Calvinism and Arminianism:
Myths & Realities
Calvinist, Charles Spurgeon: “And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer?” (A Defense of Calvinism, emphasis mine)
Speaking of Arminians, Spurgeon says: “The say, ‘No, Christ has died that any man may be saved if’ --and then follow certain conditions of salvation.” (Particular Redemption, emphasis mine)
“Conditions” such as what? Conditions such “believes in Him” as per John 3:16?
A person is not saved by will power. Romans 9:16 makes it clear that God’s mercy is not triggered by human effort. Salvation is passive non-resistance, and about letting go, and stop saying “No” to Jesus, but instead saying, “Ok, Jesus, have your way in my life. I surrender to Your will. Save me, and forgive me of all of my sins, just as I now forgive everyone that has ever sinned against me.”
One Calvinist explains: “I would recommend that instead of relying on OUR decision to believe or in OUR belief/feelings that we are of the Elect, we follow Christ’s plan of salvation: ‘Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.’ Baptism is GOD’S act of salvation and it is OUR visible proof of his act to forgive our sins and save us. Praying the Sinner’s Prayer, Making a Decision For Christ, and Accepting Jesus into your Heart are nowhere to be found in the Bible. ‘Baptism now saves you’ most certainly is!” (emphasis mine)
However, no one is relying in our decision to believe. No one is putting faith in faith. Faith requires an object, and that object is the person of Jesus Christ.
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “Technically, it’s impossible to have faith in faith or free will. One could have faith in oneself, which would be self-confidence and not faith. Faith is an intransitive verb. It has no meaning in itself, but its meaning is found in an outside object from the one with faith. One cannot just have faith. One must have faith in something. Free will is merely what moves faith to an object. Without this freedom of movement, one would be brain dead and couldn’t even form a thought. These are not magical terms. Faith is not a magical ability that is ‘given’ to some that God chooses. You can have faith in any number of objects for any number of reasons. When someone has faith in Christ, Christ is the object of their faith, not themselves. Faith is literally the SUBMISSION of the will to the power of the object of their faith. Faith is not the assertion of one’s will over the object of their faith - that is impossible. Faith takes the subject with faith, through itself, and deposits the subject INTO the object of faith. It cannot be a work. It cannot earn merit. It places the essence of the subject, into the object. That’s how it works. All of this talk about false faith, or works faith, or free will controlling salvation, etc, is a red herring of the enemy to distract everyone it can from the object of salvation, which is Christ. There is no such thing as false faith. The Bible never talks about it, never warns people against it, and never discourages anyone from such a thing. Faith in election, for instance, is not a false faith, but faith in a false salvation. Instead, faith in Christ ALWAYS results in salvation, because that is the word of God, and He is faithful to His word and His promises. The entire issue of false faith, or free will faith, is a red herring lie, which detracts from faith in Christ. Free will faith basically just means you have a brain. What the Calvinist accuses of, is that the Arminian thinks that free will causes God to give salvation. This is errant and insulting to God. The fact is this: God has already completed all the work of salvation. It began in the council of triune Elohim God, in the womb of His mind, in the conception of creation. It was determined before, in front of, over and under, and in preeminence to the foundation, the knitting together, of the world. It was prophesied in Genesis, immediately after the first transgression. It was implemented throughout the genealogies, foreshadowed in the sacrifices, the Tabernacle, the feasts, the nation of Israel, through the prophets and the Scriptures, and in the fullness of time, the Son of the Godhead who was elected to be the Redeemer and the Christ, was born a man, was obedient to His predestination of death on the cross, and was risen from the dead in victory over death and sin, and crushed the head of Satan. Christ proclaimed, ‘It is finished’, and the work of atonement was complete. This was the work of God, and it was completed. He has ALREADY COMPLETED SALVATION. Free will has nothing to do with this work of God. Free will is having a thinking-mind that can use its will to move the belief, the assignment of truth, to the work of Christ to save. Free will isn’t apart from God’s grace. Nothing is apart from God’s grace. The very design of the mind and free will of man was FOR THE PURPOSE of relationship with God in a genuine sense.”
Calvinist Charge: Arminianism teaches salvation by Free Will.
Myth or Reality: The charge is essentially that Arminianism teaches that we are saved by our “work of faith,” or saved by our Free Will. However, the reality is that we are not saved by our Free Will or faith itself, but that we are saved by the object of our faith, Jesus Christ.
