What is an Arminian?
Armininians follow the teachings of Jacobus Arminius, who interestingly enough was a student of John Calvin. Arminius rejected the ideas that Calvin taught about God's Sovereignty and His Divine plan for redemption. Arminius felt that Calvin's system of theology was too restrictive to man's will and ideas. John Calvin, a reformer who pulled out of the Roman Catholic Church over doctrinal issues, held to many of the same doctrines Saint Augustine did. Jacobus Arminius on the other hand borrowed his ideas from Augustine's counterpart, Pelagius. The followers of Pelagius were known as Pelagians and condemned as heretics by the Catholic church in the 400's. The followers of Jacobus Arminius are known as Arminians and the followers of John Calvin are known as Calvinists. A side note, Baptists held to Sovereign Grace prior to the Reformation and were never part of the Roman Catholic Church as were Arminius, Calvin, Pelagius, and Augustine.
The controversy between the Arminians and Calvinists is not new it dates back to the 400's and the debate between Augustine and Pelagius. The controversy was rekindled with the Reformation. There are many who hold to both sides of the debate. Since, the Bible is truth and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice, we must look at the Biblical truths. Either Arminians are right or the Calvinists are or as some claim the truth is somewhere between.
There are five main points of Arminianism.
Human Ability. The first main point is central to the rest of this view. Man has the power and ability to determine all his future. This point is also the basis for Humanism. Man is essentially good and given the chance will make the right decisions. (a flaw to this idea is that if this were true, then why is the world in such bad shape?) The basis that is shown from the Bible is that man is created in the image of God, Genesis 2. The attributes of God are then passed on to man. The fall by Adam and Eve seriously injured this effect, but didn't eliminate it. Genesis 3. Further Paul Crouch and others followed this line of thinking further when in the early 90's they claimed that we are "little gods". (which violates the ten commandments in Exodus)
Since, man is essentially good, but sometimes sins and thus needs to be saved, man can willfully choose to accept or reject God at any time he feels like it. According to this view man's will is not enslaved to his sin nature. So then the choice to be saved hinges completely on man and God has no part in the matter. Man can on his own gain the faith necessary to believe and doesn't need God to give it to him. (Ephesians 2:8,9 contradicts this since salvation is a gift.) Man is the author of his own salvation and not God. The central theme of Arminianism is that salvation hinges on man not on God. Man can seek God according to Arminianism.
Calvinist teach otherwise, they teach that salvation hinges on Jesus Christ Who is both God and man incarnate in One flesh. Calvinist agree that we were created perfect, because were in the image of God, but we lost that perfection when Adam and Eve sinned. Calvinist teach that man's will is in bondage to his sin nature and that when Adam sinned we inherited his sinful nature and are enslaved to it. Romans 5:12-14. This is called the doctrine of Original Sin or Total Depravity. We are dead in our trespasses and sins prior to salvation and there isn't anything we can do to save ourselves. Only God can save us. The central theme of Calvinism is that salvation hinges on God and not man. Romans 3:10,11,23 We all are sinners. No one seeks after God.
An analogy of the truth on this subject is how much yeast does it take to leaven dough? Just a little. So how much of a sin nature does it take to make a person a sinner? Just what we inherited from Adam. Psalms 51:5 According to the Bible we are born sinners. "There is none that seeketh after God." We don't seek God, He seeks us. Jesus said that He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." We are the reason Jesus came to give His life as a ransom. Salvation hinges on Jesus Christ and not on man's abilities.
Conditional Election. According to Arminianism, since we have Human Ability we are conditionally elect. God is all knowing and thus He knew in advance who would choose Him and who would reject. Romans 8:29 God's choice to elect us actually depended on our choice to choose Him first. (John 15:16 refutes this point) As Arminians believe that salvation hinges on themselves, God must do what we choose. This idea of God being in submission to our wills was the basis for the Name It and Claim It. (John 14:14 taken out of context was used in this idea). Since, man is sovereign God must do what man wants Him to do. The choice by the sinner to choose God is ultimately the sinner's choice.
Calvinists disagree and believe that man is Unconditionally Elect. God in His Sovereign Grace chose us out to salvation before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 God says to the lost "depart from Me, I never knew you." God only knows those who are His own. "My sheep know My voice" True believers belong to God. We are His people and the sheep of His pastures. He knows us, because we belong to Him. Since God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, we could not have possibly chose Him since we weren't there. John 15:16 says that He chose us. When we come to Christ, many times we think that we chose God, but who convicted our hearts of sin? Who showed us that we were lost and headed for hell without Jesus Christ? Who broke down our will so that we would accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior? God worked in our lives to "draw" us out to salvation. Why? Because God loved us so much that He would not let us remain enslaved to our sinful wills. The choice for a sinner to be saved is ultimately God's. God is God and we are not. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. We can not ask our Potter why He chose this way, because He is the potter and the choice is in His hands. Romans 9:11-14
An analogy of the truth. At an orphanage, who chooses the children who are to adopted? The parent or the child? The parent makes the choice. God is the Parent. Another analogy, at a slave market who made the choice to buy a slave? The buyer or the slave? The slave had no money to pay for his own purchase. We the sinners don't have what it takes to purchase ourselves out of the slave market of sin. Jesus paid the price for our sins in His own body on the cross of Calvary. He bought us for the purpose of setting us free. Even as a slave has no money to buy himself, we don't have sinless perfection that it takes to buy our own salvation. Jesus is the only way to be saved. He paid the price so He does the buying of the slave to sin. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the earth. Ephesians 1:4 The faith needed to believe is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8,9 & Galatians 5:22 Who chooses who gets a gift? The person giving or the person receiving? The giver of the gift chooses the recipient. The choice to save the sinner is ultimately God's choice.
Unlimited Redemption and Atonement. There are two camps within the Arminians on this point, one is called the Universalist or Unitarians, the other are the more mainstream groups like Methodists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, etc. Since there are two views both will be presented.
First, the more extreme view is that since Jesus died for all, then all are saved. There is no need to be saved, because you already are. Everyone is saved according to this view regardless of religion. We all should just work together whether we are Buddhists, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. This view means that people like Osama Bin Laden, Hitler, Mussolini, etc. are saved without knowing it. Obviously this view contradicts the Bible. There would not be a hell where the rich man was in Jesus' parable, if everyone were saved. Luke 16:23 The gate wouldn't be narrow that leads to redemption, if this were true. Romans 3:23, 6:23 Our willful choice to sin does have consequences and one major one being that it separates us from God. We are sinners and not saved automatically.
The second more mainstream view is that Jesus died for all, but it is our choice to accept or reject Him. The Atonement is unlimited, but redemption is limited. This view is close to the Infralapsarian Calvinist view, but also differs some. The main difference is where the Sovereignty is placed. Arminians place the sovereignty almost completely on man. The Infralapsarian Calvinist places the Sovereignty on God, because He is the One Who draws lost souls to salvation. Of the main views of Arminianism and Calvinism this is the area where the mainstream groups of both sides come the closest to agreement. Now that the area of agreement has been highlighted we will go to where the two sides disagree. The mainstream Arminians believe, Jesus death makes it possible for everyone to be saved , but doesn't secure salvation for anyone. Since, their is no security in salvation, then salvation hinges on man. The mainstream Infralapsarian Calvinists believe, that the Blood of Jesus Christ does secure salvation for the elect. Infralapsarian Calvinists believe that the Blood of Christ is sufficient for all, but only efficient for those who believe. When Jesus died on the cross, His death secured salvation for everyone who believes on His Name. John 3:16, Romans 5:10 Only those who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are saved. Romans 10:9,10 Calvinists believe that salvation hinges on God and not man.
Supralapsarian Calvinists believe in Limited Atonement, where as Infralapsarians believe in Limited Redemption. Supralapsarians believe that the Blood of Christ only secures salvation for the elect and that it is only sufficient and efficient for the elect of God. In other words, Jesus died only for the elect and not the sins of the whole world. I myself am an Infralapsarian Calvinist and do not agree with this view as I do not agree with the Arminian view either. Jesus did die for the sins of all the world, but not everyone will be saved. There also is no such thing as being a child of the covenant and inheriting salvation from your parents. Each person is born into this world a sinner in need of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. God limits redemption to those who believe in Jesus Christ, but He extends His invitation to all. Only we by our sinful natures willfully reject His call to salvation. Only God can draw us out to salvation. As was noted above, salvation is a free gift of God. Ephesians 2:8,9
Resistible Grace. According to the Arminians, Since, man has a freewill and is able to choose God, then God's grace must be resistible. Man can either choose to accept or reject God. The decision making is in the hands of man. This falls in line with the belief of the superiority of man's ability to choose. All Arminianism flows from the first point of man's ability. Without God's help man has the ability to choose or reject God, so when God extends His call to salvation man can make the decision. When the Holy Spirit calls man can say no, according to this view.
The Calvinist view is that man cannot resist God's grace. God's grace is Irresistible Grace. God is more powerful than we are and able to change our wills. Our will by nature is enslaved to sin and always willfully rejects God, but God through His love sends the Holy Spirit to drags us out to salvation. A dead person cannot and will not do anything on their own. John 6:44 "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day." No one can come to God except they are drawn. The word in Greek is the word helkuo, which means “to draw, to draw out or towards” literally to drag. Side note the same word is used in Acts 16:19, the same word is translated “dragged” in the NKJV, Amplified Version, NASV and the NIV. When the Holy Spirit draws us He literally drags us. We do not go willingly.
An analogy, if you wish to move a dead corpse from one place to another do you explain to the corpse why he should choose to get up and go to the other side of the room? No? Why? Because, the dead person does not have the power to make the choice, because he is dead. The dead person is unable to give himself life to make the choice to go the other side of the room. The Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins, we are powerless to give ourselves life. Only God can give us life. The Holy Spirit is the One Who gives us the faith needed to believe and He creates us into a new creature in Christ Jesus. We are unable to resist God's grace, because He has all the power. The corpse is dragged not base on their will, but based on the will of the one who does the dragging. The same is true of our salvation. When we come to Christ, we come not based on our will, but based on the will of the One Who does the dragging. We are unable to resist, since we are dead in sin. Ephesians 2:8,9 Salvation is a gift of God and not based on our works.
Falling from Grace. This point of Arminianism spring from man's free will. If man can willfully choose God at one time, then later he can willfully reject God or fall from grace. In other words, salvation is not everlasting or eternal. (John 3:16 contradicts this view) There are three camps within Arminianism on this view too.
The first more extreme view teach that every time a person sins they lose their salvation, so salvation depends on their actions. This more extreme group is called the "holiness" group. Many times you will hear a "holiness" person brag about how many years they haven't sinned in. Pride and lying are both sins, so right then they blew it.
The mainstream Arminian view is that a sin doesn't constitute losing your salvation, but extreme backsliding does. The mainstream group teaches that a person can go back into the world of sin and after remaining there for some time loses their salvation. Calvinists believe that those persons who can live in the world without conviction of sin were never truly saved to begin with. There is a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Head knowledge produces unrepentant sinners who sit in church pews and then sometimes return to the world. Heart knowledge produces true converts. Side note, easy believism produces head knowledge only, that is why we must only use God's biblical methods of evangelism and skip the modern day man centered "seeker sensitive" sermons that avoid showing the lost that they are sinners. We must use the Law of the Lord in evangelism, just as Spurgeon did.
The third group within the Arminians teach that once man is saved, he can never lose his salvation and thus can live anyway he pleases. Note, mainstream Arminians disagree with both eternal security and the ability to sin continuously. This third group holds to 4 points of Arminianism and then pick the 1 point of Calvinism they like, then they change the 1 point of Calvinism into something more appealing. This is why you will hear some Arminians rail against "once saved, always saved." The abuse of God's grace by this group of Arminians has brought about much division in the Arminians camp.
The Calvinists believe that once someone is truly converted they are secure in Jesus Christ. The same Blood that has the power to save them, has the power to keep them saved. John Calvin states that I John 1:9 "is a remedy for sin, not a license to sin." John 14:15 If we love God, then we will obey Him. We are not saved by our works, and we are not kept saved by our works. Ephesians 2:8,9 Faith produces works, but works never produces faith. Even as our initial salvation hinges on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so does our retention of salvation. John 3:16 Notice "everlasting life" Everlasting lasts forever. Ephesians 1:13 We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. We cannot fall or apostatize, because the Holy Spirit won't allow us to. We can quench the Holy Spirit, which is something that we shouldn't do. But we cannot lose our salvation. Be very careful to make sure you are truly saved though. "Make your calling and election sure." If you can sin and stay in sin without the Holy Spirit convicting you, then check your salvation. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a way we can know that we are saved. "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His." The Holy Spirit seals us in Christ. We must have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be saved. At salvation, the Holy Spirit comes in and seals us in Christ. The Holy Spirit keeps us saved.
Conclusion. The Arminian view point is based on Pelagianism. There are many well meaning people who believe the Arminian mainstream view who are unaware of its origins and who with their whole hearts love the Lord. The question that is debated in some circles is are they saved? They ask the same of us Calvinists. There is a debate within some Calvinist circles on how many points of Calvinism someone must hold to be saved and which ones. Sometimes we don't have to understand totally God's redemptive plan, but we must wholly place our faith totally in Jesus Christ and allow our salvation to hinge on Him. Those who are using works to be saved or keep their salvation need to revisit Ephesians 2:8,9 Those who never have seen themselves as sinners lost and undone without Jesus Christ are not saved and need to read this Page -- Are you a good person. As we look into the Law of God, we see ourselves for what we are sinners. Romans 3:23 So if you haven't ever been convinced you are lost, then you never have been saved. We don't have to understand everything about Soteriology (the Doctrine of Salvation) to be saved, but we must repent of our sins and place our faith in the Redeeming work of Jesus Christ. As we grow in the Lord, after salvation we should learn more about Soteriology. If you want a more in depth view of the doctrine of Salvation, then read the Salvation Series.
Also for further study read Arminianism Vs. Calvinism and What is a Calvinist. The best most in depth view is the Salvation Series. An interesting read for everyone is Are you a good person.