Theological Perspectives: Calvinism and Arminianism

There are two major schools of thought when it comes to man's condition and his relationship to God before salvation. These two belief systems are referred to as Calvinism and Arminianism. The following is a brief synopsis of both ideas.

Arminianism

Free Will- Though man is in a state of depravity because of the fall in the Garden of Eden, he is not completely unable to make any right spiritual decisions. In this system, God will allow any person to repent and place his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, but He leaves it up to each individual and will not make anyone do so. Faith is man's act and he must exercise his faith before he can be saved.

Conditional Election- God chose those who would receive Him and be saved. However, this decision was based on His foreknowledge of who would and would not respond to His call. In short, He knew who would place their faith in Him, so He chose them.

General Atonement- Christ's death on the cross made it possible for every living person to be saved. His blood sacrifice was sufficient for every person, not just a select group. His sacrifice becomes efficient for those who place their faith in Him.

Resisting the Spirit- In this system, the work of the Holy Spirit can be resisted by the individual. Thus, a person may feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and reject it and choose not to be saved. Man's free will can keep the Holy Spirit from regenerating him.

Falling from Grace- Some who subscribe to Arminianism believe that as a man can choose to receive Christ, he can also fall away and reject Christ, thus lose his salvation. However, Arminians do not agree on this point. Many believe that once a person is born again he is eternally secure.

Churches which have historically held to this view include the Assemblies of God, Methodists and Nazarene churches, as well as the majority of Evangelical churches. Though this type of information is not generally preached and taught from the pulpit, it is usually evident by the church's philosophy of missions. Arminians see mission work as crucial because all sinners can make the decision to receive Christ.

Calvinism

Calvinism, named for its founder, John Calvin, is described using the acrostic, "TULIP".

T- Total depravity of man. This means that before salvation a person is completely blind and deaf to the things of God. He is spiritually dead and CANNOT make a decision to receive Christ on his own. Left to himself he will never choose to make a correct spiritual decision. Because of this, the Holy Spirit must regenerate him and give him the faith he needs to believe the gospel.

U- Unconditional election. God chose who would be saved before the foundation of the world completely based on His own will. This decision was not based on His foreknowledge of how they would respond to the gospel. Instead, God gave faith and repentance to each person he selected.

L- Limited Atonement. Jesus' death on the cross and His shedding of blood was only done for those who God elected to save. Jesus' death was enough to completely secure those who were to be saved, but was inefficient for those who were not elected.

I- Irresistable Grace. The Holy Spirit draws the elect to salvation. This drawing is "irresistible" and will result in the elected person's salvation. The person will cooperate by repenting and believing.

P- Perseverence of the saints. All who are chosen by God for salvation are eternally saved. They cannot fall away or walk away from their salvation, but are kept by the sovereign will of God.

Churches which have historically held to this view of salvation are the Lutheran and Episcopal churches, or any church subscribing to Covenant Theology.