As stated, I’m neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian. To me, there are too many Scriptures both sides have to explain away (and both sides do so), too many Scriptures that don’t fit neatly into either the Calvinist nor the total free-will side. I thought about going into considerable detail but doing so would add several more posts to this already lengthy series.
What follows is a very brief scriptural summary of verses I think are troublesome for each side. This is by no means a complete and exhaustive list. I’m sure many of you can come up with important omissions.
A few difficult Scriptures for an Arminian:
Mark 13:20; John 8:14; John 15:16; 15:19; Romans 7:14; 8:29–30; most of chapter 9; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:4; 1:5; 1:11; 2:1–4; 2 Thessalonians 2:10–11.
A few difficult Scriptures for a Calvinist:
Joshua 24:15; Ezekiel 18:31–32; 33:11; John 6:37; Acts 10:43; 26:17–20; Romans 10:12; 1 Timothy 2:3–4; 6; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2.
What we end up seeing is both God’s ultimate sovereignty and choice as well as man’s responsibility to choose. Both are in play. I wonder—when we are with God for eternity—will we discover that the two are both sides of the same coin?
I find Philippians 2:12b–13 fascinating in that regard: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work, for His good pleasure” (NAU).
God is at work in us to accomplish His purposes, but even so we are still told to work out our own salvation, albeit with fear and trembling since it is God who is working in us. Here we find both sides at work: God’s sovereign working, but also some level of human responsibility. Granted, the passage deals with what is theologically called sanctification, our walk with Christ after becoming Christians. Ephesians 2:8–10 outlines the process: salvation is the gift of God, not of our works, but God has prepared works for us to do once we are saved.
Where do we go from here? Theological frameworks can help us understand Scripture. The problem comes when we elevate those frameworks above Scripture, forcing Scripture to fit within that given framework. Whether we follow free-will Baptist, Reformed, Covenant, Pentecostal, or any of a number of other theologies, Scripture must be the final authority.
All human-created theologies, being human will err on one point or another. Far better that we acknowledge that, love one another as fellow believers as Scripture commands, and enter debates with humility and respect.
In the final section of this series, we will return to the initial question: What is heresy?
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