FREE ESSAY ON CALVINISM VS. ARMINIANISM

CALVINISM VS. ARMINIANISM

According to Arminianism, salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God
(who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) - man's response being the
determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes
effective only for those who, of their own free will, choose to cooperate with Him and
accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man's will plays a decisive role; thus
man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation. According to
Calvinism, salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father
chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by
bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the
gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is
by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of
salvation.
Total Depravity
Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a
state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and
believe, but He does not interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner posses a free will,
and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability
to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful
nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated
or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he
does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's
act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God; it is man's
contribution to salvation. 
Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner
is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately
corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will
not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it
takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes
regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith
is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of
salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God.
Unconditional Election
God's choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world was
based upon His foreseeing that they would respond to His call. He selected only those
whom He knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel. Election therefore was
determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. The faith which God foresaw, and
upon which He based His choice was not given to the sinner by God (it was not created by
the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit) but resulted solely from man's will. It was
left entirely up to man as to who would believe and therefore as to who would be elected
unto salvation. God chose those whom He knew would, of their own free will, choose
Christ. Thus the sinner's choice of Christ, not God's choice of the sinner, is the
ultimate cause of salvation.
God's choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world
rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based
on any foreseen response of obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On
the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These
acts are the result, not the cause of God's choice. Election therefore was not determined
by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God
sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of
Christ. Thus God's choice of the sinner, not the sinner's choice of Christ, is the
ultimate cause of salvation.
Limited Atonement
Christ's redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved but did not actually
secure the salvation of anyone. Although Christ died for all men and for every man, only
those who believe on Him are saved. His death enabled God to pardon sinners on the
condition that they believe, but it did not actually put away anyone's sins. Christ's
redemption becomes effective only if man chooses to accept it.
Christ's redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured
salvation for them. His death was substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the
place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people,
Christ's redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith
which unites them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all
for whom Christ died, therefore guaranteeing their salvation.
Irresistible Grace
The Spirit calls inwardly all those who are called outwardly by the gospel invitation; He
does all that He can to bring every sinner to salvation. But inasmuch as man is free, he
can successfully resist the Spirit's call. The Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until
he believes; faith (which is man's contribution) proceeds and makes possible the new
birth. Thus, man's free will limits the Spirit in the application of Christ's saving
work. The Holy Spirit can only draw to Christ those who allow Him to have His way with
them. Until the sinner responds, the Spirit cannot give life. God's grace, therefore, is
not invincible; it can be, and often is, resisted and thwarted by man.
In addition to the outward general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears
the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably
brings them to salvation. The internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be
rejected; it always results in conversion. By means of this special call the Spirit
irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited in His work of applying salvation
by man's will, nor is He dependent upon man's cooperation for success. The Spirit
graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely
and willingly to Christ. God's grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result
in the salvation of those to whom it is extended.
Perseverance of the saints/Present assurance of the saints
Those who believe and are truly saved can lose their salvation by failing to keep up
their faith, etc. All Arminians have not been agreed on this point; some have held that
believers are eternally secure in Christ - that once a sinner is regenerated, he can
never be lost.
Calvinist believe all who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the
Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus
persevere to the end.
Bibliography
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, pp. 415-549.
(Calvinist) 
Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, pp. 907-928.
(Moderate Calvinist) 
Forster, Roger T. and Marston, V. Paul. God's Strategy in Human History. Wheaton: Tyndale
House Publishers, 1973. (Moderate Arminian) 
Murray, John. Redemption Applied and Accomplished. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 1989. (Calvinist) 
Packer, J. I. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press,
1961. (Calvinist) 
Pinnock, Clark, ed. Grace Unlimited. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1975.
(Moderate Arminian) 
Shank, Robert. Elect in the Son. Springfield, Mo.: Westcott Publishers, 1970. (Arminian)

Thiessen, Henry C. Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
Publishing, 1983. (Moderate Arminian)