was only 4 years old when John Calvin died. But he read Calvin’s book and said, “No way, José'' (and he wasn’t even Spanish). So Jacob Arminius went “slingshot” to the other extreme and came up with his own theology to counter Calvin. Essentially, Arminian theology says that man has a part in his salvation because he has the free will to ask for it. In extreme Arminian positions, it goes further to include works for salvation. In those cases, the Arminian is not saved, since Ephesians 2:8-9 says we are saved by grace and not works. The other aspect of Arminian theology deals with the believer after he is saved. Arminians teach that man has to keep his salvation by works and can lose it when he sins. This is the primary practical manifestation of Arminian theology today in Christian churches.
A question often posed to prospective pastors, missionaries, and Bible College students or teachers is, “Are you Calvinist or Arminian?”. But there is a third option. I believe the Bible. When John Calvin lines up with the Bible, I am a Calvinist. When Jacob Arminius lines up with the Bible, I am an Arminian. When they do not, which is usually the case, I am neither. This type of question is designed to hang labels around people and pigeon-hole them into a position. I teach the Church History course at Living Faith Bible Institute. We cover briefly the doctrines and controversy between Calvin and Arminius, and one of the questions on the test is, “Are you Calvinist or Arminian?” I tell the students they can give me any answer they want, no matter how snarky it is, as long as they do NOT give me one of the two positions.
The typical Christian life is lived three steps forward, two steps back. We struggle with our flesh and sin nature, and we have a subtil and invisible enemy who seeks to destroy us at every turn. But as long as we stay faithful and consistent in the word and in fellowship, we can take the three steps forward and keep moving to the goal of spiritual maturity. It IS attainable in this life when we keep our eyes on the Lord. If you take three steps forward and two back every day of your life, at the end of 30-40 years, you will be a significant distance away from where you started. That is the biblical and practical reality of our life in Christ. But Calvinism is three steps forward, put it in park until heaven. There is NO spiritual growth for a Calvinist because he is satisfied that he is one of the “elect”. There is no need to share his faith because whatever will be will be. The true Calvinist is useless in the ministry because of his theology. Then the Arminians are three steps forward, three steps back. They are also useless in the ministry, but for a different reason. Every time an Arminian sins, he has to get saved again. A true Arminian can never grow in Christ because he is back at the cross every day starting over again. He gets “born again” again and again every day.
Arminian theology loves to camp out in James chapter 2 where we read, “Faith without works is dead.” They fail to understand that James is talking about the type of works that MAN sees, not what God sees. God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Additionally, James is doctrinally written to the “twelve tribes” (James 1:1). It is a Tribulation epistle and does not apply doctrinally to the church. Galatians 2:16 says man is NOT justified by works. That is the doctrine for the church.
Arminians also hang their hats on two passages in Hebrews to support their theology of the loss of salvation. I will quote them, and then briefly deal with each one with correct doctrine. But before I do, let me point out the most important thing to remember about these two passages. They are in the book of Hebrews. That means they are written to Hebrews. Isn’t the Bible so hard to understand?
Hebrews 6:4-6 says, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
Arminian theology says, “See there, you better not fall away or you will lose it!” Slow down and read the passage. It says, “If you fall away, it is impossible to be renewed again.” Arminians believe you can get saved again if you “lose it”. But this passage says if you lose it, you are toast. The only way to get saved again if you “lose it” is for Jesus to come back and be “crucified afresh”. It puts Jesus to an open shame because it says that his sacrifice on the cross 2,000 years ago was not sufficient to secure your soul. If anyone can lose it then get it back again, Jesus would have to die on the cross all over again every time a person got re-saved. How many times a day would that have to happen?
The other verse is Hebrews 10:26: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
Again, Arminians say, “See there, you better not sin wilfully or you can lose it.” First, every sin you commit is wilful! No one can sin unless they choose by an act of their free will to do so, and Arminians believe we have a free will! Second, slow down and read the words! This is not someone who has received the truth. They have received the knowledge of the truth. Paul is writing to his fellow Hebrews who received the information on how to be saved because they had the Son of God living among them. They rejected him. This is not written to a person who is saved. It is written to a person who has received the knowledge about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for his sins. Then after getting the information, he sins wilfully and says, “No thanks. I will find my own sacrifice.” There is no other sacrifice.
In both passages, the doctrine of eternal security is actually supported.
Again, this is a “broad brush” summary, but Calvinism largely finds its home today in the Presbyterian churches. That does not mean every Calvinist is a Presbyterian or that every Presbyterian is a Calvinist. But if you are looking for a Calvinist, start there and you are likely to find one. On the other side, the Arminians among us are generally found in Nazarene churches.
On a practical level, there are a couple of other movements or “branches” of Christianity where Arminian theology can be seen. First are the Charismatics. With their dependence on outward visible signs and miracles, they tend to think that their walk with God is only valid when they are speaking in tongues or other such things. They have to DO something to maintain their Christianity. When they do not, they lose it and have to get it back again.
Jimmy Swaggart was a Charismatic revival preacher from a couple of generations ago. I watched a lot of those revivals on television back in the day. He had some really awesome music. Then he would preach for a while, and his messages were OK. He had a fairly decent salvation presentation, albeit laced with signs and gifts and all the other Charismatic sidebars. His revival meetings were usually held in large arenas seating thousands of people, and they were generally filled to capacity. At the end of the show, he would give an invitation. People would stream down the aisles to come to the stage for salvation and Jimmy would lead them in a typical sinner’s prayer. There might be a thousand people crammed into the area in front of the stage praying to receive Christ. Maybe three of them were actually getting saved for the first (and only) time. The other 997 were getting saved for the 997th time. That is a practical manifestation of Arminian theology that says man has a part in keeping his salvation by works, and when he blows it, he has to come forward and get saved again. Three steps forward; three steps back.
Another type of Christianity that tends to Arminian theology is legalism. The typical legalist does not usually think he can lose salvation, but he bases his walk with God on his works. The legalist is right with God because he does not do certain things or hang with certain people or frequent certain places.
I am not Arminian because I do not try to please God by my works. Colossians 2:6 says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” We receive him by faith, and God’s grace is given to us as a result (Ephesians 2:8-9). So our walk after we are saved is by grace through faith as well. I am not Arminian because I know I am born again and I cannot lose that. My salvation is not up to me to keep. If it was, I would be in trouble. 2 Timothy 1:12 says, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” I am not Arminian because I am born again. Once you are born, you can’t get un-born. Birth is irreversible, and so is the new birth. How many times did Jesus die on the cross? How many times were you born? How many times do you need to be born again? If you answered anything other than ONE to all three of those questions, we need to talk.
Let me illustrate it with an old joke. A man goes to a Calvinist church hoping to join. They ask him, “Did you come here of your own free will?” He answers, “Yes.” So the Calvinists refuse to accept his membership saying that man does not have a free will. So he goes to the Arminian church and asks to join. They ask him the same question, “Did you come here of your own free will?” He responds, “No, the Calvinists sent me here.” So he cannot join the Arminian church either.
Bottom line: when one of these theological arguments comes racing down the street in front of your house, don’t run out in the middle of the street to take it on. You just might find yourself getting run over. You are a Bible believer – plain and simple.
Greg Axe is the pastor of Crest Bible Church in Merriam, KS and the author of Church History and Revelation Made Simple, both available through Living Faith Books.
