Romans 5:2
Romans 5:1-2 (see also Ephesians 1:13)
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “All salvific benefits are ‘in Christ.’ And to be in Christ, one must believe. Rom 5:2 is extremely important but often overlooked. ... V. 2 is one of the most overlooked passages. I can guarantee you, if its wording supported Calvinism like it explicitly supports Arminianism, it would be one of the most quoted scriptures ever.” (SEA)
With Calvinism, it is our introduction by grace into this faith. But the verse is worded exactly the opposite, as instead, faith accesses grace. Also notice Ephesians 1:3, which grounds “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Calvinists imagine what they have in the Father, resulting in them being graced by the Father, so as to be given to the Son, as if the foundation of their status with God was “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...in the Father.”
John Calvin: “Paul, therefore, has rightly set before our eyes the sure pledge in Christ of the grace of God, in order to draw us more effectively from confidence in our works. He teaches us by the word access that salvation begins with Christ, and thus excludes the preparations by which foolish men imagine that they can anticipate the mercy of God. It is as if he said, ‘Christ meets the undeserving, and stretches forth His hand for their deliverance.’ He adds immediately afterwards that it is through the continuance of the same grace that our salvation remains firm and secure.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Romans and Thessalonians, p.105, emphasis mine)
Missing from John Calvin’s remarks are any mention of how faith accesses grace.
