I generally do not agree with some of the extreme positions taken on the Outside the Camp website. However, the following article regarding Arminianism expresses my own view of the matter. Since Arminianism directly contradicts the Gospel on every point of the five points of the Remonstrandts, then it is difficult to see how anyone could be saved under that system of doctrine. Here is the article in its entirety:
Is Arminianism a damnable heresy?
Most people who say they believe the doctrines of grace would agree that
Arminianism is a theological error. But as soon as one throws in the word
"heresy," the number of people who would go that far drops off quite
a bit. When one goes so far as to say that Arminianism is a damnable
heresy (thus saying that all who believe in Arminianism are unregenerate), then
the number of people who agree is narrowed to a very few. In fact, the
"tolerant sovereign-gracers" would call such a person an unloving,
divisive schismatic who is arguing over minute and complex theological issues.
Believing the doctrines of grace is just part of their "tradition" or
"heritage." Oh, the doctrines of grace are "precious
truths," but they are not essential to Christianity; they are merely a
"more Biblical perspective." Arminians are seen to be just "happily
inconsistent" Christians who "just need a little different emphasis
in their theology." Calling Arminians unregenerate is almost unheard of.
But we who
believe the true gospel know that this issue lies at the heart of Christianity.
The doctrines of grace are the basics of the Christian faith, not some higher
theology that only seminarians are able to understand. It is a life and death
issue; for if one is an Arminian, he is dead in his sins. It is an issue of
truth versus lies; an issue of the true gospel versus another gospel; an issue
of the true God versus a false god. In fact, the doctrines of grace are what
differentiate Christianity from every other false religion.
What do
Arminians believe?
(1)
Arminians believe that, although God is the creator of the universe, He did not
decree everything that comes to pass. This includes the belief that God did not
choose before the foundation of the earth who would be saved and who would be
damned. Instead, they say that God saw what would happen in the future and made
His determinations based on what human beings did.
What does
the Scripture say about God's decree and control of everything that comes to
pass?
"See
now that I, I [am] He, and there [is] no other God with Me. I kill, and I keep
alive. I wound and I heal, and there [is] no deliverer from My hand" (Deuteronomy
32:39). "Jehovah kills and keeps alive; He brings down and causes to go to
Sheol. Jehovah brings down, and He gives riches; He brings low; yea, He lifts
up high. He raises the poor from the dust; He lifts up the needy from the dunghill,
to cause [them] to sit with nobles; yea, He causes them to inherit a throne of
honor; for to Jehovah [are] the pillars of the earth; and He sets the habitable
world on them" (1 Samuel 2:6-8). "Behold, He breaks down, and no one
builds; He shuts against a man, and no one opens. Behold, He holds back the
waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they overflow the earth.
With Him [is] strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His.
He causes wise men to go stripped; and He makes judges fools. He loosens the
bonds of kings, and He binds their loins with a girdle; making priests walk
[away] stripped; and He overthrows the mighty; turning aside the lip of the
trusted men; and He takes away the reason of the aged. He pours scorn on
nobles, and He loosens the girdle of the mighty; revealing deep things out of
darkness; and He brings the shadow of death to light. He gives greatness to the
nations, and He destroys them; spreading out the nations, and He leads them
out. He takes away the heart of the heads of the people of the land; and He
causes them to wander in a waste [in which is] no path. They grope in the dark,
and [there] is no light; and He makes them stagger like a drunkard" (Job
12:14-25). "But He [is] in one [mind], and who can turn Him? Yea, His soul
desires, and He does [it]. For He fulfilled my lot, and many like these are
with Him" (Job 23:13-14). "But our God [is] in Heaven; He has done
all that He has pleased" (Psalm 115:3). "For I know that Jehovah [is]
great, and our Lord [is] above all gods. Every [thing] which Jehovah [was]
pleased to do, He did, in the heavens and in the earth, and in the seas and all
deep places. He causes the vapors to rise from the end of the earth; He makes
lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His storehouses" (Psalm
135:5-7). "The lot is cast into the lap, but all ordering of it [is] from
Jehovah" (Proverbs 16:33). "[As] streams of waters, the king's heart [is]
in the hand of Jehovah; He turns it wherever He desires" (Proverbs 21:1).
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? Was it not told to you from the
beginning? Did you not discern [from] the foundations of the earth? He who sits
on the circle of the earth, even those living in it are like grasshoppers; He
who stretches the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live
in; who gives potentates into nothing. He makes judges of the earth as nothing.
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they are not sown; yea, their stem [is]
not taking root in the earth. And He shall also blow on them, and they shall
wither, and the tempest shall lift them up like stubble. To whom then will you
compare Me, or [am] I equaled, says the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high and
look: Who has created these? Who brings out their host by number? By greatness
of vigor, and might of power, He calls them all by names; not one is
lacking" (Isaiah 40:21-26). "Behold, the former things have come to
pass, and I declare new things before they happen, I cause you to hear"
(Isaiah 42:9). "I [am] Jehovah, and [there is] none else; there is no God
except Me. I will clothe you, though you do not know Me, that they may know
from the rising of the sun, and to its going down, that [there is] none besides
Me; I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else; forming light, and creating
darkness; making peace, and creating evil. I, Jehovah, do all these
things" (Isaiah 45:5-7). "Remember former things from forever, for I
[am] God, and no one else [is] God, even none like Me, declaring the end from
the beginning, and from the past those things which were not done, saying, My
counsel shall rise; and, I will do all My desire; calling a bird of prey from
the east, the man of My counsel from a far off land. Yes, I have spoken; yes, I
will cause it to come; I have formed; yes, I will do it" (Isaiah 46:9-11). "O
house of Israel, can I not do to you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, as
the clay in the potter's hand, [so are] you in My hand, O house of Israel"
(Jeremiah 18:6). "Who [is] this speaking, and it happens [when] the Lord does
not command it?" (Lamentations 3:37). "And all the trees of the field shall
know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree [and] have exalted the
low tree, [and] have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree
flourish. I, Jehovah, have spoken and acted" (Ezekiel 17:24).
Is a god
who does not control all of his creation the God of Holy Scripture? And if it
is not the God of Holy Scripture, is it a false god? What is God's attitude
toward those who worship false gods?
If God is
not in control of every action of every creature, including man, then He cannot
make His promises come to pass, and He is not God.
What does
Scripture say about the Arminian claim that God does not choose to save or damn
individuals based solely upon His sovereign choice?
"And coming near, the disciples said
to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? And answering, He said to them,
Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
Heaven, but it has not been given to those. For whoever has, to him will be
given, and he will have overabundance. But whoever does not have, even what he
has will be taken from him. Because of this, I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand. And the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled on them, which says, In
hearing you will hear and in no way understand, and seeing you will see yet in
no way perceive. For the heart of this people has grown fat, and they heard
heavily with the ears, and they have closed their eyes, that they not see with
the eyes, or hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and be
converted, and I heal them" (Matthew 13:10-15). "For even as the Father
raises the dead, and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He
wills" (John 5:21).
"All
that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the [one] coming to Me I will
in no way cast out" (John 6:37). "And He said, Because of this, I have
told you that no one is able to come to Me except it is given to him from My
Father" (John 6:65). "And hearing, the nations rejoiced and glorified
the Word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life
believed" (Acts 13:48). "But we know that [to] the [ones] loving God
all things work together for good, [to] those being called according to
purpose; because whom He foreknew, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to
the image of His Son, for Him to be [the] First-born among many brothers. But
whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also
justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified" (Romans 8:28-30).
"for [the children] not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of
the [One] calling, it was said to her, The greater shall serve the lesser; even
as it has been written, I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau. What then shall we
say? Is there not unrighteousness with God? Let it not be! For He said to
Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will pity
whomever I will pity. So, then, [it is] not of the [one] willing, nor of the
[one] running, but of the [One] showing mercy, of God. For the Scripture says
to Pharaoh, For this very thing I raised you up, so that I might display My
power in you, and so that My name might be publicized in all the earth. So,
then, to whom He desires, He shows mercy. And to whom He desires, He hardens.
You will then say to me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His
will? Yes, rather, O man, who are you answering against God? Shall the thing
formed say to the [One] forming [it], Why did You make me like this? Or does
not the potter have authority over the clay, out of the one lump to make one
vessel to honor, and one to dishonor? But if God, desiring to demonstrate His
wrath, and to make His power known, endured in much long-suffering vessels of
wrath having been fitted out for destruction, and that He make known the riches
of His glory on vessels of mercy which He before prepared for glory, whom He
also called, not only us, of Jews, but also out of nations" (Romans 9:11-24).
"Blessed [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies with Christ, even as He elected
us in Him before [the] foundation of [the] world, for us to be holy and without
blemish before Him in love, predestinating us to adoption through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to [the] praise of
[the] glory of His grace in which He favored us in the [One] having been
loved" (Ephesians 1:3-6). "in whom we also have been chosen to an
inheritance, being predestinated according to [the] purpose of the [One]
working all things according to the counsel of His [own] will" (Ephesians 1:11).
"But we ought to thank God always concerning you, brothers, beloved by the
Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to salvation in sanctification
of [the] Spirit and belief of [the] truth, to which He called you through our
gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).
"the [One] having saved us and having called [us] with a holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to [His] own purpose and grace given to
us in Christ Jesus before eternal times" (2 Timothy 1:9). "Then to you who
believe [belongs] the preciousness. But to disobeying ones, [He is the] Stone
which those building rejected; this One became [the] Head of the Corner, and a
Stone-of-stumbling, and a Rock-of-offense to the [ones] stumbling, being
disobedient to the Word, to which they were also appointed" (1 Peter 2:7-8).
A God who
makes decisions based on what man does is not God. Do Arminians believe in God?
(2)
Arminians believe that the fall of Adam did not make man totally unable to come
to God. They believe that man was affected by the fall, but only to the extent
that it is now difficult for men to come to God but not impossible. What does
Scripture say?
"But
we are all as the unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses are as a
menstruation cloth. And we all fade as a leaf, and like the wind our iniquities
take us away. And [there is] not one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself
up to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us, and have melted
us away into the hand of our iniquities" (Isaiah 64:6-7). "No one is
able to come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise
him up in the last day" (John 6:44). "What then? Do we excel? Not at
all! For we have charged both Jews and Greeks before, all [with] being under
sin; according as it has been written, [There is] not a righteous one, not even
one! [There is] not [one] understanding; [there is] not [one] seeking God. All
turned away, [they] became worthless together, not [one is] doing goodness, not
so much as one!" (Romans 3:9-12). "For the ones that are according to
flesh mind the things of the flesh. And the ones according to Spirit [mind] the
things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh [is] death, but the mind of the
Spirit [is] life and peace; because the mind of the flesh [is] enmity towards
God; for it is not being subjected to the Law of God, for neither can it [be].
And those being in the flesh are not able to please God" (Romans 8:5-8).
"But a natural man does not receive the things of [the] Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know [them], because they
are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).
From these
Scriptures, would you conclude that men have the free will to either choose
good or evil? Is the Arminian view a Christian view of unregenerate man? If it
is not Christian, then what is it?
(3)
Arminians believe that when the Holy Spirit intends to regenerate a man's
heart, the man has the ability to resist the Holy Spirit. Not only do they
believe this, but some also believe that once a man is regenerated, even though
God wants him to go to heaven, he can lose his salvation and end up in hell.
These beliefs show one thing: The view that man is more powerful than God. Man
can thwart God's plan. Man is on the throne, and God is subservient to the
choices of man. This is incredible blasphemy. Reader, are you getting the full
impact of this? Think about it for a moment: A god that is dependent upon man
-- a god that is frustrated by the actions of man. Who in the world would call
these people Christians? The following are some Scriptures to expose these notions
as blasphemous lies:
"All
that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the [one] coming to Me I will
in no way cast out" (John 6:37). "My sheep hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them, and they shall not perish
to the age, never! And not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand. My Father
who has given [them] to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck out
of My Father's hand" (John 10:27-29). "But we know that [to] the
[ones] loving God all things work together for good, [to] those being called
according to purpose; because whom He foreknew, He also predestinated [to be]
conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be [the] First-born among many
brothers. But whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called,
these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified"
(Romans 8:28-30). "But He confirming us and anointing us with you in Christ
is God, even He having sealed us, and having given the earnest of the Spirit in
our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). "in whom also you, hearing the Word of
Truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also believing you were sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is an earnest of our inheritance, to [the]
redemption of the purchased possession, to [the] praise of His glory" (Ephesians
1:13-14). "being persuaded of this very thing, that the [One] having begun
a good work in you will finish [it] until [the] day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians
1:6).
(4)
Arminians believe that Jesus Christ died for every single human being without
exception, including those who are and who will end up burning in hell. These
blasphemers believe that the precious blood of Jesus, shed for the remission of
sins, has no power to save in and of itself. This should anger us Christians with
a holy anger. This should stir our souls to cry out against this lie from the
pit of hell.
The
atoning work of Christ is at the very heart of the gospel. If one gets the
atonement wrong, one gets the gospel wrong. We who are Christians believe in
salvation conditioned on the work of Christ alone. That means that we believe
that it is the work of Christ that makes the only difference between salvation
and damnation. That also means that we believe that the work of Christ ensures
the salvation of all whom Christ represented. Do Arminians believe this, or do
they believe in salvation conditioned on the sinner?
Let us
briefly go over some terms with which all of us should be familiar, and how
they relate to the topic at hand.
First, atonement. Atonement
means reconciliation. Christ's blood atoned -- it achieved reconciliation
between God and the people for whom Christ died. If Christ died for everyone,
which is what the Arminians say, then every single person has been reconciled
to God. And if every single person has been reconciled to God, then when God
sends people to hell, He is a liar.
Second, propitiation. To
propitiate means to appease or to pacify. Christ was a propitiatory sacrifice;
He appeased God's wrath when He became sin for His people and incurred the
judgment for that sin. If Christ died for everyone without exception, then
God's wrath against every single person's sin has been appeased. However, if
God sends even one person to hell whose sins have been punished, then God is
punishing twice for the same sins -- once when Jesus died, and now a second
time when people are being punished in hell. So has God's wrath really been
appeased? If God judges anyone to hell for whom Christ died, then this
nullifies Christ as propitiation.
Third, redemption. To redeem
means to pay the price for a possession so as to rescue or deliver that
possession. Ransom is another word that is used. Christ's blood paid the price
for His people's sins and bought His people as His very own. If Christ died for
everyone without exception, every single person has been bought with Christ's
blood and has been claimed as His own. What, then, are blood-bought sinners
doing in hell? To think that some people believe that some human beings who
were bought by the blood of Christ, whose sins have been paid for, are being
tormented in hell is utterly repugnant. It is spitting in Christ's face. Of
what account is Christ's blood? The precious blood of Christ is trampled
underfoot by these God-haters.
For whom
did Christ die? The Scriptures cannot be more clear:
"And
she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). "Even as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many"
(Matthew 20:28). "I am the Good Shepherd! The Good Shepherd lays down His life
on behalf of the sheep" (John 10:11). "Even as the Father knows Me, I
also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:15).
"But you do not believe for you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give eternal
life to them, and they shall not perish to the age, never! And not anyone shall
pluck them out of My hand" (John 10:26-28). "Then take heed to yourselves
and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit placed you [as] overseers, to
shepherd the assembly of God which He purchased through [His] own blood"
(Acts 20:28). "For I delivered to you in the first place what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians
15:3). "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly
and gave Himself up on its behalf" (Ephesians 5:25). "For this
reason He ought by all means to become like [His] brothers, that He might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things respecting God, in
order to make propitiation for the sins of [His] people" (Hebrews 2:17).
What
conclusions can we come to from this study?
Romans
1:16-17 says that the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, reveals
the righteousness of God. Romans 10:3 says that those who are ignorant of this
righteousness of God revealed in the gospel are unregenerate. Mark 16:16 says
that those who do not believe the gospel are unregenerate. 2 John 9 says that
those who do not abide in the doctrine of Christ are unregenerate. Galatians
1:6-9 says that anyone who preaches a different gospel than the gospel of the
Apostles is unregenerate. Do Arminians believe the gospel? Are Arminians
ignorant of the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel? Do Arminians abide
in the doctrine of Christ? Do Arminians believe and preach a different gospel?
Is a gospel that tells people that they have the ability to make a decision for
Christ, that tells people that God needs us to cooperate with Him in order for
us to be saved, that tells people that Christ's blood paid the price for the
sins of everyone in the whole world -- is that the true gospel or a different gospel?
Arminians
have created a god of themselves. The god of self is on the throne. Glory is
given to man and not to God. In order to put self on the throne, you must
relegate God to an impotent, helpless, weak, changeable being, and that is
exactly what Arminians do.
Arminians
have an impotent god whose will is not accomplished without human cooperation.
When humans refuse to cooperate with His "plan," God has to either go
to "Plan B" or give up the plan altogether.
Arminians
have an impotent atonement in which Christ's blood does not ensure the
salvation of all for whom He died. The work of Christ does not make the only
difference between salvation and damnation; instead, Jesus died to save no one
in particular. Thus, it is up to the sinner to make the difference. Redemption,
then, is not people being "bought by the blood of Christ" unto
salvation, but it is a "take it or leave it" redemption. They believe
that some blood-bought sinners will go to hell.
Arminians
believe that, since God foresaw which people would believe, He chose them to be
saved. This makes salvation dependent upon the merit of man and not upon God's
grace. It also makes room for the gospel of self-esteem, which says that there
was something of worth in me that God saw, and thus He chose me.
Arminians
believe that an unregenerate sinner is not totally dead in sins. They believe
that an unregenerate sinner can reach out to God. The truth is that a dead man
cannot reach out unless a miracle of regeneration takes place.
Arminians
believe in decisional regeneration; the Holy Spirit waits and pleads impotently
for the sinner to make a decision and only when the sinner decides to follow
Jesus does the work of regeneration happen in the sinner's heart. This gives
rise to "evangelism" based on getting as many people as possible to
"make a decision for Christ." It looks at the number of people who
came forward as a measure of success.
Arminians
believe that, since everyone has the potential to come to Christ, we must do
everything within our power to get them to make a decision. This gives rise to
unbeliever-centered evangelism rather than God-centered evangelism. In order to
attract the unbeliever, gimmicks are used to appeal to the unbeliever, or the
service is "user-friendly" and makes the unbeliever feel as
comfortable as possible. God is not preached as a Holy, Almighty Lord to Whom
the sinner is commanded to bow, but He is preached as someone who needs the
sinner to come to Him.
Arminians
believe that we need to be doing good works because it keeps us from falling
away, as opposed to doing good works out of obedience and love and gratitude
for the God who chose us not based on anything that we have done.
Arminians
believe that the only difference between someone who goes to heaven and someone
who goes to hell is not what Christ has done, but is what the heaven-bound
person has done for himself.
Read the
words of the world-famous heretic, Billy Graham: "The prayer needed is not
that Christ may accept you, but rather that you will accept Christ. You do not
have to wait for Christ to accept you. He is waiting to see the evidence of
your faith in accepting him. The decision is yours, not Christ's. He decided in
favor of you when he died for you on the cross. Now you must decide for him.
... Christ will not enter your life in opposition to your beliefs. As soon as
he sees that you believe in him and trust in his promise, he will enter. ...
[T]he initial step is one of absolute faith on your part" (from the March
1979 My Answer,
as quoted in the Jan/Feb 1982 issue of The
Trinity Review). This is blasphemy that comes from the father of
lies, and unless God sees fit to save him, Billy Graham will go to hell.
What then
should our response be as believers?
First, we
must judge righteous judgment. We must call a liar a liar and an idolater an
idolater. This will not win any popularity contests, but it is totally
biblical. Arminianism is a lie. Arminianism is wickedness. Arminians are liars.
Arminians are wicked sinners. They are not my brothers, and they are not my
sisters. Second, if we truly believe that the christ of Arminianism is not the
Christ of Holy Scripture and that Arminians are not Christians, then we must be
separate from them.
"Do
not be unequally yoked [with] unbelievers. For what partnership does
righteousness [have] with lawlessness? And what fellowship does light [have]
with darkness? And what agreement does Christ [have] with Belial? Or what part
does a believer [have] with an unbeliever? And what agreement does a temple of
God [have] with idols? For you are a temple of [the] living God, even as God
said, I will dwell in them and walk among [them], and I will be their God, and
they shall be My people. Because of this, come out from among them and be
separated, says [the] Lord, and do not touch [the] unclean thing, and I will
receive you. And I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters
to Me, says [the] Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). "And have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove
[them]" (Ephesians 5:11).
2 Timothy
3:1-7 gives us a description of wickedness in the last days: "But know this, that in [the]
last days grievous times will be [upon us]. For men will be lovers of
themselves, money-lovers, braggarts, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural feeling, unyielding, slanderers, without
self-control, savage, haters of good, betrayers, reckless, puffed up, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the
power of it; even turn away from these. For of these are those creeping into
houses and leading silly women captive, [the ones] having been heaped with
sins, being led away by various lusts, always learning, but never being able to
come to a full knowledge of [the] truth" (2 Timothy 3:1-7).
Are
Arminians lovers of themselves? Do they hold to a form of godliness but deny
its power, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth?
Psalm 1
gives the description of those who do not walk in the counsel of Arminians or
stand in the path of Arminians or sit in the seat of Arminians and says that
Arminians will not stand in the assembly of the righteous. 2 John 1:11 says that
those who consider Arminians to be their brothers in Christ are participants in
the evil deeds of the Arminians and are thus just as unregenerate as the
Arminians.
Third, we
must present a bold witness to the world and to professing Christianity. We are
different than the church down the road. It does make a difference. And
the world and other professing Christians should be able to see that
difference. We believe in a sovereign God who has decreed every single thing
that has ever come to pass and will ever come to pass. We believe that the work
of Christ alone ensures the salvation of all whom He represented and is what
makes the difference between salvation and damnation.
Fourth, we
must confront others who profess to be Christians about these basics of the
faith. We must not let a relationship with a professing Christian even start
without a confrontation of this type. If they are not saved, God may use this
confrontation to change their hearts and grant them repentance. If they are
saved, there is fellowship with them in the truth.
Fifth, we
must recognize Arminianism that comes in the guise of sovereign grace. There
are very well-known people out there who claim to believe the doctrines of
grace who are totally Arminian in their evangelism. They are putting forth the
lie that, although redemption is particular to the elect, true gospel preaching
tells people that God loves everyone, truly desires that everyone be saved, and
shows grace to everyone in the "offering" of the gospel, whereas 2
Corinthians 2:15-16 makes it clear that preaching is for the purpose of saving
some and hardening others. The gospel is not an offer -- it is God's promise to
save His people conditioned on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of
Jesus Christ alone. Some will say that Christ's atonement is "sufficient
for all but efficient for the elect." This is nothing more than universal
atonement in disguise. Some will say that salvation is conditioned on faith and
that the Holy Spirit enables the person to meet that condition. This is nothing
more than a version of salvation conditioned on the sinner. If salvation is
conditioned in any way to any degree on the sinner, even if God enables the
person to meet the condition, then it is not salvation conditioned on the work
of Christ alone, and it is a false gospel.
Sixth, we
must not be proud that we are believers. In a study such as this in which a
certain segment of professing Christianity is exposed as wicked, it is
inevitable that some will see this as pride. But exposing wickedness should not
come from pride. It should come from obedience to God's Word. And we must
always remember that if it were not for the grace of God, we, too, would be
God-hating Arminians. The grace that God has bestowed upon us should make us
fall on our faces in the dirt in humility, knowing that we have done nothing to
deserve this salvation. We should also be in constant praise and wonder at the
grace of Almighty God toward us. It should make us live a life of gratitude and
love for God, and this gratitude and love must translate into obedience of
God's commands. We do not obey for the same reason the Arminian obeys. The
Arminian is obeying because he believes his final glory is conditioned on his
obedience. We obey out of love for a God who chose us before the foundation of
the world and who saved us and will keep us saved for His own glory.
After
hearing all this, someone may ask, "But don't Arminians believe that Jesus
Christ is God?" Our response should be, "What kind of god do
Arminians say that Jesus is?" Someone else may ask, "But don't
Arminians believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins?" Our
response should be, "Do Arminians believe that Christ's blood atoned,
redeemed, and propitiated? If not, what in the world does an Arminian mean by
'Christ died on the cross for our sins?'" Arminians say biblical phrases.
They talk of Christ's death for sinners. They talk of grace. They even talk of
the sovereignty of God. But when you confront them on what they really mean,
you find that their house is built on sand.
Christians
are to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to all the
saints, as God says in Jude 3. The latter part of Isaiah 48:11 says,"I will not give My glory to
another." The first part of Isaiah 42:8 says the same thing: "I [am] Jehovah; that is My
name; and I will not give My glory to another." May we live
with a holy zeal to give God all the glory, and, as God says in 2 Corinthians
10:5, let us demolish arguments and every high thing lifting up itself against
the knowledge of God, and let us bring into captivity every thought into the
obedience of Christ.
by Marc D. Carpenter
www.outsidethecamp.org
The Damnable Heresy of Arminianism
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