Saturday, February 13, 2010

Arminianism: A Rejection of Sola Gratia

It strikes me as a bit of a mystery how some Christians believe in justification by faith alone (sola fide), but not in salvation by grace alone (sola gratia). Yet this is the essence of the division between Arminianism and Calvinism. As the opposite of faith is works, so the opposite of grace is merit. Arminianism claims that although our works do not contribute to our justification (we cannot earn God's forgiveness), there is still some human merit involved in our salvation (we do deserve God's forgiveness).

Regardless of our individual theologies, all Christians share a set of common experiences. Every person who is a Christian today at some point in the past made a decision to repent of his sins and trust in the person and work of Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. Some believers can specify the date on which they made this decision; others cannot. Regardless, every Christian on earth made a conscious choice to follow Christ.

As believers progress in the Christian life, glorifying and enjoying God by trusting him and obeying him, they notice fellow human beings who do not follow Christ. These members of Adam's fallen race have the same opportunities to respond to the gospel - yet they reject the salvation freely offered. The believer is left with a basic question: Why did I choose to accept Christ, while this other person choses to reject him?

Arminianism and Calvinism give opposite answers to this question. According to Arminianism, the person who is now a Christian decided to believe in Jesus because there was something superior about him that made him different from other sinners. He had a better heart, a greater willingness to seek after God, a more genuine determination to make right decisions. The person who decided to reject Christ did so because he was more evil than the person who became a believer. He had no desire to seek after God or do the right thing. He ends up apart from Christ and ultimately lost on the last day.

Through such an answer Arminianism reintroduces human merit/dessert into the process of salvation. Those who are saved end up saved because there is something different about them, something superior about them that sets them apart from other sinners. They repented and believed when others did not; thus they deserve God's salvation (though they do not earn it). Their choice to follow Jesus sets them apart. Justified by faith alone? Yes. Saved by grace alone? No.

To formalize their rejection of sola gratia, the Arminian remonstrants of the early 1600's organized five attacks against Luther's Refomation theology. Today these are known as the Five Points of Arminianism:

1) Partial Depravity. Man may be drowning in sin, but he is not dead in sin. A sinner can choose to repent and believe in Christ without receiving help from the Holy Spirit to do so. Deep down inside, humans are just not that evil. There is enough good in me that I can choose to do good on my own. Why did I decide to follow Jesus when my college roommate decided to reject him? Because I am a better person than he is.

2) Conditional Election. God may choose whom he is going to save (the word "predestination" is in the Bible, after all), but he only chooses whom he chooses because he knows they are one day going to choose him! God's choice is therefore conditional: it is based upon something in the chosen sinner that sets him apart from the sinner who does not get chosen. Why did God choose to save me but not save my roommate? Because he likes me more than he likes my roommate. There is something about me that makes me superior to my roommate, that makes God prefer me. God chose me because I deserve it.

3) Unlimited Atonement. Jesus died for every single person who ever lived or ever will live. In doing so Jesus has made salvation possible for every human being. That salvation is like money in a bank account just waiting to be withdrawn. When a person believes in Jesus he gets the money. Because Jesus died for everyone, yet everyone does not end up in heaven, this means that our decision whether or not to believe is what determines whether or not the death of Christ saves us. The work of Christ only became effectual, it only resulted in my salvation, when I chose to accept it. Thus my decision completes or finishes what Jesus did, giving his work the power to do what it cannot do on its own.

4) Resistable Grace. God may call me to his Son through the preaching and service of his church, but I can resist and reject this call if I so choose. Thus it is the hardness or softness of each individual heart that determines whether or not each sinner finally repents and believes. Why did I choose to hear the gospel, really hear it and submit to it? Because I am different than those who reject it. I am a better person, one more inclined toward the things of God, one more interested in listening. I could have resisted God's call, but I didn't. I am a better person than the people who do reject God's call. My innate goodness and willingness to believe sets me apart from those who refuse to hear.

5) Reversible Salvation. It is possible for me to stop believing in Jesus, to reject him and go my own way. When Christians backslide in this way, God unjustifies them and unadopts them. In other words, they lose their salvation. If they had died before turning away, they would have done to heaven. But now if they die in this unrepentant state, they will go to hell. They can certainly turn back to Christ and be saved once again. And so a person can spend his life on earth going back and forth between a state of being saved, then unsaved; saved again, then unsaved again. One can therefore never be assured of his salvation. I secured my salvation through my own act of repenting and believing. Therefore it is always possible to lose my salvation through my own act of backsliding. Given that the will and attitude of the human heart can always change, a salvation based upon the will and attitude of the human heart can always change.

In response to the Arminian attack on sola gratia, church leaders met at the Synod of Dordt in 1618-19 and systematized the Five Points of Calvinism. I will save a definition and defense of the Five Points for another entry. At this point allow me simply to emphasize that the Five Points of Calvinism were formulated for one purpose: to defend sola gratia.

The Reformers summarized Protestant theology under these five headings:


Sola Scriptura - we get our doctrine from the Bible alone (as opposed to church tradition)

Sola Fide - we are justifed by faith alone (as opposed to earning forgiveness through works)

Sola Gratia - we are saved by grace alone (as opposed to deserving salvation)

Solus Christus - Christ is only Mediator between God and man (vs. Pope, Mary, saints, priests)

Soli Deo Gloria - if the first four solas are true, then God gets all the credit for our salvation


Sometimes Christians get the Five Solas confused with the Five Points of Calvinism. They are not the same thing. The Five Solas were developed at the start of the Reformation. They summarize the doctrine of Luther and Calvin. The Five Points of Calvinism were written a hundred years after the Reformation began. The Five Points of Calvinism all fall under one of the five solas: sola gratia. The Five Points of Calvinism were formulated to uphold and defend sola gratia. If the Arminians had not attacked sola gratia, the Five Points of Calvinism never would have been developed as we have them today.

I am friends with a lot of Christians who know the Five Points of Calvinism. These brothers and sisters agree with the Five Points, affirm them, teach them, and can even defend them from the Bible. But when I ask these fellow believers point-blank, "Why do the Five Points matter?" they give me an empty stare. They have not made the mental connection between sola gratia and the Five Points. They do not understand why the Five Points were written in the first place. They do not understand that in debating the Five Points of Calvinism we are doing nothing less than debating the very heart of the gospel: are we, or are we not, saved by grace alone?

My challenge to you is that in your mind you connect sola gratia with the Five Points of Calvinism. When asked, "Why do the Five Points matter?" I want you to respond without a moment's hesitation: "The Five Points defend the third sola. Only if the Five Points are true are we saved by grace alone. The Five Points are all about grace. We do not deserve or merit God's salvation. It is a free gift from first to last."

Christianity is about grace. The gospel is about grace. And this is what is most unique or distinctive about Reformed theology: a relentless proclamation of salvation by grace alone. What do Calvinists have that no one else has? Salvation by grace alone. Why do the Five Points of Calvinism matter so much? Because only if all five are true are we actually saved by grace alone. Why do we insist that the Five Points are central or core doctrines rather than secondary matters? Because what is at stake is the very definition of the gospel. We are not simply justified by faith alone. We are also saved by grace alone.

What is Calvinism? Grace. What is Reformed theology all about? Grace. Why uphold the Five Points of Calvinism no matter the cost? Grace. Only if the Five Points of Calvinism are true are we actually saved by grace alone.

For the rest of your life, may you never hesitate a moment when asked why the Five Points of Calvinism matter. Grace, grace, grace! May the word be near and dear to your heart. Praise be to God for his marvelous grace!