Calvinism verses Arminianism

In college just after I became a Christian I was in New Jersey for an evangelism/discipleship summer project. It was at that time that I learned about Calvinism from a brother in Christ. He explained a lot of things which I didn’t agree with. I couldn’t understand why everything that was done was by the will of God! I couldn’t understand how the thoughts in my mind would be the will of God—even sin which God hates! I couldn’t understand how I wouldn’t have the freedom to do something I wanted to! Calvinism was going totally against my thinking. I was so upset by that that I was rude to that brother (of which I apologize). I made a long distant call to a good friend of mine and he defined the other end of the spectrum—Arminianism. Of course, I knew that I was an Arminian. God wasn’t able to do his will at times. God didn’t put everything in my mind, especially not the sin which he hates. I have the freedom of will to do anything I want to do.

A few years after I graduated from college I went to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). Among other positions the professors were both Calvinists and Arminians. One of the points of my seminary education was (I think it came from a student) you cannot sit on the fence… you either had to be a Calvinist or an Arminian. I graduated from TEDS with my MDiv. One of the other things bestowed upon me from seminary was that I was more firmly an Arminian.

A number of years ago I was reading several commentaries when I realized that Calvinism and Arminianism were simply philosophies by men and not the written Word of God. Huh… As an Arminian, I would have to preach on the Arminian passages and skip the Calvinist passages. And, if I were a Calvinist I would have to preach on the Calvinist passages and skip the Arminian passages. In other words, I would preach through “half” of the Word of God!

Then I read the doctoral dissertation by D. A. Carson (a Research Professor of New Testament at TEDS and one of my favorite authors/teachers/preachers) called Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility and the subtitle Biblical Perspectives in Tension. He examines the Old Testament, intertestamental literature and the gospel of John. With Scripture (not philosophy) the book opened my eyes. I was not “sitting on the fence” when you are hard at work really examining Calvinism verses Arminianism. God is God. His Word is correct. He can do anything that is possible. One of these things is there is not as contradiction between Divine sovereignty and human responsibility (free will¹). However, I’m not able to say what that is! I don’t know of anybody who can!

This can be seen all over the Bible. For example, a Calvinist passage would be Eph. 1:4b-12 "...even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." And, immediately following that an Arminian passage would be Eph. 1:13-14 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." One can see God's sovereignty right next to human responsibility in these verses without any equivocation!

So, I’m neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian for I do not adhere to a philosophy of man, like I had done previously, but to the Word of God. When God says it I believe it even if he indicates that there is no distinction between Divine sovereignty and human free will.

²⁵ "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. (Isa 40:25-28 NIV)

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¹ Carson says that “free will” equals “free agency” which I don’t think it is. “The conclusion drawn is that ‘God’s control is absolute in the sense that men do only that which he ordained that they should do; yet they are truly free agents in the sense that their decisions are their own, and they are morally responsible for them.’ [J. I. Packer]”. p. 207.