The names of the doctrines themselves are rather misleading, as what we call Calvinism today was not explicitly taught by Calvin¹ and has come to focus more on the TULIP acronym than on the doctine which Calvin emphasized--God's sovereignty. Arminianism, as well, has a questionable relationship with Arminius' true teachings. The debate has become a struggle of labels and extremes, rather than a search for Biblical truth. Arguments are often generalized according to which category a certain doctrinal thought is assumed to fall into. To avoid these dangers, it is best not to address Calvinism and Arminianism as schools of thought, but to address specifically the doctrines involved--man's will, election, the atonement of Christ, and the security of the believer.

Man's Will

The Bible teaches that man's nature is sinful, yet by the power of God, man is able to freely choose to accept or reject God's grace. Because of man's fallen nature, he is unable to choose God by himself:

among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest...Ephesians 2:3

Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness?Romans 6:16

19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.Romans 6:19-20

10 just as it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one,
11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not even one."Romans 3:10-12

John 6:44-45John 6:44-45
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me. is often used as a proof text for both man's depravity and God's irresistable grace. These verses do make clear that we cannot choose God without Him first calling us, providing an explicit Biblical argument for man's depraved nature. However, total depravity is actually refuted by these verses, as they suggest that man can come to Christ once the Father draws him ("unless the Father who sent me draws him").

Verse 45 sounds at first to be supporting the idea of limited atonement and irresistable grace. However, the word used in these verses for "draws" is helkyo, which is the same word translated "draw" in John 12:32John 12:32
32 "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.". The verses in John actually argue against irrestistable grace, then, because the Bible teaches that God draws all men, yet we know that not all men are saved. Proverbs more explicitly affirms man's ability to refuse God's calling:

However, because I called but you refused to listen,
because I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention,Proverbs 1:24

The Bible also teaches that God wills that all should be saved:

The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.2 Peter 3:9

since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.1 Timothy 2:4

Since not all are saved, this proves that God's will is not irresistable. It also disproves the idea that God chooses some for salvation and not others. Scripture elsewhere teaches that man can and does resist God:

but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.John 5:40

You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did!Acts 7:51

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!Matthew 23:37

Notice that Christ doesn't say, "You cannot come to me," but rather, "You are not willing to come to me..." (John 5:40). The problem is not that man is unable to choose salvation per se, but that man is not willing. Without God's grace, man chooses sin, but it is still a choice.

We are left with the conclusion that while man is in and of himself unable to choose God, God works in him to make it possible for him to freely choose God, while man is also free to reject God's grace of his own will. So, with man's will and the nature of God's grace dealt with, the next question is: Who are those who will freely choose God, and who are those who will, in their free and fallen will, choose to reject Him?

A Logical Proof of Man's Free Will

Humanists and Calvinists both subscribe to determinisn--a philosophy of man which states that the future is predetermined. When an apparent choice is made, it is not the subject's choice to choose the choice he chooses, thus choice is merely an illusion. This can be summed up in the equation x + y = z. For psychologists, this is "nature vs nurture," where a subject's biology (x) and environment (y) determine how the subject will behave. Man is nothing more than a computer (x) whose output (z) is determined by the input (y).

In Calvinism (and other religious determinism), since God created all creation according to His omniscience, then life is a series of predetermined events. God created Adam with and Eve with certain biologies and put them in the garden. Their sin, then, was not their choice, because it was the only choice their predetermined biologies would allow them to make in their predetermined environments. They were robots acting only as they were programmed to.

There are two problems with determinism:

1. It makes God the author of sin. God is then
   • self-contradictory, since He wills sin into existence, and
   • unjust, since He punishes man for doing what He forced man to do
2. It cannot explain how it is that God's will does not always occur, as was proven in the above section. That is, x + y != z.

These problems necessitate that determinism not be true. But how can this be? The answer is: Free will. There is a missing variable in the equation. It is not x + y = z, but x + y + F = z, where F (free will) is given to man by God in such a way that man is capable of making his own choices, influenced by his biology and his circumstances, yet not controlled by them. This is the only possible way to explain sin and for God to be just, and how it is that God's will is not always fulfilled.

Election

Paul rebukes those who would question the fairness of God's election:

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For he says to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.

19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?" 20 But who indeed are you - a mere human being - to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? 22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? 123 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory...?Romans 9:14-23

Some think Paul is defending predestination here. However, there are actually two separate issues. Notice that Paul is not chastizing the people for questioning predestination--he is chastizing them for questioning God's right to do as He pleases. In fact, in the latter section, Paul seems to indicate that God does not predestine men, but gives them a choice and a chance to respond: "But what if God...has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?" (22) To paraphrase, Paul is saying, "So what? What if God predestines people to hell? You don't have the right to tell God what to do, or what's wrong and what's right. He can do what He wants. But what if what you're complaining about isn't what actually happens anyway...." Unfortunately, Paul doesn't go on to explain how this all works. Perhaps the relationship between God's sovereign election and man's free will is one of the secret things of God (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Possible Explanations

Many theologians do not believe man's will and God's election can be reconciled, so they split on the issue, denying one or the other. Those who understand that the Bible teaches both, however, offer two possible explanations for how God's election and man's free will cooperate:

1. God's election is based on His foreknowledge of who would have faith in Him (Romans 8:29Romans 8:29
   29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.). God did not predestine us to believe, but He predestined that those who do believe would see further blessings.
2. God's election is corporate in nature, rather than individual. This means that God chose a certain group--believers--to be children of God, just as He chose Israel to be His nation. This does not mean that God chose which individuals would make up the chosen group.

These things aside, Paul makes it clear that we are not to question God. Both God's sovereign election and man's free will are clearly taught in Scripture, and this should be enough for us. However this all works out, we can trust that it is right.

The Atonement

If Christ died for the sins of the world, then how is it that not all are saved? If, on the other hand, Christ died only for those who would believe, then how can we say that the unsaved ever had a choice? Both of these questions arise from a misunderstanding of the sacrifice itself. Those who believe that Christ's blood was for a select few argue that if it were shed for everyone, then this would make man's will more powerful than the blood of Christ, as His blood would not be enough to cleanse those who chose not to believe. Those who argue for universal atonement tend to suggest that Christ's blood is offered on the cross (provisional reconciliation), but it is only applied (effectual reconciliation) when the convicted sinner accepts it, thus the power of the blood is not being denied at all. A stain remover needs to be applied to a stain before it can remove it! This explanation adequately answer alll objections offered by proponents of limited atonement. Christ paid for the sins of the world. His atoning blood is limited only effectually, though provision has been made for all. Condemnation is not because of man's sinful actions, but because of his unbelief.

The Bible teaches that Jesus took away the sins of the world:

On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"John 1:29

who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God's purpose at his appointed time.1 Timothy 2:6

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.Titus 2:11

Those who believe in limited atonement deny these verses their context and authorial intent, arguing that the "world" referred to in these verses is only the "world" of the saved. Again, Scripture is clear that Christ died for "everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). If there is any doubt, 1 John 2:2 makes it clear that Christ died not just for the sins of believers, "but also for the whole world." Christ nailed the law to the cross (Colossians 2:14), reconciled us by nullifying the law (Ephesians 2:15-16), and fulfilled the requirements of the law (Matthew 5:17). By purchasing the lost--by paying the price for the world's sin--Christ made it possible for all to be saved through faith (2 Corinthians 5:19). Christ brought us from under the law so that we could be saved (Galatians 4:5).

There is an abundance of passages that prove universal atonement (1 Timothy 2:5-6; 4:10, 1 John 2:2, John 4:42, 1 John 4:14, John 3:16-17, Isaiah 53:6, Hebrews 2:9). As noted above, however, Calvinists and others who believe in limited atonement will deny these verses their context and redefine words. In an effort to persuade even the most stubborn, consider the following verses:

But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!Romans 5:15

Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people.Romans 5:18

Here we have a clear indication that Christ's atonement was sufficient for all, just as Adam's sin condemned all. The extent of the effects of Adam's sin (all mankind) is compared to the extent of Christ's atonement (all mankind). If there is any remaining question as to the universality of Christ's atonement, 2 Peter 2:1 specifically states that the unsaved false teachers were also purchased by Christ:

But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves.2 Peter 2:1

Christ's sacrifice placed all of humanity in a position to respond to God in faith, which is the requirement for salvation. Is man also free to choose to reject the salvation he once chose? This is the question of eternal security.

The Security of the Believer

Proponents of irresistable grace often argue that if man has free will to respond to God or to reject Him, then man must also be able to choose to be "un-saved." After all, if he is unable to make this choice, then he must not have free will! Of course, many who believe in free will agree with this statement. Other free will advocates, however, suggest that man's free will does not contradict the eternal security of the believer. They acknowledge the clear teaching of Scripture that believers will endure to the end. As for those who "leave" the faith, Scripture plainly states that they were never true believers to begin with:

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.1 John 2:19

In the case of those who freely choose to have sex, they can no longer freely choose to be a virgin. In this same way, once the free choice is made to believe, there is no choice to be un-saved. It is not that the person's will is controlled, but rather that the choice does not exist. Man cannot choose to teleport himself from here to the moon, or to sprout wings and soar through the clouds, but no one suggests that, because of these things, man does not have free will.

From a Biblical standpoint, the security of the believer is not his own act of perseverance, but God's act of preservation. Romans 8:29-30Romans 8:29-30
29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. tells us that God predestined believers to realize the full blessings of salvation. If one is a believer, then one is predestined by God to remain saved. Jude tells us that believers are kept safe for Christ, and 1 Peter 1:4-5 tells us that God is the one who protects us until the end. Believers will never perish, because the Father keeps us:

27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father's hand.John 10:27-29

The "problem passages" for eternal security are actually misinterpretations. Hebrews 6, for instance, speaks not of apostasy (falling away), but of stumbling alongside Christ. It is about fellowship, not salvation. Those Christians who continue to sin, according to Hebrews, have ne message that will convince them to repent again, because they already know the truth, and as sinning Christians, they are humiliating Christ before the world. Nowhere is it suggested that salvation is lost. A more detailed explanation of the Hebrews passage can be found here: Hebrews 6 and Eternal Security.

Notes

1 One example of how far so-called Calvinism is from the historical teachings of Calvin is the doctrine of limited atonement. Today's Calvinism teaches that Christ died for only a select few--it was limited. Calvin, on the other hand, taught that Christ's atonement was universal.

He makes this favor common to all, because it is propounded to all, and not because it is in reality extended to all; for though Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, and is offered through God's benignity indiscriminately to all, yet all do not receive him.Calvin, in his commentary on Romans 5:18